At the critical moment, just as his fire spirit power was about to be exhausted, Li Yan finally saw this scene.
Without a second thought, Li Yan knew what he had to do.
Under the deliberate guidance of the True Scripture of Gui Water, the Gui Water spirit power he had cultivated thousands of times was rapidly converted into the fire cauldron. As the spirit power from the water, earth, metal, and wood cauldrons converted into one another, his body slowly formed pure fire spirit power.
The spirit power in his Dantian quieted down, and the lethal, scorching heat of the fiery red space outside finally lost its power to evaporate him.
Attacked from both within and without, Li Yan had nearly become a dried corpse the instant he entered the "Spirit-Absorbing Bottle."
Even long after, whenever Li Yan recalled this incident, he would be filled with lingering fear. Only later did he have the time to guess the function of the restriction within the bottle.
But at this moment, Li Yan had no time to ponder such things. He was worried about the situation outside and was desperate to get out immediately.
After checking that he was temporarily out of danger, Li Yan quickly swept his divine sense around. He immediately understood that he was in a restricted space, and everything he was experiencing was an attack generated by the automatic operation of the magical treasure's internal restriction.
Li Yan was surrounded by a sea of crimson, a space that seemed boundless. Above his head, a single point of light flickered intermittently.
Li Yan estimated that one or two breaths of time had passed since he entered. His body erupted in spiritual light as he shot directly towards the point of light above him, reaching it in the next instant.
Without hesitation, Li Yan twisted his body in mid-air, and with a burst of power from his waist, he kicked out. At the same time, a faint silver sheen flashed across his withered skin—a sign that he was fully channeling the power of his body refined by the "Undead Nether Phoenix" essence blood.
But as Li Yan's thunderous kick struck the point of light, his body jolted violently. A gentle rebounding force sent him flying back faster than he had arrived.
Li Yan shot downwards at an even greater speed. With a loud "boom," he was slammed heavily onto the red-lit ground, the silver glow on his body flashing wildly.
'I can't break through!' Li Yan quickly sprang up from the ground, and with a flicker, he was back at the shimmering point of light above. He was frantic, with no time to think carefully.
Since brute force wouldn't work, a white light flashed in Li Yan's hand, and a square kerchief, as white as jade, appeared. It was the "Heaven-Stealing Kerchief," which Li Yan had long suspected to be an Ancient Treasure.
With a wave of his hand, Li Yan sent the "Heaven-Stealing Kerchief" to cover the flashing point of light above. At this moment, his heart was pounding with extreme tension. If even the "Heaven-Stealing Kerchief" failed, he truly had no other way to leave this place.
More importantly, he was counting the time. More than three breaths should have passed by now. Any later, and even if he could get out, it would be too late.
By then, Bai Rou and the other five would be dead, and he himself might be taken to the demonic clan's territory along with this strange bottle.
But perhaps he wouldn't even live that long. As soon as the demonic cultivator dealt with Bai Rou's group, he would have time to deal with him exclusively.
Although he was temporarily safe, he was still inside the enemy's magical treasure. With the methods of a Golden Core cultivator, there were countless ways to make him wish for death but find no release.
...
Watching the disgusting, unwashed-looking, withered black finger emerge from her mouth, Bai Rou was so ashamed and furious she wished she were dead. Yet, she was utterly powerless to resist.
Teng Wuji looked at the pill pinched in his fingers and let out a cold laugh. "So it's a Poison Pill. But in front of me, no matter what heaven-defying tricks you have, it's all a wasted effort. Hehehe..."
Seeing the despair and agony in Bai Rou's eyes, and then looking at her exquisite face, the lustful fire in Teng Wuji's heart blazed even hotter. His eyes looked as if they were about to shoot flames.
He had already begun to scan the surroundings with his divine sense, searching for a cave or some other suitable place.
Bai Rou closed her eyes in agony, and a stream of tears rolled down her cheeks.
Just then, a series of thunderous "bangs" erupted like a sudden storm. Bai Rou felt the hand clamped on her neck tremble twice in quick succession, and then her body was sent flying.
A rush of fresh air flooded into her body. Bai Rou quickly opened her eyes and found herself flying through the air. The demonic claw that had been controlling her was gone.
At that moment, a voice and a heaven-shaking roar reached her ears.
"Senior Sister, be careful!"
"Who... who is it? It's... you!"
A voice so familiar it felt like a dream. She was then supported by a gentle force and guided to the ground.
Before her stood a youth in a green robe, his back to her.
"Junior... Junior Brother Li!" Bai Rou's grief-stricken tears had not yet dried. She stared forward with disbelief in her beautiful eyes, muttering his name before she began to retch.
The other enraged roar was still echoing through the valley. Teng Wuji looked as if he had seen a ghost, staring at the skeleton-like youth before him.
Teng Wuji's robes were completely shredded at the chest, revealing muscular skin covered in ferocious, writhing patterns. As the patterns moved, a patch of dark purple on his skin was slowly fading.
Teng Wuji glanced down at the dark purple marks on his wrist and chest. He then immediately scanned the area with his divine sense but found no other cultivators.
"You... you... how did you get out? How could you possibly get out!" Teng Wuji's divine sense found no newcomers nearby. He stared viciously at Li Yan, his eyes practically spitting fire as he roared in a low voice.
