Even with the strength of his Divine Sense, he had only sensed a slight fluctuation. Presumably, apart from the Grand Elder and the Sect Master, no one else in this valley could have sensed it, let alone the enemies outside the grand formation. Later, when Li Yan wanted to sense it more carefully, the auras of those cultivators had all disappeared. And among those auras, there were several people familiar to Li Yan, including Feng Tao and a few others he had deliberately taken note of before.
"These people disappeared too quickly. Could they have used a teleportation formation? A teleportation formation..."
A matter Li Yan hadn't understood before, he now had some enlightenment on. He immediately thought of a "teleportation formation," and the scene of the Hundred Dao Heavenly Treasure Pavilion in Mingdu City using a teleportation formation to secretly transport important items.
"These people were teleported away? Were they carrying out some mission, or were they escaping?"
For a time, Li Yan fell into deep thought...
Half an hour later, in a secret chamber within the courtyard deep in the valley that Li Yan had once visited, the light dimmed, and a figure staggered before a red silhouette flashed into existence.
Tianxingzi's youthful face slowly solidified. At this moment, his face was as pale as golden paper, his body, which was usually as steady as a rock, was swaying continuously, and many parts of his red robe were a glaring red. His left arm was severed at the shoulder, and there was a large, mangled hole in his chest and abdomen, just a few inches below his Dantian's Purple Mansion. A large amount of blood was churning within the bloody hole, as if it were about to gush out, yet strangely, not a single drop flowed out. It had been forcibly sealed within his body by his magical power.
The moment his figure appeared, his remaining right hand slapped his waist, and a dozen or so jade bottles immediately flew out of his Storage Pouch. Without a moment's hesitation, Tianxingzi opened his mouth and spat out a ray of rosy light. The stoppers of the dozen or so jade bottles all popped open, and in an instant, the room was filled with the fragrance of various medicines. With a single point of his hand, a jade-green bottle had already flown before him. Between the pulling and guiding of his fingertip's Spirit Power, a cloud of green mist had already flown out from the mouth of the bottle, instantly filling the entire cave with a vigorous life force.
The scent was refreshing and invigorating. The moment the green mist flew out of the bottle, it immediately converged towards the large hole in Tianxingzi's chest and abdomen. With just these few simple movements, Tianxingzi's forehead and cheeks were already drenched in sweat. He allowed the green mist to drill into the mangled hole, just standing there, his facial muscles twitching, showing that he was not as calm as he appeared on the surface.
And not long after this green mist drilled into the large hole, the flesh and meridians at the edge of the wound seemed to come alive. Without Tianxingzi using any Spirit Power, they began to wriggle on their own. One by one, green veins like earthworms rapidly extended, and each clump of flesh, like a toothless monster, wriggled and quickly closed inwards...
About half an incense stick's time later, the standing Tianxingzi's body suddenly swayed violently, and he finally sat down on the ground with a thud. At this moment, the large hole in his chest and abdomen had completely disappeared. He sat on the ground, gasping for breath. After another ten or so breaths, his violently heaving chest slowly returned to normal. He looked at his left shoulder and frowned. Regenerating a lost limb was troublesome. Not only did it require special heavenly materials and earthly treasures, but more importantly, it consumed a great deal of time.
'I'll deal with it later!'
Tianxingzi thought to himself. He once again raised his right hand and made a swiping motion. From the other jade bottles still floating in the air, a dozen or so large and small medicinal pills flew out. These pills were either fragrant or unbearably foul, but he swallowed them all in one gulp. Then, Tianxingzi transmitted his voice into the void in a low voice.
"Come find me in three hours. The cultivators from the four sects should be arriving by then!"
With that, he immediately closed his eyes. Although he needed more time to meditate and recover, the time left for them was already running short.
When Lin Xinghe stepped into this courtyard, he saw the youth, now in a clean red robe, sitting in the yard. When he saw Tianxingzi's pale face and his empty long sleeve, he couldn't help but cry out.
"Martial Uncle, your injury..."
