After the two Nascent Soul cultivators were slain, Xu Ziqing stood amid the demonic vines. The contrast between his handsome, refined appearance and the hideous vines made the scene strangely unsettling.
Black-gold light flashed through Yun Lie’s eyes, and the sword intent filling the sky turned into a thin gleam and vanished instantly.
They stood one in front of the other, seemingly some distance apart, yet an invisible current connected them. They appeared almost a single whole, difficult to comprehend or oppose.
Four people remained aboard the boat-shaped magical artifact: one Soul Transformation cultivator and three Nascent Soul cultivators. All now looked grim.
By rights, two late Nascent Soul cultivators should have easily suppressed one at early Nascent Soul and one at late Golden Core. Yet the two late Nascent Soul cultivators had been killed instead! Even more surprisingly, the white-robed man was a sword cultivator.
No wonder they had dared to become pillar guardians.
The Soul Transformation cultivator silently assessed what he had seen and concluded that he could overcome all those techniques. He raised his hand and ordered, “Mao De, come with me.”
Though Baiyun Mountain Domain had many members, they could not afford to expend their lives recklessly. Now that these two were known to be difficult opponents, sending weaker men to die would be foolish. The better strategy was for him, a cultivator of a higher realm, to attack alongside the strongest of the three remaining Nascent Soul cultivators.
A burly man wearing a yellow cloak cupped his fists. “Yes, Senior Brother Liang!”
The two Nascent Soul cultivators who had not been selected had been badly shaken by their companions’ deaths. Considering their own abilities, they were deeply apprehensive. Hearing Senior Brother Liang’s decision, they immediately relaxed, understanding that he meant to spare them danger.
Now they only hoped he could defeat those two juniors. Otherwise, being defeated by such opponents would cost them all their dignity.
The Soul Transformation cultivator surnamed Liang wasted no words. Since these opponents were tough, it would be most satisfying to overwhelm them directly!
He and the yellow-cloaked man flickered and appeared together on the pillar’s summit.
Yun Lie’s gaze settled upon the Soul Transformation cultivator.
At the same time, Xu Ziqing faced the man in yellow.
This encounter would be considerably harder than the last. After assessing the situation, Xu Ziqing knew his chances were slim.
Every Nascent Soul ancestor possessed protective spiritual light, a defensive barrier as solid as walls of bronze and iron, which a Golden Core cultivator could not ordinarily penetrate.
Otherwise Xu Ziqing could simply surround his opponent with Rongjin. Why would he have struggled so much earlier?
As matters stood, he could only rely on the wonders of his cultivation method to delay his opponent until Senior Brother defeated the Soul Transformation cultivator and joined him to kill this Nascent Soul.
Once he had calculated this, no fear showed on his face.
There was no need for further greetings between the two sides.
Strike first!
Xu Ziqing shouted, “Go!”
Emerald light gathered instantly at his fingertips and shot forward.
The light fell to the ground and transformed into a seedling. It grew in the wind and, in the blink of an eye, towered more than ten zhang tall.
More green lights flashed in succession, creating a row of gigantic trees as hard as iron. They stood like a line of guards, firmly defending the space ahead!
While Xu Ziqing was forming the green light, the yellow-cloaked man transformed into something resembling a cloud of yellow sand, sweeping forward to cover heaven and earth.
The trees swung their branches and leaves, striking fiercely at the sand—
Although they blocked some of it, the rest pressed on relentlessly, passing through the defenses and rushing straight at Xu Ziqing!
Xu Ziqing’s expression cooled, but his fingers never stopped moving.
In an instant, more enormous trees appeared behind the first row, one layer after another, almost forming an entire forest.
Each layer weakened the yellow sand slightly, but even after so many defenses, they had removed less than half of it.
The sand drew ever nearer, seeming about to swallow Xu Ziqing whole!
Xu Ziqing smiled slightly and uttered a single word. “Change!”
The nearest line of giant trees immediately transformed into more than ten fierce tigers. Each opened its enormous jaws and began biting at the yellow sand!
The largest cloud of sand was swallowed whole by the leading tiger when it raised its head!
This was the Myriad Things Spirit Transformation Formula, which let him transform myriad kinds of wood into all manner of things.
Through years of refinement, Xu Ziqing had mastered a hundred transformations. His techniques were now endlessly varied, granting him innumerable ways to adapt.
And now those abilities were proving useful.
The tigers crouched upon the ground, vigorously chewing the yellow sand as though it were a delicacy.
Yet Xu Ziqing did not relax for a moment. However marvelous his spells were, how could a battle-hardened late Nascent Soul cultivator be defeated so easily? There had to be another change.
Indeed, although the tigers chewed enthusiastically, they suddenly began howling in pain.
Their once-flat bellies swelled abruptly, as though each had devoured ten meals, expanding like inflated bladders!
Their abdomens gradually ballooned into huge spheres, their hides stretched tight to the breaking point—
“Bang!”
With a thunderous report, the bellies of all the tigers burst, spilling yellow sand across the ground.
The sand swiftly gathered together, piling up continuously.
In the blink of an eye, it had almost taken human shape.
Xu Ziqing watched the sand closely as a gourd appeared in his palm.
