With Ning Fa's words falling silent, a faint white light flashed twenty feet away from him. The void then trembled, and a transparent jade umbrella, several feet wide, slowly appeared.
Beneath the umbrella, several figures slowly revealed themselves. It was Huangfu Hong, Shen Xinlan, Pei Nanshu, and the others.
All three of them looked at Ning Fa with expressions of surprise and uncertainty, disbelief in their eyes.
Huangfu Hong said sternly, "You're not injured?"
Ning Fa's vital energy was full, and his powerful spiritual pressure was like an abyss or the sea. Even they, Great Cultivators, felt as if they were facing a high mountain. How could he possibly look injured?
Pei Nanshu's expression also abruptly turned extremely unpleasant.
Shen Xinlan's delicate brows furrowed, her gaze darting between Ning Fa and Ji Lianxing beside him. With a somber expression, she asked, "Lianxing, what is going on?"
Ji Lianxing looked at her and smiled charmingly, "Master, your disciple has seen the light. Ning Daoyou promised to take me as a concubine, which is much better than being traded like an item to that Old Ghost Mo by you, my respected Master, hee hee."
Ning Fa glanced at the woman indifferently. He had never promised to take her as a concubine, yet she giggled at him.
"You already know?" Shen Xinlan said incredulously.
The expressions of the other two immediately became even more unpleasant.
Judging by this, Ji Lianxing had already betrayed them. Therefore, the information she had previously sent was undoubtedly false, such as Ning Fa being severely injured.
When the three saw Ning Fa completely unharmed and leisurely, a chill rose from their hearts. Pei Nanshu, in particular, while his face was grim, a hint of fear flickered in his eyes, and he already had thoughts of retreating. Especially when Ning Fa's calm yet sharp gaze swept over him, it made his heart tremble. He involuntarily took a small step back, cursing Shen Xinlan, the Vice Palace Master of Wushi Demonic Palace, for being so unreliable.
At this moment, a cold glint flashed in Huangfu Hong's phoenix eyes, and she said sternly, "He is only one person. If the three of us join forces, are we still afraid of him?"
Huangfu Hong's words steadied the somewhat flustered Shen Xinlan and Pei Nanshu. No matter how great Ning Fa's reputation was, he had not yet advanced to the late Nascent Soul stage, and he was only one person. If the three of them joined forces, they clearly had the advantage. With this thought, killing intent surged within them.
Ning Fa, however, looked behind the three. Behind Huangfu Hong and the others were three more people: a beautiful woman with silver hair, a pretty woman in a red dress, and a strong woman with bulging muscles, shaped like a mountain. These three women were all at the early to middle Nascent Soul stage, and their auras were strange.
Ning Fa stared intently at the silver-haired woman, his gaze slightly narrowing, because this woman was Tianyou, whom he hadn't seen in a long time. However, like the other two women, she appeared indifferent, as if she had no consciousness at all. Even looking at him, she showed no reaction. Combined with what Fairy Liyue had said earlier, it was clear that Tianyou had become a Sha Puppet of Yuan Cha Gate.
Ning Fa's killing intent surged, and he looked at Huangfu Hong as if she were already dead.
Huangfu Hong sneered, "What? Are you angry because you see your old flame in this state? Heh heh, if Ning Huarong wasn't so useful to our sect, I would have refined her into a Sha Puppet too and brought her to see you today. Later, I will have Tianyou personally cut off your head!"
Ning Fa's expression became calm, but his gaze, like he was looking at a dead thing, made the three of them feel uncomfortable.
Pei Nanshu sneered, "Ning Fa, you are truly arrogant. Knowing that we are here to deal with you, you still dare to lure us here. Today, I will not only kill you, but when I return to Cangyuan, I will also wipe out your entire clan." As he spoke, Pei Nanshu's appearance of immortal grace vanished, replaced by a look of ferocious killing intent.
Ning Fa's eyes suddenly turned cold, and he said expressionlessly, "Good, for that statement alone, even if Daoist Xu Yuan tries to stop me, I will kill your entire Pei Family."
Pei Nanshu paused, but his killing intent grew even stronger.
At this moment, Shen Xinlan stared intently at Ji Lianxing, "Good disciple, return to my side now, and I can overlook what you've done. I can say you were forced by Ning Fa. Don't be foolish; he is just one person and cannot possibly be our opponent."
Ji Lianxing, however, smiled charmingly, her jade-like face blooming, and she moved even closer to Ning Fa.
At this moment, a strange look flashed in Ning Fa's eyes, and he chuckled softly, "Who says I'm alone?" With a thought, flashes of light appeared around him, and four figures successively emerged. They were Lan Dian, Little Ice, Hei Yu, and Baili Ming.
Seeing this, Huangfu Hong and the other two were dumbfounded. Although they knew Ning Fa had two shapeshifting spiritual beasts, what about the other two? One of them was wearing a black and gold robe, with a calm expression and a special triangular spiritual pattern on his forehead; he was at the early Nascent Soul stage.
The other person was clad in black armor, handsome and extraordinary, appearing to be only in his twenties or thirties, but his spiritual pressure was incredibly powerful.
