When Ancestor Redfire unleashed his illusion technique, a Golden Core cultivator dealing with a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator, he was naturally brimming with confidence. However, he still underestimated Li Yan's actual cultivation. Although he could see that Li Yan was an initial-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, it was precisely for this reason that he was more casual when casting the illusion, which gave Li Yan an opening. In truth, even if Ancestor Redfire had treated Li Yan as a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, he still would have misjudged. Li Yan's current Divine Sense was significantly stronger than that of a Pseudo-Core cultivator, a fact evident from its coverage range. A late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator's Divine Sense typically covered a radius of about four hundred li, while a Pseudo-Core cultivator's might be between five and six hundred li, unless they had specially cultivated their Divine Sense. Li Yan's Divine Sense range, however, had long reached over seven hundred li, its intensity infinitely close to that of an initial-stage Golden Core cultivator.
Ancestor Redfire's Divine Sense was only a notch stronger than Li Yan's, and he hadn't used his full strength. Illusion arts were immortal arts that attacked the target's mind, causing them to become lost and disoriented, having almost nothing to do with the amount of spiritual power. Although the illusion had initially caused Li Yan a brief moment of mental disorientation, it lasted for less than a breath before his powerful Divine Sense, far exceeding that of a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, immediately brought him back to his senses.
After breaking free from the illusion, Li Yan had intended to leave quickly, but an idea struck him. How could he miss such a golden opportunity? In a flash of thought, a new plan had already formed in his mind. He suppressed his urgent desire to escape and continued to feign being deeply trapped in the illusion, as if he had been profoundly moved by Ancestor Redfire's words about forming a Golden Core. In the end, he even went so far as to expose the ambush trap he had set. Although this action first surprised Ancestor Redfire, he was very confident in his illusion technique, and thus, step by step, he walked into Li Yan's trap.
Li Yan first used the wisp of Divine Sense left on the Pine-Inkstone to expose it, and at the same time, triggered the "Lovesickness Under the Moon" poison. He knew that because it wasn't the Hour of the Ox, the poison, once activated, would need some time before it could erupt. Therefore, the wisp of Divine Sense he withdrew did not go far. If, in the end, "Lovesickness Under the Moon" failed to trigger the Pine-Inkstone's self-destruction, he would have to find a way to trigger it again, even if it meant sacrificing that wisp of Divine Sense.
So, that wisp of Divine Sense floated foolishly near the Pine-Inkstone, as if its main body was deeply trapped in an illusion. But what he hadn't expected was that the allure of a magical treasure was something even a Golden Core cultivator couldn't resist. Ancestor Redfire actually drew the Pine-Inkstone directly in front of him. This made Li Yan both happy and alarmed. He was happy because the closer the Pine-Inkstone was to Ancestor Redfire, the greater the damage it would cause. But he was alarmed because with the magical treasure right in front of the ancestor, if "Lovesickness Under the Moon" failed to trigger its self-destruction, the chances of his wisp of Divine Sense getting close again were slim to none.
Fortunately, after a few breaths, the "Lovesickness Under the Moon" attached to the Pine-Inkstone successfully absorbed enough yin energy from the surrounding world. It was just that because the time was not right, and the residual yang energy in the world was still strong, the process was much slower. The moment the yin energy was full, it automatically communicated with the moonlight in the sky and was triggered. A dazzling white light flashed, carrying the yin energy of the world and crashing directly onto the Pine-Inkstone, instantly causing it to self-destruct.
Ancestor Redfire had taken every precaution, but in the end, he still underestimated the troublesome nature of Poison Cultivators.
Time-based poisons have existed since ancient times. The great poison-cultivating titan of antiquity, the Tang Clan, once had a poison called "Rooster's Crow Soul-Severing Liquid." If a few drops of this poison were put into an ordinary river, it would gather at the bottom without dissipating. But at the time of the rooster's crow, which is the Hour of the Ox (TN: 1 a.m. to 3 a.m.), it would automatically activate the poison in the river water, turning a section of the river into a deadly poison that would kill on contact. But as soon as the Hour of the Ox passed, that section of the river would be completely harmless. The poison would, of course, be slowly consumed each time it activated, and eventually, that section of the river would return to its original state.
