After suppressing the red-glowing long spear, the gaunt man's expression eased slightly. He thoroughly detested this kind of intense heat.
The thick stone pillar in his other hand once again swept silently towards Gong Chenying's slender neck. To say the stone pillar was silent was because this magical treasure actually carried a large amount of extremely cold qi.
It blended perfectly with the yin wind and cold qi in the cave, making it easy for people to overlook the attack within this cold wind and yin qi. Their attacks here were even more enhanced, capable of unleashing formidable power.
Gong Chenying's face maintained its usual cold beauty. Even with her long spear wrapped by the long tongue, she showed neither joy nor sorrow, making it impossible for anyone to read her thoughts.
Just as a fierce glint flashed in the gaunt man's eyes and the thick stone pillar was about to strike her jade-like neck, she suddenly released the long spear with one hand.
Her jade-like wrist spun quickly, changing from a palm to a fist, and in a flash of lightning, she punched the butt of the spear.
At the same time, Gong Chenying's body leaned back in an instant, and the thick stone pillar whistled past, almost grazing the tip of her nose.
Seeing his stone pillar sweep empty, the gaunt man was about to forcefully stop its horizontal momentum and then bring it down to smash the opponent's body into a pile of pulp.
But just then, he felt a sharp pain in his Sea of Consciousness. An irresistible, immense force came from the shield in his other hand.
A ball of scorching red light suddenly exploded in the darkness. The icy long tongue was shattered into pieces by the force that erupted from the tip of the spear in an instant. The huge human face on the shield also, in its pain, exploded into countless wisps of black qi in an instant.
With his natal magical treasure damaged, the gaunt man was immediately hit by a backlash. In his surprise, he also reacted decisively, quickly mobilizing his magical power to protect his internal organs.
But just as this thought arose, Gong Chenying's body was still leaning back, but the fist that had struck the spear's handle had not been withdrawn.
Instead, it had once again changed from a fist to a palm. The palm was almost pressed against the butt of the spear, and with the force of an inch-force, the palm struck heavily again. Gong Chenying's forearm muscles also contracted and expanded violently.
The gaunt man felt an even more powerful and vigorous force coming from the shield. This force instantly entered his body, spread along his arm, and shook his five viscera and six bowels.
The magical power in his meridians was instantly crushed upon contact with that force, dispersing in a devastating manner. That force charged straight through, and wherever it passed, muscles and meridians were instantly torn to shreds.
And what made the gaunt man's heart turn cold was that behind this force, several more powerful forces penetrated through, surging in.
It was like the giant waves in a rising tide, each wave higher than the last, each wave stronger than the last.
The gaunt man only had time to let out a shrill scream. His whole person, still holding the shield and the thick stone pillar, had his physical body torn into countless pieces from the inside out by the terrifying force within him.
Amidst the "clang" of the two magical treasures falling, a rain of blood mixed with internal organs fell from the air. A faint yellow light flashed and flew out from the rain of blood, fleeing towards the depths of the cave.
Seeing this, Gong Chenying knew that it was probably impossible to capture the other party's Demonic Core alive.
Her jade-like palm actually changed from a palm to a fist again. Her forearm trembled slightly, and she swung it back like lightning. The back of her fist heavily smashed onto the butt of the red-glowing long spear that was floating in mid-air.
In the pitch-black cave, a streak of red light flashed into the distance. With a "chi!" sound, the entire long spear was like a long rainbow streaking across the sky. In the next moment, the spearhead, with its scorching high temperature, was deeply embedded in the cave wall.
The thick layer of ice on the hard cave wall was like a thin piece of paper. A large hole appeared in an instant, and icy water flowed out from it like a small stream.
But because the temperature in the cave was extremely low, the icy water turned into a series of sliding icicles after flowing only a few inches from the spear hole.
Gong Chenying tapped the ground with the tip of her foot, and her figure floated to the front. After grabbing the long spear, she gently pulled. Amidst a continuous "chichichi..." sound, the long spear, trailing wisps of green smoke, was pulled out of the cave wall.
The tip of the long spear flashed with an eerie red light, like a strange red single eye in the darkness.
At this time, the tip of the spear was pierced with half of a pale yellow Demonic Core. Although the Demonic Core was still flashing with a yellow light, it was rapidly melting under the high temperature of the red-glowing spear tip.
The moment the gaunt man's Demonic Core was hit by the red-glowing spearhead, its life force was completely extinguished. It didn't even have a chance to let out a dying scream.
