Having witnessed the might of that sword strike with their own eyes, Guo Lin was so horrified that he couldn't help swallowing.
A Qi Refining Fifth Layer cultivator had split the shell of a Late Qi Refining Vajra Crocodile Turtle with a single sword strike. Rogue Cultivators like them wouldn't even dare dream of seeing such a thing.
Though they were shaken, the three hadn't forgotten their duties.
The Vajra Crocodile Turtle had been stunned by the sword strike, its eyes seeing stars as it dizzily stuck out its head.
Perhaps ashamed that they'd been completely useless before, the middle-aged man and woman on either side hardened their expressions and burned their Essence Blood, casting their Water Mist Curse to its limit.
Several pale red water snakes, each as thick as a bowl, flicked their tongues as they bit and coiled around the Vajra Crocodile Turtle's neck.
The two hurriedly swallowed pills, then took a set of pitch-black long spikes from their waists. Using their remaining Spiritual Power to drive them, they thrust the spikes straight into the wound at the base of the Vajra Crocodile Turtle's neck.
After that, the two pale-faced cultivators picked up the Magnetic Kinetic Energy Rifles on their backs and fired wildly at the Vajra Crocodile Turtle.
Seeing them do this, Guo Lin took a Heavy Magnetic Device from his robes. Digits rolled across it as it spun like a top, radiating lightning. His heart aching, he threw it at the Vajra Crocodile Turtle.
He drew his pistol and precisely shot the device. The air's gravity abruptly pressed down, and the unsuspecting Vajra Crocodile Turtle crashed into the ground.
Without time to say anything,
Bai Yi forced himself to regulate his breathing, raising his Spiritual Power to its peak. The wind stirred around the Heart-Questioning Sword, and the concentrated Clearwind Dao Resonance seemed on the verge of becoming strands of blue ribbons wrapped around the blade.
"Still not enough..."
Bai Yi's gaze hardened. He clenched his teeth as Spiritual Power surged through his Meridians to the limit, traces of blood seeping from his pores.
He formed a Sword Seal. Rainbow Light suddenly appeared around the Heart-Questioning Sword as it rode the wind, and the patterns of rainbow Dao Resonance rippled across it.
Empowered by the two Dao Resonances, which drew in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, the terrifying aura made the Vajra Crocodile Turtle struggle frantically to break free.
"Pfft..."
Faced with the enormous disparity in strength, the three's magical implements dimmed and flew backward.
In the final two seconds, as the Vajra Crocodile Turtle's Demon Qi formed a shield and it desperately tried to retreat into its shell,
The sword light, infused with the two Dao Resonances, easily shattered the Demon Qi shield, then descended like blue-silver Rainbow Light falling from the heavens and slashed into the already-damaged neck of the Vajra Crocodile Turtle.
Srrrip...
The Heart-Questioning Sword's Sword Light gradually tore through flesh and scales as the Vajra Crocodile Turtle howled in agony.
Its fearsome head, accompanied by a spray of blood, was flung high into the air before crashing heavily to the ground.
Thud!
Thud!
Amid two muffled thumps, the severed head and demon body of the Vajra Crocodile Turtle crashed to the ground.
Its violent Demon Qi gradually dispersed, while crimson blood gushed from its severed neck like a spring, turning the sunken patch of earth into a pool of blood.
"Phew..."
Having succeeded with a single sword strike, Bai Yi's excitement flashed briefly in his eyes. He forced himself to stay upright, his body weak and unsteady.
The Minor Five Elements Art circulated through its cycle within him, nourishing his slightly damaged Meridians.
His sword fingers lowered, and the Heart-Questioning Sword transformed into Sword Light and pierced the Vajra Crocodile Turtle's demon body.
Under the probing of his Divine Sense, the Heart-Questioning Sword tore through flesh and flew out. Beneath the Sword Light, an egg-sized Demon Core, its surface marked by faint Demon Patterns, fell into Bai Yi's hand.
"So this is the Demon Core of a Late Qi Refining demon beast?!"
Guo Lin and the other two lay sprawled on the ground, their faces pale, staring intently at the Demon Core in Bai Yi's hand.
A Late Qi Refining Demon Core could fetch at least four or five hundred thousand if they took it back to the Immortal Alliance.
Greed had barely surfaced in their eyes before they firmly suppressed it.
