Chapter 8

The four Demon Sect disciples had already surrounded them, blocking all four directions. They were dressed entirely in black robes, and from their sleeves they shook out clouds of black smoke. In an instant, heaven and earth changed color, covered by a gloomy, bone-chilling aura.

In this situation, none of them could leave.

Wei Hanzhen’s eyelid twitched. She said in a low voice, “The spiritual mechanism of the entry talisman has been blocked.”

The Demon Sect disciples had indeed come prepared. Most likely, they had used this same method against the other Orthodox cultivators.

“If we can’t escape, then we can only fight.” She sighed.

Wuchen frowned and looked at Wei Hanzhen and Yun Chiyue. “It would be best to deal with them before the Demon Sect reinforcements arrive.”

A black-red light flashed in her hand. It was clearly an ancient carved bow.

The four Demon Sect disciples attacked at the same time. A ring of brilliant green light appeared around them, then slammed fiercely toward Wei Hanzhen and the other two.

The arrow light collided with the green radiance [unauthorized copy]that could corrode metal and dissolve iron. As their spiritual powers clashed, raging waves and violent surges erupted.

Yun Chiyue plucked her strings. The sound of the guqin pierced clouds and split stone, rising and falling like ocean waves as it surged toward one of the Demon Sect disciples.

However, that Demon Sect disciple had come prepared. With a cold laugh, he took out a soul banner. As he formed hand seals and shook it, the sky turned dark and the earth grew bleak. Countless ghosts wailed, stabbing at the souls of everyone present.

Yun Chiyue and Wuchen each faced one opponent, while the remaining two Demon Sect disciples stared warily at Wei Hanzhen.

This female cultivator wearing a silver butterfly mask carried an intense, soaring sword intent. She was most likely a sword cultivator. The sword path was heavy with killing power, and sword escape was extremely fast. She would be difficult to deal with.

Wei Hanzhen looked at the two Demon Sect cultivators with a dark expression.

Among the techniques she cultivated, the most important were the metal and water branches. Her water technique was based on the Northern Abyss Profound Water, while her metal technique was the Taiyi Spirit-Seizing Sword Scripture. This was one of the most domineering and fierce supreme arts of Changguan Sect.

Her true body had already cultivated to Nascent Soul. She was only temporarily residing in the Golden Core realm. Naturally, her sword intent was far beyond what an ordinary Golden Core cultivator could compare to.

With a single thought, the Selfless Sword, which had long since merged with her mind and spirit, transformed into a point of sword light and swept out. In midair, it split into sixteen streaks. When it clashed with the Demon Sect cultivators, the sound of metal striking metal rang out.

The incomparably sharp sword light shot through the air like a rainbow piercing the sun. It directly tore through the [Read on BaiLianTales]green radiance and cut that Demon Sect cultivator into two pieces.

But in the next moment, a stream of black smoke rose, and a body reformed again.

It turned out that the Demon Sect cultivator had realized he was no match for her and had only left a false body behind. He looked at Wei Hanzhen with lingering fear, then exchanged a glance with his companion.

That cultivator wore a pained expression and said hatefully, “This was originally meant to deal with a sword cultivator from Changguan Sect. I never expected to use it here.”

As he spoke, he had already released a ray of magnetic light.

This was Sword-Dissolving Magnetic Light refined by a Demon Sect elder. It could disrupt the magnetic field, obstruct sword light, and he had only received one ray of it. Yet now he had to use it here.

Seeing Wei Hanzhen’s sword light obstructed, another Demon Sect disciple immediately reached forward. His hand transformed into a gigantic hand that could prop up the sky, and it slammed down toward Wei Hanzhen.

Wei Hanzhen’s face remained calm. She withdrew her sword light without the slightest concern.

Behind her, the sound of rushing water rose. Just as it was about to collide with that bloody hand, a red oil-paper umbrella suddenly appeared.

The paper umbrella spun in midair. It was not even as large as one knuckle of the giant hand, [unauthorized copy]yet dim red light shot out from its ribs, weaving into a blood-colored heavenly net.

The giant hand crashed down with a thunderous boom.

Amid the explosion, the red umbrella remained completely unmoved.

A white figure swept out. Slender fingers grasped the umbrella handle, and a pair of deep, shadowed eyes shone coldly, hiding boundless chill.

