Jing Hun, the formidable chieftain of the Sea-Raider tribe, had clearly mastered the protective shroud, a technique known only to a select few high-level Earth Tribe strongmen.
Legend claimed this Blood Qi Barrier was even more terrifying in its defense than the Five Elements Mana Shields employed by Core Formation cultivators. It was said that even top-tier magical artifacts could not dent it in the slightest. With the protection of the Blood Qi Barrier, killing a high-level Earth Tribe strongman outright with an ordinary magical weapon became nearly impossible. Even late-stage Core Formation cultivators could only glare helplessly at such a defense, unless they possessed an ancient divine artifact capable of guaranteeing a kill.
However, this technique severely damaged the cultivator’s foundation. Projecting the Blood Qi Barrier, condensed from vital essence blood imbued with divine power, exacted a tremendous toll on the strongman's body.
The longer the Blood Qi Barrier persisted, the greater the harm inflicted. Sustaining it by draining vital essence blood was akin to burning one's life force and lifespan. High-level strongmen would never resort to this costly technique unless facing an absolute life-or-death crisis.
“Seeking death.”
Forced to deploy the life-draining Blood Qi Barrier to resist the drumbeats of the Xiao Kui Niu Drum, Jing Hun erupted in fury. He gave his giant silver spear a violent shake, instantly transforming it into a blinding, several-zhang-wide expanse of dazzling silver light that shot toward Jiang Ling.
It met precisely the azure and blue rays of light attacking from Jiang Ling.
The full-force strike delivered by the Sea Demon Strongman in his rage—how immense was the power of his divine force!
Bang! Bang!
The azure and blue rainbow rays were blasted aside by the silver light. The two rainbow beams, each over ten zhang long, rapidly dimmed, shrinking sharply to mere inches before flying back into Jiang Ling's hand.
But the mass of silver light showed no sign of stopping. After repelling the two flying swords, it continued its trajectory toward Jiang Ling with irresistible momentum.
“Two Mid-tier Nascent Soul magical artifacts couldn’t even block one spear thrust from this Sea Demon Strongman. With the Blood Qi Barrier protecting him, his physical body cannot be harmed—how can we possibly win this fight?”
Jiang Ling’s expression turned ashen, his limbs growing icy cold. He watched helplessly as the unstoppable silver light enveloped his head, poised to smash him into a pulp of flesh.
He desperately wanted to dodge, but it was too late. The silver light shooting straight at him was far too fast, and the distance between him and Jing Hun was too close for evasion.
Moreover, the entrance to this cavern was narrow. To his sides were Ye Qin and Shi Hanyuan, and behind him stood Zheng Chenghui, wielding the Xiao Kui Niu Drum.
Zheng Chenghui’s Xiao Kui Niu Drum artifact served only an auxiliary role, causing those who heard it to “go mad, their blood churning violently, their sanity lost.” It could significantly weaken the mental faculties of the Earth Tribe strongmen, but it was incapable of engaging in direct combat, necessitating the protection of the three Core Formation cultivators in front.
In his haste, Jiang Ling had no place to retreat from the silver light other than rushing forward, and there was no time to re-mobilize his Nascent Soul artifacts to intercept it.
He was filled with regret. Had he faced any other high-level strongman, he wouldn't have been left utterly defenseless.
But he had run into a Sea Demon Strongman far superior to himself. Had he known he would encounter a Sea Demon Strongman, he would never have taken the lead to form the vanguard and act as cannon fodder.
At this critical moment, Ye Qin and Shi Hanyuan certainly would not stand idly by and watch Jiang Ling be killed by Jing Hun’s spear.
Shi Hanyuan executed a hand seal, and his Sun Wheel Nascent Soul artifact, which had been protecting him, instantly transformed into a rapidly spinning golden light wheel over ten zhang in size, striking out toward the silver light emanating from the Sea Demon Strongman.
The Sun Wheel was a high-power defensive Nascent Soul artifact.
If judged purely on defensive power, the Sun Wheel was absolutely stronger than Jiang Ling’s azure and blue swords. Jiang Ling’s pair of flying swords were offensive Nascent Soul artifacts, better suited for attack than for defense.
