But just as Gao Sha thought he had dodged the sneak attack, the hairs on his entire body suddenly stood on end. An unprecedented life-and-death crisis caused a large patch of cold sweat to instantly seep out from his back, soaking his clothes. In that hair's breadth of a moment, he frantically circulated the Spirit Power in his body to its absolute limit. His meridians, unable to withstand the sudden, powerful impact of Spirit Power, ruptured in many places.
But how could Gao Sha care about any of that? His figure had already stretched into a long afterimage, pushing the innate speed of the Black-Feathered Eagle to its extreme.
But a large shower of blood still rained down from the air. Only then did Gao Sha's muffled grunt, tinged with pain, come from the distance.
In the sky, a long chain of slanting afterimages slowly contracted into the distance, finally becoming Gao Sha himself. And at this moment, a large amount of blood was spurting from Gao Sha's side, dyeing a large patch of his clothes red.
Gao Sha's face turned somewhat pale. As his eyes stared intently ahead, a porcelain bottle had already appeared in his other hand, and he quickly poured some powder onto the wound.
The sounds of fighting all around grew louder, shaking one's soul. Gao Sha turned a deaf ear to it all.
Where his gaze was fixed, a middle-aged, effeminate Confucian scholar revealed himself. He was just tossing a section of already frozen reed onto the ground. It was the Feng Family Ancestor. In order to better ambush the enemy, they had not used any magical treasures or spirit artifact talismans in the first wave of attacks. Instead, they had cleverly used the thatch and reeds. These things, originally soft and easily broken, were no different from sharp swords and long spears when instantaneously imbued with a cultivator's Spirit Power.
Of course, all of this was thanks to the grand formation's restrictions and the Divine Sense-isolating formations they had set up themselves. If this move were used in the outside world, Gao Sha and his group could have sensed that something was wrong in a very short time by judging the flow of Spirit Power in the air. But now, much of the Spirit Power within the grand formation was already controlled by the restrictions, and there was no rhyme or reason to it. It had been like this all along the way, and Gao Sha's group had become somewhat accustomed to this abnormality.
By the time he reacted, the enemy's attack had already arrived. This was still thanks to his profound cultivation; his instincts reacted between life and death. And in that instant, not only was Gao Sha injured, but another Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Wind-Severing Clan was also wounded. Although it was not a fatal blow, his appearance was even more miserable than Gao Sha's now. One of his legs had been torn off, and countless severed green tendons hung down like a spider's web, blood flowing like a torrent.
At the same time, in this single wave of attacks, seven disciples of the Wind-Severing Clan were killed instantly. Most of them died from having their heads, eyes, or throats pierced by one or several stalks of thatch or reeds. Their deaths were extremely tragic, a single strike to kill, without even a scream being uttered.
Where the Feng Family Ancestor stood, the earth also rumbled loudly, and a huge Green-Haired Jiangshi with a massive body broke out of the ground, staring coldly at Gao Sha. This Green-Haired Jiangshi was a ghost servant refined by the Feng Family Ancestor. Although its strength was only at the Great Perfection of Qi Condensation, its muscles and bones could withstand blades and spears, and it was impervious to water and fire. Even an ordinary Initial-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator's attack couldn't cripple it in a short time, especially since it had no concept of pain. So, as long as its body wasn't shattered into pieces, it could continue to attack.
During the Feng Family's great disaster last time, the Feng Family Ancestor had not used this ghost servant. Against a similar ghoul, especially a Foundation Establishment stage one, this ghost servant had no advantage. Sending it up would not allow it to use its body to withstand the enemy's attack while injecting its dense death qi into the enemy's body, causing them to die from corpse poison. Instead, the death qi it injected would further stimulate the opponent's ferocity, which would be counterproductive.
However, if this Green-Haired Jiangshi were to fight against a living creature, even if it was not the opponent's match, as long as it could withstand the opponent's attack and take the opportunity to land a single hit up close, the opponent would inevitably be infected with corpse poison.
