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Chen Qiao's eyes were filled with tears, but a carefree smile played on her lips. Her chest rose and fell slightly with excitement, and she still held the longbow in her hand.

This scene stunned Zhou Wei.

Not only were they surprised by Li Shen's methods, but Chen Qiao was also surprised to find that she was on Li Shen's side.

Although it's just a small Qi Refining Level 5, the current situation is completely different.

What was originally a three-on-one situation turned into a two-on-one situation.

It's still about yourself.

Zhou Wei's mind raced, and he was about to open his mouth to negotiate.

But the other party didn't give me a chance to speak at all.

A huge fireball came right in front of us.

Zhou Wei's pupils contracted sharply as he consumed one defensive talisman after another.

The opponent's talismans seemed endless, leaving no time for them to set up an array.

There's no way to retreat!

Zhou Wei gritted his teeth and slammed his hand on the storage bag, and a small tortoise-patterned shield flew out to protect him.

At the same time, he stomped his feet hard on the ground and darted to the left.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The fireballs struck the tortoise shield repeatedly, causing the shield's surface to scatter with spiritual light, but it did not shatter directly.

"This is a defensive magic weapon that is close to a high-grade first tier. No matter how powerful your talismans are, it will take you some time to upgrade it."

Zhou Wei hid behind the shield, panting heavily, and snorted coldly, maintaining his dignity as a member of a Foundation Establishment family.

Li Shen remained expressionless as five dark green throwing knives flew out one after another, striking the center of the tortoise shield with swift and precise movements.

With the addition of ice cone runes, the shield shimmered with spiritual light, and each impact stirred up layers of emerald ripples.

Seeing this, Zhou Wei panicked again, knowing that the tortoise shield wouldn't last long, and quickly took out the array plate to prepare to set up the array.

For a formation master, formations are the greatest asset.

Want to set up a formation?

Li Shen frowned and unleashed two Blood Soul Nails he had prepared with a single palm strike.

The tortoise shield could no longer withstand the cracks, which spread rapidly from the center.

In the instant of the collapse, Zhou Wei had no time to react or dodge. The Blood Soul Nail pierced through his brow, his body stiffened, and he fell straight backward.

Before Li Shen could even catch his breath, he caught a glimpse of a cold glint shooting towards him out of the corner of his eye!

Fortunately, the golden shield talisman helped him block the attack.

Is this woman crazy?

Li Shen was completely bewildered. He widened the distance and added another layer of golden shield.

Just now, Chen Qiao sent him a telepathic message asking him to join forces to kill Liu Feng. Now that Liu Feng is dead, what does this mean?

As Li Shen's thoughts raced, he noticed that Chen Qiao's pupils had turned blood red.

It was exactly the same as when I was caught in the illusion array before.

Li Shen immediately realized something was wrong and released his divine sense to scan his surroundings.

"Fellow Daoist Chen!"

He gave a low shout, trying to bring the other person back to their senses.

But the only response he received was the snapping of a bowstring!

Immediately afterwards, an old, cold voice echoed throughout the stone chamber.

"Brilliant! Truly brilliant! A mere Qi Refining cultivator managed to kill two people and even see through my illusion array. Your cunning and methods are both remarkable. Very good! Very good! Why don't you stay and keep me company?"

Before he could finish speaking, Li Shen quickly fixed his gaze on the Taoist-robed skeleton.

Suddenly, two eerie green flames leaped from the empty eye sockets of the motionless skeleton!

A ghost emerged from it, then unleashed a powerful aura that instantly enveloped the entire cave!

"Thank you for your kind words, senior, but I have no intention of staying!"

Li Shen responded coldly, his tone tinged with curiosity:

"What methods did you use to manipulate others?"

The ghost chuckled twice, explaining contentedly as it flew:

"It wasn't manipulation; I merely stirred up her anger, meaning she already harbored resentment towards you."

"Oh?"

Li Shen let out a soft hesitant sound, his eyes turning icy cold:

"I see, that saves me a lot of trouble."

With a thought, the spirit-devouring ants lurking underground broke through the ground and climbed onto the Taoist-robed skeleton.

"How dare you, you brat!"

