Chapter 1381: Mirage Beast

It was actually the white-browed youth of the demon race.

At this moment, black mist flickered all over his body as he desperately resisted the entangling red threads, but these red threads were of unknown origin; no matter how wildly the black mist flashed, he could not shake them off in the slightest.

Seeing this, the old Daoist revealed a ferocious expression on his face as Xu Xu walked toward the white-browed youth.

At this moment, several piercing cries rang out from within the city, and suddenly several escape lights of different colors shot up into the sky, flying straight toward this place.

Seeing this, the white-browed youth, still unaware that other members of the shadow race had arrived, flashed a look of terror on his face, let out a mighty roar, and as black mist rapidly circulated over his body, his stature suddenly swelled, while a pair of black iron wings appeared on his back, and with a flick of his hands, they transformed into a pair of black iron claws.

Seeing the situation was dire, he instantly transformed into a half-demon form, appearing ready to fight to the death.

For the demon race, their true reliance is naturally their own powerful bodies; since the Profound Eagle clan can be ranked among the seven great demon races, they are certainly not ordinary, and with a shake of their sharp claws, they suddenly released black mist about a foot long from the claw tips, and with a sweep to the left and right, wherever the deep black mist passed, the red threads surrounding his body were all severed inch by inch.

These black mist were incredibly sharp.

Seeing this, the white-browed youth naturally felt overjoyed.

He had enough confidence that as long as he severed all the red threads around his body, he could use the Profound Eagle clan's unique escape technique to flee.

But before he could continue swinging his claws, the scene below caused his expression to change drastically in an instant, with not a trace of blood color remaining.

The severed red threads flashed, then reconnected one by one, returning to their original state.

The old Daoist revealed a mocking smile on his face, his form blurred, and he strangely appeared before the white-browed youth; then he reached behind his head with one hand, and a crimson shadow slowly emerged from within.

"Crimson Shadow, you are indeed a member of the shadow race!" Upon seeing the Crimson Shadow, the white-browed youth was utterly despairing.

In the shadow race, Crimson Shadow is equivalent to a Void Refining cultivator among human cultivators—how could he, a mere Wei Yiming at the Soul Transformation level, possibly resist?

"Good that you know. Your flesh is not bad; I will take it for myself. Rest assured, none of your companions will escape—they will all soon come underground to keep you company." The old Daoist's eyes flashed with red light as he transmitted a sharp, strange, unfamiliar sound; immediately, the Crimson Shadow on his head flickered, and he fiercely lunged toward the youth.

At the same time, the red threads originally entangling the white-browed youth suddenly pierced through his black mist defense and tightly wrapped around his body.

Even though the youth possessed immense strength, he could not move at all now; he could only watch helplessly as the Crimson Shadow flew toward him.

"You dare not!"

The white-browed youth's heart had sunk to the depths; knowing he could not escape, a mad intention suddenly surged forth. He gritted his teeth, bit off half his tongue, opened his mouth, and spat out a stream of black blood mixed with a black pearl the size of a thumb.

As this pearl left his body, the youth's eyes instantly dimmed, his entire skin withered and shrank, and in an instant he transformed into an old man with a full head of white hair.

This pearl was precisely the demon pill the white-browed youth had painstakingly cultivated for years.

The pearl emitted an extremely violent aura within the black blood; after its size fluctuated slightly, it suddenly exploded.

The old Daoist's expression changed in shock—not only did the Crimson Shadow on his head retract like seeing a snake or scorpion, but with a movement of his feet, his form flickered and he shot backward in retreat.

A thunderous explosion rang out; a black light halo the size of a fist appeared out of thin air, flickered once, and then expanded to over ten zhang in width, desperately spreading outward, followed by a raging wind; the yellow earth-formed sand mist shot into the sky, actually forming several yellow wind dragons.

A flicker of illusion, and the old Daoist stopped more than ten zhang away, his eyes slightly narrowing.

The black light halo, like a maggot on the bone, tightly pursued him.

The old Daoist's expression darkened, and he suddenly let out a strange, incomprehensible ancient cry from his mouth.

With a "whoosh" of piercing air, a thick red shadow shot out from the nearby void without any warning, plunged into the black light halo, and then shrank back like lightning.

A strange sight appeared!

The yellow wind dragons instantly dissipated and vanished; the black light halo, along with the white-browed youth, disappeared from the spot without a trace, as if they had never been there.

The old Daoist then exhaled in relief, but immediately a trace of annoyance appeared on his face.

Under his restriction, the white-browed youth still had the ability to self-detonate his demon pill—this was truly beyond his expectation.

At this moment, several escape lights circled once and appeared in the nearby sky, revealing eight cultivators, male and female.

"There were some unexpected developments; they did not fall into the trap. It seems there will be some trouble, but I have secretly released shadow incense, and they have all been lightly contaminated, enough to last for an hour. I will personally take the Mirage Beast to hunt down the one who ruined my plans; you all set out and eliminate the other three." The old Daoist gave his gloomy command.

"Yes, Venerable!" The eight cultivators in the air bowed in response, then transformed into three waves of escape light, shooting straight toward three directions and breaking through the void.

The old Daoist did not rush to fly away immediately; instead, he opened his mouth and emitted a continuous, strange howl that shook the nearby air into a humming, rushing straight toward the ninth heaven.

