Just as a fierce glint flashed in the black-robed middle-aged man's eyes and his index finger pointed down, something unexpected happened. Suddenly, a black long spike appeared without any warning just below his neck. Without the slightest sign, it pierced the black-robed middle-aged man's spiritual power shield with a "ding."
The spiritual power shield, set up by a Pseudo-Nascent Soul cultivator like the black-robed middle-aged man, actually showed cracks under this one stab! In an instant, the black-robed middle-aged man's soul also trembled. This made his descending index finger pause. He didn't understand what had happened, especially why his soul had a feeling of ominous palpitation.
Before he could react, another black long spike appeared. Just as the "ding" from the previous moment sounded, this black long spike once again heavily pierced the spiritual power shield. This time, the spiritual power shield, which was already covered in cracks, shattered inch by inch, and the two black long spikes came whistling over.
The black-robed middle-aged man instinctively tilted his head. With two hissing sounds, the two black spikes pierced through his earlobe and the side of his face, respectively, immediately opening two bloody gashes on his earlobe and cheek. This time, in the battle so far, one side had finally drawn blood.
And what caught the black-robed middle-aged man off guard was not just why the other party could break through his defense, but that it suddenly felt as if two long nails had been driven directly into the depths of his soul. He couldn't help but open his mouth and let out a painful roar. This pain seemed to take him back to a certain moment in the past, a moment when his soul was being devoured by the purple-robed middle-aged man.
The black-robed middle-aged man could no longer maintain the hand seal. He clutched his head with both hands and roared at the sky, his facial muscles completely contorted. Although the pain from his soul was excruciating, the Great Heavenly Master's combat instincts made him react in the most correct way. While roaring, his body shot backward, and the sky full of long braids instantly enveloped his entire body, firmly protecting him.
Not far away, Li Yan secretly thought it was a pity. He had long since hidden the Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike in space, wanting to deliver a fatal blow to the other party and damage their soul. But because the other party had suddenly used a killer move, Zi Kun's voice transmission had forced him to activate the Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike in advance. The black-robed middle-aged man's spiritual power shield had still resisted most of the force, and it had not actually been able to pierce into the other party's head.
Just as the black-robed middle-aged man was rapidly retreating, he suddenly let out another loud cry. "You are truly despicable to the extreme!"
The long braids, which had been drawn back to protect him, suddenly shot outwards, revealing the black-robed man's body. It was a horrifying sight: his skin was startlingly covered in fly-sized white gu-insects, all of which were desperately trying to drill into his flesh. The sight alone was enough to make one's scalp tingle.
In the distance, Zhao Min, holding the illusory longbow, showed a rare smile on her face. She glanced sideways at Li Yan over there. "Junior Brother is truly cunning!"
Zhao Min had cultivated in the "Sacred Demon Palace" for so many years that many people no longer knew what she had originally cultivated. That was, of course, gu-insect art. Zhao Min had brought many gu-insects from the Desolate Moon Continent, and of many varieties. Although she had later lost more than half of them to save Li Yan, she had still kept many.
Over the years, these gu-insects had also been better refined due to Zhao Min's different status in the "Sacred Demon Palace." Not only had they bred more offspring, but they were also fed rare medicinal pills and herbs, and demonic beasts. Their overall strength had greatly improved compared to before. There were even many second-rank gu-insects. Although this was nothing compared to Zhao Min's current cultivation, gu-insects were inherently sinister things, and they won by numbers.
Few in the "Sacred Demon Palace" knew that she was raising gu. During her forty years in the secret realm, Zhao Min had escaped death many times, and it was actually the result of her using gu arts. As one of her life-saving means, even Dao Yu did not know.
Previously, when Zi Kun had told them how to deal with the "Water-Cloud Beast," Zhao Min happened to have a type of gu-insect called "Fly Ice Gu." This type of gu-insect was comparable to the extreme cold ice silkworm. However, she only had a little over seven hundred of them. At that time, she had transmitted her voice to Li Yan, saying that she could use the "Fly Ice Gu" to open the way, and they could then take the opportunity to assassinate the other party.
