Ye Jingyu instantly covered his mouth and nose, and helped Hei Ming Shixuan do the same, though with their transformed bodies, they had no real fear of the poison; this was merely a tactic to mislead their opponent...
The four of them were enveloped by the fine white powder...
"Not good, it's poisonous..." Someone cried out in alarm, having just inhaled the scent of the white powder...
This was the Soul-Shattering Powder, concocted by Gongsun Xiangyi; even a master of the Innate Realm would struggle against its spreading toxins...
The four had barely breathed in a little when a wave of weakness washed over them, making the effort to mobilize the True Qi within their bodies intensely difficult; their forms, which had been leaping upward, plummeted toward the ground...
They finally crashed heavily onto the earth, their faces ashen, blood now spurting from all seven orifices...
The four dared not linger, immediately sitting cross-legged, trying to force the poison out using their Innate True Qi, but the more they circulated their Qi, the deeper the toxin permeated; within mere breaths, one of them, weaker in cultivation, spat out a mouthful of black blood and collapsed backward, utterly devoid of life...
Seeing this, Miao’s face changed drastically; he had never imagined that behind Ye Jingyu lay such a master poisoner, capable of dispatching even Innate Martial Masters—a truly rare poison...
"All together, smash that carriage! No mercy for anyone!" Miao finally believed he understood Ye Jingyu’s strategy: reliance on the poison expert hidden within the vehicle.
Hesitation vanished. He waved his longsword, and a terrifying surge of sword energy erupted from the blade, shooting toward the carriage with unstoppable force, hacking down violently; he was confident this single strike could cleave the entire carriage in two...
But at that very moment, an intense wave of chilling energy shot out from inside the carriage, reaching Miao’s brow in the blink of an eye. Miao was struck by terror, violently shaking his already-swinging longsword to intercept the attack directly at his forehead, followed immediately by a sharp clang...
His longsword had clearly struck something, but an immediate, biting cold spread through the entire blade; he realized the projectile aimed at him was an ice arrow...
An arrow condensed entirely from elemental ice...
A Spirit Bow?
The well-informed Miao instantly recalled the legendary weapon, and his expression warped; such an implement truly existed in this world...
As Miao’s face contorted in shock, a silver light flashed in Ye Jingyu's eyes. He stepped forward with one foot, unleashing a burst of golden ripples—a violent eruption of energy charging straight ahead...
It was Ye Jingyu’s Concentrated Thought Attack, the Tyrant Battle Sigil...
The three Innate Martial Masters who had managed to hold their breath and avoid the poison were the first to suffer the repercussions of the Tyrant Battle Sigil; although they could still fight the invading toxins, their own True Qi was rendered immobile, leaving them helpless against a Level Five Soul Master’s concentrated psychic attack...
Where the golden ripples passed, flesh and blood exploded outward; the three offered no resistance whatsoever, instantly blasted into powder, leaving behind only their crossed legs; ironically, the one killed by the poison remained a complete corpse...
The terrifying might of the thought-force attack did not cease, continuing its savage advance. Miao’s face changed again; he truly hadn't expected Ye Jingyu’s mental power to have grown this formidable in mere months; even he dared not meet it head-on, forced to retreat rapidly...
But just then, a colossal seal dropped from the sky, slamming down fiercely toward Miao and the four Innate Martial Masters...
Miao was greatly alarmed; even though he had attained the Grandmaster Realm, he felt the immense pressure emanating from the seal. With no time for thought, and abandoning all pretense of Grandmaster dignity, he dove forward like a striking dog to evade the fatal blow...
However, the two Innate Martial Masters flanking him were not so fortunate; though they desperately swung their longswords and channeled all their True Qi to resist the descending seal, they could not withstand the downward crush of the Heaven-Shaking Seal...
After all, Ye Jingyu was now a Super Soul Master of the Spiritual Manifestation Realm; the power of this Heaven-Shaking Seal was more than double what it had been before...
Before the great seal even landed, its overwhelming pressure shattered the two men's longswords; next came their outstretched arms, and instantly, strips of flesh tore away as if subjected to an invisible grinder...
Flesh was stripped from their bones, exposing stark white skeletons, which then cracked inch by inch until they were utterly pulverized...
As the great seal continued its descent, their skulls abruptly splatted, turning to powder; the white brain matter didn't even have time to spray before the seal crashed down heavily, flattening the two men into meat patties and carving a massive pit, at least a full zhang in diameter, into the ground...
The other two Innate Martial Masters, positioned slightly further back, were lucky enough to escape this immediate catastrophe, but the residual shockwave of the Heaven-Shaking Seal profoundly traumatized their minds...
Miao’s face turned deathly pale; he had never anticipated Ye Jingyu’s strength increasing to such a degree in just a few months, coupled with such a terrifying Soul Artifact. Thankfully, he hadn't come alone...
Gazing at the nearby carriage and the youth standing atop it, a look of grim determination crossed Miao’s face. He knew Ye Jingyu’s soul power had been unleashed; if distance was allowed to open up, he would lose any chance to kill his target. Abandoning all concern for the poisoner in the carriage, Miao’s body shot forward toward Ye Jingyu with fierce speed...
He was certain that at such close quarters, Ye Jingyu could not possibly withstand his strike...
Indeed, Ye Jingyu made no attempt to block or dodge; a faint smile remained on his face. Before Miao could fathom what was happening, a streak of purple blade light suddenly flashed from Ye Jingyu’s side, hacking fiercely toward him...
Miao’s heart seized with dread. Feeling the biting cold rushing toward him, the longsword he intended to thrust at Ye Jingyu abruptly changed direction, meeting the purple blade light head-on...
With a sharp clatter, the longsword, already near shattering from being frozen by the ice arrow, exploded completely. Miao paid a heavy price for this exchange; at minimum, a long, deep gash appeared on his left shoulder...
Only then, at this moment, did Miao realize that the dazzling strike had been delivered by the girl, barely ten years old, standing beside Ye Jingyu...
Miao’s expression grew incredibly grim; he found it impossible to comprehend how Ye Jingyu could have such a formidable blade master in his retinue...