Even the Strong Fear a Sneak Attack

At this moment, lured by Ding Old Ghost, the Qi-Nourishing Realm evil cultivators under the Demoncloud Sect charged at Mo Linghai like a pack of starving wolves.

On the Azure Elixir Sect's side, aside from the ten Ninth Qi-Nourishing Layer disciples maintaining the formation, thirteen Late Qi-Nourishing Stage disciples remained.

They desperately held back the evil cultivators, but they were too few in number. Three Late Qi-Nourishing Stage evil cultivators still managed to surround Mo Linghai.

Liu Yuanchen remained hidden, waiting for a chance to strike.

At only sixteen or seventeen, Mo Linghai had already reached the Seventh Qi-Nourishing Layer.

With such cultivation at such a young age, Mo Linghai's talent was likely no worse than Liu Yuansi's. He had the potential to reach Origin Condensation.

If he developed normally, he would likely reach the Peak Qi-Nourishing Realm in his early twenties.

After accumulating experience for a few more years, he could attempt to break through to the Sea of Qi Realm.

With an elder father like Mo Lianshan, auxiliary pills for breaking through to the Sea of Qi Realm would not be much of a problem.

His chances of reaching the Sea of Qi Realm before thirty were extremely high.

Mo Linghai possessed exceptional talent and had been brought here by Elder Mo to share in the credit. He was clearly being groomed as an heir.

A disciple like that was the hope of his entire family. There was no way he lacked means to preserve his life.

Elder Mo came from the Talisman Hall and was quite accomplished in the art of talismans.

Mo Linghai definitely carried quite a few second-rank talismans.

They might not be enough against Sea of Qi Realm cultivators.

But for Qi-Nourishing Realm cultivators to take him down would be far from easy.

However, this fellow clearly had little experience in magical combat.

When the three evil cultivators attacked together, he became somewhat flustered.

Still, his foundations were solid enough that he did not completely panic.

He performed an evasion technique and dodged the attacks of all three.

With a casual flick of his hand, he threw out a talisman. A massive flaming python flew from it and lunged at the three men.

One evil cultivator failed to dodge in time and was struck across the back by the flaming python's tail, sending him flying more than twenty zhang.

He only barely stopped after crashing into a tree.

His daoist robe had been burned to ash. Hardly any hair remained on his head, and his skin was somewhat charred as well. An enticing fragrance wafted through the air.

Fortunately, he wore a protective soft armor beneath his robes, which saved his life.

Unfortunately for him, Liu Yuanchen happened to be in the very tree he had crashed into.

Before the evil cultivator could get back up, Liu Yuanchen gripped the Wind-Thunder Staff and leaped down from the tree.

Crack!

Before the evil cultivator could even scream, his head became a smashed watermelon.

Liu Yuanchen calmly took his storage pouch and magical artifact, then used Wood-Shadow Evasion again and vanished into the trees.

Killing, looting the corpse, and hiding—the entire process flowed as smoothly as clouds and water, taking only a few breaths.

Elsewhere, the flaming python was quite extraordinary. Even after severely wounding one cultivator, it remained immensely powerful.

The two evil cultivators besieging Mo Linghai had no ability to resist before the flaming python.

The young evil cultivator from the Demoncloud Sect had exchanged blows with the Tiger Roaring Mountain Forest Formation several times, yet failed to gain the upper hand.

The other Sea of Qi Realm cultivators were also unlikely to determine a victor anytime soon.

The evil cultivators of rogue cultivator background were likewise entangled with the Azure Elixir Sect's Qi-Nourishing Realm cultivators.

The young evil cultivator's expression darkened. Causing trouble at the Azure Elixir Sect's doorstep was dangerous; if they got bogged down, none of his people would survive.

The Tiger Roaring Mountain Forest Formation was formidable, and he could not defeat it quickly.

With a thought, the enormous black skeleton broke free from the tiger phantom's entanglement.

It swiftly split apart into dozens of black skeletons.

