NOVEL NEXT Chapter 173: Leaving
"Profound Ice Sect's Lu Heming, Chang Heji greets everyone!"
The first Golden Core to appear was none other than Lu Heming, and among the remaining four Golden Cores, there was also one from Profound Ice Sect, Chang Heji, whose strength was not inferior; thus, the two of them, as brothers, naturally took the lead in this temporary squad.
The Golden Cores exchanged greetings without any idle chatter and began to discuss how to break through the Devil Beast siege and safely leave the Secret Realm.
"First, we need to know how many third-tier Devil Beasts are lurking nearby," Lu Heming said with a grave voice.
Even though there were five Golden Cores—the three Foundation Establishment cultivators, including Li Zhirui, were not taken seriously by them—no one knew how strong the Devil Beasts were.
"Let those three Foundation Establishment cultivators test the waters for us," a Golden Core suggested.
The other two turned extremely pale; with their strength, stepping in could mean instant decapitation and becoming a corpse!
Li Zhirui, however, seemed unfazed because he had already anticipated this. After all, no matter how powerful Foundation Establishment cultivators were, there was a huge gap between them and Golden Cores, and other than serving as bait, they were of no other use.
And this was the main reason he had hesitated at the beginning; being bait was not without its risks.
"Don't worry, we'll give you a third-tier Defensive Talisman," Lu Heming didn't object. It was not possible to ask them to do something like this, and besides, breaking through would rely on the Golden Core cultivators.
Thus, Li Zhirui and the other two each received a third-tier talisman. After activating them and summoning all their Defensive Magical Artifacts, they walked tremblingly towards the Secret Realm's exit.
Li Zhirui secretly clutched the Thousand Vines Spiritual Talisman given by Li Shiqing and an expensive, second-tier Earth Escape Talisman he had bought. Should he sense danger, he would immediately activate these two talismans and, after losing sight, swiftly hide in the space.
Although the Earth Escape Talisman was only second-tier, in terms of price and scarcity, it was no less than the Thousand Vines Spiritual Talisman. It had cost Li Zhirui tens of thousands of Spirit Stones, and he was only able to buy that one.
However, contrary to everyone's expectations, Li Zhirui and his two companions smoothly made their way without encountering attacks from Devil Beasts, safely arriving just a few dozen feet from the exit.
At such a close distance, even Foundation Establishment cultivators needed only two to three moments to cross it.
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Just as the other two showed elation and Li Zhirui was on alert, a beam of yellow light suddenly flew out from the side, aiming straight for them.
Li Zhirui's expression changed slightly; his entire Mana poured into the Water Cloud Pearl, and immediately countless clouds enveloped him, but he knew whether he could withstand the attack would depend on that third-tier Defensive Talisman.
Crack!
When the yellow light hit the talisman, a cracking sound echoed, and the Spirit Light began to show fractures, bringing a sigh of relief from the three of them.
The other two Foundation Establishment cultivators knew they had reached an impasse, but compared to retreating over a great distance, rushing into the exit, which was within reach, was safer and more feasible.
Li Zhirui shared the same thought, closely following half a step behind the other two, and launched a final sprint.
Bang!
A dark shadow suddenly appeared in front of them, baring its fangs and mouth, and spat out three Wind Blades, each striking at them.
The Protective Spirit Light, already faint and cracked, completely shattered under this assault, but fortunately, the attack was also neutralized.
'Only the last two zhang to go!' Li Zhirui also couldn't contain the excitement in his heart, yet he knew that the more critical the moment, the calmer he needed to be, his palms hidden in his wide sleeves were ready to unleash Mana, ready to instantly activate the Thousand Vines Spiritual Talisman and Earth Escape Talisman should the situation turn dire.
"Let's go all out!" The two Foundation Establishment cultivators used all their Mana, hoping their Defensive Magical Artifacts would buy them a moment of time.
Li Zhirui pretended to exert all his strength, but in reality, he had retained most of his Mana.
Li Zhirui was extremely relieved that none of the Golden Core cultivators were blabbermouths, not exposing his true cultivation level; in the eyes of these two, he was just a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Unfortunately, the gap between them was too great; their desperate resistance was nothing more than an effortless strike to dispatch in the face of a third-order Devil Beast.
"What a pity!" The outsiders like Lu Heming said with seeming regret, but their expressions were unflustered, as they had anticipated such an outcome.
However, they chose this moment to make their move!
After all, no matter what, Li Zhirui and the others had managed to pin down a third-order Devil Beast, alleviating some pressure for them.
The three heard the sounds of battle from behind, hope glinting in their eyes like a ray of light descending from the heavens in their desperation, fighting the Devil Beast before them as if their lives didn't matter.
Li Zhirui, while casting spells, subtly moved towards the exit, and when he was less than a zhang away, about to step into the halo of light, a Devil Beast resembling a pangolin with its whole body a yellow-brown color burst out from underground.
'I've been waiting for you!' Li Zhirui had been on guard for any potentially lurking Devil Beasts all along, instantly activating the Thousand Vines Spiritual Talisman in his hand. Countless vines appeared out of nowhere, tightly binding the pangolin-like Devil Beast.
"Fellow Daoist, please save us!" the other two cried out in joy, urgently calling for help.
But Li Zhirui paid no heed to them, controlling the remaining vines to protect himself, and then dashed into the exit at the fastest speed.
"Not good!"
"Damn it, he clearly had the ability to save us..."
All sorts of noisy clamor were cut off by the mysterious power of space, and after a moment of dizziness, Li Zhirui steadied himself to find all the Cultivators and Devil Beasts present had locked their gazes on him.
On the cultivators' side, after a glance, seeing a mid-stage Loose Cultivator who seemed to be in such disarray, clearly having fled in panic, and unlikely to know anything significant about the Secret Realm, they deemed him unimportant and shifted their gazes away.
But the Devil Beasts kept their eyes fixed on Li Zhirui, and from them, he sensed a thick intent to kill.
Li Zhirui's heart trembled; it appeared that before his arrival, Devil Beasts had already emerged or had possibly conspired to slaughter the Cultivators before entering the Secret Realm.
What he didn't know was that the joint slaughter of Cultivators by the Devil Beasts of the Secret Realm was Jin Yu's own decision, as before entering, nobody could be sure whether there were any Devil Beasts inside.
Moreover, Jin Yu's ambition was far from limited; his killing of Cultivators within the Secret Realm was done to weaken Great Void Tao's strength, to make it easier to annihilate Great Void Tao after emerging and claim Great Void Province for the Devil Race.
After finding the old turtle and reaching an agreement to join forces against the Cultivators, Jin Yu sent someone out of the Secret Realm to convey his plans to the Devil Race outside.
Zi Jing was very satisfied with Jin Yu's cunning and even followed his plan, sending someone back to the Great Snow Mountain to inform the other fourth-order Devil Beasts, instructing them to prepare, take stock of their respective Devil Beast subordinates, and when the time came, join forces with the Devil Race within the Secret Realm to launch a sweeping assault, annihilate Great Void Tao, and bring Great Void Province under their control.