C1016 One Versus Three
Thousands of scarlet sword lights coalesced into a massive, shimmering orb that slowly enveloped Gou Yungui.
Simultaneously, bright fissures that appeared to have been cleaved by the sword light encircled him.
The hunchbacked elder from the Filthy Spirit Sect, a practitioner at the Middle Period of the Yang God, realized the direness of his predicament. Attempting to escape the sword light's grasp, he found himself surrounded by these ominous cracks.
Each crack burst with light, reminiscent of stars exploding, creating the illusion of shooting stars streaking away.
Not new to the extraterrestrial realms, he instantly recognized the cracks as harbingers of unspeakable horrors.
The three secret escape techniques that sprang to his mind were abruptly halted. Clenching his teeth, he unfastened a white jade bone porcelain bottle from his waist and tossed it overhead.
The bottle swelled in the breeze, spewing forth a gush of colorful liquid.
Gou Yungui's form diminished as he blended into the bizarre, vivid liquid, which in turn enveloped the white jade bone bottle, causing it to gently ascend.
With a swish, the scarlet sword lights converged into a sphere, their blades piercing the vibrant liquid and vanishing without a trace.
Yu Yuan, with the soul consciousness imbued within the sword light, felt his sword beams navigate the murky, bright depths like fish lost at sea, uncertain of their destination or when they might reach the seabed.
"There's some technique to it," he noted, a smirk playing at the corner of his mouth as he maintained his smile and brandished his sword once more.
"Fallen Moon Slash."
The relentless surge of crimson sword light flowed into the orb, unceasingly exerting pressure.
Clink! Clang!
Soon enough, he was rewarded with the satisfying sound of the white jade bone porcelain cracking under the assault of the sword light.
In the following instant, he invoked the Life Altar and harnessed the ferocious Qi and blood from his activated acupoints. Like a bolt of lightning, he shot through the spatial rifts, bypassing his own unleashed sword light, and plunged into the bright liquid like a colossal beast from the cosmic river.
The viscous liquid clung to him like countless pythons wrapping around his body, threatening to seep into his very flesh.
Unfazed, he tapped into the sensitivity of the Yin God and the power of the crimson sword light to carve a path through this deep-sea-like entrapment.
Whoosh!
Beams of crimson sword light sliced through the murk, abruptly clearing his view.
He caught sight of Gou Yungui, now reduced in size several-fold, his back pressed against the white jade bone porcelain, his face shadowed with a dark scowl.
"Kid, you've bypassed the path to heaven and instead, you've chosen the gateless way to hell!" Gou Yungui sneered menacingly. After spending a century in the Outland Star River perfecting this foul liquid, it surged towards Yu Yuan like a horde of sinister beasts.
"Contending with me with just a Yang God clone?" Yu Yuan shook his head, chuckling in disbelief.
"Explode!"
At his command, the overwhelming Qi and blood within his acupoints, now mingled with refined spiritual energy, detonated amidst the vibrant liquid like millions of tons of explosives.
Gou Yungui, merged with the liquid, grunted in pain. He watched in horror as his painstakingly refined porcelain and the unique liquid he had gathered from exotic lands were relentlessly battered by an implacable force, erupting in a series of explosions.
With each blast, he empathetically suffered, the discomfort nearly driving him to spew blood.
Outside.
Sun Jun of the Red Devil Sect had observed Yu Yuan unleashing torrents of crimson sword light before bravely plunging into the fray with his mortal coil. Sensing the aftermath, he involuntarily gasped in awe.
"Sister Nan, Yu Yuan's physical prowess is astonishing, surpassing even his peers from the Ancient Desolate Sect! No, this is incorrect. This strength is beyond what any human should possess!"
The purple eyeball in Sun Jun's grasp bulged, veined with blood.
Overcome with urgency, he swallowed the eyeball, allowing his own Qi and blood to warm it.
His silent voice resonated within Zhan Ruonan's heart lake, "In our Boundless Land, many Eighth Level Demons possess Qi and blood inferior to Yu Yuan's ferocious vigor! Without the aid of spiritual energy or soul thoughts, his mere physical form could vanquish an Eighth Level Asura Warrior! He is nothing like the kin we know!"
Whoosh! Whoosh!
A massive vortex, birthed from the essence of Evil Demons, erupted with a fierce suction.
The black crone cackled softly as the Yellow Light Demon's wick flickered intermittently. Rend Armor and Silver Lock, at the heart of the vortex, had ensnared Huang Zhenlong of the Voodoo Cult, triggering the Demonic Formation.
Caught off guard, Huang Zhenlong felt the world spin around him.
Before he could gather his wits, he found himself involuntarily and willingly drawn into the maelstrom created by the Demonic Formation.
In an instant, Huang Zhenlong vanished.
