"Hiss, hiss, hiss..."
Li Yan's body was instantly enveloped in a thick, cold, yin fog. Even the crimson sun fire within him paused for a moment. The flames in his Dantian sea were abruptly stretched long, swaying and flickering ceaselessly.
Li Yan's forward steps halted, and he immediately stopped in place.
The pulling force of this yin wind was too strong. He could already feel the qi and blood in his body turning into threads of ice, wanting to escape his body through his pores.
'Although I don't know how a Late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator would fare in this situation, it's already extremely difficult for me to bear. And this is still outside the cave...'
At this moment, the small golden Nascent Soul figure in Li Yan's Dantian had stood up. With a series of hand seals, Li Yan's Dantian sea became even more crimson, transforming into a furnace-like world.
But even so, it could no longer directly dispel the extreme cold in his body as before. Fortunately, the extreme cold was blocked after entering Li Yan's body by an inch.
In the blink of an eye, a thick layer of gray ice had formed on Li Yan's body.
"Hmph!"
With a cold snort from Li Yan, who had already come to a stop, he slowly lifted his foot again.
With sounds of "crack... crack...", as Li Yan's body began to move again, the thick gray ice on his body started to crack and fall off...
Although he had resumed his advance, Li Yan's speed was now like a crawling snail. It took him about five breaths each time he lifted his leg and set it down again.
Seeing this, the red-robed man in the distance had his eyebrows almost standing straight up. He had spared no effort, even at the cost of damaging another clone, to merge their bodies, his strength now infinitely close to the Late-stage Nascent Soul, yet that person could still break free from the suction.
He couldn't help but feel a little annoyed. Previously, he had only considered that his main body was in the process of refining the Nascent Soul cultivator's qi and blood, and he had also just fought with Li Yan.
The strength Li Yan had previously shown was that of a normal Mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, which was why he hadn't attacked in the cave.
He hadn't expected the other party to be so insidious, hiding his strength so deeply. Not only had he missed the best opportunity to borrow the power of his main body, but he had also lost a clone to the opponent.
Inside the red-robed man's body, another identical man sat cross-legged behind a blood-red Nascent Soul, the magical power in his Dantian sea surging like a tide. At this moment, the red-robed man was like he possessed two Nascent Souls, his magical power soaring.
And just then, the shrunken red-robed man's brow twitched, and his eyes suddenly snapped open.
"Still can't take him down, damn it!"
His face instantly became ferocious. He suddenly raised a hand and slapped it fiercely on the back shoulder of the crimson Nascent Soul in front of him.
As he struck out with his palm, the entire Dantian sea once again erupted with the sound of a monstrous tsunami.
But the face of the shrunken red-robed man was filled with pain, because his hand, along with his entire arm, was slowly melting and softening, turning into a blood-red liquid that stuck to the back of the Nascent Soul's shoulder...
Outside, the red-robed man's aura surged again, his entire blood-red robe rustling loudly in an instant.
The sound of the flute suddenly lost its sharp, ear-piercing quality and instead became incomparably heavy. As his flute's tune changed, the yin wind blowing from the cave was no longer in gusts.
Instead, many small yin winds split into two streams, rapidly forming two horizontally rotating, churning gray wind pillars.
At the top of each wind pillar, two slowly rotating vortexes formed, like giant mouths pressing against the backs of Li Yan and Gong Shanhe.
The moment the two gray, rotating wind pillars formed, the veins on the red-robed man's forehead bulged high, and two streams of bloody tears flowed from his eyes.
Evidently, casting a spell like this required him to bear a huge burden, perhaps even a backlash.
As Li Yan was advancing, he felt a sudden tightening on his back. A much stronger suction force pulled him backward. Some of the qi and blood in his body that had turned into ice threads instantly rushed into his pores.
Without a second thought, Li Yan's "The Five Elements Return to Primordial Genesis" spun like the wind, its power instantly doubling.
The powerful magical power rushed through his meridians like a torrent of fire. Even with Li Yan's now incomparably tough meridians, they were burned to the point of almost melting.
Intense pain from all the meridians in his body constantly assaulted his sea of consciousness, but Li Yan's face remained expressionless. In the next moment, his body came to a halt once again.
The ice threads of qi and blood that had been sucked into his pores slowly retreated back into his body.
Li Yan let out a heavy breath of white air. He dared not imagine what the result would be if he were inside the cave, being pulled by these yin winds.
