Chapter 47: Third-grade Spirit Talisman

Although Xu Chen was teetering on the brink of collapse at this moment, he was still barely managing to hold on.

Ever since the Soul-Absorbing Bell had been shattered by the Demon Wolf phantom, he felt his scattered Divine Sense beginning to return, yet it was extremely slow; he could only barely control his Yuan Qi to hover in the air, and it was completely impossible to launch another Soul Impact.

He had seen Guo Ming's death clearly, and thus felt the last glimmer of hope for survival fall into the abyss.

They had guessed correctly; there was indeed something wrong with Lin Qiu Ya.

But this white-robed cultivator had a robust aura and was likewise a Zhenyuan Realm powerhouse.

Right now, let alone a Zhenyuan Realm cultivator, even if a novice Kaiyuan Realm cultivator came, they would in all likelihood be able to tear him to pieces.

After gathering the Magic Treasures and Storage Bag from Guo Ming's body, the white-robed cultivator and Lin Qiu Ya flew over and stood a few yards away in front of Xu Chen.

"The three Daoist Friends of Taiyuan Sect are truly formidable; with cultivation only at the Kaiyuan Realm, you have actually killed two Zhenyuan Realm cultivators in succession. This truly opens my eyes, Yuan," the white-robed cultivator said, looking at the teetering Xu Chen with a face full of smiles.

Xu Chen bared his teeth in a smile uglier than crying and said, "You are not bad either; you have gone to great lengths for this Blood God Grass, but I am afraid it will be difficult for you to get what you want!"

As he spoke, Xu Chen's Divine Sense probed into his Storage Bag, preparing to take out the Blood God Grass and destroy it, but his ears caught the faint, thread-like Divine Sense Transmission of Jiu Shixiong: "Junior Brother, there is a red Spirit Talisman in the Storage Bag..."

Xu Chen was startled and subconsciously scanned with his Divine Sense, indeed discovering a crimson-as-jade Spirit Talisman inside, so he took it out without hesitation.

The white-robed cultivator laughed instead of being alarmed: "It seems I guessed correctly. That Demon Wolf phantom just now was your final means of launching a Soul attack. It is a pity it was already used to deal with Guo Ming. Even if you still have a Second-tier Spirit Talisman, what of it? It is nothing but a struggle before death. Very well, let me show you my protective Magic Treasure, so you can die with conviction."

Having said that, the white-robed cultivator flipped his hand and threw out a primitive Bronze Treasure Mirror, which suddenly expanded to over a yard in size, releasing a hazy green light that enveloped him and Lin Qiu Ya.

"Junior Brother, what are you waiting for..." the weak, barely audible Divine Sense Transmission of Jiu Shixiong sounded in Xu Chen's ears again.

Xu Chen gritted his teeth, locked his entire Divine Sense onto Lin Qiu Ya and the other, and bit down to crush the Jade Talisman. A terrifying suction force arrived; the Yuan Qi in his dantian instantly surged into the Jade Talisman like a bursting river, draining all his Yuan Qi in an instant, and subsequently, the remaining Yuan Qi in his Meridians was also drained until they began to shatter. However, as a large amount of Yuan Qi poured in, a ball of red light exploded in the air, suddenly transforming into a mass of crimson flames that soared into the sky.

"Cree—"

Accompanied by a cry that pierced the Soul, the flames condensed into a Fire Bird over a yard in size. A terrifying aura rolled out, and with a flap of its wings, it lunged at Lin Qiu Ya and the other with a sky full of flames.

The white-robed cultivator was stunned, then threw his head back and laughed loudly, as if he were about to laugh tears out.

"Using this trick again? Could it be you think I don't know it is just an illusion talisman..."

The white-robed cultivator remained as steady as Mount Tai, unconcerned, letting the Fire Bird pounce onto his protective spiritual light.

"Boom—"

A terrifying explosion rang out. Amidst the shaking of heaven and earth, the Bronze Ancient Mirror hanging above the white-robed cultivator's head had its spiritual light shattered directly and flew off into the air, its whereabouts unknown, while the fierce giant fire bird lunged straight at the two.

"Third-grade Spirit Talisman..."

The white-robed cultivator's soul was scared out of his wits in an instant. Amidst his exclamation, he raised his hand and pushed Lin Qiu Ya forward, then turned and fled.

Although Xu Chen was dizzy and his mind was a muddled mess, not knowing why this fire illusion talisman had turned real, he knew this was the only chance for survival right now. Lin Qiu Ya's strength was insufficient and not worth mentioning, but this white-robed cultivator could not be let go at all, otherwise, even a mutual destruction would be impossible. Therefore, he forcibly gathered his Divine Sense to guide it, and the giant fire bird abandoned Lin Qiu Ya and lunged at the white-robed cultivator.

"Boom—"

A Third-Tier Spirit Talisman, equivalent to a strike from a Danyuan Realm powerhouse, naturally had power that a Second-tier Spirit Talisman could not compare to. The attack speed naturally followed his intent, requiring no excessive intervention from Xu Chen. Under the guidance of his Divine Sense, the Fire Bird, carrying a sky full of flames, lunged onto the white-robed cultivator in the blink of an eye, instantly wrapping him in a raging inferno.

"Ah, Junior Sister... save me..."

The white-robed cultivator twisted and rolled within the flames, letting out shrill screams, but in no more than a few breaths, he lost his voice. His body was quickly burned to charcoal in the raging flames, then turned into black powder and drifted away from the flames, and then several Storage Bags and Magic Treasures fell from the flames.

Xu Chen did not pay attention to the Storage Bags and Magic Treasures, but stared fixedly at Lin Qiu Ya.

