Bang!!!
Under the fierce lashing of the Yuan Chen Whip, the Fire Tiger immediately shattered into countless sparks, scattering through the stone forest!
Ji Yuan glanced at the pale-faced middle-aged man with triangular eyes and then pulled back the light blue whip with a swing of his arm.
The whip, tens of feet long, returned to its original size, coiling around him and emitting a water-like ripple that swept out in all directions.
Under this ripple, a blurred figure appeared about ten feet behind him. The old man, whose hair was almost gone, had his escape technique broken and stumbled to the ground.
A glint of ferocity flashed in his eyes, and he suddenly threw the bronze sword in his hand. The short sword, barely longer than his forearm, immediately pierced the air.
However, the fierce bronze short sword was easily knocked away by the Yuan Chen Whip, and in the light blue ripple, it was almost snapped in two!
At the same time, Ji Yuan's expression shifted, and in his peripheral vision, he saw two shadows gliding swiftly towards his feet, clinging close to the ground.
Without a second thought, he stomped his foot forcefully, and the light blue ripple emanating from him spread out in layers.
As soon as the two shadows were enveloped by the ripple, they shattered like bubbles. Following that, two black cone-shaped spikes, each about the size of a palm, appeared.
These two spikes, under the light blue ripple, seemed to be losing their spiritual power and wobbled. They were swept away by the whip that came through the air and, with their spirituality dimming, flew back to the feet of the scar-faced man.
After this exchange, Ji Yuan had not moved an inch. Holding the Yuan Chen Whip, he had single-handedly resisted the combined efforts of three cultivators of the second realm.
Even he was surprised by this outcome, and he swept his gaze over the three men with a slight frown.
He knew that compared to cultivators from reputable sects, or even those from complete lineages of rogue cultivators, these wild cultivators from mountains and marshes, with the exception of a very small number who possessed immense killing power, were generally at a disadvantage.
But he had not expected them to be so ridiculously weak!
With their impure and mixed spiritual power, their techniques and object control attacks were only slightly stronger than those of late-stage Enlightenment realm cultivators, lacking the strength that a normal second-realm cultivator should possess.
Even the bronze short sword and the two black spikes they controlled were merely mortal weapons with slightly better materials.
With such strength, even before Ji Yuan broke through, he would have had a good chance of defeating or even killing them on the spot in a one-on-one fight!
Scanning the three men, he suddenly frowned, sensing something was amiss.
Even he could see that the cultivation of the three was weak; they themselves couldn't possibly be unaware of it. With such strength, how could they dare to plot against him, who clearly looked like someone from a prominent sect?
Ji Yuan instinctively looked back and then saw a figure appear from the air about fifteen to twenty feet behind Wu Chengqing.
It was a young man with dark green hair, about twenty-six or twenty-seven years old. As if sensing his gaze, the young man immediately looked up.
Their eyes met in the air, and then the other party suddenly revealed a strange smile.
Seeing this, Ji Yuan's heart sank, and he quickly shouted, "Be careful!"
Before he could even finish speaking, the young man with dark green hair in the distance raised his black-energy-wrapped palm and struck towards the back he was facing.
At that very moment, Wu Chengqing, who appeared oblivious and unguarded, suddenly turned around and swung the large banner in his hand with full force.
In an instant, a fierce wind howled, rolling towards the young man with dark green hair like sharp blades.
Seeing this, Ji Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. He then glanced at the three men around him and smiled as if he had expected it.
"So you did have a backup. You must be just his subordinates, right?"
He raised an eyebrow and calmly asked.
The three men remained silent. Seeing the young man with dark green hair fail in his sneak attack and get caught in a tough fight, they all looked uneasy.
Especially when they felt the young Taoist priest's knowing smile, their hearts became even heavier.
They were not unaware of their own strength. Together, they could still put up a fight against one or two cultivators who had just entered the second realm, and there was even a small chance of defeating them.
But facing a second-realm cultivator from a legitimate background with considerable cultivation was something they were very unsure about. If they fought hard, being able to preserve their lives would be a great fortune.
However, they could not retreat now and could only brace themselves and hold on.
At this moment, the three exchanged a subtle glance and then acted simultaneously, each unleashing their most potent secret techniques.
Seeing this, Ji Yuan merely let out a cold snort, his face maintaining a calm and composed expression.
The reason he had spoken and was willing to stall for a bit was to gather enough spiritual power to deliver a swift and decisive blow!
As they all moved at once, he suddenly flung the Yuan Chen Whip. As it left his hand and thickened, it transformed into a water snake several feet thick and shot towards the middle-aged man with triangular eyes.
At the same time, Ji Yuan stomped his foot forcefully. Three acupoints on his body glowed, and three heavy water pearls appeared, circling around him several times before landing in his left palm, slowly spinning.
He channeled half of the spiritual power he had gathered into them. With a thought, the three heavy water pearls shot out in a straight line towards the scar-faced man.
Having done this, he didn't even look back. As he turned, he drew the long sword on his back and his gaze quietly fell upon the old man.
A sharp glint flashed in his eyes. The next instant, Ji Yuan unleashed a horizontal slash. The bright sword light became the only illumination in the darkness.
