Chapter 655

Seeing that Song Qingming was anxious to leave this place, Li Xuan echoed: "Fellow daoists, the secret technique and spiritual items have been handed to you. If there are no problems, let us leave here early!

I just took a look. The Flame Spirit Water here will take at least a hundred years to produce another bottle. We won't get anything if we stay here."

"Hmm! Since Fellow Daoist Song is so anxious, let's listen to you and leave here first. I was just asking out of curiosity. I hope Fellow Daoist Li doesn't mind!" Liang Daosheng smiled and nodded slightly upon hearing this, bowed, and agreed with Li Xuan's opinion.

Cui Ping, who was standing to the side, was still staring at the bamboo slip in his hand, unable to put it down. This old man rarely spoke along the way. Seeing that Song Qingming and the other three had unified opinions to leave here first, he immediately smiled and agreed.

After the four finished speaking, they quickly left the stone cave and arrived outside the waterfall.

Just as the group re-covered their figures and prepared to fly away from this place in the direction they came, Song Qingming, who was in the middle of the team, suddenly felt that the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in the air ahead was a bit wrong, and hurriedly shouted at Liang Daosheng, who had already flown more than ten feet away first.

"Fellow daoists, wait!"

"Fellow Daoist Song! Is there anything else?"

Seeing Song Qingming, who had been anxious to leave just now, suddenly stop in place after coming out of the waterfall, Li Xuan, Cui Ping, and Liang Daosheng, who were walking in front of him, all showed a hint of confusion on their faces.

At this time, Song Qingming, who already had a solemn face, did not immediately answer their inquiry, but after scanning the empty mid-air not far away, he cast a spell with one hand to gather a huge fireball one foot high and threw it quickly towards the front of the group.

After this fireball flew to a place dozens of feet in front of Liang Daosheng, it seemed to hit several sharp blades and was quickly cut into several flame fragments.

Seeing this scene, Li Xuan and Cui Ping also understood that someone had set up a large formation in advance ahead. They immediately changed their expressions, took out the magic treasures on their bodies, and looked forward solemnly.

"Which fellow daoist is it? Why set up a trap here to block us!"

As Li Xuan's voice fell, a burst of laughter suddenly came from the mid-air in front of the group, and then four figures dressed differently appeared out of thin air in front of everyone.

"Haha! I didn't expect that there would be a high-tier formation master among you few. This really makes me miscalculate!"

The four people who appeared were also Core Formation cultivators, but the opponent's cultivation was generally much higher than Song Qingming's side. The lowest one was at the fifth layer of Core Formation, and the leader was a ninth-layer Core Formation cultivator whose cultivation had reached the peak of Core Formation.

"It's you! Duan Longshan... Fellow daoists of the Heavenly Puppet Sect, we are just here to hunt demons and search for treasures. We have never offended you. Why set up a trap here to harm us?

Your Heavenly Puppet Sect is a famous righteous sect in Qingzhou anyway. Could it be that you also want to act like bandit cultivators today, killing people and seizing treasures in broad daylight!"

As soon as he saw the figures of these four, Cui Ping, one of the few people on Song Qingming's side, immediately recognized the identity of one of them and questioned the other party directly in front of everyone.

Hearing that the other party was a "Heavenly Puppet Sect" cultivator, a hint of doubt immediately appeared on Song Qingming's face, and he couldn't help but scan Li Xuan around him.

Their group came here all to cleanse the Core Formation "corpse puppet" on their bodies, but they happened to run into "Heavenly Puppet Sect" cultivators who studied this path here. Logically speaking, there shouldn't be such a coincidence.

"Demon-Sealing Valley" is a dangerous forbidden land, and it is tens of thousands of miles away from the territory of the "Heavenly Puppet Sect." The other party appearing here at this time to ambush them is obviously prepared and aimed at them.

However, when Song Qingming's gaze looked at Li Xuan, the other party also cast a suspicious look at his side and kept a distance from Song Qingming with some vigilance.

