Inside the formation,
The Xu clan patriarch, who had been sitting cross-legged, abruptly opened his eyes. A smug smile appeared on his face, and he laughed heartily.
"Boy, you finally lost patience and struck first. You're still too green to take me on!"
"Is that so?"
The moment Lin He spoke, more than twenty Low-Tier Beginner Talismans flew out at once, transforming into Beginner Spells of various colors that came crashing toward the patriarch.
The Xu clan patriarch rose to his feet. Still cautious, he used a mid-tier intermediate defensive talisman on himself. Golden light emerged, easily blocking every spell.
"You think a few measly low-level talismans can deal with me?"
The Xu clan patriarch was about to utter another taunt when the fat old man nearby suddenly let out a heart-rending scream.
The Xu clan patriarch's expression changed, and he hurriedly looked over. A pair of sharp forelimbs had pierced the fat old man's chest. As the attack landed, the assailant finally became visible: it was the Level Four Spirit Beast, the Jade Mantis, with a veil-type Magic Artifact draped over its head.
"The Concealment Veil!" The Xu clan patriarch's expression changed at the sight. Outside, even with this fine-grade Top-Tier Auxiliary Magical Artifact, the Concealment Veil, the creature could never have slipped so close without a sound. Unfortunately, they were inside the formation.
The Five Elements Reversal Formation could disrupt spiritual sense. With Lin He's low-level talismans drawing the Xu clan patriarch's attention, he naturally had no attention to spare for the fat old man. That allowed the Jade Mantis's ambush to succeed, killing him in a single strike.
"Good, good, good! To think a junior like you actually outwitted me. That Jade Mantis of yours is quite decent. I'll kill it and use it to refine a supreme-grade Top-Tier Magical Artifact."
The Xu clan patriarch was truly enraged. Having two nephews killed before his very eyes had left him utterly unable to save face. He pointed one hand at the Golden Sword before him, and streaks of golden light immediately swept back toward the mantis, their momentum surging like a rainbow, their brilliance too fierce to look at directly.
The golden light was astonishingly fast. The Jade Mantis had no time to dodge and could only swing its forelimbs desperately to defend itself. Streak after streak descended, and the Jade Mantis resisted with all its strength. Yet the golden light seemed to penetrate every gap. In mere moments, wounds covered its hard body, blood flowing from every one. Still, the golden light showed no sign of stopping and continued shooting forth. Such was the terrifying might of a Magic Treasure!
The Xu clan patriarch snorted, showing not the slightest surprise. He simply waited for the Jade Mantis to die. Just then, another dozen or so Low-Tier Beginner Talismans flew toward him.
"How utterly foolish. An attack of this level is useless against me. I thought you had some brains, but it seems I gave you far too much credit. Hmm... why is there a blue bead among them?"
White light! A dazzling burst of white light erupted!
A heaven-shaking, earth-shattering boom rang out. The golden Protective Shield around the Xu clan patriarch could not withstand it in the slightest and was swiftly shattered. Worse still, the dazzling white light slammed into his body. A wretched cry of pain rang out before his figure finally reappeared, now in an utterly miserable state!
Half his body had been blown away. He struggled to remain standing, staring venomously at Lin He a short distance ahead.
"What exactly did you just do? Could that blue bead have been..."
"Correct. Just a Heavenly Thunder Seed," Lin He said calmly. "So you really didn't come in your Original Body, Senior. Otherwise, a mere Heavenly Thunder Seed wouldn't have blown you into this state. Am I right?"
The Xu clan patriarch snorted and immediately swallowed a medicinal pill to suppress his injuries. Only then did he say, "There's no need to probe me with words. What came here was indeed a Spirit Puppet Clone, capable of wielding only thirty percent of my Original Body's strength. But do you think victory is assured? I still have enough strength left to fight."
Without giving Lin He a chance to answer, he pointed at the Golden Rain Sword and barked, "Slash!"
The Golden Sword immediately expanded into an enormous blade that seemed to prop up the heavens, then plunged toward Lin He below. An indescribably powerful surge of spiritual energy erupted. Lin He felt his entire presence locked in place. He could not escape and had no choice but to meet this thunderous strike head-on.
Lin He's expression changed in alarm. He had not expected his opponent to unleash such a devastating strike despite his grievous injuries. Startled though he was, he did not panic. He hurriedly took out the Array Disk and tapped it. More than a dozen layers of the Five-Colored Light Curtain immediately appeared, enclosing him completely.
The enormous sword descended. After a succession of deafening crashes, seven layers of the Five-Colored Light Curtain had been shattered in a row. But the sword had clearly consumed a considerable amount of magical power as well, and it actually stopped at the eighth layer.
The Xu clan patriarch's expression changed. He had not expected the Five Elements Reversal Formation's defenses to be so powerful. As though coming to a decision, he poured out all his remaining magical power.
The Golden Sword instantly seemed to receive a nourishing infusion. The Golden Giant Sword trembled continuously, as though quivering with delight. Then, in one sustained surge, it shattered all the remaining layers of the Five-Colored Light Curtain, exposing Lin He himself!
"What?!"
Never imagining his opponent still had such a move, Lin He hurriedly hurled the Black Iron Flying Shield above his head to block the blow.
This poor Top-Tier Defensive Magical Artifact had accompanied Lin He for quite some time, but now, faced with the enormous sword's slash, it could not hold out for even a moment. It was quickly cleaved in two. Though the flying shield was destroyed, it successfully bought Lin He a sliver of time.
The enormous sword continued its descent. Lin He hurriedly took out the Yellow Gauze Umbrella, and a yellow sphere of light appeared, enveloping him. At the same time, the umbrella's canopy kept spinning, deflecting part of the force. It actually withstood this powerful assault.
Lin He looked at the Golden Sword in midair, now several times smaller than before, and finally breathed a sigh of relief. The Yellow Gauze Umbrella alone could never have blocked a Magic Treasure's might. However, the Golden Giant Sword had already expended too much spiritual energy breaking through the formation's light curtains, allowing the Yellow Gauze Umbrella to stop it.
"Now it's my turn to strike back!"
With a command, Lin He released both the Azure-Eyed Toad and the Golden-Light Python. When the Xu clan patriarch saw that they were both Level Four Spirit Beasts, his expression changed drastically.
"You... how do you have so many Level Four Spirit Beasts?"
Lin He had no time to explain. At a prompting from his spiritual sense, the three spirit beasts attacked simultaneously from three directions. The Golden-Light Python spat out an enormous golden sphere of light, the Azure-Eyed Toad spat out a Purple Light Ball, and the Jade Mantis spread its wings, wildly swinging its sharp forelimbs.
With no other choice, the Xu clan patriarch hurriedly recalled the Golden Sword to defend himself. But faced with such powerful attacks, he was too gravely injured to turn the tide. Soon, the Golden Sword's light grew increasingly dim, suppressed so thoroughly that it could not counterattack at all.
Just then, a streak of jade-green light suddenly appeared above his head and slammed viciously into the Golden Sword, knocking it out of his grasp.
"No!" The Xu clan patriarch let out an impotent
roar. "How could I possibly lose to a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator?"
The Xu clan patriarch's body was then engulfed in multicolored light. Lin He was just about to take a closer look when a bizarre scene unfolded: the Xu clan patriarch's corpse actually transformed into a golden talisman. Then the golden talisman suddenly tore apart, dissolving into specks of golden light that vanished without a trace. Only the Golden Sword and three High-Tier Talismans remained.
The Xu clan patriarch's Spirit Puppet Clone had perished!
Lin He finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had only just gathered his spoils when he sensed a powerful aura approaching at tremendous speed.