"Stone Command Technique!" Seeing this, Shen Leling's expression changed.
As the name implied, this was a spell that commanded rock, bearing a striking resemblance in ingenuity to her own Hē Mù Chéng Máo.
Yet her wood-addressing could only be used to fashion playthings, whereas the ghost cultivator before her could command giant rocks weighing hundreds of thousands of catties. In terms of mastery, this was simply not on the same level.
Among the Five Elements Dao Arts, commanding metal, wood, water, fire, and earth held the greatest potential and broadest application of any spells.
Yet few people managed to study spells to this degree during the Mystical Stage.
"Hey, old ghost, your Earth Element Dao Arts are quite formidable, aren't they?" Shen Leling bantered on the surface, but inwardly her heart skipped a beat.
She had underestimated this ghost. She had assumed he was merely an ordinary ghost cultivator, never expecting him to also be proficient in Earth Element Dao Arts, which happened to counter her.
"Sigh, with nothing to do all day, I can only delve into spells... If you only have this much ability, you might as well die by my hand." Mr. Feng's ghost figure constantly hovered above Zhang Quan's head. Seeing the distance was sufficient, he abruptly swung his sword.
His Ghost Body Sword could absorb essence and seize souls, its chilling gleam piercing directly for Shen Leling's demon bone.
"A caged bird, and you still want to kill me?" Shen Leling smiled sweetly, not even dodging, but instead waving a hand at him.
Just as this sword was about to strike Shen Leling down, Mr. Feng's body suddenly flew rapidly backward!
"Crack!" Mr. Feng was angered to the extreme!
He could not leave the Bronze Contract by three zhang!
And Zhang Quan, who held the Bronze Contract, although he had not been battered by the waterfall current, had been swept away by the surging torrent on the ground.
Mr. Feng could float upon giant waves, but martial artists could not. The massive volume of water had formed a flood, and with Shen Leling driving it, who could possibly stand their ground?
"Damn it..." Watching himself being pulled back by the restraint of the Bronze Contract, Mr. Feng felt utterly miserable.
Being forged into a magical artifact by someone was an eternal pain in his heart. Freedom—he craved freedom incomparably.
However, Zhang Tong's forging technique was extremely vicious. If the Bronze Contract were destroyed, he would die as well, which was why he had no choice but to protect this damn thing.
While protecting Zhang Quan, Mr. Feng looked around and understood Shen Leling's intention: "So that's how it is. It's still to set up the terrain..."
The spirit puppets of both sides were locked in a grinding battle. Using rocks to protect the corpse soldiers was equivalent to protecting the Vine Armor Soldiers as well.
Moreover, the Vine Armor Soldiers were not afraid of water; on the contrary, they could continuously acquire vitality. As long as they were not instantly shattered, any knife slashes or axe blows could recover very quickly.
At this moment, the massive volume of water pouring down like a reversed Heavenly River formed a flash flood halfway up the mountainside.
"Rumble!"
The floodwaters, carrying mud, stone, and trees, tumbled downward. Due to the varying terrain, a large number of puddles and tributaries were distributed all over the mountainside for a time.
Corpse soldiers and Vine Armor Soldiers alike were swept into them, their bodies shattered and caved in.
Even if they had not been struck previously, the churning of the flood alone possessed formidable destructive power.
The Vine Armor Soldiers recovered quickly, while the corpse soldiers were left missing arms and legs, looking battered and broken.
The five martial artists were also bobbing and sinking in the torrential current, which possessed an extremely strong suction force. If not for the black mist protecting their bodies, they would have all been sucked dry by Shen Leling.
After a long while, the martial artists scrambled ashore in a sorry state, coughing repeatedly. While the black mist could protect their bodies, it could do nothing against suffocation.
"Water Nymph of Laoshan, what is the point of you spending so much magical power to set up a water network? The thing this mountain has the most of... in the end, is still 'earth'!"
As Mr. Feng spoke, he stabbed his Ghost Body Sword into the ground, and with another pull, he actually drew out an earth boat, appearing like a mud slab ten cubits across.
The mud slab carried Zhang Quan and the other martial artists, flowing upstream. Wherever it passed, mud and sand rolled, and the water domain turned into a stretch of marshland.
The flood riverbed surfaced with sand and stone to fill it in, the water flow was absorbed by the soil, and the upstream water waves were all blocked.
The group of martial artists stepped on the mud slab and charged against the waves of earth, roaring as they came, with Mr. Feng floating above Zhang Quan.
"Monster, meet your death!"
Swathes of sword qi swept over, all of them burning with scorching yang energy.
This was genuine external release of sword-breaking qi, and its might was astonishing.
Not skilled in hand-to-hand combat, Shen Leling could only manipulate the Vine Armor Soldiers to block.
"Take root!"
The Vine Armor Soldiers surrounded Shen Leling, their legs plunging into the soil as vines knotted and roots ran deep.
