The small giant ape puppet was supposed to bare its fangs for an attack the moment the "White Blaze Demon Tiger" was held in check by the combined force of the larger puppet's palms. But now, it was as if it had run straight into a wall.
Everything happened in a flash of lightning. Bai Rou, inside the formation, had no idea how rich the "White Blaze Demon Tiger's" combat experience was. She had suddenly fallen into a disadvantage, stepping right into the opponent's trap.
Completely unprepared, Bai Rou's actions seemed to be coordinating with the enemy step by step. What surprised her most, of course, was the attack method and power of the "White Blaze Demon Tiger's" severed tail.
The "White Blaze Demon Tiger" had been suppressed and beaten by the three giant ape puppets all this time, and it had been unable to break through the defense formed by the trio. Yet, it had been hiding its "severed tail" attack ability, waiting for the right moment to strike.
Now, it had finally launched its fatal blow. The "White Blaze Demon Tiger's" intention with this attack was clear: destroy the small puppet and trap one of the large ones in a single move.
Without coordinated positioning, how much of a threat could the remaining one pose to it?
One moment, Bai Rou felt victory was in her grasp; the next, the situation had taken a drastic downturn.
With only one puppet, she could no longer contend with a Third-rank demonic beast, even a heavily injured one.
What made Bai Rou's heart fill with even more bitterness was that her hope of helping Li Yan had become as illusory as the moon in the water or a flower in the mirror.
The "White Blaze Demon Tiger" stared at the small giant ape puppet before it, its eyes flashing with venomous hatred. 'This time, let's see where you can run.'
Its body flashed and arrived in an instant. The "White Blaze Demon Tiger's" claws slashed down viciously. Bai Rou's misjudgment had delayed her control seals. At this moment, the small giant ape puppet was like a panicked child, staring blankly at the ferocious "White Blaze Demon Tiger" pouncing towards it.
This time, the white light on the "White Blaze Demon Tiger's" claws was so dazzling it could almost blind someone. It had instantly raised its demonic qi to eighty percent, determined to destroy the puppet before it in one blow and break their coordinated method.
Faced with this, Bai Rou was powerless to turn the tide. But just then, she heard a derisive "hehehe" laugh beside her.
In the next moment, Bai Rou, whose divine sense had been focused on the battle outside, hadn't yet had time to retract it when she saw the "White Blaze Demon Tiger"—which had already pounced to within a foot of the small giant ape puppet, the airflow from its sharp claws already causing the puppet's chest to cave in.
A savage, triumphant smile appeared on the "White Blaze Demon Tiger's" face. But just as Bai Rou heard that malicious laugh from her side, the expression on the "White Blaze Demon Tiger's" face suddenly seemed to freeze.
The ferocity on its face first congealed, then turned to disbelief, and then... and then, it had no time to react further.
Its entire body felt as if it had been viciously yanked from behind. With a "whoosh," its whole body was rapidly pulled diagonally backward, followed by a heaven-shaking, mournful scream.
A great shower of blood, mixed with a rain of minced flesh, drifted down from the night sky.
In Bai Rou's eyes, she saw the whole picture more clearly. The moment the "White Blaze Demon Tiger's" expression froze, she saw a long, purple ribbon suddenly extend from the formation she was in.
It looked... like a long elephant's trunk. In a single motion, it had coiled around one of the hind legs of the pouncing "White Blaze Demon Tiger."
The "White Blaze Demon Tiger" had calculated everything perfectly, putting all its force into the attack. But the sneak attack of the "purple ribbon" was not only from a clever angle but also perfectly timed.
The moment it coiled around the "White Blaze Demon Tiger's" hind leg, the "purple ribbon" gave a simple tug, pulling the tiger back onto its original trajectory. The entire motion was skilled and fluid, as if it had been practiced a thousand times.
While the expression of disbelief was still on the "White Blaze Demon Tiger's" face, a line of white-gold light appeared on its original path, plunging into its body with the force to split the heavens and crack the earth.
