I knew Shangguan Yunhao would come to such an end. Ren Yufeng detested talented sect disciples the most, and Shangguan Yunhao was precisely that type of person. How could Ren Yufeng possibly cooperate with him sincerely?
Not only did he lack self-awareness, but he was also as stupid as a pig. Falling into such a state, Shangguan Yunhao had no one to blame but himself.
However, seeing his corpse, a trace of sorrow still flickered across the faces of Elders Qingyi and Qingmiao. After all, this was a disciple they had nurtured for over a hundred years. Witnessing him meet his end at another's hands, how could they remain unmoved?
Ren Yufeng looked at the female cultivators before him and gave a sinister smile. "He's dead. Now it's your turn!"
Elder Qingmiao pushed Wei Haolan toward Mo Tiange behind her, flicked the golden rope in her hand, and sneered, "It's not certain whose turn it is yet!"
"Then let's find out!" Ren Yufeng once again summoned his Demonic Qi.
Seeing them engage once more, Mo Tiange supported Wei Haolan and moved to a corner. "Sect Leader Wei, are you alright?"
Wei Haolan coughed up a mouthful of blood and spoke with difficulty, "I..."
"Don't speak for now!" Mo Tiange took out a healing pill and fed it to her. "With the two elders here, focus on healing your injuries first."
Wei Haolan nodded, swallowed the pill, and said no more. She sat down cross-legged.
Mo Tiange looked up and saw Elders Qingyi and Qingmiao locked in fierce combat with Ren Yufeng. In the current situation, although Ren Yufeng was strong, the two elders were not at a disadvantage. Moreover, their coordination was excellent, giving them the greater chance of victory.
But Mo Tiange felt something was off. Ren Yufeng was too confident. If his initial confidence stemmed from colluding with Shangguan Yunhao, he clearly hadn't regarded Shangguan Yunhao highly at all. He had probably just wanted to learn about the Bixuan Pavilion's situation from him and use him to break the sect's restriction arrays.
So the question arose: where did his confidence come from?
Mo Tiange couldn't figure it out.
But she had never been one to sit and wait for death. Feeling something was wrong, she took out a simple array formation from her bosom and set up a Four Symbols Hundred Flowers Formation around her.
Then, she placed several Magical Treasures and magical tools in the most accessible positions. The talismans and treasures Dao Lord Jinghe had prepared for her were also clenched in her hand. Afterward, she carefully observed their battle. If a life-threatening moment arose, she planned to directly escape into the Void Heaven Realm.
Although she possessed many treasures, the gap between the Core Formation stage and the Foundation Establishment stage was too vast. If Elders Qingyi and Qingmiao couldn't hold on, she could only prioritize saving her own life.
Elders Qingyi and Qingmiao coordinated extremely well. Elder Qingyi's jade vase focused on defense, while Elder Qingmiao's golden rope focused on attack. The two advanced and retreated, attacked and defended, leaving not a single gap. Ren Yufeng couldn't gain any advantage, and impatience showed on his face.
After fighting for a while, Ren Yufeng finally couldn't bear it any longer. He blocked Elder Qingmiao's attack with a surge of Demonic Qi and said coldly, "You two old women are quite capable. It seems I'll have to use my ultimate move!"
Mo Tiange watched intently. She suspected Ren Yufeng must have something to rely on, but she didn't know what technique he had cultivated.
Elder Qingyi acted as before, sprinkling a mist of Spiritual Qi from her willow branch, transforming it into protective spiritual light.
Ren Yufeng sneered coldly. "A grain of rice dares to compete with the sun and moon? Let me show you my methods!"
With that, his hands formed a series of seals. A stream of pure Demonic Qi filled his entire body, instantly swirling around him.
This Demonic Qi was unusual. Mo Tiange stared at Ren Yufeng and saw his entire aura suddenly change. It seemed... as if his cultivation had skyrocketed in an instant. But she wasn't a Core Formation cultivator and couldn't discern exactly what stage Ren Yufeng's cultivation had risen to.
