The roar suddenly exploded between heaven and earth, and within a radius of ten meters, the death energy surged violently as the five Ninth-Tier powerhouses blocking the way struck simultaneously.

The purple sphere showed no sign of evasion. The five abandoned flashy fighting techniques, instead channeling the boundless death energy within their bodies. Five sharp blades and sword energies instantly materialized, tearing through the void and slashing down toward the rolling sphere with lightning speed.

"Bang!"

The death energy erupted, the inky black aura almost completely submerging the massive purple sphere. However, the purple ball merely paused for a fraction of a second before continuing to roll forward with a booming sound. The fierce attacks of the five Ninth-Tier powerhouses seemed to have inflicted no damage upon it whatsoever.

All five felt a touch of surprise. The moment their weapons, condensed from death energy, collided with the sphere, they sensed something was amiss. The death energy dispersed, but the immense force contained within the weapons remained dense and unbroken, continuing to cut into the sphere like sharp blades.

Yet, the sphere was exceedingly strange. As the force delved deeper, the purple stems and leaves even writhed intensely, and enormous resistance squeezed in from all directions. Almost with every inch the force penetrated, it was weakened, until finally, it vanished entirely.

This peculiar phenomenon was a first for the five of them.

Originally, they had worried that their simultaneous attack, while eliminating Nie Kong hidden within the sphere, might harm the Spirit Venerable incarnation he had concealed in an independent space. Thus, they had not used their full strength. But judging by the outcome of the attack, their earlier concerns had been entirely unnecessary.

"Hiss! Whoosh…"

A dozen more black arrows shot toward the purple sphere.

Immediately following the black streaks came four massive sword energies, each several feet long, slicing through the space like falling stars, instantly appearing behind the sphere. These were the four Ninth-Tier powerhouses who were chasing closest, finally managing to close the distance slightly during the sphere's brief halt, before launching an immediate thunderous strike. Their blade momentum was ferocious and terrifying, as if intending to tear the sphere to pieces.

"Boom!"

The Spirit Sealing Stele spun rapidly, blocking all the incoming black arrows. But the four formidable sword energies struck the sphere unimpeded. The exploding death energy violently agitated the void, and an incomparably fierce surge of energy instantly rushed out, accompanied by faint hissing sounds as it tore through the air.

"Hah!"

But what left everyone dumbfounded was that propelled by the force unleashed from those four sword strikes, the sphere's rolling speed suddenly increased by nearly double. The massive purple shadow instantly shrank from seven or eight meters away to less than two meters from the five Ninth-Tier powerhouses in front.

In the next instant, all five reacted simultaneously.

Two dodged to the sides, while two moved to meet the sphere head-on. The Ninth-Tier powerhouse in the very center leaped high into the air.

Regardless of their movements, they attacked at the same moment—five fists fully charged with death energy whistling forward.

Instantly, the left, right, front, and top of the sphere were subjected to powerful attacks simultaneously.

"Boom! Crack..." Amidst the deafening roar, the sphere showed no pause whatsoever.

The two Ninth-Tier powerhouses attacking from the front could not evade in time. In the blink of an eye, the sphere mercilessly crushed them into the ground. When the sphere rolled past, the two men were covered in dust and grime, their clothes tattered, exposing large patches of skin.

As Ninth-Tier powerhouses of the Spirit Venerable Hall, these two were usually treated with utmost respect by even the Sect Masters of high-tier sects, who feared offending them. In all these years, when had they ever been so disgraced? Especially with so many companions watching.

For a moment, their faces flushed red. Like enraged nether-beasts, they roared, grabbed hold of the extending stems and leaves, pressed their entire bodies against the side of the sphere, and then unleashed a barrage of punches with extreme speed, resulting in a continuous clatter of impacts.

Inside the sphere, Nie Kong's complexion was slightly pale. Having endured so many attacks, the Spiritual Treasure Essence in his body had been largely depleted.

"Xiangxiang," Nie Kong commanded with a thought.

"Ayayaya."

The little creature, already prepared, acted immediately. Streams of green light rushed out of his Spirit Aperture and infused into the center of Nie Kong's consciousness. Nie Kong’s 'Purple Luo Illusory Spirit Incense,' its consciousness avatar, could still support the life force medicine power to sustain the illusion even when the Spiritual Treasure Essence was severely depleted.

While the little creature worked, Nie Kong was not idle. Herbs flashed out of his "Pet Backpack," chewed, and swallowed. This saved the little creature the step of absorbing medicinal power from the backpack, allowing it to focus entirely on aiding the consciousness avatar. The quantity of herbs and Nether Pills swept up these past few days was ample, so there was no concern about the little creature exhausting its life force without replenishment.

"Seeking death!" Suddenly, Nie Kong stopped chewing herbs, a cold sneer flashing across his eyes.

Having been chased and blocked by those from the Spirit Venerable Hall for such a long distance, Nie Kong had long been simmering with rage. However, in the current environment, he could only defend passively. To think that just as he was dozing off, someone was delivering a pillow!

If those Ninth-Tier powerhouses had attacked from outside the sphere, Nie Kong might not have been able to deal with them. But those two actually clung onto his consciousness avatar—did they not know how to write the word 'death'? If he didn't give them a proper reception, wouldn't he be wasting such a golden opportunity?

With a flicker of thought, Nie Kong quietly closed his eyes, his mind sinking into the surface of the purple sphere’s consciousness avatar. The two Ninth-Tier powerhouses clung to the side of the sphere like geckos. Although they were spinning rapidly as the sphere turned, their punching motions were completely unaffected. Their fists continuously left afterimages in the air; in less than five seconds, they had unleashed dozens of blows.

