He himself had created those spatial cracks. The purple-robed, bald man never would have imagined that someone could hide within them, much less pinpoint a location in the outside world with such accuracy.
Gong Shanhe had long wanted to attack, but when he had sent a voice transmission to Li Yan, Li Yan had told him to wait.
The purple-robed man watched as the ferocious beast's giant maw closed in. The timing and angle of the sneak attack were exceptionally cunning, striking just as the Water-Avoiding Golden-Eyed Beast's flank was injured and its Natal Magical Treasure was distracting his mind.
The purple-robed man's attention had been focused on Li Yan. By the time he reacted to the sudden attack, it was already too late to condense a new magical art.
The two giant swords formed from seawater in his hands swung out in a hasty, intersecting slash. At the same time, his shoulders twitched, and a small, fluorescent insect glowing with green light flashed out of existence, flying toward Li Yan, who was about to press the pincer attack.
"Bang!"
The purple-robed man's body jolted violently. He staggered back several steps in the void.
'Hmm?'
A crack had appeared on the protective light shield over his throat. Simultaneously, the two giant swords of condensed seawater, having hastily dissipated the force of the attack, dissolved into droplets of water that rained down below.
'The Qiongqi Purgatory Art is truly formidable. This man is far stronger than that Second Elder. Though not quite on the level of the First Elder, he possesses the ability to contend with a Late-stage Nascent Soul Great Cultivator for a short time.'
Although he had been caught by a sneak attack, the purple-robed man had to admit that the newcomers from the Tianli Clan were masters among masters. They could actually pose a fatal threat even to a Late-stage Nascent Soul Great Cultivator.
With his magical power and mind unstable, his protective light shield had nearly been broken.
After his strike was blocked, Gong Shanhe was hit by a tremendous rebounding force. His body shuddered violently as he flipped backward through the air.
The immense force had not yet dissipated, yet he fiercely exerted his waist in mid-air. His spine emitted a series of crisp "kaka" sounds, as if on the verge of breaking, but he forcibly brought his momentum to a halt.
Even as his head flipped downward, he slammed his palms into the empty air.
"Bang!"
His palms struck as if hitting solid ground. While still upside down, Gong Shanhe's body tensed like a fully drawn bow, and he shot toward the purple-robed man, who had just regained his footing.
His utterly fearless attack sent a chill through his opponent's heart. The purple-robed man hadn't expected that after shattering both of his conjured swords, the man would merely flip over in the air and immediately charge again.
He had even heard the sound of the man's bones groaning on the verge of snapping. The speed of the attack was so fast that his own reaction was a fraction too slow.
'What a powerful physical body!'
The thought flashed through his mind, but before he could dwell on it, he saw two large feet kicking toward his face in succession. Each kick carried the overwhelming force of a landslide, sharp as a blade.
To attack so quickly and prevent him from gathering his power, his opponent didn't even right himself. He just followed like a shadow, upside down, launching a flurry of afterimages.
The purple-robed man knew he had fallen into his opponent's rhythm. To break free from the entanglement of a body cultivator would likely take several breaths of time.
His feet tapped continuously in the air, his figure transforming into a long, blurry afterimage as he retreated rapidly. At the same time, his ten fingers plucked at the air as if playing strings, firing off streaks of blue light that collided with the blurs of his opponent's legs. But in his haste, his magical power could not be fully condensed.
"Bang, bang, bang..."
For a moment, a dense, continuous sound like rain hitting banana leaves filled the air. Once Gong Shanhe gained the upper hand, all his attacks were launched with suicidal ferocity.
Both sides knew that if the purple-robed man were given even a moment to prepare, despite Gong Shanhe's ability to threaten a Late-stage Great Cultivator, Gong Shanhe himself would likely not last more than a few breaths once the man unleashed his own attacks.
At the same moment Gong Shanhe attacked, Li Yan's figure flickered. He executed the Phoenix Soars to the Heavens movement skill, preparing to pincer the purple-robed man from behind.
This was a hard-won opportunity. For a brief moment, the purple-robed man had lost the chance to gather his power and attack, but this window would be short.
It might only last one or two breaths before the man recovered his own rhythm and could unleash his true power.
But just as Li Yan lunged forward, he saw a speck of green light fly into the forehead of the Water-Avoiding Golden-Eyed Beast. The beast's mouth suddenly gaped open.
The world blurred before Li Yan's eyes, and he found himself in a blue space. The purple-robed middle-aged man and Gong Shanhe had vanished.
'Not good!'
Li Yan's heart tightened. He had been trapped in a formation. With a mere wave of his hand, his opponent had sealed off a section of the world.