"Qingmiao, Mystic Turtle Shield!" Elder Qingyi reacted quickly, immediately shouting.
Elder Qingmiao promptly took out an extremely small shield-shaped Magical Treasure. With a flick of her hand, the shield flew into the air and instantly enlarged.
"Hmph!" Ren Yufeng looked coldly at the scene before him. "Overestimating yourselves."
Seeing the look in his eyes, Mo Tiange instinctively took out her white silk handkerchief, transforming it into a brick wall to shield herself.
Ren Yufeng made his move. The Demonic Qi sphere smashed out once more, but its momentum was far more powerful than the last time.
With a "boom," the Demonic Qi collided with Elder Qingyi's Spiritual Qi mist and Elder Qingmiao's Mystic Turtle Shield.
Mo Tiange felt her head spin, and her entire body flew backward uncontrollably, crashing against the wall.
After a moment, she struggled to get up, her eyes filled with deep apprehension.
This aura was definitely not early Core Formation! It seemed Ren Yufeng must have cultivated some secret technique in the past few months to possess such means.
If she hadn't set up the Four Symbols Hundred Flowers Formation earlier and used the white silk handkerchief as a shield, she definitely wouldn't have escaped with just minor injuries now. Her life would likely have ended right here.
Ever since obtaining the white silk handkerchief, she had even faced a fifth-rank demonic beast head-on. But never before had blocking an attack left her so severely wounded.
"Cough!" She wasn't the only one severely injured. Behind her, Wei Haolan, who was already seriously wounded, tilted her head and lost consciousness.
Mo Tiange turned her head. Elders Qingyi and Qingmiao were still standing, but one's Magical Treasure was shattered, and she was still in a state of shock. The other was already injured and now vomited a mouthful of fresh blood, her face deathly pale.
"You..." Elder Qingyi stared at Ren Yufeng before her. "What kind of evil art is this?!"
Ren Yufeng looked at the scene before him with satisfaction, taking step after step forward. "Who said it's a demonic path technique? I am the son of the Divine Dragon. This is a Divine Dragon secret technique!"
"Divine Dragon secret technique?" Elder Qingmiao regained her senses and glared at him angrily. "Covered in Demonic Qi, yet you dare call yourself the son of the Divine Dragon? Shameless!"
"You—" Ren Yufeng raised his hand again, his face filled with fury.
Elders Qingyi and Qingmiao simultaneously went on guard. Their defensive Magical Treasure was shattered, and they weren't cultivators with abundant resources. They could only reluctantly take out defensive talismans now.
But Ren Yufeng didn't attack with Demonic Qi as before. Instead, he smiled strangely. "It would be a real pity not to let you witness this!"
Witness what?
Mo Tiange couldn't guess his meaning yet. She only saw Ren Yufeng extend his hand and shout loudly, "Rise!"
In an instant, Elders Qingyi and Qingmiao were greatly alarmed!
They saw the Death Qi lingering around them suddenly come to life, churning and surging!
This Death Qi slowly drifted toward them, coiling around their bodies.
Elders Qingyi and Qingmiao were astonished. They took a step back, and the Death Qi followed them a step. They tried to use Spiritual Qi to repel this Death Qi, but it easily penetrated their defenses.
"Senior Sister!" Qingmiao panicked slightly.
Although Qingyi was calmer, her injuries were much more severe, and she was unable to exert her full strength.
The Death Qi drew closer and closer, almost invading their bodies. They could already feel the peculiar nature of this Death Qi—cold, icy, lifeless, and utterly chilling.
"Senior Sister, what is this?!"
Elder Qingyi's face was pale, but her gaze was one of immense shock. "This is Death Qi, Death Qi! I understand now..."
Death Qi? Mo Tiange was stunned. Some black Qi also lingered around her body and was now approaching her.
