Is it the follow-up to the last assassination attempt by the delegation? Or has there been a new change on the side of Da Jin?
Yuan Ming's thoughts were churning, and a cold light flowed in his eyes. He quietly took out an incense burner and lit a stick of poisonous incense.
The smoke rose and, under his control, spread along the ground, quickly dissipating into the air and spreading towards Xu Changqing and the others.
The green bag around Liu Su's waist suddenly bulged, and a faint chirping sound came from inside.
"Someone is releasing poison gas! The source is in that area. Hold your breath and protect your body with your spiritual power," Liu Su suddenly looked towards the place where Yuan Ming was lurking.
Yuan Ming's face showed surprise. His poison incense was colorless and odorless, how did this woman discover it? And it seems that she has already seen through his hiding place!
He didn't get up immediately, just quickly extinguished the poisonous incense and replaced it with a mist incense, then lit it.
Xu Changqing heard the sound and flew over, a golden light flashed in his hand, and a golden curved sword appeared, the sword body resembling a golden snake, with a forked tip, like the core of a venomous snake.
He pointed in the void, and the sword tip lit up with dazzling golden light. Over a dozen golden sword auras whistled out, hitting the place where Yuan Ming was hiding.
Yuan Ming could no longer hide his tracks and leaped up, summoning the recently repaired Eight Trigrams Mirror to block in front of him.
"Clang, clang," Yuan Ming, along with the mirror, was pushed back a few steps, and his tracks were completely exposed.
Xu Changqing seemed to be wary of Yuan Ming's poisonous incense, and stopped about seven or twenty metres away from him. The golden snake sword was released with a "clang," shooting straight towards Yuan Ming.
Yuan Ming had already fought against early Foundation Establishment cultivators many times, and had long figured out their casting speed. As soon as Xu Changqing's hand lifted, he activated the White Jade Belt and darted to the side, easily avoiding the attack of the golden snake sword.
"Just hold your breath and protect your body with your spiritual power, there's no need to be too cautious," Liu Su shouted loudly, a layer of golden light appearing on her body as she flew over from another direction.
A green shadow flashed from the green bag around her waist, and a green strange snake shot out, with a green fleshy wing on its back that could lift off the ground and flank Yuan Ming from the other side.
Lin Liumu's body emitted a green shield, flying to block Yuan Ming's last escape route.
Just at this moment, white mist suddenly rose in the dense forest, quickly becoming dense.
"What's going on?" Xu Changqing and the others were all surprised, and even Liu Su, who seemed to be very knowledgeable about poison mist, changed her expression.
Yuan Ming took the opportunity to activate the White Jade Belt, and used the Wind Swift Technique and Shadowless Steps, turning into three or four indistinguishable figures, shooting in different directions.
Xu Changqing and the others couldn't recognize Yuan Ming's true body for a while, and with the influence of the white mist, Yuan Ming easily broke out of the encirclement and flew towards the distance.
"Don't let him escape, chase after him!" Xu Changqing's face suddenly darkened, and a piece of white light rose from under him, which was the White Jade Shuttle.
His body rose into the air, turning into a white light and chasing after Yuan Ming.
Liu Su and Lin Liumu also hurried to catch up, the two of them didn't have flying magic tools, so they could only run with their legs, quickly falling behind.
The mist around them became thicker and thicker, and Yuan Ming and Xu Changqing disappeared in front of them.
Liu Su and Lin Liumu hurriedly increased their pace to catch up when they saw this scene.
Although Yuan Ming's body technique was extremely fast, compared to Xu Changqing's flying magic tool, he was still far behind. The distance between the two of them was getting closer and closer, and soon there were only ten meters left.
Just at this moment, Yuan Ming in front suddenly stopped, and swiftly turned back.
Boom!
Four streams of light of different colors shot out from his sleeves, it was the Cold Star Sword, the Nine-Ring Golden Knife, and the pair of Meng Shan's Black Mountain Claws.
The four magic tools burst out with powerful energy, carrying four tails of light, and in the blink of an eye, they arrived in front of Xu Changqing.
