Stalling

The Netherworld Sect truly didn't care about the lives of Qi Refining cultivators; they hadn't distributed any Earth Escape Talismans. The three cultivators who escaped had brought their own Earth Escape Talismans.

Seeing that the battle within the carriage formation had concluded, the Foundation Establishment cultivators dared not linger. Previously, the Demonic Beasts' target had solely been the carriage formation, allowing them to slaughter the Demonic Beasts from the sidelines.

But now, with the carriage formation broken, they were the Demonic Beasts' only target. Most Ground Beasts couldn't do anything to them, with only a few able to unleash ranged innate Spells to attack the Foundation Establishment cultivators flying with their artifacts, but they were difficult to hit.

Demonic Birds posed a much greater threat to Foundation Establishment cultivators. While Foundation Establishment cultivators flying with artifacts were faster than ordinary first-tier Demonic Birds, when it came to aerial agility, no one below the Golden Core realm could match a common first-tier Demonic Bird.

Surrounded by over a thousand late-stage first-tier Demonic Birds, including a second-tier Black Eagle, and with the added ranged Spell attacks from the ground-based Demonic Beasts, these eleven Foundation Establishment cultivators had a real chance of perishing here.

The eleven Foundation Establishment cultivators immediately flew towards the east of the valley, the direction where Wang Daoyuan and his group were ambushing.

However, the Demonic Beasts were not about to let them go. The thousand or so Demonic Birds, under the Black Eagle's command, began to pursue and intercept the Foundation Establishment cultivators.

The grey-robed cultivator flew at the forefront, his sword leading the way, with the other Foundation Establishment cultivators closely following, attempting to break through the Demonic Birds' encirclement in one go.

The Black Eagle didn't confront him directly, only flying ahead of the grey-robed cultivator and continuously unleashing its innate Spells.

The other first-tier Demonic Birds followed suit, avoiding direct confrontation with the Foundation Establishment cultivators. Instead, they constantly cast Spells from all directions or launched surprise close-range attacks.

To increase their speed, the Foundation Establishment cultivators poured all their spiritual energy into their magical artifacts, not daring to waste a single bit elsewhere.

Countering would slow their flight speed, allowing more Demonic Birds to catch up. Not countering meant facing continuous attacks until they were beaten to death.

With no other option, they could only repeatedly pull out defensive Talismans, sticking them onto themselves to temporarily ward off the Demonic Birds' attacks.

However, there were simply too many attacks. The moment the Talismans were deployed, they were instantly broken. If this continued, none of the eleven would be able to escape.

The grey-robed cultivator made a decisive call, shouting, "Disperse and break through!"

The eleven Foundation Establishment cultivators each chose a direction and fled for their lives.

Dispersing to break through was indeed effective. The Demonic Birds were determined to eliminate everyone, so the thousand or so Demonic Birds split into eleven groups to individually intercept the eleven Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Each group had less than a hundred Demonic Birds, and only the Black Eagle was a second-tier Demonic Bird. Without second-tier Demonic Birds, it was difficult for less than a hundred first-tier Demonic Birds to surround a single Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The grey-robed cultivator was the strongest, and the Black Eagle participated in his encirclement. Before the dispersal, the grey-robed cultivator, standing at the front, could still manage to protect himself.

Now, with less than a hundred first-tier Demonic Birds and the Black Eagle, while they couldn't win in a direct fight, escaping unharmed was quite simple.

He stood on a flying sword with both feet, holding a whisk in one hand and a Talisman in the other, his body enveloped in a thick golden light shield.

The Spells from the first-tier Demonic Birds only caused slight ripples on the shield. Only the wind arrow Spells from the Black Eagle's wings caused the shield to dim slightly.

It would take at least ten wind arrow Spells to break the shield. Even a second-tier Demonic Beast lacked the ability to unleash ten innate Spells in a short period.

Without the full-scale assault from a large group of Demonic Birds, his speed increased significantly. Among the Demonic Birds surrounding him, only the Black Eagle could keep up; the rest were falling behind.

When the Black Eagle unleashed Spells, he would block them with his protective shield. If the Black Eagle engaged in close combat, he would drive it away with his whisk. As for the "tailgaters" catching up from behind, he would throw a few Talismans.

