As the demon cultivator tugged on the iron chain, a look of pain would appear on his face. Black gas swirled rapidly around his thick arms, and the large green veins bulged. The patterns on his face writhed and squirmed like living worms, a sight that would make one's scalp tingle.
At this moment, a demon cultivator who had just finished pulling the iron ring, after taking a few heavy breaths, turned his head to look at the other demon cultivator beside him, and said with some fatigue, "Wu Yuan, we can't go on like this. I can't consume my Demonic Origin Power like this anymore, or my cultivation might drop."
"Ge Feng, that was an order from a Demon Lord just now, demanding that we kill these five Desolate Moon Continent cultivators. If we can't complete it, do I need to tell you what will happen to us?" the demon cultivator called Wu Yuan replied impolitely. In fact, he was also extremely helpless. The hierarchy in the Demon Clan was incredibly strict. If an order from above was not completed, it was very likely that they would be executed on the spot. Although he knew that they were in need of manpower right now, and the Demon Lord might not necessarily execute the two of them, the consequences would definitely not be good. It was just that the human cultivator's flying magical treasure was too sharp. His prized Demon Cabinet was actually unable to catch up. Thinking about the consequences of failing to complete the order, he could only use his Demonic Origin Power, regardless of the cost to his body.
Demonic Origin Power, in the cultivation of the physical body, was second only to Essence Blood. It was a unique product of the demon body, originating from the Demonic Core, but different from the ordinary demonic qi in the Demonic Core. To be precise, every time one cultivated the physical body, the demonic qi circulating throughout the body would carry away a trace of essence from the flesh and blood and store it in the center of the Demonic Core. Its power was far greater than the demonic qi in the Demonic Core, and it played an irreplaceable role in the future advancement and stabilization of a demon cultivator's realm.
This Flying Demon Cabinet belonged to Wu Yuan. Behind him was a renowned great sect in the Demon Realm, and his master was also a famous Demon Lord. He was extremely satisfied with this disciple, Wu Yuan, so he spared no expense to create this flying magical treasure for him. Even in the Desolate Moon Continent, this flying treasure was an extremely rare and sharp flying tool.
The most formidable aspect of demon cultivators was their bodies; they excelled at close-quarters combat. Therefore, descriptions involving lightness and agility were almost always unrelated to them. This, of course, included speed, but it was not absolute and was limited by cultivation. For example, Li Yan had once encountered the manor lord of Griefspirit Manor. After her cultivation reached a certain level, she could keep up with Li Yan's Cloud-Piercing Willow just by running, which was extremely astonishing. But even though that female demon cultivator from Griefspirit Manor had also reached the Demon Lord cultivation level, she had only just advanced to Demon Lord. To chase Li Yan, she needed to rely on a flying sword under her feet.
So when Wu Yuan got this Flying Demon Cabinet, coupled with his formidable physical body, he became famous among his peers in the Demon Realm. When he fought with others, if he was no match, he would directly summon the Flying Demon Cabinet and flee. Other demon cultivators could only stomp their feet and curse, but very few could catch up. And in actual combat, he could shrink the Demon Cabinet and step on it for short-distance surprise attacks, throwing demon cultivators who specialized in head-on clashes into disarray.
When Wu Yuan and his group first received the order to kill Li Yan's group of five, they didn't think much of it. Their squad was a formidable team composed of foreign cultivators, primarily used for hunting down Windy Cool Mountain cultivators, not for scouting intelligence. Since its formation two months ago, they had killed as many as twenty-five cultivators from the Desolate Moon Continent, with only one Demonic Soldier and two cultivators as casualties.
Since Li Yan and his group were only a little over two hundred li away, based on past experience, as long as they summoned the Flying Demon Cabinet, nine times out of ten, the other party would have no chance of escape.
But the following scene greatly surprised Wu Yuan, the captain. Just as he confidently activated the Flying Demon Cabinet, the five opponents instantly increased the distance between them by several li.
Wu Yuan couldn't help but get serious. However, he still believed that he had been careless just now and didn't think the other party could possess a flying magical treasure that could rival the Demon Cabinet. But after chasing for a few more breaths, he was greatly shocked. He finally confirmed that the other party also had a high-grade flying magical treasure, and its grade was even higher than his Demon Cabinet.
So he mobilized all the demonic qi in his body to give chase with all his might. But a moment later, to Wu Yuan's chagrin, no matter how he pushed the Flying Demon Cabinet, the distance between them continued to widen. Although he was unwilling to admit that his Demon Cabinet was inferior to the other party's, he was helpless. Thinking of the order given by the Demon Lord just now, he had no choice but to have Ge Feng, who was with him, also use his Demonic Origin Power to control the Flying Demon Cabinet.
Although Ge Feng was extremely reluctant, under the Demon Clan's hierarchy, how could he dare to violate an order from a Demon Lord, especially since he was only the vice-captain? Ge Feng could only endure the pain and use his Demonic Origin Power. Indeed, with the two of them taking turns using their Demonic Origin Power, although the Flying Demon Cabinet was still being pulled away bit by bit, they had chased for a thousand li, and still managed to keep the other party within their divine sense control.
But by this time, even Wu Yuan and Ge Feng couldn't take it anymore. From frequently using their Demonic Origin Power at the beginning, to now only one of them using it to control the Flying Demon Cabinet after a period of time, they had almost reached their limit. Nearly forty percent of their Demonic Origin Power had already disappeared from their Demonic Cores. When it dropped to half, their cultivation would suffer an irreversible decline.
"Fellow Daoists, actually, the people ahead should also be unable to hold on!"
Just then, an emotionless voice came from behind Wu Yuan and Ge Feng. Although he said the words "Fellow Daoists," anyone who heard it would feel as if a puppet was speaking coldly.
