Chapter 232: Chaotic Battle of the Golden Cores
The item was already in hand, and the True Inheritor of the Taiqing Palace no longer had any reason to linger. He immediately wanted to retreat and escape Huoshi Immortal City.
But in the next moment, Zheng Shuanggou descended from the sky, erupting with a majestic sword aura, and fiercely slashed towards the True Inheritor of the Taiqing Palace.
Zhou Nongying emerged from underground, stirring up a wave of dark shadows, completely cutting off the retreat of the Taiqing Palace's True Inheritor.
From his left side, Zheng Jianlian bent his bow and nocked an arrow. The arrow shot through the air, firmly locking onto the forehead of the Taiqing Palace’s True Inheritor.
At this moment, the Golden Core True Inheritor from Zixiao Pavilion also appeared, pushing his palms forward, unleashing a spell like a radiant flame towards the True Inheritor of the Taiqing Palace.
It was worth noting that the Golden Core True Inheritor of Zixiao Pavilion was also wearing a set of black clothing, identical to that of the shadow demon cultivators.
"A third shadow demon cultivator?!" In an instant, everyone was shocked.
The Taiqing Palace True Inheritor wanted to flee, but he was surrounded by enemies on all sides.
He barely dodged Zheng Shuanggou’s attack and escaped from Zhou Nongying’s shadow entanglement, but he couldn't avoid Zheng Jianlian's arrow. He took the arrow head-on and had to use his back to withstand the radiant flames from the Zixiao Pavilion's True Inheritor.
Many of the defensive artifacts he had activated at full power shattered immediately, with only his innermost layer of undergarments, a treasure-level item, stubbornly protecting his vital areas.
The True Inheritor of the Taiqing Palace still wanted to hold on, forcing himself to keep running several hundred meters while coughing up blood, clutching the Demonic Sect scripture.
However, attacks from all sides kept coming relentlessly.
Unable to fight off all these opponents, he had no choice but to throw the Demonic Sect scripture out once more to alleviate the pressure on himself.
The Golden Core cultivators who were originally attacking the True Inheritor of Taiqing Palace immediately stopped their attacks.
They were worried about damaging the text that contained the scripture.
Even though the scripture could circulate externally, under such destructive conditions, the content of the scripture could also suffer damage.
The Golden Core cultivators restrained their attacks, then reached out again to seize the scripture.
The scene turned chaotic.
Golden light and silver gleams clashed with each other, blades and hooks danced wildly, and spells flew everywhere.
Sun Lingtong dove headfirst into the chaotic battlefield, and the arrival of Chi Dun right behind him made the battlefield even more chaotic.
Sun Lingtong moved agilely, taking the opportunity to escape.
“Thrilling, so thrilling!” His large eyes sparkled with excitement, his focus heightened, and his face flushed.
He was both scared and excited, thoroughly enjoying this dangerous adventure.
If they were outside the city, someone like Sun Lingtong, still in the Foundation Establishment stage, wouldn’t stand a chance.
But within the city, the grand formation of the Immortal City provided full suppression, greatly restricting the power of the Golden Core cultivators.
Plus, Sun Lingtong had made ample preparations in advance, exhausting his resources to sustain his performance. He wasn’t just an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator, which barely allowed him to maintain his disguise.
The battlefield was in total disarray, with too many factions and people harboring ulterior motives. Attacks and defenses shifted rapidly, and Sun Lingtong wasn’t facing a direct opponent of Golden Core level.
Because even among the Golden Core cultivators, they were severely entangled with each other.
Chi Dun shouted, "Shadow demon cultivator, where are you running?!"
Then, he saw the Zixiao Pavilion True Inheritor Golden Core, disguised as a shadow demon cultivator.
This Golden Core True Inheritor was the closest to him, so Chi Dun didn’t hesitate and charged with his fist.
The Zixiao Pavilion Golden Core erected a defensive spell, but its power was suppressed by the grand formation.
Bang.
Chi Dun’s punch directly smashed the Zixiao Pavilion Golden Core into the ground.
In a chaotic battlefield like this, the advantage of body cultivators was fully displayed in that one punch!
