The whistling wind roared past his ears, a biting, sharp gale that felt like countless needles pricking Ye Qin's cheeks, leaving them stinging hot. Within the canyon, the stream, the trees, the scattered rocks—all were rapidly receding behind him as he fled.

Ye Qin had pushed his Wind Mastery technique to its absolute limit, transforming into a fleeting shadow that streaked through the canyon at terrifying speed. But it wasn't enough; he needed to be faster, to wring out every last sliver of his potential.

The combined strength of the Green-Skinned Monster and Snake-Scorpion Third Mother was far beyond what he could currently match. Moreover, these two weren't just random cultivators passing by; if they couldn't catch him, they wouldn't simply give up the chase. This was a feud of blood; encountering them meant a fight to the death.

Ye Qin could only run, flee with every ounce of his being. Every push-off from the ground utilized his full strength, his Wind Mastery deployed across his entire body, all in a desperate attempt to shake off his pursuers. To conserve spiritual energy, he even dropped his protective shield, allowing the knife-sharp, biting wind to rake across his face, drawing fine trails of blood.

The Green-Skinned Monster, gripping Old Man Bi in one hand, followed closely behind with the Snake-Scorpion Third Mother.

Their cultivation level was the same as Ye Qin’s—the fifth layer of the Qi Condensation stage. However, both were seasoned veterans who had trained intensely for thirty or forty years. Their proficiency in Wind Mastery far surpassed Ye Qin’s, giving them a speed advantage of several tenths that was noticeable.

Despite the Green-Skinned Monster carrying the hundred-pound weight of Old Man Bi, he was actually closing the distance.

"Brat, you can't escape! I swear I'm going to cleave you today!"

The Green-Skinned Monster grinned menacingly and roared. Chasing down newcomers was the most exhilarating and satisfying act for him. Newcomers, though not lacking in cultivation, lacked sufficient combat experience, making them perfect targets for practice. Once they fell into his grasp, survival was nearly impossible.

The Snake-Scorpion Third Mother chased directly behind Ye Qin.

The Green-Skinned Monster shouted a signal to her; he maneuvered to the other side, attempting to outflank Ye Qin and coordinate a pincer movement with the Snake-Scorpion Third Mother to cut off his escape route.

Ye Qin glanced rapidly behind and to his left. Seeing the Green-Skinned Monster and the Snake-Scorpion Third Mother closing in rapidly—now only a few dozen feet away from overtaking him—his heart grew anxious.

If they caught him, he would surely perish in this great canyon today.

Ye Qin suddenly veered left, aiming toward the Green-Skinned Monster who was about to pass him. He flicked out a Wood Thorn seed imbued with spiritual energy, intending to use the Entanglement spell to hold the Green-Skinned Monster up first, dealing with the Snake-Scorpion Third Mother later.

A streak of green light shot out.

The Green-Skinned Monster, sharp-eyed, let out a cackling laugh and used Old Man Bi, whom he held, to block sideways. The Wood Thorn seed struck Old Man Bi precisely, growing wildly and instantly wrapping the old man in a tight snare. Half-inch thorns fiercely embedded themselves into Old Man Bi's flesh.

Old Man Bi screamed in agony, "Let me go! Spare me!" He had already been subdued by the Green-Skinned Monster and the Snake-Scorpion Third Mother, rendering him unable to use his magic or maintain a protective shield. As the wood thorns pierced his flesh, (azure spots), the sign of intense poison, bloomed across his body.

"Old Man Bi, wait until I catch that brat before I release you. You're on his side anyway; you might as well taste the poison from the thorns you've been gifted, haha~!"

The Green-Skinned Monster gripped Old Man Bi’s neck with one hand, mockingly laughing as the old man struggled weakly.

Ye Qin glanced sideways. Seeing that the Wood Thorns had no effect on the Green-Skinned Monster but had instead left Old Man Bi half-dead, he cursed under his breath at the villainy.

The Green-Skinned Monster had already drawn level with Ye Qin. He roared, "Hah!" and violently flung Old Man Bi toward Ye Qin on the right flank.

Ye Qin dared not try to catch Old Man Bi, who was covered in Wood Thorns. He executed a graceful evasion, drifting aside to avoid the impact.

The Green-Skinned Monster seized the opportunity to press closer, swinging his Flame Blade in a fierce horizontal slash toward Ye Qin. Simultaneously, the Snake-Scorpion Third Mother behind him closed in, wielding her Scorpion Shears for a rear attack.

Caught in a two-pronged assault, Ye Qin took a deep breath, then flipped his body sideways, rolling on the ground like a clumsy donkey to evade the blade and shears. He held a Wood Thorn seed in each hand and shot them toward both pursuers simultaneously.

The Green-Skinned Monster grinned sinisterly. He spun his Flame Blade, cleaving down on the Wood Thorn seed aimed at him. The seed didn't have time to sprout; it was incinerated into ash by the raging blade flame, leaving not even a residue behind. The residual flame passed over the ground where Ye Qin had just been standing, carving a half-foot-deep, steaming gash into the earth, showing signs of rock liquefaction.

The Snake-Scorpion Third Mother was not so lucky; she was struck by the Entanglement spell from the Wood Thorn seed.

Her Scorpion Shears, clearly some kind of spiritual artifact, snapped and cut through the incredibly tough Wood Thorns wrapped around her protective shield in just two or three quick snips, allowing her to break free. That entanglement spell hadn't even held her for more than a single breath. "Heh heh, you think a few pathetic thorns can bind this old hag? You didn't look at the Scorpion Shears in my hand—they are the bane of Wood-element entanglement spells! Even if you conjure ten or a hundred, I’ll snip them all away," she sneered.

