Jin Bao's heart was pierced with Cao Yun's darkness spear. It didn't contain his Black Heart Flame. This darkness was coming directly from the 'Waning Heavenly Dragon Diagram' array formation all around. Indeed, this array formation was meant to amplify his Spear Heart and his own martial arts. Jin Bao's figure completely exploded into a red mist. Even without spiritual senses, Cao Yun could tell that something was amiss. She was most likely a middle to late Accomplished Demon. Such an attack should be able to injure her but not kill her on the spot.
As a matter of fact, Jin Bao was a 6th-grade Accomplished Demon who had broken through four years ago. And indeed, even with all of his strength, Cao Yun would probably have failed to kill her in one strike. The main reason being that she was simply too fast.
Before Cao Yun could react at all, he felt a saber pierce his Wei Qi. No matter how quickly he acted, the saber was so fast that it did pierce his flank. With his movement, he was able to dodge the second saber hidden behind the shadow of the first one. But his flank was completely slashed.
'Scales Under the Waterfall'!
His spear slashed horizontally toward the origin of the attack. Once again, his 'Tainted Heavenly Spear' turned into pure darkness and cut off Jin Bao's head. Once again, Jin Bao's figure exploded into a red mist. But another attack came from one of Cao Yun's dead spots once more. Those attacks were simply too fast for him to block in time. If he could use his spiritual senses, he would be able to detect them earlier. But at the moment, he could only sense them when they were within his Wei Qi. Those slashes were moving so fast that they reached Cao Yun before any sound or even any air could be displaced in his direction. So physical senses were not enough to sense them. In fact, the first blade sometimes made some sound, but the second one didn't, ever.
'Phantom Cross-Slash'!
Jin Bao's technique allowed her to use one blade as a decoy while hiding the second blade in the shadow of the first. As such, her second blade would completely disappear. No sound and no Qi could emanate from it. This stealth was even superior to Cao Yun's 'Ashen Feather Seal', but it was not as sustainable as his. Besides, it could only be used on her blade and simply because she used the other one as a distraction. That being said, once one knew this technique, they could avoid the first blade and be ready for the second one. Unfortunately, Cao Yun could not even detect the first blade.
After the very first attack, Cao Yun had understood his opponent but he found it difficult to deal with her in a quick manner. Besides, she had companions very close. He was sure of at least one of them, but guessed that others were also ready to support her. As long as he couldn't be sure of their numbers and strength, he was at a clear disadvantage. Besides, this Jin Bao was only delaying him. No matter how weakened his soul was, his body was too much for her to deal with in a fair fight. But if she kept him busy long enough for her companions to arrive, Cao Yun would be in very dangerous situation.
Before Xun Lieren and He Wushuang intervened, Cao Yun had already been slashed more than eight times. With his current physique, he was able to move out of the way the moment the blade pierced his skin. Moreover, going through his muscles or bones would require more strength than what Jin Bao was capable of. However, he was bleeding from different places. Viscous and heavy blood was very slowly flowing across his clothes. His Golden Blood was hard to spill. Thankfully, Cao Yun was getting used to those attacks. He was faster and faster in his reaction.
'Leaping Fang Execution'!
Suddenly, Jin Bao disrupted the rhythm she had created. Surprised, Cao Yun was still able to block one blade with a vertical motion of his spear. Just as he blocked it, the blade turned into a red mist. Right behind Cao Yun, Jin Bao plunged the two sabers into his heart and his right kidney. Feeling the killing intent right before she struck, the young man contracted his back muscles and focused his Wei Qi there. Slightly moving, the first blade collided with his rib cage and got stopped. The second blade however entered deeper into Cao Yun's flesh. But it was stopped by his muscles contracting around it while his Qi was helping a lot. Both blades were in fact stuck into Cao Yun's back.