Immediately, he beckoned with one hand toward the city gate.

At once, more than ten gray shadows flew out from the bodies of the Foundation Establishment cultivators at the city gate, all flashing once and vanishing into his body; meanwhile, those cultivators themselves immediately collapsed to the ground, unable to rise.

Then an unbelievable scene appeared.

The mischievous children playing by the lake and the ordinary people, in the howling sound, seemed like bubbles and vanished one by one; then the entire small town flickered like a reflection in water, as countless black vapors rose from everywhere—whether ground or city walls, in the blink of an eye they were all shrouded in black vapor.

A piercing frog croak sounded muffled from within the black vapor.

The old Daoist's strange howl ceased; his long robe expressionless, he flicked toward the direction of the black vapor.

A great wind arose, and in an instant it swept the black vapor clean away.

Before their eyes appeared a monster over ten zhang long, with two heads, golden and silver snake heads, emerald frog body, and four blood-red eyes that rolled around, giving a feeling of hair-raising terror.

With a "pfft" sound, the golden snake head opened its mouth and spat out a skeletal remnant from within.

The demon pill and the very body of the white-browed youth's self-detonation were actually swallowed whole by this beast.

The small town and its ordinary people, as well as most of the cultivators, were in fact illusions created by this monster before their eyes.

The old Daoist's form flickered, and he vanished from the spot in an instant; but the next moment, he appeared on one of the snake heads.

"Go," the old Daoist coldly commanded.

The two snake heads of the giant beast simultaneously emitted frog croaks, their legs leapt into the air, and they transformed into a stream of black vapor, flashing once and vanishing as they broke through the void.

The direction of his pursuit was none other than the place where Han Li had escaped to.

……

A crimson rainbow shot through the air; within the red light, a beautiful young woman with a face as still as water piloted her escape light.

Suddenly, the young woman's expression changed; she flicked her sleeve, and a blue jade tablet appeared in her hand, inlaid with a milky white pearl, but now it was completely shattered, a sign of total destruction.

The young woman took a deep breath, tapped the pearl with a jade finger, and with a "bang," the pearl turned into a cloud of white powder and vanished.

Immediately she put away the jade tablet; under the full-body red light emission, her escape speed actually increased by another third.

But half an hour later, her expression changed, and she suddenly turned her head backward.

Only then did she see, at the far end of the horizon behind her, a flash of spiritual light revealing two escape lights flying side by side, shoulder to shoulder.

The two merged into one; their escape speed was obviously far greater than the young woman's by more than just a little bit.

The young woman's expression flickered uncertainly; seeing the pursuers closing in behind her, a cold light flashed in her eyes, and she abruptly halted her escape, suspending herself in midair.

As a result, the two escaping lights chasing from behind naturally flashed a few times and suddenly appeared dozens of zhang away from the young woman; their spiritual light flickered, revealing a man and a woman.

The two were not old in age—the man handsome and lofty, the woman lovely as a flower, and their faces extremely similar—but both wore wooden expressions.

Since she knew they were puppets possessed by the Shadow Tribe, the young woman paid no heed to their appearances, merely giving them an icy glance before hesitating not at all; she pinched a spell with both hands, and suddenly two clumps of black fire shot from her sleeves, briefly transforming into two firebirds that swooped straight at the two opposite.

Seeing this, the man and woman opposite snorted coldly through their noses, shrugged their shoulders, and simultaneously shot several streaks of gray light from behind, unreservedly rushing toward the black flames.

With a tremendous boom, the gray light and black flames instantly intertwined.

The young woman raised her dark eyebrows, her body suddenly rolling to the ground; black light burst forth from her person, blinding and dazzling, making it impossible to look directly at her.

Following a phoenix's cry, a huge spirit bird burst from the black light, circled briefly, then spread its wings and swooped straight at the two opposite.

This bird was entirely dark and glossy, with a brown spiritual crown on its head, its eyes emerald-green and crystalline—it was clearly a black phoenix three or four zhang in length.

Seeing this, the man and woman opposite were startled, but after exchanging a glance, they both rubbed their heads, and instantly two dim green shadows shot out from within, rushing straight at the black phoenix.

For a time, spiritual energy erupted wildly here, with booming sounds rising one after another without cease.

Almost simultaneously, in another direction, Long Dong was likewise caught up by the two cultivators behind him.

Faced with the two green shadows that had shed their fleshly bodies and directly revealed their true forms, he revealed a hint of mockery; yellow light flashed on his body, and the yellow bronze armor he had once used appeared, followed by a bright copper wing about a zhang long on his back; then he rubbed his hands together, and a strange long sword, blood-red as if made of congealed blood, suddenly appeared in his grasp.

The sword was three chi long, with a dragon's head and phoenix's body, its entire form flowing with blood-light, as if congealed from fresh blood.

At this moment, the blood mole on Long Dong's lips gleamed vividly; his expression solemn, he lightly waved the long sword toward the two green shadows lunging at him.

Soundless and silent!

Yet the opposing green shadows simultaneously let out a mournful cry, countless white threads appearing on their bodies' surfaces; their spiritual light flickered, and the two green shadows instantly turned into countless fragments.

The blood-mole youth's long sword in hand moved again.

The white threads flickered once more, and these fragments, amidst the interweaving light threads, were completely scattered and vanished.

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