"You little thief! You dared to trespass into Wuzhuang Temple on Mount Wanshou and steal Ginseng Fruit? Get down here, you!"
In his fury, Eastern Emperor Tai Yi unleashed the might of a peak Grand Unity Golden Immortal, sweeping across the land.
In an instant, the Samadhi True Fire couldn't harm Eastern Emperor Tai Yi in the slightest.
The Solar True Fire all around him not only failed to hurt him, but was instead absorbed into his body.
He charged in with a punch. Against a mere Golden Immortal, he didn't even need to use a Divine Ability to subdue him.
[Holy crap! Second Brother, you didn't beat Bi Fang to death, did you?]
Li Mo grumbled inwardly.
"Tai Yi, hold back! We need to take him to Wuzhuang Temple on Mount Wanshou to meet Zhen Yuanzi!" Di Jun feared Eastern Emperor Tai Yi might accidentally kill Bi Fang with a careless blow.
"Having to hold back is so frustrating! Damn it!" Eastern Emperor Tai Yi fumed.
His fist slammed into Bi Fang's face. By Tai Yi's estimate, that punch should have been enough to knock him flat.
"How could this be?"
In his haste, Bi Fang shielded himself with his wings, defending with all his strength.
His wings became a shield, firmly protecting him.
The punch landed with a boom and sent him flying, tracing a parabola through the sky before he crashed down.
Bi Fang felt as though he'd been struck by lightning. His body was badly injured, but he could still move.
"He's too strong! Who is he? He can actually absorb my Samadhi True Fire—and he's already reached the peak of the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm."
"I'm no match for him. I can only run!"
A hundred years ago, he had come to Fire Maple Forest.
There, he had quietly raised his cultivation to the Golden Immortal realm once again.
His actual combat strength had reached the Grand Unity Golden Immortal level.
For that reason, he had set his sights on the Ginseng Fruit belonging to Zhen Yuanzi of Wuzhuang Temple.
A few days ago, he had happened upon an opportunity and stolen the Ginseng Fruit.
He hadn't even had a chance to digest the Ginseng Fruit he carried, and now he'd run into such a powerful being.
What was he supposed to do?
"Smoke Luo Umbrella!"
The only trump card Bi Fang had was the Smoke Luo Umbrella. He could only hope it would help him escape.
He pulled out a black umbrella and opened it, then gave it a shake.
Suddenly, black smoke poured out from beneath the umbrella like clouds and mist.
In moments, it covered the entire area.
It spread incredibly fast.
"Looks like I hit you too lightly just now. You're still able to fight. And you think a cheap trick like this can stop me?" Eastern Emperor Tai Yi roared in anger, and Solar True Fire surged from his body, rushing toward every side.
"We're doomed! Solar True Fire again!" The Fire Spirit Monkey was terrified.
But Li Mo merely waved his hand, and the Fire Spirit Monkey was moved clear of the Solar True Fire. A safe area formed around them.
The Fire Spirit Monkey couldn't help but stare in shock.
In the blink of an eye, the Solar True Fire vaporized the dark fog blanketing the sky.
The Innate low-grade spiritual treasure Smoke Luo Umbrella was powerful, but only against opponents of the same level or those not much stronger than its owner.
Against a top-tier powerhouse like Eastern Emperor Tai Yi, the Smoke Luo Umbrella was clearly useless.
"I can only break through on their side!"
Bi Fang weighed his options. His magical power surged like a tide as he surrounded himself with a thick layer of Samadhi True Fire to protect himself.
At the same time, endless black fog poured from the Smoke Luo Umbrella, spreading outward like a flood.
But the fog spread nowhere near as fast as it was being vaporized.
Bi Fang became a streak of light and darted straight for Li Mo, who looked like the weakest of the group.
[He's coming for me. Does he think I'm only a Mystic Immortal?]
"Tai Yi, protect Fifth Brother!"
Di Jun hurried to intervene as well.
But he was still a little too slow. By the time he reacted, Bi Fang had already reached Li Mo.
"We're finished! We're dead, we're dead!"
