Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Tu Xiong attacked from the front like a Fierce God, while crossbow bolts streamed in from behind. Li Qingyun's scalp prickled.
Tu Xiong's movement technique and footwork seemed faintly superior to his by a notch, and his close-combat prowess was exceptionally strong.
Though he was only at the fifth layer of Sha Refining through unorthodox paths, inherently a cut below orthodox Daoist methods, he still could not be underestimated.
What Li Qingyun feared even more were the dozens of capable soldiers wielding crossbows.
Every talisman arrow carried the force of an attack at Great Accomplishment of Qi Sensing. They came densely packed in endless volleys, leaving him, newly advanced to the third layer of Qi Refining, with nowhere to hide!
"Die!"
A savage blade light crashed down.
Bang! Li Qingyun raised his sword to block the blood-red saber falling from above. His body swayed, and the impact forced him back more than a dozen steps.
When he looked again, he had actually fallen within the locked range of the soldiers' crossbow barrage.
Forty or fifty soldiers drew their bowstrings and nocked arrows, ready to blanket him with a second volley!
In battlefield combat, Tu Xiong's experience ultimately surpassed Li Qingyun's. Moreover, he coordinated remarkably well with the armored soldiers, as though commanding his own limbs.
"Illusion!"
Li Qingyun's breath hitched slightly, slowing him by a fraction. He knew he could not completely evade this volley of arrows.
He could only force up his spiritual power and unleash the Illusionary Spirit Technique, hoping that the illusion technique he had not had enough time to comprehend might somehow awaken a deeper, wide-ranging power of delusion!
Just like the Nightmare Deer Demon, which could effortlessly control the entire area around that ruined temple.
The instantaneous expenditure of more than five furnaces' worth of spiritual power left Li Qingyun feeling hollow.
But fortunately, invisible ripples spread through the air, just as he had wished!
In an instant, the crossbowmen's gazes froze, turning somewhat vacant.
That vacancy might have lasted only half a second before they recovered and sent their crossbow bolts flying!
But that was enough!
Li Qingyun caught his breath. His robes billowed in the wind, and like a great crane spreading its wings to glide, he plunged into their formation.
The bronze shortsword erupted with several feet of sharp Sword Qi, sweeping, slashing, and stabbing in a dazzling blur!
Miserable screams rang out one after another.
In the blink of an eye, at least a dozen crossbowmen had fallen.
Li Qingyun's expression was cold and stern, his strikes utterly merciless.
If he did not break their formation, he would sooner or later die beneath their rain of arrows!
"You dare!"
Tu Xiong charged forward viciously, sweeping his saber wildly.
But a sudden agony shot through his heel, and he nearly toppled to the ground.
"Meow!"
A Big Black Cat had angrily sunk its teeth into his heel. Fangs sharp as daggers pierced his leather boot, bringing up a spray of blood.
"Vile beast! Just like your master, you both deserve to die..."
In pain and fury, Tu Xiong threw a punch, but it struck nothing but empty air.
Yuanbao was extraordinarily nimble. Knowing when to quit while ahead, he darted away in an instant, following Li Qingyun as they charged and bit their way through the soldiers' ranks.
Men and horses toppled over, and screams rose without end.
"Yuanbao, follow me!"
But Li Qingyun did not linger in battle. He sent two soldiers blocking his way flying with a sweep of his sword, then abruptly changed direction and instead rushed toward the inside of the city gate.
Chaos had already erupted throughout the town.
The moment they saw the golden talisman pillar shoot into the sky, Zhao Yifan, Chi Hui, and the others within the Youdao Division led dozens of wandering martial artists into immediate revolt. They slew the soldiers and Daoists watching them and burst out of the Youdao Division.
When Jia Song furiously led men out in pursuit, Zhao Yifan and the others followed the strategy they had agreed upon, immediately scattering into more than a dozen groups and fleeing in every direction.
Some rushed into the residential district, shouting, "Jia Song has colluded with demons and monsters! He wants to blood-sacrifice the entire town!"
Others ran while yelling, "Commander Zhou is dead! Save yourselves!"
Some of the more vicious wandering martial artists set fires in several places, sending smoke and flames soaring to block vision and divide the pursuers' attention.
For a time, the entire town descended into turmoil. The townsfolk fled in panic, charging toward every city gate beneath the faint glow of the night sky.
