Chapter 339 - 247: Mysterious Dark Shadow
"Die!"
The torrent of magical treasures and divine techniques, shimmering with dazzling multi-colored light, reflected the excited faces of Zhang Yao, the Nether Abyss Ancestor, and others.
"Truly a heaven-sent opportunity!"
This was their shared thought.
No one had expected that the desperate Sima Yan would flee precisely in this direction, granting them the chance to lie in wait and launch a deadly strike.
This was at least ten times easier than their initial plan for snatching.
"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"...
Purple Thunder Beads, white long shuttles, black rings, gray seals... more than a dozen kinds of divine techniques and magical treasures mercilessly bombarded Sima Yan’s escape light.
"Not good!!"
At this moment, Sima Yan’s entire body stiffened in shock, his face dramatically changed, and time seemed to slow down.
In his desperate scan with divine thought, more than a dozen divine techniques and magical treasures transformed into streaks of light, attacking furiously; even in ’slow motion’ perspective, the sight was enough to make one’s heart and soul tremble!
If he were hit solidly now, he would be blown to pieces on the spot, leaving no intact body.
In the critical moment:
"Splash!"
Sima Yan’s body suddenly expanded at an incredible speed, like an inflatable balloon, his facial features distorted and mangled, reflecting ferocity and a hint of absurdity.
Upon closer inspection, his skin looked like dry, cracked bark, seemingly about to burst, resembling no human form.
"Bang!"
More than a dozen magical treasures and divine techniques struck his body, as if popping a bubble.
Sima Yan’s balloon-like body exploded, and within the large mass of ink-green smoke, dead leaves fluttered without any trace of flesh or bone.
"Whoosh!"
A hundred feet away, a shrunken figure, pale like a wandering ghost, Sima Yan suddenly appeared, darting out of the ink-green smoke and frantically fleeing.
He was, after all, a powerhouse in the late stage of the Golden Core, and his life-saving divine technique ’Yin Wood Rebirth Technique’ was extraordinarily powerful. After paying a heavy price, he finally escaped with his life.
"Go!"
At this moment, only one thought remained in his mind.
Fortunately, he had fled for half a moment, and now he wasn’t too far from the Black Tide tributary he aimed for, at most a dozen breaths away.
"He ran away!"
"Quick, stop him!"
The group attempting to block him was momentarily stunned, then their divine thoughts detected Sima Yan’s wild escape, and they panicked instantly.
If he escaped, their efforts would be wasted, they’d gain nothing despite taking risks, and offend a big batch of people.
"Chase!"
Everyone rushed to pursue him with escape light, but it was clearly a step slower, and they couldn’t catch up — Sima Yan’s escape light was indeed fast, enough to outshine peers.
And at the critical moment:
"Whoosh!"
A dazzling white rainbow streaked across a hundred feet in an instant!
Even under the suppression of the Earth’s Magnetic Power, Zhang Yao’s Aurora Escape Technique was indeed unparalleled, as swift as lightning wasn’t an exaggeration!
"What?"
Sima Yan only felt his eyes blur, a blinding white light flashed and disappeared, and before him appeared a young Daoist with flowing robes, raising a palm to strike!
The purple thunder light surged in the palm, reflecting a contraction in Sima Yan’s pupils, as he frantically thought:
"Go!"
In the blink of an eye, he directly ripped off the storage bag at his waist, urging magical power to fling it to the right, while his body turned, escaping to the left front.
"Excellent decisiveness!"
Zhang Yao silently praised in his heart, without hesitation he turned his escape light to pursue the storage bag.
He had been lurking with the Nether Abyss Ancestor and others, watching closely; it was clear that Sima Yan had only this storage treasure on him, and it was their contested target.
"Whew..."
In Sima Yan’s divine thought, he detected this scene, immediately letting out a long breath in his heart.
He didn’t even have time for regret or resentment, only an overwhelming sense of relief filled his mind — if his decision had been even slightly delayed, he would have been doomed today!
Not to mention whether he could defeat the Elder Qingxu, even if he was blocked for just a single breath, when the pursuing masses behind caught up to encircle him, how could he survive?
"Go!"
Sima Yan swiftly fled, heading towards the nearby Black Tide tributary, not daring to pause.
This place had become a zone of turmoil, and now having offended former allies, becoming a lone person, fleeing was the best choice; staying to wade into trouble was seeking death.
"Whoosh!"
Under Zhang Yao’s magical power grasp, the storage bag was easily captured.
"I’ve got it!"
The Nether Abyss Ancestor, Jiuhua Ancestor, and others, who were slower by a beat, immediately rejoiced.
"Hahaha... good escape technique! Good divine technique!"
The Nether Abyss Ancestor laughed heartily, generously praising.
"Go!"
After capturing the storage bag, Zhang Yao didn’t hesitate to turn his escape light, also flying deeper into the Black Tide tributary.
The Nether Abyss Ancestor and others, likewise astute-minded, promptly followed suit, having no intention of engaging in a hard battle with the people behind.
"Damn it!"
"Mitian Sand was actually snatched by them!"
"When the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman benefits! Aaaaah!"
The dozen or so Golden Core Cultivators in pursuit behind watched the scene with eyes wide and tearing, many of them shaken by divine thoughts, shouting angrily:
"Qingxu! Nether Abyss!!"
