By controlling the "Sea of Clouds," although the nine long swords in front were crisscrossing and killing, they had already lost the specific location of her target. Therefore, she could also easily dodge a frontal attack.
And she had quietly released more than a hundred "Ant-Mosquito Gu" from one side, ambushing them in a hidden position, waiting for the other party to approach.
But this Sword Cultivator opposite her was also very experienced in fighting. A long sword was always kept in the giant sword casket on his back.
At this moment, with a clear clang, a long sword shot out from the giant sword casket on his back.
Then, it turned into a streak of rainbow light and circled around him. The circling long rainbow instantly shredded the more than thirty "Ant-Mosquito Gu" that had gotten close.
A look of disdain appeared in the Sword Cultivator's eyes. This sword was his natal magical treasure, the most powerful one.
And at this moment, a flying saber as thin as a cicada's wing suddenly appeared near his head and shot towards his cheek.
The flying saber appeared silently. This Sword Cultivator from the Ten-Pace Courtyard had only sensed it just before it reached him, and he couldn't help but be alarmed.
But the long sword that was already flying around him arrived in a flash at the critical moment.
It barely blocked the side of his head. And in this instant, a gap appeared in his defense. More than ten "Ant-Mosquito Gu" instantly rushed to within a foot of him.
'I shouldn't have been so reckless as to enter the clouds. I just needed to hold on for a few more breaths, and this woman would have run out of magical power and revealed a flaw!'
This Sword Cultivator also felt some regret for his previous judgment.
He had to retreat in a hurry, the protective spirit light around him flashing wildly to resist those Gu-insects. At the same time, with a thought, five long swords had already shot over from a distance.
And just as his long swords returned to help, those "Ant-Mosquito Gu" in the surging white clouds suddenly disappeared, leaving only the dozen or so Gu-insects that had just gotten close to be shredded by the sword lights.
And that flying saber as thin as a cicada's wing, after only two quick strikes against his natal magical treasure, also disappeared again.
This Sword Cultivator let out a cold snort.
'Let's see how long you can last!'
Mu Lian's two attempts at a sneak attack had not succeeded. For a short period of time, neither side could do anything to the other.
But the Ten-Pace Courtyard Sword Cultivator had already seen Mu Lian's greatest weakness. All he had to do was ensure his own safety and stall for a little longer.
On the other side, Sun Guoshu had also stopped fleeing and was driving a giant saber, locked in a fierce battle with the other Sword Cultivator.
That being said, he was mostly defending and rarely attacking, spending most of his time dodging.
This Sword Cultivator also drove nine flying swords, which flew up and down, crisscrossing and killing.
This forced Sun Guoshu to parry some of the flying swords, and only in his spare moments could he chop out a wave of saber qi towards the other party.
The Sword Cultivator fighting Sun Guoshu was only at the late-stage of Foundation Establishment, which was a bit weaker than the Pseudo-Core Realm Sun Guoshu.
However, fighting across realms was a common occurrence for Sword Cultivators. This meant that Sun Guoshu, as an ordinary cultivator, could only manage a draw against the other party.
But as the sword formation formed by these flying swords rapidly shrank, the space for Sun Guoshu to maneuver was also being squeezed smaller and smaller.
'Damn it, why did I have to run into these killing machines from the Ten-Pace Courtyard!'
Although Sun Guoshu's cultivation had been raised by the cultivation method he had obtained later, his own foundation was still too shallow. Whether it was magical treasures or qi-replenishing pills, their ranks could only be considered barely adequate.
If he had met cultivators from the Supreme Mystery Teachings or the Jingtu Sect, he might have been able to rely on his abundant magical power to wear them down.
But the cultivators of the Ten-Pace Courtyard cultivated killing techniques, especially the Outer Sword cultivators. They knew that in the later stages, it would be difficult for the Sword Cultivator path to compete with the Inner Sword cultivators, so most of their efforts were spent on polishing their sword caskets.