The method for refining such time-based potent poisons was extremely difficult, and the conditions for refining were also very restrictive. From ancient times to the present, the number of poison formulas that were ultimately formed could be counted on two hands. With the changing of sects and the passage of time, even some of the heavenly materials and earthly treasures used to refine these terrifying poisons have long since disappeared, not to mention the poison formulas, which were treasured by Poison Cultivators and have long since vanished.
The power of a magical treasure's self-destruction was enough to devastate the area it covered. Although Ancestor Redfire was a high-level cultivator, caught off guard, he only had time to frantically surge his spiritual energy to protect his entire body and subconsciously raise his right arm to block his face. The result was that his arm was directly blown to pieces, and his left cheek and left eye were also severely injured. But what terrified Ancestor Redfire even more was that there was a desperate, destructive force within his body, constantly devouring his life force. Even though he had swallowed a large number of medicinal pills, he still couldn't stop this destructive force from advancing within his body. He could only use all his cultivation to block it, which bought him temporary safety. But that destructive force was like a maggot on the bone, impossible to expel. When his spiritual energy was exhausted, it would be the time his soul returned to the underworld.
Ancestor Redfire's remaining eye was crimson. This was not due to the fire spiritual energy from his cultivation, but from extreme anger. What should have been a simple matter had been secretly sabotaged by the other party without his knowledge. Even thinking back now, he still couldn't figure out when he had been ambushed. After leaving the Gentle Wind Pavilion, he had been careful in everything, even closing all the acupoints on his body. How had the other party managed to trick him?
Ancestor Redfire forced himself to calm down. At this moment, he had no time to pursue; he could only heal his injuries as soon as possible. He took a deep breath and slowly closed his single eye.
On the other side, Li Yan fled frantically, constantly changing direction. He knew that Ancestor Redfire was not dead, so he could only fly forward with all his might. However, there were several dangerous places in this desert, and he didn't want to blindly stumble into one in his panic.
Judging by Ancestor Redfire's cultivation, his Divine Sense could cover a range of at least a thousand li. But considering some special circumstances, if Li Yan wanted to be safe, he would have to be fifteen hundred li away from Ancestor Redfire to completely shake him off. Li Yan constantly felt a cold, vicious gaze locked onto him from afar, which forced him to flee desperately to put more distance between them.
Under the moon, Li Yan was like a black gale. From the ground, a straight line cut across the huge, round moon in the sky, as if to split it in two.
More than half an hour later, Ancestor Redfire suddenly opened his single eye. Sensing that Li Yan had already flown more than eight hundred li in his Divine Sense, he thought, 'This detestable kid is really giving it his all. I can't wait any longer, or I'll lose track of him.'
Although Ancestor Redfire had been meditating and healing, he had kept a wisp of his Divine Sense locked on Li Yan. Seeing that Li Yan was about to reach the maximum range of his Divine Sense, he had no choice but to stop healing. At this time, his physical injuries had improved somewhat.
But an unknown destructive force in his body was still locked in a stalemate with his spiritual energy. However, at this moment, he had forced it into his left foot and added a one-way seal.
His left foot now looked chilling. From the ankle down, the entire foot was swollen and enlarged, several times larger than a normal foot. The boot on his foot had long since burst, leaving only a foot that glowed with a silver-white light under the moon. Compared to the normal skin above his ankle, it looked terrifyingly sinister, as if the entire left foot had just been soaked in silver filings. Even so, he had only managed to force more than ninety percent of this silver-white destructive force into his left foot. There were still two places in his body where the silver-white destructive force and his flesh had merged. Although only a few wisps of this destructive force remained, they were constantly growing. Ancestor Redfire had to constantly force the newly grown silver-white destructive force into his left foot, but he couldn't eradicate it completely.