Just as Cui Ping finished speaking, a middle-aged man with a short beard among the four "Heavenly Puppet Sect" members looked at Song Qingming and the other four in front of him with a light smile and said mockingly: "Old Daoist Cui, you are really living backwards. There are many who claim to be righteous sects in the cultivation world. Killing people and seizing treasures has always been decided by the strong."

"Listen well, if you obediently cooperate and hand over the Flame Spirit Water and the formula, our sect can consider sparing your lives. Otherwise, don't blame us for not giving you a chance!"

"How did you know we have Flame Spirit Water...!"

Seeing Duan Longshan get straight to the point and name the purpose of Song Qingming and the others' trip, this was equivalent to confirming that there was a traitor among them who had tipped off the other party. Song Qingming and Li Xuan couldn't help but scan the few people again.

"But who could this traitor be?"

Combining what Duan Longshan just said, Song Qingming searched quickly in his mind for all the abnormalities along their way, and gradually locked his gaze on Liang Daosheng, who was standing at the very front of them.

"Fellow Daoist Liang, I say, why have you been deliberately asking Fellow Daoist Li about the Flame Spirit Water along the way? It turns out that you have already hooked up with the Heavenly Puppet Sect. You harm us like this today, aren't you afraid that the people of the Heavenly Puppet Sect will kill you to silence you later?"

Since Duan Longshan and the others were aiming for the "Flame Spirit Water" and the secret recipe for cleansing "corpse puppets," Li Xuan should not be the traitor first.

Otherwise, he had the secret technique in his hand and also knew the specific location of the "Flame Spirit Water," so he could just hand it over to the "Heavenly Puppet Sect." There was no reason to trick Song Qingming and the others here to perform this play.

Just now, Cui Ping pointed out the identity of Duan Longshan and the other "Heavenly Puppet Sect" cultivators for the first time, which obviously meant he was definitely unaware, otherwise he wouldn't have had this reaction.

Among the few, only Liang Daosheng pretended to be curious and probed about the "Flame Spirit Water" along the way, which seemed slightly strange.

And just now when the group came out of the waterfall, Liang Daosheng, who had always liked to walk at the end of the team, suddenly took the initiative to run to the front of the group, which seemed to be intentional to lead Song Qingming and the others into the trap that Duan Longshan and the others had already set up.

"Liang Daosheng, we all established a soul contract before setting off. You betrayed us and colluded with the Heavenly Puppet Sect. What exactly is your intention!"

Seeing Song Qingming directly point the finger at Liang Daosheng, who had been silent in front, Li Xuan and Cui Ping also reacted quickly. While looking at him with suspicious eyes due to some of his abnormalities along the way, they also kept a certain distance from the other party.

Liang Daosheng, standing in front of the group, saw that his identity had been exposed, and did not want to continue to hide it, so he nodded and generously admitted his collusion with Duan Longshan and the others.

"Hehe! Since I have established a soul contract with everyone, I naturally won't attack you. Rest assured, fellow daoists, on this point.

But as for collusion, that can't be counted. The reason why I informed Senior Brother Duan and the others about this matter is just for the sake of my own sect."

"Your own sect? What exactly do you mean? Could it be that you have long secretly defected to the Heavenly Puppet Sect!" Hearing Liang Daosheng's answer, Song Qingming and the others present showed confusion one after another.

"Old Daoist Cui, you probably can't imagine that Junior Brother Liang joined our sect twenty years ago and became a guest elder of our Heavenly Puppet Sect. However, our sect has always kept this matter secret from the outside, and you outsiders don't know about it.

This time Junior Brother Liang came back to participate in the auction, which was also specially arranged by our sect master. It's just that I didn't expect Junior Brother Liang to encounter this invitation from Fellow Daoist Li to come to the Demon-Sealing Valley to find spiritual water to cleanse corpse puppets!

Speaking of which, this is also a coincidence. You fellow daoists can't blame others; you can only blame your own luck for not being good enough to take the initiative to send yourselves to the door.

