The demonic runes on the shield's surface also changed, transforming into chains that firmly bound themselves to one end of the long rod.
The man in the silver cloak was startled. He hadn't expected the other party to have so many backup plans. At this moment, he only needed to shake it with force, and although the shield looked fierce, it absolutely wouldn't be able to stay on the long rod. But that would also take a very short amount of time, and he wouldn't be able to hit the onrushing Mu Sha.
"Let's see how strong your defense is!" The man in the silver cloak pulled back both hands simultaneously and roared. He had already abandoned his long rod magical treasure, and his magical power surged like a tide towards Mu Sha.
"Bang, bang, bang…" In less than half a breath, Mu Sha's body, like a broken cloth sack, was sent flying. After leaving a long black afterimage, he slammed heavily onto the ground.
And at this moment, the clothes on the chest of the man in the silver cloak in the void were completely shattered, and streaks of blood were drawn across his body.
The man gasped heavily for a few breaths, a look of horror in his eyes.
"This person's 'White-Bone Mottled Armor' has actually been cultivated to such a degree that it can break through a Nascent Soul cultivator's protective spirit light…" He, of course, knew what the mottled bone spikes on Mu Sha's body were. It was a self-torturing cultivation method of the Black Demon Clan—the "White-Bone Mottled Armor." The mid-stage Golden Core Mu Sha had used this bone armor, and in a desperate, all-out gamble, he first used a trick to hold off his magical treasure, preventing it from immediately coming to his aid.
Then, Mu Sha unleashed the Black Demon Clan's strongest close-quarters attack, a furious onslaught at close range. The "White-Bone Mottled Armor" Mu Sha cultivated must have reached a very deep level, as it had actually broken through his protective spirit light. This left the man in the silver cloak in disbelief.
Although it had only left streaks of blood on his body and hadn't caused much damage, it was enough to make anyone's jaw drop. A mid-stage Golden Core battling an initial-stage Nascent Soul, and the latter was even injured.
"You can fight above your rank? Hmph… a gap is a gap. No matter how strong you are, how much can you hurt me? Die!" Looking at Mu Sha lying by the edge of the "lake," in a pile of mud, the man in the silver cloak made a beckoning gesture with his hand, and the long rod flew back into his hand.
With a forceful shake, the long rod trembled violently, and a blur appeared at both ends. The black demonic-runed shield still spinning on the rod's tip instantly shattered into pieces and flew in all directions.
And in the mud pit below, Mu Sha was already on the verge of death, the bone spikes on his body all broken. Although the man in the silver cloak was not a body cultivator, his Nascent Soul level physical body plus his protective spirit light had completely blocked his frenzied attack.
At this moment, streaks of blood were gushing out from the bloody holes on Mu Sha's body, and his black clothes were also mostly torn.
But what was astonishing was that the blood gushing from the bloody holes slowed down after only a moment, as if it had been plugged by a hand.
Looking closely, one could see that flesh was slowly starting to writhe there! Mu Sha's eyes gazed at the night sky, still devoid of joy or sorrow, but they had already lost their luster. He had experienced too many battles; death was only a matter of time.
"Boom!" A rod tip directly stabbed into Mu Sha's chest, instantly driving his entire person deep into the mud.
Following this loud bang, the man in the silver cloak's legs also landed heavily on the ground, sinking deep into the earth and splashing up countless bits of mud. He had poured all the magical power in his body into this strike.
The man in the silver cloak took a heavy breath. After instantly expending his magical power, coupled with his previous large consumption from digging up the ground, he now felt physically and mentally exhausted.
His divine sense probed underground. Sure enough, his long rod had directly pierced the other's chest cavity. Mu Sha was completely devoid of any aura.
"Pah! Damn it, aren't you undying… let's see you not die now!" The man in the silver cloak spat. With a forceful pull of his hand, he had already pulled out the long rod. As the rod was pulled out, a jet of blood was also brought out with it.
A flash of light in his other hand, and a bottle of medicinal pills appeared. His magical power was at a low point, and he needed to recover some as soon as possible before he had to rush back to his sect.
