Chapter 46: The Mantis Stalks the Cicada, the Oriole Follows Behind

"Ah~~"

Liang Feng let out a miserable shriek; his two Thunder Techniques were abandoned halfway, and three Wind Blades, like cyan ribbons, struck his protective Magic Treasure with three consecutive booms.

The protective spiritual light of his defensive Magic Treasure blocked two strikes, but it failed to block the third; the array's light and shadow shattered, and the cyan light grazed his left arm, severing it from his body before it was ground into a blood mist by the spiritual light.

Xu Chen stood in the air, pale and swaying, and secretly thought it a pity.

He had not dared to use his full strength in that previous strike, because the attack on Yulong Zhenren not long ago had already left him nearly unconscious, his soul already far beyond its limit; although he had used Soul Beads to recover during his flight, the Soul Power of the Soul Beads was too weak, no different from trying to put out a cartload of burning firewood with a single cup of water, barely allowing him to control his Yuan Qi for flight, while as for combat, he was basically just watching the show and tagging along.

Liang Feng tumbled out more than ten zhang, but he did not lose consciousness; after steadying his figure, his face was pale and filled with terror.

He finally understood how his master, Yulong Zhenren, had fallen unconscious.

Among these three, someone possessed a powerful soul-based Magic Spell.

Moreover, this type of spell was not a common soul attack, but one that could easily penetrate his protective Magic Treasure and his soul defenses, leaving him completely unable to resist.

He was now in the mid-stage of the Zhenyuan Realm, and his soul strength after Foundation Establishment was completely incomparable to that of the Kaiyuan Realm, yet the opponent could easily injure his soul, which was simply mind-boggling.

However, the fact that even his master in the Danyuan Realm could not resist this Divine Sense attack made it even more unbelievable.

The only reason was that the opponent possessed a very powerful soul-type attack Magic Treasure.

He felt he had been somewhat careless; he should have thought of this possibility.

And the loss of an arm also greatly reduced his strength.

However, he could also see that Xu Chen and the others were actually at the end of their rope; that female cultivator had already been knocked into the mountain cliff, dead or alive unknown, and the strongest one, Jiu Shixiong, was likewise tottering, even his Flying Sword hanging in the air was almost impossible to control, its spiritual light dim and constantly shaking and trembling.

As for Xu Chen, although he was the weakest, he also appeared to be at the point of having his Yuan Qi exhausted and unable to sustain himself.

But he did not dare to underestimate him in the slightest, and was even filled with immense fear and wariness.

After all, even his master in the Danyuan Realm had been struck into a coma and severely injured; if the two of them fought to the death in the end, he feared he would be buried here today.

Thinking of this, Liang Feng's initial irritability and anger completely cooled down.

Although he wanted revenge, the price paid today was already too great; if the battle continued, it might end in mutual destruction, or he might even lose his own life here.

Thinking of this, Liang Feng stuffed a Spirit Pill into his mouth, and with a ferocious expression, recalled his Flying Sword and turned to flee.

However, just as he stepped onto his Flying Sword, a beam of spiritual light suddenly broke through the air from a nearby mountaintop, piercing through his dantian with a 'puchi' sound, directly shattering his Qi Sea, bringing out a spray of blood from his back as it flew back, and then a figure soared into the sky from the mountaintop; a young man in fine robes walked through the air step by step, holding a foot-long, blood-dripping Short Spear in his hand.

"You..."

Looking at this slightly familiar cultivator who still wore a face full of mockery, Liang Feng's body went limp and he plummeted from the sky.

Before he died, he recognized him; this was a fourth-generation disciple of Longmen Mountain named Guo Ming, who had once gone to Yuqing Hall to participate in a spell exchange, and had even once wanted to ask for Lan You to be his Daolu, but because his cultivation level was low, he was rejected by Lan You and his master.

The sudden turn of events left Xu Chen and Jiu Shixiong dumbfounded.

Of course, both of them also recognized Guo Ming.

But their minds were filled with confusion as to why Guo Ming would suddenly kill Liang Feng.