The ghost cursed loudly, its obvious panic confirming Li Shen's guess.

That skeleton was the very thing its remnant soul depended on for existence!

"Kill him!"

As the ghost rushed toward the skeleton, it issued a command.

Bewitched and filled with murderous intent and hatred, Chen Qiao heard the voice as if she had been given a command. Her blood-red eyes locked onto Li Shen's back, and she drew her longbow to its fullest extent once more. The bowstring vibrated, and the arrow pierced the air, heading straight for Li Shen's back!

Li Shen was prepared and used his throwing knives to intercept the attack.

Immediately afterwards, he poured his spiritual power into the Yin Soul Banner, and the banner moved without wind, from which the soul slaves emerged.

No matter how powerful the aura the opponent just released was, it was ultimately not a Foundation Establishment cultivator. It seems that this old Foundation Establishment cultivator must have made some sacrifice to keep his remnant soul until now.

Since that's the case, I'm not afraid of a Soul Slave with my current late-stage peak strength at all.

"Keep him occupied!"

Li Shen decisively gave the order.

Upon receiving the order, the Soul Slave let out a silent shriek, its body surging with yin energy as it lunged straight at the two points of eerie green flames.

The ghost was filled with shock and anger. After observing for a long time, it thought that this junior in the mid-stage of Qi Refining had used all his tricks. It never expected that he had a backup plan, and that it was a Soul Slave at the peak of the late stage of the first tier.

For a moment, he was forced to retreat repeatedly by the fierce attacks of the soul slave, the eerie green flames flickering and unable to get close to his skeleton.

On the other side, dozens of spirit-devouring ants had swarmed all over the Taoist-robed skeleton, their sharp mouthparts biting into the bones with a sickening "crunch" sound.

The bones quickly lost their luster at the bite marks, turning gray and even developing fine cracks.

"No--"

The old ghost's remnant soul let out a mournful roar, trying to spare a wisp of power to shake off the spirit-devouring ants. However, the entanglement of the soul slave prevented it from concentrating. Instead, due to the distraction, a small piece of its soul was torn away by the soul slave's yin energy, and its aura immediately weakened.

Just then, Chen Qiao's third arrow arrived.

The arrow was noticeably weaker. As Li Shen deflected it with his throwing knife, he noticed that Chen Qiao's face was streaked with blood and tears, her expression contorted as if she were struggling desperately.

Li Shen's heart sank, knowing that the woman could not be saved, and he gathered a Blood Soul Nail in his hand.

Without hesitation, he struck out with a palm, ending the opponent's suffering.

Chen Qiao's body trembled slightly, the bloodshot in her eyes gradually faded, and a trace of clarity returned.

Her lips moved slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she couldn't make a sound and slowly collapsed to the ground.

A barely audible whisper drifted into Li Shen's ears:

"...Thank you."

Li Shen closed his eyes for a moment, then replied softly:

"Take care."

Immediately, a cold glint appeared in his eyes again, and the Soul-Devouring Ants, under Li Shen's precise command, attacked the skeleton's spine and skull with all their might.

The spine provides support, while the skull may house the core of a remnant soul.

With a crisp "crack," the skeleton's cervical vertebrae were severed, its head tilted to one side, and several small holes were then bitten through its skull.

"No... Fellow Daoist... wait..."

The ghost's voice became intermittent, filled with despair and resentment.

As the foundation of the skeleton was severely damaged, its remnant soul, like a tree without roots, began to dissipate rapidly.

The soul slave seized the opportunity to pounce, devouring the dissipated soul power to strengthen itself.

The powerful aura that had enveloped the stone chamber receded like a tide.

The Soul Slave greedily devoured the last bit of soul power, then contentedly retreated back into the Yin Soul Banner.

The Soul-Devouring Ant swarm completed its mission and was retrieved by Li Shen.

Inside the stone chamber, deathly silence returned.

Only three gradually cooling corpses and a mess on the ground remained.

In the hand of the Taoist-robed skeleton, a perfectly round bead rolled to the ground with two soft thuds and stopped at Li Shen's feet.

Immediately, the bead shattered and turned into a clump of fine ash.