But Li Yan had immediately rejected her proposal and had reversed it, having them open the way with their magical arts and the "Fly Ice Gu" assassinate. Finally, the moment Li Yan saw the black-robed middle-aged man's soul affected, he immediately had Zhao Min put the "Fly Ice Gu" into the sky full of dancing long braids.
If it had been a normal situation, this would have been impossible. The long braids were the black-robed middle-aged man's natal magical treasure, and he would have discovered the abnormality immediately. But at that time, his divine soul was in extreme pain. At that moment, even if someone had chopped off his hands and feet, it would not have been comparable to the indescribable pain in his soul. He had only instinctively withdrawn all his long braids to protect his body, completely unaware that they were already filled with hundreds of "Fly Ice Gu."
At this point, at least a dozen "Fly Ice Gu" had gnawed out a small opening with their incomparably sharp teeth, and with a squirm, they had already drilled in. The moment the "Fly Ice Gu" entered his body, it brought not only intense pain but also caused the magical power in the black-robed middle-aged man's body to begin to stagnate. His resistance to freezing had long been engraved in his bones. It was just that at his level of cultivation, he was usually not afraid of the external cold, but his internal organs were still fragile. In an instant, the cold had awakened him from his pain.
The black-robed middle-aged man was greatly alarmed. He circulated his magical power without regard for anything else, and the "Fly Ice Gu" that were still biting outside his body were directly blasted away like a sky full of ice crystals. They exploded into sparkling "snowflakes" in the air, but the dozen or so "Fly Ice Gu" inside his body could not be immediately forced out.
Zhao Min looked at the "snowflakes" exploding in the sky. Although she felt a little heartache, she couldn't care less at the moment. Just as she was about to use an ice-system magical art again to take the opportunity to assassinate, Li Yan had already taken a step ahead of her, and at the same time, he waved his large sleeve. "Since it's not enough, then I'll add some more for you!"
With the wave of his large sleeve, a white-robed youth appeared on the other side of the black-robed middle-aged man's body. The white-robed youth's face was almost strangely translucent, and his appearance gave people a very eerie feeling. The moment he appeared, the temperature in the sky, which was already somewhat cold, dropped sharply.
After the white-robed youth appeared, he immediately drew a line in the air with his hand, and more than ten huge ice crystal long swords with a chilling aura appeared by the black-robed middle-aged man's side. Immediately, this part of the world was frozen into a world of ice and snow. The black-robed middle-aged man felt that with every breath he took, layers of frost would form in his abdomen.
"For this mosquito lord, chop, chop, chop!" With a soft cry from the white-robed youth, more than ten huge ice crystal long swords carried an extreme cold qi and chopped down at the black-robed middle-aged man.
The black-robed middle-aged man was still circulating his energy to suppress the dozen or so "Fly Ice Gu" in his body. Feeling the aura revealed by these ice crystal long swords, he couldn't help but let out a cold snort. "Hmph, although it's an ice-system magical art, at most it only has the attack power of the Foundation Establishment stage. At this time, any cat or dog thinks they can come up and take a bite."
He decided that in the next moment, after suppressing those strange little insects in his body, he would no longer hold back. What was the point of taking them alive? He would just kill them all. If his main body hadn't said to capture them alive and bring them back, he might not have ended up in such a state. At this time, he could no longer suppress the rich killing intent in his heart.
He drew a large circle by his side with his hand, and immediately collided with the more than ten ice crystal long swords. The result was just as he had expected. Upon contact, these ice crystal long swords instantly disintegrated, turning into a sky full of crystal fragments, which scattered around his body. However, these crystal fragments revealed a coldness he had never felt before. The gusts of extreme cold made the black-robed middle-aged man's body tremble, and the magical power in his body slowed down a few notches again.