Without the protection of magical power, the Demonic Core also became fragile and could no longer continue to resist the destructive high temperature on the red-glowing spear tip. It was melting at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The power of Gong Chenying's punch just now was terrifying. For a Mid-stage Golden Core cultivator, if the opponent was not a body cultivator, and her overlapping force had entered their body, it would have been an almost instant kill.
That was a transformation of the power in her body after cultivating the "Qiongqi Purgatory Art" to the fifth layer, called the "Seven-Layered Wave."
She seemed to have thrown one punch, but it already contained several layers of force, each stronger than the last, like an angry wave crashing against the sky, an eagle striking ten thousand li.
Looking at the Demonic Core on the tip of the spear that had already melted to a tiny speck, Gong Chenying also felt quite helpless. She had originally wanted to leave a survivor so she could soul-search.
The powerful force Gong Chenying had struck out could instantly tear apart the other party's physical body, but the gaunt man was also skilled in magical power. In his haste, he had still managed to protect his Demonic Core and escape, not letting it be torn to shreds along with his body.
However, the Demonic Core had still been shaken by the force, and after escaping, it had stumbled a little, which was how Gong Chenying had managed to nail it to the cave wall with one spear strike.
"Although this kind of Ghost-Creature Wind Beast's physical body is also quite strong, they mainly follow the path of a Dharma Cultivator."
Gong Chenying thought in her heart. Then, she quickly raised her head and saw that the two magical treasures that had fallen to the ground had now flown up on their own and were flying towards the deep cave.
With a cold expression, Gong Chenying had already pointed her fingers repeatedly. A series of runes filled a patch of the world like a sky full of rosy clouds. The two magical treasures that had just flown up were immediately covered with a series of runes.
As a chill appeared on their surfaces, they struggled forward another few feet before falling heavily back to the ground.
The artifact spirits in the two magical treasures, in this extremely cold world, after their master's death and Divine Sense had dissipated, had actually gained a trace of autonomous consciousness and wanted to escape on their own.
"The extreme cold and yin wind here is not only helpful for the Wind Beasts' cultivation, but also has a restorative and auxiliary effect on the magical treasures they refine."
After thinking for a moment, Gong Chenying still decided to seal them and put them in her pouch. Although she might not use them, for the unknown ghost creatures here, this could also be a clue for investigation.
Gong Chenying beckoned, and the two magical treasures were drawn into her hand. Then, with a slight flash of light from her storage ring, they had already disappeared.
The Nascent Soul-level storage ring Li Yan had given her meant that Gong Chenying no longer had to worry about running out of space. With her status in the Tianli Clan, the resources she could mobilize were immense, and she could carry many things with her.
It was just that before coming out this time, she had not yet refined these few magical treasures, so the storage ring still appeared empty.
Just as she had put away the magical treasures, Gong Chenying's expression suddenly changed slightly. She quickly raised her head and looked around at several directions in the deep cave.
In those few directions, several more powerful auras had appeared and were rapidly approaching her...
Two days later, Gong Chenying was traveling through the pitch-black cave, and behind her were several powerful auras in close pursuit.
Gong Chenying had fought with them intermittently several times. Although she had injured two of the other side's Ghost-Creature Wind Beasts, she herself had also been injured.
Because among these third-rank Ghost-Creature Wind Beasts, there were actually four at the peak of the third rank. From a small realm perspective, they could all crush her.
Even if Gong Chenying could briefly erupt with the strength of an Initial-stage Nascent Soul, that could only be achieved by using self-harming secret arts similar to the "Blood Core Bone Fusion." Until the final moment, she of course could not easily fight to the death.
Although she cultivated a body refining art and was a physically strong body cultivator, she was not a muscle-headed person. On the contrary, she was an exceptionally intelligent person and of course knew how to choose.
Even at the same peak of the third rank, the strength of the few Wind Beasts on the other side also varied. In the chase, it was naturally impossible for them to advance and retreat in unison.
So, Gong Chenying adopted the method of dragging out the battle line, constantly winding around in the cave. Whenever there was a chance, she would attack.
But even so, she had been entangled by the other side three times. In order to get rid of them as quickly as possible, she had almost used a mutually destructive fighting style to create an opening in the encirclement, which was how she had broken out.
But she herself had also suffered some injuries as a result. However, this kind of injury was not an internal injury. For Gong Chenying, she felt that it did not affect her ability to cast spells and fight.
"The miserable cry the gaunt man let out before I killed him, although I couldn't understand it, should have been a call for his companions."
"Before that, he thought he could deal with me, so he attacked alone, wanting to gain a greater benefit and take it for himself."