Although the two sides had just been in a life-and-death struggle, that was merely a conflict between two sects; the fact that someone from Longmen Mountain suddenly attacked left the two of them completely unable to understand.

Guo Ming did not speak, but before Liang Feng hit the ground, he waved his Short Spear, hacking him into two pieces, then raised his hand to grab his Flying Sword and Storage Bag, only then saying with a face full of mockery:

"I was humiliated by you and your master back at Yuqing Hall, and I've long wanted to kill you; I didn't expect you to be such a damn waste—a dignified Zhenyuan Realm cultivator, unable to even beat three Kaiyuan Realm ones."

Jiu Shixiong came to his senses, retreated a few steps with a vigilant face to shield Xu Chen behind him, and without any gratitude on his pale face, said coldly: "Guo Ming, what do you want to do?"

Guo Ming paused for a moment and laughed loudly: "Guo just wants to form a good connection; I heard that Senior Danchenzi is about to undergo Spirit Transformation, and in the future, the Taiyuan Sect and Longmen Mountain can help each other, so Yuqing Hall won't be able to cover the sky with one hand."

Jiu Shixiong became even more vigilant, revealing a trace of mockery: "You don't even believe these words yourself; we have already formed a blood feud with Yuqing Hall, and the Great Elder naturally has no hope of obtaining the Spirit Transformation Pill, so how could your Longmen Mountain bring trouble upon itself?"

The smile on Guo Ming's face slowly solidified, and finally, he nodded seriously: "It seems you are not stupid, but understanding is useless; today I killed Liang Feng, and if I kill the three of you as well, the feud between Yuqing Hall and the Taiyuan Sect will be deep enough that you can only fight to the death. With the snipe and the clam fighting, the fisherman gains; my Longmen Mountain can naturally sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, and watch a good show."

Jiu Shixiong likewise said with full mockery: "It seems this is your true intention, but do you have ten-tenths certainty that you can kill us?"

The corners of Guo Ming's mouth lifted, and he said: "What, do you still have room to resist?"

"Then stop the bullshit and let's fight!"

Jiu Shixiong had already swallowed a Great Origin Pill and had been secretly circulating his energy to recover; knowing there was no hope of escape, he simply struck first, his Flying Sword whistling through the air as it slashed toward Guo Ming.

Although Xu Chen's head was splitting with pain, he knew that only by killing Guo Ming would there be a real chance to escape; otherwise, even if they escaped now, the two of them would definitely not get far, so he barely controlled his Flying Sword and attacked as well.

Both were in the Kaiyuan Realm, and the two were already at the end of their rope; their Yuan Qi and Magic Treasures were completely exhausted, and even having a pile of pills was useless.

But Guo Ming had come prepared and was currently in his prime.

Watching the two swaying Flying Swords flying toward him, Guo Ming smiled contemptuously, raised his hand to release the Short Spear in his hand, which grew to the size of a zhang in the wind, carrying an incomparably sharp momentum as it struck first despite being launched later; with two loud booms, it knocked the two Flying Swords away, and at the same time, he pinched a seal with both hands and guided it with his Divine Sense, the spear turning into a flying rainbow and piercing toward Xu Chen.

Through various channels of information and his observation just now, he knew that among the three from the Taiyuan Sect, the greatest threat was not the highest-cultivated Jiu Shixiong, but this most inconspicuous junior brother, Xu Chen.

Although he did not know what treasures Xu Chen was hiding, he had been able to beat Yulong Zhenren of the Danyuan Realm until he was nearly dead, and he must have been the one who interfered with Liang Feng's defense just now, which allowed Jiu Shixiong's Second-tier Spirit Talisman to severely injure him.

However, he could also see that Xu Chen had no way to release a stronger soul-based Magic Spell to attack.

Otherwise, at the very beginning, they would not have given Liang Feng any chance to attack, and it would not have resulted in one person being severely injured and falling off the cliff, dead or alive unknown.

Therefore, this was both the best opportunity to kill and an opportunity to pick up scraps and seize treasures.

As long as he killed Xu Chen and the other, perhaps he could get his hands on the Spirit Fox and the soul-attack Magic Treasure on Xu Chen.