"What material is this spiritual artifact made of? It feels like it can freeze me even through my body!" The black-robed middle-aged man was somewhat horrified. Even the strange little insects that had entered his body just now were not this cold. These crystal fragments outside his body had caused the magical power inside him to immediately show signs of stagnation. In his view, the dozen or so ice crystal long swords just now were not magical treasures at all, just a few spiritual artifacts of decent grade. He even felt that it was the height of stupidity for someone to use such an extremely cold material to refine a spiritual artifact. This material was clearly a rare item. If he were an ice-system cultivator, how could he waste such a good material like this?
Both sides attacked and defended as fast as lightning. The black-robed middle-aged man had just noticed that the magical power in his body was being obstructed when a large number of the ice fragments scattered near his body suddenly "moved." Then, they emitted a buzzing sound. To the black-robed middle-aged man's astonishment, the snow-white "ice fragments" instantly enveloped him in layers.
"They're demonic beasts!" Only then did the black-robed middle-aged man realize that the dozen or so ice crystal long swords just now were composed of a kind of extremely cold mosquito. His dispersal of the ice crystal long swords just now had only killed a portion of the mosquitoes on the periphery. More accurately, the other party had no intention of clashing head-on with him; they had disintegrated upon contact, making him mistakenly believe that the other party, having seen through his weakness, was now throwing any low-grade ice-system spiritual artifact at him.
By the time the black-robed middle-aged man reacted, a thick layer of ice had already frozen on the outside of his body. These snow mosquitoes were the coldest things in the world, the overlords of the ice plains on one of the floors of the "Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda." One by one, the snow mosquitoes attached themselves to the black-robed middle-aged man's body and immediately spewed out the cold qi from their bodies without reservation.
This, coupled with the dozen or so "Fly Ice Gu" currently wreaking havoc inside the black-robed middle-aged man's body, made his magical power even more sluggish.
Just as the black-robed middle-aged man's aura fell into disarray, the white-robed Qian Ji's Divine Sense suddenly moved. He immediately controlled the snow mosquitoes that were enveloping the black-robed middle-aged man to suddenly open a gap. From this gap, one could only see a huge ice lump with a "black heart." A small part of the black-robed middle-aged man's body was exposed.
At the same time, Li Yan, who had just finished his voice transmission, formed a sword with his index and middle fingers and pointed forward. Silently, two black lights flashed and arrived in front of the ice lump, then fiercely stabbed down, aiming for the head of the now immobile black-robed middle-aged man.
And just as the black light was about to pierce through his head, the huge ice lump suddenly leaped into the air. With two hissing sounds, the moment the ice lump was pierced by the black light, it also exploded. The area within a dozen or so zhang became a misty expanse of water.
At the same time, a painful roar came from the air. Amidst the roar, an incomparably venomous voice came out. "You will all die without a complete corpse!"
Then, a black shadow shot toward the north like lightning. With just a flicker, it was already at the horizon. The black-robed middle-aged man, seeing that he was no match, had actually risked his soul being injured again, using the force of Li Yan's attack to break out of the snow mosquitoes' encirclement. He was truly a ruthless person.
Killing intent flashed in the eyes of Zhao Min and the two demons, and they were about to give chase. Li Yan waved his hands, and the Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike had already flown back into his hands. "Don't chase. Qian Ji, recall those snow mosquitoes. We have to go, quickly. His main body should have sensed it!"
Then, a "Cloud-Piercing Willow" appeared under his feet. With a turn in the air, Zhao Min and the two demons had already stepped on it. Li Yan quickly shook his robe sleeve, and all the snow mosquitoes that had just been gathered by Qian Ji disappeared. Then, he flew desperately toward the south.
In this battle, Li Yan had already used all his trump cards, and in the end, he had still failed to keep the other party. The clone of a high-level cultivator was too terrifying, and his combat experience was so rich that it could not be judged by common sense!