But just as he pulled out the long rod, the man suddenly felt something was wrong. Why hadn't Mu Sha's body exploded into a bloody mist under his full-powered strike?
Instantly, a boundless palpitation rose from the bottom of his heart!
"Not good!" He instinctively wanted to leap into the sky. In that instant, in the jet of blood that followed the long rod, a point of cold light suddenly flickered, unbelievably fast.
In a flash, it had already reached his feet. The man in the silver cloak was greatly alarmed and could only desperately muster the last of his magical power.
"Bang!" The protective light shield shattered in an instant. Immediately after, the man in the silver cloak felt a coldness in his groin, followed by a sharp pain spreading from between his legs. His Nascent Soul was also instantly paralyzed, unable to move.
Immediately following, a human figure burst out from the ground. The next moment, that person's fists, in a flurry of afterimages, all slammed into the dantian of the man who was standing frozen in place.
The sound of "bang, bang, bang…" was endless. The man in the silver cloak's body trembled continuously, as if he were having a seizure in the wind.
He was poisoned at this moment, but his mind was still clear. A fear of death crawled across his face.
"Boom!" In less than a breath, his lower abdomen exploded. Mu Sha, without hesitation, threw another punch, directly hitting the exposed Nascent Soul.
Instantly, a sharp bone spike that had regrown on his fist directly pierced the Nascent Soul's body.
"You… you… how did you…" The moment his Nascent Soul died, the man was finally freed from his paralysis and uttered his final, unwilling words. But before he could finish, his burly body, with a fountain of blood gushing from his abdomen, fell backward onto the ground.
And Mu Sha also swayed, took a few steps back, and sat down on the ground with a thud, panting heavily. The bloody hole in his chest, due to his explosive burst of power, was also gushing with blood.
In the dark night, the heavy smell of blood spread far and wide. From the moment he was discovered, Mu Sha knew he was on the brink of life and death. He was no match for the other party; a direct confrontation would last no more than a few breaths.
He could only use every trick he had, while at the same time constantly lulling the other party into a false sense of security. In just four breaths, even with his self-healing body, he was already in tatters.
Fortunately, he was experienced in combat and had dodged all the fatal spots. He was waiting for the moment when the other party had consumed most of his magical power and let down his guard. That was the perfect opportunity.
Therefore, the final act of feigning death was also his most dangerous moment, the one where he was most likely to truly die. But he finally used the trump card he had been hiding in his body all along—the "Black Demon God Armor" , his final defense that could block a Nascent Soul cultivator's attack. But to make the other party lower his guard, he only manifested the "Black Demon God Armor" inside his body, protecting his vitals, and let the opponent's attack penetrate his flesh, blocking the fatal blow from within.
Taking advantage of the moment the other party pulled out his long rod magical treasure, Mu Sha finally delivered his strongest blow! The man in the silver cloak's suspicion arose only in an instant, but that was enough time. That was also when the man's defense was at its weakest…
Mu Sha only panted for a few breaths before he stood up, covered in blood and somewhat shaky.
Taking a few steps forward, he bent down in front of the man and, with a forceful pull, drew out a thin, paper-like sword with a dark cyan blade from the man's lower body.
This sword was his natal magical treasure —the "Nether Shadow!" Its entire blade was coated with a deadly poison that could threaten even Nascent Soul cultivators. With a slight flash of the sword's light, he cut off the head of the man in the silver cloak, who wore a terrified expression, and then tossed it into a storage pouch .
Then, disregarding his own tattered, sack-like body, Mu Sha quickly collected the man's storage ring and the few storage pouches at his waist, and soared into the sky.
At the same time, with a wave of his right hand, the long rod flew into his hand and disappeared. But with a wave of his left hand, a black smoke fell onto the body of the man in the silver cloak.
Simultaneously, Mu Sha had vanished into the dark night. The headless body of the man in the silver cloak, originally burly, was now turning into wisps of black smoke and rapidly disappearing.
Soon, only a huge lake, patches of messy, flattened grass, and demonic beasts that had smelled the blood and rushed over were left on the prairie.
But apart from some bloodstains on the ground, there was no one to be seen.
