Before long, Li Yan could see the continuous mountain range in the distance with his naked eye, resembling a giant, crouching beast. Behind him, Wutu and the slender woman kept a distance of about a thousand zhang, their eyes fixed on Li Yan.
Wutu's face remained grim. This time, he had truly failed in his duty as a protector. The Heavenly Master would surely be extremely disappointed in his performance. However, the reasons for this were somewhat complex, and perhaps even the Heavenly Master himself could not have anticipated them.
Besides the fact that this pair of man and woman was extremely difficult to deal with and possessed strange techniques, another point was that Tie Lianggu had always been so arrogant on the Tianlan Prairie. Although he had encountered strong counterattacks before, the result was either the other party fleeing after suffering a great loss, or being killed. Over time, even Wutu's vigilance had faded considerably.
This time, what he had never expected was that the opponent was an expert in illusionary divine abilities. It wasn't that there were no cultivators who practiced illusion arts, but those who could affect him at his level were either soul cultivators who specialized in this path or cultivators stronger than him. However, soul cultivators were extremely rare, perhaps not even one in a hundred thousand. That required an innately strong divine soul and the opportune chance to inherit the soul cultivation lineage. Such an opportunity might not even be encountered once in a century.
"That young man might be a soul cultivator!"
Soon, the group met Bate and the others in the air from a distance.
"You should be able to release him now. Let's consider the previous matter settled. Leave our Tianlan Prairie directly. You are no longer welcome guests on our prairie!" Wutu said coldly to Li Yan. He made no mention of Li Yan destroying Tie Lianggu's physical body and his two concubines, as if it had never happened.
This was where Wutu's experience showed. Mentioning such things would only make the other party more vigilant and would yield no other result.
Ahead, Bate and Balu stared menacingly at the two people caught in the middle. Tie Lianggu's junior sister held a long whip, her aura surging slightly, and her beautiful eyes glinted with a cold light. No matter how worthless Tie Lianggu was, he was still her senior brother. She could discipline him, but for others to touch him was a sign of contempt for the Tianlan Clan.
Li Yan, pinching the golden Golden Core with two fingers, looked past Bate and Balu to the continuous mountain range hundreds of li away.
"Yunlan Mountain Range!"
This was the information Li Yan had obtained from his soul-search. It stretched for more than three hundred thousand li between the Yunting Kingdom and the Tianlan Prairie, belonging to neither of these two forces. It was more like a buffer zone between the Yunting Kingdom and the Tianlan Prairie, inhabited by demonic beasts, wild beasts, rogue cultivators, and spies from both sides.
As long as Li Yan escaped into the mountain range, it would be extremely difficult for the other party to find them again. The mountain range was filled with a chaotic mix of auras. Whether it was cultivators fighting to the death among themselves or fighting with demonic beasts, it would cause fluctuations in spiritual power everywhere, forcing the pursuers to divert their attention to distinguish each one. And there were some things that were even harder to guard against. The spies sent by the Yunting Kingdom and the Tianlan Prairie would find the right time to assassinate suspicious cultivators.
"First, make way!" The moment Li Yan and his companion arrived, they were blocked by Bate and Balu.
"You two, move to one side!" Wutu waved his hand at the two. He didn't actually care about Bate and Balu's interception; the distance between him and the enemy was now such that he could easily catch up. The reason he hadn't let Bate and the others move aside earlier was to signal to Li Yan and his companion that this was the limit of their departure, and they could go no further.
Bate snorted heavily. He and Balu took a step to the side in the void, about to make way. Just as their figures moved, a light flashed in Li Yan's hand, and a streak of golden light shot toward Wutu. At the same time, he let out a soft cry. "Catch!"
He acted at the same time Wutu waved at the two men in front. Just as Bate and the other man stepped aside, Li Yan pulled Zhao Min, and their figures suddenly blurred. Before anyone else could react, they had flashed past Bate's side and instantly flew toward the horizon.
Wutu's Divine Sense had been locked on Li Yan all along. He had sensed Tie Lianggu's aura in the approaching golden light. At the same time, he also sensed Li Yan's body move, but Wutu did not move. Instead, his arm suddenly elongated, and he snatched the incoming golden light in his hand. Then, his Divine Sense swept over it and found that Tie Lianggu was only sealed inside. The face on the surface of the Golden Core had a look of exasperation, and his mouth was still moving, as if saying something, but no sound could come out.
He crushed the seal without hesitation. "Kill him! Quickly, kill him!" Tie Lianggu's piercing voice suddenly rang out. He had, of course, seen that he had fallen into Wutu's hands.
He didn't need to say it. A murderous intent had long since appeared on Wutu's aged face. At the same time he crushed the seal, his body had already vanished from its original spot. Tie Lianggu's junior sister had also disappeared.
"Circulate your energy and see if there are any problems," Wutu transmitted his voice to Tie Lianggu as he gave chase. He was still worried that the other party had done something to Tie Lianggu's Golden Core.
"I'm fine! I want to see him dead…" Tie Lianggu's almost hysterical voice had just echoed in the air when it was cut short in the next moment. His Golden Core was snatched up by Wutu and put into a bracelet on his wrist.
As long as Tie Lianggu's Golden Core was fine, that was all that mattered. He didn't want to listen to Tie Lianggu's whining and screeching; it was getting on his nerves. Instantly, the surroundings fell silent. Wutu immediately felt a sense of relief. Now, he could deal with the enemy with his full strength.
At this point, only half a breath had passed since Bate and Balu had taken their steps. Li Yan, pulling Zhao Min, had already appeared a hundred li away. With his sudden use of "Phoenix Soars to the Heavens," his speed was astonishing. Even Zhao Min felt a slight tearing pain on her skin. She was also extremely surprised. According to the strength of her physical body, even without circulating her magical power, she could withstand ordinary magical treasures. This showed how fast they were traveling through space in that instant, and how great the burden was on their bodies.
