"Qiyuan, you and the others protect your master and Second Martial Uncle and retreat to the inner valley. Junior Brother, your and Junior Sister's injuries are not light and you need to recover as soon as possible. There can be no more delays. I'll go down to take a look and be right back!"
The first part of his speech was directed at Feng Qiyuan and the others, while the latter part was a reminder to his somewhat single-minded junior brother.
After speaking, he had already flown towards the battlefield at the foot of the mountain. He still had the strength to fight. Now that the enemy's Golden Core cultivator had been killed in a sneak attack by Zhang Ming, he, a Pseudo-Core cultivator, was a decisive combat force, just not comparable to that Body Cultivator Zhang Ming.
He also felt that Zhang Ming had taken advantage of the sneak attack, but he was indeed terrified of Zhang Ming's strength. That person's movement skill was too fast.
If they were of the same realm, his Immortal Arts probably wouldn't even have condensed before the opponent was already upon him.
Now, he naturally had to go and assist. Just a moment ago, he had been chased like a stray dog, and his heart was extremely suppressed.
But another, more important reason was that Zhang Ming had also led people to set up an ambush and had not been discovered by the Golden Core cultivator from the Cangyu Sect. This was incredible.
He wanted to go and investigate, and at the same time, see who Zhang Ming was with. Were they disciples of Falling Star Valley, or cultivators from some affiliated sects?
For Zhang Ming to be able to command a group of people in such a short time, he was quite a character.
At the same time, Zhu Luomu was also very clear that each of their small teams would not exceed fifty people, while the pursuers now numbered over a hundred.
Among them were about fourteen or fifteen Foundation Establishment cultivators. No matter how strong Zhang Ming was, with such a numerical disparity, the result would likely be a costly victory.
By the time Zhu Luomu reached the foot of the mountain, including the time Zhang Ming had left earlier, only about ten breaths had passed. But a scene that greatly shocked him appeared before his eyes.
At this time, the battle was already nearing its end.
The first thing Zhu Luomu felt was a bone-chilling cold rushing towards him. Then he saw silver longswords of various sizes dancing chaotically in the air.
But what he found bizarre and terrifying was that there was no one around controlling the longswords. Only Zhang Ming's figure flickered in and out of sight.
Every time he appeared, he would be almost right behind an enemy Foundation Establishment cultivator, silently striking out with a punch or a palm.
The next moment, that cultivator would be torn to pieces. Even the powerful physical bodies of the Snow Moon Wolf Clan, which were infinitely close to those of the Black and White Demon Clans, could not withstand a single blow from him.
Although the cultivators here were no match for the Golden Core cultivator from the Cangyu Sect before, there were more of them. Every time Zhang Ming attacked, flesh and blood would fly, leaving an even stronger impact on Zhu Luomu.
And apparently, the remaining cultivators had also discovered this horrifying scene.
"There is someone skilled in assassination!"
Some cultivators shouted, their voices trembling. They had just been suddenly attacked by countless longswords, yet they couldn't see the caster, which had already filled them with an inexplicable fear.
Now, there was a ghost in the shadows constantly assassinating Foundation Establishment experts. Their minds were in complete chaos.
The Wind-Rending Clan, relying on their innate speed, was rapidly circling, trying to find a way to escape.
But often in the process of dodging, their bodies would suddenly stiffen, and then it was as if someone had grabbed them by the neck.
After a few "guk-guk-guk" sounds, the Spirit Power in their bodies would disappear without a trace in a few breaths, and then they would fall to the ground, motionless.
After watching this bizarre scene for a few moments, cold sweat began to seep out of Zhu Luomu's pores. As a bystander, he hadn't even seen clearly how those enemy Foundation Establishment cultivators were killed.
But immediately, he heard the remaining five Foundation Establishment cultivators below shout.
"Watch out for the mosquito Demonic Beast, it's poisonous!"
At this moment, Zhu Luomu saw a Foundation Establishment cultivator shout and suddenly slash viciously at a certain point in the empty space. A point of light seemed to flash there before disappearing without a trace.