When a cultivator reached the Foundation Establishment stage, they gained the ability of body seizure. The higher the cultivation, the higher the success rate. A Foundation Establishment cultivator relied on their soul for body seizure, a Golden Core cultivator relied on their Golden Core, and a Nascent Soul stage cultivator and above relied on their Nascent Soul.
A Golden Core cultivator's entire cultivation was in the single Golden Core within their body. As long as the Golden Core was not destroyed, there was a possibility of rebirth through body seizure. Seeing that this physical body was completely done for, Ancestor Redfire knew what he had to do. If it was just a missing arm and eye, he could find pills to regenerate limbs and restore sight, even if it cost a huge amount of spirit stones. But the unknown potent poison he had forced into his left foot could not be removed. No matter how he pushed all his spiritual power to the limit, he couldn't force this destructive power out of his left foot by even half an inch. Even if he cut off his left foot, it would be useless. There were still a few wisps of the silver-white destructive force that had taken root in his body, constantly growing. After consideration, he might as well keep his left foot to barely support his body.
He now had to capture Li Yan before this physical body was destroyed. He would use Li Yan's soul as fuel, ignite it, and burn it for eighty-one days, making Li Yan wish for death every moment, wailing in agony, to vent the anger in his heart.
No cultivator would be willing to resort to body seizure unless it was absolutely necessary. Not to mention that the cultivation level would drop significantly after body seizure, the success rate was generally only fifty-fifty. Moreover, a cultivator only had one chance at body seizure in their entire life. Ancestor Redfire never thought that he would use this last life-saving chance in the hunt for a Foundation Establishment cultivator. How could he not hate Li Yan to the bone? He would not let Li Yan die a quick death. He wanted to watch Li Yan howl in bone-deep agony every day to feel some relief.
Ancestor Redfire stood up. The moment he stood up, the wounds on his body that had already healed instantly burst open like a punctured water bag. Blood shot out from his body like arrows. But these blood arrows did not fall to the sand after shooting some distance. Instead, with a roar, they formed balls of red flame around him. These bright red, scorching flames floated around Ancestor Redfire. His originally listless aura began to climb in an instant. With painful roars, more blood shot out from his body. With a series of rumbles, the flames around Ancestor Redfire blazed, like a demon clad in monstrous flames under the moonlit night.
Ancestor Redfire no longer planned to keep this broken physical body. In his fury, he used the "Fiery Bloodbath Art," a self-harming evil technique. He used an evil method to burn his essence blood in exchange for a temporary surge in power. However, like many self-harming secret arts, this method had many drawbacks. The "Fiery Bloodbath Art" also had many restrictions. When half of the essence blood was burned, the spell had to be stopped. Otherwise, the caster's soul would melt, and they would be completely turned into a mindless ghost cultivator.
After using this art, the physical body would be extremely weak and would require about ten years of recuperation to recover. Ancestor Redfire would need more than ten years of hard cultivation to recover after using it once. This art not only damaged the physical body, but also the cultivation level. One careless mistake and his realm could drop, possibly sending him directly back to the Foundation Establishment stage. It would be almost impossible to form a Golden Core again.
However, at this moment, Ancestor Redfire's hatred for Li Yan had reached an incomparable level. Besides, he didn't need much time. With his power greatly increased for a short period, he believed he could soon catch up to Li Yan and capture him. Even if there was some delay, he had pills to replenish his qi and blood in his storage pouch, which could temporarily prevent his physical body from collapsing. This was the basis of his confidence in cultivating this art. The only thing to worry about was the side effect of the "Fiery Bloodbath Art" on the Golden Core in his Dantian's Purple Mansion.
When Ancestor Redfire was like a giant of flame, his figure flickered and rolled towards the horizon like a dazzling, scorching sun.