Xu Changqing was surprised, but he was still a cultivator in the early Foundation Establishment stage, and his reaction was swift. He immediately stopped his figure and controlled the golden snake sword to intercept the Cold Star Sword.
A black light flashed in his right hand, and a black inkstone magic tool appeared out of thin air, growing to the size of a table, and collided with the other three magic tools.
A series of intense collisions rang out, and the Cold Star Sword and the other three magic tools were all blocked.
Xu Changqing's eyes glowed with a cold light, and a golden light appeared at his fingertips as he pointed into the void.
The golden snake sword burst out with dazzling golden light, sweeping away the Cold Star Sword, turning into a blurry golden shadow and shooting straight towards Yuan Ming.
Yuan Ming was not the least bit flustered. He lightly waved his right arm, and a tall white ape figure appeared in front of him, it was the corpse of the Heavenly Serpent Man merged with the White Ape Skin. Both hands suddenly reached forward.
With a loud "clang," the golden snake sword suddenly stopped, firmly held by the white ape's hands.
Xu Changqing was shocked by the sudden appearance of the white ape, and hurriedly activated the golden snake sword. The golden snake sword struggled hard, but couldn't break free at all.
A cold smile appeared at the corner of Yuan Ming's mouth, and he lightly hooked his index finger.
A faint black needle shot out from the white mist behind him, silently piercing towards the back of Xu Changqing's head.
The black needle was two feet behind Xu Changqing when he suddenly woke up, and with a wave of both hands, a blue light burst out from his palms, forming a spherical blue shield around him in an instant.
The shield had just formed when the black needle magic tool pierced it, and the tiny black needle suddenly burst out with an astonishing surge of spiritual power, fully displaying the power of a top-grade magic tool.
This blue shield was just an ordinary water attribute shield, and Xu Changqing hadn't been able to infuse too much spiritual power into it. With just one sudden stab, the black needle magic tool pierced through it.
The shield shattered with a "bang," turning into countless blue lights floating away.
The black needle paused slightly, then continued to shoot out, piercing towards the back of Xu Changqing's head.Xu Changqing needed just that moment of respite. He spat out a golden orb the size of a chicken egg from his mouth, which swiftly floated behind him, barely blocking the black needle.
However, a shadow flickered on the black needle, and a black crow burst forth, circumventing the golden orb and lunging towards Xu Changqing with astonishing speed.
Xu Changqing failed to react in time, and the black crow struck him right between the eyebrows, vanishing without a trace.
The Foundation Establishment cultivator's body shuddered, and he stood frozen in place, his control over several magical instruments ceasing abruptly.
Seizing the opportunity, the black needle shook off the golden orb and, in a flash, pierced through Xu Changqing's skull from the back and exited through his forehead, trailing a line of blood.
Xu Changqing's aura dimmed rapidly, and he fell from his jade shuttle, landing motionless on the ground.
The jade shuttle, the golden snake sword, the golden orb, and the black inkstone—all magical instruments—lost their luster and clattered to the ground.
Yuan Ming's expression relaxed, he retracted the white ape, took out a wood-attributed spirit stone to restore his mana, and with a wave of his hand, summoned the items.
The white jade shuttle, the golden snake sword, the golden orb, the black inkstone, and Xu Changqing's storage instrument flew towards him and landed in his hand.
Liu Su and Lin Liumu finally caught up and, seeing Xu Changqing's corpse on the ground, their expressions drastically changed, and they halted in their tracks.
"Now, the two of you can talk to me. Who sent you here?" Yuan Ming looked at them and spoke slowly.
Liu Su and Lin Liumu showed fear on their faces and, in the next moment, fled in different directions.
Yuan Ming let out a cold chuckle and waved his hands left and right.
The Cold Star Sword and three other magical instruments split into two groups, with the Black Mountain Claws pursuing Liu Su, while the Cold Star Sword and the Nine Rings Golden Saber went after Lin Liumu.
A Soul Crow flew out from Yuan Ming's forehead and entered the nearby black needle instrument, which vanished in a flash.