"Stop! Leave Mitian Sand!"
Unfortunately, their angry shouts had no effect.
Under the suppression of Earth’s Primordial Magnetic Power, no one could use Divine Techniques or activate Magical Treasures over several thousand zhang, they could only watch helplessly as they escaped.
But just at this moment, something happened that no one expected:
"Ah!!"
A wretched and extremely miserable scream suddenly erupted, resonating throughout the entire cave with divine thoughts shaking.
Sima Yan, who had just fled into the Black Tide tributary, was unexpectedly sent flying out directly, with seven or eight Black Death Beasts on his body!
His head, shoulders, arms, feet, undercarriage... all had a Black Death Beast biting down relentlessly, black light pervading as his body began to be rapidly eroded, looking like it was about to be dismembered miserably.
The mighty Late Stage Golden Core Cultivator, at this moment, had fallen into a pathetic situation where he was at the mercy of others!
"How could there be so many Black Death Beasts?"
The two groups of pursuers behind, more than twenty Golden Core Cultivators, were all taken aback.
Sima Yan himself had driven his Magical Power repeatedly, exhibiting powerful methods and life-saving Divine Techniques, barely escaping danger, yet due to his mind being relaxed, he was ambushed, resulting in such a miserable state!
But the problem is, how could such an ordinary Black Tide tributary hide so many Black Death Beasts? Sima Yan probably couldn’t win in a straight fight, let alone being ambushed!
"It’s him!!"
At this moment, only Nether Abyss Ancestor’s eyes changed intensely, divine thought passed to Zhang Yao, with just these simple two words.
"It’s him!"
Zhang Yao immediately understood that it was definitely Nether Abyss Ancestor’s arch-enemy.
Black Death Beasts are mindless, violent creatures born within the Black Tide. If they weren’t influenced or controlled by someone, how could they set an ambush in advance, act so cleverly?
"This is bad! Front and back wolves and tigers..."
Zhang Yao’s thoughts whirled rapidly in his mind.
In the next moment:
A dark shadow stepped out from the Black Tide, lightly landing a palm towards Sima Yan’s chest.
"Pftzz!"
Sima Yan’s body was directly blasted through, bright from front to back, five viscera and six organs turned into pulp.
His body twitched once, his eyes instantly lost their shine, and the magical power aura on his body rapidly dissipated, leading to the Golden Core shattering, breath ceasing, dead.
Immortal Body-type Divine Techniques are extremely rare, Sima Yan clearly didn’t possess such skill, and was just so neatly killed.
"This!"
Such a terrifying scene also sent a shock to everyone behind, slowing their Escape Light unconsciously a bit.
A renowned Late Stage Golden Core Powerhouse, who would be a hegemon anywhere in the Central Plains Countries, now so easily killed, was truly shocking.
"This person is so strange..."
While everyone was startled, Zhang Yao seized the chance to use sight and divine thought to scrutinize that figure, frowning slightly.
The shadow was covered in pitch-black, looking entirely like a shadow, not like a real person, even facial features couldn’t be made out.
And divine thought sweeping over also had no feedback at all, just like ordinary rock and soil, not like a living being.
Suddenly:
That shadow abruptly turned its head, its gaze swept over Nether Abyss Ancestor and Zhang Yao.
Zhang Yao only felt his hair stand on end all over, but before he could react, that shadow withdrew its gaze, stepped back into the Black Tide, disappearing from sight.
"Roar roar..."
The seven or eight Black Death Beasts also roared twice and followed his figure, sinking into the Black Tide and disappearing.
"Boom!" "Boom!"...
The Escape Light rushed forward from behind, the booming sound conveyed with Primordial Magnetic vibrations, causing everyone’s expressions to change slightly.
Though the short commotion earlier made the pursuers behind take pause, it was clearly insufficient to make them give up the invaluable Mitian Sand.
"What to do?"
Zhang Yao turned to look at Nether Abyss Ancestor.
Nether Abyss Ancestor did not respond immediately, but frowned deeply, remaining silent.
He knew in his heart that Zhang Yao’s words on the surface were asking for his strategy, but in reality, it was asking whether he could resist that mysterious person and the Black Death Beasts controlled by them within the Black Tide.
After all, fighting someone within the Black Tide is extremely perilous, even Zhang Yao could barely protect himself, unable to deal with that mysterious person, let alone everyone else, all depended on Nether Abyss Ancestor’s skill.
If he could do it, then the Black Tide was the best retreat, avoiding a fierce battle;
But if he couldn’t, then with wolves in front, tigers behind, everyone certainly couldn’t withdraw from the Black Tide, or they would be placed at others’ mercy, the only option being to stay and fight.
"Hoo..."
Nether Abyss Ancestor took a deep breath, then spoke:
"It’s come to this, there’s only one battle left!"
Zhang Yao understood clearly, and said no more, turning to face the imposing pursuing Escape Lights, magical power mechanism starting to surge.
"Damn, a fight it is!"
Jiuhua Ancestor, Black Abyss Ascendant, Ying Mo Sect Leader and others, also adopted defensive postures, as if facing a formidable enemy.
Cultivators from the Feitian Continent, who have cultivated to the Golden Core Realm, which of them hasn’t come through a sea of corpses and blood? Which of them hasn’t killed countless? Never lacking in decisiveness!
If not fighting now, when?!