Chapter 246: Nascent Incinerating Blood Pill
The white-haired elderly man immediately turned to discover three masked figures standing at the entrance of the stone hall.
They were led by a deer-masked figure that was holding a golden longsword, which was giving off dazzling golden light.
"Who are you?" the white-haired elderly man questioned with a cold expression.
Qilin 9 offered no response, merely slashing his golden longsword through the air with a cold smile on his face.
A sharp screeching sound rang out as a streak of golden swordlight erupted out of the sword, sweeping directly toward the white-haired elderly man.
Instead of taking evasive measures, the elderly man threw himself in front of the pill cauldron without any hesitation.
He then swept a sleeve through the air to release a purplish-golden lightning serpent that was around 10 feet in length, which clashed against the golden swordlight with a rumbling thunderclap.
The purplish-golden lightning serpent instantly exploded into countless tiny arcs of lightning that sprang forth in all directions, while the golden swordlight was also destroyed, split up into countless tiny fragments that flew through the surrounding air.
A string of loud booms rang out incessantly as countless chunks of rock flew in all directions, and the entire stone hall was instantly destroyed.
Before the dust settled, another streak of swordlight arrived, and this time, it was Han Li who had sprung into action.
He was holding a silver flying sword, and he launched himself up into the air before slashing the sword directly down upon the white-haired elderly man.
This flying sword was something that he had obtained during a Transient Guild mission, and it was a treasure that had been forged with Galactic Astral Silver as its main material. Of course, it couldn't even begin to compare with his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, but given his suspicions that Qilin 9 could be Xiong Shan, it was naturally a good idea to keep his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords hidden.
Furthermore, he possessed the lowest cultivation base out of the trio, so he didn't want to display too much power.
He had already made a contribution by getting the three of them into the valley, so the Qilin 9 and Qilin 17 couldn't really say anything even if he were to hold back a little here.
The silver flying sword began to radiate dazzling light as it released hundreds of silver sword projections, forming a massive silver waterfall that came cascading down upon the white-haired elderly man.
The elderly man let loose a low roar as he raised a hand before spreading his fingers open, and a thumb-sized bead that he was holding in his hand instantly swelled to countless times its original size, transforming into a golden shield that positioned itself above his head.
At the same time, a purplish-golden whip appeared in his other hand, using which he lashed out violently to his left.
A string of loud clangs rang out incessantly from the golden shield overhead, and golden light flashed incessantly as a dense web of cracks appeared on its surface, but it was able to just barely keep all of the oncoming sword projections at bay.
On the other side, a loud thunderclap rang out from the elderly man's lightning whip, and a pair of formidable purplish-golden lightning serpents sprang forth toward Qilin 9, keeping him at bay as well.
Right at this moment, a burst of spatial fluctuations suddenly emerged above the elderly man's head, and Qilin 17 appeared in a wraith-like manner, holding a black spear with both hands, which he plunged down toward the elderly man from above.
All of a sudden, the scorching flame beneath the five-colored cauldron began to churn violently, and a fiery dragon abruptly sprang out from within before pouncing toward Qilin 17, bringing with it a scorching wave of heat.
Qilin 17 immediately adjusted the course of his attack, sweeping his spear through the air instead of continuing to plunge it down directly from above. In doing so, he conjured up a vast expanse of black spear projections that swept toward the fiery dragon.
The spear projections and the fiery dragon exploded in unison upon contact, resulting in a blinding eruption of crimson and black light.
This appeared to have been quite a lengthy process, but in reality, all of this had taken place in the blink of an eye.
The white-haired elderly man had withstood the attacks from Han Li's trio head-on without taking even a single step backward, and he was still resolutely defending the pill cauldron behind him.
Qilin 17 sprang back and descended onto the ground several thousand feet away, having avoided the shockwaves from the explosion that had just taken place, and a cold smile appeared on his face as he flipped his black spear around in an elegant manner before plunging its tip straight into the ground.
The white-haired elderly man held his lightning whip in one hand while his other hand was clasped behind his back, and there was a wary look in his eyes as he inspected the trio before him.
He had already stowed away the golden shield that had been severely damaged by Han Li's sword projections, and his spare hand was concealed up his sleeve, holding onto a a golden talisman that had slid discreetly into his grasp.
Han Li's gaze was fixed intently on the elderly man, and as soon as the latter opened his mouth, Han Li immediately lashed out once again, slashing his silver longsword through the air to release another barrage of several hundred silver sword projections that hurtled directly toward the elderly man.
After flying several hundred feet through the air, all of the sword projections abruptly split up into countless tiny streaks of sword qi that encompassed the white-haired elderly man's entire body from all directions.
The elderly man could only cease his chanting for now as he retaliated with his lightning whip.
A burst of purplish-golden lightning erupted from the lightning whip, accompanied by a draconic roar. Immediately thereafter, the purplish-golden lightning swelled drastically in size, transforming into purplish-golden lightning dragon that was several thousand feet in length, whipping its tail violently through the air as it twisted and thrashed from side to side.
A string of rumbling thunderclaps rang out as all of the sword qi hurtling toward the purplish-golden lightning dragon was eradicated.