One by one, the four formidable Evil Demons – the Yellow Light Demon, Rend Armor, and Silver Lock – descended through the vortex's core, following the path of his disappearance.
The sight sent shivers down the spine of Yang Yi from the Ghoul Glyph Sect.
As Yu Yuan acted, Gou Yungui was slowly engulfed by a sphere of crimson sword light. Then, without even a chance to employ any Spiritual Spells, Huang Zhenlong was swallowed by the Demonic Formation.
Yang Yi suddenly felt a pang of regret.
But in that moment, he was horrified to discover that the extreme cold that had enveloped the Sky Rift Valley and its environs had stealthily shifted to his location.
He looked up in alarm.
The Ice Concubine, treading upon a sea of chilling green flames, approached from above.
Green flames poured down like a deluge, transforming his surroundings into a harsh, icy realm.
Forget the Yang God; it seemed even his faintest thoughts could be frozen solid.
Yang Yi's gaze sought help from Zhan Ruonan and Sun Jun, who were calmly watching the unfolding events.
But within seconds, his consciousness and thoughts began to solidify, and the brilliance in his eyes crystallized into ice, just like his Yang God form.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Under the chilling embrace of the green Ice Flame, Yang Yi was encased in a sculpture of gleaming ice.
The Frost Energy continued to penetrate his flesh and soul, his eyes' struggle fading as they were overwhelmed by the cold.
"Sister Nan," Sun Jun uttered, removing the peculiar eyeball from his mouth. As he spoke, his voice carried a bitter tone.
He realized the bitterness wasn't from the eyeball itself, but from the profound shock of Yu Yuan's display of power that left a bitter taste in his mouth.
It was clear to anyone that the previous battle between the Ice Concubine and Yang Yi, where she appeared to be severely wounded by three talismans, was nothing but a ruse. The Ice Concubine, when she truly unleashed her extreme cold powers, was arguably just as strong as Zhan Ruonan, who was in the late Yang God Stage—not to mention Yang Yi from the Ghoul Glyph Sect.
"I..."
Zhan Ruonan's face was as rigid as her body.
She had intended to put a stop to Yu Yuan's recklessness and to assist her three comrades, with whom she had battled side by side for years. Yet, when the time came to act, she hesitated.
Her hesitation stemmed from the warning Yu Yuan had issued before he took action...
What she had once found laughable now carried a genuine deterrent force.
"You're free."
With Yu Yiyi's sharp cry, the sound of cracking ice filled the air. Benin, who had suffered under Yang Yi's torment, stood up shivering.
The ghastly talisman that had clung to her forehead crumbled into icy fragments, scattering on the ground.
She wiped her face, clearing away the frozen blood, and with a shaky gait, she slowly made her way towards the Dragon Slash Platform.
"Cauldron soul!"
It was only then that Zhan Ruonan and Sun Jun noticed another peculiar presence, comfortably swinging its slender legs while perched on the edge of the cauldron, unmoved.
"Don't think you're anything special just because you outnumber us and have higher realms."
Yu Yiyi, lips pursed, cast a sidelong glance at Zhan Ruonan and Sun Jun. "If it weren't for my master and his extraordinary relationship with Miss Yuan of the Red Devil Sect, the two of you might not have been so fortunate."
Zhan Ruonan and Sun Jun exchanged glances.
"I don't believe Yu Yuan has any energy left to deal with us," Sun Jun declared, his voice low.
Yu Yiyi's words had provoked him, but he wasn't intimidated by the plight of Yang Yi, Gou Yungui, and Huang Zhenlong. "Sister Nan, are we going to fight or not?"
Their five-person squad had been on missions together for years, developing a deep familiarity and effective teamwork.
Sun Jun was not about to let the team, which had taken so much effort to build, be torn apart by Yu Yuan in the Nirvana Realm.
Additionally, he believed that Yu Yuan had exhausted his repertoire of tactics, making it improbable for him to have any more formidable contingencies.
"You've overlooked Peach Madam," Zhan Ruonan murmured.
Sun Jun whirled around, only to see the vibrant cloud sea unleashed by Peach Madam engulfing the Ancient Black Iron Ship, pulling the sizable vessel through the air towards them.
"Why are you staring at me? I'm merely here to spectate the battle. I have no obligation to assist Hong or Yu Yuan."
Peach Madam nearly let slip Yu Yuan's past identity. She indulged in a deep inhalation of the murky spiritual energy and declared, "Ignore me. I'll purify the corrupt energy of this realm. Once my task is complete, I'll soar into the galaxy, and we'll keep to our own paths."
"Benin!"
Hart from the Silver Scale Clan joyfully greeted the young Void Spirit Succubus with a wave of his hand.
At that moment, Benin, who was very close to the Dragon Slash Platform, stood amidst shattered ice, her gaze fixed on an exceptionally large spatial rift, seemingly captivated by something within.
