With the Eight Immortals' magical treasures in hand, even a mortal like myself! Ha!

Upon hearing this, Elder Jin Yao burst into laughter, finding Han Xiangzi utterly amusing. He seemed to have never experienced the trials of the cultivation world, otherwise, how could he have uttered such words?

"Your junior is quite interesting. What's wrong? You seem quite unconvinced?" Elder Jin Yao couldn't help but ask.

"Hmph, you old codger, you're just a few years older, do you dare to fight in the heavens?" Han Xiangzi wasn't afraid at all because the other party was a Nascent Soul cultivator.

However, Gu Qing was still a little guilty. He took another step back and stepped onto the flying boat without anyone noticing, with a mid-grade spirit stone in his hand.

"Fine, fine, fine! I've never seen such an arrogant fellow. I'd like to see what you've got." Elder Jin Yao laughed angrily, then flew directly into the sky. "Junior, come on up. Don't even think about running away."

Han Xiangzi followed closely behind. Before long, the sky began to ripple with the sounds of a battle, and the once calm sea began to churn, with waves crashing against the shore in endless succession.

Because of the distance and the obstruction of clouds, Gu Qing couldn't see the battle clearly and could only ask Tieguai Li, "How is Fellow Daoist Han?"

"It's too early to tell who's better; neither of them has used their full strength," Tieguai Li said, looking up at the sky.

The brown-robed elder opposite was quite surprised. He hadn't expected that a cultivator in the late stage of Core Formation could actually fight Elder Jin Yao to a standstill—even if Elder Jin Yao hadn't used his ultimate move, it was still something that an ordinary Core Formation cultivator couldn't withstand.

After watching for a while, the old man in brown robes said seriously, "No wonder this person is so arrogant. It seems that he is only one step away from breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage. He wants to use Elder Jin Yao to hone himself."

Upon hearing this, Gu Qing immediately perked up and couldn't help but ask Tieguai Li telepathically, "Fellow Daoists, besides using spirit stones to enhance your strength, is it possible to temporarily break through during combat?"

If one could truly achieve a breakthrough temporarily, it would save a considerable amount of spirit stones.

"Of course not, and we can't call it a breakthrough, we can only say it's just a recovery of strength," Tieguai Li said, shaking his head.

Gu Qing was speechless after hearing this. What was the point of this fight?

Tieguai Li seemed to have seen through Gu Qing's thoughts, so he smiled and said, "I'll go and help Han Xiangzi defeat the other side."

With that, Tieguai Li disappeared from the spot, flew into the sky, and joined the battle.

Gu Qing paused for a moment, then became cautious, his gaze involuntarily drifting to the opposite side. Seeing that the three opposite him were focused on the horizon, he breathed a sigh of relief, but his meticulous nature still allowed him to slowly steer the Sky Ship, creating distance between himself and the three.

Before they had even separated by a mile or two, they heard Ling Yuling on the other side ask, "Where are you headed, fellow Daoist?"

"Kid, I advise you not to move. Just stay here and wait for the results," said a middle-aged man in the mid-stage of Core Formation.

Gu Qing had no choice but to stop the flying boat, and then said in a calm tone, "I'm just seeing it from a different angle, what's it to you?"

Although Gu Qing said that, he didn't dare to move rashly because he sensed that the middle-aged man's divine sense had locked onto him.

If he dares to make any rash moves, the other side might really attack immediately.

Just then, Elder Jin Yao shouted from the sky, "One against two? Shameless! Hurry up and help!"

The old man in brown robes was startled, not expecting that Elder Jin Yao was no match for the two of them working together.

"Elder Jin Yao, I'm here to help you!" The old man in brown robes said as he flew into the sky, leaving only Ling Yuling and the middle-aged man on the field.

Ling Yuling was also somewhat surprised at this moment. Although Elder Jin Yao was only at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm, he had been waiting for over a hundred years at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm.

With over a hundred years of accumulation, he is simply incomparable to those cultivators who have just entered the Nascent Soul stage.

It's surprising that Elder Jin Yao, despite his strength, was no match for two late-stage Core Formation cultivators working together.

"You hold off this cripple while I deal with this prodigal son, then we'll join forces!" Elder Jin Yao's voice came from the sky.

The battle in the sky seemed extremely intense, but Gu Qing couldn't see it at all. He could only glean information from snippets of conversation about who had the upper hand.

Not long after, the old man in the brown robe suddenly called out, "Brother Xu, come quickly and help! This man's puppets are really troublesome!"

It was clear from his words that Tieguai Li had already used the puppets of the Li brothers, which were at the mid-stage of the Core Formation realm.

The middle-aged man did not hesitate and immediately flew into the sky to help, leaving only Gu Qing and Ling Yuling on the field.

At this time, Ling Yuling only had a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivation level, while Gu Qing was a late-Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Without the slightest hesitation, Gu Qing immediately steered the flying boat away—only after he left could Han Xiangzi and Tieguai Li fight freely.

Seeing that Gu Qing was about to leave, Ling Yuling naturally refused and instantly blocked Gu Qing's path with a flying sword: "Fellow Daoist, it would be better if you did not leave."

"You, a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator, think you can stop me? What a joke!" Gu Qing ignored him completely and increased the speed of the flying boat.

Ling Yuling was also somewhat surprised, not expecting Gu Qing to leave so decisively. In just a moment of hesitation, Gu Qing had already disappeared before her eyes and appeared on the horizon, his speed so fast that it was not like that of a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator at all.

Seeing this, Ling Yuling became interested and summoned a flying boat, putting a mid-grade spirit stone into it.

The flying boat transformed into a streak of red light and vanished from its spot in an instant.

Gu Qing was far from the battlefield, but he soon sensed someone chasing after him. He used his divine sense to investigate and discovered that the person chasing him was Ling Yuling, who was in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.

Seeing Ling Yuling catch up, Gu Qing was a little surprised, but he did not stop. The two of them chased each other for over a hundred miles.

To Gu Qing's surprise, the flying boat the other party was using seemed to be faster than his own Heavenly Imperial Boat.

It should be noted that although the Heavenly Imperial Boat did not throw in any spirit stones, its normal escape speed was still several points faster than that of an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator.

But then I thought about it again. The other party is the young lady of the Star Palace. It wouldn't be difficult for her to get a flying boat that is better than mine.

Gu Qing felt a little troubled, wondering why this woman had caught up with him. Did she really think he would dare to do anything to her?

Suddenly, Gu Qing stopped flying and quickly changed direction to continue flying.

Upon catching up, Ling Yuling smiled and said, "Fellow Daoist, why aren't you running anymore? Why don't you come back with me? Perhaps the results have already been decided over there."

In Ling Yuling's view, it was only a matter of time before Elder Jin Yao, along with the old man in brown robes and the middle-aged man, defeated the two late-stage Core Formation cultivators.

After turning around, Gu Qing ignored Ling Yuling and instead threw mid-grade spirit stones into the flying boat, hurriedly flying towards the direction where Tieguai Li was fighting.

Ling Yuling was clearly stunned when she saw this, but soon, like Gu Qing, she did not hesitate to steer the flying boat and escape.