'Damn it, this old demon is using that soul-snatching immortal art again,' Li Yan thought. However, he knew a little about this kind of mind-controlling immortal art.
If the first surprise attack failed, unless the difference in divine sense between the two parties was huge, it would not be easy for it to work again once the other party was prepared.
Hu Xiaowang and the others, having been forewarned, had already fully raised their spirit power for protection. This time, although it was painful, they were barely holding on.
The four of them were all hunched over, clutching their chests, their eyes filled with fear, panting heavily. Fortunately, after Teng Wuji failed to figure out how Li Yan had avoided his demonic sound attack, he only used his voice to intimidate them this time.
Teng Wuji, in the rear, was bewildered. The few people in front had clearly lost their minds just now, but the kid controlling the flying magical treasure, apart from his face changing a bit, was still able to control it as usual.
"He must be carrying some kind of magical treasure that can protect the soul," Teng Wuji thought. After all, the difference in cultivation between him and Li Yan was too great; he wouldn't think of other possibilities.
The subsequent chase made Teng Wuji go from puzzled to shocked. The flying magical treasure of the cultivator in front was too sharp. After chasing for the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn at his cultivation level, he had only closed the distance by about thirty miles.
To catch up with them at this rate, he might have to fly for several thousand miles. And in this direction, they would be getting closer and closer to the mountains west of Windy Cool Mountain.
Thus, Teng Wuji's divine sense spotted his own demonic cultivator squads several times, and he wanted to command them to intercept. But before he could send a voice command, the cultivator in front seemed to have also discovered the demonic cultivator squad in advance and had long since avoided their route, going around them. This made Teng Wuji, who was about to speak, feel nothing but frustration.
He then began to doubt the cultivation realm of the cultivator operating the flying magical treasure. The distance to those demonic cultivator squads was not something a Foundation Establishment cultivator's divine sense could reach. How did the other party discover them in advance?
But he had carefully examined Li Yan and the others with his divine sense for a long time and was still certain that no one here was hiding their true cultivation.
When a cultivator used their spirit power, unless that person's realm was much higher than his own, it was impossible to hide from his detection.
Therefore, Teng Wuji trusted his judgment. As for the possibility that the other party was a Nascent Soul cultivator and he couldn't see through their hidden cultivation, if that were the case, he might have been dead long ago.
"This squad must be composed of core disciples of the Four Great Sects. Especially this leader, he must have been bestowed with many magical treasures, which is why he has the guts to come to Zhouyang Town with such a cultivation."
This was the final answer Teng Wuji came to after much deliberation. This answer made his heart burn with greed.
Just this flying magical treasure alone was a rare top-grade item. If it fell into his hands, and he were to control it, the next time he encountered a Nascent Soul cultivator, he might even be able to escape unexpectedly.
Moreover, the other party might also have treasures that could protect the soul and enhance divine sense.
Thinking of this, Teng Wuji secretly rejoiced that he had come to hunt them down alone this time. He raised his old eyebrows, and the demonic qi on his body suddenly tightened into his body.
A series of whistling sounds came from his tall and withered body. The whistling was like the biting north wind blowing through an empty pipe, sharp and piercing.
In the next moment, Teng Wuji's figure stretched into a long afterimage in the air. A breath later, when his body reappeared, it was already dozens of miles away. Then, with another whistle of wind blowing through an empty pipe, a long afterimage was once again stretched forward from its original spot, like a ghostly, evil shadow...
The emerald, almost dripping, Cloud-Piercing Willow drew a green dot in the air, appearing and disappearing, disappearing and reappearing from time to time.
On the Cloud-Piercing Willow, Bai Rou and the other five were meditating with their eyes closed. After seeing that he couldn't control Li Yan, Teng Wuji had given up on his continuous mental interference, which gave them time to recover.
Li Yan stood at the front, his divine sense spread out in all directions. While guarding against the rear, he also had to constantly plan the best route for the next moment, avoiding any possible enemies.
At the same time, Li Yan also hadn't found a single squad of his own. It was as if the area within several thousand miles of Zhouyang Town had been cleared.
But this was not absolute. In Li Yan's divine sense, there were still human cultivators appearing in the far distance, but their cultivation was the same as his, at the Foundation Establishment stage.
Li Yan would never go to such a place. Apart from bringing death to the other party, it would not help them in the slightest.
Just as Li Yan was fully focused, Hu Xiaowang's somewhat tired voice came from behind. "Junior Brother Li, was it a talisman from Martial Uncle Wei that woke us up just now? Thank you this time, Junior Brother."
Hu Xiaowang's magic power was the deepest of the five, so he was the first to recover. He remembered how he and the others had almost lost their minds from a single sentence from the other party and quickly said his thanks.
Those who knew Li Yan's identity naturally assumed that he had a life-saving talisman from Wei Zhongran. The talisman had just been activated, which was what had saved them.
And the reason Li Yan was fine was that he was at the center of the talisman's protection.
Li Yan didn't turn his head, just waved his hand behind him.
"Have we shaken off the attack of that Golden Core demonic cultivator?" At this time, Hu Xiaowang felt annoyed and, after calming down a little, continued to ask.
He had just wanted to use his divine sense to probe the rear, but a wave of dizziness came over him. He knew this was because he hadn't fully recovered yet.
He couldn't help but secretly rejoice that Li Yan hadn't been too affected by the other party. Otherwise, they would now be fish on the chopping block, to be slaughtered at will.
