The battle lasted ten minutes.
All five had consumed enormous amounts of true essence. Li Xiaoyue's face had turned deathly pale, and she was half a beat slower in casting her Thick Earth Shield.
The False Flood Dragon clearly noticed this too. A flicker of almost human cunning and cruelty crossed its eyes. It took a Fireball from Qin Chuxia head-on, swept its tail violently to force Qin Churan back, then coiled its body, preparing to gather power for a killing blow.
"It thinks we're out of mana." Qin Chuxia panted, wiping the sweat from her forehead.
"Then let's show it what real reserves look like." Song Qiuya snorted coldly.
Moving in perfect unison, all five reached into their robes and pulled out jade bottles. They removed the stoppers, poured out supreme-grade Essence-Returning Pills that gave off a rich medicinal fragrance and bore golden core marks, then popped them straight into their mouths.
The pills instantly dissolved into torrents of true essence in their stomachs.
In less than three seconds.
The auras of the five late Foundation Establishment cultivators, who had been panting with their true essence nearly depleted, surged back to their peaks.
The sight left the Magic City defenders on the distant defensive line dumbfounded. They knew nothing about the cultivation of immortality, but even they could tell that these five had been completely exhausted. Yet after swallowing what looked like candy, they had instantly returned to full strength.
The False Flood Dragon froze halfway through gathering power. Its scarlet eyes widened, even showing a trace of horror.
Though demon beasts possessed intelligence, it simply could not comprehend something that defied all reason.
"Keep going," Song Qiuya said icily.
Li Xiaoyue formed hand seals again. This time, she was not defending.
"Entangling Technique!"
The ground split open. More