Chapter 327: Engage the Enemy

Something's odd!

Wang Yu's face hardened with caution; he formed a hand seal, and a crimson light shield flickered to life over his body—the Fire Shield spell.

Only then did he exhale softly; his arm swelled abruptly, blurred once, and he punched through the air toward three massive boulders.

Three thunderous booms followed as three golden fist shadows slammed into the boulders.

"Boom—boom—boom!"

The three boulders shattered on impact, rolling out three humanoid skeletons.

Wang Yu was startled.

But when he saw the Sunset Sect robes on the skeletons, he understood their identities and frowned.

He reached out with one hand, grasping the waist of one skeleton; a red token instantly flew into his palm. He glanced at it.

One side bore the character "Sun," the other the character "Inner."

Indeed, it was an Inner Disciple token of the Sunset Sect!

But how did these three corpses end up inside the rocks, and why were they shaped so strangely?

After stowing the token, Wang Yu studied the skeletons again.

The three corpses were emaciated, their bodies reduced to a thin layer of skin with no flesh or blood, yet their faces bore an eerie calm—no signs of struggle, as if they had died in perfect peace.

More surprisingly, the storage pouches at their waists remained intact, untouched.

Was it because they deemed a Qi Condensation disciple's pouch worthless, or had they simply not had time to take them?

Wang Yu's mind raced as he considered this, yet he made no move to touch the pouches; instead, he walked over and picked up a fist-sized fragment of rock from the ground, squeezing it lightly with his fingers.

"Crack."

The stone turned to powder, slipping silently through his fingers like sand.

Definitely wrong!

Ordinary stone powder wouldn't be this smooth—it resembled some unknown greasy powder.

Wang Yu instantly deduced this; at the same moment, a numbness spread from his fingers touching the powder—faint, but enough to paralyze those fingers for an instant.

This is…

Wang Yu's pupils contracted; before he could react further, a simultaneous hiss of warning erupted from Da Lü and Xiao Bai at the cave entrance.

Wang Yu immediately swept his spiritual sense outward, then his face darkened; he slapped his waist pouch, and a burst of white light surged out, sweeping across the nearby ground.

The three skeletons and scattered rocks vanished.

The next instant, he shot skyward as a ball of red light.

"Boom!"—he pierced straight through the cave ceiling and soared into the sky.

After a swift circle in midair, Wang Yu halted steadily, gazing toward a distant direction on the horizon.

There, black mist surged skyward like a torrential black flood rolling toward him, carrying an unmasked, overwhelming demonic aura.

A second-rank demonic beast!

Wang Yu's pupils narrowed slightly, but he quickly turned his gaze downward, scanning the ground.

Amid a steady "shush-shush" sound, the earth churned among the scattered rocks, and dozens of bone rats—each several feet long—emerged, their blood-red eyes glaring, surrounding the entire rocky area completely.

Fortunately, most of these bone rats were only at Qi Condensation levels two or three, with only a few reaching levels four or five.

"Da Lü, Xiao Bai, handle these."

After giving the order, Wang Yu's crimson aura flared, and he flew toward the oncoming black clouds.

Da Lü let out a low roar, lunged forward, and bit half the skull off the nearest bone rat; with one forelimb, he slammed another charging rat away.

More bone rats nearby, seeing this, charged without hesitation.

A low roar echoed in the air.

A vast wave of icy white mist swept down, engulfing nearly half the charging rats, hurling them to the ground, where within a few breaths they froze into ice statues.

Nearby, Da Lü swung his thick, rigid tail like a steel whip, striking down several more rats before lunging to tear into them again.

In the distance, more bone rats sprinted forward—some spewed clouds of black mist, others bled crimson tears from their eyes, their bodies swelling violently as they ran.

…

When Wang Yu was nearly a mile from the oncoming black mist, he abruptly halted.

Though he didn't know the cultivation level of the demonic sect cultivator who had spoken earlier, the involvement of a second-rank Yin Bone Rat meant it certainly wasn't a Qi Condensation disciple—and certainly not a Golden Core elder.

After all, if a demonic Golden Core cultivator entered the Four Sects' territory alone, the Four Sects' Golden Core elders would never miss the chance—they'd unite to annihilate him.

During the last opening of the Jialan Secret Realm, the demonic side had only dared to infiltrate with several Golden Core cultivators acting together, never alone.

As for late Foundation Establishment cultivators—essentially Golden Core seedlings—both the Four Sects and the demonic sects typically kept them secluded in their sects for intensive cultivation, rarely letting them leave.

So this demonic cultivator was most likely early or mid-Foundation Establishment, with early being even more probable.

But regardless, this opponent was a second-rank demonic beast and a Foundation Establishment demonic cultivator—no amount of caution was too much.

As Wang Yu pondered, he flipped his hand, revealing three pale blue banners; with a sweep of his other hand, the banners blurred, becoming faint and indistinct.

He flicked his wrist; the three banners fell silently, vanished after a few flickers, and disappeared into the dense forest below.

Then he formed a hand seal; the light shield on his body blazed crimson, and he changed the seal—his feet wrapped in swirling blue and red light, forming two shimmering, translucent light wheels.

The Fire Shield and Wind-Fire Wheels—two first-rank primal spells!

Wang Yu shook his sleeve, and three small red-glowing mirrors flew out, circling his body.

Simultaneously, his waist pouch opened wide; a black iron brick flew out, hovered above him, then dissolved into swirling rings of black mist and vanished.

At that moment, a roar erupted from the oncoming black mist; crimson dots appeared within it, flickered in the wind, and transformed into dozens of crimson fireballs, each the size of a human head.

Dozens—sixty or seventy in total.

"Swoosh! Swoosh!"

Dozens of fireballs trembled slightly, then surged toward Wang Yu like a swarm.

Using fire spells against me?

Wang Yu's lips twitched; without any grand motion, the crimson aura swirling over his body flowed swiftly into one hand, coalescing into a fist-sized crimson light orb.

He flicked his wrist—the orb floated gently before him.

"Whoosh."

Wang Yu drew a deep breath; in his spiritual sea, a first-rank blue talisman glyph formed instantly. He opened his mouth and exhaled a continuous torrent of pale green wind, engulfing the crimson orb.

"Sizzle!"

Wind and fire merged instantly, erupting into a rolling wall of flame that rose like a massive barrier before him.

"Bang! Bang!"

The dense hail of fireballs struck the flame wall and vanished into the firelight, leaving no trace.