Hearing this, Wu Yuan glanced at the withered human cultivator, a wave of disgust welling up in his heart. But he put a smile on his face. "Oh, Fellow Daoist Wang, what makes you say that?" Even though these foreign cultivators were cooperating with them, they were ultimately just lowly humans. However, Wu Yuan knew very well that these cultivators were far from being comparable to the cultivators of the Desolate Moon Continent. Even he himself might not be able to defeat this cultivator named Wang Changkun.
Wang Changkun just gestured with his mouth. "They've slowed down!" His face remained stiff, his voice cold, and his hands were still clasped behind his back, a picture of superiority.
In the past, seeing Wang Changkun's attitude, Wu Yuan would definitely have been dissatisfied. But now he directly ignored it. Just now, he and Ge Feng had been hesitating whether to continue using their Demonic Origin Power, so they hadn't paid close attention to the situation ahead.
Wu Yuan and Ge Feng hurriedly probed forward with their divine senses. To their surprise, the speed of the flying magical treasure ahead had finally slowed down. Although their divine senses were blocked by the isolation restriction outside the Cloud-Piercing Willow and they couldn't see the situation inside clearly, the sudden drop in speed definitely meant something unexpected had happened.
At this moment, a thought simultaneously surfaced in the minds of Wu Yuan and Ge Feng. "Their magical treasure is the same as ours. To escape, they must have used a self-harming secret art similar to using essence blood, which is why they had such speed. Now, all five of them have probably taken turns and exhausted themselves. This is their limit."
This made Wu Yuan feel much more balanced. It turned out it wasn't that his Demon Cabinet was slow, but that the other party, in their desperation, must have used a self-harming body art.
...
After Hu Xiaowang and Yan Feijun finished speaking, a silence fell upon the Cloud-Piercing Willow.
"The other party must have used a secret art that greatly damages the body. This can be confirmed by the fluctuating speed of the flying magical treasure behind us. And at this time, that Golden Core demon cultivator is definitely unable to use his divine sense to probe the situation here. As long as he releases his divine sense, it will be interrupted by that martial uncle. Therefore, we can ignore that Golden Core demon cultivator. Now, only the squad of enemies behind us remains." Li Yan finally broke the silence.
Bai Rou thought for a moment and nodded her delicate head. "I also noticed that their flying speed is sometimes strong and sometimes weak. Junior Brother Li is right. And with the Windy Cool Mountain martial uncle intercepting that Demon Lord's divine sense, for now, only the eight-person team behind us is the biggest threat..."
"So what?" Yan Feijun felt that Li Yan and Bai Rou's words were meaningless. He even felt that making Li Yan the captain was a mistake.
"So, we don't need to fly west anymore. Otherwise, we'll need at least another thousand li to completely shake off their divine sense probe, and we can't be sure if there will be any other accidents along the way," Li Yan said faintly.
This time, as soon as Li Yan finished speaking, even Hu Xiaowang felt it was nonsense. "Do you really want to fight those eight people behind us to the death? Junior Brother Li, you have to think clearly. Here... here, probably only Senior Sister Bai is confident she can protect herself..."
He originally wanted to say, 'Here, apart from you and Sun Guoshu, we can fight the other side. Even if we can't win, we have the ability to protect ourselves,' but in the end, he didn't say it directly. However, anyone could hear that the tone of Yan Feijun and Hu Xiaowang had become less respectful. When their own lives were at stake, how could they let Li Yan act so recklessly?
Li Yan smiled, without a trace of displeasure on his face. "How about this? In a moment, we'll fly down into the forest below. Then, I'll temporarily separate from you and lure away the two demon cultivators. Among the remaining five, there is only one at the Pseudo-Core realm. I believe that with Senior Sister Bai's puppets, plus the cultivation of Senior Brothers Hu and Yan, and with Fellow Daoist Sun assisting from the side, even if the foreign cultivators are formidable, the battle should end quickly."
"What? You... you want to lure away two demon cultivators by yourself?" "Junior Brother Li, don't be reckless..." "Junior Brother, what... what kind of plan is this?"...
Hearing Li Yan's faint words, the four of them objected almost in unison, with expressions of disbelief on their faces.
But Li Yan just looked at them with a smile. Then Hu Xiaowang tried to persuade him again. "Junior Brother Li, are you crazy? Let's not even talk about whether your plan to lure away the two demon cultivators is feasible. How can you make the other party obediently listen to you and split up their pursuit? And have both demon cultivators chase in your direction?"
Although Hu Xiaowang was dissatisfied with Li Yan, thinking about his identity and this mission, he still suppressed his complaints and voiced his opposition. The few questions he raised were indeed about the matter itself, not personal. Putting aside the final success of the plan, it was as if the other party would just cooperate with Li Yan's plan. Wasn't that just wishful thinking? It was too self-righteous.
Bai Rou and the others also directly rejected Li Yan's proposal in their hearts. Seeing that Hu Xiaowang had already expressed his opinion, they all fell silent and looked at Li Yan.
After Li Yan swept his divine sense behind them, he said, "I should have a way to make the two demon cultivators give up chasing you and only pursue in the direction I flee. On this point, I, Li, will not joke about such things. Right now, the pursuers behind us are about three hundred and forty li away. In a moment, we will rush into the forest below. With Senior Brother Yan's skill in formations, we will have enough time to set up a small concealment formation. Then, we can set up an ambush formation inside. We just need to deliberately reveal some flaws in our escape, and the other party will definitely split their forces to pursue you. At the same time, I will lure away the two demon cultivators. The rest will depend on you, senior brothers and sister. My life is in your hands."
As Li Yan spoke, his expression became more and more serious, without the slightest hint of a joke.