Chapter 124

On the Gobi Beach.

A blue-purple intertwined evasion light flashed, faintly carrying the sound of wind and thunder.

But behind it, another dark evasion light was even faster; in just a few breaths, it had already closed in.

Yunhe stood grim-faced at the prow, casting two seals onto the wind-and-fire boat; instantly wind and thunder surged, and speed spiked again.

However, forcibly stimulating the wind and thunder of the flying vessel this time would greatly consume it; after this use, it would be utterly ruined.

Venerable Yunming, closely following behind, saw this and curled his lip in disdain; pinching his fingers, his speed likewise surged as two strands of yin-cold corpse qi turned into black long snakes, which shot out and lunged at the flying vessel.

Xuanwu Bracelet!

The sound of water arose; two 'peng' blasts repelled the long snakes. Having locked onto the direction, he plunged straight onto the sandy stone beach.

"Huh?"

Seeing this, Venerable Yunming narrowed his eyes; a strand of divine sense stronger than Yunhe's unfurled and swept across the area.

"Pat!"

Yunhe landed, not daring to hesitate even a moment; he raised the Xuanwu Bracelet before him, slapped his spirit-insect bag, and summoned a vast swarm of red-ring gold-spotted bees, facing the pursuing Venerable Yunming, he readied himself.

But Venerable Yunming seemed wary, hovering at a distance in midair while looking down at him from above.

"Junior, don't blame me for not giving you a chance!"

As the words fell, his arms spread, and a large number of black snakes formed from corpse qi flew out of his sleeves.

Accompanied by rising and falling hisses, the snakes poured down like a waterfall.

"Senior, why press me so? I harbor no intention of opposing you."

Yunhe also spoke coldly, his hands never ceasing as he formed seals, his divine sense spreading, and the bee swarm buzzed loudly.

To meet the falling swarm of snakes.

Under Yunhe's control, the red-ring gold-spotted bees instantly condensed into several streams, forming gold-and-red intertwined arrows that shot straight out.

For a moment.

Bee shadows and snake cries intertwined without cease.

A large number of corpse-qi black snakes were scattered by the red-ring gold-spotted bees, but the dispersed corpse qi immediately re-condensed into slightly smaller black snakes that counterattacked.

Many red-ring gold-spotted bees lost their lives under the black snakes' impacts and bites, falling like raindrops.

"Those not used by me are enemies!"

Venerable Yunming gave a cold snort.

As he opened and closed his mouth, a murky gray qi puffed out and fell downward.

The snakes seemed drawn by this qi, surging forth like a tide.

Amid a shuddering churn and writhing, it formed into a giant gray snake, its emerald eyes glowing with a heaven-devouring aura.

With a hair-raising surge and writhing, it turned into a huge gray snake, its emerald eyes glowing with a deep light, as if it possessed the aura of swallowing the heavens.

The snake's mouth opened and closed, sweeping toward the bee swarm with a sun-obscuring force to devour them.

Yunhe's face darkened as he felt immense pressure.

He still couldn't tell what cultivation base his opponent possessed.

The only thing certain was that it was not Foundation Establishment; whether it was Golden Core or above, he could not know.

Facing the lunging giant snake, he dared not hesitate in the slightest.

He slightly opened his mouth.

And exhaled a mouthful of pure spiritual qi.

He formed seals with both hands.

Myriad Insects Art!

"Buzz—"

Countless red-ring gold-spotted bees, as if stimulated, suddenly coalesced into a gold-red giant sword, which fiercely stabbed at the oncoming giant python.

The giant sword pierced the python's head.

Yet the python also bit and shattered the sword's body.

"Not bad; I'm starting to take interest in your spirit insects and insect control art."

These were Venerable Yunming's heartfelt words.

Because this swarm of red-ring gold-spotted bees and Yunhe's insect control art had already surprised him more than once.

"Then don't blame me."

Yunhe's cheeks were overcast with gloom.

"A mere junior."

Venerable Yunming gave a contemptuous chuckle.

Although his lips curled in disdain, his actions were by no means slow.

He thrust his arms upward from below.

The next instant.

A large amount of yin-cold corpse qi surged from the sandy stone ground, the whole sandlot heaving upward.

But what surprised Venerable Yunming was that, aside from the corpse qi, nothing else appeared in the sandy stone ground.

He stared blankly for a moment.

