Cultivating Immortality Begins with Rejuvenation.

Chapter 224 Head-on Confrontation
Qin Henian was confident that no one would dare to intercept him, a dignified fake alchemist, and was unwilling to change his way back. Therefore, Li Ji'an could only have Guagua break through the enemy's ambush in advance.

The fact that the two late-stage Foundation Establishment demonic cultivators dared to ambush their group of four must mean that the other side had extraordinary methods and trump cards.

If Qin Henian were to follow his own nature and charge into the enemy's ambush formation, the chances of him failing would be quite high.

By breaking the magic array ahead of time, not only were the opponent caught off guard, but Qin Henian was also prepared, greatly reducing the danger.

"You beast!" The moment the magic array shattered, the croaking demon's power was exposed.

After all, the opponent's formation was quite impressive. With Li Ji'an's novice-level formation master's eyesight, he couldn't see the formation's structure and had no choice but to let Guagua confront it head-on with all its might.

In that instant, the two of them saw through Guagua.

"A second-tier demonic frog is hiding in this river where spiritual energy is scarce! This holy maiden will definitely skin you alive and extract your essence blood!" Xue Ling'er glared at the fleeing frog and injected a trace of her blood spirit mark into the frog's essence blood.

"Was it an accident? Or was it intentional?" Du Haizang paused, a sense of foreboding creeping over him.

If they were wild frog demons, they wouldn't attack their setup for no reason. Normally, they should have kept their distance after sensing their presence.

If it's someone else's spirit pet, then it's a bit unsettling to think about.

The fact that they were able to accurately locate the magic array and break it with all their might clearly indicates who was behind it. Most importantly, they only sensed the frog demon's presence the moment they broke the array. When did it arrive? Could it have been lurking nearby all along?

"Don't panic! We've probably already been exposed. Don't be careless!" Du Haizang said, then immediately flew up and blocked Qin Henian's flying boat.

Xue Ling'er withdrew her gaze from Guagua and followed.

"Hmm?" Qin Henian narrowed his eyes, staring at the two Foundation Establishment juniors in front of him with some surprise.

At the same time, the power of his fake core erupted, his purpose being to make the opponent open their eyes wide and see clearly.

"Hmph! Mere fake pills are not even worthy of my attention." Du Haizang scoffed lightly.

Qin Henian's tiger-like eyes widened as he looked back at the three people behind him, then at the other person.

Two late-stage Foundation Establishment juniors actually dared to intercept him, a dignified Pseudo-Core Formation True Person, along with three other Foundation Establishment companions.

Has the cultivator from Yuanzhou gone mad?

"You've turned the tables on the Heavenly Gang?" In the next instant, Qin Henian made a domineering move.

A true person cannot be insulted!
In an instant, a gigantic, illusory hand that blotted out the sky pressed down on the two of them.

The giant hand carried the raging fury of the fake Core Formation cultivator, and also his disdain for the Foundation Establishment junior.

"A mere fake Core Formation cultivator dares to call himself a True Person?" Facing the pressure that could shatter the protective shield of a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator with a single palm strike, Du Haizang sneered and spread his palm.

A small coffin suddenly appeared in his hand.

The coffin was silver-gray with a hint of dim gold.

"The Corpse Puppet Sect's Corpse-Raising Coffin?" Qin Henian's eyes narrowed.

At this moment, the silver coffin in Du Haizang's hand slowly opened its lid, and a silver light flashed out.

Immediately afterwards, a flash of silver light appeared, and a humanoid figure flew out, instantly transforming into the size of an ordinary person, and directly confronting the giant yellow earth hand that descended from the sky.

"Boom!"

The moment the enormous sound rang out, the giant hand vanished without a trace, turning into a cloud of dust.

"Thump thump thump~" Qin Henian on the flying boat was knocked back three steps by the force of the recoil.

"The Silver Corpse of the Corpse Puppet Sect? No, it has already undergone the transformation into a golden corpse, a quasi-golden corpse!" Staring intently at the Silver Corpse that had shattered his giant palm, Qin Henian's face darkened.