The Feng Family Ancestor used this ghost servant this time because it was a dead thing itself. When this Green-Haired Jiangshi burrowed into the ground, its aura was almost nonexistent. Coupled with the fact that the restrictions here made Divine Sense perception insensitive, as long as it didn't attack, there would be no fluctuations to speak of, unless a cultivator with much higher cultivation could sense something.
Gao Sha had almost fallen for this trick. Fortunately, the cultivation gap between the two was too large, which allowed Gao Sha to react in advance.
However, compared to this person and this ghost, the venomous look that now flashed in Gao Sha's eyes was directed at a middle-aged beautiful woman standing more than ten zhang away from the Feng Family Ancestor. That beautiful woman had a face like frost and stood with her hands behind her back. A silver light was constantly circling and flying in front of her. It was that silver light's attack just now that had almost taken Gao Sha's life. And that beautiful woman was also the one with the highest cultivation present, on par with Gao Sha. Yet, the enemy disregarded their status, with two people and one ghost ganging up to ambush him alone.
Seeing Gao Sha's fierce gaze, Sect Master Wang of the Tingshan Sect gave him no time to recuperate. She stretched out a jade-like finger and pointed at the circling silver light in front of her. The silver light suddenly vanished again.
The Feng Family Ancestor and Sect Master Wang cooperated with great tacit understanding. At the same time, a ghost-claw-like green magical treasure appeared in his hand. Without another word, he shot forward. Following his move, the Green-Haired Jiangshi, without bending its legs in the slightest, pushed off the ground and, like an arrow released from a bowstring, was in front of Gao Sha in an instant.
Neither side spoke a word, and they immediately engaged in battle.
The Feng Family Ancestor and Sect Master Wang had to kill this Wind-Severing Clan cultivator before them as quickly as possible. To their surprise, under their carefully designed plan, the opponent not only escaped but was also able to counter-attack. It showed just how formidable this Pseudo-Core cultivator from the Wind-Severing Clan was.
This was what they had discussed beforehand. As long as the one who came was not a Golden Core cultivator, then the Feng Family Ancestor and the beautiful Sect Master Wang would eliminate the cultivator with the highest cultivation on the opposing side in the first instance. One of them was at the Pseudo-Core Realm, and the other was a master at the peak of Late-stage Foundation Establishment. Once they joined forces, the opponent's chances of escape were extremely slim.
The remaining Foundation Establishment cultivators would be attacked by the Feng Family's Third Ancestor and the other two Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Tingshan Sect, leading their disciples.
In this way, the remaining three Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Wind-Severing Clan would be matched one-on-one. However, the overall strength of the Feng Family and the Tingshan Sect was still slightly weaker. On their side, only the Feng Family's Third Ancestor was at Late-stage Foundation Establishment. Of the remaining two from the Tingshan Sect, one was at Initial-stage Foundation Establishment, and the other at Mid-stage. As for the remaining three from the Wind-Severing Clan, there was one at Late-stage and two at Mid-stage Foundation Establishment.
Seeing this situation during the ambush, the Feng Family's Third Ancestor secretly and insidiously changed the strategy via voice transmission. He and all the Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Tingshan Sect, a total of three people, joined forces and simultaneously targeted a Mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Wind-Severing Clan who was off to the side.
At the same time the Feng Family Ancestor made his move, the three of them also burst into action. Led by the Feng Family's Third Ancestor, he struck first. After delivering a full-power blow, he didn't even look at the result. He was already pouncing on the Late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Wind-Severing Clan who had just reacted.
And that Mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Wind-Severing Clan who was ambushed was already no match for the sneak attack from the Feng Family's Third Ancestor, who was a full minor realm above him. In his haste, he was instantly struck by two other sneak attacks from both sides by the Tingshan Sect cultivators, sending blood splashing everywhere. One of his legs was severed by the opponent's magical treasure and flew away.
In that flash of lightning and spark of flint, the last remaining Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Wind-Severing Clan, who was charging forward in anger, was also met by the Mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Tingshan Sect who had just launched the sneak attack.
In a flurry of swift movements, the high-end combat power of both sides had completely changed. The wounded cultivator from the Wind-Severing Clan was now finding it extremely difficult to even deal with the Initial-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Tingshan Sect.