He had thought Yunhe's choice to land here and fight him must have concealed some backup plan, such as a formation or trap; thus, cautious as he was, he had not chosen to land, always keeping a distance from Yunhe.

He was slightly stunned.

I had thought that Yunhe, by choosing to fight me here, had left some trump card, such as a formation or a trap, so the cautious him did not choose to land, always keeping a distance from Yunhe.

But I never expected.

"Overestimated him."

He had only ever faced those old monsters with hidden tricks; upon first meeting Yunhe, Yunhe gave him the same feeling as facing those old monsters, so he subconsciously chose the safest approach.

Now it seems.

Indeed, I overestimated him, thinking he was just a Foundation Establishment junior.

"The longer he lived, the more he regressed."

He couldn't help but mock himself.

However, it was also while he was gathering a large amount of corpse qi for defense that Yunhe seized the gap to turn and flee.

How vicious his words are.

The faster he runs.

Yunmeng Venerable was so amused by this scene that he laughed.

He immediately turned into an escape light and pursued again.

The distance quickly closed.

"Supreme Beast Soul Banner?"

Upon seeing Yunhe now holding a banner that had reached the Supreme Spiritual Artifact level, Yunmeng Venerable's face showed a hint of solemnity.

If it were his former self, not to mention a mere banner that had reached the Supreme Spiritual Artifact level, even a Magic Treasure Beast Soul Banner would hold no fear for him.

"Xuanming Yin Flame!"

He pinched a seal, and from his mouth spat out a ball of bluish-green color; the dim light swept over the corpse qi that had coalesced into a giant python, and immediately from its mouth he expelled a large mouthful of eerie green flames.

Whoosh—

Yunhe, having fled a distance, suddenly stopped, waving his great banner as hundreds of beast souls surged forth from the flag.

Especially the leading three-headed strange bird, double-headed tiger demon, and the wood flood beast soul, surging with yin qi, went up against the "Xuanming Yin Flame".

Rip—

Like pouring water into hot oil, upon contact with the yin qi, the "Xuanming Yin Flame" showed no sign of being neutralized; instead, it surged even fiercer, fed by the yin qi flames.

Seeing this, Yunhe's face changed, while Yunmeng Venerable coldly laughed without cease.

His "Xuanming Yin Flame" is specifically designed to target corpse and yin qi; using beast souls as a technique only makes the "Xuanming Yin Flame" stronger.

But the next moment—

Yet Yunhe's face showed a strange smile.

He clapped both hands.

Clap!

Forming the seal.

Infusing it into the ground.

Seeing this, Yunmeng Venerable was startled and leapt up.

He retreated at great speed, once again opening distance from Yunhe.

At the same time he raised his arms again, and the underground corpse qi rose once more.

Although he had earlier secretly mocked himself for overestimating Yunhe, faced with this scene he still instinctively chose the safest distance.

What left him speechless was that—

After Yunhe unleashed the seal, there was still no change in his surroundings, and he himself without hesitation turned and fled again.

Yunmeng Venerable: '.'

He took a deep breath, suppressing his anger.

He pursued again.

In terms of escape speed, Yunhe couldn't even match Yunmeng Venerable, let alone beat him.

So he repeated his old trick, and when it seemed he couldn't win, he once again formed a seal and struck the ground.

This time, Yunmeng Venerable still avoided it.

But it was still just a feint.

Never three times!

But his reaction speed was much faster than the previous two times; a single burst of "Xuanming Yin Flame" not only burned to death a large swath of red-ring gold-spotted bees, but also inflicted serious injury on Yunhe.

Suddenly—

Yunmeng Venerable came to his senses.

"This brat is stalling for time! Is he waiting for his sect's elders to come rescue him?"

As for this place, Yunhe is obviously far more familiar with it than he is.

No.

It should be said that Yunmeng Venerable is basically making his first visit here; he knows nothing of this territory, so he also doesn't know how far Yunhe's sect is.

But this gave him a sense of urgency.

Immediately, Yunmeng Venerable held back no longer; his escape light surged, and in the blink of an eye he closed in on Yunhe.

"Die!!"

Xuan Sha Qi spewed out, his own breath slightly weakened, but the giant python's "Xuanming Yin Flame" surged even stronger, rolling over heaven and earth toward Yunhe.

Faced with that raging blaze, Yunhe's face also turned pale.

Under Yunmeng Venerable's gaze, he hastily pinched seals and struck the ground.

