Penghua offered no sincere mourning for Gu Xiechen; instead, the two Crystal Beings, whose bodies constantly pulsed with energy fluctuations, were already pointing and shrieking toward them.

“Humans… Earthlings… Thieves… Brigands… Butchers… They are here again… Roar!”

One deep-blue Crystal Being roared in fury, “They came here… They must have slaughtered the clan members of the Fifth Altar… Roar… Kill!”

Dull footfalls echoed from the tunnel entrance where the two had emerged, and hundreds of Crystal Beings, shimmering with cyan, blue, and even purple halos, sprinted out from the cableway. Every one of them bellowed in rage, sending powerful, terrifying mental shockwaves surging in this direction. The immense psychic assaults merged into a singular, overwhelming force capable of churning seas and rivers. Within the mental vibrations of all the Crystal Beings, one fierce consciousness burned: “Guard the Progenitor Temple… Kill all intruders!”

The massive psychic impact instantly shredded the combat armor worn by those at the forefront, like Banruo and Mohe. Flashes of intense light vanished in an instant, and Banruo and the others were hurled far away, screaming, by the shockwave. Surrounding them, searing steam rushed in. Bodies stripped of their protective suits immediately blistered upon contact with the true qi wave. In just a few moments, the skin curled, peeled back, exposing raw, bloody flesh. In the blink of an eye, even the flesh beneath the skin turned a deathly white, having been steamed through.

With buzzing sounds, the Dao Alliance disciples whose combat suits had been destroyed simultaneously deployed their protective treasures, rings of divine light enveloping their bodies. They dragged their severely burned forms away from the high-temperature steam, fleeing rapidly backward. Banruo, Mohe, Siren, and Aeridia, lacking protective artifacts, relied on their formidable mental power, which rivaled that of Golden Core cultivators. Ethereal blue halos rose several meters around them, and their mental barriers stubbornly repelled the encroachment of the searing steam, shielding them as they retreated.

Daoist Zhang was the quickest to react. With a wave of his hand, he produced several high-energy rapid-fire cannons and tossed them to his companions. Several of them braced the cannons and unleashed a barrage against the Crystal Beings charging toward them from over ten kilometers away. The dense hail of fire caused sparks to erupt across the bodies of the Crystal Beings, and the shockwaves from the high-energy shell explosions frequently blasted the heavy figures far into the distance, slowing their forward momentum by several multiples.

Penghua, his eyes streaming with bloody tears, suddenly sprang to his feet. He pointed at the Crystal Beings and roared, “You band of glass clods, utterly lawless! Keeping large canines is forbidden in the metropolis, yet you keep Qilin in your homes, damn it! The Progenitor Temple? What kind of doggone Progenitor Temple is that? Huh? Blast it all, you make me furious! Today, Great Master Penghua is going to see what kind of ruckus is going on in your broken-down temple!” After Penghua had vented his fury, three Crystal Beings glowing with purple light were already closing in to less than a thousand meters.

Penghua took a deep breath, his chest swelling outward, blood-red light flashing in his eyes. With a great shout of “Heeh, hah!” Penghua slammed both palms fiercely onto the ground. The earth immediately began to tremble, and within a thousand meters ahead, countless crystal spikes, as thick as a foot, howled out from beneath the ground. Carrying the spiritual light of sorcery, the spikes violently struck the three purple Crystal Beings, throwing up a shower of sparks. These crystal spikes scraped and spun across the ground like the sharp teeth of a monster, swallowing the three purple figures whole in the blink of an eye.

Amidst the ear-splitting sound of shattering, the three purple Crystal Beings expelled blinding, intense light from deep within their bodies. They shattered all the crystal spikes and pressed forward, bearing hundreds of deep and shallow cracks across their forms. The bodies of the Christal Beings possessed hardness, but lacked true resilience. Penghua’s spell had directly mobilized the crystals within the hall, condensed over tens of thousands of years, to serve as the primary attack medium, compounded by the potent offensive magic he had imbued onto the spikes. The three purple Crystal Beings immediately suffered severe damage.

“Roar!” One purple Crystal Being suddenly leaped almost a hundred meters high into the air, his eyes sharp as lightning, and two thin, piercing beams of violet light shot forth from his pupils.

Penghua had just expended all his magical power releasing a massive spell; he was in the awkward moment between the exhaustion of old strength and the arrival of new power. The two violet beams struck Penghua precisely in the chest, punching a hole straight through his body and his combat suit. The violet light possessed extremely high temperatures and carried an intensely corrosive energy. Penghua’s chest was instantly ruptured with a cavity the size of a bowl.

“Oh my god, save me!” Penghua turned to flee in a panic, flailing his limbs. A great amount of black vapor spewed from the wound in his chest, and countless fine tendrils of flesh grew rapidly within the vapor, desperately trying to repair the damage. However, a portion of the energy contained within the violet light had adhered to the wound, slowing the rate of healing by more than a hundred times its usual pace.

The Crystal Being that had dealt the powerful blow paused in bewilderment, then roared in anger, “Why are you not dead? Are you even an Earthling?”

