Chapter 318: Wind-Riding Boots

Having chased for the time it takes to burn an incense stick, Song Qingming and the Foundation Establishment cultivator fleeing in front were traveling rapidly through the air one after the other. Although the distance between the two had been slowly widening, Song Qingming had not yet completely lost the other's trail and could barely keep up with his pace.

This person's cultivation was not high, only at the fourth layer of Foundation Establishment. The reason he could surpass Song Qingming, who had higher cultivation, in movement speed was because of a pair of black boots he wore on his feet that accelerated his sword-riding speed. These boots were constantly emitting a cluster of spiritual light in the air; one could tell at a glance that they were a spirit item of no low quality.

Seeing the distance between the opponent and himself widening, Song Qingming gradually lost his ideas; he estimated that after following for another period, he would have to return empty-handed.

It was very normal for cultivators sent to execute such dangerous missions deep behind enemy lines to have some unique escape methods of their own. Song Qingming actually did not hold much hope for catching up to the opponent. In any case, as long as he tried his best not to let the opponent find a loophole, this battle had already reached this point; whether he could distinguish himself was not something he could force. For him, as long as he was not dragged into the Golden Core cultivators' battle and lost his life in vain, that was the best result.

The black-clad cultivator running in front, looking at Song Qingming who was following him closely, was actually very nervous in his heart. Although the pair of Wind-Riding Boots under his feet were a very useful auxiliary magic tool that could greatly accelerate a cultivator's own movement speed, they also had a bad point: this item could also rapidly consume the magic power within his body.

Having run for so long, the magic power in his body had actually been consumed by more than half. Although he had taken an elixir to temporarily recover some magic power, as long as Song Qingming behind him kept biting on and not letting go, not giving him a chance to catch his breath, he could at most persist for another half an incense stick's time.

Just when Song Qingming felt somewhat desperate and intended to return, he suddenly felt that the movement speed of the black-clad cultivator in front seemed to have begun to slow down.

This unintentional discovery suddenly gave Song Qingming a reason to continue the pursuit. In order not to lose the trail of this person, Song Qingming gritted his teeth, took out a drop of Millennium Spirit Milk from his body, swallowed it directly, and then increased the injection of magic power into the flying sword under his feet.

The black-clad cultivator running in front, seeing that Song Qingming behind him still had the energy to maintain his movement speed, could not help but become somewhat panicked.

Seeing that he had already run over a hundred miles away and the opponent's pursuit speed showed no signs of weakening, the black-clad cultivator's face gradually darkened.

It seemed that relying on the Wind-Riding Boots under his feet to escape from here today was somewhat unrealistic. Since he could not escape directly, he could only stop and fight to the death.

Thinking of this, the black-clad cultivator, who was at his wit's end, turned his flying sword directly and landed toward a forest on the side.

Before long, Song Qingming, who had also landed on the ground, carefully looked around, and suddenly his gaze focused on a large gray tree not far in front, and he slowly walked toward it.

After approaching the large tree, Song Qingming first took out the Fire-Pattern Sword from his body and covered himself with a thin layer of Profound Light Armor.

Having made preparations, Song Qingming activated the Light Body Technique, bypassed the large tree from the side, and killed directly behind the tree. After approaching his target, three fire arrows formed directly above the Fire-Pattern Sword and shot toward the opponent, directly piercing a figure behind the tree and nailing it to the large tree.

Discovering that the attack had succeeded so easily, Song Qingming felt somewhat strange. After carefully looking at the target he had hit, he realized that what he had killed was not the target he had imagined, but a humanoid substitute puppet wearing black clothes.

A humanoid substitute puppet was also one type of puppet beast. The place where this thing differed from other puppet beasts was that, in addition to being able to imitate and use a portion of the spells the controller practiced to fight, at critical moments it could also imitate the aura on the controller's body, which could be used as bait to help the cultivator lure away the pursuers behind him.

Although this type of substitute puppet beast did not have as much combat power as some puppet beasts, its role in battle was sometimes much more useful than ordinary puppet beasts, and it was also very difficult to see this kind of spirit item on the market.

The substitute puppet in front of him had been motionless all along, as if it were somewhat damaged, but its quality was not low; it was a second-tier substitute puppet beast. Coupled with the fact that it carried quite a bit of the black-clad cultivator's aura, this was what made Song Qingming mistakenly think that the guy was hiding here just now.

By the time Song Qingming reacted and wanted to quickly bypass this puppet to investigate other places, a white light suddenly lit up under this substitute puppet, and immediately after, the ground began to tremble. Song Qingming was soon surrounded by a pile of soil that quickly gathered from all around.

Seeing that the trap he had just made had successfully controlled Song Qingming, the black-clad cultivator with a wicked smile walked over from another large tree more than ten feet away.

"Hmph! No matter how careful and cautious you are, in the end, didn't you still fall into the trap I set for you?"

The black-clad cultivator came to Song Qingming, who had already been wrapped into a ball, and sneered at him a few times. In order to set up this trap well, he had not only taken out the substitute puppet on his body as bait but also used the only second-tier spirit talisman on his body; he had truly paid a sufficient price.

After carefully looking at this enclosed mound of earth and seeing that there were no flaws, the black-clad cultivator directly took out a flying sword and cast a spell, trying his best to stab it inside. The sword tip stopped suddenly after just sinking into the mound.

The black-clad cultivator frowned and looked, discovering that the sharp flying sword in his hand could not stab in at all; it seemed to be blocked by something inside.

"Could it be that Song Qingming, who is trapped inside, has not been completely bound by this spirit talisman and is still using means to resist inside? But what exactly is it that allows him to block my full-force strike at such a close distance?"

Although he could not figure it out, the black-clad cultivator still did not give up the idea of killing Song Qingming. He increased his magic power to control the flying sword and changed several angles to stab into the mound again, but the result was the same: all were blocked.

After casting spells several times, the black-clad cultivator, who was about to exhaust his magic power, gritted his teeth and took another elixir, wanting to recover his magic power and launch a more violent attack again.

Just at this moment, the mound of earth trapping Song Qingming suddenly flew into the high air, and then emitted a loud noise, directly shattering the spirit talisman that had been trapping him all along.

Song Qingming, who fell from the high air, put away the Clear Water Bell that was rotating above his head and looked at the black-clad cultivator, who was still sitting on the side in a daze, with a look of contempt.

"Fellow Daoist, this time it should be my turn to attack!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 319 =====