Translator: CinderTL
Gui Ni who was closest to Song Wen unleashed a torrent of Ghost Qi. The Ghost Qi surged forth like an enraged dragon, lunging at Sonsg Wen with ferocious intent.
Suddenly, a massive cloud of blood mist erupted from Song Wen's body, engulfing his figure entirely.
The Ghost Qi dragon tore through the blood mist, but Song Wen was nowhere to be seen.
Gui Ni's Spirit Sense expanded to its utmost limits, yet still failed to detect Song Wen's presence.
He turned his head and looked at Xue Mei.
Before her floated a piece of blackish-brown, decaying flesh.
This flesh had been left behind when Song Wen forcibly breached the formation, injured by the Nine Nether Yin Fire that surged forth from the formation.
Xue Mei pinched a magic seal, channeling the lingering aura within the decaying flesh. A wisp of azure smoke curled upwards.
"Ten Thousand Mile Breath Tracking Technique!" Xue Mei murmured.
The azure smoke drifted, then shot southwestward like an arrow.
Xue Mei produced a transparent jade bottle and captured the smoke within.
"Follow!"
Xue Mei, Gui Ni, and Yang Yu each activated their escape techniques and pursued the smoke southwestward.
After traveling several hundred miles, they spotted a cloud of blood mist nestled within a dense forest on the shaded side of a mountain.
"Fellow Daoist Xue Mei, your tracking technique is quite profound. Would you be willing to teach it to me? Rest assured, I'm willing to trade treasures for it," Yang Yu said as he pursued Ji Yin.
Xue Mei's escape technique was the slowest of the three, leaving her trailing behind.
Before Xue Mei could reply, Gui Ni suddenly spoke.
"Right now, killing Ji Yin is the priority. We can discuss other matters later."
Gui Ni, relying on the Yin Soul Banner's power, had the fastest escape technique of the three. Seeing Xue Mei falling too far behind, he split off a strand of Yin Energy from the banner, wrapping it around her to carry her along.
Yang Yu said, "Fellow Daoist Gui Ni, you're absolutely right. Once we kill this traitor, Ji Yin, how about the Spirit Treasure he possesses goes to me?"
Gui Ni's eyes turned cold. "Yang Yu, don't get greedy. According to our agreement, all treasures on Ji Yin belong to Fellow Daoist Xue Mei and me. You're only entitled to his cultivation technique."
"That division seems rather unfair to me," Yang Yu protested.
Gui Ni countered, "Then are you no longer interested in the information about the Blood of Fallen Immortal?"
Yang Yu gave a sheepish smile and said nothing more.
Not long after, Song Wen's figure appeared several hundred miles ahead. To evade the trio's pursuit, he wasn't flying high in the sky but hugging the mountain ridges.
When Song Wen noticed the three pursuers closing in from above, his brow furrowed, and a hint of seriousness flashed across his face. He couldn't understand how they had managed to track him.
Taking advantage of the distance between them, he activated the Blood Escape Technique once more, teleporting himself over three hundred miles away to the far side of a tall mountain.
However, it wasn't long before the trio caught up again. This time, they had learned from their mistakes. Instead of pursuing him in the open sky, they used the mountain ridges to conceal their movements while employing various techniques to conceal their auras.
By the time Song Wen spotted them, they were only a few dozen miles away.
The three cultivators unleashed their attacks simultaneously.
Gui Ni summoned a long dragon of Ghost Qi that surged toward Song Wen.
Xue Mei channeled the Black Water of Destruction into a spear that shot toward him.
Yang Yu wielded a flying sword, slashing toward Song Wen.
Facing the combined attack of the three, Song Wen appeared utterly panicked. He summoned the Blood Sea Seal, transforming it into a thick blood wall to shield himself.
Gui Ni's expression turned slightly smug. "Ji Yin, you can't escape. Surrender now, and we'll give you a chance to reincarnate and cultivate anew."
The blood wall formed by the Blood Sea Seal stood no chance against the combined assault of the three. It shattered instantly.
The lingering force of their attack remained undiminished, tearing Song Wen to shreds in an instant.