Only then did Li Yan have a chance to sweep his Divine Sense to the other side. A look was all it took for his heart to jump in shock.
Although strands of yellow light were shining through the thick ice on Gong Shanhe's body, he could no longer advance. He was being held back by the thick yin wind pillar, rotating slowly as he was continuously pulled backward.
Although he was still circulating his cultivation to resist, he was clearly at a disadvantage, being pulled little by little towards the cave entrance behind him.
It was clear that the injured Gong Shanhe, with the yin wind's power having increased again, was now showing signs of being unable to hold on.
His spirit root was likely dominated by the heaviest earth attribute, and he probably didn't have a fire-attribute spirit root. Therefore, when contending with the yin wind, he couldn't form a mutually restraining situation.
"Clan Head Gong, resist with all your might!"
After Li Yan finished transmitting this message, he didn't care if the other party had time to reply. He unleashed all his magical power without reservation. His entire skin turned crimson, and a thunderous rumbling sound came from within his body.
After he unleashed all his power, disregarding the possibility that his meridians could break at any moment, he advanced more than three zhang in an instant, his speed actually increasing.
Seeing this, the red-robed man in front had his eyes nearly pop out of their sockets. He had exhausted all his strength, even at the cost of damaging another clone, yet the opponent was still so ferocious.
"Is he a Late-stage Nascent Soul Great Cultivator?"
This thought arose uncontrollably in his mind. If he had known the opponent was of this cultivation level, he would have taken every opportunity to attack, letting his main body attack subconsciously.
This situation had only occurred twice over the years. Once, a peak Fourth-rank beast had entered here. It had used a magical treasure to conceal its aura, which had also led them to misjudge.
In the end, after losing thirty percent of its qi and blood, that beast suddenly erupted with the combat power of a peak Fourth-rank, escaping this place in one fell swoop.
In fact, the red-robed man's carelessness couldn't really be blamed. The original clones had all had their souls scattered in the final great battle. They had been re-condensed by the main body at the cost of its own origin essence before it fell into its final slumber.
Thus, the three of them were like gods here. They had never fought with outside cultivators before. Although they had inherited the combat experience of their main body, things like scheming and calculation were not things that could be obtained through inheritance alone.
Compared to outside cultivators, they were just ruthless and merciless, but their cunning was still inferior to those thousand-year-old demons. Moreover, when the main body was refining qi and blood, it could not be easily interrupted, or the effect would be greatly diminished.
On the other side, Li Yan was rapidly calculating in his mind. He should only need to get within fifty zhang of the red-robed man, and the tearing force of the yin wind behind him would be reduced to a point where he no longer needed to resist with all his might.
At that time, he could attack the red-robed man, and Gong Shanhe would have a chance to escape.
However, Li Yan was not sure if Gong Shanhe could hold on until then, because he was being dragged towards the cave entrance at an increasing speed. It was clear that Gong Shanhe's magical power was failing.
After losing so much qi and blood, to be able to resist the suction of such a powerful yin wind with an injured body... Li Yan himself was on the verge of collapsing. For Gong Shanhe to be so valiant, he was definitely a peerless expert among his peers.
At present, both sides had fallen into silence. Apart from Li Yan's heavy breathing, the sound of the wind, and the sound of breaking ice, the place seemed strangely eerie.
Time passed quickly. When Li Yan had walked another thirty zhang, Gong Shanhe had already been pulled to the cave entrance, and one of his supporting legs had entered the cave.
At that distance, the suction force from within the cave was even stronger. In just half a breath, more than half of Gong Shanhe's body was pulled in, but he did not cry out or send a voice transmission to Li Yan.
A sharp glint flashed in Li Yan's eyes. It was now imperative to attack. But under the powerful tearing force from behind, his attack would also be greatly weakened. It was unknown how much power would be left when it reached the red-robed man.
Li Yan took a deep breath, and a brilliant silver light erupted from his body. He suddenly raised a hand, and a dark light flew towards the red-robed man at a speed visible to the naked eye, despite the powerful suction.
And as Li Yan attacked, his body "whooshed" backward, sliding five zhang before he stopped.
That last attack had dispersed forty percent of his strength, and he could no longer resist the suction of the wind pillar behind him, being pulled back in an instant. Fortunately, Li Yan was prepared and immediately forced his magical power to condense.
This attack of his was a combination of magical power, the Qiongqi Purgatory Art, and the essence blood of the Undead Nether Phoenix. Although the speed of the Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike was not instantaneous, it was still incredibly fast.