Wei Hanzhen followed the motion and looked over. The Golden Core first-level demon cultivator had already been nailed to the mountain wall by a long crimson arrow.

“Fellow Daoist Wuchen, I can still handle things on my side. Go help Junior Sister Yun.”

Wuchen hesitated for a moment. Then she nodded and flew toward the other side with the umbrella in hand.

The guqin music was forceful and righteous, a demon-subduing melody. The ghostly wails were shrill and unbearable, screams no human could endure.

Yun Chiyue’s cultivation was not as high as the Demon Sect disciple opposite her, but relying on the guqin in her hands, she could still fight him evenly. However, the slight advantage brought by her technique would be worn away as her spiritual power was consumed, and she was already beginning to show signs of being suppressed by the Demon Sect cultivator instead.

At that critical moment, Wuchen arrived.

The red paper umbrella spun in her hand, then quickly transformed back into that longbow. Pure spiritual power condensed into arrows, which suddenly scattered in midair and turned into a boundless rain of arrows. Together with the tide of guqin music, they suppressed the howls of the demons within the soul banner.

Seeing Wuchen come to assist her, Yun Chiyue gave her a grateful smile.

Then she slammed her hand against the guqin. The instrument flipped through the air as her figure darted out.

Clearly, compared with playing music, directly using her magical artifact to smash people suited her preferences better.

In less than fifteen minutes, two of the Demon Sect disciples had already fallen.

“They’re not rogue cultivators!” one of the Demon Sect disciples squeezed out through gritted teeth.

He glared hatefully at Wei Hanzhen and snapped in fury, “Changguan Sect’s Northern Abyss Profound Water! Didn’t their disciples go to search for the Penglai Qi? Why is there still a true disciple here?!”

And she was wearing that damned mask. Who could have recognized her?

They had received orders to eliminate Orthodox disciples, but the ones they were targeting were rogue cultivators and disciples of smaller sects. As for a colossus like Changguan Sect, it was naturally not time to touch them yet.

In the end, their luck was terrible. They had kicked an iron plate all at once.

Two against three. The outcome was already without suspense.

Retreat or fight?

The Demon Sect disciples hesitated only briefly before drawing up their spiritual power to the fullest, deciding to hold out until reinforcements arrived. Their goal now was no longer to kill the three of them, but only to delay for time.

Magical artifacts flew everywhere. They had no intention of leaving their lives here.

A moment later, a shrill whistle came from the horizon.

Wei Hanzhen focused her gaze and saw more than ten aggressive streams of escape smoke rushing toward them. Her eyelid twitched, and she said in a low voice, “The Demon Sect reinforcements are here.”

Wei Hanzhen did not think for a moment that she could take on that group of Demon Sect disciples. She immediately released the Cloud-Stepping Flying Ship and shouted, “Hurry, go!”

But at that moment, a stream of earthy-yellow spiritual power suddenly descended, transforming into stolen content yellow sand that tightly wrapped this stretch of heaven and earth.

The yellow sand swept fiercely over the Cloud-Stepping Flying Ship. A teeth-chilling cracking sound rang out. This yellow sand could actually grind away the restrictions on the flying ship layer by layer like metal and stone grinding iron.

“Fellow Daoists, why not stay?” A wild laugh rang out.

Immediately after, a tall, imposing man appeared. He wore a purple-gold crown and purple robes. His nose was sharp and straight, and his eyes hid indescribable malice.

Wei Hanzhen gave a cold laugh and slapped her hand against the Cloud-Stepping Flying Ship, activating all its restrictions.

“This person is Pan Shaoming, one of the Ten Demon Prodigies,” Wuchen said coldly.

The Ten Demon Prodigies had only become famous in recent years, but only a few of them had been walking outside. Among them, the brothers Pan Shaoqing and Pan Shaoming were rather well-known.

This time in Dengying Secret Realm, the Demon Sect disciples were led by the two brothers.

Seeing Wei Hanzhen frown, Wuchen’s thoughts shifted, and she understood. She continued, “Pan Shaoming is a Golden Core second-level cultivator. He also walks the path of strength. His body is like tempered steel, forged into one solid piece. Ordinary blades and swords can hardly harm him at all.”

Wei Hanzhen gave a soft “Mm.”