Under the crisscrossing sword qi, wood chips flew everywhere, yet not a single one of them retreated a step.
A row of Vine Armor Soldiers would be shattered, and the rear rank would immediately step up, looking like warriors facing death unflinchingly, using their physical bodies to withstand the layer-by-layer advance of the sword qi and protect Shen Leling.
Among them, Mr. Feng's ghost sword was frequently interspersed, and its power was even greater.
"Damn it, this ghost must not have been a nobody in his lifetime..."
Shen Leling felt it was extremely tricky. The prowess of this ghost far exceeded her estimation, especially his Earth Element Dao Arts, which could be called effortless and handled with masterful ease.
Could it be that during their last clash, this ghost was purely slacking off?
Fortunately, she had absorbed the massive amount of vital energy from the water talisman, allowing her magical power to replenish extremely quickly; otherwise, she would not have been able to hold on long ago.
"Humph!" Shen Leling consecutively pointed out dozens of water droplets, which sank into the surrounding pine trees.
In an instant, thick tree roots burst out of the ground from beneath the trees!
The tree roots kicked up large swathes of mud and sand, whipping toward the enemies like a flurry of lashes!
"Decent aptitude, but unfortunately your spells are all too soft." Mr. Feng smiled faintly, pointing his long sword at the earth boat and tapping it several times.
In the blink of an eye, the mud-slab earth boat split into five parts, with one beneath the feet of every martial artist.
They scattered outward, dodging the whip of the tree roots while simultaneously completing a circle of encirclement, contracting inward to trap Shen Leling in a desperate situation!
"Is that so?" Seeing herself surrounded and attacked by sword qi from all directions, Shen Leling was not panicked.
As it turned out, the whipping of the tree roots was merely a facade; the true purpose had been to overturn earth and stone, carving out individual river channels in the surroundings.
At this moment, right in the center of the martial artists' encirclement, Shen Leling formed a hand seal, and the large area of accumulated water around her immediately became active as if boiling.
The pool water trapped by the soil beneath her feet surged and gushed forth like a spring eye, generating more and more water to spawn individual tributaries that spread outward along the river channels in all directions.
"Swish!" Zhang Quan's terrifying sword qi pierced through, only to find in astonishment that he had merely swept away a mass of water mist.
At the critical moment, Shen Leling transformed into a ball of wondrous water, plunged into the current, and vanished without a trace!
"She's over there!" Mr. Feng pointed.
Twenty zhang away, at the end of a tributary, Shen Leling floated up from the water.
"This... could this be Water Escape?" Zhang Quan's brow furrowed tightly. This was simply too fast!
Twenty zhang in the blink of an eye! How was anyone supposed to hit that?
Mr. Feng, however, chuckled and said, "Not at all. Transforming into a water spirit and drifting along the current, this is merely her innate water-element talent."
"The true Great Five Elements Escape divine ability ignores any obstruction, reaching everywhere across the Eight Directions and four poles. Cast yourself into the sea, and you can land ashore from the West Lake. Entangled in blazing flames, you can emerge from a volcano! You can go anywhere under heaven!"
"If one possesses the Size as Desired technique, they can even borrow a single raindrop to escape to the vast seas, or a single grain of yellow sand to ascend Mount Tian!"
"And there are even those who can escape beyond the heavens and earth..."
Zhang Quan and the other martial artists wore solemn expressions, not expecting the legendary Great Five Elements Escape to be so formidable.
Indeed, compared to that, Shen Leling's was merely a minor path.
She was merely transforming into water to merge into the rivers, shuttling back and forth among the various tributaries.
Looked at this way, the entire terrain was more like something Shen Leling used to protect herself, all meant to facilitate her movement and evasion.
Having been enlightened by clear springs and possessing the Water Spirit Physique, Shen Leling was naturally in her element in a place dense with water networks, capable of escaping into the water to hide. This belonged to her innate divine ability.
"Cackle, cackle..." Shen Leling stood in the water, smiling gracefully, "Nothing under heaven is softer or weaker than water, yet nothing can surpass it in attacking the hard and strong."
"Come on, try killing me."
"Whoosh!" The martial artist closest to her flew into a rage, executing a lightning-fast sword strike with sword qi sweeping across three zhang.
Yet Shen Leling was like a mass of water cast off mid-air, falling freely into the river.
When she reappeared, she was already on the other side, ten zhang behind the group.
The martial artists found it extremely vexing, having no idea how to hit Shen Leling.
Mr. Feng, however, was amused. "Hahaha, you went to all this trouble just to maneuver and stall within this square inch?"
With a single stroke of his sword, lacking sword qi but guided by his sword tip, a block of gravelly rock rose up to block the river channel.
Drawing the Ground to Form Peaks!
These boulders standing a zhang high, mixed with mud and sand, resembled embankments, once again trapping the spread of the water flow.