And as the magical treasure moved away from the cave entrance, its speed also increased.
The red-robed man in the distance, however, showed a hint of mockery in his eyes. The opponent's attack was completely within his lock.
Although he had no spare energy to block it, he could easily dodge before the attack arrived. His movements at this moment were unhurried.
But just then, something completely unexpected happened. The red-robed man, who had just been wearing a mocking expression, suddenly had his face change.
Immediately, his body rapidly blurred. And at that moment, a clear, cold laugh from a woman was heard.
"So many years, and still so incompetent. All you can do is use some innate attacks. Die!"
As the voice sounded, a crimson spear abruptly appeared at the red-robed man's waist. The crimson spear brought with it a sheet of red light as it swept over. It was not a thrust, but a horizontal smash.
This greatly reduced the area the red-robed man had to dodge. And just as his figure blurred, a slender yet "thick" finger suddenly appeared above his head.
The lines on the finger were clearly visible. Those lines seemed to form a seated Buddha statue, one hand held up to its chest, the other pointing out.
The finger was "slender" because it looked slender overall, like a woman's long finger.
But when the entire palm materialized, it covered the red-robed man's entire body, appearing very "thick."
The fingertip emitted specks of golden light. The red-robed man, while dodging the horizontal smash of the spear, had his blurry body already trailing afterimages. He had dodged the vast majority of the spear's sweep and was about to flash into the distance.
But under the illumination of the golden light, he paused slightly. And with that pause, the tip of the crimson spear quickly swept across his lower back.
"Hiss!"
Although the tip of the crimson spear failed to cut his body in half horizontally, it had already carved a deep gouge from his lower back to his upper back, deep enough to see bone. The gushing blood, under the golden light from above, was like a rainbow piercing the sun in an instant.
"Ah! How... how could it be you... Ahh!"
All of this happened too quickly. The moment the red-robed man was illuminated by the golden light, his waist was struck by the spear. Amidst his screams, he also let out a cry of alarm.
Then, his voice suddenly rose in pitch again, letting out a soul-deep, blood-curdling scream. This scream was so shrill, it was as if his soul was being extracted and refined.
Along with this heaven-piercing, shrill scream, a deep, low roar suddenly emanated from the depths of the cave, shaking the surroundings so violently that all the wind pillars disintegrated. The mountain peak trembled continuously, emitting an earth-shaking "rumble..."
The red-robed man, while dodging the finger and spear attacks, could no longer play the flute with all his might.
The Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike, like an untamed horse, shot forward at a speed the red-robed man could no longer estimate. In a blur, it reached him and pierced through his shoulder.
Immediately, an unbearable pain, originating from the depths of his soul, washed over the red-robed man. He could only throw his head back and let out a long, miserable scream.
As the low roar emanated from the cave, Li Yan felt his whole body relax. All the yin wind behind him vanished without a trace, and Gong Shanhe's voice came through.
"A'ying?"
Everything happened too quickly. Although Li Yan had sent his Divine Sense to scan ahead, the wisp of Divine Sense that had been constantly watching Gong Shanhe was the first to see him escape. This made his heart relax instantly.
Gong Shanhe, on the other hand, had been paying attention to the entire situation in front of him. When he said this, Li Yan's Divine Sense had just swept to the front.
The red-robed man had already disappeared, but two other figures had appeared: a somewhat illusory nun, and Gong Chenying standing behind her.
Li Yan's heart filled with joy. Although he didn't recognize the nun, at least she had just attacked the red-robed man.
"Sixth Senior Sister!"
Although Li Yan's voice was filled with pleasant surprise, his Divine Sense still swept the surroundings. He needed to find the injured red-robed man.
"Stop looking. He has fled back to his main body. While his clone is injured and his main body is suffering from the backlash, leave this place quickly. That is not something you can deal with!"
The nun's aura became extremely unstable. At this time, Gong Shanhe also flew to Li Yan's side. The two were shocked to hear this.
"A'die, listen to this senior. Little Junior Brother, quickly take us into your Spirit-Storing Pouch. I have already found the Sixth Elder. Quickly!"
Gong Chenying had always been decisive. She didn't give the two any time to speak, but quickly stated the most important matters.
"Let's go!"
Li Yan and Gong Shanhe spoke almost in unison. Li Yan was slightly faster than Gong Shanhe. In a flash, he was at Gong Chenying's side. With a wave of his great sleeve, the nun and Gong Chenying had disappeared.
Some people die, but not completely...