This resulted in them having a large number of flying swords in their sword caskets, and they were all complete sets of spirit treasures or magical treasures. This made their combat power in the early stages extremely outstanding, even Inner Sword cultivators could not compete with them.
The two sides had only fought for ten breaths, and Sun Guoshu's body had already been cut by the other party's long swords more than a hundred times. He was lucky that his magical power was stronger than the other party's, and he had protected his whole body with his spirit power shield.
But the magical power of that Ten-Pace Courtyard cultivator was only a notch weaker. Every attack forced Sun Guoshu to use stronger magical power to block it.
After a hundred attacks, Sun Guoshu also had to consume magical power to block and attack. This had consumed about half of his magical power in ten breaths, and he had to start taking medicinal pills like Mu Lian.
And on the other side, Mu Lian was also struggling to hold on. She hoped that Sun Guoshu could hold on for a while longer. Otherwise, if either of the two Sword Cultivators was freed up, they would both be doomed.
Now it was almost impossible for the two of them to escape. But as long as they could attract the attention of other cultivators, perhaps these two despicable Ten-Pace Courtyard cultivators would retreat on their own.
Another eight breaths passed. Bloody marks had already appeared on Sun Guoshu's body, and Mu Lian's "Sea of Clouds" had also shrunk to about one hundred and thirty zhang. Her position was about to be locked onto by the other party.
It wasn't that the "Never-Parting Peak's" Gu-insect arts were not powerful, but that Mu Lian's Gu-insects were good at sneak attacks. In such a head-on confrontation, it was not her specialty at all.
Attacking the enemy's strength with one's own weakness, it was already very difficult for her to hold on until now.
If this Sword Cultivator had met a Never-Parting Peak expert like Li Changting, Li Changting would have had endless means to deal with these two.
For example, she could release a type of Gu-insect called "Ebony Gold Gu." This Gu-insect had a hard shell on its body, and ordinary spirit treasures and magical treasures could not kill it. Usually, they could only send it flying.
And in the next moment, they would pounce again, making people tired of dealing with them. But Mu Lian did not have such high talent to be able to refine more Gu-insects at the same time.
So, she had chosen to specialize in one type of Gu-insect. All the Gu-insects she carried were good at sneak attacks.
"Senior Brother Sun, what should we do?"
Mu Lian immediately sent a voice transmission to Sun Guoshu. If the two of them continued like this, they would both end up being killed.
While dodging, Sun Guoshu was also thinking hard about a way to escape. Although his strength was average among those of the same rank, as a former rogue cultivator, he naturally had more life-saving means.
"Why are they chasing you? Don't tell me it's for your looks. I don't see any lust in their eyes!" Sun Guoshu replied quickly.
When these words fell into Mu Lian's mind, her fine eyebrows shot up, and she was instantly a little unhappy.
Her looks were not bad at all. On the contrary, she was the kind of stunning beauty that made people's hearts flutter. Sun Guoshu's words clearly meant that her looks would not arouse others' desires.
However, now was not the time to worry about such things. She could only honestly tell him the reason.
"I obtained a 'Shadow Space Stone', and they saw it!"
Hearing this, with his experience, Sun Guoshu immediately knew the outcome. How many of the cultivators training here were good people? Killing for treasure was the norm.
Sun Guoshu's mind immediately spun rapidly. Seeing that Sun Guoshu had gone silent after hearing her reply, Mu Lian was anxious but did not urge him again.
Sure enough, after just over a breath, Sun Guoshu's voice sounded in her mind again.
"We'll self-destruct our magical treasures later. Whether it's our natal magical treasure or not, we have to be willing to give it up. Or if you have any talismans with greater power, don't be stingy. We have to go all out. We'll both act at the same time. That way, we can catch them off guard. With such a powerful self-destruction, I don't believe they won't be injured. And before you self-destruct your magical treasure and talisman, you throw that 'Shadow Space Stone' in another direction. That way, their minds will definitely be affected. This will make our self-destruction of magical treasures and talismans even more unexpected, and we'll have a chance to escape. After they're injured, although they'll be even more furious, these two probably aren't of one mind. What they really want is that 'Shadow Space Stone'!"
