As the four-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bat beat its wings, streams of wind blades, sharp as knives, shot forward.
These wind blades not only severed the sky-spanning ice spikes but continued onward, undiminished, to slice at Li Yan's body.
As Li Yan retreated rapidly, he cast wave after wave of even denser ice spikes, both obstructing and attacking.
The two of them, one retreating and one pursuing, sped through the tunnel, leaving a world of ice crystals in their wake.
The sound of severed ice spikes embedding themselves in the ground was incessant, a continuous thwack, thwack, thwack.
It was unknown what material the tunnels were constructed from.
Despite the two Golden Core experts unleashing their arts, aside from the ground being pitted with craters of varying sizes from the short and long ice spikes, the tunnel walls merely emitted metallic clanging sounds. They shuddered from the impacts but otherwise showed no signs of damage.
The two-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bats didn't dare approach, they could only follow from a great distance, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
They all knew that casting such powerful, wide-area arts consumed an immense amount of Spirit Power. Even Golden Core cultivators could not sustain it for long.
Sure enough, after the two had battled through the winding tunnels for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the human cultivator's forehead was already beaded with cold sweat, and his face had turned pale.
In contrast, the four-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bat opposite him appeared to be in much better condition. It had, of course, noticed Li Yan's predicament.
'The power of this person's offensive arts is not to be underestimated. What cultivation method does he practice for his Spirit Power to be so pure?
'However, it's fortunate that the depth of his Spirit Power is comparable to that of an ordinary initial-stage Golden Core cultivator. Otherwise, if this went on any longer, I wouldn't be able to keep up this expenditure either.
'Also, why does he keep using only a few of the most basic arts over and over? Is he hiding a trump card, waiting for the right moment?'
During his exchange with Li Yan, he had found it strange that his opponent only ever used arts like the Quicksand Art, Ice Spike Art, and Wind Blade Art.
But these were all techniques that Qi Condensation stage cultivators frequently used.
His opponent had yet to display any supreme arts; it was just that this human's Spirit Power was exceptionally pure, causing these ordinary techniques to have an astonishingly wondrous power.
Even when the four-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bat unleashed several of its own high-powered divine abilities, they were all blocked by the opponent using ordinary arts.
'Even if he is hiding a trump card, he has clearly spent a great deal of time on these low-level arts!
'Such a person actually exists? To waste precious cultivation time on the most basic of techniques! Has the cultivation world outside fallen to such a state that its legacies are so severely lost?'
However, the four-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bat had to admit that the human cultivator's foundational techniques had already reached a state of great mastery.
In the future, as his cultivation level increased, their power would only continue to grow.
But unfortunately for him, he had trespassed into this place today, and this would be the day he died.
Just then, a dark shadow suddenly appeared before the four-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bat, rolling toward it—the Tide-Returning Art. He had seen his opponent use it several times before.
A colossal wave surged high into the air and came crashing down on him. If one were caught by this art, they would be instantly submerged.
Then, they would be relentlessly battered by the surrounding tide, each wave feeling as if it were trying to strip the flesh from their bones.
Even with the four-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bat's profound Spirit Power, having witnessed the might of the opponent's arts, it was unwilling to let such a basic technique touch its body.
With a soft snort, its pair of emerald eyes closed and opened. In that instant, a green screen of light rapidly formed before it.
The moment the green light screen materialized, the towering waves that had been surging forward vanished with eerie abruptness.
Then, a streak of black light, as nimble as a swimming fish, gracefully bypassed the green light screen. In the next moment, it appeared behind the four-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bat, stabbing toward its back like a bolt of lightning.
All of this happened too quickly. Furthermore, Li Yan had been repeatedly casting various basic arts over and over again.
This had long since caused the four-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bat to form a fixed impression of its opponent's attack patterns.
Although it remained vigilant, wondering if the opponent truly had a hidden move, the change in this attack was exceptionally strange and swift.
Moreover, that streak of black light was utterly silent, and for a fleeting moment, it possessed no aura of the Five Elements' power.
This made the four-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bat, even as its eyes saw it, feel a sense of daze in its Divine Sense. In that sliver of hesitation, the black streak was already behind it.
The four-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bat's reaction was extremely fast. The instinct of a mid-rank Demonic Beast saved its life.
The instant the black streak appeared at its back, in that life-and-death moment, its heart seized violently.
Without even thinking, its two upper wings instinctively slashed downward while its other two wings fiercely expelled a burst of force, pulling its body to the side.
Immediately, a piercing pain shot through it. It was unknown what material that black streak of a magical treasure was forged from.
Even the four-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bat's tyrannical physical body, which Li Yan felt was superior to his own, was instantly pierced through by the two wings it had used to block.
The moment the excruciating pain registered, before the four-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bat could even cry out, its body, which had been hurtling sideways, came to a sudden halt.
Then, an inexplicable terror filled its pair of emerald eyes. In the direction it was fleeing, the space above it rippled strangely once more.
A jet-black, glistening spike suddenly extended from thin air, as if it had been waiting there all along.
When this spike had been deployed by the opponent, and when it had arrived above its head, the four-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bat had been completely unaware, utterly oblivious.
Carried by its other two wings, the four-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bat could no longer react and crashed headlong into it.
Something then appeared between its brows—a black spike, with both ends as fine as needles and a middle as thick as an index finger.