Residents had been vanishing every night lately, and the people had long been pushed to the brink of collapse. If not for the Youdao Division and Patrol Division forcibly suppressing them, the townsfolk would have fled for their lives long ago.
Now that someone had taken the lead and shouted that Commander Zhou, who had not appeared for so long, had died at the hands of demons and monsters, how could the people possibly endure any longer? In their panic, naturally everyone fled.
"Dispatch some men to every city gate. Any lowly commoners who dare charge the gates are to be killed without exception!"
"Qin Qing, take men to Zhou Gang's house and see whether that arrogant fool is dead or not!"
"Do not forget: your lives, and the lives of your families, are all in my hands..."
Jia Song was caught somewhat off guard and could only threaten and order his subordinates to intercept people everywhere.
Meanwhile, he soared into the air. With his cultivation at the seventh layer of Qi Refining, he was practically one of the strongest beings in town, and he quickly caught up with one group of slower wandering martial artists.
With a flick of his hand, he released a chill. The three martial artists' limbs instantly stiffened with cold, leaving them unable to move.
"Your flesh and blood are even more delicious..."
Biting into a wandering martial artist's neck, Jia Song no longer bothered to conceal himself. He greedily devoured flesh and blood, the old skin on his face trembling excitedly as it rapidly became rosy and flushed.
The wandering martial artist's body swiftly withered like a leaking skin bag, becoming a desiccated corpse wrapped around bones in the blink of an eye.
After devouring three wandering martial artists who had achieved success in Sha Refining, Jia Song's head of gray-white hair quickly turned black. He became far more vigorous, no longer carrying that decrepit, dying air.
Even his cultivation aura rose by several degrees.
He comfortably spread his arms and looked up at the dark clouds and mist above Yinshan Town, shouting:
"Old ghost Tu, do it! Before the Youdao Division from the prefecture and county arrives, eat them all..."
At once, the gloomy clouds churned overhead, ghostly qi rolling thickly as an enormous ghost face vaguely emerged, gazing sinisterly down at the chaotic town.
"Hehehe, so much flesh, blood, and living yang qi! Though it is a little rushed, it is barely enough. Blood-sacrifice ten thousand people, and you and I will surely make great advances in cultivation..."
Rumble, rumble!
The entirety of Yinshan Town suddenly shook.
The gloomy clouds in the sky rolled like ink, rapidly expanding and spreading until they became a giant umbrella blotting out the heavens, covering the town!
All light in the town was utterly snuffed out, as though it had fallen into an endless ghost domain.
One terrified, struggling townsman after another was lifted into the air by invisible hands. Ghostly qi swept past, chewing sounds rang out, and then white bones rained down.
"What ruthless methods. Jia Song deserves to die!"
Seeing this horrifying sight, Li Qingyun was both shocked and enraged.
Jia Song truly had colluded with ghostly creatures. He had secretly laid down a blood sacrifice grand formation long ago, treating the entire town's populace as flesh and blood on a dining platter.
However, Jia Song had likely long since become neither human nor ghost. Otherwise, how could the aura of yin death around him be so dense?
Li Qingyun looked back toward the city gate behind him.
A black curtain had fallen over the gate. Even the armored soldiers sensed that something was wrong, standing terrified and bewildered as though a great calamity was about to descend.
Tu Xiong, who had just chased into the town, was likewise horrified. Forgetting all about pursuing Li Qingyun, he slammed himself against the curtain wall, trying to break out, yet for the moment he could not break through that black veil of the formation.
Those who acted as tigers' accomplices would ultimately meet no good end either.
"These town soldiers and Daoists will likely be unable to escape death in the end. They will become blood food for Jia Song and that great ghost..."
His figure flashed as he sped toward Zhou Gang's residence.
The Azure Blood Talisman had been sent, and he had done everything he could!
The blood sacrifice grand formation had been activated in haste. Li Qingyun believed Jia Song and that great ghost would certainly not have time to kill every person in town. Even devouring a thousand or so people would already be quite an achievement.
Did they really think the great Feather Truth masters of the Daoist sects were just drawing a salary for nothing?
Even across a thousand li, an Opening Mansion Realm master could arrive in mere moments.
And temples such as Luoxia Temple, Purple Gold Temple, and Lingbao Temple were only a few hundred li away. Even Dao Foundation Realm cultivators could arrive quickly!
That was also what gave him the confidence to return to town and fulfill his promise.
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