In the vast dark night, Mu Sha's lips were tightly closed. After swallowing a pill, he felt the magical power in his body recovering, and the wounds that didn't even need a pill were already beginning to itch and heal on their own.
He looked towards the endless night sky of the prairie ahead, a hint of confusion in his cold gaze.
"Who is he? Why is Mother so unwilling to mention him!" Now, he of course knew that his current condition was not, as the people of his clan believed, the result of his mother using a secret art to temper his body, but because he possessed a strange and eerie bloodline…
…
Wind God Continent , Tianli Clan. In a cultivation chamber in a pavilion, Li Yan was wearing only a pair of shorts. The muscles on his body were bulging, gleaming as if oiled, giving off an impression of someone at their peak physical and mental state.
He stood in a horse stance , his hands raised high. A rumbling sound like a surging tide came from within his body, and above his head was a huge phantom of a demonic beast.
The beast's features were relatively clear. It had the appearance of a ferocious tiger, the body of a fighting bull, sharp hair, and a pair of wicked wings on its back. Its huge mouth was filled with fangs. It was one of the four peerless ferocious beasts, the Qiongqi .
But at this moment, Li Yan, who was cultivating, suddenly opened his eyes. The phantom above his head also quickly disappeared as he relaxed his stance.
"Why is he here? Is it time?" Li Yan was puzzled, but he still quickly flashed with a cyan light, and a set of cyan robes appeared on his body.
Outside the courtyard where Li Yan lived, Gong Shanhe, dressed in a purple robe, stood at the courtyard gate . He looked at the gate with a calm expression, but his brow would occasionally furrow before quickly returning to normal.
Suddenly, the courtyard gate opened silently from the inside. Seeing this, Gong Shanhe did not hesitate and stepped inside.
In the main hall of the pavilion, Li Yan looked at Gong Shanhe. In his divine sense earlier, he hadn't been able to discern much from the other's expression.
"Clan Head, what time is it now?" Li Yan still asked according to his own thoughts. He felt that several years should have passed, but he didn't know the specific time.
For Gong Shanhe to come and see him alone, it was either about the "Qing A Wang" matter or something related to the seal.
"It has been two years and four months since you and A'ying went into seclusion. There are no problems with the seal!" Gong Shanhe had guessed what Li Yan was thinking and dispelled both of his thoughts as soon as he spoke. Li Yan nodded upon hearing this and didn't press further. If the other party had come to see him about something, he would naturally say it.
"The Great Elder is injured. Although it's not fatal, he also needs to go into seclusion for a period of time!" Gong Shanhe's next words made Li Yan's gaze shrink, and it flickered a few times.
"Did Yan San and the others go back on their word?" Li Yan immediately asked. The only one who could injure the Great Elder right now was Yan San. But if the Great Elder was injured, Yan San, whose cultivation was slightly lower than his, would surely not be in good shape either. But this was extremely bad news.
If the Tianli Clan went to war with the Wind Beasts again, the inheritance of Li Yan's subsequent cultivation methods would definitely be affected. A series of consequences flashed through Li Yan's mind, but unexpectedly, Gong Shanhe shook his head.
"No, we have not had any further conflict with Yan San. It was a year ago. The Fifth Elder, severely injured, brought back the Second Elder's dying Nascent Soul. Not long after, the Second Elder perished." As Gong Shanhe said this, the muscles on his face couldn't help but twitch. This matter had dealt a severe blow to the Tianli Clan.
"The Qionglin Sect did it!" Li Yan instantly figured out the result. He was even more shocked. In just over two years, such a major event as the death of a Nascent Soul cultivator had occurred in the Tianli Clan.
And the Great Elder and the Fifth Elder were also injured. Although Gong Shanhe didn't say how serious the Great Elder's injuries were, for a late-stage Nascent Soul Great Cultivator to need to go into seclusion to heal, it was also not light. And he knew nothing about any of this.
"Yes. They are wolves with wild ambitions. By the time the Second Elder discovered it, it was already too late…" Gong Shanhe's calm tone was laced with a surging undercurrent of anger.