The Fire Spirit Monkey leaped around frantically beside Li Mo. It wanted to escape, but Solar True Fire surrounded them on all sides, leaving nowhere to run.
It thought Li Mo would die too.
"You underestimate me? How ridiculous." Li Mo suddenly grew serious.
"Floating World Lamp!"
In an instant, a spiritual lamp appeared above his head.
It was the low-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure he had obtained from Shang Yang earlier.
Li Mo had already refined all thirteen restrictions in the treasure, so he could bring out its full defensive power without any difficulty.
The lamp's dim yellow light enveloped Li Mo.
At the same time, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes.
"White Rainbow Sword!"
The White Rainbow Sword shot out.
The three-foot sword expanded in the wind, becoming a massive blade that charged straight at Bi Fang.
Bi Fang's eyes widened until they were as big as eggs.
"How could this be?"
He hadn't expected that a mere Mystic Immortal could possess two spiritual treasures.
What was more, this seemingly insignificant Mystic Immortal could fight a Golden Immortal powerhouse even without the treasures on him.
The moment the White Rainbow Sword struck, Bi Fang folded his wings around himself and drew all the black fog back into the Smoke Luo Umbrella.
He clutched the umbrella close, shielding his body with its canopy.
Then he saw a streak of white light, like lightning, crash straight into the Smoke Luo Umbrella.
His arms shook, going numb.
A moment later, his chest felt as if it had been struck by lightning. Blood burst from his mouth, spraying across the sky.
A thin crack had appeared on the Smoke Luo Umbrella as well.
Even Di Jun and Tai Yi couldn't help sucking in a breath at the sight.
"How could this be? A mid-stage Mystic Immortal injured a peak Golden Immortal, and even damaged a low-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure!" Tai Yi stared at the scene in disbelief.
Li Mo's strength wasn't all that impressive in his eyes.
Still, the power behind that strike had forced him to give Li Mo a thumbs-up.
Di Jun's mouth fell open in surprise.
A mid-stage Mystic Immortal had driven back a peak Golden Immortal!
There was no denying how powerful that was, even if Li Mo had the advantage of possessing one more spiritual treasure.
But the Floating World Lamp had barely done anything at all!
Had Tai Yi already injured Bi Fang? That had to be the only explanation.
Otherwise, Li Mo's displayed strength really would have been impossible to underestimate.
The Fire Spirit Monkey was completely frozen in place.
It had thought it was about to bite the dust alongside Li Mo.
But Li Mo's strength had nearly made it jump with excitement.
[Still think you can fight me? Now you've seen what I can do!]
[Look at Jun Ge and Second Brother—they're so shocked, like they've never seen anything before.]
[This is what it means to be the protagonist! Fighting above your level is a piece of cake for a protagonist!]
[Quit gawking and capture Bi Fang already!]
Di Jun didn't know what a protagonist was, but he finally let out a sigh of relief.
He casually tossed out an Immortal Binding Rope and tied Bi Fang up. Then he tipped out all the Ginseng Fruit on him.
"Quick, quick! Let me see what Ginseng Fruit looks like!"
Li Mo leaned in at once.
He had only ever heard of Ginseng Fruit in TV dramas and novels; he had never actually seen any.
Li Mo took a look and saw that it looked exactly as described in the dramas and novels, so he lost interest.
He counted them, frowned, and said, "Why are there only twenty-nine?"
"I ate the other one," Bi Fang said.
Li Mo was annoyed. With that taken care of, the group naturally left for Wuzhuang Temple.
But in a certain direction, they saw boundless purple clouds beginning to gather rapidly.
"What's going on?" Tai Yi asked.
"I don't know. It seems like an auspicious sign!" Di Jun turned and looked at Li Mo.
Li Mo glanced at Di Jun and asked, "Why are you looking at me?"
[Could a spiritual treasure be about to emerge? That direction... that must be Buzhou Mountain! If the purple qi gathers to a certain density over Buzhou Mountain, quite a few spiritual treasures may emerge there! Tsk, what a great opportunity.]
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