"We haven't shaken him off, but it won't be easy for him to catch up!" Li Yan said without turning his head. "Junior Brother Li, this was really a close call, to be tracked by a Golden Core cultivator. But this time we were really..." At this time, Yan Feijun's voice also came over. His cultivation was second only to Hu Xiaowang's, and his face was full of bitterness.
They knew in their hearts that this time, their chances of survival were slim.
At this moment, Li Yan was in no mood to look at the expressions of the two. He was anxious. Even at this speed, it would take at least three more hours to cover half the distance. Perhaps only then would they be able to meet their own mid-to-high-level cultivators.
Just then, Li Yan's body suddenly trembled. He said in a low voice, "Not good! That Golden Core demonic cultivator has used some kind of spell and is now catching up."
He had already pushed the Cloud-Piercing Willow to its limit. This speed was such that even when he was being chased by the Blue Demon Flood Dragon in the Sea of the Northern Abyss, it had never truly caught up.
Now, this Golden Core demonic cultivator's speed was clearly unreasonable. He must have used some kind of auxiliary flying immortal art or a secret method.
Of course, Li Yan knew that the other party couldn't maintain this method for long; there must be a limit. Otherwise, he would have used it long ago. But knowing was one thing; the other party had caught up, and was closing the distance with them at an extremely fast speed.
Hearing Li Yan's low shout, even Bai Rou, Sun Guoshu, and Yu Yuanjun, who were still meditating with their eyes closed, suddenly opened their eyes. Especially Yu Yuanjun, whose fear of demonic cultivators had penetrated to his very bones, his face was as white as paper.
Hu Xiaowang and Yan Feijun exchanged a look. They suppressed the discomfort in their heads and quickly scanned behind them with their divine sense. A moment later, beads of sweat rolled down their foreheads, and their faces also turned pale.
About the time it takes for half a cup of tea, Li Yan's face was ashen.
"We can't escape this time. While we still have some time, let's take out all our tricks. We can only defend ourselves on the spot and drag it out for a while, waiting for rescue."
The other party was only less than sixty miles away from them. If they continued to flee, it would be less than ten breaths before they were caught.
Just now, in his desperation, even with his abundant spirit power, Li Yan had already consumed eighty percent of it. He had to secretly swallow a drop of "Rongsun."
But the other party was still constantly closing the distance. It was futile to continue like this. Li Yan could only grit his teeth and prepare to fight for his life. Otherwise, there was no other way. To be caught by the other party would be a head-on confrontation. Who could possibly defeat a Mid-stage Golden Core Demon Lord?
However, just after escaping from Zhouyang Town, Li Yan had already activated a Ten-Thousand-Li Voice Transmission Talisman. But it had only been about half an hour since they had fled.
The Ten-Thousand-Li Voice Transmission Talisman also took time. After his master and the others received it, they would still need time to get here. They were still more than nine thousand miles away from Windy Cool Mountain, and Golden Core cultivators didn't know the art of spatial shifting.
The faces of the group were all extremely ugly. Sun Guoshu even let out a long sigh. Faced with such a powerful cultivator, what effect could their little tricks have?
At the same time, Teng Wuji, who was chasing behind them, also had an ashen face. He hadn't expected that the other party could still flee for such a long time while he was chasing at this speed.
But in this short period of time, his meridians had already begun to ache faintly, and he had consumed twenty percent of his Demonic Origin Power. In just another cup of tea's time, even if he was willing to part with his Demonic Origin Power, his meridians would not be able to support it.
This immortal art of his was called "Untraceable Demon Shadow," a mid-level immortal art. It was a pseudo-"Instantaneous Movement," modeled after the "Instantaneous Movement" immortal art that could only be used by those at the Demonic General level.
The reason "Instantaneous Movement" could only be used by those at the Demonic General and Nascent Soul level and above was that, in addition to requiring a large amount of demonic qi and spirit power, the burden on the body from tearing space in a short period of time was not something a Golden Core cultivator could bear.
Therefore, even with a pseudo-"Instantaneous Movement," even with the monstrous physical body of a demon clan cultivator, at the Demon Lord level, it was impossible to endure for a long time.
Especially the consumption of Demonic Origin Power, which would take who knows how many years of cultivation to slowly recover. The thought of this made Teng Wuji's heart bleed. But for the magical treasures on the other party, overall, it was still worth it.
Looking at the closing distance, a cruel smile finally appeared on Teng Wuji's ashen face. In just about ten more breaths, these human cultivators would be his for the taking.
Just then, an unexpected event happened ahead. The few people suddenly descended into a valley. Under Teng Wuji's astonished gaze, their figures flashed a few times and then disappeared without a trace.
"Someone's here to support them?" This was the first thought that came to Teng Wuji's mind. But in the next moment, he denied his own idea. He hadn't sensed any threat from below.
Immediately, Teng Wuji seemed to understand. "This must be them knowing they can't escape and starting to hide!"
So he let out a sneer. "To play such little tricks in front of this old man. Let this old man see what other good treasures you have that can hide from right under my nose."
Soon, he had flown over the valley. He stood in the air, slowly retracting the Demonic Origin Power in his body, and carefully examined the valley below.
The valley was overgrown with short trees and dense weeds. The entire valley was about twenty miles in range. At this time, gusts of night wind blew, and the short trees and weeds in the dark night were like demons waving clubs. All around, there were only the sounds of insects, near and far, rising and falling.
And just as Teng Wuji was looking down at the valley, in a corner of the valley, six pairs of eyes were also staring unblinkingly at the sky in the distance, where a tall and withered black shadow was floating.