The Silver-Faced Envoy's raised right hand was like the declaration of the Grim Reaper. The pitch-black demonic light gathered at his fingertips was not dazzling, yet it carried a depth and deathly silence that seemed to devour everything, casting a heavy shadow over everyone's hearts. Mu Qingfeng and Liu Yun, who had been fiercely fighting the Crimson-Faced Demon Cultivator, felt that terrifying qi locking onto them and had no choice but to forcefully change their moves, retracting their sword light and switching to full defense, their expressions more grave than ever before.
"Protect Xiao Qi and the other junior disciples!" Mu Qingfeng roared, exchanging a resolute glance with Liu Yun. They both knew clearly that the true life-and-death test was only now beginning.
The Silver-Faced Envoy seemed to relish this feeling of controlling life and death, of taking and giving at will. He did not immediately launch an attack but instead swept his cold eyes over the fully prepared crowd, finally settling on Xiao Qi, his hoarse voice carrying a hint of mockery: "Not a bad seed, what a pity."
As his words fell, he flicked his finger.
That condensed pitch-black demonic light did not shoot at anyone but instead, as if it had a life of its own, silently merged into the ground beneath his feet.
In the next instant, everything changed abruptly!
Centered on the Silver-Faced Envoy, the ground within a radius of dozens of zhang instantly transformed into a viscous, churning black quagmire! From within the mire, countless ghostly hands condensed from pure demonic qi extended, madly grabbing at the ankles of the Qingxu Temple disciples. Even more terrifying, within this "demonic domain," spiritual qi was drastically repelled and corrupted. Everyone felt their bodies grow heavy, as if trapped in an invisible quagmire. The circulation of their spiritual power instantly became sluggish by thirty percent, and even breathing became difficult.
"A domain prototype?!" Mu Qingfeng cried out in shock, his eyes filled with disbelief. This was absolutely no ordinary spell but a domain prototype that could only be cast by touching upon the law power of the Nascent Soul stage! Although its range was not large and its effect was far inferior to a true Nascent Soul domain, against them—Golden Core and Foundation Establishment cultivators—it was a crushing advantage.
Two weaker Qingxu Temple disciples were caught off guard, instantly seized by ghostly hands at their ankles, screaming as they were dragged toward the depths of the mire. Their protective spiritual light shattered like paper. They were on the verge of being devoured by the demonic qi!
"Save them!" Liu Yun shouted, her sword light erupting, transforming into a peerlessly sharp rainbow that slashed at the ghostly hands around the two disciples. Where the sword light passed, ghostly hands snapped and dissipated one after another, but immediately more ghostly hands emerged from the mire, continuing their assault.
Mu Qingfeng took a deep breath, his long sword emitting a heavy hum. Earth-yellow light blazed from the blade. "Immovable as a mountain, the sword suppresses the eight wildernesses!" He forcefully thrust his long sword into the ground (though the ground had become a demonic mire). A thick, majestic sword intent spread out centered on him, forcibly propping open a "pure land" of about three zhang square in the churning demonic mire. Within this area, demonic qi was temporarily pushed back, and ghostly hands could not invade.
The two rescued disciples, still shaken, hurriedly took refuge in this sword-intent pure land, their faces pale, their breath chaotic.
However, maintaining this pure land was extremely draining for Mu Qingfeng. The veins on his forehead bulged, clearly showing he was struggling to hold on. And Liu Yun, to sever the ghostly hands and rescue her fellow disciples, had her sword light crisscrossing everywhere, consuming spiritual power just as intensely.
The Silver-Faced Envoy still stood with his hands behind his back, as if he had merely done something insignificant. He turned his gaze to Xiao Qi, who was entangled with the Crimson-Faced and White-Faced Demon Cultivators, and said indifferently: "Futile resistance."
He did not make another move, but the Crimson-Faced and White-Faced Demon Cultivators, receiving his signal, instantly intensified their attacks, becoming even more ferocious and ruthless.
