The Pill Fire Thunder Pearl is a product of the Alchemist sealing unstable Fire Element Spiritual Power within Pills; once it bursts, its power is formidable, and ordinary Late-stage Qi Cultivation cultivators dare not confront it directly.
She dared not be careless, her feet lightly tapping as her figure floated back like willow catkins. The Flying Sword in her hand shimmered with a green light, drawing out sword flowers with precision, causing those few Pill Fire Thunder Pearls to explode one by one in mid-air.
"Boom! Boom!" Flames shot to the sky, and shockwaves rolled, completely engulfing Li Qiuyun’s figure for a moment.
"Qiuyun!"
Chen Ye, witnessing this, tightened his heart but remained unworried.
His Divine Sense had long locked onto the entire battlefield. Although Li Guangzong’s guard was skillful with the Spear Technique, temporarily suppressing Hee Qi, Hee Qi had abundant vitality and proficient Magical Battle skills, facing no immediate threat to his life.
And over at Li Qiuyun’s side, she seemed to be in a fluster due to the Pill Fire Thunder Pearls, yet she was handling it with ease, uninjured.
The real danger lay in Li Guangzong’s backup plan!
Indeed, just as Chen Ye was slightly distracted, a sinister smile appeared at the corner of Li Guangzong’s mouth, and a small jade bottle of deep green color silently slid out from his sleeve.
With a flick of his finger, a wisp of colorless and odorless poisonous smoke drifted toward Chen Ye’s direction.
This poisonous smoke was known as the Soul-locking Smoke.
It could track a cultivator’s aura, and once inhaled, the Divine Soul would wither to death!
"Still as insidious as before..."
Chen Ye coldly chuckled, operating the Evergreen Technique; a surge of immense vitality circulated within, completely neutralizing the trace poison he had inhaled.
Combined with his far superior Divine Sense, this Soul-locking Smoke could not harm him at all!
Just as Li Guangzong thought he had succeeded and was preparing to use the Eight Trigrams Mirror to deliver a lethal blow, an unexpected change occurred!
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
More than ten extremely condensed Geng Metal Qi Auras appeared as if from nowhere, attacking from various crafty and strange angles, bypassing the guard tangled with Hee Qi and directly striking at Li Guangzong’s crucial acupoints!
Li Guangzong was shocked and turned pale, hurriedly activating the Eight Trigrams Mirror to defend. The mirror’s brilliance blossomed just in time to block all those Geng Metal Qi Auras.
"Now is the time!" This was the moment Chen Ye had been waiting for!
He flickered his body, activating the Cloud Chasing Step to its utmost, and like a phantom, bypassed the battleground, heading straight to the back of the guard entwined with Hee Qi!
"Bad!" The guard was pressing Hee Qi with full force, but upon sensing a sharp murderous intent from behind, he was terrified, urgently trying to turn his spear for defense.
But it was too late!
Chen Ye formed a Sword Technique with his fingers,
and the almost iron-rod-like, nearly crippled Iron Sword suddenly unsheathed, leaping forth.
The first strike of the cyan sword light was like a fleeting glimpse, devoid of any smoke or fire aura, instantly arriving before the guard!
The guard, fully defending against Hee Qi’s fierce Blade Skill, suddenly felt a malevolent wind from the side. He could only hurriedly sweep back his spear. With a "clang," the heavy force contained in the sword shocked his arm numb, halting the spear’s momentum!
Before he could regain his senses, the cyan sword light elegantly turned in the air, its glow surging, its momentum doubled—already the second slash!
In panic, the guard desperately activated his Spiritual Power, forming a solid Spiritual Power Shield over the spear. Yet when the sword light struck, the shield shattered in response.
Hee Qi seized the opportunity, delivering a Red Flame Technique to the guard’s chest, shattering his Protective Magical Artifact!
"Ah!" The guard screamed, his chest instantly devastated by the Red Flame, blood splattering three feet, staggering him backward.
His defenses wide open, fear evident in his eyes.
In his view, the iron rod was intimidating.
Carrying the momentum accumulated from the first two slashes, it transformed into a cyan raging wave for the final strike!
The sword light descended, overwhelmingly destructive!
With a "puff!" sound, the cyan sword light mercilessly pierced through his chest, leaving a blood mist in its wake.
The guard incredulously lowered his head, staring at the hole in his chest, his vitality rapidly fading, and his massive body collapsed with a crash.
"What?!"
Seeing his strongest support slain by Chen Ye’s three-strike assault, Li Guangzong was utterly shattered, no longer daring to stay in battle.
Without a second thought, he fiercely bit his tongue tip, spraying a mouthful of vital blood onto the Eight Trigrams Mirror before him!
"Blood Escape Talisman, activate!"
