Until now, Li Yan still didn't know why these three had set a trap for him. For those who wanted to kill him, it was best to find out the reason. If he really couldn't, then there was no need to know. In any case, that white crane was doomed, just like He Manhua back then. It was just that Li Yan didn't know that this was what Xu Yehua was most worried about.
Li Yan's black robe billowed like the wind, his attacks becoming faster and faster, each blow heavier and more powerful. This made Yiming gradually feel the strain.
'Is this brat about to use a secret technique? Could this be his true strength?' For a moment, Yiming had some understanding. But his Buddhist heart was firm, or rather, it was an unshakable confidence in the "Vajra Arhat Body." He still didn't think his judgment would be too far off.
At this time, Li Yan had already unleashed more than eighty percent of the Qiongqi Purgatory Art, forcing Yiming to retreat step by step.
'This monk's physical body seems to be only one level weaker than the Rhino-Horned Green Python. But that was a demonic beast, after all, naturally very strong. The Jingtu Sect's cultivation method is indeed worthy of its reputation.' Li Yan was also secretly admiring him, but he never thought that he himself was also a human cultivator.
In just one or two breaths, every time Yiming took a blow, his body would retreat. Every bit of force coming from the other party felt like a heavy mountain striking him. But seeing that Li Yan did not show any discomfort after using a secret technique, this made Monk Yiming begin to feel that the other party was hiding his strength.
It was just that for some unknown reason, the black-robed young man opposite him had not gone all out immediately. This made him already have the intention to retreat.
'What kind of cultivation method is this brat cultivating? Could it be that he is not a human cultivator?' Until this moment, Monk Yiming was still obsessed with Li Yan's cultivation method. This had dealt a blow to his confidence that the Jingtu Sect was the holy land of body tempering in the world.
In fact, what Yiming didn't know was that if it were any other Foundation Establishment cultivator, they would probably have been killed by Li Yan by now. At this moment, Li Yan was even more anxious. He didn't know if this monk had a secret technique. If his full-power blow failed, then he would be entangled here. So he still adopted a steady and solid method, each blow heavier than the last.
But Yiming had too much combat experience. His body tempering art already had the initial state of Yin-Yang exchange, no longer the pure, ultimate-yang of the early stages of the Buddhist "Lesser Vajra Body." When he couldn't face an attack head-on, he would use flexible force to resolve it. This flexibility of his was by no means soft; it was flexibility within hardness. If Li Yan's force was slightly weaker, he would be injured by the shock instead.
Fear mixed with confusion grew in Yiming's heart. His realm was clearly much higher than the other party's, but the other's spirit power was also extremely profound. Although it was still not as good as his, it had already made it difficult for him to exert the full advantage of his Pseudo-Core realm in a short period of time.
This was the power of Li Yan's ninth-rank Foundation Establishment. The degree of condensation of the spirit power in his body was like countless tough, thin threads, long-lasting and continuous.
At this time, both of them were attacking with both magic and body. Given Yiming's fighting style, it was still mainly close combat. The combination of Li Yan's ninth-rank Foundation Establishment and the True Scripture of Gui Water, an otherworldly cultivation method, made his spirit power almost on par with a Great Perfection Foundation Establishment cultivator. In a short period of intense, close-quarters output of spirit power, he showed no signs of defeat. Instead, the strength of the Qiongqi Purgatory Art covered up his lack of spirit power.
Monk Yiming firmly kept in mind the possibility that Li Yan was a poison cultivator, which inevitably made him hold back.
From beginning to end, neither of them had offered up a magical treasure, but the intensity of their fight was visually more impactful than a battle between magic cultivators. Every punch and every claw of theirs was accompanied by either a dull gust of wind or a sharp whistling sound.
After a few moves, Li Yan had completely gained the upper hand. Yiming was constantly retreating, mostly defending and rarely attacking. This made Yiming's face turn ashen. He kept his lips tightly shut, the spirit power outside his yellow monk's robe flashing violently.
Although Li Yan had the ability to fight across realms, he was only absolutely confident against Great Perfection Foundation Establishment cultivators. Against cultivators at the Pseudo-Core or initial-stage Golden Core, he could only rely on setting up an ambush or winning by surprise. Back then, he had used the other party's psychology to win by surprise against the Rhino-Horned Green Python. But this Yiming knew his background. And coincidentally, Yiming's body tempering art was not much weaker than his.
Yiming's strength was still quite a bit weaker than the Rhino-Horned Green Python's. It was just that Li Yan's poison and body tempering art had been specifically and deliberately defended against by Yiming. He was not as careless as the Rhino-Horned Green Python. A veteran Foundation Establishment cultivator was a tough nut to crack. Although he was showing signs of defeat, his offense and defense were still in order.
In the end, Li Yan's cultivation of the Qiongqi Purgatory Art was only at the first level. In terms of the same cultivation method realm, Yiming was one level higher. He had already cultivated the "Vajra Arhat Body" to the second stage. The first stage was the "Clothes-Shattering Vajra" of the Qi Condensation period.
Li Yan's divine sense was constantly sensing his surroundings, and he began to get anxious. In his senses, among the cultivators rushing over, there were three monks also wearing yellow monk's robes. The weakest monk's aura was also at the late-stage of Foundation Establishment.
At the same time, Yiming also glanced at the distance. But he did not transmit a message to ask those few monks to come and help quickly.
Of course, he recognized those few monks. They were fellow disciples of the "Zhi" generation. These people had entered the sect at least sixty years later than him. Yiming rarely spoke to them on normal days. Although there were still many of the "Yi" generation who could not form a Golden Core, they had their own past pride.
