"Hmph! Caught you! Where do you think you're going?"
The water-and-wood cage shattered. The Demon Child instantly spotted Yang Lingshu trying to retreat and flashed after him.
Seeing this, Yang Lingshu prepared to use the same trick again, relying on an escape art to keep his opponent at bay.
"Trying to get away again? There won't be a second time! Demon Cloud Covers the Heavens!"
But the Demon Child clearly had no intention of prolonging their back-and-forth. With a roar, he summoned demonic clouds that spread in vast, roiling waves, shrouding the entire sky and earth.
"Hm? My true essence is being obstructed?"
Under the influence of the demonic clouds, the flow of true essence inside Yang Lingshu briefly stalled.
Before he could use another method to shake off the effect, the Demon Child was already upon him.
With no other choice, Yang Lingshu flung out several talismans in succession, hoping to fend off the Demon Child's ferocious assault.
"Heh. Out of tricks, are you?"
The Demon Child sneered, gathered his strength, and demolished every talisman barrier with a few punches and kicks.
As he broke through each layer of defense and his fist drew ever closer to Yang Lingshu, his grin grew wider.
Yet just as he shattered the final gleam of talisman light and prepared to twist off Yang Lingshu's head, as he had done to other righteous cultivators before him, an inexplicable chill rose in his heart.
"Hm? Another trick?"
The Demon Child's mind went taut. He instinctively sensed that something was wrong, but he could not say what it was.
After all, he could no longer sense the slightest fluctuation of spiritual essence from Yang Lingshu.
That made him wonder whether some other powerful righteous cultivator was approaching to reinforce him.
Hiss—whoosh—
Suddenly, an exceedingly faint