Qin’s inky pupils constricted sharply, a flicker of killing intent flashing within them, as he saw the four Golden Core stage Heavenly Demon Sect cultivators bearing down on him.

He lightly tapped the sand beneath his feet and retreated at speed—not in retreat, but maneuvering his primordial spirit artifact to churn the seawater, flying at top velocity around the swarm of demon sharks. This was to avoid being encircled by the four savagely hairy Golden Core cultivators of the Heavenly Demon Alliance; being caught by them meant certain, unknown death.

These four cultivators from the Heavenly Demon Alliance, clearly harboring malicious intent, were obviously seizing the moment while his own squad was trapped by the demon sharks to launch a sudden, fatal blow against him. The fact that they dared to strike in this underwater passage meant they intended to wipe out all five members of his team.

Today’s confrontation simply could not end peacefully; it was either a desperate flight or a fight to the death. Escape required utilizing the underwater terrain to shake them off. However, the terrain of this vast underwater desert was too monotonous—endless yellow sand with no place to hide. Furthermore, the escape speed of his five-person squad was likely not fast enough to outpace the four Golden Core cultivators of the rival team. Aside from himself and Zhou Yao, who possessed Water Spiritual Roots and excelled in water-based magic, giving them a higher chance of escape, Liao Xiaozhang, Jin Zhongshan, and Pan Lin would almost certainly perish in this seabed desert. Since escape was not an option, only a desperate battle remained. Fighting them here to the death was the only way to see if there was any chance of eliminating the four Golden Core cultivators and surviving this underwater desert.

In that fleeting instant, Ye Qin’s mind raced, countless complex thoughts flashing through his brain until he rapidly clarified the only viable paths forward.

“Miao Tong, seal off his path above; prevent him from fleeing towards the water’s surface. Brother Bao, Sister Wu, flank him from the left and right, cutting off his sides. I will capture him from behind!”

Four beams of rapidly descending magical artifacts streaked forward, and a hoarse, sinister shout echoed from a cluster of silver light surrounding one of the artifacts.

“Alright, Old Daoist Bi, let’s see your skills now. Your Silver Ray Horsetail whisk, a top-tier artifact, can strike several miles distant; it’s excellent for capturing targets,” came Miao Tong’s sharp, childish laughter from within a burst of pink light.

“Thousand-foot silver light, go!”

The green-bearded old daoist erupted in a mighty roar, and the large mass of silver light enveloping him shot out hundreds of long, slender silver rays, sweeping toward Ye Qin ahead.

Ye Qin was only a few hundred feet away from the four of them. For a Golden Core cultivator, this distance was incredibly close. The silver rays were too fast, quicker than Ye Qin’s full-speed flight cutting through the water with his artifact. In what felt like a blink, the leading few dozen slender silver rays enveloped Ye Qin.

“Haha, little fellow, stay here for this Daoist!” the green-bearded old daoist sneered sinisterly, waving his whisk artifact, intending to use those dozens of silver rays to bind Ye Qin, stopping his escape.

The four Golden Core cultivators were ecstatic, almost bursting into laughter. Just holding Ye Qin for a single instant would allow the four Golden Core cultivators to overtake him and claim his life.

Ye Qin didn’t even spare them a glance. With a flick of his right hand using two fingers, the Golden Crow Void-Piercer Sword beside him swept out to cleave the dozens of silver rays that were coiling towards him.

Clang!

A streak of brilliant golden light sliced through, severing the dozens of silver rays inch by inch, turning them into individual silver threads that drifted down.

The unrestrained laughter of the four Heavenly Demon Alliance Golden Core cultivators stopped dead. They stared, dumbfounded.

Old Daoist Bi’s horsetail whisk was a pinnacle-grade artifact refined from seventh-tier Wood element silk material, but with a small amount of Mithril added during refinement, making it exceptionally tough—more so than a typical top-tier artifact. Its mystical energy…

To think it was severed by Ye Qin’s sword in dozens of strands, suffering considerable damage.

“Old Daoist Bi, that boy’s sword is a Gold element primordial spirit artifact, the sharpest there is. Tsk, tsk, looks like your enhanced, top-tier artifact wasn't enough,” Miao Tong said, showing no sympathy for the damage to Old Daoist Bi’s tool, instead laughing heartily.

“Chase him! Slaughter that boy!”

After a brief pause, a furious shriek echoed across the desert from the green-bearded old daoist. Suffering damage to his artifact could not be ignored. However, Old Daoist Bi retrieved his horsetail whisk and replaced it with an Earth element flying sword.

Ye Qin glanced back at the four Golden Core cultivators pursuing him, his gaze icy. He knew they couldn't catch him in this hasty pursuit, yet his mind was rapidly calculating their odds of victory.

His own five-person squad, all at the first layer of the Golden Core stage, against this four-person squad of Heavenly Demon Alliance cultivators at the second and third layers—what were their chances of survival in a desperate fight? The odds fundamentally depended on the cultivation tiers, the number of people, and the quality of the artifacts—the most crucial aspects of both squads.

With almost no hesitation, Ye Qin abandoned the idea of escape. This wasn't due to excessive kindness; he simply didn't want to find himself isolated and helpless deep beneath the ocean. He needed to enter the Yanluo Secret Realm, one of the three great holy lands of the Earth Tribe, to obtain the rare treasure he sought—a tenth-tier spiritual item, the Sub-Nether Lotus. The members of his current squad were cultivators he knew relatively well; at the very least, Ye Qin felt secure acting with them as they headed toward the Yanluo Secret Realm. If he were paired with other Golden Core cultivators, he would likely have to constantly guard against potential malice from his companions, which would severely hinder his movements.

