"You scoundrel, how dare you!" The young man from the Blade Transforming Dock looked stunned, seemingly never having expected Zhang He to turn on him at this moment.
With an angry shout, he immediately directed his two Blood-Colored Flying Knives to slash upward at the Golden Brick while darting to the left.
The Golden Brick was a Talisman Treasure that emphasized power. Its attacks were tremendously destructive, but movement speed was not its forte.
Though launched later, the two flying knives struck first, slashing into the bottom of the Golden Brick. Clang! Clang! Two piercing crashes rang out amid showers of sparks, making the listeners' eardrums ache.
Yet the enormous golden brick in the air barely seemed affected by the flying knives. Its descent did not slow in the slightest as it continued hurtling straight toward the young man.
The young man was horrified! This Golden Brick Talisman Treasure was actually so powerful that even attacking it with top-grade magical artifacts driven at full strength could not delay it for an instant.
I have to get out of here as quickly as possible! At that thought, a ruthless look crossed his face.
He immediately spat out a mouthful of blood essence, formed several strange Spell Seals with his hands, then pointed at the two Blood-Colored Flying Knives. The knives blazed with bloody light and once again flew to meet the Golden Brick.
With a boom, the flying knives exploded into two dazzling balls of bloody light the instant they struck the Golden Brick.
Empowered by that bloody light, the knives unleashed nearly twice as much power as before. They actually held the Golden Brick firmly in place, preventing it from descending even an inch for the moment!
The young man spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, his face turning deathly pale. Clearly, he had suffered from the backlash of his magical artifacts' self-destruction.
Though losing two top-grade magical artifacts and some of his blood essence pained him immensely, the young man still breathed a sigh of relief. After all, his life mattered most.
He turned to flee again without hesitation. Yet just as he was about to move, something unexpected happened!
"Roar!" A spirit beast's mighty roar came from the direction he was leaping toward. At the same time, a foul-smelling gust swept over him, and an enormous bear paw struck at him faster than the naked eye could follow.
The young man from the Blade Transforming Dock was scared out of his wits. He immediately sent the Iron Plate hurtling toward the enormous bear paw.
With a bang, the bear paw knocked the Iron Plate aside. The tremendous force of the collision sent the young man staggering backward despite himself.
The young man was both shocked and furious. This beast had ruined his escape at the crucial moment! As soon as he steadied himself, he changed direction, intending to keep fleeing.
Zhang He grew frantic at the sight. He was pouring all his strength into controlling the Golden Brick Talisman Treasure and had none to spare for anything else. He could only order the Giant Bear to hold the young man back for a moment, whatever the cost.
Upon receiving his master's command, the Giant Bear erupted in a ring of white light, and his entire body rapidly shriveled.
Whatever innate ability the Giant Bear possessed, he unleashed all his latent potential, greatly increasing his speed. He actually caught up to the young man and blocked the Blade Transforming Dock disciple's path again, then struck at him repeatedly with both paws, keeping him from escaping for the time being.
Now enraged, the young man pulled some talismans from his Storage Bag and hurled them at the Giant Bear one after another.
Flames, ice arrows, enormous rocks... all came crashing down on the Giant Bear in a swarm. Yet he ignored them entirely, continuing to attack the young man even at the cost of grievous wounds.
Before long, the Golden Brick finally broke free of the power unleashed by the flying knives' self-destruction and came whistling toward the young man at tremendous speed.
The Blade Transforming Dock disciple's pupils contracted, and his face turned deathly pale. Before he could do anything, the enormous golden brick slammed into him with a boom.
"Bang! Aah!" After a single scream, the young man from the Blade Transforming Dock was driven into the ground by the enormous golden brick and fell silent. The entire Golden Brick sank half a zhang into the earth. Under such circumstances, he naturally had no chance of survival.
"Ha ha ha! That felt good!" Wild delight filled Zhang He at the sight, and he burst out laughing. With his rival eliminated, everything here was his alone. How could he not be happy?
"Ha ha... uh..." Zhang He's jubilant laughter cut off abruptly.