The skeletons bypassed the Tiger Roaring Mountain Forest Formation and charged toward the Azure Elixir Sect cultivators fighting the evil cultivators.

The tiger phantom pounced and slaughtered in every direction, but it only destroyed a dozen or so black skeletons.

In just over ten breaths, the dozen or so Azure Elixir Sect cultivators were all killed in battle.

The smaller skeletons once more rushed to assassinate Mo Linghai. Unable to catch them, the tiger phantom could only pounce toward the young evil cultivator.

The young evil cultivator hurriedly recalled the skeletons to protect himself and shouted, "Capture Mo Linghai!"

The rogue cultivators had long been blinded by the rewards Ding Old Ghost promised them. With no one holding them back now, they pounced at Mo Linghai like starving wolves.

The flaming python Mo Linghai had released earlier was instantly shattered under the siege of more than a dozen people, turning into sparks that filled the sky.

Seeing his most beloved son under siege, Mo Lianshan was frantic with worry.

If his son fled, that would be desertion in the middle of battle.

Even if he survived, it would be difficult for him to distinguish himself within the sect in the future.

But he had never experienced a life-and-death battle. Facing more than a dozen vicious rogue cultivators, how could he possibly survive?

The moment he was distracted, Ding Old Ghost seized the opening and struck him with two spells in succession.

Mo Lianshan steadied his mind and forced Ding Old Ghost back.

He shouted at the Qi-Nourishing Realm cultivators, "All Qi-Nourishing Realm disciples not participating in the formation, retreat toward the northern mine!"

Having given the order to retreat, Mo Linghai would be acting under orders if he fled.

Even if the sect investigated afterward, it would be Mo Lianshan's poor command at fault. No blame could fall on Mo Linghai.

Hearing this, Liu Yuanchen also breathed a sigh of relief.

With an order to retreat, he could finally slip away.

He immediately used an evasion technique and fled due north.

Mo Linghai also understood what his father meant. He used a talisman, and his speed surged, leaving the rogue cultivators behind.

Seeing him flee, the young evil cultivator became somewhat anxious.

He brought out a blood-red banner whose pole was forged from white bone.

Gray mist swirled across the banner, and more than a dozen streams of black qi drifted within it.

Each stream of black qi bore a human face—some crying, some terrified, some enraged, and all different.

This was a common magical artifact among evil cultivators—the Hundred-Soul Banner. It required over a hundred resentful souls to refine successfully.

Every stream of black qi upon it represented a resentful soul.

This Hundred-Soul Banner held only a dozen or so resentful souls, so it clearly had not yet been fully refined.

Such a half-finished second-rank magical artifact could suffer severe damage if used against Sea of Qi Realm cultivators.

But against Qi-Nourishing Realm cultivators, it was more than sufficient.

He fiercely shook the blood-red banner, and three resentful souls flew out, pouncing toward Mo Linghai.

The tiger phantom tried to stop the resentful souls, but the black skeletons held it back.

The three resentful souls were incredibly fast. In only a few breaths, they had surrounded Mo Linghai.

Suddenly, dazzling firelight burst from Mo Linghai's body.

The firelight gathered and transformed into a flaming dragon.

The dragon bared its fangs and claws, driving the three streams of black qi back again and again.

At that moment, Liu Yuanchen suddenly appeared.

Lightning flickered over the Wind-Thunder Staff in his hand as he swung it down fiercely, instantly dispersing one resentful soul.

At the same time, the gray mist around the blood-red banner instantly faded somewhat.

The young evil cultivator looked pained. His gaze fell upon the Wind-Thunder Staff in Liu Yuanchen's hand, and wariness filled his eyes.

The power of lightning was the bane of yin-soul techniques. He hurriedly recalled the other two resentful souls to avoid further losses.

When Liu Yuanchen vanished again, the wariness on his face deepened. He feared Liu Yuanchen would give him a blow as well.

If struck by a staff imbued with lightning power, his reactions would inevitably be affected.

