As the beautiful female cultivator fell, the snow-white jade whale beneath her feet was shaking its head in pain, spitting out a red and white liquid.
The moment the beautiful female cultivator fell from its body, the snow-white jade whale let out a roar and actually sped off into the distance, not launching another attack on Tao Yishan . As it left, its gaze towards Tao Yishan was filled with fear and resentment.
Seeing this scene, Tao Yishan's face did not show much surprise, as if he had expected it. He had seen this fearful expression after being attacked by an unknown object many times before.
Tao Yishan's figure also flickered, and he immediately flew out. But his direction was not to pursue the snow-white jade whale, but to fly directly towards the falling female cultivator.
As he passed the ink-colored long whip, which had lost its master's Spirit Power and returned to its original form, he snatched it into his hand.
Then he quickly caught up with the beautiful female cultivator's corpse, and with a sweep of his Spirit Power , he pulled the Storage Pouch from her waist. Only then did he flash back to the position of their previous battle, letting the female corpse crash to the earth.
As soon as Tao Yishan stood firm, he beckoned with his hand. In the empty space in front of him, a streak of grayish-brown light suddenly flew into his hand.
When he opened his palm and scanned it with his Divine Sense , the muscles on Tao Yishan's face couldn't help but twitch.
In his palm appeared a mottled beast horn the size of a forefinger.
The mottled beast horn was as sharp as an awl at one end and somewhat thick at the other. It was dark gray all over. Starting from the sharp tip, circles of fine brown spiral lines were densely wound downwards.
However, after the middle part, these brown spiral lines had already begun to fade, as if they had lost their color. Especially near the base of the horn, if one didn't look closely, one wouldn't see any spiral lines at all.
And Tao Yishan's gaze fell on the middle of the horn. There, two brown spiral lines were rapidly losing their color, slowly turning a dark gray.
This small section of beast horn was Tao Yishan's life-saving trump card. He had obtained it in a swamp when he was young and adventuring.
To this day, he still didn't know what kind of demonic beast this section of horn came from, nor did he know if it had been refined by someone to have such power, or if the horn originally possessed such incredible attack power.
This small section of beast horn was almost indestructible and had saved his life countless times, allowing him to turn danger into safety at the most critical moments time and time again.
According to Tao Yishan's own speculation, this small section of beast horn might even pose a fatal threat to Golden Core cultivators. Of course, he never dared to try, nor did he dare to take it out easily.
Both outcomes would only bring him disaster. But in the current chaotic battle, he could only use it to save his life.
Moreover, this item was almost traceless when used. Tao Yishan felt that even if a Golden Core cultivator were nearby, as long as they were not deliberately paying attention to his every move, they would not be able to discover it.
Tao Yishan only glanced at it briefly, his eyes fixed on the two disappearing spiral lines, his heart aching with pain.
He had carried this small section of beast horn for decades and of course knew that each use would consume one of the brown spiral lines on it.
When these brown spiral lines completely disappeared, this unknown magical treasure would be rendered useless.
But now was not the time for him to think about it. From his exchange with the beautiful female cultivator, to being enveloped by the white gas, to breaking out with lightning speed and killing the opponent, only four breaths had passed.
This amount of time was truly just an instant in this chaotic battle. Amidst the various explosions, no one knew how he had killed his opponent.
Tao Yishan glanced at the mottled beast horn and immediately put it away. This was not a place he dared to linger.
He had just retrieved the beast horn and scanned it with his Divine Sense when the sound of something breaking through the air was already rapidly approaching from behind.
Sensing the opponent's approach, Tao Yishan took a deep breath, turned around, and met them head-on. They were two mid-stage Foundation Establishment South Sea cultivators. He was not afraid of this level of cultivation.
At this time, the entire battlefield was filled with the sound of explosions, heaven-shaking roars, and unwilling screams before death.
Looking at the overall situation, the Windy Cool Mountain cultivators were dying in greater numbers. They were outnumbered by the enemy, and it was often several cultivators attacking one person.
The potential of the South Sea cultivators was also being squeezed out regardless of life or death. In comparison, in just a few breaths, cultivators from both sides would rapidly perish and disappear. The disadvantage of the Windy Cool Mountain cultivators was becoming greater and greater.
There were no heavily injured here. As long as one was lightly injured and could still fight, every cultivator would fight desperately. Once one was heavily injured, the next moment was the time of death.
It was not only the South Sea cultivators who were controlled by the Demonic Cultivators to self-destruct when they were losing. Some heavily injured Windy Cool Mountain cultivators would also choose to self-destruct.
They were surrounded by enemies on all sides, and they knew that help from others was hopeless. Those with a fierce temperament would take the opponent with them on the road of no return.
Those with a more flexible temperament would use their trump cards and try every means to escape.
Ouyang Yi, the old man who had hesitated before being the first to follow, was already over one hundred and seventy years old. Although he was at the Pseudo-Core Realm , his body was in its twilight years.
Ouyang Yi had also first encountered a Pseudo-Core cultivator. With the opponent having lost his mind, Ouyang Yi, with his long experience in combat, naturally dragged the opponent in circles to avoid being surrounded.
Afterward, in a chase and escape, the two exchanged blows several times. Every strike from both sides was aimed to kill. After just three exchanges, both were heavily injured.
Seeing that he was already heavily injured and had failed to kill the opponent, Ouyang Yi knew that even if he escaped to heal, he could at most drag on for another seven or eight years before his Dao dissipated and his body perished.
He then widened his eyes. "I don't care if you're a South Sea cultivator! Since you couldn't escape back then, you should have ended your own life instead of coming here to harm others! Let's go to the afterlife together!"