His eyes bulged, their light rapidly fading. Then his body crumpled limply to the ground, and his breathing swiftly stopped. Only then did two jets of blood spurt from Zhang He's temples, splashing more than three feet away.
At some point, a thumb-sized hole had been pierced through the temples on either side of his head.
At the very instant Zhang He died, the white Giant Bear whose life was bound to his suddenly collapsed without warning, dying on the spot!
Xiao Yu walked leisurely out from behind the boulder. First, he delivered a few more slashes to Zhang He's corpse with his Flying Sword to guard against any surprises. Only after seeing no response did he finally relax.
When Xiao Yu saw the two men suddenly turn on each other, he had used his enhanced Aura Concealment Technique and Concealment Technique to sneak behind a boulder a short distance behind Zhang He. Then he had deployed the Shadowless Needle, guiding it silently toward him.
Xiao Yu launched his surprise attack just after Zhang He killed the Blade Transforming Dock disciple, when his guard was at its lowest.
The Shadowless Needle instantly pierced his right temple and shot out the other side, killing him!
The ease with which his ambush succeeded far exceeded Xiao Yu's expectations. It seemed the enhanced spells were even more formidable than he had imagined. He had watched the fight for so long and drawn so close to them, yet neither had detected him, even allowing him to land a successful surprise attack.
After all, these two were elite disciples of the seven sects, outstanding even among Qi Refining Stage disciples. If these two spells could conceal him from them, they could conceal him from most Qi Refining Stage cultivators. This gave Xiao Yu a new understanding of his own combat strength.
Putting these thoughts aside for the moment, Xiao Yu turned to look at the Golden-Light Python, who was still writhing.
Heh, this enormous python really does cling tenaciously to life. He looks quite a bit better now than he did earlier. His aura even seems to be stabilizing. If I let him leave, he might actually survive.
Not daring to delay, Xiao Yu patted his Storage Bag and took out the Small Axe. After he cast several Spell Seals on it, the Small Axe grew to three feet in size. It circled once above his head, then turned into a streak of light and cleaved down toward the Golden-Light Python's head.
"Aaoo!" The Golden-Light Python roared furiously and thrust the top of his head straight at the axe.
With a crack, the axe struck the top of his head. Once the light faded, Xiao Yu looked closely and saw that it had left only a faint white mark.
Hmm, he's already so badly injured, yet he can still take a hit like that? Xiao Yu muttered inwardly. Then his eyes shifted, and he guided the axe around the Golden-Light Python's head to strike at the severed end of his body.
The enormous python moved so slowly now that he could not possibly dodge the axe. With a wet tearing sound, it split another section of his body along the wound, making him howl repeatedly in agony.
Seeing that this method worked, Xiao Yu showed no mercy and launched a continuous barrage of attacks at the enormous python's wound.
A short while later, the python's agonized cries gradually weakened, then fell silent altogether. By then, Xiao Yu had nearly split the upper half of his body into two pieces.
With the enormous python dead, it was finally time to collect the spoils. Xiao Yu first gathered all the Storage Bags from Zhang He and the Blade Transforming Dock disciple and tucked them into his robes, then destroyed their bodies to erase all traces.
Afterward, he picked up the magical artifacts and the Golden Brick Talisman Treasure that had fallen to the ground.
Only after finishing all this did Xiao Yu approach the small pool, take out the Jade Shovel and a dozen or so Jade Boxes, and carefully dig up the spirit medicines.
Once he had dug up all the dozen or so spirit medicines with their roots intact, Xiao Yu broke into a delighted grin.
This trip certainly wasn't in vain. I never expected such a haul. These dozen or so spirit medicines are enough to exchange for a Foundation Establishment Pill. Now I can return to the outskirts of the Forbidden Grounds and wait in peace for them to reopen tomorrow, Xiao Yu thought to himself.
Finally, he stripped the skin from the Golden-Light Python. Such tough python hide was an excellent material for making armor; he could not let it go to waste.
After taking another look around the ravaged cavern and confirming that he had missed nothing, Xiao Yu strode out of the underground space.
Before you continue