It could be said that this small group of Demonic Beasts was helpless against him. He didn't rush to escape; instead, he led the group of Demonic Beasts in circles.

In Wang Daoyuan's view, this was buying time for the others to escape. Once he escaped, the Black Eagle would definitely go to surround the others, and they didn't possess the grey-robed cultivator's strength.

The grey-robed cultivator's efforts paid off. The other Foundation Establishment cultivators were also very relaxed. Without the involvement of second-tier Demonic Beasts, less than a hundred first-tier Demonic Birds, none of them could catch up to a Foundation Establishment cultivator flying at full speed with their artifact.

Only a few ground-based Demonic Beasts could cast ranged Spells, but they were afraid of accidentally hitting the Demonic Birds and didn't dare to use them.

The remaining Foundation Establishment cultivators, like the grey-robed cultivator, didn't rush to disengage from the battlefield. Instead, they led small groups of Demonic Birds in circles.

Wang Daoyuan couldn't help but feel puzzled. The two sides had been fighting for so long, and the cultivators had been flying with their artifacts at full power; their spiritual energy should be almost depleted.

The Demonic Birds' flying ability was innate and consumed no spiritual energy; they could fly for days without issue. If the Foundation Establishment cultivators continued to drain their energy like this, once their spiritual energy ran out, it would be certain death.

The chase didn't last long. Soon, a series of bird calls and beast roars echoed from the west of Returning Goose Valley.

A moment later, a flock of Demonic Birds flew in from the distance. Among them were four that flew at speeds comparable to the Black Eagle; they should also be second-tier Demonic Beasts.

The four second-tier Demonic Beasts quickly pounced on an early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. This cultivator was the weakest and had the lowest cultivation among the eleven; he would struggle to fight even one second-tier Demonic Beast alone.

This Foundation Establishment cultivator was also overexerted from his spiritual energy. Under the combined assault of the four second-tier Demonic Beasts, he couldn't even put up a fight. After throwing out a few Talismans, he died under the Demonic Beasts' sharp claws.

Another group of Demonic Beasts emerged from the forest. Seven of them were significantly larger than their peers, likely second-tier Demonic Beasts. Together, the Demonic Beasts and Demonic Birds numbered in the tens of thousands.

Seeing this situation, the grey-robed cultivator laughed instead of getting angry and said, "The mission is complete, retreat!"

The remaining ten Foundation Establishment cultivators stopped luring the birds and fled rapidly towards the east.

The Demonic Birds, holding the absolute advantage, were not about to let them go. The additional three thousand-plus Demonic Birds, combined with the previous thousand Demonic Beasts, relentlessly pursued the Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Three early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators, lacking spiritual energy, were caught up by the Demonic Birds and met their demise. The remaining seven successfully escaped to the ambush site of Wang Daoyuan and his group.

Yang Zhiyuan roared, "Kill!"

His team consisted of over twenty Foundation Establishment cultivators and more than three hundred Qi Refining cultivators. They had been ambushing for half a day, watching the merchant caravan's cultivators battle the Demonic Beasts without being able to act, and were already impatient.

The other ambush teams on the east side of Returning Goose Valley also moved out simultaneously, with Talismans and flying swords filling the sky. The Demonic Birds were caught off guard, and five to six hundred of them died instantly.

The Demonic Birds immediately retreated. The seven Foundation Establishment cultivators escaped the pursuit, landed behind the ambush cultivators of Wang Daoyuan's group, took pills, and meditated to recover their spiritual energy.

Seeing the Demonic Birds retreat, Yang Zhiyuan immediately assigned tasks to each family: The Yang Family and another seven families were to defend the flat ground on the right flank of the hill; the Wang and Li families were responsible for guarding the small hill, blocking the escape of the Demonic Birds, and providing support to the right flank if opportunities arose; only two families, with over thirty cultivators, were stationed at the left flank cliff to block the Demonic Birds' breakthrough.

Since the Demonic Birds did not attack proactively, the Qi Refining cultivators had no means to attack them. Therefore, blocking the Demonic Birds relied mainly on the Foundation Establishment cultivators, with the Qi Refining cultivators serving only as a cover.