With the Tiger Roaring Mountain Forest Formation before him, his life would then be in danger.

Thinking this, he brought out a small flying boat and took to the air to continue battling the Tiger Roaring Mountain Forest Formation.

Liu Yuanchen had indeed considered ambushing him, but the risk was too great, so he had never made up his mind.

Now that he had flown into the air, there was no chance to ambush him.

Liu Yuanchen simply abandoned the idea and fled the valley.

The tiger phantom of the Tiger Roaring Mountain Forest Formation lunged at him without restraint, and the young evil cultivator no longer dared spare attention for Mo Linghai.

As for abandoning the Tiger Roaring Mountain Forest Formation to chase and kill Mo Linghai, he did not dare do such a thing.

If he left, the Tiger Roaring Mountain Forest Formation could besiege the other Sea of Qi Realm evil cultivators.

If even one Sea of Qi Realm evil cultivator were severely wounded under a pincer attack, the situation would collapse completely.

For now, the Demon Cloud Sea side still held the advantage, so there was naturally no need to take such a risk.

Seeing that the young evil cultivator had stopped attacking, Liu Yuanchen also relaxed. Mo Linghai's life was safe for the moment.

"Junior Brother Mo, stop dawdling. Quickly use an evasion technique and run."

Mo Linghai brought out another talisman. After activating it, his speed increased dramatically.

Now that they were closer, Liu Yuanchen clearly sensed the talisman's power. It was unmistakably a second-rank Swiftstride Talisman.

He could not help but sigh inwardly, As expected of an elder's son. He's truly rolling in wealth!

With that, he also brought out a second-rank Swiftstride Talisman.

Empowered by the Swiftstride Talisman, they reached the mine north of Jintong Mountain before long.

At this time, layers of defensive barriers surrounded the mine.

Every layer of the defensive barriers was formidable. Even Sea of Qi Realm cultivators would need to spend considerable effort to break through them.

Mo Linghai shouted, "I am Mo Linghai, son of Elder Mo Lianshan. Quickly deactivate the formation and let us in!"

A voice came from within the mine. "Steward Qi said before leaving that even if the heavens collapsed, no one was to be allowed inside.

"If anything happens to the mine, we will all die.

"The formation absolutely cannot be deactivated. Please forgive us, Junior Brother Mo."

At those words, Mo Linghai's face turned ashen. The Swiftstride Talismans in his hand had already been used up.

Before him stood more than a dozen battle-hardened rogue cultivators. Even protective treasures would be useless.

Liu Yuanchen revealed himself and took out several pill bottles. "I am Liu Yuanchen, disciple of Deputy Hall Master Zhao from the Elixir Hall. Senior Brothers in the mine, we are being pursued by evil cultivators.

"Without the formation's protection, we will likely face grave danger.

"Let the two of us in, and I will certainly repay you generously."

The voice in the mine replied, "So it is Junior Brother Liu. You previously guarded spirit fields at Yujin Mountain, so we can be considered old neighbors.

"As fellow disciples, helping one another is only proper.

"But we received a death order. Even if the heavens collapse, the formation cannot be deactivated."

These people would not yield to reason or reward, and Liu Yuanchen had no solution.

The Jintong Mountain mine did not merely excavate ore; it also carried out preliminary smelting.

Therefore, many Yellow-Scaled Pines had been planted to the east, west, and north of the mine for smelting ore.

The pine nuts Liu Yuanchen carried had been taken from this place when he had wandered around in the past.

He grabbed Mo Linghai and plunged into the dense pine forest.

"Half a quarter hour has passed since the battle began.

"Reinforcements from Qinghe Town will arrive soon, and reinforcements from the mountain gate will arrive within half an hour.

"As long as we delay a little longer, those evil cultivators will definitely flee. There is nothing to fear."

Mo Linghai had never experienced slaughter. The string of dangers had left him at a loss, and he merely nodded blankly.

Seeing him like this, Liu Yuanchen did not look down on him in the slightest.