Lin Liumu's movements were sluggish, and he was quickly overtaken by the Cold Star Sword and the Nine Rings Golden Saber. The two instruments shone brightly and chopped down upon him.
Lin Liumu's face was filled with terror as he channeled all his mana into his flying wheel instrument.
The wheel's white light surged wildly, expanding tenfold in the wind, transforming into a massive white wheel that collided with the two instruments.
With two loud clangs, the white wheel was sent flying, and Lin Liumu's body shook violently, falling to the ground with a pale face due to the shock.
Behind him, Yuan Ming's figure appeared like a ghost, holding a fist-sized red fireball in his hand—it was the Explosive Flame Technique, and it seemed he had accumulated a considerable amount of mana.
"Go!" With a flick of his wrist, the red fireball shot towards Lin Liumu's back.
Lin Liumu hastily summoned a black cloud-shaped protective instrument, but before it could fully envelop him, the Explosive Flame Technique's fireball struck his body.
With a thunderous explosion, rolling flames engulfed Lin Liumu, forming a scorching pillar of fire that shot dozens of feet into the air, shaking the nearby ground.
Lin Liumu's charred body flew out of the flames and crashed to the ground, half of his body a bloody mess, appearing to have more breaths out than in.
Yuan Ming appeared beside Lin Liumu, placed his right hand on his head, and performed the Soul Search technique. Wisps of crystalline light shot from his palm, quickly penetrating the victim.
This was Yuan Ming's first time conducting a Soul Search. The crystalline light soon touched Lin Liumu's soul essence, accessing his memories.
Moments later, Yuan Ming withdrew his hand, frowning.
Lin Liumu was not very clear about the details of the assassination attempt, merely following Xu Changqing's arrangements. He only knew that completing the task would reward him with a large sum of spirit stones.
However, Yuan Ming learned an important piece of information from Lin Liumu's memories: Xu Changqing and his companions were not members of any widespread alliance but were cultivators from the Changchun Temple.
The fact that cultivators from the Great Jin's Changchun Temple were sent to assassinate him meant that this was no small matter, certainly not something Lin Junsheng could have managed.
Already gravely injured and further devastated by the Soul Search, Lin Liumu's last breath finally dissipated.
Yuan Ming collected the white wheel and the man's storage instrument, then dashed in the direction Liu Su had fled, quickly arriving at a small puddle near a grove of trees.
Liu Su sat in the puddle, with deep, bone-exposing claw marks on each of her legs, the surrounding flesh black and purple, swollen significantly.
Bloodstains were faintly visible on the clothing over her lower abdomen, where a small hole pierced through her dantian, her mana completely dissipated.
The Black Mountain Claws and the black needle instrument hovered in mid-air, slowly rotating.
Through the Soul Crow within the black needle instrument, Yuan Ming had full control over the battle.
Liu Su seemed to be an independent cultivator, with swift movements and fists harder than iron, capable of clashing with magical instruments, her strength far surpassing Lin Liumu's. Unfortunately, the black needle had advanced to a superior-grade instrument, and with the Soul Crow controlling it, Liu Su stood no chance.
While Liu Su was preoccupied with the Black Mountain Claws' attack, the black needle launched a sneak attack from behind, piercing through her dantian in one strike, causing her energy to dissipate and her cultivation to be destroyed. For the latest chapters, visit Syou or search on Baidu.
Yuan Ming beckoned with his hand, and the Black Mountain Claws and the black needle instrument flew into his sleeve.
"Yuan… Fellow Daoist Yuan Ming, I was coerced by those two and did not wish to be your enemy. I am willing to reveal the name of the person behind the scenes in exchange for my life," Liu Su pleaded urgently upon seeing Yuan Ming, trying to look pitiful.
However, with her robust and sturdy appearance, her attempt at looking pitiful only made Yuan Ming feel a chill. He composed himself before responding calmly.
"Your voice is so steady; it seems you are not gravely hurt. To withstand the Black Mountain Claws' deadly poison even after your mana has been destroyed is indeed beyond my expectations," Yuan Ming said slowly.