Then our Heavenly Puppet Sect can only accept these Flame Spirit Water and the secret technique for cleansing corpse puppets with a smile, ah... Hahaha."

Just as Duan Longshan finished speaking, the several "Heavenly Puppet Sect" cultivators standing around him immediately followed with a burst of mockery at Song Qingming and the others, not taking them seriously at all.

After hearing Duan Longshan's explanation, Song Qingming and the others finally figured out the ins and outs of the matter.

Liang Daosheng had always been a loose cultivator in front of people before. Even Cui Ping, a veteran loose cultivator who had been wandering around Qingzhou for many years, couldn't have imagined that the other party had long secretly defected to the "Heavenly Puppet Sect," let alone Li Xuan and Song Qingming, who hadn't been here for long.

The reason why Li Xuan invited Liang Daosheng was precisely because he saw him use the identity of a loose cultivator to obtain a Core Formation "corpse puppet" at the "Heavenly Puppet Sect" auction not long ago.

It was just that he never expected that Liang Daosheng's lavishness at the auction was all secretly arranged by the "Heavenly Puppet Sect" in advance, which led to the accidental invitation of the other party, causing everyone to fall into a dangerous situation now.

The opponent had a powerful Core Formation peak cultivator, Duan Longshan, and the other three were also Core Formation mid-stage cultivators whose cultivation had reached the fifth or sixth layer of Core Formation.

Even if Liang Daosheng could not attack Song Qingming and the other three because of the soul contract, there was still a large gap in the strength comparison between the two sides.

Fortunately, Song Qingming was more alert just now and discovered the large formation set up by the other party in advance, which did not make the group fall into the trap as soon as they came out. Otherwise, Song Qingming and the other three would probably have been fish on the opponent's chopping block by now.

The reason why he could discover the trap set by the other party in advance was also because Song Qingming had to absorb the spiritual energy of the five elements of heaven and earth outside from time to time in order to practice the second layer of the "Tongtian Wanling Jue" over the years, and his own sensing of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was much sharper than ordinary cultivators of the same tier.

Plus, he happened to be a third-grade formation master. Before, Song Qingming only slightly sensed that the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in front was a bit wrong, and he immediately judged that someone had set up a formation there.

"Few! Have you considered it? Are you planning to hand over the Flame Spirit Water and the formula yourself, or do you want us to do it ourselves?

There is only one chance. Don't miscalculate!" Seeing that Song Qingming and the other three had all fallen into silence, Duan Longshan tempted them again.

"Two fellow daoists, don't listen to their bewitchment. Since they have brought so many people today, they didn't intend to let us leave. Kneeling and begging for surrender will certainly be hard to escape death. It is better to fight with them; perhaps you can win a glimmer of life."

Hearing the other party's verbal temptation, Li Xuan's face sank and he decisively chose to refuse, and waved his hand to summon his Core Formation "corpse puppet" and his natal magic treasure, apparently determined to resist the other party to the end. However, just as Li Xuan made his choice, the old Daoist Cui Ping beside him looked very ugly in the face of this situation.

From the paper, the strength of the four opponents is not weak. Choosing to fight hard is indeed not a high hope for Song Qingming and the other three to defeat the opponent.

After some consideration, Cui Ping still chose to throw the two spiritual items he had just obtained directly to Duan Longshan not far away.

"Fellow Daoist Duan, this formula and spiritual water can be given to you. I guarantee that after leaving here, I will never mention today's matter to others. I hope you can keep your promise and let me leave."

Seeing that Cui Ping had softened and handed over the spiritual items, Duan Longshan glanced at the two things he had obtained, and the face that had just been a bit ugly instantly brightened.

"Good! Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Cui. You wait here for a moment. After we solve the matter of these two fellow daoists, we will establish a soul contract with you, and then we will naturally let you leave."

"This... then follow Fellow Daoist Duan's words. I will wait for you on the side first. Rest assured, fellow daoist, I will definitely not participate in the matters between you. I only ask to leave safely!"