Ye Qin’s face showed shock; his Wood Thorn entanglement spell had no effect on either of them. Although he still possessed a short blade in his palm, its length was insufficient to challenge the Flame Blade and Scorpion Shears effectively, leaving him no chance to strike.

The Flame Blade and Scorpion Shears attacked again.

He urgently smashed a Earth Evasion Talisman, phasing out to hide behind an ancient tree dozens of yards away. Crack! The ancient tree snapped cleanly in half, offering absolutely no resistance to the relentless onslaught from the Green-Skinned Monster and the Snake-Scorpion Third Mother.

In an instant, Ye Qin had been trapped between the Green-Skinned Monster and the Snake-Scorpion Third Mother several times. Their fierce attacks forced him into continuous retreat. The seeds he threw proved useless, and his Wind Blades and Fireballs were deflected by the Flame Blade and Scorpion Shears, posing no threat to his pursuers.

Ye Qin was forced to the sheer cliff face within the great canyon—there was nowhere left to flee. A pitch-black stone cave was located not far behind him.

The Green-Skinned Monster and the Snake-Scorpion Third Mother approached slowly, grinning maliciously from ten yards away.

"Brat, hand over that copy of the Insect Scripture and accept death obediently! I must kill you today to offer sacrifice to my Poisonous Worms!"

Ye Qin kept his face cold, ignoring him, and turned his gaze toward the dark opening of the cave.

Such caves were common in the Spirit Mist Grand Canyon. Most were lairs for demonic beasts, deep, dark, and extremely dangerous. But for Ye Qin, there was little left to fear; either he died by the mouth of a beast, or he died at the hands of the Green-Skinned Monster and the Snake-Scorpion Third Mother. Death was death; what difference did it make?

Ye Qin quickly weighed his options. If luck was on his side, perhaps it was an empty cave. Being utterly dark inside, it would be difficult for the Green-Skinned Monster and the Snake-Scorpion Third Mother to coordinate. Using the terrain advantage, he might have a slim chance of survival.

He did not want to simply wait for death.

Ye Qin gritted his teeth, slapped a Diamond Shield protective talisman onto himself, and plunged headfirst into the cave.

The Green-Skinned Monster was startled. He raised his blade and chased to the cave entrance, sniffing the air with his nose.

"It's a cave frequented by demonic bats."

He was both shocked and enraged. The cave held a strong, fresh scent of demonic bats, easily indicating a large colony hidden within. These bats were low-level beasts of the first rank, each at most equivalent to a first-layer Qi Condensation cultivator—very weak individually. But in a cave, who knew how many were hiding? If there were thousands or tens of thousands, he would be reduced to a pile of white bones in moments if he charged in.

He dared not venture into such a lair.

"Brat, I think you better come out and die obediently! Your Master Qing will leave you a complete corpse! In this Bat Cave, you'll probably be stripped down to the dregs of your bones!"

The Green-Skinned Monster stomped his foot in fury. He watched Ye Qin disappear into the demonic bat cave but dared not charge in recklessly. He could only guard the entrance and curse loudly. His ancestral Insect Scripture was still on Ye Qin. If Ye Qin died here, the scripture would be lost forever in this bat cave.

Ye Qin burst into the pitch-black cave and immediately flew toward its depths. He worried the Green-Skinned Monster and the Snake-Scorpion Third Mother might pursue him inside. Only by reaching the deepest part could he fight back effectively.

Crack! Snap!

After rushing in a few hundred feet, a dark tide suddenly poured down from the cave walls, slamming violently against his Diamond Shield, patting, clawing, and biting.

Ye Qin was instantly pressed to the ground by the immense impact, almost forced to his knees.

He looked up sharply, his expression turning horrified upon seeing what it was: no fewer than several hundred monstrous black bats, each at least the size of two palms, possessing extremely sharp teeth and bright eyes that shone chillingly in the darkness. They viciously attacked his Diamond Shield with their wings, claws, and teeth.

The Diamond Shield vibrated violently, and the spiritual energy within his body was rapidly depleted by the relentless battering. At this rate, in less than half an incense stick's time, his protective shield would be shattered.

Ye Qin's hand flipped, and a thin little sword appeared in his grip. Swish, swish, swish! Cold light flashed, and a demonic bat clinging above his head was sliced apart, blood splattering.

The surrounding demonic bats instantly swarmed the dead one, tearing and devouring it.

When Ye Qin brandished his palm sword again to strike the other bats, this swarm immediately took flight, dodging with extraordinary agility. They circled in the mid-air of the cave, continuously diving and battering his protective shield.

Ye Qin gasped for breath. Taking advantage of the brief moment the bats were airborne, he quickly pressed himself against the stone wall of the cave, leaning against the rock to minimize the area exposed to attacks from behind.

He continuously swung his palm sword, but what infuriated Ye Qin was the animals' uncanny agility and astonishing dodging ability. He had only managed to kill a few before the Diamond Shield began to dim significantly.

Ye Qin grew anxious. He had already expended nearly half his spiritual power. Once all his energy was gone and the Diamond Shield lost its support, that would be the moment of his death.

To last longer, there was only one solution—find the narrowest possible spot to shield both flanks, minimizing the surface area under attack.

This cave was a natural formation, riddled with fissures.

Ye Qin rapidly searched within the bat cave. Guided by the faint glow emitted by his Diamond Shield, he quickly spotted a narrow crack in the cave wall, just wide enough for one person. With a flash, he squeezed into the crevice.

This tactic proved effective. Only about a dozen demonic bats could strike the Diamond Shield from his front, greatly alleviating the crisis of rapid energy drainage. In this narrow slot, he could hold out for at least another half an hour, buying him crucial time to devise a strategy to escape the gaping maws of this demonic bat swarm.