'Mosquito-type Demonic Beast?'
Zhu Luomu's Divine Sense couldn't even lock onto that fleeting point of light. He just stood there blankly at the edge of the battlefield.
He watched the enemies running around on the battlefield and the indistinct figures of his own side, somewhat lost in a daze.
About ten breaths later, Li Yan walked up to Zhu Luomu, who was still standing blankly at the edge, and frowned slightly.
"Fellow Daoist Zhu, why haven't you left yet? What are you doing back here?"
Zhu Luomu seemed not to have heard, simply staring blankly at the several Spirit Beast Pouches at Li Yan's waist.
Those were a few that Li Yan had casually taken out and hung at his waist to serve as a distraction when he decided to use the Snow Mosquitoes.
In the final fierce battle just now, Zhu Luomu had finally discovered that there was something strange about those silver longswords.
Previously, he was still guessing what kind of material the silver longswords were made of. When they dealt with those Qi Condensation disciples, it was almost a massacre.
Even cultivators at the tenth layer of Qi Condensation couldn't withstand the bone-piercing cold emanating from the silver swords.
Their Spirit Artifacts and Magical Artifacts would be frozen almost upon contact with the opponent, and they themselves also couldn't resist the bone-chilling cold from the silver longswords.
After the silver longswords' attack arrived, their hair would quickly turn white, and a thick layer of frost would rapidly form on the surface of their bodies. What followed was the stagnation of their internal Spirit Power circulation.
In a life-and-death struggle, the stagnation of internal Spirit Power meant that in the next moment, they would be cut in two by a single blow from a silver longsword.
When those silver longswords dealt with Foundation Establishment cultivators, although they could no longer achieve such an easy kill, they still greatly annoyed the Foundation Establishment cultivators of the four sects.
What Zhu Luomu had not expected was that just as the silver longswords were about to be struck by the opponent's Magical Treasure or Immortal Art, they would break into two, or even several pieces, at a bizarre angle.
In the moment the opponent was stunned, these broken blades would instantly merge at a position that felt very awkward for the attacking cultivator.
Then, under the still dazed and surprised gaze of the cultivator, they would slash down with a single stroke.
Although in the end, these silver swords were basically dodged by the Foundation Establishment cultivators of the four sects with their superior skills, it also forced them into a flurry of activity.
Whenever this happened, a bright spot or a faint shadow would flash past the cultivator. That cultivator would either fall to the ground poisoned, or be beaten to death with a punch or a palm, or even kicked to death.
Unmanned silver longswords, and one person and one beast moving at extreme speed. This made Zhu Luomu, who had come to help, feel completely bewildered, wondering if he was hallucinating.
In just about ten breaths, everything before him had returned to tranquility. Only the thick smell of blood still lingered in the air, reminding him of what had just happened here.
Looking around, of the more than one hundred corpses, half had been turned into a pile of fragments—red, green, white, and purple.
Various kinds of minced meat and organ fragments were scattered everywhere. Many had even splashed onto Zhu Luomu, making one want to vomit at the smell.
Zhu Luomu just stared blankly ahead. The opponent had achieved all this in about twenty-odd breaths.
'Fifteen Foundation Establishment cultivators and over a hundred Qi Condensation cultivators just died like that?'
From beginning to end, Zhu Luomu had only seen one person, one beast, and those bizarre, unmanned silver longswords moving back and forth here.
And just like that, it was all over. And what terrified Zhu Luomu even more was yet to come.
He saw the now solidified figure of Zhang Ming raise his hand with a blank expression.
The dozens of longswords that had been floating silently in the air like dead objects, under Zhu Luomu's already dazed gaze, instantly scattered into a sky full of starlight.
Then, with a buzzing sound, each crystal-clear "star" rushed towards Li Yan's waist, where several Spirit Beast Pouches were hanging.
"These... these... are all... mosquito-type... Demonic Beasts?"
Looking at the sky full of "starlight" that blotted out the sun, just by looking with the naked eye, there were at least a hundred thousand of them. They all revealed a cultivation level of around the fourth layer of Qi Condensation.