A second-layer Golden Core cultivator would require at least half an hour to defeat a first-layer Golden Core cultivator. This is because the gap in strength resulting from a mere single layer of cultivation difference is not immediately apparent. If the first-layer cultivator possessed a superior artifact, they could even defeat a second-layer opponent.

Zhou Yao’s Grand Five Elements Sword Array possessed formidable power, capable of holding off a third-layer Golden Core cultivator for half an hour without danger. Jin Zhongshan’s combat strength was slightly lower, but he was immensely wealthy, carrying a large quantity of offensive and defensive talismans, allowing him to contend with one of their third-layer Golden Core cultivators for a good portion of half an hour without major issue. The remaining two, Liao Xiaozhang and Pan Lin, had lower combat power and could only be relied upon to delay for as long as possible, tying up the other two second-layer Golden Core cultivators for at least the duration of one stick of incense.

Although his squad’s cultivation levels were generally one layer lower than the opposing squad, his team had one more Golden Core cultivator than Old Daoist Bi’s group. Zhou Yao, Jin Zhongshan, and the other two could barely hold off the enemy’s four, putting them at a disadvantage but preventing immediate collapse. This meant his own squad still had an extra Golden Core cultivator free. This extra member completely compensated for the difference in cultivation layers between the two squads, even providing a slight surplus. However, the enemy’s four cultivators had all been established in the Core Formation stage for several decades, possessing rich combat experience, which recouped that slight gap.

Calculating broadly, the two sides were evenly matched in strength; who would live or die was unpredictable. Whoever could first manage to kill one member of the opposing side would immediately widen the gap in strength, thereby securing victory.

Ye Qin evaded the coordinated attacks while calculating, quickly determining his chance of victory to be around fifty percent. Although the odds were not high, it was significantly better than a pure flight attempt.

The cultivators, including Old Daoist Bi and Miao Tong, had extensive combat experience and clearly understood that they did not hold a distinct advantage in strength. From the beginning, they had never intended a straightforward fight against Ye Qin’s five Golden Core cultivators; instead, they sought to profit from his current predicament. Now, they cast aside all pretense of honor and deployed the combined strength of four Golden Core cultivators to attack Ye Qin alone. As soon as they killed Ye Qin with maximum speed, the advantage would immediately swing to the Heavenly Demon Alliance squad, as the remaining four first-layer Heavenly Dao Alliance cultivators would stand no chance against their four second and third-layer Heavenly Demon Alliance cultivators.

Ye Qin controlled his artifact, desperately trying to break free from the encirclement and relentless assaults of the four Heavenly Demon Alliance Golden Core cultivators. He was in mortal danger. The four Heavenly Demon Alliance cultivators attacked with extreme ferocity. Aside from running, he simply could not find the opportunity to counterattack. No matter how great his ability, he could not fight four higher-level Golden Core cultivators simultaneously.

Ye Qin was being chased in a somewhat frantic manner. He glanced toward a dune on one side, a look of helplessness on his face. Zhou Yao, Jin Zhongshan, Liao Xiaozhang, and Pan Lin had already formed their sword array and were completely hemmed in by the mad swarm of demon sharks; escaping was proving difficult for them. The demon shark swarm, having lost dozens of members to Zhou Yao and Jin Zhongshan’s group, was completely enraged. They ignored the nearby Ye Qin and Old Daoist Bi’s group, focusing solely on frantically attacking Zhou Yao and the others. At this moment, only Ye Qin was outside; his four squad members could not break out to engage the Heavenly Demon Alliance cultivators. Unless he could draw them out of the Saw-toothed Demon Shark swarm, he couldn't even counterattack.

Wait—what if he entered the demon shark swarm, using the sharks themselves to evade the pursuit and siege of these Heavenly Demon Alliance cultivators?

This thought suddenly flashed through Ye Qin’s mind. Realizing this, he swiftly executed an Earth element hand seal, manifesting a ball of yellow light.

“This brat is going to use Earth magic? Does he think he can block our siege with an earth wall? Haha, he’s courting death!” Old Daoist Bi’s killing intent spiked intensely, and he let out a sharp, sinister laugh, longing to cleave Ye Qin in two and wash away his previous humiliation.

“Wait, that’s not right—he’s planning to escape using Earth Evasion! Hurry, stop him!” Before he could finish his mockery, Old Daoist Bi recognized the spell Ye Qin was casting.

Ye Qin let out a cold chuckle; the Earth element hand seal was complete. A brilliant yellow light enveloped his entire body, and he instantly burrowed underground, vanishing from the spot.

Rumble!

The artifacts of the four Heavenly Demon Alliance Golden Core cultivators slammed into the yellow sand where Ye Qin had just stood. The impact was earth-shattering, carving a crater in the sand hundreds of feet wide, pulverizing massive amounts of sand into dust.

In the next instant, Ye Qin burst from the sand in the distance, appearing beside Zhou Yao’s Grand Five Elements Sword Array. Zhou Yao immediately used the Grand Five Elements Steps to open a gap in the formation, allowing Ye Qin to enter the sword array, then swiftly closed it again, blocking the swarm of demon sharks that were attempting to attack Ye Qin from outside.

“Brother Ye, who are these Heavenly Demon Alliance cultivators? Why are they suddenly attacking you?” Zhou Yao was both alarmed and furious, her delicate face flushing. If two or three hundred demon sharks hadn't completely surrounded the sword array, she would have already rushed out to fight.