If ordinary blades and swords could hardly injure him, then she would switch to a killing artifact.

But the biggest problem right now was…

There were too many enemies.

The three of them could deal with four or even five opponents, but facing more than ten Demon Sect disciples, they truly did not have much chance of victory.

She had not expected Dengying Secret Realm to be such a bloody slaughterhouse.

“Fellow Daoists, there is no need to waste your strength. The spiritual mechanism of the talismans has been blocked here. You cannot leave. If you are willing to submit to my Demon Sect and establish a pact, we can spare your lives,” Pan Shaoming said with a loud laugh.

Before they set out, his elder brother had indeed given such instructions. But in his view, the bones of Orthodox disciples were stubborn. How could they easily join hands with the Demon Sect?

Along the way, he had already killed many Orthodox disciples.

Once his elder brother obtained the Penglai Qi, this Dengying Secret Realm would rightfully bailiantales.com belong to their Demon Sect!

“Though we may not be able to defeat you, Fellow Daoist thinking you can take us down is also a joke.” Wei Hanzhen sneered. “At worst, we will just drag this out here. If we can hold back some of the Demon Sect’s strength here, that will still help the Orthodox Path accomplish its goal.”

“Is that so?” Pan Shaoming narrowed his eyes.

He paid no attention to the restrictions on the flying ship and raised his spiritual power, crashing fiercely into it.

One restriction after another collapsed.

Wei Hanzhen took Danyu from her storage pouch and scattered them over the flying ship as if they cost nothing, urging the restrictions to repair themselves and continue operating.

Yun Chiyue clicked her tongue at the sight. “Are all Changguan Sect disciples this wealthy?”

Wuchen looked at her, her expression complicated. “No.”

Yun Chiyue’s eyes shifted. She looked at Wuchen with a bright smile. “How do you know? Could it be that you’re also a disciple of Changguan Sect?”

She had only asked casually.

Who would have thought that Wei Hanzhen would also suddenly turn around and stare intently at her, asking, “Why do you say that?”

Wuchen also fixed her gaze on Yun Chiyue, her eyes cold enough to make one shiver.

Yun Chiyue was startled by both of their reactions and hurriedly waved her hands. “I was just guessing! I can’t tell what sect Fellow Daoist Wuchen’s techniques belong to.”

Wei Hanzhen’s delaying tactic was clearly effective.

They had no goal inside Dengying Secret Realm, but Pan Shaoming was different. The Demon Sect disciples had split into two groups. His elder brother had gone to compete for the Penglai Qi, while he remained here to intercept and kill Orthodox disciples.

If he delayed the opportunity simply for the sake of three people, no matter how he looked at it, it would not be worth it.

But if he left like this, Pan Shaoming could not swallow this anger.

Just as he was hesitating, thunderous booms echoed through the air, and heaven and earth seemed to tremble.

Pan Shaoming looked downward, and his expression abruptly sharpened. He roared, unauthorized copy “Go! Hurry, go!”

In the valley, a demonic beast covered in scales slowly walked out. Its eyes were blood-red, and the single horn atop its head glinted coldly. Judging from its aura, it was clearly at Golden Core great perfection.

Dengying Secret Realm suppressed demonic beasts, preventing them from ever breaking through to Nascent Soul. But this demonic beast, infinitely close to Golden Core great perfection, was still an extremely troublesome existence.

Among them, the highest cultivation was only Golden Core second level. None of them were a match for this demonic beast!

Pan Shaoming did not want to waste disciples here and immediately roared his order.

The yellow sand swept up, already carrying away the disciples below who had been shaken dizzy.

Wuchen looked down from the flying ship and said in a low voice, “A scaled rhinoceros at Golden Core perfection.”

After a pause, she added, “Where it appears, a spirit plant called Scale Armor Grass grows. It is one of the superior external medicines needed for core formation.”

Wei Hanzhen’s gaze sharpened, and countless thoughts flashed through her mind.

Although finding external core-forming medicine for Qingsheng bailiantales.com had only been an excuse, since fate had brought her across it, she had to think of a way to obtain it.

That scaled rhinoceros paid no attention to anyone else’s presence. It walked all the way to the extinguished bonfire and sniffed around. After knocking over the frame, it directly tore into the remaining pieces of roasted meat.

Wei Hanzhen: “…”