Through the past few days of guerrilla warfare, an even worse situation had also appeared. The number of third-rank Ghost-Creature Wind Beasts had increased from six to eight.
At the same time, based on these situations, after some thought, Gong Chenying had judged that there were two possible outcomes, one good and one bad.
The good outcome was that there was a fifty percent chance that there were no fourth-rank Wind Beasts in this cave.
The bad news was that Little Martial Uncle might also be in trouble, and it would also be very difficult for her to get rid of the Ghost-Creature Wind Beasts behind her.
Gong Chenying, while fleeing in front, was also quickly thinking of countermeasures in her heart. She had to get rid of these Wind Beasts behind her to have time to find an exit.
Releasing her Divine Sense to search the surroundings, the closest to her behind were two humanoid Ghost-Creature Wind Beasts. They were the ones who had last joined forces to besiege her.
In their renewed pursuit, although Gong Chenying constantly passed through various forks, trying to confuse the other party, these two had never separated again. It was clear that they had seen through Gong Chenying's plan.
And after fighting with Gong Chenying, they also knew how difficult she was to deal with. Neither of them could take her down alone. On the contrary, they might be ambushed and killed by Gong Chenying. They had to attack together.
Time passed quickly. Gong Chenying, who was flying, suddenly's expression moved. Her Divine Sense began to rapidly retract and focus on a place several tens of li away in the front right.
After ten breaths, a trace of hesitation appeared on Gong Chenying's face, as if she were making some kind of decision.
In her Divine Sense, seven forks of varying distances had appeared sixty li away. One of the forks was like a narrow sliver of sky, the cave passage long and deep, only allowing one person to pass through.
And in that long and narrow fork, as her Divine Sense went all the way forward, after extending for more than a hundred li, it stopped in a not-so-large cave.
And when she got there, Gong Chenying's Divine Sense did not find any other exits. It was a dead end.
If she were to go down this long and narrow fork, then even if the Ghost-Creature Wind Beasts behind her wanted to surround her, there would be no way. They could only enter one by one. That might be a good place for her to launch a desperate counterattack.
However, in the same situation, if the other party simply refused to enter and instead guarded the entrance of the fork, then Gong Chenying would have forced herself into a dead end, becoming a turtle in a jar.
If things went wrong, Gong Chenying would have been spinning a cocoon to trap herself.
One by one, thoughts quickly flashed through her mind. Feeling the inescapable auras behind her, Gong Chenying finally hardened her heart and flew in one direction...
To continue to play cat and mouse with the other party in this cave, she didn't know if there were any other third-rank Ghost-Creature Wind Beasts here. At that time, the more places she could escape to, the more enemies would appear behind her.
Just the pursuit of these eight Ghost-Creature Wind Beasts was already more than she could handle at present. Of course, she could not let the unfavorable situation worsen.
She had also left many marks along the way. It would be even better if Li Yan could appear. Gong Chenying wanted to solve the pressing problem herself as soon as possible.
If it really came to it, she would be trapped there, slowly cultivate and recover, and then wait for an opportunity to fight her way out. She knew her idea was simple, and the reality would be far from it, but she was willing to be simple and direct.
But all of this was under the condition that the worst-case scenario did not happen, that is, there were really no fourth-rank Wind Beasts here. Only then could the plan proceed according to her thoughts.
Soon, Gong Chenying appeared in front of a fork with a narrow and long entrance. She quickly left a mark at the entrance without leaving a trace, and then had already rushed into the long and narrow crevice.
Not long after, two peak third-rank Ghost-Creature Wind Beasts also flew here. These were two still-thin humanoid cultivators.
However, judging by their faces, one was a woman with a bluish complexion, and the other was an old man.
After seeing the fork in front of them, they quickly began to talk. It was just that the words they spoke were all obscure and difficult to understand.
Then, after the two of them carefully probed with their Divine Sense, the old man entered first, and the two of them flew into the long and narrow crevice one after the other.
But after entering for about thirty li, they stopped, because Gong Chenying was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the road in front. The two of them were no more than a thousand zhang away from her.
For a moment, they actually did not dare to go forward!
Gong Chenying had flown inward for a certain distance and then began to look for a suitable defensive position. Of course, she could not go all the way to the end and put herself in the last, larger cave.
The long and narrow crevice path inside this cave was winding. It had already turned countless times in thirty li.
At this time, Gong Chenying was sitting behind the wall of a corner that was almost a U-turn. It really gave the feeling of one man guarding the pass, ten thousand cannot break through.
To attack her, one had to go deep inside, and at this point, only one person could fight her. The others could only stand behind and watch.