Tianxingzi was as cold as ever, his expression devoid of joy or sorrow.
"It's just an arm. A desperate Lie Changfeng is still very frightening. Although his foundation is not as deep as mine, his speed in dodging at short distances is not something I can compare to. Therefore, I had to pay some price. He... has already been severely injured and fled. He will not be able to participate in the subsequent battles!"
As he said this, a faint smile finally appeared on the red-robed youth's cold face.
Before, when everyone thought he couldn't handle the two of them, including Lie Changfeng and Sang Dongxing themselves, he had suddenly transmitted his voice and had Lin Xinghe activate the "Star Sea Abyss" restriction of the Sect-Protecting Grand Formation, at the cost of a massive amount of Spirit Stones. In that instant, he had broken the joint force of Lie Changfeng and Sang Dongxing. At the same time, Tianxingzi also knew that even if he used a massive amount of Spirit Stones to cast this restriction in a short time, with Lin Xinghe's strength controlling it, he still couldn't hold the two of them for too long. Therefore, he had to use this hard-won fleeting opportunity to at least severely injure one of them in order not to have his painstaking calculations go to waste.
The target was, of course, Sang Dongxing. It was just that he had misjudged Lie Changfeng's speed. It had taken him less than two breaths to break free with his full strength. And for him to kill or severely injure the trapped Sang Dongxing, relying on brute force alone would take five to ten breaths. With no other choice, he had to use his ultimate divine art, the "Shattered Star Fire," which he had cultivated for one thousand four hundred years.
This was a secret art of Falling Star Valley that he had been cultivating ever since he succeeded in Foundation Establishment, and it was also an extremely difficult divine art to master. To cultivate this art, one needed to introduce the incomparably domineering earth fire into one's Dantian little by little for tempering and nurturing. When Foundation Establishment cultivators refined pills and artifacts, they didn't dare to stay in the "Shattered Star Chamber" for too long. A little longer and the fire poison would attack the heart, leading to death by incineration. Not to mention introducing earth fire into the body. For Tianxingzi, who was also a Foundation Establishment cultivator at the time, to do this, the risks could be imagined. Even with a corresponding cultivation method to coordinate, there was no doubt that every cultivation session was a walk on the edge of life and death.
Since the founding of Falling Star Valley, only six people had dared to cultivate this art. And after four of them were incinerated by the earth fire and died, no one dared to try again. This included the later Xing Ming and Lin Xinghe, who both chose other secret arts of Falling Star Valley and dared not attempt to cultivate the "Shattered Star Fire." Among all the Golden Core cultivators of "Falling Star Valley," only Tianxingzi and his Nascent Soul master had succeeded in cultivating it.
Even after the "Shattered Star Fire" was successfully refined, it was generally only used as a last resort. Once used, it still required the continuous support of one's essence blood to burn, making it a divine art that injured both the user and the enemy. With Tianxingzi's one thousand four hundred years of cultivation, he had only refined two grains of "Shattered Star Fire." Now, there was only a trace of another fire seed left in his Dantian, which could disappear at any time. He was unable to use it a second time. He could only wait to absorb earth fire again in the future for tempering and nurturing. However, because of the existence of this trace of fire seed, the speed was many times faster than re-cultivating, so there was no need to worry about failing to refine it next time.
Although this cultivation method injured the enemy by a thousand and oneself by eight hundred, its power was truly incomparably domineering and vicious. Including this time, Tianxingzi had only used it twice in total. Both times, it had left his opponent with no bones left, not even their Golden Core or soul could escape. It was truly a technique that severed one's life force. For him to cast this technique, he needed some time to burn his essence blood for support, so a suitable opportunity was necessary.
The "Shattered Star Fire" had taken a large amount of his essence blood, and Tianxingzi's combat power was greatly diminished, less than sixty percent of his usual strength. He still had to consider how to deal with Lie Changfeng. But for Tianxingzi, it was all worth it. Just seeing a Late-stage Golden Core cultivator perish in two breaths had already vented a great deal of his frustration.
