Just as Gong Chenying and her group had rushed out, in a dense forest within the Wheel of Life and Death, a small path ran through it. A team of demonic beasts was roaring and charging towards the front of the forest. The green leaves in the forest were like arrows, hitting them with a sharp whistle.
This was a team mainly composed of reptiles, but with two major clans as the main force: the Earth-Thorn Lizards and the Six-Tailed Poisonous Centipedes, as well as a few scattered powerful demonic beasts of other races. They had fought their way through, and although there were losses, they were few.
"We need to be faster, so we can rest in advance and ambush the other side like in the last stage. That team of human sword cultivators in the last stage was really hard to deal with," the leader was a late-stage Tier-2 Earth-Thorn Lizard. It was semi-upright, its body covered in dense, hard thorns, like a hard shell. Its head was the size of a bucket, and its long forked tongue would flick out from time to time. It held a pair of large broadswords. It looked at the twenty-two demonic beasts behind it and couldn't help but urge them on.
In the last stage, they had encountered the sword cultivators from the Ten-Pace Courtyard. After a fierce battle, their side had lost ten demonic beasts and four were seriously injured. But the four seriously injured ones ended up in their stomachs. They couldn't continue fighting anyway, so they might as well make a contribution. Thinking of the rain of swords flying out from the sword cases behind those cultivators, some of the demonic beasts couldn't help but feel a chill. Those sword cultivators were too terrifying. Their attacks were sharp and unparalleled. Even some of the demonic beasts here with the most natural defense didn't dare to take them head-on with their bodies. Especially some of the cultivators who didn't have sword cases on their backs, their attacks were even more terrifying. They didn't know when a sharp sword would appear in the space above their necks. It was truly impossible to defend against. A few of their companions had lost their heads in an unguarded moment. If the other side hadn't been caught off guard in an ambush, the outcome would have been hard to predict.
...
Li Yan waved his hand and released a blue light. A water ribbon wrapped around an arm that was twice as thick as his entire person. That arm was a Guanyin arm that had flown up from the sand. It was mottled with age, and after pieces of the surface peeled off, small brown pits were revealed. It came smashing over with a whining sound that tore through the air.
The blue water ribbon wrapped around it, and with a dip, it had been carried far away, flying towards the sand on the side of the ancient road. With a "peng" sound, it smashed into the sand, sending it flying.
Looking at the other cultivators around who were also struggling to cope, and then at the broken limbs of statues constantly flying up in the desolate desert, as well as the unknown black and red sand worms mixed in, Li Yan's scalp tingled. The intensity of the attacks in this stage far exceeded the previous one. In half a quarter of an hour, they had only advanced less than five hundred meters. During this time, two people had been bitten by a red, lizard-like sand worm. Now one was unconscious, and the other had temporarily lost his combat ability. This was fortunate that everyone here was skilled in using poison. They had given the two of them several kinds of antidote pills, which had slowed the spread of the poison in their bodies.
These two people had been taken into a special Spirit-Storing Pouch by Gong Chenying. A storage pouch could only store dead things, not living things. Otherwise, because there was no air in the space, the living things would suffocate to death inside. A Spirit-Storing Pouch was a special kind of space. A very small spirit vein was ingested into it, which allowed living things not only to survive inside but also to cultivate with the help of the spirit vein. This kind of Spirit-Storing Pouch was extremely precious and rare in the outside world. Even with the strength of the four great sects, each sect would not have more than ten. This time, for participating in the Wheel of Life and Death, only the three team leaders had each received one, in case someone from the sect was injured and lost their combat ability but had nowhere to hide. The elders had repeatedly warned them to preserve it as if it were their own life and to hand it over to the sect immediately after they got out.
In the previous stage, they had also obtained one from the corpse of Chan Monk Zhizhong. Now, both Spirit-Storing Pouches were with Gong Chenying. After they got out, they would both be handed over to the sect. As for the Pure Land Sect asking for it back, that was out of the question. If Gong Chenying and her group had been wiped out, and the Spirit-Storing Pouch had been obtained by the Pure Land Sect, they would not have returned it either. They could only consider themselves unlucky. In fact, this kind of Spirit-Storing Pouch had the divine sense of the leading Foundation Establishment cultivator on it. One reason was for opening it, and the other was to detonate the Spirit-Storing Pouch at the last moment. Chan Monk Zhizhong had already communicated with the Spirit-Storing Pouch with his divine sense before he self-destructed, but in the end, Li Yan had triggered the Fragmented Twelve a step ahead, so he had no time to destroy the Spirit-Storing Pouch. But Gong Chenying couldn't use this Spirit-Storing Pouch for the time being. She had to erase the divine sense imprint left on it, which would take time. But they didn't need to use it immediately, so there was no rush.
That red lizard was extremely small, with a long, slender, shuttle-shaped head. Its scales were as bright and dazzling as red light. It was extremely fast, often hiding in the dust raised by the attacks of other statues. It would flash and disappear, as fast as lightning. The protective spiritual light of a cultivator below the tenth level of Qi Condensation would basically be shattered in one blow.
Now, the six cultivators below the tenth level of Qi Condensation, except for Li Yan, had already slapped a "Ghost-Chariot Talisman" on the outside of their protective shields. This talisman had the defense of a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. Each person had been issued three when they entered the Wheel of Life and Death. From the pained expressions on the faces of the few elders, one could tell how precious it was. If not for participating in the Wheel of Life and Death, it would be considered a treasure for a Qi Condensation cultivator to have one. This talisman was said to be able to be activated by one's own spiritual energy at a low level, and it could continuously replenish some of the consumption in the talisman. Although it would eventually be exhausted, it was countless times more precious than the usual one-time defensive talismans. Even Foundation Establishment cultivators treasured them and used them sparingly. The main reason was that the two raw materials for refining it were extremely rare in the outside world. For the past few thousand years, they had been collected from this Secret Realm. Otherwise, how could those Golden Core elders be so reluctant?