He couldn't believe the other party had the ability, or some magical treasure, that could break out of the "Spirit-Absorbing Bottle." Ever since he obtained it, no living creature he had sucked in had ever escaped.
Teng Wuji was confident that even if he himself were sucked into the "Spirit-Absorbing Bottle," he would face certain death. The "Spirit-Absorbing Bottle" was a fire-attribute magical treasure of unknown rank, which he had obtained in the Demon Realm's "Demon-Swallowing Abyss" after killing several cultivators of the same realm.
The restriction formation within it could melt all spirit power and souls. However, if one were a fire-attribute cultivator, it would have a complementary effect. A cultivator entering it would find their spirit power and soul unaffected, but that would require the legendary "Fire-attribute Saint Spirit Root."
Their fire spirit power had to be completely pure, without a single trace of impurity. Teng Wuji had only ever heard of cultivators with such a spirit root; he had never seen one.
"You... you have a single fire attribute Saint Spirit Root? And a Poison Cultivator with a Saint Spirit Root at that."
Just now, in the storm of blows, he had been hit several times and simultaneously poisoned. But the poison had been blocked at the surface by his formidable physique and was being slowly expelled.
The moment this thought arose in Teng Wuji's mind, he found it somewhat ridiculous. A cultivator with such heaven-defying talent would never be allowed out for training by any sect before they had matured, at least not before the Nascent Soul stage.
"And... even if he has a Saint Spirit Root, how did he get out? At most, he should only be able to temporarily survive the bottle's restriction. Escaping the Spirit-Absorbing Bottle has nothing to do with one's spirit root; it's a matter of strength..."
For a moment, Teng Wuji felt a sense of absurdity mixed with unreality.
The youth who had appeared before him was too bizarre. And his physical body was just as formidable. He himself was a demonic cultivator, yet the moment the youth appeared, his first strike had made his arms go numb.
Teng Wuji had never expected someone to suddenly appear right in front of him. In addition, he had been deliberately controlling his strength for fear of harming Bai Rou.
The youth who appeared before him had sent her flying with just two strikes after a single blow loosened his five-fingered grip. Then, a kick landed on his chest, instantly tearing a large hole in his spirit treasure-grade robes. The entire sequence of movements was like flowing clouds and running water, unbelievably fast.
From his appearance to his attack, the green-robed youth showed not a hint of hesitation or delay. It made Teng Wuji suspect the boy did this sort of thing often.
What was even more incredible to Teng Wuji was that although he had been hit twice in his haste, he had reacted quickly and had already covered his body with defenses. Yet, he was still knocked back by the opponent. A Foundation Establishment cultivator had actually kicked him five zhang away.
His chest ached terribly, leaving him momentarily bewildered. 'Since when did human cultivators have such a fierce Body Cultivator?'
At this moment, Li Yan looked quite miserable himself. Besides his shriveled body, the hem of his green robe was shredded and long gone. His trousers on one leg were also torn, revealing a withered calf. Blood was seeping from the edge of the shoe on that foot.
Li Yan stood with his hands behind his back, silently watching Teng Wuji. Both Bai Rou and Teng Wuji were in a state of shock, and no one noticed that Li Yan's hands, hidden in his sleeves, and his right leg were trembling slightly.
Teng Wuji was horrified, but Li Yan was even more so. The moment he escaped the "Spirit-Absorbing Bottle," he had appeared between Teng Wuji and Bai Rou. This was because the position of the "Spirit-Absorbing Bottle" determined where he would emerge.
The moment he saw the "Heaven-Stealing Kerchief" cover the spot and a large hole appear above his head, Li Yan had made all preparations.
He had calculated that he should appear somewhere near the demonic cultivator. But his first sight of Bai Rou, with her neck being choked, still gave him a great shock.
So, the moment he appeared, he immediately unleashed the full power of his Qiongqi Purgatory, his body refined by the Undead Nether Phoenix essence blood, and his Fragmented Poison Body, erupting with one hundred percent of his power.
With just two strikes, he had sent Bai Rou flying, which first brought Li Yan a sense of relief.
He had thought that with a surprise attack, he could at least heavily injure the opponent, but the result was not at all what he expected.
Although his final kick had landed on the opponent's chest and he had injected all of his Fragmented Poison into the man's body, besides slightly injuring the demonic cultivator, and even as the dark red on the man's chest was rapidly healing, his own right foot had been fractured by the rebound, blood spurting out.
With the element of surprise, he had given it his all, unleashing his Fragmented Poison with his full strength during the attack. But now it seemed that besides numbing Teng Wuji's arm in his unprepared state, causing him to throw Bai Rou away, and leaving a slight wound on his chest, it hadn't caused any significant damage at all.
What chilled Li Yan's heart even more was that the demonic cultivator had returned to normal in an extremely short time.
This was the same Fragmented Poison he had used against the master and mistress of Griefspirit Manor. Although they had resisted it, they had to constantly suppress the poison with their magical power.
Otherwise, their skin would have ulcerated and fallen off. This time, he had naturally thought of this poison first. His hands and feet had made contact during the attack, and he had definitely injected it into the opponent's body.
But the demonic cultivator before him seemed to feel nothing, with only his wrist and chest turning dark purple. This made Li Yan understand a truth: no matter how strong his Fragmented Poison was, it had its limits. Against a powerful cultivator, it couldn't be like when he dealt with Jiao Hua, killing the opponent upon contact.