Seeing that she was about to be pulled into the opponent's embrace, Zhao Min's face remained as expressionless as an ancient jade carving. Her hand slid toward her waist, preparing to sacrifice an item. She had been in the Sacred Demon Palace for so long and was highly regarded by the two Supreme Elders, not to mention her nominal master, Shanggong Changge. None of these people would want to see Zhao Min perish easily. She naturally had life-saving trump cards, though most of them were primarily for escape.
Just as Zhao Min was preparing to break free and then assist Li Yan, on the other side, Li Yan suddenly withdrew the magical power he was using to resist the pull and crashed into the black-robed middle-aged man's chest at an even faster speed.
"A desperate struggle, hmph!"
Capturing these two was all within the black-robed middle-aged man's expectations; there were no surprises. He had already gauged their strength. Both were at the Mid-stage Golden Core realm, but their combat prowess was surprisingly formidable. Either one of them could handle a Late-stage Golden Core or even a Pseudo-Nascent Soul cultivator without issue. The male cultivator's concealment technique was especially absurdly strong; if not for fighting him directly, even he could only perceive him as being at the Initial-stage Golden Core realm. He was truly sinister to the extreme, and with his poison arts, it would have been strange if someone with Tie Lianggu's personality hadn't suffered a great loss. Wutu had also made a mistake in his response due to carelessness and had nearly been successfully counter-killed.
Seeing Li Yan, bound hand and foot, rush toward him like a wounded lone wolf of the prairie, his eyes filled with ferocity and his shoulder carrying an incomparably sharp killing intent, the black-robed middle-aged man formed a saber with his hand and chopped down viciously at Li Yan's head. In his view, crippling this opponent with one strike, sealing the female cultivator, and then bringing them back to where his main body was would end everything.
But just as he raised his hand to strike, he felt a terrifying power erupt from within the young male cultivator before him, a power that made even his heart palpitate. "A power… exceeding that of a Pseudo-Nascent Soul cultivator…"
The black-robed middle-aged man's expression changed abruptly. He was all too familiar with this power; it was almost on par with his own full-powered strike. He had absolutely not seen any sign of it before, which he found utterly absurd. Although his realm was that of a Pseudo-Nascent Soul, his strength had long surpassed this stage, and his judgment was definitely that of a Nascent Soul cultivator. Coupled with what he had previously learned about Wutu's battle with Li Yan, after cross-referencing the two, he had already confirmed Li Yan's true combat strength.
'He was still hiding something…'
This thought had just risen in his mind in that hasty moment, but it was already too late.
With a series of snapping sounds, the long braids binding Li Yan shattered like broken ropes. Li Yan's body was instantly freed. He likewise threw a punch to meet the black-robed man's descending palm. At the same time, Li Yan's other hand shot out like that of a long-armed ape, meeting Zhao Min, who had also been pulled close. A golden light shone from his palm like the blazing sun, its edges seemingly plated with light, and he fiercely chopped down at the braids binding Zhao Min.
Because of the extreme speed, his palm sliced through the air, creating a piercing, sharp whistle. The space on either side of where his palm passed had already twisted and deformed. All of this happened extremely quickly. The black-robed middle-aged man had misjudged again and was caught off guard. His descending palm collided with Li Yan's fist.
"Boom!"
"Swish!"
Two different sounds rang out almost simultaneously. Then, a blazing ball of light exploded in front of the black-robed middle-aged man, and three figures were sent flying in two different directions.
The dazzling, blazing light sent waves of qi through the air, which rapidly spread out in all directions. Wherever it passed, it was like a tsunami had been unleashed! A layer of trees, flowers, and grass on the tops of seven or eight mountains below was instantly annihilated. Large chunks of rock were sent flying, and the broken stones whistled sharply through the air. The area within a thousand-zhang radius was a scene of devastation. A battle between Golden Core cultivators could already overturn rivers and seas. This sudden collision made it impossible for the black-robed middle-aged man to perfectly control his power, and his spiritual power instantly shot out in all directions.
The black-robed middle-aged man only retreated thirty zhang before stopping, but at this moment, he looked extremely disheveled. His once glossy long braids were now only uneven half-lengths hanging over his shoulders. The ends of most of the braids had been blasted into a frizzy, tangled mess.
The black-robed middle-aged man's face was so grim it looked as if water could drip from it. These long braids of his were not just ordinary decorations like those of the prairie people; they were a refined magical treasure. A moment of carelessness had cost him dearly, and to think he had previously believed he had seen through the opponent.
"Good, very good. I didn't realize you had such a secret art. I hope you can continue to use it, so I can have a good look!" his voice was as cold as winter as he looked up ahead.
Three hundred zhang away, a man and a woman stood side by side. The young male cultivator's chest was rising and falling slightly. It was clear that the two consecutive strikes just now had taken a toll on him. It was from this that the black-robed man could tell that the strength Li Yan had just displayed was not his true hidden strength but the result of a secret art. Although the aura on the opponent's body was as surging as a tide, his realm was still that of a Mid-stage Golden Core.
The black-robed middle-aged man was extremely frustrated. This man and woman had an endless supply of trump cards, causing him to fail time and again.
Li Yan and Zhao Min were even more shocked. The black-robed middle-aged man's strength and the difficulty of his cultivation were far beyond their expectations. Given the special nature of their cultivation methods, as long as a Nascent Soul cultivator did not appear, they were virtually unrivaled when they joined forces. They had never expected that although the black-robed middle-aged man before them had the magical power of only a Pseudo-Nascent Soul Realm, his strength was incomparable to any Pseudo-Nascent Soul cultivator they had ever seen. His techniques were so strange that after just one exchange, the two of them were constantly being suppressed.