It was firmly pinned in the void by this spike, and time itself seemed to freeze in that instant.
The sound of exploding arts from the surroundings had not yet faded, but Li Yan's figure had already appeared before the four-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bat pinned in the void.
At this moment, his face bore no trace of paleness or weakness; he was staring at his opponent with ice-cold eyes.
Then, he raised his hand and made a beckoning gesture. The streak of black light in the distance flew into his hand in an instant.
It was another black spike, identical to the one embedded between the four-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bat's brows. It was none other than his natal magical treasure, the Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike.
From the very first exchange in this fight, Li Yan had determined that his physical body was no stronger than his opponent's.
After some deliberation, he decided against immediately using the Fragmented Poison Body. There were too many two-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bats nearby. If he released the poison, the weaker Demonic Beasts would likely die first, while this four-winged bat might not yet be afflicted. That would expose his intention to poison it to death.
In such a short time, it would be difficult for him to set up a flawless trap. His opponent was an Ancient Ferocious Beast; if the first strike failed, scheming against it again would become much harder.
But it wasn't without opportunity. For example, Li Yan could engage in a dangerous close-quarters battle, where he would be able to administer the poison.
However, Li Yan was unwilling to clash head-on with an enemy whose physical body was comparable to his own. In the end, he chose another method: "Wave-Hiding Soul-Slaying Art."
When the Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike was activated with this art, there was a certain chance it could directly nail the opponent's soul, a true one-hit-kill technique.
But Li Yan still didn't openly use the "Wave-Hiding Soul-Slaying Art" to compete with his opponent. He wasn't that kind of person. As long as he could kill his enemy, he would resort to any means necessary.
Thus, he began a battle of arts with his opponent, tirelessly and repeatedly casting those few basic techniques to lower the enemy's guard.
Finally, when he cast a certain art, and his opponent merely glanced at it before casually breaking it and counterattacking, he knew the time had come.
He followed up with the "Tide-Returning Art," which was, in fact, a transformation of the Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike.
His natal magical treasure, when empowered by the "Wave-Hiding Soul-Slaying Art," could be both hard and soft.
Everything depended on a single thought from him. Moreover, since the treasure was fundamentally a water-attribute natal magical treasure, its transformation into the "Tide-Returning Art" was utterly seamless.
A single moment of carelessness from the four-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bat allowed him to get close with a surprise attack, but Li Yan's cunning went far beyond that.
He exploited the Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike's innate ability to partially ignore the Five Elements, and quietly hid the other spike in the surrounding space.
The visible Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike then forced the four-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bat to hastily dodge, right into the area Li Yan had preset.
In the end, even though this four-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bat was considerably stronger than Li Yan, it could not escape the fatal ambush.
"You... you..."
Streams of blood trickled from the four-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bat's mouth. After forcing out two words, the light in its eyes rapidly dimmed.
Li Yan raised his hand and grasped the middle of the Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike pinning it in the void. Just as he was about to pull it out, his Divine Sense suddenly erupted, and he let out a low shout.
"Where do you think you're going!"
As he shouted, the Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike in his other hand had already stabbed into the void to his side like lightning. Following that, an urgent voice pleaded in haste.
"Fellow Daoist, spare me! Does Fellow Daoist wish to leave..."
With that, something invisible to the naked eye, something that was almost transparent and greyish-white even to the Divine Sense, appeared.
It materialized at the tip of the Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike that Li Yan had thrust out, trembling uncontrollably.
The needle-like tip of that Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike was but a hair's breadth from its forehead. With just a gentle push from Li Yan, it would undoubtedly plunge deep inside.
The voice was identical to that of the four-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bat from just moments ago.
Li Yan stared coldly at the greyish-white, nearly transparent object before him. He had halted his attack at the last moment.
In his Divine Sense, he could vaguely make out the shape of a Dark Spirit Demon Bat, only it had no wings and was simply floating there.
"Fellow Daoist, spare me! Do you all wish to leave this place? I can send you out of here safely..."
The tiny Dark Spirit Demon Bat said, bowing repeatedly.
Li Yan's brow furrowed. If not for his extremely keen senses, his opponent would have nearly escaped his grasp.
Just a moment ago, a faint tremor of life had come from the Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike embedded in the four-winged bat's forehead, before it quickly detached and fled.
This had startled Li Yan. The "Wave-Hiding Soul-Slaying Art" was a high-level Immortal Art from the Five Immortal Sects, specifically for assassinating an enemy's soul.
Anyone struck by it should have their soul instantly disintegrated. Yet, he had sensed a soul escaping from the magical treasure that had pinned it.
How could this not shock Li Yan? He now had a very clear understanding of cultivation and could better deduce the meaning behind what Dong Fuyi had once said about the "Gui Water Immortal Sect."
Any Immortal Art from such a top-tier sect could likely incite a rain of blood and a storm of gore if it were revealed. Yet today, it had failed.
After a moment of thought, Li Yan spoke immediately.
"First, make them back off!"
Li Yan sensed the two-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bats swarming madly towards him. They had already seen that something was wrong with the four-winged one.
So, disregarding the lingering aftershocks of their battle, they had begun to force their way closer.
The foremost few two-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bats had already been reduced to dust, but the large swarm behind them was still desperately charging forward.