Chapter 323: Opportunity

Inside the underground palace of the Taihu Ruins.

Bai Guang True Person, who was in the midst of a bloody massacre, suddenly furrowed his brows; his pale and eerie smile instantly froze, followed by an expression of utter disbelief.

In the depths of his perception, he felt that a soul contract had severed its connection with him.

"That useless Jin Chan," Bai Guang True Person said amidst surging killing intent, "has actually been annihilated by someone."

"No matter how useless it was, it was still a ghost creature transformed through the painstaking efforts of this Saint Ancestor."

"In this tiny Southern Wild Immortal Realm, I did not expect there to be anyone capable of destroying it."

"Could it be that other reinforcements have arrived?"

Bai Guang True Person's dim gaze sharpened as he assumed a contemplative posture.

Taking advantage of the moment his avatar was distracted, the various people inside the underground palace began employing every trick at their disposal to flee for their lives.

Outside Taihu.

Thanks to the coordination between Qin Ming and the three spiritual beasts, the external situation had completely cut off the reinforcements sent by the Modaoliu Sect.

Muhe Laogui of the Baihuo Sect had been executed, while the Jin Dan demonic cultivators from the other three sects fled without fighting under the tyrannical pressure of Shi Tian Shu.

The remainder were merely low-ranking demonic cultivators, insignificant minnows not worth fearing.

With even a Jin Dan Yunxi Laozu having fallen, nearby cultivators scattered like birds and beasts; who would dare linger in this place?

At this moment, Nalan Xi also flew over, stopping before Qin Ming.

"I never expected Fellow Daoist Qin to possess such astonishing divine abilities, actually managing to slay a late-stage Jin Dan ghost creature," she said with deep emotion in her heart.

"It truly leaves me in profound admiration."

"Fellow Daoist Nalan overpraises me; Qin Mou simply happened to have a treasure on hand that restrains ghosts."

"Only because of this was that demon's power greatly diminished; otherwise, the outcome would truly be uncertain."

Qin Ming spoke with slight modesty.

To tell the truth, in this battle against Yunxi Laozu Jin Chan, his Wooden Emperor Nail treasure could be said to have contributed the most.

The Wooden Emperor Nail had been continuously planted within his innate spiritual plant, Yang Xuanteng, using the 【Spirit Plant Seed Treasure】 trait, where it absorbed countless years of temporal qi and was nurtured to perfection.

Among top-grade treasures, its power was second to none.

Furthermore, as time passed, the treasure's might would only become increasingly formidable.

Besides that, the suppression effect of Solar Essence Flame against ghost creatures proved surprisingly effective, capable of weakening the opponent's cultivation during combat.

It was not in vain that he had acquired such a large quantity of Solar Golden Essence to refine his innate treasure.

Subsequently.

Nalan Xi looked toward the direction of Taihu and asked, "Fellow Daoist Qin, what should we do next?"

"The perimeter has already been cleared by us, and the demonic cultivators below pose no threat to Fellow Daoist Qingxuan and the others; moreover, with the two Envoys from the Li Li Huogong lending a hand, I suppose there shouldn't be any major issues."

Qin Ming pondered briefly before analyzing.

But just as his words fell.

Boom-rumble! The lake surface, which had barely calmed, suddenly erupted again with towering waves capable of collapsing mountains and triggering tsunamis.

Several streaks of light shot out from the lake surface, led by the two Envoys from the Li Li Huogong.

At this moment, Zhou Yu and He Kang appeared utterly wretched, their bodies bearing horrifying wounds.

Elder He Kang's arm had vanished without a trace.

Zhou Yu's abdomen also revealed several terrifying blood-filled holes, from which fresh blood was gushing out continuously.

"Damn it!"

"Has this Yan Laomo Bai Bone gone mad?"

"Why is he relentlessly pursuing just the two of us!"

He Kang was equally frustrated; he had intended to use Yunxi Laozu Qingxuan and the others as shields, yet unexpectedly, Bai Guang True Person ignored those few entirely and fixated solely on the two of them.

As they spoke.

Suddenly, a powerful aura manifested behind them.

Immediately after, a streak of Bai Guang cold flame slashed across the sky; seeing this, Zhou Yu hastily took out a rhombus-shaped black shield.

Bang! The black shield spun rapidly, transforming into a massive curtain of light that barely blocked this sword strike.

The black shield treasure was also blown away, actually sliced in half from the middle.

With his long-range treasure destroyed, Zhou Yu had no time to feel the pain of the loss before he saw Bai Guang True Person display an eerie smile, wielding the Nine Nether White Bone Sword and charging toward the two with surging killing intent.

In an instant, bone fire filled the sky, sweeping down upon the pair like an overwhelming tide.

The two heavily injured members of the Li Li Huogong were immediately filled with both shock and rage.