The enormous Sun Wheel artifact directly intercepted the silver light, enduring the incredibly fierce assault of the giant silver spear.
Shi Hanyuan gritted his teeth, pouring out stream after stream of mana to sustain the relentless heavy blows.
Although the Sun Wheel was driven backward by the impacts, it managed, barely, to stop the full-force thrust of the Sea Demon Strongman—that silver light carrying unparalleled might—buying Jiang Ling the precious time needed to regain control of his two Nascent Soul artifacts.
A cold glint flashed in Ye Qin’s eyes. Without hesitation, he flicked his right hand, index and middle fingers extended forward. The Golden Crow Glorious Light Sword and the Yellow Heaven Thick Earth Sword, suspended beside him, transformed into two clusters of golden-yellow light and shot out rapidly.
He did not use his Nascent Soul artifacts to block the silver light; instead, he attacked the Sea Demon Strongman directly.
The Golden Crow Glorious Light Sword became a dazzling spear of golden light, slashing with all its might toward Jing Hun’s Blood Qi Barrier, a fierce golden beam aimed directly at the Sea Demon Strongman’s head.
Clang! Clang! A rapid exchange of metallic sounds rang out, striking Jing Hun’s Blood Qi Barrier with tremendous force. The sharp golden sword artifact forced the Blood Qi Barrier to indent by an inch, yet it stubbornly failed to pierce the thin protective shield.
“A Golden Core Immortal, is that all your strength amounts to!”
Jing Hun snorted dismissively. Relying on the astonishing defensive power of his Blood Qi Barrier, he didn't even bother to evade. He merely gripped his giant silver spear and continued slamming into the Sun Wheel, pushing it to the verge of collapse.
Before he could utter another taunt, however, a heavy, yellow earth-elemental sword suddenly slammed down from mid-air. With a dull boom, it struck the Blood Qi Barrier, causing it to vibrate violently.
Although Jing Hun’s Blood Qi Barrier did not break, it was visibly thinned, and its vibrant crimson hue dimmed noticeably.
“Brother Shi, strike his Blood Qi Barrier quickly! Though we can’t break this protective shield in a hurried assault, we can weaken it. If we attack with full force, we are certain to shatter it eventually.”
A flicker of delight crossed Ye Qin’s eyes.
Hearing this, Shi Hanyuan did not delay. He immediately unleashed another of his Moon Wheel Nascent Soul artifacts.
The Moon Wheel was a sharp, offensive Nascent Soul artifact. This small, foot-long Moon Wheel began to cut furiously against the Sea Demon Strongman’s Blood Qi Barrier, attempting to slice open the thin layer of protection.
Jiang Ling had also retrieved his two repelled Nascent Soul flying swords and unleashed them again as rainbow light beams.
The three of them joined forces, several rays of Nascent Soul artifact light surrounding the Sea Demon Strongman’s Blood Qi Barrier in a frenzy of slicing and pounding attacks.
Jing Hun watched the Blood Qi Barrier rapidly growing dimmer, fearing it would shatter in mere moments. Alarmed, he bit down hard on his tongue and roared, “Hah—!” spitting out a plume of vital essence blood, which instantly caused the thinned Blood Qi Barrier to swell and thicken once more.
After spitting the blood, Jing Hun’s face paled slightly, and the divine power in his hand weakened momentarily.
“This Blood Qi Barrier is truly incredibly tough. One mouthful of blood and it completely recovers,” the cultivators, including Ye Qin, inwardly groaned.
Zheng Chenghui also put away his Xiao Kui Niu artifact, swapping it for two top-tier flying sword artifacts, and joined the siege against Jing Hun.
The eight artifacts assaulting Jing Hun from all directions were continuously being parried away by the single silver light transformed from the giant silver spear in Jing Hun’s hand.
Jing Hun was a mix of shock and rage.
If his divine power were at full strength, why would he fear these mere four Core Formation cultivators? He could outlast them, draining their mana until they collapsed.
But now, his divine power was only restored to about twenty percent, and it would soon be depleted. In the end, it might not be the four Core Formation cultivators who were exhausted, but himself.