"That's right! This person cultivates Death Qi! Death Qi absorbed from the dead!" No wonder disciples had been disappearing recently. They were probably being used to practice this evil technique!
Elder Qingmiao also knew what Death Qi was, and her face instantly turned deathly pale.
Death Qi was actually a special type of Spiritual Qi. Mortals called life energy 'yang qi' and death energy 'yin qi,' but the cultivation world didn't see it that way. Life energy could be yin or yang; most people's life energy cycled between yin and yang. But Death Qi was different. It existed outside the Five Elements and beyond yin and yang.
Therefore, humans had no way to come into contact with Death Qi. Contact with Death Qi would lead to gradual corrosion, eventually losing life and becoming a corpse.
As the name implied, Death Qi was an aura that could only survive on the dead.
Nowadays, the righteous and demonic paths had been separated for too long. No one knew if the demonic path could cultivate Death Qi, but they knew the righteous path absolutely could not cultivate Death Qi!
"Senior Sister!" Elder Qingmiao panicked. "What should we do?"
Elder Qingyi wasn't much better off, but she was somewhat calmer. After thinking for a moment, she gritted her teeth. "Dantian True Fire. Death Qi fears fire!"
But with Ren Yufeng right before them, how could they find the time to refine the Death Qi invading their bodies?
"Two Senior Sisters!" It was Elder Qingxi who emerged. Her face was bloodless, and her body seemed to float unsteadily. Clearly, her Spiritual Qi hadn't recovered yet. "I'll hold him off!"
"Junior Sister Qingxi!"
Elder Qingxi said nothing. A flower basket appeared in her hand. The flowers inside seemed freshly picked, their fragrance wafting forth.
"Hmph!" Ren Yufeng, however, didn't regard Elder Qingxi highly. He sneered coldly, Demonic Qi winding and coiling between his fingers.
Elder Qingxi's expression was grave. She reached into the flower basket and scattered a handful of petals!
These petals were clearly light and airy, yet they carried surging Spiritual Qi as they drifted forth, heading straight for Ren Yufeng's face.
Ren Yufeng's face darkened. He raised his hand, Demonic Qi gathering between his fingers.
The moment the petals encountered this Demonic Qi, several soft "hiss" sounds were heard. In an instant, all the petals corroded and turned black!
Elder Qingxi's expression changed. "You..."
"Hahahaha!" Ren Yufeng threw his head back and laughed. "Overestimating yourselves!" He flicked his sleeve, and a stream of black Qi shot out, coiling around Elder Qingxi.
"Ah!" Elder Qingxi cried out in pain, dropping the flower basket from her hand.
Seeing this scene, Mo Tiange hardened her heart and touched the center of her brow. If the three elders couldn't hold him off, she would only lose her life for nothing. It was better to escape into the Void Heaven Realm to hide for a while.
The pearl at her brow emitted a bright light. She silently recited an incantation, sending a stream of Spiritual Qi out. Instantly, this light enveloped her.
The light quickly dissipated. Mo Tiange thought she was already inside the Void Heaven Realm, but the next moment, she was greatly shocked.
She was still in the same place!
She hadn't entered the Void Heaven Realm. What had gone wrong?
Mo Tiange's face turned deathly pale. She touched her brow again, summoning the pearl. The pearl still glowed, but after casting the spell, there was still no reaction.
She panicked instantly. Why couldn't she enter the Void Heaven Realm? This was her final life-saving method. If she couldn't enter, what should she do?
Suddenly, her arm ached. She looked down and saw a faint, almost imperceptible strand of Death Qi coiling around it. Understanding dawned in her mind.
Death Qi! This Death Qi had damaged her Primordial Chaos Body. Her body could no longer form a state of chaos, so the Void Heaven Realm couldn't open!
But now, the three elders were clearly unable to hold on any longer. With Ren Yufeng's current twisted personality, he definitely wouldn't spare her life.
What to do, what to do? Watching the scene before her, cold sweat dripped down Mo Tiange's back.