He knew Gong Shanhe was in danger—a fatal danger.
Outside, Gong Shanhe, though in the middle of his assault, was also waiting for Li Yan's pincer attack. He now fully believed in Li Yan's strength.
If the two of them joined forces while their opponent was caught off guard, they might truly achieve an unparalleled feat of battle.
However, just as he saw Li Yan lunge forward, the Water-Avoiding Golden-Eyed Beast behind him was struck by a speck of green light in its forehead. Its body instantly disintegrated, dissolving into a darkness as deep as the night sky.
And then, Li Yan disappeared.
'The formation arts that the Qionglin Sect excels in!'
That was Gong Shanhe's first thought, but he had no time for anything else. As he attacked, his body swelled once more, his muscles bulging like small hills. The green veins beneath his skin thickened, looking as if they were about to burst forth.
In the second breath, the purple-robed man had already pulled back into a long afterimage. The blue light around his body flashed rapidly, and the protective light shield on his throat had already recovered.
The moment of Gong Shanhe's attack had perfectly caught him when his old force was spent and new force had yet to be generated. Now, his opponent's attacks had somehow grown even stronger.
'Two more breaths!'
A cold glint flashed in the retreating purple-robed man's eyes. In two more breaths, he should be able to break free from the assault.
In his senses, the black-robed middle-aged man who had fallen into his formation was just running in circles within a ten-zhang radius, like a headless fly.
Two breaths was but an instant. As Gong Shanhe's stormy assault continued to rain down, a layer of blue light bloomed across the purple-robed man's body. Suddenly, he took a diagonal step to the side.
It was a seemingly ordinary step. If he had tried it moments before, Gong Shanhe would have landed hundreds, even thousands, of kicks on him; his protective light shield might not have been able to withstand such a repeated onslaught.
At the very least, injury would have been unavoidable. But now, the purple-robed man had finally made that diagonal step, which meant he had escaped the core of his opponent's attack.
At the same time, the purple-robed man kicked out from the side, aiming for Gong Shanhe's head. Although he was not a body refining cultivator, a single blow from a Late-stage Nascent Soul Great Cultivator, wrapped in immense magical power, was equally capable of destroying heaven and earth.
"Boom!"
Gong Shanhe suddenly felt his feet kick empty air, and his heart sank. His reaction was lightning fast. He knew that holding his opponent in a deadlock for several breaths, even with a sneak attack, was his absolute limit.
He was even more worried for Li Yan. If anything happened to him, how would he explain it to his daughter? They were planning to ambush others, but they themselves were constantly in peril.
This was a Late-stage Nascent Soul Great Cultivator; he was not so easily tricked.
Gong Shanhe's previous rhythm had been flawless; the problem was that his opponent was simply too powerful, effectively preventing Li Yan from closing in.
Gong Shanhe slammed his palms against the void, launching himself to the side. At the same time, he ducked his head and arched his body. Then, a yellow glow exploded from his form as his opponent's foot slammed into his shoulder.
Gong Shanhe was sent flying, a stream of blood jetting from his mouth.
"Oh? A fine cultivation method indeed!"
The purple-robed man's divine sense saw Gong Shanhe within the dazzling yellow light. Although he had been hit and was coughing up blood, his body hadn't exploded.
This meant that his own magical power had only injured the man's internal organs, but his physical body had defended against the attack. A greedy thought once again surfaced in his mind.
He wanted to capture the man and search his soul. Waving a hand toward the flying Gong Shanhe, a pale green cage, like one used by farmers for chickens, materialized in the air.
As Gong Shanhe flew backward, the cage descended upon him from above. Gong Shanhe felt the world around him suddenly tighten, and a field of green light filled his vision from above.
He forcefully suppressed the excruciating pain in his chest. The Nascent Soul in his Dantian abruptly stood up, pressing its small hands to its forehead and Shanzhong acupoint, respectively.
He was about to use the secret art of the sixth level of the Qiongqi Purgatory Art. The self-harming secret art of the fifth level was called Blood Core Bone Fusion, which Gong Chenying had used in a desperate moment.
The sixth level also contained a life-or-death technique of mutual destruction, called Blood Moon Devouring the Infant. But just as he was about to activate it, Gong Shanhe's expression suddenly changed.
Not far away, the purple-robed man saw the aura on Gong Shanhe's body suddenly begin to surge, and his heart tightened.
He immediately flicked a finger toward the cage again, but at that exact moment, the purple-robed man's own face registered shock.
"He... he..."
His round eyes widened, and his body slid rapidly to the side.
But it was too late. The black-robed Li Yan had appeared nearby, just finishing tucking away a silk kerchief. In the next instant, his figure materialized behind the purple-robed man.