His cultivation realm had clearly reached the late Nascent Soul stage; he was also a Great Cultivator, and obviously much stronger than an ordinary Great Cultivator.
"How is this possible? You actually hid a Great Cultivator as a helper?"
Pei Nanshu, whose face was full of grim killing intent, said with a sudden pale face, his body involuntarily retreating another small step.
At this, even the usually calm Huangfu Hong had a trace of shock and fear in her eyes.
Shen Xinlan was not faring any better.
At this moment, the three of them finally understood why Ning Fa had feigned injury to lure them here. It turned out he had such powerful helpers!
Judging by the situation, he clearly intended to capture all three of them!
Ji Lianxing was also dumbfounded. She finally understood why Ning Fa hadn't let Sang Wen, Xiao Pengyuan, and the others stay behind. It turned out he already possessed such formidable strength on his own.
"You despicable people, how dare you harbor ill intentions towards my master? Today, I, Little Ice, shall slay you all!"
Little Ice, clad in white armor with ice-white long hair, shouted as he held a white spear in his right hand.
Blue Lightning's body was enveloped in azure flames, and he held a pair of dark blue long blades in each hand, his eyes filled with intense killing intent.
Hei Yu said nothing, but the triangular spiritual pattern on his forehead was spinning rapidly, and it was faintly visible that it had gained a few more triangular faces than before.
On his exposed skin, faint streams of flowing light could be seen, as if circulating rapidly along specific patterns, making him appear mysterious and unfathomable.
Baili Ming rubbed his hands and looked at Huangfu Hong and the other two with a wicked grin, chuckling:
"It's been a long time since I last made a move, and my hands are itching for action.
Your three's strength is mediocre, barely qualifying for me to make a move."
Huangfu Hong, Shen Xinlan, and Pei Nanshu exchanged glances and said in unison, "Let's go!"
Before their voices had even faded, their figures were already flashing with escape lights, flying towards the outside of the cave.
Ning Fa did not move to stop them. Instead, he stood with his hands behind his back, a mocking smile on his face: "Even at this point, you still think of escaping? Aren't you being a little too naive?"
At this moment, Pei Nanshu, who was fleeing the fastest, had already reached the cave entrance. Just as he was about to fly out with a look of joy on his face.
Suddenly, a flash of sword light appeared at the seemingly empty cave entrance, followed by a burst of five-colored sword energy—white, green, black, red, and yellow—erupting into a halo of light.
Caught off guard, Pei Nanshu's protective spiritual light flickered, and he was immediately sent flying backward.
Huangfu Hong and Shen Xinlan, who were right behind him, fared no better, also being forced back by the sudden appearance of the five-colored sword energy.
The three of them steadied themselves and were filled with surprise and uncertainty.
They looked around and saw that the vast cave was now filled with these almost transparent, incredibly slender sword lights, flickering in and out of existence as if without any pattern.
Each time these sword lights flashed, they erupted into a dazzling halo of five-colored sword energy, beautiful yet containing deadly killing intent.
The sharp aura they emitted caused the three to change their expressions drastically with just a slight sensing.
"This is... a sword formation!" Shen Xinlan's face turned pale, her voice filled with shock.
At this moment, Pei Nanshu suppressed his shock, and with a forceful flick of his right sleeve, a yellow light shot out.
A yellow earth-colored nail, following an arcane trajectory, seemed to teleport as it flashed several times, arriving at the cave entrance.
The nail vibrated intensely, and surges of yellow runes erupted from its tip.
A tearing sound echoed, and the surrounding void, like glazed glass, revealed cracks, resembling ripples on a lake.
From this, it could be seen that this treasure was clearly no ordinary item.
Although Pei Nanshu's expression was grim, his eyes were full of confidence.
His Earth Yuan Nail was a Fourth-grade Mid-tier Magic Treasure, and it was particularly adept at breaking various barriers.
In the hundreds of years since he obtained it, it had repeatedly achieved great feats for him, and he believed that breaking this sword formation would be no problem.
Shen Xinlan and Huangfu Hong reacted only half a beat slower, also summoning several Magic Treasures and striking towards the cave entrance.
These included a bead emitting black and green energy, and a pair of black and white iron hooks.
The next moment, the transparent sword lights at the cave entrance seemed to be stimulated, rippling densely. With their fluctuations, they transformed into sword threads as fine as hair, instantly enveloping the yellow earth-colored nail.
These sword threads rapidly switched between white, green, black, red, and yellow, and at the same time, their attributes also switched between the Five Elements of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth.
The streams of energy formed by yellow earth runes released from the tip of the yellow earth-colored nail, under the cutting of these sword threads, disintegrated without much resistance.
More sword threads had already wrapped around the main body of the yellow earth-colored nail. Its surface flashed with yellow light, attempting to resist the cutting of the sword threads.
However, the yellow light it emitted was like oil on a raging fire in front of these sword threads. Not only did it dissipate, but some of it was even absorbed by the sword threads, causing them to thicken slightly.
With a few explosive sounds, the Earth Yuan Nail, a treasure of considerable grade, first flashed with yellow light several times, then directly exploded under the cutting of these sword threads, turning into countless fragments.
The sword threads, flashing with five-colored sword light, then vanished into the void.