The two Golden Core True Inheritors disguised as shadow demon cultivators were both miserable.
They were skilled in using spells, but their spells were severely suppressed, forcing them to rely on rarely used artifacts to hold their ground.
Because of their disguise, they couldn’t even use their most adept techniques.
Taking advantage of Chi Dun being distracted, Sun Lingtong quietly expressed gratitude to the Zixiao Pavilion’s True Inheritor and slipped underground, quickly burrowing into the gaps of the Immortal City's grand formation through the sewers, successfully completing his exit without a hitch.
The shadow demon cultivator—the True Inheritor of the Taiqing Palace—charged towards the Demonic Sect scripture again, his face full of excitement: "It’s still mine!"
But in the next moment, a ghost general suddenly appeared, blocking him.
Another ghost general followed swiftly, grabbing the Demonic Sect scripture and taking off.
It quickly ran towards its master—Luo Shang!
Luo Shang appeared once again.
However, this time, he didn’t disguise himself as a shadow demon cultivator.
Luo Shang’s face was still somewhat swollen, indicating that the residual poison in his body had not yet been completely expelled.
The ghost general that seized the Demonic Sect scripture was obviously adept at speed. In the blink of an eye, it covered several hundred steps and arrived before Luo Shang, presenting the Demonic Sect scripture to him.
The moment Luo Shang received it, he felt the profound essence of the scripture.
"Demonic Blood Tendon Technique?!" A hint of joy appeared on Luo Shang's face, but before he could say anything, a burst of golden light flashed before his eyes.
Zhu Xuanji charged toward him, holding a large ruler, wielding it like a sword, and slashed down viciously.
Luo Shang hurriedly controlled the third Golden Core level ghost general to block Zhu Xuanji, while he took the opportunity to retreat.
“You can leave, but the scripture stays!” Ning Jiufan suddenly revealed himself, cradling an ice jade flask, casting a frost spell that immediately froze Luo Shang.
But the frozen Luo Shang soon revealed his true form—a strange ghost general with a bone mask, still at the Golden Core level.
The real Luo Shang was still hiding with his true body.
The ghost general was frozen, and the Demonic Sect scripture also met the same fate.
Ning Jiufan reached his hand into the massive ice block.
Wherever his palm reached, the diamond-hard ice melted like milk.
Ning Jiufan obtained the Demonic Sect scripture, but his expression also changed, as he had been tricked.
In the next moment, Luo Shang’s counterattack arrived.
No less than four Golden Core level ghost generals surrounded Ning Jiufan and launched a frenzied assault.
Ning Jiufan, though a formidable fighter, was left blocking attacks from all directions and was in quite a predicament.
Luo Shang’s true strength was fully revealed at this moment.
He was from the Soul-Devouring Sect, specializing in controlling ghost creatures. Under his command, he had many ghost generals with Golden Core level combat power.
He alone was equivalent to a small sect.
Ning Jiufan’s situation improved immediately as another Golden Core ancestor of the Zhou family came to his aid.
The latter threw out a formation disk from a distance.
The treasure-level formation disk spun above Ning Jiufan’s head, instantly forming a formation, causing the ghost generals to lose their sense of direction and make frequent mistakes.
Ning Jiufan, while receiving the infusion of the scripture's profound meanings, left the formation disk behind and quickly escaped from the formation.
"Support him!" Zheng Shuanggou shouted.
At this moment in the battle, the advantage of the alliance between the three cultivation families and Zhu Xuanji was finally showing.
Yang Chanyu held a mechanical crossbow, firing arrows and strongly interfering with Ning Jiufan.
The two shadow demon cultivators, seeing the urgency of the situation, merely exchanged a glance before immediately launching a full-force assault on Ning Jiufan.
Ning Jiufan displayed immense strength, with frost spreading all around, holding on for quite a while.
But in the end, under the attack of a flying dart from the Taiqing Palace True Inheritor’s treasure, his defense was finally breached.
Had Ning Jiufan not dodged in time, and the dart only grazed his left ear, he might have been gravely injured!
