Immortality and cultivation: Heaven rewards diligence, and success is inevitable.

The Earth Bear was the size of a small mountain, five zhang tall, and when it stood upright, it could almost reach the dome.

Its fur is dark brown, like it's covered in a layer of iron armor.

It had multiple wounds on its body, including a deep gash on its left foreleg that exposed bone. Blood was flowing down its fur and pooling on the ground.

Its right shoulder was charred black, the flesh torn and burned by fire magic. But it didn't fall; instead, it became even more ferocious.

Its eyes were golden, and its pupils burned with fury.

Each claw strike shook the ground, and each roar made the crystals on the walls tremble.

Its power was not weakened by the injury, but rather increased; it was burning through its lifespan.

The five members of the Five Elements Demon Sect set up the Five Elements Grand Formation, trapping the Earth Bear inside.

The five colors of true essence—gold, cyan, blue, red, and brown—connected to form a five-colored light shield, like an inverted pot, enveloping the Earth Bear inside.

Jin Bufan stood at the core of the formation, his face pale and sweat beading on his forehead.

His golden longsword was stuck in the ground, the runes on its blade flickering like a candle that might go out at any moment.

His true essence was almost depleted, and he was only kept going by the pills.

Mu Qingqing had a deep claw mark on her left arm that revealed the bone. The bleeding had stopped, but her entire arm was trembling.

She wove a shield of vines in front of her to block the shockwaves of the Earth Bear, but the vines kept breaking and growing back, and were almost unable to keep up with the speed of the destruction.

Huo Fentian's chest was charred black from being struck by the Earth Bear's earth-based magic.

His flames could no longer be emitted; he could only occasionally scatter a few sparks.

His face was ashen, his lips were purple, and he stood swaying precariously in the middle of the formation.

Shui Wuhen's blue Taoist robe was torn open, revealing the inner armor underneath.

There was a deep scratch on the inner armor; another inch deeper and it would have pierced through.

His ice magic was still usable, but the ice spikes couldn't even pierce the fur of the earth bear.

Tu Hou's leg seemed to be injured, and his standing posture was slightly crooked.

His main responsibility was defense, using earthen walls to block the earth bear's charge.

But with each earthen wall that was smashed, his face paled a little more.

He has already replaced seven earthen walls, and the eighth one is currently being laid.

All five people were injured and their true energy was depleted.

The giant earth bear wasn't much better off.

Its left foreleg is no longer able to exert much force, and it shakes every time it lands.

The burns on its right shoulder slowed its claws by 30%.

Its breathing was heavy, like a bellows, and each exhale carried a bloody smell.

But it kept fighting, as if it never got tired.

Jiang Shi and his three companions stopped in the shadows at the entrance of the temple.

Huo Lie leaned against the wall, panting, watching the battle in the distance, and whispered, "They're almost done for."

"Earth Bear is also nearing its end; it wouldn't be surprising if either of them fell first," Feng Yiran said in a deep voice, his tone carrying a hint of killing intent.

Jiang Shi didn't speak. He extended his spiritual sense, carefully avoiding the battlefield, and only probed the condition of both sides.

The Earth Bear, at the peak of the late Golden Core stage, is rapidly losing its life force, but its combat power increases instead of decreasing in its berserk state.

A violent earth-elemental true essence was burning within its body, burning its lifespan in exchange for power.

It can't last long in this state; at most half an hour, it will die from exhaustion.

Jin Bufan, a member of the Five Elements Demonic Sect, had exhausted his true essence, and cracks appeared on his golden longsword.

Mu Qingqing's left arm wound was still bleeding, and the vines were almost impossible to weave.

Huo Fentian has stopped outputting true energy.

He simply stood in the middle of the formation. Water.

His seamless inner armor was torn open; the next blow could be fatal.

The eighth earthen wall, thick with soil, has just been formed, but it is half the thickness of the previous seven.

All five of them are just barely holding on.

"It's time for us to make our move. These five have caused us so much trouble before," Huo Lie said, adjusting his state to prepare for the upcoming battle.

Just then, Jin Bufan seemed to sense something and turned to look in the direction of the temple entrance.

A hundred feet apart, his gaze met Jiang Shi's.

Jin Bufan's lips moved slightly, and he said, "You've come."

Jin Bufan had discovered them, but Jiang Shi did not respond to Jin Bufan's words.

Jin Bufan withdrew his gaze and took out a talisman from his storage bracelet.

The talisman was golden, with black lines on the paper, exuding a terrifying aura.

It wasn't the aura of the Golden Core stage, but rather that of the Nascent Soul stage—a fourth-grade spirit talisman, equivalent to a full-force attack from the early Nascent Soul stage.

Huo Lie's expression changed, and he said in a trembling voice, "A fourth-grade spirit talisman? Has he gone mad? Using a fourth-grade spirit talisman here will blow up the entire temple!"

"He can't care about that anymore; the Earth Bear is wearing him down."

"Jin Bufan is willing to fight to the death!"

Indeed, Jin Bufan hadn't expected Jiang Shi and his group to arrive so quickly, and without suffering much loss.

He hadn't expected the Earth Bear to be so difficult to defeat.

This is normal; Jin Bufan and his group of five arrived at this core temple using a special method provided by the Five Elements Demon Sect.

They did not participate in the first three trials, so naturally they did not gain the approval of the Earth Bear.

Originally, they didn't need to participate in this life-or-death battle.

Once you pass the first three tests, facing the Earth Bear will only be a test, and you won't suffer its full force.

Jin Bufan quickly affixed the talisman to the golden longsword, and the runes on the sword and the patterns on the talisman began to resonate.

Golden light shone simultaneously from the sword and the talisman, growing brighter and brighter, like a small sun rising in the center of the temple.

"Retreat!" Jin Bufan shouted, his voice trembling slightly.

Upon hearing this, the four retreated simultaneously, the Five Elements Formation dissipated, and the five-colored light shield vanished. The Earth Bear broke free of its restraints and pounced on Jin Bufan.

Jin Bufan drew his sword.

A flash of sword light appeared.

It's not gold, it's white.

It was blindingly white, like a bolt of lightning shooting from the tip of a sword, striking the earth bear squarely in the chest.

The Earth Bear's body was pierced by the sword light, and a hole the size of a bowl exploded in its chest.

Blood and shattered entrails gushed from the hole, splattering all over the ground.

This is the power of the Nascent Soul stage. Even if it is only the early stage of the Nascent Soul stage, it is not something that the Earth Bear in the late stage of the Golden Core stage can withstand.

Its body froze, its raised right paw stopped in mid-air, and the light in its golden eyes began to dim.

But something unexpected happened: the giant bear, which should have died, did not fall down.

It looked down at the hole in its chest, then looked up at Jin Bufan.

There was no anger or fear in the golden eyes, only something Jiang Shi couldn't understand.

The earth bear raised its head and let out a deep roar.

The roar didn't sound like a battle cry; it was more like a call for something.

The sound wasn't loud, but the entire temple shook. Several crystals on the dome were shaken off, hitting the ground and shattering into powder.

Then the Earth Bear moved, leaping onto the stone platform.

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