I rely on learning to achieve immortality.

A continuous stream of water blades bombarded the tortoise-patterned shield, producing a series of booming sounds.

Li Zelei gritted his teeth and persevered, the area covered by the tortoise-patterned shield shrinking further, now reduced to five feet in front of him.

It seemed that in a few more moments, it would be unable to hold on any longer.

The black-robed cultivator laughed triumphantly, the array plate in his hand trembled with spiritual light, and the water blades bombarded him more and more rapidly.

If this continues, the tortoise-shell shield will break sooner or later.

The bald, short man was pale, clutching a talisman in his hand, unsure of what to do.

Even with his late-stage Qi Refining cultivation, Li Zelei couldn't withstand the attack from the high-grade tortoise-patterned shield. As a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator, he was completely helpless at this moment.

During the crisis, Xu Zhou did not go to check.

His gaze swept around, seemingly searching for a way to escape, but in reality, his divine sense had already spread out, scanning the surrounding area inch by inch.

Within the formation, spiritual energy circulated, spiraling in circles like eddies.

But deep within that vortex, there was a barely perceptible obstruction.

Xu Zhou's eyes narrowed.

found it.

The familiar trajectory of spiritual energy, and the equally familiar sense of awkwardness, were exactly the array flag he had repaired!

"Senior brother, help me attract his attention."

"Just ten breaths."

Li Zelei was slightly taken aback.

But he didn't ask any more questions, he just nodded silently.

The magic power within his body surged wildly into the tortoise-patterned shield, and the previously dimmed shield light suddenly lit up, deflecting all the water blades in front of him.

"Give me a refund!"

Seeing Li Zelei launch a counterattack, the black-robed cultivator scoffed disdainfully, "Finally going to fight to the death?"

He remained calm and composed, simply manipulating the water blades to continue locking onto his opponent.

As long as the formation remains intact and the water blades continue, even a skilled warrior in the late stage of Qi Refining will be worn down and killed here.

Just as the shield's light curtain surged, the previously silent dwarf suddenly leaped back.

Seeing that Li Zelei seemed unable to withstand the water blades, he seized this last opportunity to try to escape and save himself.

His actions did not escape the notice of the black-robed monk.

"Trying to escape?"

The black-robed cultivator sneered, but did not immediately give chase.

The short man ran for several dozen feet and, seeing that no one was chasing him, was overjoyed, thinking he could escape and live to the fullest.

The next moment, a sharp sword shot out from the woods beside the road.

Whoosh!

Caught off guard, the bald, short man was struck by a sword that pierced his throat, causing him to bleed profusely and lose his momentum.

At that moment, he suddenly remembered that when the old man had fled earlier, he had also been slit in the throat by a sharp sword.

He thought the one who made the move was the black-robed cultivator who controlled the array plate, but he didn't expect it to be someone else.

One person controls the formation, while the other prevents the prey from escaping.

His face was full of resentment, but he couldn't control his body, and everything went black before his eyes.

However, his attempt to escape completely diverted the black-robed cultivator's attention.

Xu Zhou seized the opportunity, flipped his hand, and a green tree fell into his palm.

This spirit tree is only half a person tall, with a verdant body and dense branches and leaves.

Under Xu Zhou's infusion of magic power, the spirit tree instantly experienced a surge in vitality.

The next moment, Xu Zhou did not attack.

Taking advantage of the fact that the black-robed cultivator's attention was still on the fleeing dwarf, he suddenly threw the spirit wood in his hand.

The spirit tree streaked through the air and landed precisely on an inconspicuous mound of earth by the roadside.

That was the area within the formation where spiritual energy was obscured!

"Um?"

The black-robed cultivator frowned and instinctively tried to slash with the water blade, but it was too late.

With a hum, streaks of green spiritual light burst forth around the spirit wood.

As the light spread, the spiritual energy within the formation suddenly stagnated.

The next moment, the surrounding spiritual energy surged violently, swirling around the spirit tree.

Aquatic wood.

Planting a spirit tree at a key node of a pure water elemental formation would have an almost devastating impact on the formation.

The spiritual energy surged backward, and the water elemental energy that had been gathered was forcibly pulled away. Part of it rapidly flowed into the spirit wood, while the other part quickly dispersed and vanished without a trace.

"not good!"

The black-robed cultivator's expression changed drastically, and he attempted to activate the array plate.