When Lie Changfeng broke free from the large expanse of starlight and saw the scene that had unfolded below, he was scared out of his wits. It was only then that he knew he had fallen for the other party's treacherous scheme. Not only had Tianxingzi hidden the "Shattered Star Fire" divine art, but the legendary Sect-Protecting Grand Formation possessed by this second-rate sect, Falling Star Valley, was also real.
Of course, the fact that Falling Star Valley had once produced a Nascent Soul cultivator would be found out by those who were interested. It was just that the Nascent Soul had appeared quickly and disappeared just as quickly. There wasn't even a chance for Falling Star Valley to be promoted to a first-rate sect. Therefore, many sects that later migrated to the Forsaken Continent, when they saw this introduction to Falling Star Valley and combined it with its current strength, often just scoffed at it and didn't believe it at all. And those ancient sects that had had grudges with Falling Star Valley in the past, of course, would not go around promoting it. This was what had led to the result that some of Falling Star Valley's legends were famous but had no substance.
Lie Changfeng had clearly seen Tianxingzi's aura plummet after he used the legendary "Shattered Star Fire," but he was also a naturally suspicious person. Coupled with the fact that he was now within this terrifying grand formation, how could he dare to turn back and help Sang Dongxing? The reality of "letting a fellow Daoist die but not oneself" was the most realistic in the cultivation world. So he turned around and ran without another word, fearing that the other party would activate some other attack from the grand formation. Then there would truly be no hope of escape.
He did not know that when this grand formation activated the "Star Sea Abyss" restriction, it wasn't just Spirit Stones that disappeared like a tide. In a very short time, the grand formation would consume sixty percent of its power. Although it was possible to activate other restrictions to attack, the power would be much smaller, and it would no longer pose any threat to them, the Golden Core cultivators.
But Lie Changfeng had no way of knowing this. He abandoned Sang Dongxing and fled without any regard for anything else. His speed was already not that of an ordinary Pseudo-Nascent Soul cultivator. With the innate divine art of the black-feathered vulture clan, in the blink of an eye, he had already fled to the edge of the outer valley grand formation. Then, his true form flickered again, and he had already fled several hundred li away. How could Tianxingzi be willing to let this opportunity go?
He was cold-blooded towards others, and he had no feelings for himself either. In an instant, he had burned his essence blood again. Lie Changfeng had not been a Pseudo-Nascent Soul for long and could not control the circulation of his spiritual power smoothly, so although his speed was fast, a large amount of his spiritual power was wasted. After fleeing for more than six thousand li, he was still caught up by Tianxingzi, who was burning his essence blood without any regard.
Seeing that the other party was willing to burn his essence blood to kill him, Lie Changfeng knew that even if he wanted to leave, he couldn't. A cornered dog will jump over a wall, let alone a Golden Core cultivator. Lie Changfeng was instantly filled with the will to fight to the death. He knew that Tianxingzi's state could not last for too long, so he simply started fighting with him.
After a great battle, Tianxingzi's aura indeed began to plummet rapidly. At this time, Lin Xinghe, who was chasing after them to help, was still three thousand li away. If Tianxingzi were to leave at this moment, Lie Changfeng would not dare to turn back and pursue. But Tianxingzi was determined to have the other party die. A fierce glint flashed in his eyes, and he immediately swallowed a handful of pills that would forcefully increase his magical power. Finally, by sacrificing an arm and risking his body being torn in two, he finally managed to dismember Lie Changfeng's physical body into pieces with his thin blade. He was truly fierce and ruthless.
In the end, only a pale yellow Demonic Core escaped from Lie Changfeng's physical body. And Tianxingzi was ruthless to the extreme. He was already powerless to chase after the fleeing Demonic Core. But in the instant Lie Changfeng's Demonic Core just appeared, he actually self-destructed that thin blade, his Natal Magical Treasure, without any hesitation. This had caused the already seriously injured Tianxingzi to suffer another heavy blow, and he could only rely on a mouthful of spiritual power to keep from collapsing.