Shen Leling could only shuttle within the areas where her water domain had spread. Yet Mr. Feng was constantly utilizing the earth to absorb her water body, causing her water to dwindle and the water domain to dry up increasingly.
Granted, Shen Leling was currently in no danger, fearless of weapons, and dodging freely.
However, as the sand and soil encroached step by step, it was equivalent to constantly shrinking her living space, and defeat seemed to be a matter of time.
At the same time, several formidable martial artists scattered out, pursuing and killing Shen Leling.
Whenever Shen Leling reared her head, she was greeted by a sheet of sword qi.
"Water demon, you no longer have any means of counteraction. Why aren't you running yet? What on earth is the point of this pointless struggle?" Mr. Feng vaguely sensed that something was amiss.
"Cackle, cackle, do you really think you've got me in the bag? I haven't even exerted myself yet..." Shen Leling was struggling quite a bit, able only to shuttle through individual tributaries while constantly carving out river channels with wood-element spells.
"Hmm?" Mr. Feng suddenly realized, "Your actions from beginning to end were all to arrange the terrain, protect yourself, and stall for time. It's as if you were waiting for someone right from the start."
"Is it that youth? Could it be that he is helping you deploy something?"
Mr. Feng looked around left and right. When he first arrived, he had wondered if there should be another youth by Shen Leling's side, but he hadn't thought deeply about it. After all, Shen Leling's injuries were healed; it was possible she had sucked that youth dry.
Only now did he realize that Shen Leling should be waiting for someone, but... that youth possessed lowly martial arts; what could he possibly do?
Using ghost qi, Mr. Feng condensed three dice, each face bearing yin and yang symbols. Shaking them gently in his palm, he actually cast a divination.
The hexagram was immensely auspicious!
He did not stop, continuing to divine, and the result was immense misfortune!
Next came the third hexagram, the fourth, and the fifth. Every single hexagram was different; one moment it was minor auspiciousness, the next moderate misfortune.
The heavenly secrets were in chaos!
Mr. Feng's expression changed. Divination by mortals might be random, but cultivators were not; the results obtained were useful and consumed magical power.
Like now, having every single kind of hexagram appear for the same matter was precisely a symbol of chaotic heavenly secrets and uncertain fortune and misfortune.
"Zhang Quan, give me a Vitality Restoration Pill! I know you brought one! Let me recover my magical power, and I will directly unleash my divine ability to capture this demon!" Mr. Feng said solemnly.
Zhang Quan was startled, then laughed it off. "Mr. Feng jests. I am merely a collateral descendant of the clan; how could I possibly have a Vitality Restoration Pill?"
Mr. Feng gritted his teeth. "It's right in your bosom, brimming with vital energy. Do you think I can't see it?"
"Sir, we've already agreed on the price, and it's just about to be settled. Raising the price at the last minute is somewhat excessive, don't you think?" Zhang Quan was used to Mr. Feng's wild chatter and bargaining, so he didn't care at all.
The current situation was simply a foregone conclusion!
"I am not joking with you. Chaotic heavenly secrets must have a startling cause! Only great mighty power can shield the heavenly secrets! Let us make a quick victory to avoid undue complications!" Mr. Feng spoke with utmost seriousness.
Yet spoken so abruptly, how could Zhang Quan take it to heart?
Fearing only that he would drop out at this critical juncture, Zhang Quan thought for a moment before speaking, "Very well. Once the deed is done, I will give Sir some more blood food. How about a hundred heads of cattle and sheep?"
Helpless, Mr. Feng could only fill in Shen Leling's water domain as quickly as possible, shortening her roaming space.
"Boom!"
Right at that moment, a loud explosion came from the mountains on the other side.
"What thing exploded?"
"It seems to be in the sky!"
Following the sound to look up, the crowd was instantly startled out of their wits!
At a height of twenty zhang off the ground in the distance, a surge of explosion-like torrents churned. That was caused by the air being forcefully compressed.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The shock ripples had not yet dissipated before new ones quickly appeared, shifting now to the left, now to the right!
Moving from far to near, the sound grew louder and louder. In a flash, they had already arrived right in front of the crowd.
Only then did everyone see clearly what was happening. This was unmistakably someone treading through the air on the wind from afar.
The soles of his feet burst forth with powerful Qi, stepping on the air with nothing to rely on, crossing the void.
Jumping left and right, alternating and springing his body like lightning!
"What kind of monster is this?" Zhang Quan shouted in doubt and alarm. He could naturally see that every single burst of mobilized power was equivalent to the cultivation breakthrough of thirty or forty years of true qi in an ordinary person.
The might was practically like self-detonation!
"Elder Sister! I'm here!" Yan Nu's voice resounded through the valley.
At this single shout, not only did the Zhang family martial artists all freeze like statues.
Even Shen Leling stared in infatuation. This brat actually uses true qi like this! But... it really suits him...
Before you continue