The array plate, which had been so easy to use before, now trembled slightly and became sluggish and difficult to move!

He tried to control himself, but suddenly his vision blurred.

Within the water blades that had gathered in front of him, one suddenly reversed and slashed towards him with a whoosh.

Swish!

The black-robed cultivator's pupils constricted sharply, and he hastily raised his hand to defend himself.

With a loud thud, the light exploded!

He was so shaken that he staggered back several steps, his robes torn to shreds and blood seeping out.

"There's something wrong with this formation!"

The black-robed cultivator roared and stopped trying to control the array plate, carelessly tossing it aside.

The next moment, he leaped into the air, but instead of trying to escape, he attacked Li Zelei.

"The situation has changed; act immediately!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he transformed into a bolt of lightning, his face contorted in a ferocious grimace, holding a sharp sword pointed directly at Li Zelei's throat.

Li Zelei did not dodge.

He didn't even activate the tortoise-patterned shield; he just stood there in place.

The previous burst of power had already exhausted his magical energy, leaving him powerless to react at this moment.

The black-robed cultivator was overjoyed, and his sword strike increased by another three points!

However, just as the sword was about to strike his throat...

Li Zelei finally made a move.

It wasn't a dodge.

Instead, we stride forward!

A large hand firmly grasped the blade, instantly stopping the sword's momentum and holding it firmly in place like a solid rock.

With his other hand, he had already grabbed the black-robed monk by the neck.

"I've been waiting for you for a long time."

Li Zelei's cold voice rang out.

The black-robed cultivator was terrified upon hearing this and hurriedly stammered, "Fellow Daoist, please spare me..."

He had barely uttered half a sentence when Li Zelei's men suddenly exerted force.

Click!

The arrogant black-robed cultivator suddenly went limp and lost all strength. Li Zelei casually tossed him aside, and after trembling a few times, he was lifeless.

Li Zelei ignored him and immediately turned around and rushed towards Xu Zhou.

The moment the black-robed cultivator attacked him, another figure leaped out from the shadows, wielding a magical sword and thrusting it straight at Xu Zhou.

However, Xu Zhou was not panicked at this moment.

Although he was not good at fighting, he had already rehearsed this kind of crisis thousands of times.

Even without Li Zelei's protection, he had his own methods for dealing with enemies.

Xu Zhou suddenly produced a porcelain bottle.

The bottle shattered the next moment.

Click.

A dense burst of yin spiritual energy erupted, then quickly contracted, transforming into an ice spike.

"go."

Xu Zhou gave a calm shout, and the ice spikes in front of him shot out instantly, arriving faster than the sword thrust at him, and striking the person directly.

The attacker snorted coldly, but showed no panic.

It was just a mere ice crystal spell; although it was cast incredibly fast, he still had ways to deal with it.

His momentum did not diminish at all. At the same time, he waved his hand and released several talismans, all of which were mid-grade defensive talismans, more than enough to defend against the ice spike.

However, the ice spikes failed to hit the talismans the moment they got close.

Instead, it suddenly exploded, turning into a thick cloud of ice mist.

The man hesitated for a moment, then was engulfed in the icy mist. In an instant, the surrounding temperature plummeted, a thin layer of frost rose beneath his feet, freezing him in place. He felt as if he were stuck in mud, finding it difficult to move.

"Junior brother, you have impressive skills!"

Li Zelei returned to Xu Zhou's side and, seeing that he had trapped the attacker, burst into laughter.

The person opposite him broke out in a cold sweat and tried every trick in the book, but he couldn't break free of the frost immediately.

Seeing Li Zelei approach, the man hurriedly said, "Fellow Daoist! This is just a misunderstanding!"

"Misunderstand?"

Before he could say anything more, Li Zelei tapped his right hand lightly.

The man tried to resist, but a nearly transparent sword aura shot out from Li Zelei's fingertip, instantly piercing his forehead and leaving only a bloody hole.

Having easily killed two enemies of the same realm, Li Zelei patted Xu Zhou on the shoulder: "Let's go, they may have accomplices. We shouldn't stay here any longer."

Xu Zhou responded and quickly retrieved the released spirit wood, then picked up the array plate from the ground.

Li Zelei also took the storage bags of the dead cultivators. The two dared not linger and used their wind manipulation technique to escape into the distance.

A few moments later, a few cultivators arrived at the scene and stared blankly at the mess before them.