After Cui Ping finished speaking, he really followed Duan Longshan's words, flashed away from the position of Song Qingming and the other two with a calm face, and became a spectator on the side.

And Liang Daosheng, who betrayed Song Qingming and the others, under Duan Longshan's instruction, immediately came to a place not far from Cui Ping and stared at the other party.

"Hehe! It is still Fellow Daoist Cui who knows the current affairs."

Seeing this, Duan Longshan nodded with satisfaction, turned his gaze to Song Qingming to the side, and asked softly: "Then this Fellow Daoist Song, have you considered it?"

"Hmph! Since you didn't intend to let us go, you don't need to put on an act. I have been practicing for so many years. If I could be deceived by a few words from others, I would probably not have lived to this day.

Although my cultivation is low, I am not a person who is greedy for life and afraid of death. If you want to take things from me, a mouth alone is not enough!"

Since the words had been said so bluntly, Song Qingming naturally knew very well in his heart that whether he chose to hand over the spiritual water and formula like Cui Ping or not, the other party would certainly not let them go easily.

After all, a Nascent Soul sect like the "Heavenly Puppet Sect" always needs a bit of face. Since they chose to do this kind of killing and treasure-seizing, they would certainly not want to leave any hidden dangers for themselves.

And the location of the Demon-Sealing Valley will give birth to new Flame Spirit Water every hundred years. As long as they get the formula in Li Xuan's hand, for the "Heavenly Puppet Sect," this will be an important place that can continuously cleanse and improve "corpse puppets."

Just in this respect, the "Heavenly Puppet Sect" naturally cannot tolerate other outsiders knowing about this place.

Although the other party brought four powerful Core Formation cultivators, and there was a master like Duan Longshan at the ninth layer of Core Formation, it was certainly impossible for Song Qingming and Li Xuan to defeat the opponent alone.

But now he still has several powerful life-saving means on his body. As long as the opponent does not have a Nascent Soul cultivator present, Song Qingming only seeks to escape with all his heart, and there is always a little chance.

Seeing that Song Qingming also decisively refused the other party's temptation, Li Xuan, who had been watching him nervously to the side, was finally a little relieved.

If Song Qingming also chose to compromise with Duan Longshan and the others like Cui Ping, and only he was left to face the four "Heavenly Puppet Sect" members alone, there would absolutely be no chance of winning.

Regardless of Song Qingming's actual strength, he could only help share a little pressure. For Li Xuan, the hope of his escape in the future could always increase a little more or less.

Seeing that Song Qingming was also unwilling to compromise, Duan Longshan's expression changed instantly, and he quickly condensed several very sharp ice thorns in his hand, and then threw them out.

However, what made Song Qingming and Li Xuan a bit surprised was that these ice thorns were not aimed at the two of them, but flew towards the old Daoist Cui Ping, who was watching the battle not far away.

Duan Longshan's move not only made Song Qingming and Li Xuan slightly confused, but even the several "Heavenly Puppet Sect" companions standing beside him and Liang Daosheng, who was staring at the old Daoist Cui not far away, were stunned.

And Cui Ping, who had always been standing on the side, faced this sudden ice thorn attack, but stood on the side with a calm face without dodging.

It was not until these three ice thorns were inserted into his body that Cui Ping's body suddenly exploded with a "bang," and after emitting a burst of black smoke in mid-air, it turned into a cyan spiritual talisman that was already somewhat damaged.

At the same time, in mid-air a hundred feet away from the cyan spiritual talisman, a figure jumped out of thin air, then quickly took out a flying boat magic treasure, turned into a ray of light, and fled into the distance.

Seeing this scene, Liang Daosheng, who had been staring at the old Daoist Cui, also changed his expression.

"High-tier substitute spiritual talisman!"

Seeing the figure of the old Daoist Cui who was fleeing not far away, Duan Longshan snorted coldly with sharp eyes:

"Hmph! The old thing doesn't know what's good for him. Two junior brothers, this person is handed over to you. After solving him, you come back here to meet me! Junior Brother Liang, you follow along too. There are me and Junior Brother Chen here!"