The arrow formed from the Mid-grade Spirit Stone, condensed in the mouth of the other Long-armed Giant Ape puppet, had arrived at that exact moment.
This arrow had been formed by Bai Rou in her desperation, using all her strength to condense the pure spirit qi from the Mid-grade Spirit Stone inside the Long-armed Giant Ape puppet. The concentration of spirit power it contained was enough to shatter mountains and stop tides.
Perhaps the "purple ribbon" had deliberately controlled the "White Blaze Demon Tiger's" retreat path, or perhaps it was a coincidence. To Bai Rou's astonishment, her lips slightly parted, that white-gold arrow plunged right into the bloody hole in the "White Blaze Demon Tiger's" side.
The terrifying spirit qi in the white-gold arrow not only instantly minced the "White Blaze Demon Tiger's" internal organs but, a moment later, exploded within its body in a dazzling burst of blue light.
Let alone the "White Blaze Demon Tiger" being a Third-rank demonic beast with a formidable physique, even if it were a Fourth-rank demonic beast, if such terrifying power exploded inside its body, it's estimated that besides its demonic infant escaping, its physical body would also be unable to withstand it.
The pitiful "White Blaze Demon Tiger" only managed to let out a final, unwilling, mournful howl before it died. The roar had just left its mouth when it was cut short, and its body had already turned into a rain of blood in the sky. It couldn't even manage to let its essence soul escape in time.
Bai Rou turned her head somewhat dazedly to look at the Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant on her side, which was retracting its long trunk. The Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant said glumly, "I still ended up consuming soul power. It's so troublesome without a physical body!"
"You... you are a Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant!" A passage from an ancient text suddenly flashed through Bai Rou's mind. Although she was obsessed with the art of mechanisms and puppets, her knowledge was extensive.
She had felt that the formation spirit before her was somewhat familiar, but she couldn't match it with any elephant-type demonic beasts in her mind. Now, she finally remembered.
"So you do have some discernment. Quick, see how you can help Li Yan!"
The Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant looked at the rain of blood still falling outside. Normally, it loved to show off, but at this moment, it was anxious. If Li Yan died, everything it had would vanish with him.
Bai Rou was only dazed for a moment. Hearing this, she immediately put the matter of the Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant aside and quickly formed a seal. Due to the "White Blaze Demon Tiger's" death, the dense fur that had been wrapped around the puppet like seaweed was now rapidly receding.
The severed section of the "White Blaze Demon Tiger's" tail also returned to its original state and fell to the ground, leaving only a short, smooth, white tailbone. Seeing her puppet regain control, Bai Rou didn't have time to be overjoyed. She waved her jade-like hand, and a spirit stone flew towards one of the puppets.
The moment this spirit stone appeared, even the entire "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation" was filled with a vibrant, verdant life force. It was Bai Rou's own complete Wood-attribute Mid-grade Spirit Stone.
As the wood-attribute spirit stone flew out, a spirit stone also flew out from the body of the puppet that had just spat out the white-gold light. At this moment, that metal-attribute spirit stone had turned a golden-brown color. Although it still had about thirty percent of its spirit qi left, Bai Rou still chose to replace it directly. Although the offensive power of wood-attribute spirit qi was not as good as metal-attribute, the pure spirit qi contained in this stone was more abundant.
In the fight with the "White Blaze Demon Tiger" just now, although the time was short, she couldn't unleash the full power of the Mid-grade Spirit Stone at once.
But she had also consumed it as quickly as possible, especially that final white-gold light arrow, which had consumed more than half of the pure spirit qi in one Mid-grade Spirit Stone.
She only had this one wood-attribute Mid-grade Spirit Stone with sufficient spirit qi, so she could only use it for the Long-armed Giant Ape puppet that had consumed the most, lest she run out of power while assisting Li Yan in the great battle against the demonic cultivator.
Fighting a cultivator whose cultivation far surpassed their own, death was an instantaneous matter. Bai Rou didn't want any regrets.