"Still dare to come?"

Not seeing his move would have been fine, but seeing it, Yunmeng Venerable flew into a rage, his anger bursting forth.

Instantly that fierce flame surged even further.

Things never happen more than three times—this is already the fourth time!

Are you really treating him like a monkey for fun?

But this time.

"Rise!"

Then Yunhe let out a low shout.

Hum—

The surrounding sand gave a slight tremor.

Immediately thereafter, under Venerable Cloud Abyss's incredulous gaze, a formation rose out of thin air!

The Minor Sumeru Thunder Formation!

At the same time.

Yunhe, holding the formation instrument, suppressed the surging blood qi within his body, continuously pouring incantations into the instrument.

"Profound Thunder, fall!"

Boom!!

A bolt of lightning suddenly appeared, a grinding-disc-sized thunderbolt blasted out of nowhere, striking the corpse-qi giant serpent and the 'Profound Abyss Yin Flame'.

Like a precise scalpel, it tore open a huge gap.

Although the 'Profound Abyss Yin Flame' restrains yin qi and corpse qi, being ultimately a yin flame, it struggles to exert much resistance against the highly restraining Profound Thunder.

Large amounts of corpse qi and yin flame were ground to powder under the thunder.

At this moment, Venerable Cloud Abyss was so angry he nearly spat blood.

He had already been quite cautious and careful, but he never expected that junior to be even more cunning; after three consecutive misjudgments, he came to believe Yunhe had no trap at all, merely stalling for time.

If Yunhe had arrived here even once earlier, or if Venerable Cloud Abyss had been just a bit more careful, he would not have fallen into the formation.

However, what left Venerable Cloud Abyss most helpless was that, having come to this place, only his soul remained; after enduring hundreds of years of self-consolidation, even if he now possessed the silver-armored corpse, his cultivation base was far inferior to before.

Furthermore, he couldn't produce a single magical treasure; he could only rely on spells and secret techniques, otherwise even if there were formation traps, he would not fear them!

Boom!!

Another bolt of thunder fell; Venerable Cloud Abyss could only raise corpse qi to block it, while simultaneously observing the formation.

Based on his experience and knowledge, he quickly judged this to be a second-stage superior killing formation.

But it was not impossible to break.

A killing formation has weak defenses; as long as a breach is found.

Taking a deep breath, Venerable Cloud Abyss again suppressed his anger, his hands fluttering as his inner mana surged.

"Profound Abyss Yin Eye!"

Green light flared in his eyes, scanning the formation.

Thunderbolts kept falling, corpse qi was consumed at extreme speed; Venerable Cloud Abyss chose to withstand it with his silver-armored corpse body.

"Found it!"

Venerable Cloud Abyss, no surprise for a centuries-old monster, quickly found the weak point of the 'Minor Sumeru Thunder Formation'.

"Break!"

He gathered the last of his corpse qi, bore the falling Profound Thunder, and struck out heavily.

Boom!!!

The ground shuddered violently; the 'Minor Sumeru Thunder Formation' shattered in response.

This let Venerable Cloud Abyss exhale a long breath.

Fortunately it was only a second-stage superior formation; if it were a third-stage formation, he would probably be in real trouble.

Seeing the formation shatter, the anger pent up in Venerable Cloud Abyss's heart could no longer be restrained.

But before he could gather corpse qi again, he saw a block of ancient copper brick bursting with splendid gold light hurtling toward him.

The aura emanating from it made his pupils contract sharply, and goosebumps rose all over his body.

"Die!"

Yunhe's low voice, as if coming from the Nine Underworlds, precisely seized the moment when Venerable Cloud Abyss's old strength had waned and new strength had not yet arisen.

"An ancient treasure?!"

Venerable Cloud Abyss cried out in shock.

Although at this moment he could only muster a little corpse qi, he still gathered all his strength and surged forward.

Bang!!!

The ancient copper brick struck down with a bang, and Venerable Cloud Abyss's body was instantly smashed to pieces under the heavy blow.

The previously condensed green light also dissipated in all directions under this blow.

His divine sense swept over.

Where could one still sense Venerable Cloud Abyss's aura?

This old monster, who knows how many years he lived and how many years he lay dormant, finally died?

Yunhe stood where he was, face pale and blood at the corner of his mouth, not daring to step forward; instead he again took out the Li Fire Pearl, and with a light flick, flames covered the area.

(End of chapter)