So far, although Li Yan and Zhao Min had not been injured, Li Yan felt that the level of danger had already surpassed the pursuit he had faced alone against Teng Wuji. Including the black-robed middle-aged man's initial ambush, in the three exchanges, if they had been careless for even a moment, they would have been easily captured by the other party.
"He really might be cultivating shamanism. Prepare to fight to the death! By the way, how many breaths do you have?" Zhao Min glanced at Li Yan. The strike Li Yan had just delivered had already somewhat exceeded the strength of a Pseudo-Nascent Soul Realm cultivator. Even now, she could feel the extremely vigorous qi and blood from Li Yan beside her. She knew that this was Li Yan activating a secret art. Generally speaking, using a secret art either burned Essence Blood or lifespan, and it would not last for long. Even with Zhao Min's cool temperament, she couldn't help but worry and immediately asked via voice transmission.
"I can last until he is dead. Then let's fight to the death!" Li Yan immediately replied via voice transmission. His words surprised Zhao Min; she had not expected that he could maintain the secret art for so long.
In fact, even Li Yan himself had not expected to use "The Five Elements Return to Primordial Genesis" so soon. This was his final trump card, the full display of his strength. The current secret art could support him for about a hundred breaths. Of course, this was calculated on the condition that he had sufficient "Rongsun" and did not completely damage his meridians. If it came down to the end, completely disregarding the damage "The Five Elements Return to Primordial Genesis" would cause to his meridians, Li Yan felt he could last for about one hundred and thirty breaths. However, Li Yan believed that there was probably no difference between a hundred breaths and one hundred and thirty breaths. Once "The Five Elements Return to Primordial Genesis" was used, the intensity of the battle would basically determine life and death within twenty to thirty breaths. Either the opponent would completely crush him, or he would find an opportunity to set up an ambush and quickly kill the opponent.
Li Yan had just been wondering if he could heavily injure the opponent with a head-on clash after his power had multiplied several times. However, even when his power was sufficiently strong, that empty, weightless feeling still prevented him from fully unleashing his power. About fifty percent of the force of his last strike had been dissipated by the opponent.
As Li Yan spoke, his figure flickered and he charged forward. At this moment, Zhao Min no longer held back her magical power in the slightest. With a flash, she was also behind the black-robed middle-aged man.
Faced with the two's combined pressure, the black-robed middle-aged man's body suddenly became blurry, like a cloud of mist left in the void. This was not an afterimage left by moving too quickly; it was his main body becoming blurry and soft. At the same time, his broken braids began to grow back rapidly, and each one quickly re-braided itself. The long braids danced like monstrous pythons, covering the sky and earth as they once again swept toward Li Yan and his companion.
With a continuous hissing sound, Li Yan and Zhao Min were entangled in a battle with the opponent. This time, the black-robed man no longer held back. His fists and feet, coordinated with the sky full of braids, seemed as if they were boneless, attacking the two from all sorts of strange angles. The angles of attack were so cunning that Li Yan and Zhao Min were often caught off guard, struggling to cope. And when attacking the black-robed middle-aged man, the two were completely unable to use their most skilled, wide-open fighting style. The opponent's body was clearly his main body, yet it was like a cloud or mist, slippery and elusive. At the same time, they had to constantly guard against the black-robed middle-aged man's strange ambushes, which wasted more than half of Li Yan's and Zhao Min's attack power.
During his attack, Li Yan suddenly raised his left hand, and a purple shadow abruptly appeared in front of the black-robed middle-aged man. The moment the purple shadow appeared, it carried a forward-marching momentum. It raised its hands, and two white lights chopped down at the black-robed middle-aged man. This sudden turn of events stunned the black-robed middle-aged man for a moment. But his combat experience was so rich that with a soft cry, one of his feet kicked out a series of afterimages at an unbelievable angle.
"Dong! Dong!" With two sounds, the two white lights were knocked back. In the next moment, the white lights flashed and landed in the hands of a purple-robed youth. And the black-robed middle-aged man's blurry figure also trembled after colliding with the two white lights!
'Such formidable power!' From this purple-robed youth's attack, he also felt a tyrannical and unparalleled great force. This was the power of a pure physical body, without any mixture of magical power. 'There's another expert in hiding! Where did these cultivators come from? Each one is outrageously strong. This purple-robed youth's physical strength is almost on par with that of the female cultivator.' The black-robed man was shocked. He hadn't expected the other party to have someone else in hiding. If he hadn't come himself, even if he had deployed the top three warriors of the clan, they might not have been able to keep them here. The newly appeared purple-robed youth was only a notch weaker than Li Yan, who had used "The Five Elements Return to Primordial Genesis."
The purple-robed youth was none other than Zi Kun. He had received Li Yan's mental voice transmission in the "Earthen Patch" long ago, telling him to immediately cooperate with his attack upon appearing. Li Yan had wanted to get close to the black-robed middle-aged man and launch a sneak attack, but the opponent's reaction was so fast that the sneak attack had still failed.
At this moment, Zi Kun's body was slightly leaning forward, his two hands each holding a long tusk as white as jade. These were his two elephant tusks, transformed after leaving his body, and they were also his natal magical treasure. He didn't even know who the opponent was or what his cultivation was, but after receiving Li Yan's voice transmission, he had prepared himself without any hesitation. Unexpectedly, his sure-kill strike was still easily neutralized by the opponent, which also shocked him.
With a cold heart, a purple light flashed in Zi Kun's eyes. After dodging a long braid that was attacking him like a shadow, his eyes suddenly widened in shock. "This person is not a normal Pseudo-Nascent Soul cultivator!"
In the next moment, Zi Kun's voice sounded in Li Yan's and Zhao Min's minds. "What do you mean?" The sneak attack having failed, Li Yan secretly cursed his bad luck. Hearing this, he immediately asked!