What a joke. This monster before them might have used a trick to sever the Vajra Crocodile Turtle's neck,
but when facing a Vajra Crocodile Turtle comparable to a Late Qi Refining cultivator, an ordinary Qi Refining Fifth Layer cultivator, even with technological equipment, could probably only just manage to shatter the outermost rocky shell.
Forget the scales around the Vajra Crocodile Turtle's neck, wrapped in Demon Qi. Even the second layer of demon shell was beyond the ability of an ordinary Qi Refining Sixth Layer Rogue Cultivator to break.
And this monster before them had used only a single Flying Sword, each sword strike leaving a mark of Sword Dao Resonance.
He was clearly one of those monstrous Dao Students from an Academy's cultivation department, pursuing the pure Great Dao. A Qi Refining Fifth Layer cultivator able to unleash a sword strike like that could be considered a genius even at a First-Rate Academy.
Struggling to his feet, Guo Lin glanced at Bai Yi, who had merely expended too much Spiritual Power and suffered no injuries.
He sighed heavily inwardly.
"Perhaps the path to immortality was never something mediocre people like us could reach."
His wife and daughter's faces appeared in his mind. After wrestling with the thought, Guo Lin let out a long breath, and his own heart for the Dao faded away with it.
Seeing the three get up, Bai Yi put the Demon Core into his robes. After the injuries inside his body had eased somewhat, he took the Heart-Questioning Sword and walked past the Vajra Crocodile Turtle to the Vajra Crystal it had guarded behind it.
He grabbed the Vajra Crystal and pulled hard. Its unusual weight caught him off guard, and he managed to pull only half of it out.
"This weight..."
Spiritual Power flowed through Bai Yi's arm. He pulled again, wrenching the entire Vajra Crystal free.
Under the sunlight, a faint red-gold light seemed to show through the middle of the basin-sized Vajra Crystal.
"The Demon Core and this Vajra Crystal are mine."
"As for the rest of this Vajra Crocodile Turtle, aside from its shell, you can take whatever you like."
Bai Yi loosened his grip. The Heart-Questioning Sword became a professional boning knife, and in a dozen or so breaths, he had taken the Vajra Crocodile Turtle apart along the weak seams in its shell.
Though he had saved the three, without their help he wouldn't have been able to slay the Vajra Crocodile Turtle.
Besides, he had already taken the three greatest prizes: the Demon Core, the Vajra Crystal, and the enormous shell.
Leaving some materials for the three was a way of following his own heart.
"We should be thanking you for saving us, brother."
"You slew the Vajra Crocodile Turtle, so naturally everything belongs to you."
Guo Lin and the middle-aged couple exchanged glances, then hurriedly bowed and respectfully refused his offer.
They had spent years in Secret Realms, caught up in the schemes and struggles of Rogue Cultivators. They couldn't be sure whether this Academy Dao Student was testing them or truly meant what he said.
One wrong choice, and all three of them might lose their lives here.
"The things are here. Choose for yourselves."
Bai Yi didn't waste more words. He put away the Heart-Questioning Sword, used the Azure Peak Sword to lift the shell, and turned to disappear around the mountainside.
After a battle that had lasted nearly ten minutes in such an environment, no one could be sure whether anyone else had come near.
In his current state, he had to find a hidden place and heal his injuries first.
One minute after Bai Yi left,
seeing that Bai Yi truly hadn't looked back, the three emerged from behind their hiding place and stared excitedly at the Vajra Crocodile Turtle's remaining materials.
After all, this was a genuine Late Qi Refining demon beast.
Even without its most valuable parts, the Demon Core and shell, the other materials would make up for their losses and still earn them a sum.
"Take all the money in the team and send it to Old Yang's family."
"I'll take this head and some of the flesh. You two take the rest of the organs and materials."
Guo Lin picked up the Vajra Crocodile Turtle's fearsome head and smiled faintly at the two.
"Old Guo, you..."
As if they'd caught the meaning behind Guo Lin's words, the middle-aged couple asked hesitantly.
"I've just come to accept things. Forty-odd years of cultivation, and this is as far as I've gotten."
"Let me take this head back, so I can boast about it to my daughter-and perhaps my grandchildren someday."
Guo Lin waved his hand, signaling the two to hurry and gather the materials so they could leave. Rogue Cultivators like them knew all too well the dangers of human treachery in Secret Realms.
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