Just as Bai Rou was replacing the spirit stone, a chilling voice rang out in the air. "You all deserve to die, especially you, you bitch!"
The voice came abruptly. Although Bai Rou had been keeping a wisp of her divine sense on Li Yan's side, when this voice suddenly sounded in her ear, she still didn't know when the opponent had gotten so close.
Just as the two Mid-grade Spirit Stones were crossing in mid-air, they were snatched by a large hand. Then, a powerful force swept towards the three puppets standing dumbstruck on the ground, while another gust of wind, like a destructive force, swept towards Bai Rou.
At the same time, Li Yan's urgent voice immediately sounded in Bai Rou's ear, "Quick, retreat into the formation!"
Simultaneously, Bai Rou felt a hard push, and the surrounding space became bone-chillingly cold, followed by a series of cracking sounds.
"An Icy-cold Variant Beast!" Teng Wuji's furious voice rang out again.
Following that, a tall figure, like a demon in the night, appeared in the air not far from Bai Rou. In contrast, a seemingly frail man in a green robe stood in mid-air, his aura chaotic, panting heavily.
Two deep pits had appeared where Bai Rou and the three puppets had been standing. Bai Rou herself and the three giant ape puppets had now entered the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation."
Only then did Bai Rou notice Li Yan's figure. Her heart was immediately filled with a mix of joy and shock.
She was shocked because, although only six or seven breaths had passed since she escaped the demon's claws, blood was gushing from many places on Li Yan's body. He didn't even have time to cast a spell to seal the wounds.
Li Yan must have been on full alert against the opponent the entire time, with no time to attend to his own injuries.
At the same time, Bai Rou was overjoyed that, facing a Golden Core demonic cultivator, Li Yan had actually managed to hold him off for a total of about ten breaths.
Anxiously, Bai Rou was about to step out of the formation again.
"Senior Sister Bai, stay inside the formation!"
"But... but... the Mid-grade Spirit Stones..." Bai Rou said anxiously. Both spirit stones had just been snatched by the demonic cultivator.
Although she still had one Mid-grade Spirit Stone on her, the spirit qi within it was pitifully low, and it could no longer unleash the puppets' higher combat power.
"Senior Sister, we can't hold on!" Li Yan urged via voice transmission. He knew Bai Rou wanted to help him fight.
At this moment, of course, Li Yan didn't care about the loss of one and a half Mid-grade Spirit Stones. He had many more.
But facing a Mid-stage Golden Core demonic cultivator, after a long chase, Li Yan knew that Bai Rou's three puppets couldn't play any role.
To be precise, Bai Rou's cultivation was still unable to unleash the true power of the three puppets. Even with the help of Mid-grade Spirit Stones, it was not enough. Instead, it would only distract him.
However, while pushing Bai Rou away just now, Li Yan had quietly thrown out three Mid-grade Spirit Stones. But he hadn't given them to Bai Rou, but to the little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant.
Li Yan transmitted a message, "Don't give them to Senior Sister Bai unless it's absolutely necessary."
Li Yan knew that if he gave the spirit stones to Bai Rou now, she would immediately join the battle.
This action of his, happening just as Teng Wuji attacked, went unnoticed even by Teng Wuji.
Bai Rou knew Li Yan was telling the truth, so with a wave of her fair hand, she recalled the three puppets to her side. But at the same time, she slapped her storage pouch and still embedded her last remaining half-full Mid-grade Spirit Stone into the puppet that had lost its stone.
Bai Rou did not retreat to the center of the formation. She also sent an urgent voice transmission, "Junior Brother Li, quickly disengage from the opponent. I'll use my puppets to block his pursuit!"
But Li Yan's figure did not move. He was secretly and slowly adjusting his breathing. In those six or seven breaths just now, he had circulated his magical power recklessly. The spirit power in his body was rampaging like a riot and was already becoming somewhat uncontrollable.