Li Yan did not take out his "Ghost-Chariot Talisman." He had also been ambushed by a red lizard before. Shocked, he had frantically poured his spiritual energy into his protective spiritual light shield. With a piercing "zhi" sound, his shield had been pierced half an inch by this monster. Looking at it desperately trying to burrow in, its fine teeth showing and letting out "zhi zhi" screeches, its crimson tail spinning crazily like a reinforced propeller, Li Yan's scalp also tingled. With a flash of his spiritual light, he had bounced it back into the air, where it merged with the fine sand. Only then was he slightly relieved. After some consideration, he still did not take out the "Ghost-Chariot Talisman." He had a premonition that the attacks in the later stages would become stronger and stronger. Since he could still defend now, of course he would not use the "Ghost-Chariot Talisman."
After two ninth-level Qi Condensation cultivators were bitten by this beast, the other three ninth-level Qi Condensation cultivators, although slightly protected by the others, still gritted their teeth and each sacrificed a "Ghost-Chariot Talisman." Everyone who could come here was not weak. Otherwise, these few people would not have been able to defeat so many tenth-level Qi Condensation masters to get the quota. But they often either had a powerful spirit treasure or had an innate talent for some special divine ability. But in terms of deep magical power, these six did not have Li Yan's advantage in this aspect.
The cultivators closer to Li Yan couldn't help but look at this nominal Martial Uncle of theirs with a higher regard. After all, they knew that Li Yan had only been in the sect for about five years. When he entered, it was said that he had just entered the second level of Qi Condensation. Now, although his realm was only at the eighth level, he could be comparable to a tenth-level Qi Condensation master. He was truly remarkable. No wonder Martial Ancestor Wei of Little Bamboo Peak had taken him in as a direct disciple. What's more, this Little Martial Uncle's poison arts were abnormally strange. Although they had not studied poison arts for decades like the Foundation Establishment Martial Uncles and Aunts, they had been practicing for nearly a dozen years. They had never heard of the poison Li Yan used. When they asked those Martial Uncles and Aunts, they would look secretive, just shaking their heads without explaining.
Li Yan was not relaxed at this moment. Although the attacks of those red lizards were strange, fortunately, there were not many of them. They only appeared occasionally. And if they missed, they would immediately bounce back and wait for the next opportunity to ambush. This kind of monster seemed to have intelligence and didn't just attack blindly. Otherwise, Li Yan believed that with their methods, they could kill them all. Unfortunately, until now, they had only killed about three of these strange red lizards. Two of them were killed by Gong Chenying in front. Those two red lizards probably saw Gong Chenying leading the way and bearing the most attacks from both sides of the ancient road, thinking they had an opportunity. They didn't expect that just as they got within a zhang of Gong Chenying, they would be torn to pieces by a powerful twisting force. This left Li Yan and the others in the rear speechless. Gong Chenying's powerful strength was like that of a female war god.
What gave Li Yan a headache was a small black insect. This insect was similar to a beetle. When its black shell wings vibrated, they made a buzzing sound. This kind of black beetle always attacked in groups of thousands. Its individual attack power was not very strong. It could be said that Li Yan and the others could easily cut dozens of them to pieces with a single wind blade. But this kind of black beetle seemed to know some formations. Often, about a thousand of them would form a black cloud, either in the shape of a long spear, a triangle, or a giant hammer. When they flapped their wings together, they could actually produce different frequencies of noise according to the different formations, either sharp and piercing, low and suffocating, high and blood-boiling, or soft and sleep-inducing, causing various mental demons to arise in everyone's mind. A few times, they almost broke through their defense. A few red lizards even took the opportunity to attack into the defensive formation. It took everyone a flurry of activity to avoid having their own spiritual light shields broken, leaving them drenched in a cold sweat.
Time passed bit by bit. After half an hour, they had managed to advance about six li, at the cost of another mid-stage tenth-level Qi Condensation cultivator being injured. At this time, everyone had lost thirty percent of their spiritual energy, and many defensive talismans had been used. This cast a shadow on everyone's hearts about the later stages. They had used nearly half of the many defensive methods they had prepared in just the second stage.
In the meantime, seeing that some of the attacks on both sides of this desolate ancient road were coming from very deep places, Gong Chenying also had a new idea. She thought that this place might not be like the previous stage, where they were confined to the middle of the street and couldn't get far away. So she tried to attack one side of the ancient road. This attack didn't matter, but whenever Gong Chenying thought about it afterwards, she would feel a lingering fear.
She attacked one side of the ancient road. Li Yan and the others also followed closely. As Gong Chenying had thought, this stage really didn't confine them to a certain area. They had instantly moved a hundred meters to the side. In this hundred-meter journey, the originally dense attacks had been reduced by more than half. The reason was that when they were on the desolate ancient road, they had to accept attacks from both sides. Now they only had to defend against half of the attacks. And the attacks at this time had also been significantly reduced. In this desert, they just had to roughly follow the direction of the ancient road to advance.
But after walking for another distance, the cultivators began to feel that something was wrong. No one thought that such an easy situation would appear so easily. Just as Gong Chenying realized something was wrong, their group had already entered the desert obliquely for about two hundred meters. The attacks here had been reduced to only occasional sporadic attacks. And the feeling of unease in everyone's heart was getting stronger and stronger. Especially Li Yan, he felt the spiritual energy in his body circulating crazily, as if the five-element cycle had increased by more than ten times, as if urging him to leave this place as soon as possible.