When the devil cultivator surnamed Qiu saw Zhang Huaide's pathetic state, he could not help but wonder about the man's true abilities.
The Ancestor Difu sent this person, but I can't tell his purpose here... From the look on the ancestor's face, this guy likely has some background. Perhaps he has some trick up his sleeve!
Gritting his teeth in frustration, the devil cultivator pushed his palms out. White qi surged forth as he tried to resist the thunder talisman Li Qinghong unleashed with a yell. The two attacks collided with a loud noise and Qiu tried forcing it away with all his might.
Li Qinghong's Purple Talisman Origin Light Secret Technique was the highest-grade spell available in the Li Family. Spells and techniques were strictly controlled by the three sects and seven gates, so the Li Family was unable to obtain other secret techniques of comparable quality.
BOOM!
The talisman in front of Qiu exploded. Purple lightning crackled aloud, and white smoke billowed in every direction.
"AHH!"
The devil cultivator cried out in pain, his palms now scorched black. But before he could even catch his breath, a brilliant sword light had emerged from the smoke and dust, heading directly for his neck. The devil cultivator had no choice but to use his hands to defend himself.
His spell was shattered by Li Qinghong's thunder talisman, and the Qingche Sword, a Foundation Establishment Realm dharma artifact, flashed with deadly precision, cleanly severing five of his fingers. Blood streamed from the stumps as his eyes burned with rage.
"Damn it, Zhang Huaide! Qiu Ji is getting out of here!" he screamed.
The light in Zhang Huaide's hand continued to intensify. Li Yuanjiao had readied the last remaining Foundation Establishment Realm talisman from his clan in his hand while gripping the Qingche Sword with his other, his gaze fixated on Zhang Huaide.
As Li Yuanjiao's gaze locked onto him, Zhang Huaide felt a sharp pain in the center of his forehead but remained calm and unafraid.
"Pitiful fool! I shall let you witness the true power of a devil cultivator's secret technique!" he declared coldly and arrogantly.
The devil cultivators around him were thrilled, eager for him to strike. Zhang Huaide lifted the red mirror up high. Five jade rings appeared around him as he recited loudly, "By the grace of the Heavens, preaching across ten jungles and the underworld, I call upon the law of the four seas and the great void... The Blood Imperial Void Escape Spell !"
The mirror in his hands flickered as his body transformed into a blood-colored stream of light. It was no larger than a fist, trailing a long red tail as it swiftly moved away.
The field fell silent.
The devil cultivators were too stunned to even utter curses. Among those who had been contemplating escape but were surrounded by the Li Family, the ones most aware of Zhang Huaide's shamelessness reacted the quickest.
Taking advantage of the crowd's distraction, the devil cultivator seized an opening. With his hammer, he shattered the mana shield of Tian Youdao—the weakest among the group—and struck him squarely in the chest.
Crack!
A sickening sound of splintering bone filled the air.
"UNCLE!"
Tian Zhongqing's anguished cry pierced through the chaos.
Qiu Ji's figure blurred as he retreated, enveloped in a blood-red light, moving in a direction different from where Zhang Huaide had vanished.
Of course, Li Yuanjiao and Li Qinghong were not going to let him escape. They rode the wind and gave chase, not anticipating that Qiu Ji would be heading straight toward Xu Gongming, who was armed with a dharma artifact.
While Xu Gongming was fighting another devil cultivator and saw Qiu Ji approaching, his eyes immediately lit up.
If I can delay him for even a moment, it might earn me some credit!
With that thought in mind, he swung his dharma artifact—the Ebony Saber— in an attempt to intercept Qiu Ji. Unfortunately, since the family had no legacy to help him wield a saber effectively, he could not even manifest proper saber qi.
Qiu Ji, annoyed by the interference, sneered at the audacity of the puny ant whom he could easily crush with a strike of his palm.
"How dare you, vermin!" he roared angrily.
Without hesitation, Qiu Ji unleashed a blast of white qi, which instantly enveloped Xu Gongming's Embryonic Breathing Realm dharma artifact, shattering it instantly. The white qi also breached his protective mana shield, striking his cheek with devastating force.
