Hiss! A colossal flying snake appeared out of nowhere, spreading its wings and blotting out the sun. It blocked the last Heavenly Flame Arrow with its colossal body.
Boom~ The divine arrow exploded, opening a wound dozens of meters long on the snake’s belly. The wound was so deep that one could see bone, and blood flowed profusely. The snake was seriously injured by the attack.
“Little Black, you didn’t have to. This arrow wouldn’t have killed me.” A hint of red rose in Wu Yuan’s eyes, killing intent welling up in his heart.
How deep was the bond they had formed over the years? The bond he had with Little Black was deeper than with Fang Xia, Bu Yu, and many others, second only to his mother and sister. Little Black was unequivocally Wu Yuan’s most trusted companion in his heart.
Wu Yuan hadn’t given any orders; Little Black had voluntarily stepped into the fray. All to shield his master from this terrifying blow.
“Master, I have my eldritch armor and Veiled Serpent Plume. I won’t die. But you must not be injured again. Otherwise, your ether art foundation will be significantly damaged and recovery will be troublesome,” Little Black’s voice had weakened significantly, yet it still resonated with a murderous intent, “Master, kill them all.”
Buzz~ With a swift motion, Little Black’s massive form shrunk before merging back into Wu Yuan’s body.
But Wu Yuan could feel it; the support provided by Little Black in the Beast Fusion state had greatly diminished.
Ether circulated, and the wounds on Wu Yuan’s body rapidly healed. His four arms, previously torn apart, regenerated.
After reaching the seventh-stage Spiritual Body phase, along with Wu Yuan’s strong immortal root, one could say that as long as his head and soul chamber remained intact, he could rapidly recover from any injury as long as his ether wasn’t exhausted.
Boom! Wu Yuan Celestial Body Domain surrounded him, and his momentum did not falter.
He’s not dead? Inside the fiery beast, Ying Quan was flabbergasted. He couldn’t believe that he wasn’t able to kill a Spiritual Body cultivator despite unleashing nine Heavenly Flame Arrows with the array’s full might.
Furthermore, that giant snake that showed up at the end blocked what would’ve been a devastating blow to Wu Yuan. This was not within his expectations.
Flee! After only a brief moment of hesitation, the fiery beast turned tail and fled as swiftly as lightning. The flying boat hovering in the sky also began to retreat.
Escape was the only option! Ying Quan was well and truly petrified by Wu Yuan’s strength.
Nine consecutive Heavenly Flame Arrows depleted over seventy percent of Wu Yuan’s ether, but the twenty or so Golden Core cultivators in the divine flame array were also greatly weakened. The power of the coordination array was significantly diminished as well.
And Wu Yuan? Despite being injured and drained of most of his ether, he had not suffered a fatal wound. As long as he retained some ether, he could quickly recover his combat power.
Furthermore, as a body refiner, even if all his ether was exhausted and he couldn’t employ ether arts, he still had a powerful physique that could erupt with astonishing combat power.
If not for this, how could a body refiner be called a god of war? Hence, it was not surprising that Ying Quan chose to flee.
Flee? Wu Yuan maintained the three ether arts. The ether within his body was consumed voraciously. His wings shook behind him, emitting a hazy light.
Wu Yuan’s speed instantly soared to an unimaginably horrifying extent, far surpassing the fiery beast.
Advanced ether art—Realm Crossing!
“This?” Ying Quan turned pale.
“This speed?” The other Golden Core cultivators from the Huoyan Sect were completely dumbfounded.
They had never witnessed such terrifying flight speed. Even their own ancestor would likely only be able to reach this speed at most.
This? In terms of speed, he’s almost caught up with me. How many ether arts has he cultivated? Daoist Long, watching the battle from afar, was also shaken.
The lifebound spirit beasts raised by ordinary qi refiners were generally very weak. Such lifebound spirit beasts usually only possessed an immortal root of the lower three degrees.
In terms of rarity, such a powerful lifebound Teng Snake was probably comparable to immortal cultivators with a first-degree immortal root.
One had to understand that lifebound Teng Snakes usually had a fourth-degree immortal root.
But over the years, both Wu Yuan and Little Black made rapid progress.
Although Little Black was inferior to cultivators with the same immortal root degree as it shared its soul chamber with Wu Yuan, cultivating an advanced ether art more than compensated for it.
Of course, it could only cultivate one advanced ether art at the moment.
A regular body refiner at the Spiritual Body phase with a third-degree immortal root could cultivate two basic ether arts, and one advanced ether art.
But this ether art, Realm Crossing, was an upgrade of the basic ether art Deity Step, and a movement technique that specialized in speed. Combined with the Teng Snake’s talent, it was as if a tiger grew wings, almost reaching the level of a grand ether art.
