The Golden-Horned Bull was naturally violent and known as one of the least intelligent beasts at the Purple Mansion stage. Instead of fleeing upon seeing the group, it charged at them head-on.
"Finish it quickly," said Elder Yang, brimming with excitement as he immediately activated his Thunderfire Sword to slash at the mid-Purple Mansion stage Golden-Horned Bull.
As planned, Xu Daoyuan moved second, intercepting another beast at the third level of the Purple Mansion stage. The remaining Golden-Horned Bull, still at the early Purple Mansion stage, had no time to react before Xu Qianyang, Yang Yuanhe, Elian, and the Patriarch surrounded it.
They unleashed their powerful techniques and treasures: the Fiery Void Sword, Crimson-Gold Barrier-Piercing Sword Beam, Green Wood Spirit Orb, and Earth Element Divine Thunder. Overwhelmed, the beast, unable to defend itself against so many attackers, quickly found itself on the defensive, its roars of fury shaking the heavens but to no avail.
Within just seven or eight moves, Xu Qianyang ended the fight decisively by activating the Flaming Goldfire Dragon Shears, decapitating the creature and killing it in mid-air.
With the first Golden-Horned Bull slain, the four fighters turned their attention to the second one. Although it was slightly stronger, it stood no chance against the combined assault of five experts of the same level.
The Golden-Horned Bull species was typically slow-moving for Purple Mansion beasts but relied on their formidable bodies for survival. They were notoriously difficult to hunt.
However, against this group and the might of the Flaming Goldfire Dragon Shears, even third-tier superior beasts couldn't stand their ground, let alone it, which was slain mid-air with a single devastating strike.
As two of their kin fell, the Golden-Horned Bull battling Elder Yang finally felt fear. It used its third-tier Golden Horns, refined into flying swords, to block the Thunderfire Sword and attempted to flee.
This mid-Purple Mansion stage bull had thick skin and tough flesh, enduring over 200 miles of pursuit while sustaining grievous injuries.
It was close to reaching the reinforcements of the Blue Flame Fox. Just as it seemed it might escape, Lin Qianshu and Su Mingwei arrived. From a thousand feet away, Lin Qianshu activated the Ice Jade Radiant Light Curse, enveloping the beast in a white light that froze it mid-air.
Seizing the moment, Elder Yang drove his Thunderfire Sword forward, wielding the Mountain-Splitting Soul-Cleaving Axe to deliver a blow that severed the beast's head.
In the distance, two Blue Flame Foxes and a Six-Winged Golden Butterfly witnessed this scene. Terrified, they turned and fled toward the territory of the demon clans, abandoning their army in panic.
However, just as the group was about to pursue, a powerful presence emerged from the northern sky. Two overwhelming demonic auras surged forth, suppressing even Jiang Linglong's momentum.
"One is the Sky Python Demon King, and the other..." someone muttered.
"Not good—it's the Purple-Blood Python," Elian said, his pupils shrinking as he hastened to intercept with his flying sword.
Realizing the precarious situation, the group understood that if Jiang Linglong fell, their combined strength wouldn't suffice to oppose the Sky Python Demon King. They quickly rushed to the battlefield.
Within half an incense stick of time, they saw Jiang Linglong. She had transformed into a sword incarnate, her radiant Sword Qi cutting across the sky as she dueled the two fearsome demonic beasts.
The beasts were terrifying in their presence. One was the infamous Sky Python Demon King, its black body stretching over 300 feet. Though it was only at the second level of the Golden Core stage, it had lived for over 800 years and could potentially live another 800—twice the lifespan of a typical Golden Core cultivator.
The other was the Purple-Blood Python, its purple body nearly 100 feet long, the stuff of legends.
"Hold back the Purple-Blood Python," Elder Yang commanded.
He was the first to act, unleashing his Thunderfire Sword, which transformed into a fifty-foot Sword Qi to slash at the python. The seven others followed suit, each deploying their strongest techniques and treasures.
Though at the peak of the Purple Mansion stage, the Purple-Blood Python had to tread carefully under the coordinated assault of seven Purple Mansion cultivators. It abandoned its attack on Jiang Linglong, summoning its magical treasures to fend off its attackers instead.
With the Purple-Blood Python tied down, Jiang Linglong exhaled in relief. She turned her focus to the Sky Python Demon King, her eyes glinting with a cold killing intent.
"Golden Core Demon King, let's fight," she declared, summoning her Tianxu Immortal-Slaying Sword and attacking.
The Sky Python Demon King responded with icy indifference. It opened its jaws and unleashed its technique, "Sky Python Devours Heaven."
This technique was derived from the great art "Black Dragon Devours Heaven," a legendary technique said to originate from the Black Dragon Demon Ancestor.
This ancestor, an ancient being of unknown age, had once swallowed an expanse of heaven and earth spanning tens of thousands of miles with this skill.
Though weakened over countless generations, the Sky Python Demon King retained a trace of this dragon bloodline and inherited a simplified version of the technique. It seemed ready to swallow the Tianxu Immortal-Slaying Sword whole.
Jiang Linglong, however, remained unfazed. Her eyes narrowed as she summoned a formation disk.
As the disk appeared, countless formation patterns lit up, locking down the surrounding space and suppressing the demon king's technique.
"A life-bound treasure!" the Sky Python Demon King exclaimed in shock, speaking in human tongue.
No one had expected Jiang Linglong to succeed in creating a second life-bound treasure and, with her Lunar Immortal Physique, elevate it to a fourth-tier lower grade.
"This is the 'Ji Earth Primordial Disk' " she said, naming her life-bound treasure.
This earth-element treasure, embodying her mastery of formations, excelled in sealing and suppressing foes while serving as a peerless defensive tool. It drew upon the power of earth veins to form a protective barrier, nearly invincible against those of the same level.
"An excellent treasure," the Sky Python Demon King growled coldly. It summoned the fourth-tier defensive treasure "Five-Smoke Gauze of the Earth Marsh" to block Jiang Linglong's Tianxu Immortal-Slaying Sword, then retaliated with a black immortal sword.
This black sword, called the Ink Snow Immortal Sword, had once been the life-bound treasure of the female Golden Core rogue cultivator known as Ink Snow Ancestor. Following her death, the sword had been lost, only to reappear here in the hands of the demon king.
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I need POWAAA! Gimme Power Stones :D