Liang Daosheng, who was responsible for watching Cui Ping just now, had his attention always attracted by Song Qingming and the others, and did not notice that Cui Ping used a high-tier substitute spiritual talisman to replace his body when he was negligent.

If it weren't for Duan Longshan's profound cultivation, who saw a trace of the opponent's flaw in time, I am afraid that they might really have been deceived by Cui Ping's substitute spiritual talisman today and escaped from here.

Hearing the tone of Duan Longshan's few reprimands, Liang Daosheng also immediately nodded, used the flying boat with the two "Heavenly Puppet Sect" Core Formation cultivators, and chased towards the direction where the old Daoist Cui left in anger.

Although he had established a soul contract with Song Qingming and the other three and could not attack them directly, in this kind of pursuit, Liang Daosheng could also help control the flying boat, save the magic power of the other two companions, and still help a little.

The three "Heavenly Puppet Sect" members just left. Song Qingming and Li Xuan, who were standing in place, exchanged glances, knowing that this was a rare opportunity for them to escape, so they immediately turned into two rays of light and changed directions, wanting to escape into the distance.

However, Duan Longshan and the other Core Formation cultivator Chen Zifeng, facing the move of Song Qingming and the other two to escape, showed a look of contempt in their eyes.

"Two fellow daoists! It's not that easy to escape from our hands today!"

As soon as the voice fell, a black-armored man appeared in front of Song Qingming, who directly blasted a punch at him from the front, blocking him in mid-air.

"Late-stage Core Formation corpse puppet!" Seeing this black-armored man, Song Qingming frowned, and his face became a bit ugly.

However, before he could take any action, Chen Zifeng's figure appeared beside him again, controlling a huge golden brick magic treasure and smashing it towards Song Qingming.

"Jin Feng, help me block him!"

Seeing this, Song Qingming hurriedly cast a spell to release the natal magic treasure "Five Elements Divine Light Mirror" in his body to emit a burst of five-colored spiritual light, holding up Chen Zifeng's golden brick magic treasure, while summoning "Jin Feng," who was holding a flying knife magic treasure, to step forward and help block the black-armored man who had already attacked.

Song Qingming had just started fighting with Chen Zifeng, and Li Xuan on the other side also didn't run far before being blocked by Duan Longshan, who followed closely behind.

Duan Longshan's cultivation was far superior to Li Xuan's, and the battle between them naturally quickly showed a one-sided suppression.

However, although Duan Longshan easily occupied the upper hand, he always left room in his attacks during the battle with Li Xuan and did not want to kill him, still giving the other party many opportunities to resist.

The reason for this was also because Li Xuan still had some things he wanted on her body, and Duan Longshan did not dare to force her too hard, preventing the other party from fighting him to the death.

The outcome of their battle had actually been determined long ago, and the initiative was firmly controlled by Duan Longshan. As long as he was willing to use his full strength, Li Xuan would not be able to hold on for long.

A loud "bang" sounded again not far away.

Song Qingming had just gotten rid of Chen Zifeng to the side and was about to change direction to escape, but was blocked by that late-stage Core Formation "black-armored corpse puppet" one step ahead, and was punched back.

"Hehe! Fellow daoist, although you have some skills, don't think about escaping since you met me today. Just stay and have a good fight with me!"

Hearing Chen Zifeng's mockery, Song Qingming, who had just stabilized his figure, felt a bit unhappy in his heart, but he held back and did not ignore the other party, observing the situation around him very calmly.

Although Chen Zifeng's cultivation was slightly higher than Song Qingming's, after fighting for dozens of rounds, Song Qingming did not suffer much loss.

The key was still the "corpse puppet" in the late stage of Core Formation that the other party used, which was really difficult to deal with. Not only was the body very powerful, but the escape speed was also amazing. Song Qingming tried to get rid of the other party and escape several times, but was blocked by it. (End of chapter)