And Li Yan was also aware of the strength of Zhao Min's physical body, so he hadn't said anything to remind her. If it had been an ordinary Golden Core cultivator being pulled along like this, their body might have already been torn to shreds, with bones broken and tendons snapped.
Just as Li Yan was about to make a few more flashes and enter the Yunlan Mountain Range, a cold laugh sounded by his ear. "I didn't realize you also cultivated a powerful movement skill divine ability. You almost really got away. Get back here!"
Then, Li Yan felt a slight breeze blow past the top of his head, followed by a great force crashing toward his chest. It made Li Yan feel as if a great mountain was pressing down on him!
Amidst this sudden change, Li Yan twisted his body powerfully without thinking, and he and Zhao Min disappeared again. At such a high speed, he had suddenly changed direction, and a series of crisp cracks, like popping beans, came from the bones in his body.
A pair of giant, phantom, withered palms struck through the path Li Yan had just been on, leaving a distorted white line in the space along the way. The white line shot backward for several li before finally dissipating.
Thirty zhang to the side, the figures of Li Yan and Zhao Min rapidly solidified, and the two stood side by side. They looked to their front side. A gray-haired old man was just withdrawing his large sleeve. The strike just now was him, having instantly passed over their heads and striking down with a virtual palm.
"A wind-attribute expert!" This thought flashed through the minds of both Li Yan and Zhao Min.
They had never imagined that this gray-haired old man, who had been following behind Tie Lianggu at an unhurried pace, was actually a rare wind-attribute cultivator. Wind-attribute cultivators were astonishingly fast over short distances, and over long distances, they could ride the wind, flying farther than cultivators of the same rank. With the help of the omnipresent wind, even without cultivating a movement skill, their speed was breathtaking to other cultivators.
Comparing him to a wind-attribute cultivator, since the Undead Nether Phoenix's greatest strengths were speed and its physical body, the innate divine ability "Phoenix Soars to the Heavens" should have been stronger. However, Li Yan had only absorbed two drops of Essence Blood in total, and his cultivation was only at the Mid-stage Golden Core, so he couldn't truly display its power yet.
"You injured a core disciple of my lineage, and you still think you can leave?" Wutu said, his face grim.
"What terrible luck. After all that planning, to run into a wind-attribute expert who is also skilled in speed!" Li Yan felt somewhat dejected. He had no intention of fighting anyone; he just wanted to trick the other party and then make a direct escape. His calculations were excellent. He hadn't used "Phoenix Soars to the Heavens" before, precisely because he wanted to use it at the right distance to shake off the other party in one go. That was why, after fleeing for so long, he had only managed to pull a few hundred li ahead of the other party.
Now, with the Yunlan Mountain Range in sight, he only needed a little over a breath more to escape into it. But in the end, he had still miscalculated the opponent's true strength, and his efforts were in vain!
His Divine Sense probed toward the mountain range, and he was somewhat disappointed. He could only sense the auras of some ordinary demonic beasts and cultivators there. Perhaps the route he had chosen was too remote, and the strength of the cultivators and demonic beasts in the outer periphery of the Yunlan Mountain Range in this direction was unremarkable. This meant he couldn't use some hidden experts to distract these few people.
In just this delay, three figures had already arrived behind Li Yan and his companion. It was Tie Lianggu's junior sister, Bate, and Balu.
Before these people could get close, Li Yan and Zhao Min suddenly split up. Li Yan quickly rushed toward Wutu in front, while Zhao Min made a horizontal shift and appeared before Tie Lianggu's junior sister, who had been chasing at the forefront.
"Such quick judgment! How many battles must one go through to have such a reaction!" This thought flashed through Wutu's mind. Whether it was from their initial sneak attack on Tie Lianggu to their current counterattack after being intercepted, the timing of this pair was impeccable. It was precisely when others were either distracted or had not yet stabilized their footing.
Furthermore, the expressions of Li Yan and Zhao Min had remained impassive throughout, making it impossible to read their thoughts, and they appeared so calm. "A ferocious tiger or leopard is not to be feared; what is most feared is an enemy as still as a cunning rabbit." A saying from the prairie flashed through Wutu's mind.
Li Yan flickered and appeared before Wutu. Faced with Li Yan's advance, a trace of mockery appeared at the corner of Wutu's mouth. This should be a soul cultivator, and he wanted to fight him in close combat? His Divine Sense had not left Li Yan for a moment, precisely to prevent the other party from having a chance to set up an illusionary realm. "Is he trying to get close to set up an illusion art?"
Wutu suddenly stretched out a pair of hands. In an instant, his palms were covered in a layer of fine, pitch-black scales. The nails on his fingertips glinted with a cold light, like a pair of sharp eagle talons. He slashed down at the chest of the approaching Li Yan. Wherever the pitch-black fingertips passed, streams of air shot out from between his fingers with a sharp whistle. If this strike landed, no one doubted it could disembowel Li Yan.
Wutu would not give Li Yan time to cast a magical art.
Li Yan's movements were as swift as a thunderbolt. He passed between Wutu's two claws by a hair's breadth. In a single motion, as they passed each other, he had already thrown a punch from below, aiming for the base of Wutu's ear.
Wutu didn't even blink. His claws having missed, he bent his arm at the elbow and thrust it upward diagonally, just in time to collide with the back of Li Yan's attacking fist.
"Bang!" A deep, muffled sound exploded.
Li Yan's body was sent flying upward diagonally by the opponent's elbow strike.