The Corpse Puppet Sect primarily focuses on refining corpses to create corpse puppets. Iron corpses possess the power of mid-stage Qi Refining, while bronze corpses are comparable to Foundation Establishment cultivators. Silver corpses are virtually invincible against ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators, and once refined into a gold corpse, even ordinary Core Formation cultivators cannot defeat it without the thunderous power specifically designed to counter gold corpses.

It is said that more than three thousand years ago, when the Corpse Puppet Sect was still in the Tiancang Domain, it used a golden corpse to withstand a fatal blow from the Nascent Soul True Monarch of the Myriad Laws Palace.

The silver corpse in front of them, now radiating a faint golden glow, possessed thirty percent of the power of the golden corpse. In terms of cultivation level, it was comparable to a False Core Immortal, but due to the special nature of the corpse puppet, its actual combat strength was definitely higher than that of a False Core Immortal.

"You all escape to Tianhe Immortal City!" Without much thought, Qin Henian directly transmitted his voice to the three people behind him.

escape?
Fear filled Qin Chuan's eyes.

In his memory, his ancestor had never shown such a lack of confidence before; just a moment ago, he had even thought that no one would dare to stop him.

But at that moment, he actually let the three of them escape.

This is enough to show that they lack confidence.

"You little devil, let this old man have a go at the so-called invincible corpse puppet of the same level!" Qin Henian handed over the control of the flying boat to Li Ji'an, immediately flew up to meet him, and pushed the flying boat backward.

However, just as the airship began to move, a playful, delicate shout rang out: "Still trying to escape?"

Xue Ling'er gave an evil smile, and her entire body instantly transformed into a cloud of blood.

Its speed was extremely fast, and in the blink of an eye it had arrived behind the airship, blocking its retreat.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!" At the same time, several blood-red swords shot towards the flying boat.

As a flying magical artifact, the flying boat had poor defensive capabilities, so Li Ji'an immediately put it away.

The moment the flying boat retracted, Yan Qingwan and Li Ji'an almost instinctively dodged to the side, avoiding the blood sword.

Qin Chuan was momentarily stunned and failed to dodge in time, getting covered by the blood sword.

Bang bang bang!
Its protective shield, formed during the initial stage of foundation building, shattered instantly.

Fortunately, the moment the protective shield shattered, a square cauldron appeared in front of him, blocking the deadly blood sword.

"Fan'er, use offense as defense!" Yan Qingwan had not yet regained her footing when she sent a telepathic message to Li Ji'an.

Li Ji'an nodded secretly, Yan Qingwan was indeed tempered by decades of turmoil in the wilderness.

His experience in dealing with sudden life-or-death struggles far surpasses that of Qin Chuan, a sheltered young woman from a privileged family.

Moreover, the three of them had the advantage in numbers against Xue Ling'er alone, but their cultivation levels were all inferior to hers. Under these circumstances, only by working together and using offense as defense could they gain the upper hand.

If we only defend, we will eventually be defeated one by one and wiped out.

"Clang!" Yan Qingwan drew her jade sword, a flash of light appearing as she aimed directly at the right side of the blood cloud.

Li Ji'an unleashed a fiery cloud that enveloped the left side of the blood cloud.

After regaining his senses, Qin Chuan also took out a treasure basin, which was filled with earth spirit energy. As Qin Chuan activated it, a whirlwind of yellow sand shot towards the blood cloud.

A soft laugh rang out from within the blood-red cloud, instantly amplified several times over.

Immediately afterwards, countless blood bats flew out from the blood cloud and attacked the three of them simultaneously.

"I've always heard that demonic cultivators value offensive techniques the most, but I never imagined they would be this powerful!" Yan Qingwan was shocked.

This was also Li Ji'an's first time fighting against a real demonic cultivator, and he was equally shocked.

Compared to so-called righteous cultivators, demonic cultivators are not much different in terms of cultivation level. However, demonic cultivators pay more attention to offensive methods, and most of their offensive methods are extremely extreme.

Normally speaking, an opponent with late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation could hold his own against three mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators. Against a group like Li Ji'an and his two companions, two of whom were early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators, he could secure a victory, but he would never suppress them so easily.

