The three skulls wreathed in green flames spewed viscous netherworld ghost fire. Once it touched anything, it ignited instantly, not only scorching the flesh, but also corroding the soul.
Elder Li Yan fought alone against two demonic cultivators of the same realm. Though incomparably valiant, his tiger claws tearing through the void and repelling wave after wave of attacks, under their tacit cooperation and the interference of bizarre magical treasures, he soon fell into a disadvantage.
Several wounds deep enough to reveal bone appeared on his body. His left arm was grazed by the netherworld ghost fire, emitting a sizzling sound, the pain drilling into his heart.
Shi Yan and Ying Wu stood back to back, locked in fierce combat with several demonic cultivators. Their injuries had not yet healed, and now they faced constant mortal peril.
Shi Yan’s giant axe was entangled by an iron chain from one demonic cultivator. Another took the opportunity to sacrifice a poison-quenched dagger, stabbing straight towards his back.
Ying Wu’s dual daggers danced like the wind, blocking desperately, yet she was struck in the shoulder by a sudden soul spike. She let out a muffled groan, her movements faltering, on the verge of perishing on the spot.
The entire Panshi Valley had already turned into a battlefield of carnage.
Houses collapsed, flames soared into the sky, the ground was littered with corpses of disciples from both sides, blood dyeing the earth red.
Though the beast clan disciples were fierce and brave, under absolute superiority in strength and the restraint of opposing techniques, their defeat and death was merely a matter of time.
Elder Li Yan’s eyes nearly split from rage as he watched familiar disciples fall one by one. His heart filled with despair and regret.
Was Panshi Valley truly to be massacred today?
Just as Shi Yan and Ying Wu closed their eyes awaiting death, and despair rose in Elder Li Yan’s heart,
A clear and icy sword cry, like a dragon’s chant from the ninth heaven, suddenly rang out from beyond the valley, overpowering all the clamour on the battlefield.
Immediately afterwards, a dazzling, resplendent five-coloured sword astral, as though condensing all the brilliance in the world,
Like a meteor tearing through the night curtain, with speed surpassing thought, instantly crossed the sky. It shot with perfect precision towards the demonic cultivator about to plunge his dagger into Shi Yan’s back.
“Pfft!”
That demonic cultivator at the third-grade Heavenly Immortal realm did not even have time to react. His protective demonic astral was pierced as though made of paper. A blood hole appeared clean through his forehead.
The ferocious grin in his eyes froze in an instant, turning into boundless terror and bewilderment. Then his corpse softly collapsed.
This sudden sword strike caused the entire chaotic battlefield to fall silent.
Everyone instinctively looked towards the direction from which the sword light had come.
Beneath the moonlight, at the shattered illusion array of the valley entrance, a figure in green robes stood with hands behind his back. His garment fluttered gently in the night breeze, his expression calm, as if merely strolling leisurely.
It was none other than Chen Ping, who had left and now returned.
Behind him, the little fire qilin stood majestically, its body wreathed in crimson flames, illuminating it like a sacred beast stepped out of myth.
In truth, he had not gone far. He had been meditating in the nearby mountain forest. Sensing the violent energy fluctuations and soaring demonic qi from the direction of Panshi Valley, he knew something had happened and hurried back immediately.
“It… it is the senior!”
Shi Yan, having escaped death by inches, looked at that figure. His voice trembled with excitement.
Ying Wu’s beautiful eyes widened, filled with incredulous joy.
Elder Li Yan shuddered all over. He gazed at the youth he had previously belittled in every way, even dismissing with insult. Now, like a divine soldier descended from heaven, he had resolved the mortal crisis for Shi Yan and Ying Wu with a single sword.
The muscles on his face twitched violently. His heart surged with monstrous waves. “How is it possible?! It is really him?!”
“Who are you?! How dare you interfere in the affairs of my Myriad Souls Demon Sect!”
The leader holding the white bone mourning staff cried out in shock and fury.
Chen Ping paid no heed whatsoever to his shouting.
His gaze swept over the ravaged valley filled with devastation and piled corpses, finally settling on those ferocious black-robed demonic cultivators. His eyes instantly turned bone-piercingly cold.
“Those who touch the people under my protection, die.”
His faint words carried an unquestionable resolve and killing intent.
He moved.
With one step, his figure vanished from the spot like a ghost. In the next moment, he had already appeared in the densest cluster of demonic cultivators.
