Li Ling struck the instant he said he would, startling everyone.
Yet when the man took the blow head-on, his body burst apart like rotten sludge, scattering into fragments that filled the air. He did not die, however, but reassembled in an unbelievable fashion, piecing himself back together like dough.
This time, he still looked as he had before, but his expression and bearing had changed markedly, becoming hideously terrifying.
His skin also turned a purplish red, like the demon monsters ravaging the seas.
"His aura changed!"
"What kind of monster is this? It actually knows how to disguise itself as one of us."
Everyone was shocked and immediately grew wary.
This thing had fooled even them at first. Could there now be others among the crowd...
"No need to let your imaginations run wild. For now, there's only one."
Li Ling spoke in time to steady everyone's nerves.
"Damn you! What did you do to Old Eight?" An Qinglong was both shocked and furious. Old Eight, one of his subordinates, must already have been killed. He immediately made a grasping motion from a distance, and a dazzling streak shot out like lightning, slamming into the creature.
The monster could not withstand the blow. Half its body shriveled into a charred husk.
At that moment, Feng Qing also acted.
A streak of crimson light shot from his palm, becoming an enormous firebird that slashed toward the creature. Blazing flames swirled, their extreme heat scorching it until only its head remained.
An ordinary living creature would have died outright under the combined assault of two core formation cultivators, but the monster before them seemed to possess extraordinary vitality. It was still struggling.
Suddenly, the head flew toward someone nearby, swooping down urgently like an evil ghost seeking a body to possess.