Penghua, while fleeing for his life, flipped the Crystal Being the middle finger without looking back. “Your Great Master Penghua isn’t an Earthling; your Grandpa Penghua is the evolved version of an Earthling! Greetings to your mother!”

The purple Crystal Being scratched its head in surprise, murmuring with unusual simplicity, “Evolved version? What the heck is that… I don’t have a mother…”

The three purple Crystal Beings stood spaced apart, using their bodies to staunchly block the relentless storm of high-energy cannon fire. They brought their hands together before their chests, where an intense purple light, like a miniature sun, began to flash rapidly. In the time it takes to snap one's fingers, all three simultaneously opened their mouths wide, and three violet beams of light, thick as a rice stalk and accompanied by a piercing tearing sound, howled forward, aimed straight at Daoist Zhang, who was happily firing the high-energy rapid-fire cannon.

“Boundless Three Pure Ones Buddha!” Daoist Zhang was so terrified he forgot his Daoist name. He casually dropped the energy cannon, pointed a finger, and sent his bronze ancient sword darting forward with a streak of lightning to intercept the three violet beams. With his left hand, he swiftly snatched a Talisman of Swift Movement from his belt and slapped it hard onto his leg.

With a slish, Daoist Zhang vanished hundreds of meters in an instant. The sword light he had launched was enveloped in a mass of cyan thunder light the size of a water vat, which fiercely collided with the three violet beams.

With a sky-shattering boom, the three violet beams disintegrated Daoist Zhang’s bronze treasure sword and pulverized the sphere of thunder light. Daoist Zhang, who had just fled, suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, his two legs felt weak and powerless, and he collapsed onto the ground in utter disarray. However, the ground was perfectly smooth, and with the speed boost from the Talisman of Swift Movement, Daoist Zhang slid forward along the ground, his speed in escaping was by no means slow.

The Little Monk Feili, who had been wildly firing the high-energy rapid-fire cannon, along with the three robust monks from Tiekan Temple, saw Daoist Zhang fail and watched as even his soul-refined magic treasure was melted away by the Crystal Beings. All four of them dropped the rapid-fire cannon in terror and turned to run. Little Monk Feili ran out in front, while the bodies of the three Tiekan Temple monks were slightly larger, making their running speed a bit slower; the three stood shoulder to shoulder, forming a solid screen to guard Little Monk Feili’s rear path.

As he fled, Little Monk Feili turned back and grinned at the three large monks from Tiekan Temple, saying cheerfully, “Buddha Tathagata above, my three Daoist friends are truly the best of buddies!”

Just as the three Tiekan Temple monks were about to curse back, the three violet beams struck their bodies. Their combat suits barely managed to resist some of the powerful energy within the beams before disintegrating into dust. The three monks were undaunted; they simultaneously roared, stomped their feet fiercely on the ground, and their bodies abruptly grew nearly a meter taller.

The three monks, now robust as giant spirits, found their skin turning bronze, their defenses and regenerative abilities soaring dozens of times over. Yet, the three violet beams showed no mercy, piercing their bodies as easily as a sharp knife slices through tofu, carving off tens of pounds of flesh and bone from them.

One monk had his entire left shoulder vaporized, another had his entire right shoulder vaporized; their two heavy arms fell onto the ground. The monk struck in the center suffered the worst fate: one violet beam grazed his hip, and half of his backside along with some internal organs vanished into cyan smoke.

An ordinary person would have been instantly killed, but the three imposing monks of Tiekan Temple were indeed high-level practitioners of the Vajra Undefeated Demon Subduing technique. Their cockroach-like tenacity allowed them to continue sprinting forward. The violet light contained intense heat, which cauterized the flesh around their wounds, luckily preventing massive hemorrhaging and allowing them the strength to keep running.

Little Monk Feili turned back, saw the three mutilated monks running wildly after him with gritted teeth, and sweat poured from his bald head in fright. He cried out, “Oh my, my Three Pure Ones ancestors, God! You’re still alive? Quick, quick, quick… Where is the medical vessel? Where is the medical vessel? Help! These three look like they can still be saved, hurry and rescue them!”

While wailing hoarsely, Little Monk Feili conjured handfuls of medicinal powder from thin air and scattered them over the monks’ wounds. He used his left hand to toss life-saving medicinal powders and elixirs toward the three monks, while his right hand grabbed a batch of strangely colored powders of unknown use and threw them toward the pursuing Crystal Beings. While vigorously sprinkling the powders, Little Monk Feili shouted sternly, “I’ll give you diarrhea, I’ll give you bloody stools, I’ll make your rectums prolapse, damn you, I’ll give you rotten intestines, rotten skulls, and let your entire bodies fester with pus and blood!”

The Crystal Beings paid no mind to the dense mist of powder Little Monk Feili sprayed; they simply chased them straight into the tunnel, sending the Dao Alliance disciples scrambling backward in panic.

The three eminent monks of Tiekan Temple had their faces contorted with fear. It was their luck that they hadn't been killed by the high-energy beams of the purple Crystal Beings, but who knew what kind of demonic substance Little Monk Feili was throwing from his hands? If they had the wrong medicine applied, it could cost them their lives! The three robust monks were struck with a fright that sent their souls flying, and an unknown divine power surged forth, causing their running speed to suddenly more than double.