"Nie Kong, old man, let's see how long you can last!"

Sensing that the tangled, vine-like stems and leaves were showing signs of loosening, the Ninth-Tier powerhouse on the right was overjoyed, a savage smile involuntarily creeping onto his face. Almost the moment his words fell, his right fist struck down again.

However, just as his fist made contact with the sphere, the tips of the nine leaves pressed beneath his body suddenly stood up like sharp awls.

When this Martial-rank powerhouse pressed against the sphere, he had already guarded against Nie Kong attacking him from within. Therefore, he condensed a vast amount of death energy between his body and the sphere to guard against any potential sneak attacks. But this time, the death energy between him and the sphere was as fragile as soft tofu, having zero effect.

"Hiss! Chhh..."

Nine wisps of green light shot out from the tips of the leaves, piercing through the layer of death energy like splitting rotten wood. In less than a second, they pierced successively into his Sea of Consciousness, Jade Brightness, and the other eight hidden acupoints. Immediately afterward, a mysterious fluctuation was transmitted through those green wisps.

"Dong!"

The moment it entered his body, that fluctuation instantly transformed into a world-shaking drumbeat, sounding without warning deep within his heart.

In this world, when spiritual power collides with spiritual power, it provokes an instinctive recoil. Although Xiangxiang’s life force medicine power was essentially wood spiritual power, it was an extremely tranquil form of wood spiritual power. Especially after reaching the Sixth Tier, if the little creature willed it, its life force medicine power would not carry any aggressive nature, allowing it to enter anyone’s body silently without causing the slightest resistance.

Because of this, Nie Kong was able to easily condense his power into needles using the little creature’s medicine power and pierce the hidden acupoints of the Ninth-Tier powerhouse. Following that, Nie Kong struck the Heart Drum Battle Sound at the fastest possible speed. The Battle Sound struck using the Nine Revolutions Golden Needle Technique as a medium; its power was incomparable to the Heart Drum Battle Sound Nie Kong had unleashed at the edge of the dense forest. Even the heart of a Ninth-Tier powerhouse could hardly withstand such a sudden attack.

"Bang!"

A violent explosion resonated from within his chest. The savage smile on the Ninth-Tier powerhouse’s face instantly froze. He unconsciously opened his mouth, only to spew out a large mouthful of bright blood. Before he could utter a single syllable, his body slumped to the ground, lifeless.

"Ah? Senior Brother…" The Ninth-Tier powerhouse on the left had just raised his fist when he noticed the anomaly opposite him, his eyes widening in disbelief. But before he could finish speaking, he followed his companion’s fate. A look of utter disbelief remained in his wide-open eyes, as if he couldn't imagine dying so silently.

"If I wish to leave, who among you can stop me?" Nie Kong's joyous laughter pierced out of the massive purple sphere, echoing over the Gobi Desert. Eliminating two Ninth-Tier powerhouses in one swift move completely swept away the frustration in Nie Kong’s heart. More importantly, after killing the chicken to warn the monkeys, no one would dare climb on board again, which would make things much easier for him.

"They... they are both dead?"

"What happened? We didn't even see that bastard attack..." "Don't get close, attack from a distance!" "Stop him! We must stop him and avenge our two junior brothers!"

"..."

The bizarre and sudden deaths of the two Ninth-Tier powerhouses shocked the surrounding Black Spirit Masters of the Spirit Venerable Hall even more profoundly than witnessing the horrific deaths of their comrades at the forest edge. After a brief moment of stunned silence, everyone became even more furious, shouting loudly.

At this moment, the Black Spirit Masters arriving from the flanks surrounded the front-left side of the sphere, all launching attacks, though none dared to intercept directly in front again.

For a time, various kinds of attacks rained down upon the sphere. The whooshing sound of black arrows piercing the void mingled with the booming sound of exploding death energy, stirring the clouds. Under such a dense barrage of assaults, the vigorous energy around the sphere raged, and the space within a ten-meter radius seemed to be ground into dust.

But no matter how fierce the attacks, the sphere never broke apart; instead, it rolled faster and faster under the impact of the surging energy. The dozens of Ninth-Tier powerhouses and Eighth-Tier masters from the Spirit Venerable Hall not only failed to stop the purple sphere but instead became its boosters.

The anger in everyone’s chests burned hotter and hotter, and curses were ceaseless, creating a scene both ridiculous and bizarre. If other Black Spirit Masters from the Nether Land saw this sight, their jaws would likely drop in astonishment.

Inside the sphere, Nie Kong consumed the herbs several times faster than before, but his complexion grew paler. Although he had the support of the little creature’s life force medicine power to maintain the 'Purple Luo Illusory Spirit Incense' and control the stems and leaves to reduce the incessant external attacks, it drove his already vast spiritual sense to the brink of exhaustion. This was only achieved after Nie Kong returned control of the Spirit Sealing Stele to Qing Yue; otherwise, the drain on his spiritual sense would have been greater.

"Almost there! Almost there!"

Seeing the faint beads of sweat on Nie Kong's forehead, Qing Yue continuously comforted him. After another minute or so, Nie Kong’s sight, piercing through Qing Yue's ethereal body and the layers of 'Purple Luo Illusory Spirit Incense' stems and leaves, clearly captured the pillar of black energy shooting into the sky.

The God-Slaying Cave was finally in sight!