Translator: CinderTL
As Gui Ni was about to be impaled by the short spear, he seemed to sense the urgency of the situation. Relying on his remaining consciousness, he opened the three Spirit Beast Pouches at his waist.
Three Ant Kings appeared simultaneously, positioning themselves in front of Gui Ni.
Boom!
Using their impenetrable exoskeletons, the three Ant Kings joined forces to block the short spear.
Seeing this, Song Wen couldn't help but feel disappointed.
In fact, he wasn't the only one.
Yang Yu shook his head slightly.
Xue Mei, on the other hand, remained impassive, secretly putting away a silver Talisman in her hand. She asked with concern, "Fellow Daoist Gui Ni, are you alright?"
Gui Ni gradually regained his senses, regaining control of his plummeting body. The Yin Soul Banner also returned to his control.
"I'm fine!"
Gui Ni's Sea of Consciousness still throbbed with pain, and he glanced at Song Wen with lingering fear.
At that moment, Song Wen was already entangled with Yang Yu.
The monster formed by Yang Yu's fusion with the Blood Wraith Beast swung its sharp claws, slashing down at Song Wen.
Song Wen transformed into a three-zhang Giant Corpse, wielding the Soul Cleaving Blade to meet the attack.
Pfft!
The Soul Cleaving Blade struck the monster's claws, as if piercing through the bark of an ancient tree, meeting immense resistance.
Song Wen exerted all his strength, barely managing to cleave through the monster's claws.
At the same time, a tremendous force surged from the claws, sending Song Wen stumbling backward repeatedly, nearly losing his grip on the Soul Cleaving Blade.
On the other side, the monster stared at his severed palm with a sinister glint in his eyes.
Ever since Yang Yu had advanced to Peak Nascent Soul, his fusion with the Blood Wraith Beast had made him impervious to ordinary High-Grade Magic Treasures. Only top-tier Mystic Treasures could pose a threat to him.
Yet now, an unrefined short blade had nearly lopped off his entire palm with a single strike.
Indeed, a Spirit Treasure lived up to its name, wielding such power through brute force alone.
At the same time, he was astonished by Song Wen's physical strength after his transformation into a corpse.
He had intended to trade injuries with Song Wen, hoping to force the Soul Cleaving Blade from his grasp. However, the result was that Song Wen had indeed sustained some injuries, but they were merely superficial wounds, leaving his arm bones unscathed.
As Song Wen was knocked back, the monster seized the opportunity to create distance between himself and Yang Yu.
At that moment, the Ice Soul Spider pounced forward again, unleashing a blast of frigid air toward Song Wen before it even reached him.
A Blood Sea rapidly spread beneath Song Wen's feet.
The icy breath struck Song Wen, instantly freezing him into a crystal of ice. Even the portion of the Blood Sea beneath his feet froze solid.
Boom!
The Ice Soul Spider closed in, its razor-sharp spider legs piercing the frozen crystal encasing Song Wen.
The crystal shattered explosively.
Yet within the shards, there was no trace of flesh or blood—only frozen blood water.
Dozens of miles away...
The surging Blood Sea rolled over Xue Mei.
Clusters of dark red flames erupted one after another, only to be swallowed by the Blood Sea.
Finally, when the Blood Sea engulfed one of Xue Mei's figures, it didn't dissipate into the Illusory Karma Heart Flame as before. Instead, it was tightly enveloped by a mass of black liquid, preventing the Blood Sea from harming the Xue Mei within.
Suddenly, a fissure split open in the Blood Sea, and Song Wen's figure abruptly materialized.
He had been stealthily moving through the Blood Sea, closing in on Xue Mei.
As Song Wen rapidly performed the Thunder Incantation, dark clouds gathered high above, and a bolt of purple lightning crashed down.
Xue Mei's Black Water of Destruction possessed an incredibly corrosive effect on weapons and Spiritual Power, making it nearly impossible to break through with a flying sword or the Blood Sea Seal. In fact, they might even be destroyed in the process. Song Wen had decided to try using Thunder Magic to see if he could pierce through the Black Water of Destruction.