After the Eight Trigrams Mirror absorbed the essence blood, it suddenly erupted with a brilliant blood-red light, enveloping the entire Alchemy Room. The blinding red light caused Chen Ye and the other two to instinctively squint their eyes.
"Not good, he’s trying to escape!" Li Qiuyun shouted, her flying sword flaring with brilliance as it aimed to pierce the center of the blood screen.
However, at this moment, a chilling roar that didn’t sound human echoed from within the blood screen!
Amidst the churning blood light, a sinister puppet that was entirely crimson and surrounded by Blood Evil Qi slowly rose from the ground!
This puppet was about a zhang tall, resembling a malevolent ghost, with hooked claws, and its sockets burned with two ghostly green flames.
"It’s a Blood Soul Puppet! He managed to forge such an evil creation!" Hee Qi’s face changed drastically, exclaiming in astonishment.
The Blood Soul Puppet was a secret technique of the Demon Path, requiring the live sacrifice of creatures, refining their essence blood and soul, exceedingly vicious, but its power far surpassed ordinary puppets, fearless of death and extremely difficult to deal with!
Taking advantage of the three’s shock, Li Guangzong’s figure had already, under the wrapping of the blood light, turned into a stream of light, swiftly fleeing towards another exit of the Alchemy Room!
"You can’t leave!" Hee Qi was the first to react, roaring as the red flames on his Mountain-Cutting Saber surged, about to pursue.
But the Blood Soul Puppet was already roaring, blocking his path, its claws slicing through the air aiming fiercely at his face!
Hee Qi had no choice but to counter with his saber, entangling with the puppet.
"Uncle Chen, you go after Li Guangzong! Leave this beast to me!" Li Qiuyun’s beautiful face was stern, her swordsmanship agile, the cyan sword light weaving around the Blood Soul Puppet’s joints, targeting its weak points with crisp clashing sounds.
Though the puppet was solid, under Li Qiuyun’s exquisite swordsmanship, its movements became noticeably sluggish.
Even though Uncle Chen was only at Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer, in the previous battle, Li Guangzong had already exhausted his trump cards and was not skilled in combat, so a struggle between them should be possible.
If only they could find Li Guangzong, she and Hee Qi could rush to aid in no time!
Hee Qi’s pressure eased considerably, seizing the opportunity, his whole body’s blood and energy were driven to the extreme, each slash of the Mountain-Cutting Saber carried immense force, clashing against the puppet’s claws with sparks flying, forcing it to retreat repeatedly!
Seeing this, Chen Ye felt a little more at ease. He quickly took out a Qi Recovery Pill from his Storage Bag and swallowed it, the pill turning into a warm current, replenishing his depleted dantian.
"His true body must be nearby controlling it! My Divine Sense has been locked on the vicinity, there’s no spiritual energy fluctuation outside..."
Chen Ye’s formidable Divine Sense spread out with full force, his gaze like lightning, swiftly scanning every corner of the Alchemy Room.
Sure enough, behind the Pill Furnace, in an inconspicuous shadow, he caught a faint but cold spiritual energy fluctuation!
"Over there!"
By this time, Hee Qi and Li Qiuyun had already suppressed the Blood Soul Puppet completely, Hee Qi facing it head-on, while Li Qiuyun’s flying sword maneuvered around, leaving sword marks on its body continually.
Though ferocious, the puppet ultimately had low intellect. Under the coordinated assault of two experts, it was cornered, showing signs of defeat.
Hidden in the dark, Li Guangzong was wholly focused on controlling the puppet, sweat beading on his forehead, never imagining Chen Ye could discover his hiding spot so swiftly!
Now is the time!
Chen Ye swiftly gathered a newly recovered surge of spiritual energy, infusing it all into the cracked Iron Sword!
His gaze sharpened, concentrating all his spirit and strength into this single strike!
"Cyan Wave Line!"
A low shout, the Iron Sword left his hand, transforming not into a torrential sword momentum, but into an extremely fine, extremely fast cyan line!
This line moved silently, yet carried a resolute killing intent to pierce through anything, in an instant, it had already arrived before the shadow!
Li Guangzong felt a deadly sense of crisis enveloping his entire being, terrified, he attempted once more to activate the Eight Trigrams Mirror for defense, but it was already too late!
"Pfft!"
The cyan line mercilessly pierced through his forehead, bringing out a thin trail of blood.
"Chen Ye... you... how could you..."
Before he finished,
the light in Li Guangzong’s eyes dimmed rapidly, and he fell straight back.
He still couldn’t believe it at this moment.
Chen Ye, why did he suddenly come to kill him?
It was indeed... utterly perplexing!
As his life ended, the Blood Soul Puppet that was still entangling with Hee Qi and Li Qiuyun, its ghostly green flames in its eyes extinguished abruptly, and its massive body collapsed with a thud, turning into a pool of foul-smelling blood.