Mortal: I have a Spirit Gathering Cauldron

When his natal spirit beast was killed, Senior Brother Xiao immediately suffered a backlash and coughed up a mouthful of blood.

"My destined spirit beast—"

His aura instantly weakened by more than half. The death of his natal spirit beast was a fatal blow to the cultivators of Spirit Beast Mountain. His face turned from pale to ashen, and his body swayed precariously, almost falling from the sky.

Liu Qinglan gave him no chance to catch his breath.

The blood-red blade flashed, aiming straight for Senior Brother Xiao's chest. Its speed was astonishing; Senior Brother Xiao had just suffered a backlash, his spiritual energy was scattered, and his consciousness was in chaos, so he had no time to dodge.

The blood-red blade grew larger and larger in Senior Brother Xiao's pupils.

A hair's breadth away.

A pale blue light screen rose up in front of Senior Brother Xiao.

The blood-red blade struck the light screen with a loud clang. The light screen shook violently, rippling outwards, before the blood-red blade was bounced back, leaving Liu Qinglan's arm slightly numb.

The Five Elements Reversal Formation is complete.

The light shield completely closed, trapping Liu Qinglan inside. The array flags shone brightly, the array plate hummed, and the power of the five elements flowed within the array, forming a closed and independent cycle of the five elements.

Liu Qinglan stopped attacking and looked around warily.

At this moment, the power of the five elements in the formation was constantly changing. Sometimes it was as sharp as a knife, sometimes as heavy as a mountain, sometimes as hot as a flame, sometimes as cold as frost, and sometimes as vibrant as spring.

He charged left and right through the formation, trying to find its weak point, but each attack was blocked by the light barrier.

Like a wild beast trapped in a cage.

Outside the formation, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Han Tianya wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. The small dagger talisman in his hand had been charged to its limit. The cyan scimitar hovered in front of him, with wind patterns flowing wildly on its blade, emitting a series of sharp buzzing sounds.

Lin Feng manipulated the array plate, his spiritual energy flowing through his fingertips as he sensed every change within the array.

"Fellow senior brothers and sisters, I am now controlling the formation to open up the inward attack channels." Lin Feng's voice was not loud, but it was very clear. "Quickly release your talismans."

He tapped the array plate with his finger, and a gap appeared in the array's light shield.

Inside the formation, Liu Qinglan was experiencing the five elements' rotation within the Inverted Five Elements Formation, running around aimlessly like a headless fly.

Suddenly, he sensed something was wrong. A powerful surge of spiritual energy came from above. He quickly gripped his blood-red blade and held it horizontally in front of him. His body shone with a bright blood-red light, forming a blood-red protective shield.

A terrifying azure blade of light slashed down at him from above.

Wherever the blade's edge passed, a blue crack was torn in the air, and a gale howled, sending sand and stones flying.

"boom--"

The blade struck the crimson light barrier with a deafening roar. The barrier trembled violently and caved slightly under the pressure of the blade.

The blade's edge and the crimson light shield faced off, neither giving way.

Lin Feng frowned as he observed the situation within the formation.

"One talisman isn't enough!" he shouted. "Senior Sister Nie, Senior Brother Xiao, hurry!"

At this moment, the ice needle talisman in Nie Ying's hand had accumulated most of its spiritual power.

An icy blue light condensed in her palm, and tiny ice crystal needles hovered in front of her, their tips pointing towards Liu Qinglan in the array. She gritted her teeth and poured her last bit of spiritual power into the talisman.

Senior Brother Xiao suppressed the backlash from the death of his natal spirit beast, his face pale, but he still took out a fiery red talisman from his storage bag.

The talisman was engraved with a flaming tornado pattern, surrounded by flame runes. He held the talisman in his palm and poured his spiritual power into it little by little. Although it was much slower than usual, the talisman still slowly began to glow.

Within the formation, the stalemate between Liu Qinglan and the azure blade light continued.

Nie Ying's talisman treasures were finally fully charged.

The Ice Needle Talisman transformed into countless ice crystal needles, densely packed like a blizzard, shooting towards Liu Qinglan in the formation.

The ice needles pierced Liu Qinglan's blood-red protective shield.

"Puff puff puff—"

The dense sounds were like raindrops hitting glass. Each ice needle that pierced the blood-red shield froze a small area, turning the shield's color from dark red to purplish-black, and frost spread across its surface.

The blood-red shield became much weaker under the attack of the ice needles.

A moment later, Senior Brother Xiao's talisman finally came into play.

A violent fiery tornado erupted from the talisman, the crimson flames distorting the air as it hurtled toward Liu Qinglan with an aura of annihilation.

The combined full force of the three talismanic treasures – a cyan blade of light, icy flying needles, and a fiery tornado – struck Liu Qinglan's blood-red protective shield simultaneously.

The intense fluctuations of spiritual energy within the formation caused the array's protective barrier to vibrate violently, almost torn apart by the aftershocks of the explosion. Lin Feng pressed down firmly on the array plate, maximizing the output of spiritual energy to forcibly maintain the stability of the formation.

The light illuminated the entire summit of Lingcui Mountain.

A wave of heat swept over them, scorching the surrounding bamboo until it was golden brown and curled up. The chill of the icy needles and the heat of the flames intertwined, creating a death zone of extreme contrasts between ice and fire.

Liu Qinglan's blood-red protective shield finally gave way. His face, which had returned to middle age, gradually began to show wrinkles, and he aged slowly. His hair also turned from jet black to gray.

It seems the price of the blood sacrifice technique is becoming apparent; his spiritual power is being rapidly depleted, and each breath is heavier than the last.

Cracks began to appear on the blood-red protective shield around him, spreading from top to bottom like a dense spider web. After a few breaths, the shield shattered completely, and the fragments dissipated into a blood mist in the air.

Immediately

Liu Qinglan's body was engulfed by the attack of the three-colored talisman.

"I'm not reconciled!"

His voice came from the flames, mournful, desperate, and filled with a hundred years of resentment and anger.

Then, the sound disappeared.

The flames gradually died down, the ice crystals melted and dissipated, and the cyan blade light dimmed.

Nothing was left in mid-air.

Liu Qinglan's body was completely reduced to ashes by the combined attack of the three talisman treasures, leaving not even a trace.

The sky above Lingcui Mountain returned to its hazy grayness, with only the lingering smells of blood and burnt flesh reminding one of what had just happened.

The light shield of the Reversed Five Elements Array slowly dissipated. Lin Feng withdrew the array, let out a long breath, and felt that most of his spiritual power had been drained.

Han Tianya was the first to accept the talisman, his face pale and his forehead covered in sweat.

Nie Ying put the talisman into her storage bag without saying a word, only silently wiping the sweat from her forehead.

Senior Brother Xiao fell straight down from the sky, crashing to the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust. He struggled to his feet, sat cross-legged, took out a healing pill from his storage bag, put it in his mouth, and immediately closed his eyes to regulate his breathing.

Lin Feng took out a True Essence Pill and swallowed it to begin recovering his spiritual power.

The wind was still blowing atop Lingcui Mountain, carrying a faint smell of blood, whimpering and sobbing as if it were crying.

It also felt like a farewell.