Worse still, in this brief interval, the four Core Formation cultivators’ spirit beasts had charged in as well.
A seventh-tier Core Formation level Corrosive Bone Crocodile Skeleton Demon, a gigantic seventh-tier Core Formation level Eight-Clawed Squid, a lurid green, furry seventh-tier Core Formation level Green Spider, and an agile sixth-tier Fire Scorpion surrounded Jing Hun’s steed—the ninth-tier Sea Demon Horse.
The Skeleton Demon spewed streams of cold corpse fluid arrows; the Eight-Clawed Squid’s eight tentacles thrashed wildly with immense suction power; the Green Demon Spider shot out sticky, massive webs; and the Fire Scorpion’s venomous tail was poised to strike the Sea Demon Horse sneakily at any moment.
The Sea Demon Horse was simply unlucky. Despite being a ninth-tier sea beast, much of its demonic power had been expended defending the Langya passage earlier. A few hours of rest had done little to restore its strength.
Even a ninth-tier sea beast, lacking demonic power, could not conjure many tricks. The blue curtain water walls it released using its water affinity talent were smashed to pieces by the Eight-Clawed Squid’s tentacles in the time it took to draw a breath.
Then, a stream of corpse fluid from the Corrosive Bone Crocodile shot toward the Sea Demon Horse.
Terrified of this life-threatening fluid capable of corroding its flesh and bone, the Sea Demon Horse leaped violently to evade it, only to be caught by a massive spider web descending from above. It struggled mightily to break free from the incredibly resilient silk net.
The Fire Scorpion, with its highly raised venomous tail, darted forward like lightning the moment the Sea Demon Horse was trapped, delivering a sharp sting before quickly jumping back to a safe distance.
The ninth-tier Sea Demon Horse was trapped in a humiliating siege by the Corrosive Bone Crocodile Skeleton Demon, the Eight-Clawed Squid, the Green Spider, and the Fire Scorpion.
Under the unified control of the four cultivators, their coordinated and shameless attack battered the Sea Demon Horse until it was covered in wounds in a short span of time.
Jing Hun felt immense pain for his mount. He was furious and yearned to destroy these spirit beasts causing him such trouble, but he was held fast by Jiang Ling, Ye Qin, and the other four Core Formation cultivators, unable to disengage.
As Jiang Ling, Ye Qin, and the other four Core Formation cultivators pressed their assault on the Sea Demon Horse Strongman Jing Hun, the fierce battle inside the large cavern between the seven high-level Sea-Raider strongmen and the ninth-tier Yin Water Profound Turtle reached a critical juncture.
The seven high-level strongmen, influenced by the sound of the Xiao Kui Niu Drum, experienced a surge in their blood qi, leading to a slight increase in their divine power. However, their loss of sanity disrupted their coordination in attack and defense; they only knew how to attack wildly without any teamwork.
The coordinated effort of the seven high-level strongmen, which had been necessary to suppress the Yin Water Profound Turtle, instantly descended into chaos.
The Yin Water Profound Turtle was also stimulated by the Xiao Kui Niu Drum sound, becoming increasingly frenzied. It retreated into its ten-plus-zhang-wide shell, spinning rapidly as it charged horizontally and violently against the Sea-Raider high-level strongmen like a hurricane.
Bang! Bang!
The collision force of a ninth-tier Yin Water Profound Turtle was no less than ten thousand jun; it could shatter even a thousand-zhang giant rock into dust with a single impact.
Soon, two high-level strongmen were struck viciously by the Profound Turtle. Lacking the protection of the Blood Qi Barrier, their strong bones and muscles stood no chance against the Turtle’s hardened shell.
The two strongmen were instantly pulverized into a bloody pulp without even managing a scream.
The remaining five high-level strongmen could no longer withstand the frenzy of the Yin Water Profound Turtle.
The situation within the Nine Bends Stone Cave had utterly reversed. The Sea-Raider strongmen, who had been certain of victory in killing the Profound Turtle, were now on the defensive due to the fierce assault by the four Core Formation cultivators.