With that, he had already gathered his last bit of Spirit Power and charged like a whirlwind to the side. There, three people were besieging a Windy Cool Mountain cultivator. That Windy Cool Mountain cultivator was already covered in blood, relying on a green talisman in his hand to desperately hold on. The light of the green talisman was already dim, and he was on the verge of death.
With Ouyang Yi's move, he dragged the heavily injured South Sea cultivator behind him to follow recklessly. In just two breaths, he had reached that battle group.
The old man ignored the enemy who was catching up behind him and lunged fiercely at the back of a South Sea cultivator. At the same time, a dazzling spiritual light erupted from his body, blinding everyone.
The South Sea cultivator with his back to him heard the ill wind behind him and instinctively knew that someone had come to aid his opponent. He naturally moved sideways.
And with this dodge, he broke the encirclement. The old man had already quickly transmitted a message to that Windy Cool Mountain cultivator.
"Fellow Daoist... retreat quickly! Pu!"
As he spoke, he was hit in the back by a finger wind from the pursuing heavily injured cultivator. Fortunately, that person was also heavily injured before and was unable to unleash his strongest attack, but it still opened a large hole in the old man's back.
After the old man spat out a mouthful of blood, the spiritual light on his body became even more dazzling. The other Windy Cool Mountain cultivator was not as muddle-headed as the three South Sea cultivators who had lost their minds.
He reacted extremely quickly. He knew that this unknown old man had the will to die and was helping him before his death.
This cultivator reacted extremely quickly. Without thinking too much, he pointed at the magical treasure he was summoning in the air, and a great spiritual light also erupted from his body as he launched an all-out attack on another South Sea cultivator.
With this desperate attack, the siege was momentarily halted. In an instant, another talisman was already stuck to the sole of his foot.
This Windy Cool Mountain cultivator didn't even have time to retrieve his magical treasure before he slipped away from the opening.
And a few li away, the two Demonic Cultivators also sensed that something was wrong at the same time. But the cultivators controlled by restrictions were not like puppets and could not be controlled like one's own limbs. It was already too late to control the four cultivators in the pincer attack to fly away.
Seeing that his goal was achieved, Ouyang Yi suddenly turned around and once again met the charging, heavily injured South Sea cultivator.
"I've got my eye on you, hehehe..."
Amidst a wild laugh, with a loud "BOOM," a ball of dazzling light illuminated the space between heaven and earth. In an instant, this area was filled with flying sand and stones, and the flowing clouds dispersed.
It was not until five or six breaths had passed that this part of the world slowly became clear again.
The old man and the heavily injured South Sea cultivator were long gone, not even their bones remaining. Of the other three South Sea cultivators, one only had half a body and was rapidly falling to the ground.
The South Sea cultivator who had been forced to move sideways by the old man and was closest to him was also nowhere to be seen.
The last South Sea cultivator, while sensing the threat, also received the Demonic Cultivator's command. But he had first instinctively raised his magical treasure and managed to escape disaster. The light of his magical treasure flickered dimly as he stood alone in the air.
...
Among the many Windy Cool Mountain cultivators, there were also some who were at the rear. After exchanging only a few blows with the few South Sea cultivators who rushed over, they had already turned and fled when things looked bad.
For the cultivators who had entered the battle in front, it was already very difficult to leave.
Difficult as it was, there were still seven or eight Windy Cool Mountain cultivators who, at the cost of greatly damaging their Essence Blood or lifespan, used secret arts to flee far away.
However, they were more or less followed by one or two South Sea cultivators. Moreover, the east and west sides were also battlefields. They were heading north, but who knew how far they could escape.
The entire battlefield was now extremely chaotic. In just fifty or sixty breaths, only seventy-seven Windy Cool Mountain cultivators were left. In a few dozen breaths, with the addition of those who had fled, only a little over fifty remained in the end.
This defensive battle, on the whole, looked more like a skirmish. There was no effective resistance or defensive posture formed. Everyone was fighting for themselves.
So some Windy Cool Mountain cultivators, while fighting, had already begun to hate this person, Li Yan.
The previous matter of "Mutual Destruction Ridge" was not Li Yan's fault, but the subsequent battle was almost a reckless head-on clash with the enemy without any defensive deployment or organization.
There were no defensive measures left behind, not even any coordination or backup plans among themselves.
After fighting for a while, some Windy Cool Mountain cultivators finally noticed that their so-called captain had actually disappeared from this battlefield.
Many people took a moment to scan the area with their Divine Senses , but in their hearts, they wondered if Li Yan had taken the opportunity to escape in the chaos, or if he had already been killed. For a time, no one knew.
Even the veteran team members in the distance, including Gong Yuantai , felt that the situation was dire. Many people began to gather towards Gong Yuantai and started to anxiously communicate with each other through voice transmissions.
"Senior Brother Gong, where did Junior Brother Li go?"
"Senior Brother Gong, if we keep fighting like this, it's more than likely we'll perish. Why don't we join forces and break out, then set up some traps along the way? On one hand, we can slow down the enemy's attack. On the other hand, with this kind of resistance, we can't be considered to have fled."
"Fellow Daoist Gong, that Li Yan must have perished. You should make a decision quickly..."
Gong Yuantai , while fighting, listened to the various voice transmissions. He was now the person with the highest command authority here, although it hadn't even been half a day since he was appointed as the vice-captain.
His face was also ashen. How would he know what had happened to that prodigy from "Little Bamboo Peak" ? The fighting here was so intense that he hadn't noticed at all just now.
Now, defeat was almost certain. They had too few people, and reinforcements from the rear had yet to arrive. As the Windy Cool Mountain cultivators perished in large numbers in the encirclement, more and more enemy cultivators were freed up.