Gui Ni, who had been pursuing in the lead, felt a flicker of joy. Judging from Ji Yin's earlier panic, he had likely exhausted all his Substitute Puppets.
Just as Gui Ni was about to fly forward to examine Song Wen's remains, a shadow flashed behind him, followed by a blinding surge of lightning.
His heart skipped a beat. He swept his Spirit Sense backward and saw Ji Yin wielding a short spear, channeling dazzling lightning that shot toward him.
Gui Ni hastily activated the Yin Soul Banner in his hand. The banner suddenly extended and lengthened, then abruptly wrapped around him, shielding him within its folds.
With a soft "puff," green flames erupted from the banner.
Green flames surged into the sky, burning fiercely and staining the surrounding heavens a ghastly green.
Song Wen felt a chilling aura wash over him, penetrating deep into his bones and leaving him with an indescribable sense of death.
"This Gui Ni has been hiding his true strength all along! This green flame is even stronger than the black flames of the Nine Nether Yin Fire Formation!" Song Wen thought, a chill running down his spine.
But now that things had come to this, Song Wen was like an arrow already nocked—there was no turning back.
He couldn't figure out how the three had managed to track him down. His only option was to take a desperate gamble: kill or severely wound one of them, hoping the remaining two would retreat. Otherwise, if he continued to be hunted by all three, he would inevitably fall due to depleted Spiritual Power.
Among the three, Yang Yu, who had merged with the Blood Wraith Beast, was the most formidable opponent.
Xue Mei was skilled in Illusion Techniques, her Illusion Clones nearly indistinguishable from the real thing, making her incredibly difficult to kill. Moreover, Xue Mei's own strength was too weak; even if he killed her, it wouldn't be enough to deter the other two.
Among the three, Gui Ni was the strongest. If Song Wen could severely injure him, it would be enough to intimidate the other two. Moreover, Gui Ni was vulnerable to Song Wen's Thunder Magic. For Song Wen, Gui Ni was the easiest opponent to deal with.
Thunder, carrying the majestic might of heaven, roared forward like a writhing serpent, crashing against the fiercely burning green flames.
When the green flames and thunder met, a blinding light erupted, as if two stars had collided, unleashing an overwhelmingly brilliant radiance.
In that instant, the air seemed to tear apart, unleashing a deafening roar that echoed through the clouds.
The green flames and thunder, representing good and evil, were utterly incompatible.
Their collision unleashed a terrifying surge of energy that spread wildly in all directions, warping the very fabric of space.
Both Gui Ni and Song Wen were caught in the blast.
Song Wen hastily activated his Blood Sea Seal, transforming it into a blood shield to protect himself.
The energy slammed against the shield, sending Song Wen and his shield flying backward.
As for Gui Ni, he had the Black Ghost Banner to protect him, so he was only knocked back a few dozen yards.
As Song Wen prepared to pursue Song Wen, nine transparent, razor-sharp blades shot toward him.
Hidden by the energy barrier, he didn't notice them until they were practically inches away.
Gui Ni hastily summoned a bone, the high-grade soul defense magical artifact he had obtained from Xue Cangqiong's relics.
But before he could activate it, the nine transparent blades pierced through the banner and plunged into his Sea of Consciousness.
"Aaaah..."
Gui Ni let out a piercing scream.
It felt as if ten million steel needles were simultaneously piercing his soul.
The pain far exceeded the limits his physical body could endure.
His consciousness blurred, and the world around him began to dissolve into a haze.
The Spiritual Power that had flowed freely within him suddenly became chaotic, rendering him unable to even maintain flight. He plummeted toward the ground.
His natal Mystic Treasure, the Yin Soul Banner, also spiraled out of control, drifting aimlessly in the wind as the green flames atop it gradually faded.
Strike while the iron is hot.
How could Song Wen miss such a golden opportunity?
He immediately hurled the short spear in his hand.
Surrounded by crackling lightning, the spear streaked across the sky like a bolt of lightning, hurtling straight toward Gui Ni.
(End of the Chapter)
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