This was what Cao Yun had been waiting for. Pushing his Spear Heart to the limit, he used the butt of the spear to strike his opponent. Realizing the trap, Jin Bao let go of her weapons. Her head dodged the strike at the very last moment. This time, Cao Yun was certain that this wasn't one of her 'Blood-Spattered Mirage' blood images. As though it had been Cao Yun's move from the start, his spear moved downward and struck both her arms. Using his rotation, Cao Yun was now facing the weaponless woman with her two blades still in his back. With Cao Yun's full strength behind his spear, Jin Bao's bones creaked and broke under the powerful strike. The small woman didn't even let out a single sound of pain despite an expression that betrayed her.
Just as Cao Yun was breaking her two forearms, He Wushuang was attacking.
'Rending the Eternal Sky'!
His golden halberd turned into a beacon of light in this world of darkness. All around Cao Yun and He Wushuang, the scene looked like they were both in a blue sky. And his golden halberd slashed this sky in two perfect halves. Cao Yun was exactly at the spot where the sky was split in two. As his darkness spear was horizontal, falling on Jin Bao's arms, the young man let his own momentum spin his body while he let himself fall to the ground. Then, his spear faced the incoming attack. As he blocked it, he was pressed against the ground and the two blades in his back penetrated deeper. Thankfully, his Wei Qi prevented them from piercing through his organs.
Because he was forced to focus on his own Wei Qi to protect his organs, Cao Yun's soul was getting even more exhausted. He couldn't sustain such a fight for long. But he had no time to breathe. Thankfully, he had his array formations.
Xun Lieren's chains attacked Cao Yun from the very ground. They all erupted from the ground around him and the crescent blades at their extremities were about to go toward Cao Yun. But at the very last moment, the attack simply stopped. Xun Lieren had been forced to move away as a tongue fire fell from the sky. They had stayed too long in the same spot and the 'Fiery Torment of the Hellish Tree' was sending fire to their location. This was a great opportunity for Cao Yun. His opponents would have a hard time keeping him from moving. Indeed, if they stopped moving themselves, they would be in immediate danger. Unlike Cao Yun, they couldn't find a safe path through the 'Fiery Torment of the Hellish Tree' array formation.
Without delay, Cao Yun stood up. Then, he tried to spread his Qi around them and get them into his spatial ring, to prevent Jin Bao from retrieving them. But the moment he did so, they acted as though they had volition. The twin blades erupted from his back and flew away, back into Jin Bao's hands. Cao Yun himself wasn't sure what she had done, but he had no time to ponder over it. While his mind was still focused on his spatial ring, he took out a compass.
He Wushuang wanted to press on the attack but he had to be careful of the tongues of fire as well. After the first one, many others were falling all over the place they were currently in. Only Cao Yun seemed to disregard the looming threat. After all, he knew that the exact spot he was in was the one with the fewer chances of receiving any fire. Besides, he was busy with his compass.
All around his opponents, the 'Bloody Soul Battlefield Disaster' array formation intensified the killing intent assaulting their spiritual senses. All three of them felt as though they had fought in a millennium-long war. The exhaustion and psychological pressure dawned on them. At the same time, they were sensing the killing intent of an entire army crushing their very soul. Just expanding their souls outside of their bodies was hard. But it didn't stop there. They could feel their Turbid Demons get increasingly more violent.
Unlike Cao Yun, they didn't have the 'Sealing the Seven Demons in the Nine Peaks' and they didn't have Dian Mo to help them suppress their Turbid Demons either. In other words, their own cultivation was turning against them. They had to keep their own Turbid Demons in check while fighting Cao Yun. As a consequence, they were forced to retract their spiritual senses almost completely. And their control over their own soul diminished. They were nowhere near Cao Yun's level of spiritual exhaustion, but it was still very intense for them.
Using their surprise to his advantage, the young man ran toward the nearest exit. He knew exactly where his array formation could be crossed. But to get to the nearest exit, he had to go through a more dangerous path where he might actually be struck by the lightning fire from above. At the same time, it would also mean that his opponents would be in as much danger if not more.
