If this continued, he would lose.
Seeing victory within their grasp, the two brothers also charged forward with their spear artifacts, though they kept a moderate distance, continuously flinging talismans to harass their opponent.
In the shadows, Wang Yu felt no urgency. He knew the Five Yin Peak cultivator had not yet exhausted his abilities. The Thousand Ghost Banner had only revealed half its power, and his Lifebound Spirit Ghost had yet to make an appearance. This was the true trump card of a Five Yin Peak disciple.
Sure enough.
Carrying the Flood Dragon inner core, which he had already swallowed, was slightly impeding the flow of his True Qi. Now, facing the intensified attacks and finding it increasingly difficult to cope, he could no longer afford to worry about injuries. He took a blast of fire head-on, using the impact to propel himself backward and create distance.
"Ghost Subjugation Art: The Long-Tongued Yin Maiden!"
The moment his spirit seal struck his forehead, the Yin mist swirling around him boiled violently. His Lifebound Spirit Ghost was particularly unique, not something he revealed lightly.
The so-called 'Long-Tongued Yin Maiden' referred to a maiden who had died by hanging. His was especially fierce, clad in red robes. The moment it attached to him, its pale, slick tongue, reminiscent of a toad's, extended dozens of meters, tightly binding one of the empowered Horned Flame Leopards. Under the erosion of the ghostly energy, the spirit beast's flames were instantly snuffed out.
Like a swinging meteor hammer, the cultivator swung his head, smashing the bound leopard hard into the other one on the ground. The ghostly skulls from the Thousand Ghost Banner automatically swarmed together.
In this state of Malicious Spirit Possession, they transformed into white, bone-like ropes, more flexible than human arms.
They shot through the air at an invisible speed, directly looping around the neck of the older brother. Panicking, the older brother tried to break free, but with a gentle tug from the cultivator's hand, his head toppled from his shoulders.
The wound was perfectly smooth, with no blood flowing out, but the light in his eyes had unmistakably faded.
The younger brother, horrified, tried to retreat, but the slick, long tongue swiftly lashed toward him. Left with no choice, he raised his spear to meet it.
The speed of the reversal was enough to shock any onlooker. The methods of this Ghost Subjugation Path cultivator were truly bizarre and unpredictable. The clear disadvantage was overturned the moment his Lifebound Spirit Ghost was summoned.
Watching this, Wang Yu frowned. Situ Hong's techniques were not nearly this powerful.
"Something's wrong... How can the gap be so vast?"
"He died in a single encounter... Another case of informational disparity?"
His gaze fell upon the two Horned Flame Leopards lying on the ground. Their auras were feeble, but they didn't seem grievously injured. If the older brother was truly dead, his Lifebound Spirit Beast, while not dying immediately, should have been severely wounded.
Yet they were fine.
Once suspicion took root, Wang Yu activated his Lunar Gaze. In this state, he could perceive Yin-based phenomena invisible to the normal eye.
"Just as I thought."
From this different perspective, the scene took on another appearance. The 'decapitated' older brother was actually suspended stiffly in mid-air, a female ghost in red robes using her tongue to tightly bind his neck—his face was already a dark purple from suffocation. His limbs struggled instinctively, yet he seemed unaware of the tongue threatening his life.
The Foundation Establishment spirit beasts on the ground were trussed up like zongzi by red silk streaming from the Yin Maiden's sleeves—this was the real reason they couldn't move, not that they had been knocked unconscious.
The younger brother was there, performing spear techniques, expending his True Qi recklessly. All those spear energies were being launched into empty air. His movements grew faster, his face paler.
Only the Foundation Establishment deacon from Five Yin Peak remained in his seal-forming posture, his eyes entirely white, as if he too had lost his conscious awareness.
"An illusion..."
"To achieve this level... I'm affected even from this distance. If not for the unique nature of the Lunar Gaze, it would be hard to break free."
"It seems this is the special innate ability of the 〈Long-Tongued Yin Maiden〉. No wonder he held it back. This illusion affects not only the enemies but also the caster himself. His main body is left unprotected, making it a final, desperate card."
Powerful as it was, they likely never imagined a mere eighth-level Qi Refining cultivator would dare to follow them. Nor would they expect this illusion to be useless against Wang Yu.
"Isn't this my opportunity?"
His heart stirred. Wang Yu immediately made a decision. Fortune favors the bold. He would do it!
He swiftly retrieved a mask from his storage pouch and changed his clothes. The perfected Night Concealment Charm condensed rapidly, its spiritual power forming a dark sigil upon the mask. His toes tapped lightly on the mountain rocks, propelling him upwards as his flying sword settled beneath his feet.
Simultaneously, his left arm was covered by the gray-black Profound Yin Hand. In an instant, he arrived behind the Five Yin Peak cultivator.
The crescent moon mark in his eyes shone brightly. Locking onto his target, he struck without hesitation.
As a core inheritance of the Netherworld View, it was almost unheard of for an outsider to know this technique. A high-grade second-tier art, trained to the minor accomplishment stage. It was enough to shatter the cultivator's hastily re-erected protective True Qi barrier.
*SQUELCH—*
The Profound Yin Hand plunged in from behind, shattering the spine and burrowing into the flesh. It seized the third-rank Flood Dragon inner core, tearing it out along with a mass of flesh and unidentifiable organ fragments.
"AAAAAGHHH!!!"
The scream from the Five Yin Peak deacon was one of pure agony. He was like Li Tieguai from legend, whose soul returned from travel only to find his body destroyed. With such a devastating injury, he lost all feeling in his lower body. The illusion was broken, and he suffered the backlash from the Long-Tongued Yin Maiden.
Blood poured from his seven orifices as he lost all his senses. His True Qi began to run wild, attacking everything around him indiscriminately. Wang Yu had initially thought to grab the storage pouch as well, but seeing this scene, he dared not be greedy any longer.
He immediately fled toward Spider Mountain.
Not far away, the older brother, who had just awakened from the illusion and was still gasping for air, hadn't noticed the abnormality. The younger brother, who had expended most of his spiritual power, spotted Wang Yu's fleeing figure.
His mind quickly pieced together the full picture of events. He gave chase almost instinctively, only turning his head after a few moments to shout, "Elder Brother, finish off that Foundation Establishment cultivator and bring the Flame Leopards! Follow me!"
With that, he pursued with all his might.
Bodily flight was one of the marvels of the Foundation Establishment stage. When paired with a dedicated flight art, a cultivator's agility and speed in the air increased dramatically, existing on a completely different level from the movement arts of Qi Refining. It was also far faster than using a flight artifact.
The flying sword Wang Yu was using was merely loot, old and far from top-grade. He hadn't even covered twenty *li* before he was caught.
From a distance, an energy spear shot toward him, which he blocked with his high-grade artifact, the Black Scale Shield.
"Qi Refining stage?"
This action also exposed his Qi Refining cultivation. The younger brother was overjoyed. He had wondered who was so audacious—it turned out to be an ignorant Qi Refining cultivator who didn't know his place.
"Thief! Hand over the Flood Dragon inner core and I might spare your life!"
His ambition and greed surged rapidly. After all, he was the only one who had given chase. It would likely take his elder brother some time to finish off the severely wounded Reverse Spirit Blood Sect deacon. That was more than enough time for him to kill this little thief and take the Flood Dragon inner core for himself. Thinking this, he continued to push his body, squeezing out more True Qi, and his speed increased yet again.
**(End of Chapter)**