A large chunk of the lightning on the surface of the purplish-golden dragon had also been exhausted, but the elderly man immediately made a string of hand seals, and the purplish-golden lightning dragon was instantly restored to the peak of its powers as it pounced viciously at Han Li.
Han Li feigned a panicked expression as he shot back in retreat, and right at this moment, a streak of golden swordlight that was over 1,000 feet in length came crashing down with unstoppable force, imbued with a burst of peerlessly sharp metal-attribute law powers.
The sword qi erupting from the streak of sword light split all of the clouds in the sky apart, forming a massive rift.
The wielder of the sword was naturally none other than Qilin 9, and at this moment, he was hovering high up in the sky, basked in a layer of golden light. Furthermore, his entire body was giving off an indescribably sharp aura, as if he were the embodiment of a peerlessly sharp sword.
Han Li continued to fly back in retreat while looking up at Qilin 9, and at this moment, it was confirmed to him beyond a reasonable doubt that this person was indeed Xiong Shan.
As the streak of golden swordlight descended from above, the white-haired elderly man raised his hands up into the air with all his might, and the purplish-golden lightning dragon temporarily abandoned its pursuit of Han Li as it flew up to oppose the streak of golden swordlight.
A dull clang rang out, and the purplish-golden lightning dragon was split into two down the middle by the streak of golden swordlight, and it exploded into a vast net of purple lightning.
The golden swordlight wasn't destroyed in the clash, but its power had been significantly diminished, and it was unable to descend any further with the purple lightning net standing in its way.
Right as the white-haired elderly man was about to do something else, the ground behind him suddenly shuddered, and a massive rift appeared, immediately following which a black spear shot out from within before crashing heavily into the pill cauldron.
A resounding clang reverberated throughout the entire stone hall, causing the surrounding space to ripple and quiver.
The pill cauldron was instantly sent flying by the spear strike, hurtling through the air before crashing down onto the ground over 1,000 feet away, only coming to a rest after rolling quite a distance away.
It was unclear what type of material the cauldron was forged from, but its surface remained completely unscathed in the face of the attack. However, the five-colored light radiating from it receded after flashing a few times, and it reverted back to its original golden color.
It was clear that the elderly man had been prioritizing the safety of the pill cauldron above all else, so Qilin 17 decided that it would be a good idea to destroy the cauldron in order to distract the elderly man, thereby creating an opportunity for Han Li and Qilin 9 to strike. This was why he had plunged his spear into the ground earlier, and his plan had worked flawlessly.
The elderly man instantly turned around, and as soon as he caught sight of the golden pill cauldron that had fallen onto the ground, a look of heart-wrenching fury and despair instantly appeared as he let loose a guttural roar.
"NO..."
Han Li and the others were quite taken aback by such a vehement reaction, and they were momentarily rooted to the spot.
"You've ruined tens of thousands of years of work! All of you must die!"
The resentment in the elderly man's eyes was becoming more and more ferocious, and it was as if he had lost all capacity for rational thought.
He flipped a hand over to produce a dark red pill, which he placed into his own mouth, but instead of swallowing it right away, he gnashed the pill into mush between his teeth before devouring it.
A sense of foreboding welled up in Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, and Qilin 9's expression suddenly changed drastically as he yelled in alarm, "That's a Nascent Incinerating Blood Pill!"
As soon as his voice trailed off, the elderly man began to chuckle in a harrowing, inhuman voice, and his skin gradually began to darken, quickly turning into a dark red shade that resembled raw pig liver.
At the same time, his sunken eyes began brighter and brighter, and there were even glimmers of golden light shining through.
Qilin 9 rushed back over 1,000 feet in the blink of an eye as he cautioned, "Look out, fellow daoists! He's just taken a restricted pill that can ignite one's nascent soul and blood essence in unison to significantly elevate the consumer's cultivation base for a short time. With the aid of that pill, there's a chance that he could even reach the Golden Immortal Stage!"
Han Li and Qilin 17 also hurriedly rushed back in retreat upon hearing this.
All of a sudden, a strange sound rang out, and wisps of faint red steam began to rise up from the elderly man's body, giving him the appearance of a steamed crab.
Immediately thereafter, the elderly man abruptly vanished from the spot amid the sound of rushing wind, and all that was left in his place was a cloud of red mist that began to slowly drift upward.
In the next instant, a figure suddenly appeared directly in front of Qilin 17 several thousand feet away, and the figure raised a fist before lashing out at Qilin 17's face with ferocious power.
Qilin 17 was caught completely off guard, and he only had time to raise a hand to shield his own face.
A resounding thump rang out, and Qilin 17 felt as if a mountain had crashed straight into the palm of his hand. His hand wasn't able to act as much of a buffer at all before it crashed heavily into his masked face, and he was sent flying back like a cannon ball before craashing heavily into a black cliff over 10,000 feet away.
A resounding boom rang out as the mountain that was tens of thousands of feet tall instantly exploded. Chunks of giant rocks the size of houses flew through the air in all directions as the mountain was instantly toppled.
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