For a pampered young master, experiencing combat for the first time—and being chased by a group of people trying to hack him to death—was enough. Not wetting himself was already commendable.

About three hundred breaths later, the dozen or so evil cultivators arrived at the mine.

Seeing the formation before them, one hotheaded evil cultivator shouted, "Azure Elixir Sect rats, hand over Mo Linghai!"

An angry roar came from the mine. "Get lost!"

The hothead could not bear the humiliation. He brought out a longsword and prepared to charge forward.

An old man grabbed him. "Do not act rashly. This mine is protected by more than a dozen layers of formations. Even Sea of Qi Realm cultivators cannot break through them.

"With so many formations, they cannot be easily deactivated and activated again.

"Mo Linghai did not enter. He should still be hiding nearby.

"Brothers, search the forest."

The dozen or so rogue cultivators spread out and began searching the pine forest.

Liu Yuanchen released his Divine Sense and sensed the life force of the grass and trees.

Very quickly, an evil cultivator entered the range of his senses.

A smile appeared on his face. Within the dense forest, he possessed one-sided x-ray vision, invisibility, and the power to kill with a single strike.

These evil cultivators had entered only to become lambs for the slaughter.

He sent a Divine Sense message to Mo Linghai. "Use your evasion technique and run forward. I'll deal with the tail behind us."

By now, Mo Linghai had practically lost the ability to think. He merely nodded blankly, then turned into a crimson streak of escaping light and raced forward.

The moment he ran, fluctuations of spiritual power spread out.

Sensing the spiritual power fluctuations emanating from Mo Linghai, the evil cultivator's face split into a grin.

"Mo Linghai's life is mine. As long as I kill him, I'll become Elder Ding's registered disciple. The Sea of Qi Realm is right before my eyes, haha..."

Crack!

He had only laughed twice when a crisp sound came from the back of his head, followed by a wave of numbness spreading through his entire body.

Then his body completely stopped obeying him.

He did not even have the chance to scream before his consciousness vanished completely.

Only after Liu Yuanchen took the storage pouch at his waist and the saber magical artifact in his hand did the corpse fall to the ground.

The back of his head had caved in entirely, and he had already lost all signs of life.

Liu Yuanchen felt quite pleased with himself. No matter how high one's cultivation, a sneak attack can still take them down. Ninth Qi-Nourishing Layer, nothing special.

Afterward, he used an evasion technique and closely followed Mo Linghai.

Before long, another target entered his sensing range.

Liu Yuanchen used the same tactic again and killed another man.

These rogue cultivators all came from loose cultivator backgrounds and were extremely experienced in magical combat.

If he fought them head-on, dealing with them would truly take some effort.

But with Wood-Shadow Evasion and the Black Cloud Robe concealing him, they had no way to respond.

Liu Yuanchen had just finished searching the corpse when another rogue cultivator entered his detection range.

This fellow was incredibly fast, not the least bit inferior to his own Wood-Shadow Evasion.

Moreover, there were no obvious fluctuations of spiritual power around that person.

In other words, this person was running purely on physical strength, without using any spiritual power at all.

To possess such formidable speed through the physical body alone meant this person would not be easy to deal with.

Liu Yuanchen used a Swiftstride Talisman and quickly gave chase.

Before long, a humanoid creature appeared before him.

This fellow stood over ten feet tall, his entire body covered in black fur. He looked just like an ape.

He held a spiked mace in his hand, clearly possessing immense physical strength.

Liu Yuanchen thought to himself, There was no such strange fellow among the rogue cultivators in that small valley earlier. Could this be the legendary Demonization Secret Art?

But he is only at the Ninth Layer of the Qi-Nourishing Realm. Testing him is no problem.

He strode forward, raised the Wind-Thunder Staff high, and smashed it toward the back of the ape-man's head.

Without even turning around, the ape-man swept the spiked mace backward.

Clang—

As the staff and mace collided, Liu Yuanchen felt a tremendous force surge through both arms and into his body, sending him flying backward.