Legends said that when Realm Crossing was cultivated to its peak, one could traverse a vast world in one step, treating the boundless void as if it were flat ground.
Realm Crossing wasn’t of much use in the frontal battle earlier, so Wu Yuan did not reveal it. But now, in pursuit?
“Die!” Like a bolt of lightning, Wu Yuan caught up in less than a breath.
With his four arms nearly restored, he charged forward. Like divine sabers, they slashed at the fiery beast’s chest.
To kill the enemy, aim for the head, but to dismantle a coordination array, one must target the chest first. Usually, the array’s core and the lead array controller were located there.
“Damn it!” The fiery beast was forced to counter, reluctantly swinging its four arms to meet Wu Yuan.
“Wu Yuan, let’s have a ceasefire, we can talk it out,” Ying Quan urgently transmitted his voice. “Please, let’s stop fighting.”
Wu Yuan turned a deaf ear to the urgent pleas.
Ceasefire? First, they slaughtered his scouting team, and then, their army marched to his doorstep. Yet, once they couldn’t win, they wanted a ceasefire? As if he would agree!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The two sides clashed like lightning, collisions echoing again and again.
With Wu Yuan’s Dao comprehension, his battle skills were far beyond Ying Quan’s.
The fiery beast was weakened significantly after using the Heavenly Flame Bow continuously. Every collision sent the fiery beast flying. The terrifying shockwaves penetrated the array, injuring Golden Core cultivators within and further shrinking the beast’s aura.
Boom~ Another massive collision.
Wu Yuan’s saber-hand evaded a limb of the fiery beast and cut deep into its chest with an eerie precision.
Rip~ The seemingly sturdy chest of the fiery beast was instantly sliced open by the saber-hand. A massive cavity formed, akin to a gutted animal.
A dense eruption of spiritual qi spurted out from the beast’s chest, revealing the terrified Golden Core cultivators inside.
Boom! Another chop landed on the fiery beast. Like a battle saber, it slashed through its body, instantly striking the Golden Core cultivators in its path.
Splat~ Splat~ Splat~
The bodies of six Golden Core cultivators exploded. All of them died on the spot!
Even Ying Quan, a ninth-stage Golden Core cultivator and sect leader of the Huoyan Sect, died in the strike. His face was still contorted in shock and fury.
In close combat, a qi refiner couldn’t withstand a single strike from a body refiner.
Rumble~ At this point, the so-called Divine Flame Array completely collapsed, revealing the twenty-one surviving Golden Core cultivators inside.
All of them wanted nothing more than to flee. Facing Wu Yuan, their will to fight had completely evaporated.
Suppress! With a thought from Wu Yuan, the vast Celestial Body Domain expanded, shrouding heaven and earth. An irresistible force pulled the fleeing Golden Core cultivators back, as if they were mortals caught in a dark whirlpool.
Forget escape, some of the weaker Golden Core cultivators were even swept towards Wu Yuan by the flickering, earthy-yellow qi currents.
“No!”
“We were wrong, we shouldn’t have come to the Middle Land.”
“How can a Spiritual Body cultivator amass such immense power in just a few decades?”
“What monstrous prodigy has our Huoyan Sect provoked?” Despair seeped into each and every Golden Core cultivator of the Huoyan Sect. They were completely powerless to resist.
Wu Yuan’s killing intent did not falter in the least. Since they chose war, there would be no mercy.
Each palm strike was like a blade ray, each one signifying the fall of a Golden Core cultivator.
His qi refiner self could kill a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator with his Domain alone. However, the ether of his body refiner self could not be combined with his Domain.
Despite his fierce close-combat skills, his long-range attacks were much weaker, barely able to kill a novice Golden Core cultivator.
At the moment, no one in the Huoyan Sect’s army could withstand Wu Yuan.
Such was the fate of immortal cultivators. The weak could form arrays to resist the strong, but without an array, no matter how great their numbers, struggling was futile.
Finally, Wu Yuan single-handedly annihilated sixteen Golden Core cultivators, sweeping clean all mid-stage and late Golden Core cultivators.
Only eleven early-stage Golden Core cultivators from the Huoyan Sect remained, shivering as they fought desperately to escape from the Domain. Yet, they are trapped in layers of earthy yellow qi currents, unable to break free.
Wu Yuan finally ceased his attacks.
“Listen up. Relinquish ownership over all your artifacts and hand them over. Then, seal your own qi seas. If you do so, I may spare your lives and send you to the Bloodforge. You might stand a chance of survival there.” Wu Yuan said coldly. “If you still dare to resist, it means you choose death.”
“I will give you one breath’s time to make your decision!”