Teng Wuji finally gave up chasing Li Yan in his fury, which at last gave Li Yan a moment to catch his breath.
Li Yan needed at least several dozen breaths of simple rest to feel even a slight relief. The immense load of spirit power his meridians had endured in such a short time was causing a sharp pain of impending rupture to spread throughout his body.
At the same time, Li Yan hadn't expected this demonic cultivator to care so much about his demonic beast. He had struck while still in motion, not only snatching away one and a half Mid-grade Spirit Stones on the way, but also simultaneously attacking Bai Rou and the puppets with fierce methods, as if he wanted to destroy them all to vent his anger.
The death of the "White Blaze Demon Tiger" was completely unexpected for Teng Wuji, and he hadn't reacted at all. The pure power contained in the Mid-grade Spirit Stone was too great. By the time he heard the "White Blaze Demon Tiger's" mournful cry, it was already too late to return and save it.
From his attack on Li Yan to the "White Blaze Demon Tiger's" death, only a little over seven breaths had passed. In just a few blinks of an eye, everything had changed so quickly, the result so swift that Teng Wuji's heart was bleeding with pain.
The "White Blaze Demon Tiger" had been with him for two hundred years, growing step by step from a cub into the formidable Third-rank ferocious demonic beast it was today.
From the time Teng Wuji was still a mere demonic soldier, this "White Blaze Demon Tiger" had been his constant companion. Teng Wuji had lost count of how many bloody battles the beast had accompanied him through, and how many times it had saved his life when he was still weak.
Whenever Teng Wuji faced the greatest danger, the "White Blaze Demon Tiger" would always unflinchingly stand before him, its body battered and bruised, using its own flesh and blood to buy him a precious breath of time to attack, until they, time and time again, fought side by side in a bloodbath to kill their opponents.
It wasn't until Teng Wuji was promoted to Demonic General and his own strength had long surpassed the "White Blaze Demon Tiger's" that its role began to diminish.
But Teng Wuji's affection for the "White Blaze Demon Tiger" was not affected in the slightest. More often than not, he would let it cultivate to catch up with his own pace as quickly as possible.
And after coming to the Desolate Moon Continent, Teng Wuji discovered that demonic beasts' cultivation speed increased extremely rapidly after devouring cultivators. This was because cultivators' flesh and blood were nourished by the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and their essence blood was a great tonic. When a demonic beast first enjoyed pure spiritual energy instead of the stimulation of demonic qi, there was a brief period of rapid growth.
Thus, he often let the "White Blaze Demon Tiger" out to hunt and devour human cultivators wantonly. He never thought it would die so unexpectedly and suddenly today. Just as the warning bell rang in his heart, that white-gold arrow had already pierced into the "White Blaze Demon Tiger's" body.
Teng Wuji no longer had any thought of sparing Bai Rou's life.
Teng Wuji's return was fast, but over a short distance, Li Yan's speed was faster. When Teng Wuji turned and flew back, snatching Bai Rou's two Mid-grade Spirit Stones, Li Yan was also greatly surprised. His figure immediately flickered and disappeared from his original spot.
When Teng Wuji immediately attacked Bai Rou and the three puppets, Li Yan, facing Teng Wuji's furious blow, was completely powerless to stop it. His speed was only a fraction faster than Teng Wuji's, and he was also somewhat rushed. Most importantly, he didn't have the strength to confront him head-on.
Li Yan's face was ashen. In an instant, his divine sense connected with "Earthen Patch." In a flash, the world turned bone-chillingly cold. Rows of upright, crystal-clear sharp swords, nearly a hundred of them, simultaneously slashed towards Teng Wuji's attack.
A series of shattering ice sounds rang out in the dead of night, and a large patch of ice mist and Teng Wuji's furious roar instantly erupted in the air.
With just this momentary delay, Li Yan seized the opportunity and swept Bai Rou and the three puppets into the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation."
Then, with a casual sweep of his divine sense, Li Yan couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache. With just that one move, ninety-nine percent of his ten thousand Snow Mosquitoes had died, with only a very small number at the edge surviving.
In order to slightly block Teng Wuji's attack, he had used ten thousand Snow Mosquitoes at once to manifest ice swords to slash together, but it had only slightly blunted the opponent's edge before being pierced through.
He now had only a little over fifty thousand Snow Mosquitoes in Earthen Patch. Facing a Golden Core demonic cultivator, even if he took them all out, it's estimated that they wouldn't even be able to block a single direct attack from the opponent. They could only be used for temporary delay.
Li Yan didn't have time to think about the Snow Mosquitoes right now. He could only warily watch Teng Wuji and didn't answer his words.
Teng Wuji was already a little numb. He simply couldn't figure out this green-robed cultivator. Several times before, he thought he knew the opponent's true strength, but the opponent's trump cards were endless, always causing him to fail at critical moments.
'Is he human or demon? And how can he command such a large number of Icy-cold Variant Beasts out of thin air?' A dull thought flashed through Teng Wuji's mind, and then he glanced askance at Li Yan.
His figure suddenly swelled. His already giant-like body became like a demon god descending to the mortal world. With a single stride, he arrived in front of the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation" and stomped down. This time, he vowed to kill the girl inside.
The huge sole of his foot, like a mountain, blotted out the earth, seeming to carry a world-destroying might that made the entire valley tremble incessantly.
Although Teng Wuji saw Li Yan's body trembling more and more severely, and he should be limited by that strange movement skill and unable to perform it many more times, he didn't want to waste a single moment on Li Yan now. He just wanted to kill everyone in the formation, using the cruelest methods to kill them.