Within the purple-robed man's divine sense, there was only a flash of silver light. The moment Li Yan appeared, he had unleashed his greatest speed.
He pushed the Phoenix Soars to the Heavens to its absolute limit, even activating the Undead Nether Phoenix essence blood in his body.
The purple-robed man was utterly astonished. How had Li Yan escaped his formation? He hadn't even sensed it. So by the time he sensed Li Yan's appearance, the silver streak of light was already behind him.
Then, he heard a "kaka" sound from the protective light shield at his waist. Without thinking, the purple-robed man shot forward.
Li Yan closed in behind him, plunging the Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike into his lower back. This Natal Magical Treasure, refined with a secret art of the Five Elements Sect, was virtually unstoppable when it came to breaking the defenses of cultivators at the same level.
Coupled with Li Yan's own formidable magical power, which was not much less than the purple-robed man's, and the element of surprise, cracks immediately appeared on the protective light shield.
The purple-robed man was stunned. He didn't know what kind of people he had encountered today. His proud ability to manifest formations with every art, to trap the heavens themselves, had failed again and again.
His magical power immediately surged like a tide, and a brilliant blue light erupted from his body as the protective light shield began to rapidly heal.
As he lunged forward, Li Yan remained stuck to his back. Li Yan's face was expressionless. His opponent's method of deploying formations was too fast.
He could not give him another chance. He had been lucky to escape the formation using the Heaven-Stealing Kerchief, but it might not work a second time.
Seeing the brilliant blue light erupt from his opponent, Li Yan's other hand flashed with black light. Five beads of Nine Cauldrons Gui Water, like five hammerheads shimmering with a dark glow, struck the end of the Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike in rapid succession.
"Thump..." The five impacts merged into a single sound in an instant. The five beads of Nine Cauldrons Gui Water struck the Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike like five massive mountains, a force far more terrifying than Li Yan's magical power alone.
With a "chi" sound, the purple-robed man suddenly felt an icy coldness in his lower back, followed by a pain that pierced his very soul.
He had just escaped Gong Shanhe's relentless assault, only for Li Yan to ambush him again like a phantom. This time, he let out a miserable shriek.
The Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike felt as if it had stabbed directly into the depths of his soul. No matter what cultivation method he used for protection, this kind of pain was unbearable.
As he screamed, the magical art he had cast lost its power support. The cage descending upon Gong Shanhe was broken through directly.
With a ferocious glint in his eyes, Gong Shanhe was already in front of the purple-robed man, his fists, fingers, and elbows transforming into a sky-full of attacks.
For a moment, multicolored lights shook the heavens and the earth. The sound of "bang, bang" was incessant. And Li Yan was a god of death, expressionlessly clinging to his opponent's back, gripping the Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike.
In front, Gong Shanhe continued his violent assault.
The purple-robed man had already lost the ability to resist. He could only clutch his head and howl in agony, the light shield on his body on the verge of shattering.
A vicious light flashed in Li Yan's eyes. His Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike had only just pierced his opponent's body; the man was still desperately channeling his magical power, trying to leap away.
At this moment, even his Nascent Soul was in a daze. Li Yan swiftly raised his other hand, and the second Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike appeared.
He thrust it toward the back of his opponent's head. He was using his old method, the Wave-Hiding Soul-Slaying Art, attempting to seal the man's Primordial Spirit with one strike and kill his Nascent Soul with the other.
Just as his and Gong Shanhe's attacks were about to land again, an azure light suddenly rose from beneath the purple-robed man's feet, instantly spreading to his waist.
"Clang!"
Li Yan felt the Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike aimed at the man's waist suddenly get stuck on something incredibly tough.
But at the same time, there was a sound like a mirror shattering.
"Crack! Bang!"
Gong Shanhe's stormy assault arrived again. An elbow strike directly shattered the opponent's unsustainable protective light shield, followed immediately by another elbow to the purple-robed man's chest.
"Chi!"
Almost simultaneously, another crisp sound rang out, interspersed with the sound of cracking bones.
The instant the protective light shield shattered, the other Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike in Li Yan's right hand accurately pierced the back of the man's head.
A black, pointed tip emerged from his forehead, dripping a string of blood beads.
The purple-robed man, clutching his head, let out a heaven-piercing, wretched scream that cut off abruptly. His two round eyes bulged from their sockets, the corners splitting from the intense pain, streaming blood.
His throat only had time to make a series of "gurgle" sounds before his entire body, with a deafening "boom," exploded into a rain of blood, transforming into a terrifying shockwave that blasted outwards.