"Damn it! This is bullying us too severely!"

"Do you really take this old man for a soft persimmon to squeeze?" Elder He Kang roared angrily, and immediately a gilded talisman appeared in his hand.

Watching the talisman in his hand, Qin Ming's brow twitched; merely perceiving it from a distance, he detected the immense spiritual machine emanating from it and knew this object was no trivial matter.

"No! Senior Brother!"

Seeing the talisman He Kang prepared to use, Zhou Yu's complexion changed drastically, and he shouted loudly to dissuade him.

But it was already too late; a ruthless and fierce expression appeared on He Kang's face.

Ever since becoming an Elder of the Li Li Huogong, he had never been so humiliated, chased like a homeless dog.

The moment the talisman was activated, the aura on He Kang's body suddenly surged, increasing by a substantial margin.

This was not all; He Kang took a crimson spiritual pill from his storage bag—a pill emitting a pungent, fishy stench—yet he swallowed it without hesitation.

Naturally observing the pill He Kang consumed, Qin Ming couldn't help but say, "Spirit-Burning Pill."

"Fellow Daoist Qin, do you know the origin of this pill?" Nalan Xi asked from the side.

"The Spirit-Burning Pill, as its name suggests, trades vitality for a brief surge in cultivation and power," Qin Ming had just finished saying.

The next moment.

He Kang's aura of magic power surged from the peak of the Jin Dan realm to a level identical to that of Bai Gu True Person.

Yet his face visibly aged with terrifying speed, and his hair turned completely white in an instant.

"Bai Gu Yan Laomo, this is what you forced me to do!"

Madness flashed in He Kang's eyes; immediately, his remaining hand formed a seal, and a square, golden treasure seal appeared in his grasp.

The instant this object manifested.

A terrifying fluctuation of spiritual power, enough to make one's heart tremble, rippled through the air.

"Could this be..."

A trace of horror emerged in Nalan Xi's gaze.

"A fourth-grade talisman treasure!"

He Kang, the High Envoy, poured all his remaining magic power continuously into the golden treasure seal.

Roar! The golden seal flashed with Jin Guang, and a phantom of a Bai Hu, dozens of zhang in size, appeared; treading upon golden flying flames, it pounced toward Bai Gu True Person.

On Bai Gu True Person's face, pale as paper, shock finally appeared; he had not expected that these two from the Li Li Huogong would actually possess such a high-grade talisman treasure.

Locked onto tightly by the Sun Sun Jinyan White Tiger with no escape possible, he immediately raised the Nine Nether Bai Gu Sword in his hand and struck out his strongest blow.

"Bai Gu Sword Formation!"

In that instant.

The nearby sky became shrouded in white bone-flame sword qi, interweaving into a sword formation that slashed toward the Sun Sun Jinyan White Tiger.

Seeing this scene, Qin Ming hastily withdrew and flew backward.

"Fellow Daoist Nalan, retreat quickly!"

If caught in the backlash of a battle at this level, even with his strength, he estimated that even if he didn't die, he would surely lose a layer of skin.

Boom—boom—boom! Two spells capable of destroying heaven and earth collided violently.

Like a small sun rising slowly from Taihu before exploding, the shockwave churned up countless waves that spread outward in all directions.

Even in the center of Taihu, a temporary vacuum zone was blasted open, so deep that the lakebed became visible.

Roar, roar, roar! As the blinding ball of light dissipated, the Sun Sun Jinyan White Tiger was seen to have lost no momentum, actually passing straight through Bai Gu True Person's body.

"Ugh!"

Several of Bai Gu True Person's ribs at his chest snapped instantly, and the aura emanating from his body immediately withered.

In his scarlet eyes, a look of lingering fear also emerged.

Clearly, under the attack of the fourth-grade talisman treasure, he had suffered no minor injury.

Qin Ming's original plan had been to flee directly, for from the moment he first saw Bai Gu True Person, he knew he was absolutely no match for him.

Even He Kang, the High Envoy at the peak of the Jin Dan realm from Li Li Huogong, had been hunted to the point of desperation, forced to unleash a life-risking divine ability.

As for himself, merely at the mid-stage of the Jin Dan realm, even with some trump cards and techniques, how could he possibly be a match?

Furthermore, as a ghost cultivator, Bai Gu True Person surely possessed considerable lifespan remaining, rendering the Gou Yu Jin Guang Mirror far less effective against him.

It was quite possible that before managing to kill the opponent, he would be the one to die first.

Therefore, decisively fleeing was undoubtedly the best strategy.

But now things were different; He Kang, the High Envoy, had not hesitated to damage his own vitality and lifespan to forcibly activate a fourth-grade talisman treasure, severely injuring Bai Gu True Person.

This gave him a glimmer of opportunity.

(End of Chapter)