Sun Guoshu quickly explained his plan. He naturally had a set of methods for escaping. Besides, this magical treasure of his was not his natal magical treasure.
He had been poor before and hadn't encountered a suitable magical treasure. Later, after entering the Malevolent Spirit Sect, his ambitions grew, and he wanted to refine a natal magical treasure suitable for himself in the Golden Core realm.
This giant saber was of an average rank, with decent power.
But even so, this magical treasure was the best one Sun Guoshu had. He couldn't produce any more powerful offensive treasures.
In order to form his core, he scrimped and saved, wishing he could split one spirit stone into two.
However, Sun Guoshu was not really someone who valued money over his life. He also had a set of formations with good attack power, but that took time to set up.
When going out for training, he would still grit his teeth and buy some life-saving items, but most of them were defensive.
Apart from that set of formations, he also had a few talismans with extremely strong defense, but these two things were not very suitable at this time.
Mu Lian was silent for only half a breath before she immediately sent a voice transmission over.
"Alright, we'll do as Senior Brother Sun says! But... Senior Brother Sun, we are from the same sect after all. I hope we can watch out for each other!"
Mu Lian's tone was sincere. What she meant was clear. She didn't want to do as he said only for Sun Guoshu to use her and have another escape plan.
"I won't! Wait for my voice transmission!"
Sun Guoshu replied simply. In fact, when he heard Mu Lian's voice transmission, he really had struggled a bit in his heart. He really did have such a thought.
When Mu Lian threw out the "Shadow Space Stone," the minds of these two Sword Cultivators would ten out of ten be affected, and their attacks would be briefly interrupted.
And he would, without notifying Mu Lian, have her throw out the "Shadow Space Stone" while he immediately self-destructed his magical treasure in advance to severely injure the Sword Cultivator opposite him.
With his side making the first move, and Mu Lian throwing out the "Shadow Space Stone," the Sword Cultivator fighting Mu Lian would naturally be on guard and would be even more vigilant against Mu Lian.
He would either immediately turn back to look for the "Shadow Space Stone" or speed up to kill Mu Lian. He himself would have a great chance to escape.
But now that Mu Lian had suddenly said such a thing, Sun Guoshu actually felt a little guilty. This would have never happened in the past.
After staying in the sect for a few decades, something had quietly grown in the bottom of his heart. The ways of a rogue cultivator were no longer the most deeply rooted thing in his mind.
Sun Guoshu quickly glanced at the sea of clouds that had already shrunk to about a hundred zhang. Although he didn't see Mu Lian's figure, he felt as if some eyes were staring at him, waiting for the final moment of escape.
"Throw the 'Shadow Space Stone' to the south, the farther the better!"
Sun Guoshu's voice sounded in Mu Lian's mind. But at this moment, Mu Lian hesitated for a moment.
"Quick!"
Sun Guoshu's urging voice echoed in her mind again. On Sun Guoshu's side, the compressed maneuvering space was only about ten zhang.
The bloody marks on Sun Guoshu's body were rapidly increasing.
Mu Lian gritted her teeth fiercely. Suddenly, a streak of black light shot out from the white clouds and flew rapidly towards the southern sky.
The two Sword Cultivators, seeing something fly out, thought it was the other party's attack and immediately locked onto it with their Divine Sense.
"It's the 'Shadow Space Stone'!"
With a sweep of their Divine Sense, the two of them saw clearly what had flown out.
Thrown with the full strength of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, the black light flashed, and the "Shadow Space Stone" instantly disappeared without a trace.
These two Sword Cultivators from the Ten-Pace Courtyard were both shocked and angry!
Both of them had the urge to chase after it immediately, but at the same time, they both hoped the other would stay behind to temporarily trap Sun Guoshu and the other, and to destroy the bodies and erase all traces.
The moment Mu Lian's hand was free, her entire nerves tensed up. She was waiting for Sun Guoshu's final voice transmission!