As flesh and blood splattered everywhere, Xu Gongming plummeted from midair with a cry, no longer able to maintain his footing. Madam Dou rushed to catch him, attempting to dispel the malevolent qi from his face.
Meanwhile, the Li siblings pressed on, pursuing Qiu Ji. At that moment, An Zheyan, who had received a beating from Zhang Huaide earlier, regained his strength and moved to intercept the hammer-wielding devil cultivator who was in the early stage of the Qi Cultivation Realm.
He had always been close to Tian Youdao. Upon seeing the state he was in, An Zheyan's rage boiled over as he yelled out in anguish, "SCOUNDREL!"
An Zheyan, at the eighth heavenly layer of the Qi Cultivation Realm, forced the devil cultivator back with a powerful palm strike, gaining an overwhelming advantage. The devil cultivator spat out blood at the impact, now too disoriented to even take flight.
BOOM!
The combined efforts of the group quickly overwhelmed the devil cultivator. They battered him into a bloody mess and incinerated him with a barrage of fire spells, reducing him to a charred heap.
Tian Zhongqing had already descended to his uncle's side. Tian Youdao's bloody chest was no longer moving, and was lying on the ground with a pallid face.
The hammer had struck him squarely in the chest, causing his eyes to bulge and the area around them to turn purple. He had also broken several bones when he plummeted from the sky and hit the ground with extreme force. The once venerable old man now lay limp and paralyzed in his nephew's arms, blood staining the ground all around him.
On the other side, one of the people fighting Kongheng shouted, "Hey, Zhang has fled!"
"Damn it, let's retreat too!"
These two brothers, who had been fighting Kongheng half-heartedly, quickly apologized to him before also escaping.
The last devil cultivator, Zhang Mutong, faced the worst fate. The blood wind he summoned was instantly shattered by Shamoli's lightning, and he was not as powerful as Qiu Ji and so failed to take flight several times. The members of the Li Family closed in on him and brandished their dharma artifacts fiercely.
All sorts of dharma artifacts and spells rained down on him instantly. His red-glazed beads deflected some attacks, but Shamoli's persistent strikes kept disrupting his blood wind, preventing his escape.
Zhang Mutong endured a few more breaths than the other devil Qi Cultivators. In his desperate struggle, he managed to injure a few more people before finally being dismembered. After being incinerated by fire and struck by lightning, he was completely dead.
As the situation settled, Li Yuanjiao and his sister returned as well. However, Li Yuanjiao looked pretty upset to have come back empty-handed.
Qiu Ji had been incredibly ruthless, using every secret spell at his disposal to escape. Despite their River Crossing Torrential Step , which was adept at evasion, it proved less effective against Qiu Ji's relentless escape tactics. Even with their skills, they struggled to find a way to secure his capture.
As they strayed further and further away from home, they eventually had to give up and turn back, fearing that the enemy would lead them into a trap.
"My lord..."
Among the injured, Li Xuanxuan and Tian Zhongqing fared worse, but Li Xuanxuan was doing slightly better since he had the support of his monkey. Tian Zhongqing, however, held Tian Youdao's corpse with tears streaming down his face.
Xu Gongming had lost consciousness. Half of his face was reduced to exposed bone, presenting a truly horrifying sight. Despite the severe disfigurement, he sustained no further serious injuries. His dharma artifact had absorbed much of the attack's force, which was already weakened in the first place due to Qiu Ji's injuries.
Among the guest cultivators, Li Qilang and An Zheyan were the least injured and were tending to the others on-site. Madam Dou cradled Li Xuanxuan, who appeared extremely aged, in her arms. At that moment, they looked like father and daughter instead.
While everyone was tending to their wounds, Xiao Guiluan approached her husband and announced softly, "Elder Tian has fallen."
Li Yuanjiao tightened his grip on the Foundation Establishment Realm talisman in his sleeve as he watched Granduncle Tian lying lifelessly on the ground. Standing with his sword in hand, he could not bear to look at Tian Zhongqing's pained expression and sent Li Qinghong to console him instead.
About an hour later, as the sky began to dim, Li Qilang handed two storage pouches to Li Yuanjiao, and then approached Tian Zhongqing to offer a few words of comfort before leaving him to grieve in silence.