With a 'thud,' as the sword light quickly extinguished, the old man stopped his hand seals, and the spiritual power he had just gathered suddenly collapsed.
He looked at the young Taoist priest who had crossed several feet in an instant, and instinctively lowered his head. He then saw countless tiny sword qi flowing out from a deep, bone-chilling wound on his chest.
Feeling his life force rapidly draining, the old man opened his mouth but could not utter a word. Only a look of relief appeared in his eyes.
His body fell straight backward, his entire life flashing before his eyes.
From wandering outside since childhood, to luckily getting a job as a warehouse clerk in a shop, he had stolen a fragmented cultivation technique by chance and thus embarked on the path of cultivation.
However, he had not become an immortal freely roaming the heavens as he had imagined. Instead, he had struggled and persevered, accumulating his cultivation bit by bit through hardship.
Finally reaching the second realm, but due to improper cultivation, his spiritual power became impure and deeply entangled with turbid qi, making it impossible to suppress even late-stage Enlightenment realm cultivators.
Ultimately, he was enslaved by others, taking a highly poisonous pill. From then on, freedom became a luxury. To survive, he had done many things against his conscience.
But what conscience could a mere wild cultivator from the mountains and marshes, who would kill for a bit of money, possibly retain?
Looking back over his hundred years, it seemed as though he had experienced much, yet also as if he had never truly walked in this world.
Ji Yuan's expression was somewhat complex. Seeing that the old man's life force had completely dissipated, he felt no joy.
In that fleeting moment, he had seen the relief in the old man's eyes, and a hard-to-describe color, which inexplicably caused his state of mind to ripple slightly.
A moment later, the water snake flew back, transforming back into a long whip and coiling around his waist on its own.
The three heavy water pearls also flew back silently, slowly circling around him and emitting a soft, water-blue radiance.
With a sigh, Ji Yuan put away his fleeting emotions and then turned to look. About fifty feet away, Wu Chengqing was locked in a back-and-forth battle with his opponent, using his large banner, neither gaining an obvious advantage.
Despite the opponent's numerous techniques and various spells cast with every movement, they still couldn't gain the upper hand.
It had to be said that although Wu Chengqing's methods were relatively singular, relying only on the large banner for every move, he could still employ it in various ways to deal with different situations.
Seeing this, Ji Yuan suddenly thought of a saying from the mortal world: "One unique skill can be used everywhere!"
Wu Chengqing had spent most of his time accumulating his cultivation and earning resources for it, thus not having enough time to study the various wondrous techniques in the scripture library.
However, he had used his remaining energy to focus on the variations of the large banner, pushing the power of this magical artifact to its extreme.
After watching for a while, Ji Yuan withdrew his gaze, leaving only a small portion of his attention to be aware of any unexpected developments.
He was already certain that if no variables appeared, Wu Chengqing would be the ultimate victor. Although the man appeared to be locked in a fierce struggle with his opponent, he had actually kept nearly half of his strength in reserve.
His current actions were merely to gradually deplete the opponent's spiritual power and quietly neutralize any possibility of a desperate last-ditch counterattack.
It was only a matter of time before the young man with dark green hair was defeated. At most, in another fifteen to thirty minutes, once his spiritual power was depleted, this duel would also conclude.
He shifted his gaze to another area. Li Junxian and the other five were still fighting a group of stone monkeys. Due to their many scruples and inability to deliver killing blows decisively, they were gradually falling into a disadvantage.
Although they could use their skills to knock these stone monkeys away time and again, their petrified skin was impervious to blades and spears, and they were incredibly strong, which was truly troublesome.
After watching for a few moments, Ji Yuan sheathed his long sword and walked towards Li Junxian and the others. Simultaneously, he formed a hand seal, and the three heavy water pearls circling him shot forward through the air.
Under his mental control, the three heavy water pearls dispersed and struck a stone monkey each, knocking it flying while also emitting a crisp cracking sound.
Even with the stone monkeys' petrified skin that was impervious to blades and spears, they couldn't withstand the weight contained within the heavy water pearls, let alone the increased weight under the infusion of spiritual power.
A single heavy water pearl, under Ji Yuan's full exertion, could weigh several hundred to a thousand pounds. It could smash not only rocks but even a solid iron lump to pieces.
The three heavy water pearls charged forward, knocking stone monkeys dozens of feet away. The intense pain and cracking of their skin finally restored some semblance of reason, and they fled into the distance without looking back.
In just a moment, the stone monkeys that had been a headache for the group were all gone, their forms disappearing into the distant darkness.
Seeing this, Li Junxian and the others couldn't help but show expressions of emotion. The stone monkeys that had left them utterly helpless were resolved so simply.
"Couldn't you have acted sooner?"
Zheng Wanrong looked at Ji Yuan as he approached and couldn't help but complain.
Hearing this, he shrugged, indicating that if he had to handle everything, it would negate the tempering effect for everyone.
The cultivation of a cultivator was not just about meditation and qi circulation; combat and duels were also indispensable, as only through these could one temper their own path.
For some cultivators stuck at bottlenecks, even near-death experiences could aid in their breakthrough.