Unable to hold on any longer, Ning Jiufan threw the Demonic Sect scripture to Zheng Shuanggou.
Why did he make this choice?
Ning Jiufan’s reason was simple—Zheng Shuanggou was the closest friendly force to him at the time.
“You go, I’ll hold them off!” Zheng Jianlian rushed behind his clan’s Golden Core member to block the enemies.
Zheng Shuanggou was also shouting, "Protect me! Once we enter the clan’s territory, we’ll be safe. By then, the contents of the scripture will be shared with you all!"
The profound meanings of the Demonic Sect scripture gradually flowed into his mind, which gave him great motivation to protect the treasure.
The two Golden Core cultivators of the Zhou family exchanged glances and went all out.
Ning Jiufan also repeatedly unleashed his best spells, intercepting the other cultivators.
On the battlefield, the alliance of the three Golden Core cultivators clearly had the upper hand
, as this was, after all, their territory.
Seeing the scripture about to be taken, and being blocked, some grew desperate.
The Zixiao Pavilion True Inheritor formed seals with his hands, and lightning surged from his palms.
The purple lightning was incredibly swift, moving so fast that even to the Golden Core cultivators, it left only a blur.
Before anyone could react, it struck Zheng Shuanggou squarely in the back.
Zheng Shuanggou spat out a mouthful of blood and stumbled forward, barely managing to steady himself and keep running.
The Taiqing Palace True Inheritor snorted coldly, chanting rapidly.
A fierce wind roared around him, forming the phantom of a green dragon. The dragon's roar suddenly erupted as the green dragon phantom shot out, carrying with it intense impact and tearing force.
Wherever it passed, the green wind was like a blade, ready to shred everything in its path!
It was so ferocious that the Zhou family’s Golden Core cultivators didn’t dare to face it head-on and voluntarily dodged.
Just as the green dragon phantom was about to hit Zheng Shuanggou, at the critical moment, it was his clan’s Golden Core cultivators who proved reliable.
Zheng Jianlian blocked in front of the green dragon, brushing his hand over the surface of his storage belt at his waist.
Hiss!
A mechanical black snake appeared fiercely, its size much smaller compared to the green dragon phantom.
But despite its small size, the mechanical black snake showed no fear, raising its head and charging head-on.
The green dragon phantom collapsed, and the green wind quickly dispersed and vanished.
The Taiqing Palace True Inheritor’s face changed drastically. He was well aware of the power of his technique, yet it had been shattered by an ordinary-looking mechanical black snake.
The mechanical black snake didn’t stop after breaking the green dragon phantom and continued its assault.
The Taiqing Palace True Inheritor threw out a set of green bamboo flying swords, totaling forty-nine in all.
The green bamboo flying swords poured down like a torrential rain, striking the mechanical black snake with a series of clangs.
The mechanical black snake’s movement slowed, but its fierce momentum remained unstoppable, pushing through the rain of arrows and reaching the Taiqing Palace True Inheritor.
The Taiqing Palace True Inheritor immediately felt an overwhelming sense of danger and hurriedly activated a defensive treasure.
The black snake opened its mouth wide, biting straight through the True Inheritor’s protective treasure aura and severing his left arm.
The Taiqing Palace Golden Core True Inheritor howled in pain and retreated rapidly, frantically trying to heal his severed arm. However, the wound remained shrouded in a black mist that hindered his healing techniques.
The Taiqing Palace Golden Core True Inheritor’s face changed dramatically, shouting in shock, "Night Rain Demonic Weapon?!"
Everyone was startled.
The mechanical black snake struck everywhere, sweeping across the battlefield without resistance.
Various spells hit its body as lightly as the wind, and even treasure-level items were either shattered or bitten through by the black snake.
“This demonic weapon is so brutal!” Everyone was astounded.
Unwilling to back down, Luo Shang sent his ghost generals to attack the mechanical black snake.
Out of the four Golden Core level ghost generals he sent, only two remained when Luo Shang urgently recalled them.
Even though the overall combat power of ghost generals couldn’t match that of cultivators of the same level, the mechanical black snake’s power was simply too overwhelming.
(End of this chapter)