"Boom!"
With a deafening roar, Xiao Fei's figure was sent flying back several zhang, crashing onto a sharp rock with his backside, shattering it.
He glanced at the Azure Dragon Crescent Blade in his hand. It only bore a minuscule chip, having successfully blocked the spiritual artifact attack from the Third Elder.
It was worth using a large piece of Profound Iron Essence; it was indeed sturdy and durable enough.
"To be able to withstand my several attacks in the Qi Refining stage and survive, you indeed have some tricks up your sleeve."
"However, that makes it even more imperative that I eliminate you."
As the Third Elder spoke, his movements did not cease. The spiritual artifact flying sword once again slashed towards Xiao Fei.
Xiao Fei moved his feet. Before he could even stand up, he scrambled and rolled, transforming into a somewhat disheveled afterimage, once again evading the strike.
These shoes gifted by True Man Guangling were truly excellent for saving his life. On several occasions, he had escaped an attack by utilizing his incredible speed.
As Xiao Fei dodged the attack, he flicked his hand, activating several talismans. They transformed into a large expanse of wind blades, fireballs, and arrows, all of which bombarded the Third Elder.
However, with a mere flick of his sleeve, this seemingly lively counterattack was instantly nullified.
The gap between Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment was, after all, too vast. What many Qi Refining cultivators considered a deadly blow was as laughable as children playing house in the eyes of Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Xiao Fei's attack failed, and he continued to flee.
Almost every evasion was a brush with death, feeling like dancing on the tip of a blade.
While Xiao Fei was being pursued by the Third Elder, on the other side, the corpses of the Lin family cultivators scattered haphazardly at the cave entrance were rapidly desiccating, one by one.
When the last corpse had completely withered, Xiao Lan's figure emerged from one of them.
After absorbing the blood essence and residual souls of these ten Lin family cultivators, Xiao Lan's aura had reached its peak.
Just a little more, and she would break through her current realm.
Xiao Lan's pair of crimson ghost eyes fixed on the Lin family's Third Elder, who was chasing Xiao Fei. Then, her body transformed into black smoke and vanished on the spot.
The Third Elder, currently in a life-or-death race, fully focused on pursuing Xiao Fei, was feeling incredibly frustrated. When had it become so difficult for a Foundation Establishment expert to kill a Qi Refining cultivator?
Normally, this should have been an effortless task.
And just now, his spiritual artifact flying sword had indeed struck Xiao Fei's shoulder, but it had only penetrated two to three inches deep before being stopped by his sturdy bones and muscles.
He just couldn't understand where such a pill-refining genius had found the time to cultivate such a body-refining technique.
At this moment, a black smoke rose from beneath the Third Elder's feet, accompanied by a surge of red blood threads.
The moment the blood threads touched his skin, the Third Elder felt his internal vital blood surge outwards like a flood from a breached dam.
Simultaneously, a chilling aura attached itself to him, continuously eroding his body. His divine consciousness immediately felt a wave of dizziness.
However, the Third Elder was a man who had lived for over a hundred years, possessing extremely rich combat experience. He immediately realized the problem.
The Third Elder slashed through the blood threads beneath his feet with his saber, immediately mobilizing his entire body's vital blood and spiritual power, and peered inward with his divine sense.
"Halt! Demonic entity! Show yourself!"
As the Third Elder roared, his entire body's blood seemed to boil.
Xiao Lan, unable to endure the scorching heat of the Foundation Establishment stage's vital blood and yang energy, stumbled out of the Third Elder's body.
Their confrontation lasted only a single breath, and Xiao Lan had already been defeated.
But that single breath was enough for Xiao Fei.
The Third Elder, having just forced Xiao Lan out of his body, discovered that Xiao Fei had already arrived before him. With a raise of his hand and a drop of his blade...
This strike was ordinary. Its only merits were its immense power, incredible speed, and the sharpness of the blade!
The strike cleaved through the Third Elder's defensive shield. With undiminished force, it landed on the Third Elder's neck.
A fine head rolled to the ground. Blood spurted from the headless corpse like a fountain, reaching several feet high.
Even a Foundation Establishment expert could not withstand such a powerful, swift strike carrying tens of thousands of pounds of force with his neck.
Xiao Lan's figure once again transformed into black smoke and merged into the Third Elder's body.
The Third Elder's body rapidly withered, not even sparing the head that had rolled to the ground, both withering away.
Xiao Fei sat on the ground, gasping for breath.
That was a close call; he had almost died. The Third Elder had been relentlessly pursuing him, forcing him to scramble, making it difficult even to escape with his life, let alone get close enough to deliver that strike.
Fortunately, Xiao Lan had managed to tie him down for a single breath, allowing him to seize the opportunity to turn the tide of the battle.
Xiao Fei took a large gulp of spiritual wine from his spatial storage. He felt the spiritual wine transform into spiritual power within his body, continuously replenishing his depleted reserves.
Fighting continuously using the second level formation within the boots consumed a tremendous amount of spiritual power. If it had been a moment longer, he would have had to draw upon his foundational spiritual power, risking his cultivation realm.
A moment later, Xiao Lan's figure flew out of the Third Elder's body. Her aura was fluctuating violently.
At times, she exuded the pressure of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and at other times, she seemed to possess only Qi Refining cultivation, appearing on the verge of going berserk.
Concurrently, the sky was covered with dark clouds. A mass of black clouds had unknowingly formed overhead, with lightning flickering within.
It felt as if a celestial pressure was bearing down, making it difficult to breathe.
As a vengeful spirit, Xiao Lan was even more affected. She clutched her chest tightly, trembling with fear.
Xiao Fei realized something was amiss. This seemed to be heavenly tribulation lightning specifically targeting ghost cultivators. However, it was now too late.
"Rumble—Crack!"
A bolt of lightning descended with a "rumble." Xiao Fei saw a streak of lightning, like a silver snake, strike near him, landing precisely on Xiao Lan's head.
"Second Sister!"
Xiao Fei looked in the direction where the lightning had struck. He saw Xiao Lan's figure disappear, leaving only a wisp of black mist in its place.
Gradually, this black mist re-gathered, forming Xiao Lan's figure, though she was much dimmer than before.
Seeing this, Xiao Fei finally felt relieved. It was good that she hadn't completely vanished.
He had read some content about ghost cultivators in the library. Ghost cultivators were prone to attracting lightning.
Every time they broke through a realm, they would attract heavenly tribulation.
From the situation just now, his second sister should have been breaking through to the Foundation Establishment realm, but she was suddenly struck by lightning. He didn't know if she had succeeded.