At that moment, Bai Rou made a beckoning gesture with her fair hand, and two streaks of light, one green and one black, flew toward her from the distant sky.
One was a long, green whip. Its surface resembled a green python, shimmering with a faint, verdant luster, but its Artifact Spirit was already dead. The other was a black, tortoise-shell-shaped shield, its surface already marred by a multitude of pits and dents.
These two Magical Treasures had been wielded by the two Golden Core cultivators who were previously trapped. However, they had been mostly destroyed under the relentless, Spirit-Stone-fueled assault of a hundred puppets.
Even so, Bai Rou collected them without hesitation.
Just then, the Storage Pouches also flew before her. Without inspecting them further, Bai Rou simply hung them all from her waist.
'Though that whip and shield are severely damaged, they are, after all, the Magical Treasures of Golden Core cultivators. Even if their rank drops after being refined again, their value should still cover the cost of the Spirit Stones used for the puppets just now!'
Bai Rou calculated in her mind. If her gains did not cover her expenses, this battle would have been a loss.
When the two foreign Golden Core cultivators had flown in to attack, they had run straight into her. To kill Bai Rou as quickly as possible, the two had joined forces without a second thought.
In their eyes, the seemingly gentle and weak Bai Rou would be dead at their hands in three breaths at most. But the result was that Bai Rou instantly bared her ferocious fangs. With a wave of her hand, a dense formation of puppets appeared before her…
The cultivators fighting near Bai Rou were none other than Sun Guoshu and the others from Four Symbols Peak, who had gathered together earlier. After being tied down by their enemies, they had no spare attention to worry about anyone else.
But now, be it the cultivators from Four Symbols Peak or their opponents, all of them noticed this scene. They were still locked in a life-or-death struggle with their adversaries, yet over here, Bai Rou had already slain two people. They were all momentarily stunned.
Bai Rou's gaze calmly swept over them. With another wave of her hand, dozens more puppets appeared by her side, sending an involuntary chill down the spines of the onrushing Demon Clan members and foreign cultivators.
"Senior Sister Bai, impressive!"
Sun Guoshu's voice, filled with excitement, traveled across the battlefield…
As Li Wuyi's Book Scroll rustled, characters of various colors flew out from it, seeming to come alive.
"Stone" characters smashed down, "Axe" characters chopped, "Saber" characters slashed, and "Spear" characters shot forth in a streak of light, stabbing straight ahead.
This onslaught left the traitorous cultivator from the South Sea struggling to cope. After just a few exchanges, he was already on the verge of collapse. He was a Pseudo-Nascent Soul Realm expert, a minor realm higher than Li Wuyi.
He was, of course, aware of Li Wuyi's great reputation. But as a core disciple of a first-rate sect, he harbored a sense of defiance toward the disciples of the Four Great Sects. This was especially true after he received an Ancient Immortal Art from a foreign cultivator, which made him feel as if he had grown wings in his subsequent duels. Even some veteran Pseudo-Nascent Soul cultivators could only fight him to a draw.
Therefore, when the great battle began, he had set his sights on Li Wuyi, Wang Lang, Baili Yuan, and the others. If he could kill any one of them, his name would be known throughout the world.
As for Qiu Jiuzhen, he was actually somewhat intimidated by her. Being a South Sea cultivator himself, Qiu Jiuzhen's fame was even more resounding, even if her realm was lower than Li Wuyi's and Wang Lang's.
The current Qiu Jiuzhen seemed to have gone mad, her entire body splattered with blood. In this short period, she had already killed one person and grievously wounded another.
Every one of Qiu Jiuzhen's strikes was a self-sacrificing attack aimed at mutual destruction. It was impossible to tell if the blood on her was her own or her enemies'.
This South Sea cultivator was naturally unwilling to fight to the death with someone; he still dreamed of an eternal Immortal Path ahead.
Thus, he had targeted the nearby Li Wuyi. But after fighting him for just a few breaths, the South Sea cultivator was kicking himself.
In a mere dozen breaths, his Golden Bell Defensive Magical Treasure had been shattered by Li Wuyi. This blow had shattered not only his proud defense but also much of his confidence.
He desperately dodged, trying to create distance from Li Wuyi through evasive maneuvers or drag him into another battle group.
Li Wuyi, however, moved through the air like the wind, keeping the South Sea cultivator firmly within his attack range. He even had a moment to spare to glance at a location higher up in the distance.
But when he turned his gaze back, the aura around him had grown even sharper.