Zhu Luomu felt his scalp go numb. He imagined that if he were targeted by these Demonic Beasts, even with his Pseudo-Core realm, he would probably end up dead, sucked into a pile of white bones.
At this time, Zhu Luomu's mind had already gone completely blank. Apart from shock, there was only fear.
'Who exactly is this Zhang Ming? He possesses an extremely strong body refining art and a large number of mosquito-type Demonic Beasts. A Body Cultivator? A Spirit Beast Master? But both of these require a great deal of time for cultivation or refinement. Yet this person's body refining art is extremely strong, which must require dedicated cultivation. How... how did he do it?'
At this time, Li Yan had already recalled all the Snow Mosquitoes into the Spirit Beast Pouches.
Since he wanted to kill the enemy quickly, some of his trump cards would inevitably be exposed. He couldn't just kill everyone he saw, could he?
He now had a restriction placed on him by the Grand Elder of Falling Star Valley. If he were discovered killing their disciples, he would be judged as a spy in the first instance, and the consequences could be imagined.
Li Yan would certainly not take that risk. After hiding his Fragmented Poison Body, he had also only used eighty percent of his physical strength, holding back at every turn.
This way, in the eyes of others, he was a decent Body Cultivator, whose greatest reliance was a terrifyingly large number of mosquito-type Demonic Beasts, as well as a king mosquito with a potent poison.
This way, he could both kill the enemy and show some of his value to the red-robed youth, so that he wouldn't be treated as a disposable pawn that could be thrown away at will.
In the battle just now, the Snow Mosquitoes had also suffered many casualties. It was just that the Snow Mosquitoes' bodies were small, and when they formed into silver swords and collided with Magical Treasures, the dead Snow Mosquitoes would often just collapse directly.
In addition, the battle ended too quickly, so Zhu Luomu had not discovered the true secret of these silver swords until Li Yan recalled the Snow Mosquitoes at the end.
This battle seemed easy, but it was only through Li Yan's careful planning that this result was achieved.
There were too many enemy Foundation Establishment cultivators. Li Yan had to first attack personally; relying on the Snow Mosquito clan alone was not enough.
So the order he gave the Snow Mosquitoes was for the swarm to form silver longswords, not "great" swords. This way, he could manifest more longswords.
Although their power was greatly reduced, it was enough to deal with Qi Condensation cultivators. These Snow Mosquito swarms, which had been used to deal with Foundation Establishment cultivators in the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda, could slaughter over a hundred mere Qi Condensation cultivators as easily as chopping melons and vegetables.
At the same time, these silver longswords only needed to harass those Foundation Establishment cultivators. The real killing would be done by him and the Snow Mosquito King personally.
Of course, if Li Yan hadn't been hiding his strength, even though this team of over a hundred people was large, and even though there were a dozen or so Foundation Establishment cultivators among them, Li Yan could probably have woven through the crowd twice and poisoned them all to death without any surprises.
Against cultivators below the Golden Core realm, Li Yan's group-killing poison attacks were virtually unstoppable.
Li Yan had long discovered Zhu Luomu's approach and could guess his intentions: curiosity mixed with a desire to help.
He could also see that Zhu Luomu was a loyal member of Falling Star Valley. Faced with an opportunity to kill the invading enemies, he certainly wouldn't find an excuse to leave.
But Li Yan still pretended not to know and asked, as if he was unhappy that his secret had been discovered.
"Oh, oh... oh, Fellow Daoist Zhang, please don't misunderstand. I didn't know you were the only one here. I thought there was a team here, so I came over to help. I have no intention of prying into your privacy, Fellow Daoist. It was all a misunderstanding!"
Zhu Luomu, who had been lost in thought, was finally startled awake by Li Yan's words. Seeing that Zhang Ming was staring at him with a cold gaze, a wave of extreme unease rose in his heart.
The thought of the scene of densely packed points of light rushing from all directions made Zhu Luomu shudder. The shock of this was even greater than that of Zhang Ming's inhuman body refining art.