Chapter 108
Although Wang Yu was fleeing, he knew very well that speed was his shortcoming, and there was no way to make up for it in the short term. Sooner or later he would be caught.
Therefore, he paid close attention to the Foundation Establishment cultivator chasing him from behind.
This was directly related to whether he could get away.
The reason he fled toward Spider Mountain was partly due to proximity, but more importantly, if he could not match the Foundation Establishment cultivator, he could still rely on the defensive formation of Spider Mountain to save his life. At that time, he could summon the female cultivator in late Foundation Establishment, Lady Qingsha, and the crisis would be resolved.
The only problem was that the Flood Dragon Inner Core in his hands might not remain safe.
“First fight. If I cannot win, then I will run. The longer I can delay, the better. That man has just experienced a great battle. His true essence reserves must be lacking, and his talismans and other consumables are almost used up.”
The facts were exactly as Wang Yu had guessed, even more favorable to him.
He used the Blackscale Shield to withstand the energy spears fired from behind. By cleverly borrowing strength from the shockwaves, he managed to increase his speed slightly.
However, even a high-grade magic tool could not endure repeated strikes from a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
The distance between them kept shrinking. After dragging it out for half an hour, the Blackscale Shield could no longer hold on. It twisted and deformed like scrap iron, and during one block, it was completely destroyed.
Wang Yu felt no distress. He never intended to buy such things; everything he had was looted spoils of war. If it was broken, then so be it.
Soon after, during the next round of attacks, Wang Yu stowed away his flying sword and descended into a dense forest. The pursuer finally let out a sigh of relief, wiped the sweat from his face, and hurriedly followed.
But once he entered the forest, the thick canopy blocked the sunlight, leaving only faint scattered beams. Wang Yu’s figure had long since disappeared.
“Hmph. Playing tricks? Do you not know about the divine sense of a Foundation Establishment cultivator…”
He suddenly stopped speaking, because to his shock, he could no longer sense Wang Yu’s whereabouts. His mind wavered for an instant, leaving a flaw.
At that very moment, terrifying cold flames descended from above. The air temperature dropped rapidly, while the core heat was strangely high.
A battlefield environment suitable for Wang Yu was instantly created.
The pursuer instinctively formed a small layer of true-essence protection above his head. This revealed that his reserves of true essence were insufficient.
After reaching Foundation Establishment, a cultivator gains two instinct-like divine abilities, akin to natural limbs granted at birth.
The first is physical flight.
The second is that once spiritual power transforms into true essence, the cultivator gains the instinct of True Essence Body Protection, which can be condensed with just a thought. It can even act ahead of conscious control, forming almost automatically in the face of danger.
This is the divine ability of Foundation Establishment, providing great protection against ambushes.
Correspondingly, Core Formation and Nascent Soul also have their own unique divine abilities, like new gifts or new organs gained through different stages of life evolution.
Normally, a Qi Refining cultivator could never defeat a Foundation Establishment one.
But when one side had fallen to its lowest point, while the other was in peak condition with extraordinary means to surpass their realm, a challenge across realms and victory was not impossible.
Perhaps it was not so difficult after all.
From within the blue flames, a pitch-black arm suddenly shot out. The ferocious punch shattered the body-protecting True Essence and struck heavily on the opponent’s jaw.
“Crack!”
The sound of bones dislocating was crisp and clear. The man’s body flew away like a rag doll, plowing a long trench into the ground until he slammed into an ancient tree and broke it before finally stopping.
He spat blood continuously.
“Y… You… Who are you?!!”
Clearly, he was stunned by Wang Yu’s raw strength. He had never seen a Qi Refining cultivator with such terrifying power.
But Wang Yu had no intention of answering.
With Illusory Steps, he split into ten afterimages, attacking from different angles. The man once again swung his spear, his other hand forming seals. After three breaths, a ring of golden light burst out from his body.
Instantly, Wang Yu’s body manifested the Black Fiend Armor, wrapping him tightly from head to toe.
With a great sweep of his hand.
The Ice Coffin Curse and the improved Ice Sword Technique were cast simultaneously. Thick icicles descended from the sky like a cage, tilting slightly in angle.
They lifted the man straight into the air.
With a sharp stomp, the ground within several meters cracked open. In the instant of leaping upward, twisting his waist and hips, Wang Yu delivered a perfectly executed flying kick that nearly split his enemy in half.
As the icicles shattered, the man’s upper body bent backward at a strange blunt angle. He collapsed weakly onto the ground, fresh blood gushing back from his mouth and nose.
His life force was rapidly dissipating.
Those eyes, filled with venomous hatred, glared at Wang Yu with deep unwillingness, but could no longer speak a word.
In silence, he breathed his last.
“Devour Soul.”
Without hesitation, Wang Yu immediately activated his technique. Though he had no means to strangle a soul directly, the Soul Devouring Demonic Armor could swallow the wandering spirit outright.
This freshly dead man naturally fell within its range.
The Black Fiend Armor exhaled coils of black smoke like serpents, which burrowed into the corpse and pulled out a semi-transparent Foundation Establishment soul. Its essence leaked faint gray-white light, gradually dissipating.
Without the aid of Earth Yin, it would have soon dispersed completely.
The man had no chance left.
Ignoring the vicious expression on the soul’s face, Wang Yu dragged it into the Black Fiend Armor. Aside from the original face of Deacon Xu that already lingered upon it, another venomous visage emerged upon the armor.
The power of this strange technique rose significantly.
“Demonic arts, truly sinister.”
As for the soul-devouring backlash he might face later, he had consumed too little for now to suffer any real harm. As long as he controlled the number carefully, there was no problem.
If handled well, it could even be used to temper his divine sense.
This time he had escaped unscathed. After collecting the corpse and the storage pouch, Wang Yu advanced once more toward Spider Mountain, pushing the Night Concealment to its limits.
The Five Yin Peak deacon, having been struck by backlash, would not have survived his elder brother’s vengeance. At the moment of suffocation, when he had broken free of the illusion, the man had been too desperate for air to notice Wang Yu’s presence.
Debts were already many, one more mattered little. Could they really lock onto him across the void?
Still, there was some harvest from this journey.
Lost in the east, gained in the west. The only troublesome matter was the third-rank Flood Dragon inner core, which was more suitable for a Foundation Establishment cultivator at peak stage attempting to break into Core Formation, serving as a substitute for Core Formation treasures.
He did not know what cultivation method that man had wanted to practice by directly swallowing the inner core. Unfortunately, the Foundation Establishment deacon of Five Yin Peak’s storage pouch had not been retrieved. It surely contained fortunes and secrets.
On the way back, Wang Yu rushed at full speed.
Only by sunset did he barely reach Spider Mountain. Changing back into the robes of an outer sect disciple, he calmly used his token to verify his identity, drawing no attention at all.
Only after entering the stone hut at the edge of the spiritual fields and reactivating the Blood Mist Concealment Array did he finally let out a breath of relief.
Lighting a stick of Spirit-Calming Incense, he bathed and changed clothes.
He sat cross-legged on a meditation mat, rubbing his hands together.
“Let me see how much wealth a wandering Foundation Establishment cultivator carries.”
“Spirit stones… only eight thousand? That is rather little. Even some wealthy Qi Refining cultivators carry more.”
A second-rank low-grade magic weapon, the Hundred Strike Spear, of very mediocre quality.
Among second-rank low-grade items, it was practically at the bottom. When infused with spiritual power, it could split into a hundred energy spears for attack.
There was not a single talisman. A few bottles of pills. Several miscellaneous items.
What surprised Wang Yu was that within it there were actually cultivation methods, spell techniques, and secret arts.