While Cao Yun was running toward the exit, Mo Qingsong kept on striking the 'Embrace of the Loving God' around the Temple of Grace and Submission. With each strike, the array formation reacted and tried to kill him. Lu Xiaoya was forced to focus on him more and more, preventing her from studying Cao Yun's array formations at the moment.
"Brother Zhai, help protect Brother Mo."
The large man acting as Lu Xiaoya's shield hesitated for an instant. Realizing that protecting Mo Qingsong was exhausting her and keeping from her other task, he obeyed her.
'Falling From Nirvana, Ascending From Samsara'!
Zhai Tiesheng's body turned as black as iron. Even his armor changed color. And his body seemed to grow bigger and bigger. His very frame became a small mountain under which Mo Qingsong was. All those images were hard to take in as Mo Qingsong didn't look smaller and yet Zhai Tiesheng actually seemed to have grown even larger, larger than the temple itself. But those were forms of Qi Manifestation and maybe even a form of Fist Intent. The demons attacking from the temple crashed against Zhai Tiesheng's body and exploded without reaching Mo Qingsong.
The long-haired swordsman kept on slashing the array formation in an attempt to free his Marshal. Now that he was safer, Lu Xiaoya could turn more of her attention toward Cao Yun's array formations. The fact that she had failed to notice them when they had gotten into the Holy Hongxue City upset her, but she wouldn't let her emotions take the best of her. She could tell her comrades were having a hard time dealing with this young man. But she pushed it out of her mind as well. She first had to find any weakness in his array formations, anything she could use.
From within the Temple of Grace and Submission, no one could sense anything clear. And yet, the Silver Wolf Marshal's presence was so strong that it could still be felt. However, his words or spiritual senses couldn't reach outside. That being said, from within, he was able to feel the attacks by Mo Qingsong. Knowing his subordinates well enough, he could guess that this loyal general would keep trying to free him. But this was most likely a mistake. They should focus on their enemy at such a time.
Anyway, the Silver Wolf Marshal knew that he could only make Mo Qingsong stop by freeing himself first. He waited for the sensation of his 'Falling Leaf of No Return'. Then, he timed his own attacks. From within the Temple of Grace and Submission, the Marshal prepared himself to strike in unison with his general outside. Indeed, he knew him enough to match his own rhythm. And he did!
At that moment, Cao Yun was getting closer and closer to the exit of his array formation, outside of the Holy Hongxue City. Still holding his compass before him, Cao Yun quickly jumped to the side when a lightning bolt of fire vaporized the place where he had been just an instant ago. Because he stopped for a fraction for a breath, Cao Yun felt an sharp pain in his left shoulder.
'Blood-Scented Hunt'!
From afar, Xun Lieren had thrown one of his crescent blades. There was no chain linking it to Xun Lieren this time, just a naked blade. Immediately, Cao Yun ripped it out of his flesh. It had collided against his scapula and didn't do much damage. Thus, the young man kept on running toward the exit. Jin Bao was of course faster than he was, but she also had to dodge the attacks from the 'Fiery Torment of the Hellish Tree' array formation. Unlike Cao Yun, she had no compass to help her predict those so she was forced to be careful. As such, she had to slow down. Moreover, her two broken arms were really a problem. For an Accomplished Demon, this wasn't a major injury. She could heal in a matter of mere minutes, maybe an hour at most. But she had no time for that at the moment.
At last, Cao Yun reached the exit he had been looking for. All around his array formations, there was a fourth one, the 'Fury of the Slain God'. Even he wouldn't be able to get through it easily. But since he knew it, he could find the path through it without much problem. Looking for the perfect spot, Cao Yun had to stop, allowing his pursuers to get closer and closer.
He had to leave as soon as possible, but he couldn't just step outside. After all, if they were to follow him, this was a problem. Thus, he had to get the timing right...