He quickly recited an incantation, and a powerful suction arose from the gourd’s mouth!
Wind stirred in all directions. Grains of sand from the edges of the gathering mass began flying rapidly into the gourd!
But Xu Ziqing was clearly a little too late.
Though the gourd was a powerful magical treasure, the sand had already assumed a human outline. Within several breaths it became the yellow-cloaked man once more.
His vitality seemed unharmed, but his expression was ugly. Clearly he had not expected Xu Ziqing to possess such techniques. No one, regardless of what form he took, would enjoy being swallowed by a pack of beasts.
The yellow-cloaked man gave Xu Ziqing a cold look, opened his mouth, and spat out a small black cauldron.
The cauldron spun once in the air. Its lid opened, releasing several streams of dark brown sand!
A rank, bloody odor rushed toward them.
Xu Ziqing instantly understood. The sand was poisonous!
From these techniques, he could also tell that the yellow-cloaked man was an earth-attribute cultivator, though his path was somewhat peculiar. Transforming his body into yellow sand and spitting poisonous grit were hardly upright methods. They carried a sinister, underhanded quality.
Fortunately, wood overcame earth, and Xu Ziqing commanded many kinds of plants. He was far luckier to face this opponent than one of a different attribute but the same cultivation level.
In the blink of an eye, the poisonous sand currents surrounded Xu Ziqing completely.
He frowned slightly and raised a hand. A wall of lush green leaves gathered around him, shielding him securely from above to below.
He stood inside a sealed green shell, suddenly much safer.
The sand rushed against him with a pattering sound but struck only the shield.
A sizzling noise followed. More than half the outer layer of leaves corroded away, but Xu Ziqing cast another spell, reviving them and restoring their vitality.
The sand flowed continuously like a river, battering the protective leaves without pause.
Even such resilient leaves could not endure forever. How long would they hold?
An eerie smile appeared on the yellow-cloaked man’s face. He raised two fingers of his right hand, commanding the cauldron to expel more poisonous sand. With his left, he grasped the void and produced a strangely shaped magical treasure, neither pestle nor staff.
He chanted an incantation. The bizarre implement shot forward, its pointed end poised to pierce the green shield!
“Thud, thud!”
At the same moment, countless vines rushed forward and gathered before the shield!
The weapon struck the vines squarely, producing several dull impacts.
Whatever this treasure was, it was extraordinarily sharp. It actually pierced several Bloodthirsty Demon Vines, which ordinary precious artifacts could not damage.
Fortunately, it did not penetrate deeply. Another vine approached from the side, twisted its tip around the weapon, pulled it free, and flung it away.
The yellow-cloaked man was startled.
He had refined this magical treasure countless times. It was a middle-grade precious artifact approaching upper grade; its sharpness even exceeded that of many mediocre upper-grade magical implements.
He had confidently expected it to tear through every obstacle and dispatch this young Golden Core cultivator. Yet he had never imagined the boy could release such strange vines, capable not only of drinking flesh and blood but also of extraordinary toughness!
The yellow-cloaked man’s expression turned even more serious.
He directed his weapon against the Bloodthirsty Demon Vines.
The vines thrashed wildly while the weapon stabbed at them. Neither gave ground, both trying to subdue the other.
Countless streams of poisonous sand sprayed relentlessly, settling thickly upon the leaf shield and pitting its brilliant green surface with holes.
The battle was exceptionally fierce!
Yet for the moment, neither side could overcome the other.
Xu Ziqing calmed his breathing, though inwardly he smiled bitterly.
He appeared perfectly composed, but his true essence was slowly being depleted. A Nascent Soul ancestor possessed vastly greater power. However ingenious Xu Ziqing’s techniques were, he was merely buying time. Every round of attacks he endured left him weaker.
The more powerful and effective the technique, the more enormous its consumption of his strength.
Without dwelling on it, Xu Ziqing took out a bottle of pills, poured them into his mouth, and bit down on several Kuiyuan Pills.
These pills were highly effective at swiftly restoring the true essence of Golden Core cultivators, but their medicinal properties were also extremely violent. They turned into surging heat as soon as they entered his mouth, coursing through his limbs and meridians before striking his dantian fiercely!
Endure. Endure it, no matter what.
However much pain he suffered, he absolutely could not allow the yellow-cloaked man to succeed!
On the other side, Yun Lie faced the Soul Transformation cultivator surnamed Liang.
Unlike Xu Ziqing’s dazzling exchange of tricks, their battle consisted of brutally direct clashes of force!
This was because Liang intended to finish the fight quickly. From the beginning, he meant to crush his opponent.
He touched a finger to the space between his brows, and a semi-materialized Purple Palace inner world appeared overhead!
The moment it emerged, it radiated boundless power of molten rock, blistering, explosive, and unbearably hot.
It was as though the entire region within a hundred li might be washed in magma, devouring all life!
Yun Lie raised his eyes, his expression unchanged.
The Purple Palace inner world displayed by this Soul Transformation cultivator was indeed the strongest he had ever seen.
But its strength was not sufficient to alarm him.
In the next instant, an equally domineering Purple Palace inner world floated above Yun Lie’s head.
The outlines of his inner world were astonishingly clear, almost completely materialized.