Because of the defense of the Bronze Ancient Mirror, the power of this Third-grade Spirit Talisman was actually mostly consumed. Although it ultimately succeeded in burning the white-robed cultivator to death, Xu Chen was actually unable to control it and could only let the flames quickly dissipate and vanish.

Lin Qiu Ya stood in the air like a puppet that had lost its soul, watching her Senior Brother turn to ashes in the flames. Finally, the red light filling the sky vanished, and the world returned to darkness and silence.

However, this kind of dark night could not block a cultivator's vision.

Xu Chen had already stuffed a Great Origin Pill into his mouth, and while staying vigilant of Lin Qiu Ya, he was also continuously circulating his cultivation technique to recover his Qi.

Activating the Spirit Talisman just now not only drained his Yuan Qi, but even squeezed the remaining Yuan Qi in his Meridians dry. At this moment, his Meridians were full of cracks everywhere, and the impact of the Yuan Qi made him tremble all over in pain.

But he dared not relax in the slightest, instead gritting his teeth and forcibly absorbing Yuan Qi continuously.

The two stood in the pitch-black night sky without a word. A full half-quarter of an hour passed, and Lin Qiu Ya's body suddenly shook, as if she had come to her senses.

Xu Chen's face was pale, and he endured the pain to steady his mind and said, "Lin Qiu Ya, considering that you never made a move against us, I can spare your life."

Lin Qiu Ya, however, sighed and said, "In vain did I harbor deep affection for you; I never expected you to treat me like this!"

Xu Chen:...

Another dozen breaths passed before Lin Qiu Ya turned around, faced Xu Chen, and bowed slightly, saying, "Many thanks to Daoist Friend Xu for the grace of not killing me. Let this matter end here. I will absolutely not speak of the Blood God Grass. Farewell!"

Having said that, Lin Qiu Ya released her Flying Sword and turned into an Escape Light, fleeing away in an instant.

Xu Chen's breath relaxed, his vision went black, and he fell headlong from the sky, hitting the rocky hillside heavily with a thud.

Not long after, Jiu Shixiong, like an unkillable cockroach, crawled to his side from the darkness. He placed his hand on Xu Chen's neck to test him, then let out a long sigh and fumbled around on his body. He retrieved the Storage Bag, sat down slowly, took out a medicinal pill from it, stuffed it into his own mouth, and began to circulate his energy.

In his dazed state, Xu Chen did not know how much time had passed before he regained consciousness. The scene before him was still pitch black, but there was one more person beside him.

"Junior Brother, you are awake!" Jiu Shixiong's voice sounded.

Xu Chen felt as if his whole body had been roasted in a furnace; there was no place that didn't hurt, but his Divine Sense was still relatively clear, so he endured the pain to climb up and said, "Senior Brother, how long have I been unconscious?"

"Almost an hour. This place is not suitable for staying long. We must find Junior Sister and leave here quickly!"

"Alright!" Xu Chen also knew this place was indeed dangerous.

In just under half an hour, three life-and-death battles had broken out in succession. The spiritual light and sounds produced by the battles could at least spread for hundreds of miles. No one could guarantee that there were no other cultivators following behind.

The reason it was still safe right now might be that the commotion caused by the three great battles was too large, making many cultivators afraid to come and investigate the situation.

A full-force strike from the Danyuan Realm almost had the power to overturn seas and rivers. Even if a Danyuan Realm powerhouse followed, they would not dare to act rashly, let alone the fact that those who came to Jingshi to offer birthday congratulations were all low-level cultivators of the Kaiyuan Realm.

In these tens of thousands of miles, I am afraid there is not a single Danyuan Realm cultivator right now, and those of the Zhenyuan Realm are also few and far between.

Xu Chen endured the pain and stood up. His head was still dizzy, but his Yuan Qi had recovered a bit, so he flew up on his sword and released his Divine Sense to search the nearby hillside, quickly finding Zhao Xuan.

Zhao Xuan's situation was very bad. Having blocked a strike from Liang Feng for Xu Chen, half of her body was a bloody mess, but fortunately, her aura still remained.

Xu Chen carried Zhao Xuan back to Jiu Shixiong's side, then flew his sword to carefully search the nearby mountains, forests, and gullies, finding the Storage Bags, Array Disks, Copper Mirror, Soul-Absorbing Bell, Flying Sword, Short Spear, and other Magic Treasures belonging to Liang Feng, Guo Ming, and Lin Qiu Ya's Senior Brother, then gathered them all together and brought them back.

Looking at this miscellaneous pile of Magic Treasures he had never dared to imagine before, Jiu Shixiong's face, which had been in agony, actually smiled so wide that his back teeth were exposed.

"This battle was not in vain. Indeed, only killing and robbing is the fastest way to get rich."

Xu Chen smiled uglier than he cried, his face twitching violently as he said, "Today was a stroke of luck, otherwise we would all be dead. Senior Sister's situation is very bad; let's go quickly."

Jiu Shixiong stood up shakily and said, "My Soul is scattered and my dantian is damaged; I can no longer fly on my sword."

Xu Chen had no choice but to release his Flying Sword, hold Zhao Xuan as she sat astride it, and have Jiu Shixiong also sit astride behind him and hold his waist tightly; the three of them rose into the air in a wobbly fashion as if riding a horse, then headed southeast, skimming over the mountain forests and gullies like a drunkard.

Because his vital energy was insufficient and his Soul was injured, Xu Chen was actually not doing well either; he was only barely able to control the sword, and every time he flew ten or twenty miles, he had to land to meditate and rest, while simultaneously seizing every opportunity to use the Soul Bead to repair his Soul.

Flying and landing in this manner, by the time the eastern sky brightened, the three of them had already flown over two hundred miles.

Unable to hold on any longer, Xu Chen found a hidden cave in the wilderness, plunged inside, sealed his senses and Divine Sense, and began to meditate and recuperate with all his might.