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The moment the golden core appeared, the entire battlefield seemed to freeze.

The earth-brown pill hovered in mid-air, radiating a warm and profound light, like a miniature earth-yellow sun.

Mysterious patterns flowed across the surface of the pill, each flash releasing a rich earth-elemental true essence, causing the air within a radius of several feet to become stagnant—that was the power of the earth, the true essence power that only exists within a golden core.

A ruthless glint flashed in Sect Leader Lu's eyes. He slowly scanned his surroundings, his gaze finally settling on Jiang Shi and Hua Luoyu.

Everyone present was a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. They all knew perfectly well what this Golden Core meant. The Foundation Seizing Technique was indeed dangerous, but if it could help them reach the Golden Core realm, then even the greatest risk was worth the gamble.

Moreover, this is an earth-elemental golden core, with pure attributes and abundant true essence. Even for a genius like Jiang Shi who has no bottlenecks in cultivation, it is a rare treasure that is hard to come by. To cultivate the "Earth-Earth Mountain-Suppressing Technique" to perfection, it is precisely the assistance of such an earth-elemental treasure.

For a moment, the battlefield fell silent.

Everyone held their breath in unison, and even the air seemed to thicken.

Jiang Shi, Hua Luoyu, and Sect Leader Lu were teammates just a moment ago, working together to fight Kuaihuo Zhenren, but now things have changed.

They started to be wary of each other!

Jiang Shi was even more cautious.

He took a half-step back without making a sound, creating distance between himself and the others, but his gaze never left the golden elixir.

He had clearly seen the scene just now where Sect Leader Lu ruthlessly killed his own nephew—that palm strike was swift and decisive, without the slightest hesitation.

This is the world of cultivation. In order to advance to a higher level of cultivation, fathers and sons can be abandoned, and masters and disciples can be betrayed, let alone a mere nephew.

"This person is willing to sacrifice even his own blood relatives without hesitation..." Jiang Shi thought to himself, "I must have a backup plan to compete with him for the Golden Core."

He turned his gaze back to the golden elixir.

The earthy brown light reflected in his eyes, and he could clearly sense how profound the earth-elemental true essence contained within it was—a qualitative difference, a realm that no amount of accumulation during the Foundation Establishment stage could ever reach.

Obtaining it is like having one foot in the door of the Golden Elixir.

However, the current situation is not optimistic.

Although Sect Leader Lu was seriously injured, the Mountain and Sea Banner in his hand was the biggest variable.

Jiang Shi clearly saw the scene of the white-clad woman fighting with the Happy True Man—even if the spirit of a high-grade spiritual weapon can only unleash one or two tenths of its power, it is enough to crush any Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The true meaning of the mountains and the sea intertwined, and even the Golden Core stage cultivator, the Joyful Immortal, could not subdue it in a short time, let alone himself.

But Jiang Shi couldn't bring himself to give up.

He wasn't without trump cards. The mysterious giant clam deep within his dantian had always been his last resort since he embarked on the path of cultivation.

The origin of that thing is unknown and its true nature is unfathomable, but it helped him survive a calamity when Ling Xuzi, a Golden Core cultivator, secretly attacked him last time.

Thinking of this, Jiang Shi's mind calmed down slightly, and his consciousness probed into his dantian.

In that chaotic void, the giant clam floated silently, its shell bearing indistinct patterns, as if it were asleep. But Jiang Shi knew it was listening.

"Senior," Jiang Shi transmitted his voice respectfully and solemnly, "the enemy is powerful, and I fear I may not be able to handle them. If anything unexpected happens later, may I ask for your assistance?"

After he finished speaking, there was a moment of silence in his dantian.

Just when Jiang Shi thought the giant clam wouldn't respond, a faint light suddenly appeared on its previously dull shell. The light flashed and disappeared in an instant, like a silent agreement.

Jiang Shi felt relieved, and a look of certainty flashed in his eyes.

He understood—this giant clam would help him at a crucial moment. Perhaps not by helping him defeat his enemies, but at least by ensuring his safety.

This is enough.

Jiang Shi took a deep breath and turned his gaze back to the battlefield. The golden elixir still hung in mid-air, its earthy brown light slowly emanating, as if waiting for a destined person to take it away.

And everyone around was waiting—waiting for the first person to make a move, waiting for the opportunity to break this delicate balance.

Sect Leader Lu was also waiting.

He stood with his hands behind his back, his face expressionless, but a hint of anxiety lurked deep in his eyes.

In fact, he had wanted to make a move for a long time—using the Mountain and Sea Banner as a shield and the Nine Demon Puppets as spears, even the Golden Core stage True Man Kuaihuo had been killed, so what were Jiang Shi and Hua Luoyu, these two Foundation Establishment stage juniors,?

He has the confidence.

The Mountain and Sea Flag is a top-grade spiritual artifact, and its spirit incarnation already possesses the strength to briefly engage in combat with a Golden Core cultivator.

The nine demonic puppet statues were an extremely terrifying killing move; eight were at the Foundation Establishment stage and one at the Golden Core stage. Such a lineup was enough to sweep away everyone present.

In order to activate these nine demonic puppet statues, he even sacrificed his own nephew.

However, despite secretly activating his magic several times, he hesitated to give the order to attack.

Because those nine demonic puppets were no longer under their control.

Sect Leader Lu frowned almost imperceptibly. He had just used the demonic seal within Lu Chuanxuan's body as a catalyst to activate the nine demonic seals and awaken the statue, thinking that everything was under control.

At this moment, although the nine demonic puppets still stood in place, the blood-red light in their eye sockets flickering, they did not respond to his commands at all.

It was as if something had severed the connection between them.

He tried increasing his true energy output and activated the incantation again, but the demonic puppets remained motionless. The Golden Core stage demonic ape statue even tilted its head slightly, its scarlet eyes shifting as if scrutinizing something.

Sect Leader Lu felt a chill run down his spine.

The feeling... was as if these demonic puppets had suddenly gained their own will and were no longer under his control. Or perhaps, they were obeying another command that he could not see.

The atmosphere on the battlefield thus became delicate.

Jiang Shi and Hua Luoyu were both on guard against a sudden attack from Sect Leader Lu, but after waiting for a long time, they only saw him standing in place with an uncertain expression.

Although the nine demonic puppet statues returned to their original positions after killing Happy True Man, they neither attacked nor retreated, but stood silently around, like nine real dead objects.

But everyone knows that they had just come back to life.

Jiang Shi keenly sensed something amiss. He noticed that Sect Leader Lu's fingers, hidden in his sleeve, were trembling slightly, as if he was constantly making some kind of hand seal, but to no avail.

Hua Luoyu quietly stepped back a few steps, holding another talisman in her hand, and cautiously observed the situation.

Sect Leader Lu suppressed his unease and regained his composure. He couldn't let anyone see through his disguise—if Jiang Shi and Hua Luoyu knew he had lost control of the demonic puppet, the two of them would definitely take advantage of the situation.

But he knew in his heart that the balance of power on the battlefield had already shifted without him realizing it.