In the current situation, the three were suppressed almost instantly upon making their move.

The endless blood bats surrounded the three of them. Although their attack power was not as strong as that of the late Foundation Establishment stage, it was only a matter of time before they broke through the protective magic shields of the three of them.

Even Li Ji'an, who had the highest cultivation level among the three, was unable to quickly kill the blood bats using the offensive spells he had learned from the Yan family.

What made the three of them even more helpless was that even if the blood bats were killed, they would turn into a wisp of blood mist, drift back into the blood cloud formed by Xue Ling'er, and then turn back into blood bats to attack.

It could be said to be endless. Qin Chuan was even more shaken by the endless blood bats. He had focused on cultivation since childhood and paid attention to his cultivation level. He had never experienced a life-or-death battle. He had looked forward to it when he was in Tianhe Immortal City, but now he understood the meaning of Qin Henian's words.

It would be best to never experience life-or-death battles or bloodshed in one's entire life.

"Qin Henian! How did you manage to deceive everyone and kill that Liu family patriarch?" At the same time, Du Haizang, wielding a long, ink-black spear, fought with increasing ferocity alongside the silver corpse, even having the leisure to question them.

Qin Henian had long lost his previous confidence. The fact that the corpse puppet had no emotions, no fear, and no fear of death made it impossible for him to do anything about it.

Unfortunately, Du Haizang and Yin Shi worked together seamlessly, and their combined attack techniques were highly skilled. Qin Henian's plan to capture the leader first was thwarted several times, and he was now in a passive defensive situation.

For a dignified Pseudo-Core Formation cultivator to be forced into a defensive posture by a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator is already a great humiliation.

More importantly, he had also discovered the predicament of Qin Chuan and the other two.

"Young friend, please wait. There may be a misunderstanding between us." Qin Henian was not afraid of his own life or death, but he could not ignore the life or death of Qin Chuan, a member of his clan.

"Heh~ Righteous cultivators really do change their tune quickly." The change in address from "demon brat" to "little friend" made Du Haizang sneer.

Qin Henian remained calm and composed: "Young friend, are you after the rumored Core Formation Pill formula? I swear by my inner demons, absolutely not!"

"Hmph! You can fool the Myriad Laws Palace, but you can't fool this Holy Son!" Du Haizang had the Holy Bone Sensing the mark his master had left on him, and he firmly believed it.

At this point, Qin Henian realized that today's situation was a matter of life and death!
Without further hesitation, he unleashed his strongest sandstorm spell, enveloping Du Haizang and the silver corpse.

However, as if he had anticipated this, Du Haizang instantly dodged and fled, avoiding the center of the sandstorm.

Undeterred by the flying sand, even though its skin was torn and mottled by the sand, the silver corpse still charged toward Qin Henian at the very center.

The silver corpse is physically powerful, and its attacks are no weaker than those of a fake core cultivator. If Qin Henian were to be attacked at close range and his protective shield were broken, he might perish on the spot.

Therefore, Qin Henian raised his hand and summoned an earthen shield in an attempt to intercept the silver corpse.

Bang.

However, it was brutally smashed to pieces by the silver corpse.

The shattered earthen wall exploded, turning Qin Henian's location into a cloud of murky dust.

The silver corpse then rushed into the murky dust and noise.

"Hmph! A righteous path fake pill, nothing special." Du Haizang floated on the edge of the sandstorm and sneered.

"Whoosh!" However, in the next instant, Du Haizang felt a chill in his heart. His instinct from fighting life and death since childhood made him feel an extremely dangerous aura.

"Bang!" Before Du Haizang could make a move, a force even stronger than the full power Qin Henian had just exerted touched his protective shield.

A real killer!
"Crack!"

The next moment, his protective magic shield, which was in the late stage of Foundation Establishment, shattered.

Qin Henian's figure finally materialized from the illusory.

"You little devil, you're still lacking in skill!" A violent glint flashed across Qin Henian's face.