The Crimson-Faced Demon Cultivator roared, swinging his black-flame long blade like a windmill. One after another, thicker black flame pythons roared toward Xiao Qi and the area protected by the Black Tortoise Shield, the explosive shock waves making the earth-yellow shield phantom shake violently. The White-Faced Demon Cultivator completely merged his form into the shadows, and in the next moment, dozens of black shadow shuttles shot toward Xiao Qi from various impossible angles at astonishing speed.
Xiao Qi's pressure suddenly increased! He had to maintain the Black Tortoise Shield to withstand area attacks while also dealing with the ghostly appearing and disappearing shadow shuttles. If not for the exquisite "Wandering Dragon Nine Turns" movement technique, he would have been injured several times, narrowly avoiding fatal attacks by mere inches. His wok danced so densely that it blocked the unavoidable shadow shuttles, producing crisp "ding ding dang dang" sounds, even leaving several shallow white marks on the pot body.
"We can't go on like this!" Xiao Qi thought anxiously. Eldest Senior Brother and Third Senior Sister were held back by the Silver-Faced Envoy's domain prototype, unable to spare any attention. The others were in even greater danger. His spiritual power was being consumed rapidly, and the spiritual light of the Black Tortoise Shield was beginning to dim.
He tried to mobilize the jade pendant at his chest. That cool breath could effectively disperse the demonic qi invading his body, but against the massive domain pressure from outside, the effect seemed limited. Though the Purification Source could counter demonic qi, the difference in scale was too great, like trying to put out a cart of burning firewood with a cup of water.
Just as he was distracted, an extremely insidious shadow shuttle silently penetrated a weak point in the Black Tortoise Shield's defense, shooting straight for his back! By the time Xiao Qi detected it, it was already too late to completely dodge!
"Careful!" Mu Qingfeng, who had been watching the battle, shouted in alarm, wanting to rescue but being entangled by more ghostly hands.
At that critical moment, Xiao Qi could only desperately twist his body while slinging the wok behind his back.
"Puh!"
The shadow shuttle did not strike his back but fiercely embedded itself in his left shoulder! A sinister and toxic power instantly invaded his meridians, madly destroying everything. Intense pain shot through him. Xiao Qi let out a muffled groan. Half his body went nearly numb, and his movements instantly stalled.
"Xiao Qi!" Mu Qingfeng's eyes were about to split, wanting to forcefully rush out of the sword-intent pure land to rescue, but was forced back by a seemingly casual demonic qi strike from the Silver-Faced Envoy, his qi and blood surging.
"It's over." The Silver-Faced Envoy seemed to have lost all patience. He finally moved. His figure vanished ghost-like from where he stood, and in the next instant, he appeared less than three zhang before Xiao Qi! A palm covered in pitch-black scales and wreathed in substantial demonic qi, carrying the terrifying might of tearing through space, directly grabbed toward Xiao Qi's head! If this palm connected, let alone Xiao Qi's skull, even gold and stone would be ground to powder!
A Nascent Soul cultivator's furious strike was fast to the extreme. Under the enveloping might, Xiao Qi felt the air around him solidify. He couldn't even move a finger and could only watch helplessly as the hand of death approached! An intense shadow of death completely enveloped him.
Mu Qingfeng and Liu Yun let out unwilling roars but were tightly entangled by the domain and their opponents, completely unable to rescue.
The rabbit spirit in Xiao Qi's arms let out shrill "squeak squeak" sounds, extremely anxious.
At this moment of extreme crisis, the jade pendant on Xiao Qi's chest seemed to be thoroughly triggered by that ultimate death threat and the dense demonic qi, becoming scorching hot to an unprecedented degree! A flood of cool energy far more vast and pure than any previous time, carrying a trace of ancient majestic aura, violently erupted from his chest!
This power no longer merely protected his mind but was like a river bursting its banks, instantly washing away the sinister demonic qi that had invaded his left shoulder and rushed out through his meridians!
"Weng—"
A soft yet commanding white light halo containing supreme purification will suddenly spread out centered on Xiao Qi!