What made the enemy despair even more was that in the instant the battle began, the sky here suddenly turned gloomy with yin winds. Hordes of ghouls from the netherworld appeared between heaven and earth. These were all released by the Feng Family disciples.
Originally, the Wind-Severing Clan had the numerical advantage, but when these netherworld ghouls appeared, a great reversal occurred. Everywhere, it was a situation of one person and one ghost teaming up against an opponent, with Tingshan Sect disciples providing support from the side.
Except for the ghouls released by the two Feng Family ancestors, which only played a supporting role in the attack, the Qi Condensation cultivators of the Wind-Severing Clan were in a miserable state. Many of them found it difficult to even defeat a single ghoul, let alone with the Feng Family disciples launching fierce attacks from the side.
This was also why the disciples of the Tingshan Sect, despite knowing that their own Sect Master's cultivation was higher than the Feng Family's, were still very polite to the Feng Family cultivators. They had sparred with the Feng Family disciples before, but they were often the ones being dominated. Although there were small victories, only a very few core disciples of the Tingshan Sect could achieve them.
This was especially true for the female disciples of the Tingshan Sect. The moment they faced those ghouls with tragic or ferocious faces, their courage had already faltered by several degrees, and their fighting spirit plummeted.
By the same token, although the Wind-Severing Clan's original form was the Black-Feathered Eagle, belonging to a ferocious demonic beast clan, the psychology of the female disciples among them would also fluctuate. Faced with the sudden emergence of a large number of netherworld ghouls with their mournful howls and ear-piercing, venomous shrieks, a trace of fear had already appeared in their eyes.
This battle's outcome was sealed the moment the most critical Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Wind-Severing Clan fell into a disadvantage at the very beginning.
There was a deep, five-fingered groove on Gao Sha's shoulder, from which a large amount of blood was constantly gushing. At this moment, he had no time to worry about his injuries. While dealing with the beautiful middle-aged woman, the effeminate scholar opposite him always attacked silently.
On one hand, Gao Sha formed hand seals to drive a black cloak magical treasure to fight with the beautiful woman, while on the other, he had to guard against the reckless charges of the Green-Haired Jiangshi. Although the Green-Haired Jiangshi's sternum had already collapsed by more than half from his attacks, it still charged at him without fear of death. This forced Gao Sha to divert part of his energy to deal with this damned jiangshi.
And just as he once again kicked the Green-Haired Jiangshi's head, twisting it at a grotesque angle, the space above his shoulder fluctuated, and a green ghost claw ruthlessly clawed at his neck. If this were a normal situation, he could have easily dodged it. But at this moment, a fierce light flashed in the beautiful middle-aged woman's eyes. The Spirit Power in her jade-like hands surged, and the silver light dancing in the air suddenly vanished, causing his cloak magical treasure to hit empty air.
Gao Sha hurriedly diverted his Divine Sense to scan his surroundings. Just this slight distraction caused his body to pause for a moment, and his dodging motion slowed by a fraction.
Immediately, a chilling sensation came from his shoulder, followed by five streams of blood shooting out.
Then, Gao Sha felt a thick wave of death qi rapidly spreading throughout his body from the meridians in his shoulder. And the wound on his shoulder felt no pain at all; instead, it grew colder and colder.
"Corpse poison!"
Gao Sha was instantly shocked and enraged. His heart sank to the bottom of the valley...
Several dozen breaths later, amidst the large patch of fallen thatch, corpses lay strewn about in disarray. And Gao Sha had already reverted to his original form, a large black eagle. His once dark and shiny feathers had become gray and withered. Green juice was still seeping from his long, sharp beak. He lay dead on the ground, his eyes filled with deep unwillingness.
If he had encountered any one of them alone here, he could have easily won. But he had been besieged by two people and one ghost. Especially at the end, after being afflicted with corpse poison, he had revealed his true form and used a secret art, allowing his state to return to its peak in an instant.
But that effeminate middle-aged scholar still stood in the shadows and dealt him the fatal blow!