The earthen wall he had just built was merely a cover for his Sand Release technique. Taking advantage of the moment the earthen wall exploded, he used the Sand Release secret technique to get behind Du Haizang.

In order to kill with one blow, he once again took out the clan's treasured artifact, the Heavenly Gang Cauldron.

Although the nurturing of the Heavenly Cauldron over the previous hundreds of years has been wasted, it would take at least nearly a thousand years of nurturing to restore it to the level of a magic weapon.

However, at this moment, the full-force attack still possessed the power of a nascent magical artifact.

Such a surprise attack left the opponent with no chance of dodging; even if the fake Core Formation cultivator didn't die, he would be severely injured.

The little devil in front of us is doomed to die.

Once he dies, the silver corpse will no longer have consciousness.

"Die!" Qin Henian showed no mercy.

Boom~
As expected, the other party did not dodge.

"how is this possible?"

However, the moment the loud noise rang out, Qin Henian was suddenly stunned.

Because if it were a cultivator with a physical body like Du Haizang, this attack would only result in blood and flesh flying everywhere.

The sound that came out was dull and solid.

Upon closer inspection, Qin Henian's expression changed drastically, and he leaped away.

Du Haizang was nowhere to be seen; the person he had struck with all his might had become that silver corpse.

After being hit, a section of the silver corpse's back collapsed, but it immediately attacked him.

"Pfft~" A muffled groan came from the center of the sandstorm, and at the same time, a mouthful of blood mist sprayed into the sky.

"You treacherous old scoundrel!" As the sandstorm dissipated, Du Haizang revealed himself, a touch of crimson at the corner of his mouth that made his face appear even more sickly.

"Bang!" Qin Henian retreated immediately, but he was still a step too slow. The silver corpse tore through his protective shield with a claw, leaving four deep, bone-revealing bloodstains on Qin Henian's lower ribs.

"Corpse Puppet Teleportation!" After flying back several feet, Qin Henian steadied himself, staring in shock at the man and the puppet.

That situation just happened in the blink of an eye.

Even if the Great Teleportation Talisman were activated at that time, it would be too late.

But the opponent managed to dodge the fatal blow.

Fortunately, even though his corpse puppet took the blow for him, he still suffered a backlash and appeared to be seriously injured.

However, even with half of its shoulder collapsed, the silver corpse still possessed undiminished power.

"Pfft~" What made Qin Henian even more desperate was that he could feel his magic power stagnating and his blood and qi surging erratically.

Looking again at the ribs that had been scratched by the corpse puppet, they were now completely black and emitting a putrid smell.

"Corpse poison!" Qin Henian felt a pang of despair.

The corpse poison of a near-third-tier silver corpse is equivalent to a third-tier poison, which even a True Core cultivator cannot neutralize with magic power.

"Hahaha, you old thief, why don't you surrender?" Du Haizang followed behind the silver corpse, slowly approaching Qin Henian again.

Qin Henian looked at the approaching Du Haizang, slowly exhaled, and then glanced at the three people trapped by the blood cloud, especially Qin Chuan.

He then shook his head slightly: "I never thought I'd be driven to such a desperate situation by these two little devils!"

After speaking, he decisively patted his storage bag, and a stream of crimson light transformed into a fiery red talisman that appeared in his hand.

This is the Qin family's last trump card, an ancient third-tier Heavenly Fire Talisman obtained by chance by their ancestor from the generation before that.

The so-called talisman treasure is a special treasure that a quasi-true lord at the late stage of Core Formation or above, who possesses a magic weapon of at least the third rank, refines into a talisman at the cost of temporarily consuming part of the magic weapon's power. This gives the talisman some of the magic weapon's power and can be used as a special spiritual talisman or a special magic weapon.

The downside is that there are limited uses, and most only allow three uses.

Its power is thirty percent of that magic weapon.

According to the analysis of the Qin family ancestors, this talisman was made from a first-grade magic weapon, and its power could potentially threaten a late-stage Core Formation cultivator. It was a true trump card.

Unfortunately, when the Qin family ancestor obtained this talisman, he only had one chance to use it.

(End of this chapter)