Excluding the time Bu Luo had been chasing and fighting Xu Yehua alone, Li Yan and Yiming had fought for only thirteen breaths. In these short thirteen breaths, the two sides had completed their probing and nearly a thousand attacks. Their speed was like a violent storm.
Sensing the people in the distance rapidly approaching, Li Yan's face turned icy cold. He suddenly leaned forward and slammed into him. His posture was exactly the same as Yiming's most skilled "Mountain-Leaning Strike."
In the dozen or so breaths, the two had been fiercely fighting in a very small area, their bodies intersecting. So with this diagonal slam from Li Yan, his shoulder was instantly close to Yiming's shoulder blade. Yiming was in the middle of retreating, trying to pull away. He already knew that his physical body was not as strong as the other party's.
This diagonal slam from Li Yan was an explosion of all his strength and speed. At such a close distance and with such a sudden break from his usual speed, Yiming, while turning sideways, could no longer block with his hands. He could only let his spirit power surge, and half of his body became a sheet of golden light. A dazzling ball of light erupted from between the two.
If Yiming could block this full-power blow from Li Yan, Li Yan would be trapped in a state of being surrounded.
A muffled grunt, and a golden-yellow figure, like a cannonball, was sent flying into the distance. And another black figure also retreated like lightning to the other side. "How dare you! Senior Brother Yiming..."
"Benefactor, please show mercy..."
"A... mi... ta... bha!" Three furious shouts rang out in the sky.
...
Bu Luo's hands had limply fallen. The spirit power in his body, under the effect of the pill poison, was like boiling water, rampaging out of control. In front of him, a silver jade rabbit was spitting out a long rainbow of moonlight, blocking a black long spear. And the white-robed young man had already closed to within fifty feet of Bu Luo.
The silver jade rabbit's eyes were crimson, the light on its body already flickering, as if it would go out in the next moment. Although the Moonlight Silver Plate was not bad, it was a magical treasure that focused on speed and sneak attacks. It was not good at defense. In the few breaths of confrontation just now, it had already consumed too much of its own spirit power to protect Bu Luo. At this moment, Bu Luo had not a single bit of spirit power left to support it.
Although the silver jade rabbit was eager to protect its master, it was only of medium grade among Bu Luo's many magical treasures. A struggle flashed in its eyes. It had a connection with Bu Luo through essence blood refinement, but it was not a life-and-death contract. It knew the consequences of self-destructing now. But if Bu Luo died, it would be fine.
"You will stay here for me!" A fiery heat flashed in the white-robed young man's eyes. Magical treasures, of course, the more the better. Although this Moonlight Silver Plate was not as powerful as the book-boy's other magical treasures, it was still quite good, especially its speed. Several of his attacks had been blocked by it like a wheel.
The spirit power in his hand suddenly erupted. The black long spear blurred and, in a distortion, had already turned into a ferocious black earthworm. Its facial features were human-like, but it had no eyes. In the middle of its eyebrows was a large nostril, and in its giant mouth was a row of sharp fangs. It opened its mouth at the silver jade rabbit and sprayed out a puff of black smoke with a thick, earthy smell.
The silver jade rabbit was surrounded by silver light, but it could no longer block the black smoke. It crashed head-on into the black smoke. With a look of terror on its face, the silver jade rabbit's body instantly disintegrated into specks of silver light. Then the Moonlight Silver Plate, which had still been flying and circling in front of Bu Luo, its light immediately dissipated and, with a "clang," fell to the ground.
A look of joy flashed in the white-robed young man's eyes. Just as he was about to step forward, a great alarm suddenly rose in his heart. He hurriedly tried to dodge to the side, but it was already too late. He felt as if his back had been fiercely swiped by the paw of a ferocious beast. Before he could react, he had already turned into a rain of blood, his body instantly torn into countless pieces.
And the ferocious black earthworm in front, which had flown close to Bu Luo, had just turned its head when it saw a large fist constantly enlarging before its eyes. Then there was a mournful cry, and it was smashed on the head with a punch, turning back into a black long spear and crashing heavily onto the hard ground.
With a "clang," a bent and deformed black long spear was deeply embedded in the hard rock ground.
In his last moment of consciousness, Bu Luo only felt his body being grabbed by someone, and then he lost consciousness.
Monk Yiming felt as if he had been hit by a peerless ferocious beast. His physical body, which he had always been proud of, let out a strange sound. Then Yiming felt himself flying higher and higher. In that instant, he did not feel any pain, only a sense of bewilderment. He thought, 'Is that person a man or a beast, or is it a Golden Core master deliberately coming to the second level to play with us!'
"Benefactor, stop..."
"Senior Brother Yiming..." Several shouts rang out at the same time.
...
After an unknown amount of time, perhaps a long time, perhaps an instant, Monk Yiming finally opened his eyes with difficulty. At this moment, he was lying on a desolate hill, surrounded by three monks also wearing yellow monk's robes.
"Senior Brother, you are awake. We have already given you a 'Lesser Restoration Pill.' However, you still need to circulate your qi and regulate your breathing for a while," a large, fat monk said, relieved to see Yiming wake up, raising a single palm.
"So it is Junior Brothers Zhiyuan. Where... where... is Fellow Daoist Xu?" Yiming slowly sat up. Although his speech was strained, his face was much graver, having lost its usual smile.
After hearing this, the three Chan Monks first looked at each other, their eyes also full of doubt. Then the large, fat monk spoke.
"Amitabha, uh... uh..., Senior Brother, why was that Xu Yehua fighting his own white crane? The moment he captured the white crane just now, he had already... already died."