He was standing in the air not far from the grand formation, yet he suddenly saw Teng Wuji really abandon him and attack Bai Rou and the others again, directly ignoring him.
Li Yan's expression changed. It was clear that he had underestimated the status of that demonic beast in this demonic cultivator's heart. Now the opponent was clearly ignoring him.
At this moment, if Li Yan was willing to abandon the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation" and Bai Rou's group, it would be the best time to escape. He believed that the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation" should be able to withstand the opponent's attack for one or two breaths, which was enough for him to escape far away. Moreover, there was still Bai Rou's desperate final burst within the formation.
With the Cloud-Piercing Willow embedded with a Mid-grade Spirit Stone, he would have a chance to recover slightly. Before the opponent caught up to him, he could at least buy a lot of time, which would allow the sharp pain in his meridians to ease, and then he could use the "Phoenix Soars to the Heavens" movement skill to flee again.
But at this moment, a fierce light flashed in Li Yan's eyes. With a single step, he arrived beside the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation" in an instant. A series of cracking sounds, like popping soybeans, came from his joints, vibrating one's eardrums.
Moreover, a faint silver light instantly covered his entire body, followed by a thick layer of black qi covering the silver light. Li Yan's face instantly showed a pained expression due to the sharp pain of his meridians being on the verge of rupture, and he was drenched in sweat.
Li Yan transmitted a message to the little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant's mind, "Later, if I faint, pull me into the formation!" At the same time, Li Yan shouted, "Get back!"
He stomped his feet heavily on the ground. This time, a louder bang came from the valley, a momentum that was even fiercer than that brought by the giant Teng Wuji.
With Li Yan as the center, where his feet stomped, besides the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation" behind him glowing with purple light, the weeds on the ground and the previously collapsed tree branches, following Li Yan's heavy stomp, were like being swept up by a gale, shooting out in all directions, emitting dense "swishing" strange whistling sounds.
Bai Rou stood at the edge of the formation, her body shaking continuously from this sudden change. But at least at this moment, her spirit power was also focused on her whole body, so she didn't fall to the ground.
Faced with Li Yan's imposing manner, besides being shocked, Bai Rou's heart was more filled with horror at this Junior Brother Li's true cultivation.
But Bai Rou was not an indecisive person. She didn't think too much. As her body shook, her beautiful eyebrows also stood up. Then, without any hesitation, her jade-like hands struck out a set of seals like a gust of wind. Three blue lights shot from her jade fingers onto the puppets' bodies.
The three puppets by her side immediately had green-blue and gold-blue lights alternately flare up on their bodies, as if a dazzling and strange flame was burning on their bodies.
It was just that the green-blue flame on one of the large puppets only covered its surface, and its aura seemed much weaker.
In an instant, Bai Rou also unleashed all the spirit power in her body. The three puppets quickly raised one arm each, their red eyes like lamps.
And at this moment, Li Yan outside the formation had already twisted his waist and sat into a horse stance. His two fists, from bottom to top, were like flood dragons emerging from the water. On the fists exposed by the surging black qi, they had actually turned into a strange black dragon with a silver light. As it surged, it let out a furious roar to the sky.
This time, Li Yan had fully unleashed the True Scripture of Gui Water, the Qiongqi Purgatory Art, and the "Undead Nether Phoenix" essence blood. Although he hadn't cultivated intermediate or high-level immortal arts, he could still manage to form attacks with his spirit power.
Although Li Yan was selfish, he still had his own principles. He couldn't just watch Bai Rou, Sun Guoshu, and the little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant die.
Since he started cultivating, he had never been in a situation where he had used all his means like today. Li Yan had always liked to use skill to defeat strength, but now he had completely erupted, using his strongest state to go head-to-head with a demonic cultivator.
Now that Teng Wuji had finally revealed his demonic cultivator's true body to attack, although Li Yan's physical body was not as strong as the opponent's, he estimated that it shouldn't be too far off. This kind of close-quarters combat opportunity was what he had been looking for, and of course, he wanted to take the opportunity to injure the enemy.
But he knew that this approach of his was likely to be injuring the enemy by eight hundred while damaging himself by a thousand. The opponent might just be injured, while Li Yan himself might die from a single blow.
If he could force the opponent to be seriously injured, then it would take more time to forcefully shatter the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation," which would achieve Li Yan's purpose.
In an instant, Li Yan's two fists met a giant foot. There was no huge sound, just two extremely dull "thuds" of explosions.
The green robe on Li Yan's body, especially in the wind, was instantly torn into countless pieces, leaving only the higher-grade shorts on his body, revealing his sturdy upper body skin.
The earth beneath Li Yan's feet, with him as the center, extended out deep gullies into the distance of the valley.
In an instant, two thick streams of blood mist sprayed from his nose. The green veins on his upraised arms bulged one by one, and then, like firecrackers on a festive day, a series of "bangs" rang out continuously from his arms.
Clusters of fine blood mist began to erupt from Li Yan's hands, then to his wrists, forearms, arms, shoulders, and body, instantly enveloping Li Yan's entire person in a thick blood mist.
And at the same time, Teng Wuji's body, still in mid-air, also paused violently. Then, his face twisted into a ferocious expression.
Immediately after, his tall and arrogant body was actually bounced upwards. A heart-drilling pain came up from the bottom of his foot. Teng Wuji hadn't felt this kind of pain for many years.
He only felt that his entire right leg, from the calf down, was in such severe pain that he could no longer exert any strength. In an instant, his right leg also lost all feeling.
Teng Wuji's body leaned backward, and a sense of absurdity arose in his heart. "A mayfly trying to shake a tree!"