"BOOM!"
A deafening explosion shook the heavens.
The Purple Mansion Divine Thunder struck the Black Water of Destruction.
The Black Water of Destruction remained completely unharmed. However, it seemed that some of the lightning had penetrated the Black Water of Destruction, directly striking Xue Mei within.
"Aaaah...!"
A bloodcurdling scream erupted from within the black liquid.
The Black Water of Destruction suddenly recoiled, merging into Xue Mei's body. Xue Mei, her entire body charred black, reappeared.
Her eyes were locked on Song Wen, filled with venomous hatred.
"Ji Yin, you can't escape. Stop your futile struggle. No matter where you flee, I will find you."
As the words faded, Xue Mei's figure began to grow translucent, until she vanished completely, leaving only a few fragments of silver talismans drifting in the wind.
Xue Mei reappeared three hundred miles away.
Her words were intended to instill fear in Song Wen, to break his spirit. But unintentionally, she had given him a crucial clue.
Xue Mei and Gui Ni had been plotting to kill him for some time. Yet they had chosen to use You'e to lure him to Tiancang Mountain before making their move.
This proved that before this encounter, Xue Mei had been unable to pinpoint Song Wen's exact location.
But now, she could find him with precision.
There were only two possible explanations:
First, Xue Mei's detection range was limited, not as boundless as she claimed.
Second, after this encounter, she had obtained something from him to serve as a medium for her spell.
Song Wen suddenly remembered how Gou Jun had failed to seize his body at Heavenly Heart Lake, allowing Xue Mei to escape. He had intended to use the daily items Xue Mei had left behind in her cultivation cave to track her down.
However, not a trace of Xue Mei's aura remained on those items—it was as if she had never used them at all.
A glint flashed in Song Wen's eyes.
"Could it be that Xue Mei also mastered the Thousand Mile Breath Tracking Technique? Did she instinctively worry that Gou Jun's failed body-seizing attempt might allow me to track her down using this technique, prompting her to cleanse the items of any lingering traces of her aura?"
"In other words, if I can disrupt my own aura, wouldn't Xue Mei be unable to pinpoint my exact location?"
As this thought struck him, Song Wen immediately devised an escape plan.
He glanced around, assessing the positions of Gui Ni, Yang Yu, and Xue Mei.
Gui Ni was closest, only forty or fifty miles away. Recovered from the Focused Spirit Stab's attack, he was now channeling green Yin fire, transforming it into a fiery dragon that lunged toward Song Wen.
Yang Yu was next, about a hundred miles away. He was wielding a flying sword, slashing toward Song Wen while the Ice Soul Spider unleashed a blast of icy cold air in his direction.
Finally, there was Xue Mei, who was three hundred miles away and posed almost no threat to Song Wen.
After confirming the positions of the three, Song Wen chose the optimal escape route: south!
That direction was completely empty, making it the easiest to slip away.
However, before leaving, Song Wen decided to make one last attempt to severely injure one of them.
He targeted Yang Yu.
A glint flashed between Song Wen's eyebrows as nine Focused Spirit Stabs shot out, streaking toward Yang Yu.
Simultaneously, dark clouds gathered high above, coalescing into a bolt of purple lightning that struck down toward Yang Yu.
Song Wen hadn't chosen to attack Gui Ni or Xue Mei for the following reasons:
Gui Ni possessed a High-Grade Soul Defense Magical Item, making it impossible for the Focused Spirit Stabs to ambush him as they had before.
As for Xue Mei, her Spirit Sense cultivation should be between Late Nascent Soul and Peak Nascent Soul, and she had the Tranquility Incantation—a Spirit Sense defense technique—as well as illusion clones that were nearly indistinguishable from reality. Even without a Soul Defense Magical Treasure, the Focused Spirit Stabs would struggle to harm her.
Song Wen had no choice but to try his luck with Yang Yu.
But as soon as Song Wen unleashed the Focused Spirit Stabs and the Purple Mansion Divine Thunder, he was engulfed by Gui Ni's green Yin Fire. His figure instantly turned into a wisp of ash.
(End of the Chapter)
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