'Little Junior Brother killed a cultivator of the same rank in less than ten breaths. It's been over ten breaths now, and this is just a spineless Pseudo-Nascent Soul cultivator, yet he's still able to dodge and weave with me. Hmph!'
Suddenly, he formed a sword finger with his left hand and slid it across the cylindrical Book Scroll. At the same time, a flush of red appeared on Li Wuyi's fair face.
And yet, after he cast this art, not a single character flew out. This stunned the traitorous South Sea cultivator in front of him.
His Divine Sense had been locked onto Li Wuyi the entire time. Every time the man lightly shook the jade scroll in his hand, a sky full of characters would appear, threatening to drown him in a sea of script.
But why was there no follow-up attack this time? As he pondered this, a huge warning bell suddenly blared in his mind. When he turned his head again, his expression changed drastically.
On his path of retreat, a blood-red character for "Gate," as tall as a person, had appeared without any warning.
This character had appeared silently, as if it had been floating there all along. By the time the traitorous South Sea cultivator sensed it, given his speed, he could no longer avoid it. He plunged headfirst into it.
Then, his entire figure vanished into thin air. A moment later, a hair-raising scream erupted from within the blood-red "Gate" character.
What was even more horrifying was that as the scream sounded, a series of "puchi puchi" noises came from within the "Gate." Accompanying them were dazzling jets of blood that were "squeezed" out, as if someone's body was being forcibly crushed…
Not far away, Wei Chituo and the two demons couldn't help but shrink back when they saw this, a chill running down their necks.
They had all fought Li Wuyi before and had been miserably beaten. There was no telling how many characters Li Wuyi had refined into that cylindrical Book Scroll; it seemed to be an endless supply. Each character possessed a distinctly different attack effect. As for this "Gate" character, all three of them had seen it before.
They had all been drawn inside, but Li Wuyi had not used his killing moves. Still, they had been beaten to a pulp, black and blue, before being released. Because of this incident, the two demons had even ganged up to give Wei Chituo a beating, as it was he who had instigated the whole affair…
Huchen Wuding was surrounded by a deep blue mist. The other battle groups all kept a wide berth around this area.
A massive, portly Demon Lord, easily twice as wide as Huchen Wuding, was trapped within. He advanced slowly toward the edge of the blue mist, like a boat sailing against the current.
As his thick chest heaved violently, the demonic tattoos on his body writhed like living, ferocious centipedes, swaying and squirming amidst his fat.
With every step the portly demon cultivator took, a large amount of grease seeped out as his demonic tattoos swayed, and his body would shrink slightly.
With each step forward, the portly Demon Lord let out a pained roar!
An unforgiving, cold light flickered in Huchen Wuding's eyes. He knew this portly Demon Lord would never walk out of this deep blue mist.
'Though I don't know when I'll reach Nascent Soul Formation, at least in the Golden Core Realm, I am no weakling. I am no longer that useless person everyone looked down upon!'
Huchen Wuding thought to himself silently…
The sounds of killing soared to the heavens around him, but he turned a deaf ear, merely watching quietly as the portly Demon Lord rapidly shriveled.
He continued until he was as gaunt as a withered corpse. Amidst a series of sharp "kaka" sounds, as the demon cultivator looked on with despair in his eyes, his skeleton-like frame disintegrated, annihilating into a puff of green smoke within the deep blue mist…
The entire battlefield was not so one-sided. A considerable number of Golden Core cultivators from the Malevolent Spirit Sect and their guests had also fallen.
Qiu Jiuzhen was now facing a new opponent, a black-robed foreign cultivator.
"A cultivator from the Supreme Mystery Teachings! You are merely a defeated opponent!"
The black-robed foreign cultivator sneered upon seeing the Daoist robe on Qiu Jiuzhen. His voice was low and ancient. Seeing her continuously kill and grievously wound his allies, he had flashed over to block her path.
Qiu Jiuzhen's beautiful eyes were tinged with red. She had not yet recovered from the death of her junior sister. A sweep of her Divine Sense revealed that her opponent was an old man with a face full of wrinkles, his strength having reached the Pseudo-Nascent Soul Realm.
Despite this, Qiu Jiuzhen showed no fear. She had no desire for pointless talk. Wielding a Jade Water Longsword in each hand, she crossed them and slashed forward.
Instantly, a jade-colored, cross-shaped sword light appeared before her. The sword light shot through space, growing larger as it traveled. The spiritual energy in its path seemed to be sliced by a sharp edge, creating a jade-colored phantom that rapidly pushed forward.
The ancient, black-robed foreign cultivator also brandished his Magical Treasure—a pair of dual hammers, though they were completely different from Wei Zhongran's.