Right now, the news from Jingshi must have spread in all directions, and there would certainly be more people secretly following, so he had to finish the battle quickly and must not let the three of them escape tonight.

Therefore, while the Magic Treasure flew toward Xu Chen, Guo Ming flipped his hand and took out another bell-shaped Magic Treasure, threw it into the air, and laughed: "You have a soul-based Magic Spell; do you think I don't? I will use this Soul-Absorbing Bell to take the two of you."

The copper bell suddenly enlarged to the size of a foot, and then shook gently.

"Dang~"

A clear and melodious sound rang out in the night sky.

When this sound entered the ears of Xu Chen and the other, it suddenly amplified as if it were a great bell, as if a giant bell had been struck deep within their souls, and at the same time, a powerful suction force seemed to want to pull his shattered soul out of his body.

Jiu Shixiong let out a muffled groan, spat out a mouthful of blood, and tumbled from the sky.

Xu Chen also felt his head buzzing as if he were inside a copper bell, his soul shaken into chaos, and his Divine Sense instantly turned into dust.

However, at this moment, the Blue Jade Bead in his Sea of Consciousness seemed to have been greatly stimulated; it suddenly swelled and expanded, and amidst the spraying blue light, a phantom of a Demon Wolf actually roared out from within it, turning into a beam of light that darted out from Xu Chen's brow, suddenly enlarging to the size of a zhang and pouncing toward Guo Ming.

Feeling the terrifying aura emitted by the Demon Wolf phantom, Guo Ming was shocked and terrified, retreating in panic and exclaiming: "What kind of spell is this?"

"Boom~"

No sooner said than done, the Demon Wolf phantom crashed straight into the bronze bell; amidst a spray of radiance, the Array light and shadow of the bronze bell shattered instantly, Guo Ming's Divine Sense suffered a heavy blow, he let out a miserable shriek and tumbled backward, then, unable to care about Xu Chen and his companion or the bronze bell that had been sent flying, he turned and fled in a panic.

However, just as he had fled no more than a hundred feet, suddenly a Flying Sword came piercing through the air from the dense forest below, instantly piercing through his chest; almost simultaneously, a male and a female, two young cultivators, rose into the air from below and blocked his path.

"You... so there were... helpers..."

Guo Ming's mind went blank; although his injuries were severe, his dantian was not shattered, and his vital energy could still support his Flying Sword, yet he stood in the air swaying with blood flowing from his nose and mouth, his face full of disbelief as he looked at the large hole in his chest, then looked at the two cultivators.

He had already recognized that this good-looking female cultivator was none other than Lin Qiuya of the Xuanqing Sect of the Eastern Wu Kingdom, who had been intimate with Xu Chen and the others for several days in a row.

"When the snipe and the clam grapple, the fisherman reaps the benefit; Daoist Friend Guo played a good hand, but it is a pity there is one more saying you forgot!" the white-clad cultivator said with a face full of smiles.

"Which one?" Guo Ming asked subconsciously, trembling.

"The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind!" the white-clad cultivator replied.

"You... are not in the same group..." Guo Ming seemed to understand.

"Hahahaha, today I have truly witnessed the style of the Song Kingdom Immortal Sect; not only are you poor at fighting, but your brains are also too slow. That's right, we are the Ziyang Sect of the Ming Kingdom, whom the Great Song imperial court and Immortal Sect are just about to deal with. Seeing that you are about to die, I will also reveal a piece of good news to you: the three people from the Taiyuan Sect have a stalk of Blood God Grass unearthed from the Immortal Tomb. We traveled thousands of miles precisely for this, yet it is laughable that you Great Song Immortal Sect members fight to the death and don't even know such good news!" the white-clad cultivator laughed loudly, his face full of smugness.

"Blood God Grass..." Guo Ming's body shook violently, his vital energy failed, and he actually opened his mouth and spat out a large mouthful of blood.

"Alright, the good news has already been told to you, but you know too much, go to hell!"

The white-clad cultivator waved his hand lightly, the Flying Sword swept past, Guo Ming's head soared into the air, and the headless corpse's neck sprayed blood wildly as it plummeted down.