The golden heads of his dual hammers were only the size of an adult's fist and were covered in strange patterns, making them look like a pair of unripe watermelons. The handles were extremely long, even slightly longer than the entire length of Qiu Jiuzhen's swords.
The jade "cross" slash arrived before him in a flash. If he failed to dodge, he would be cut into four pieces just like the previous cultivator. Then, the jade "cross" would spin violently, and the Golden Core cultivator locked at its intersection would be ground into a bloody mist that filled the sky.
The ancient, black-robed foreign cultivator had seen this very scene clearly before. He held a hammer in one hand and thrust it forward.
With his strike, a ball of golden lightning appeared in front of the hammerhead, enveloping it as it struck the jade "cross" slash.
"Thud!"
With a muffled sound, a great wave of intermingling green and gold energy erupted in the air, spreading outwards in a circle.
The jade "cross" slash spun fiercely, trying to shatter the opponent's hammerhead. Unexpectedly, the hammerhead began to vibrate and strike at an extremely high speed. In just an instant, it had struck a thousand times. The jade "cross" slash trembled, its green light flickering, before it shattered into a sky full of starlight.
At the same time, the space behind Qiu Jiuzhen rippled slightly, and a grasshopper covered in floral patterns appeared behind her.
This grasshopper had a long, slender body and stood on its hind legs. The moment it appeared, it spat out a long tongue from between its two fangs. The tongue was very strange; its tip was a golden sphere the size of a fist, trailing a thin root behind it. It looked very much like the long hammer in the ancient, black-robed foreign cultivator's hand.
The tongue shot toward the back of Qiu Jiuzhen's head like lightning. Without turning, Qiu Jiuzhen swung her lithe body, and the longsword in her right hand thrust backward from under her arm.
With a "ding," Qiu Jiuzhen felt a powerful force transmit from her hand. Although she blocked the attack, the difference in their magical power was still considerable. She couldn't help but slide forward several dozen feet to dissipate the force.
As she bent down and slid forward, a cold smile tugged at the corner of the distant, ancient black-robed foreign cultivator's mouth. His withered fingers extended and curled before his chest, as if invisibly manipulating something. Then, a withered vine suddenly appeared out of thin air at Qiu Jiuzhen's feet.
This withered vine appeared without any warning. If Qiu Jiuzhen had sensed the sneak attack from behind before, this time she was truly caught off guard. Her pair of jade-like feet were instantly ensnared by the vine.
The exchange between the two took place in a single exchange, their movements reaching extreme speeds. If a Foundation Establishment cultivator were watching, it would have been over in the blink of an eye.
Yet in that extremely short time, the ancient black-robed foreign cultivator had not only blocked Qiu Jiuzhen's attack but had also, unexpectedly, launched two counterattacks almost simultaneously.
Qiu Jiuzhen's reaction was also extremely fast. She swung her dual swords directly at her ankles. But as her swords, fast as lightning, were about to strike the withered vine, she felt them being blocked by a thick layer of something.
Then, Qiu Jiuzhen felt a vast power spreading rapidly upwards from her feet. It felt as if she could no longer communicate with the outside spiritual energy, her own magical power sealed off from the outside world.
An unstoppable force enveloped her tightly and continued to contract. Qiu Jiuzhen felt as if the spiritual power in her body was about to be squeezed out. For a moment, she was completely immobilized. It was a pity that for all her various divine abilities, she had only managed to take the initiative and attack once.
Now, to an outsider, the withered vine was gone from around Qiu Jiuzhen's lithe body. A layer of gray gravel had spread from her feet, encasing her on the spot, preserving her posture of slashing downward with her swords.
The ancient black-robed foreign cultivator flashed to stand before Qiu Jiuzhen, a disdainful sneer on his lips. The various strange beasts in the chaotic flow of space back then had been far more cunning and difficult to deal with than these cultivators.
This withered vine had been refined from "Withered Vine Dust" from the Chaotic Flow Space and was extremely effective at sealing a cultivator's magical power. Its only requirement was that the Magical Treasure had to touch the cultivator's body to work.
The ancient black-robed foreign cultivator looked at Qiu Jiuzhen's graceful figure and her still-visible, angry eyes. A flash of lust crossed his eyes, but he knew what was important.
As he raised his hands, the other long hammer that had disappeared reappeared in his grasp. The golden, melon-shaped hammerheads whistled through the air as they swung down viciously, aiming to crush Qiu Jiuzhen's head by clamping down on her temples!