“Burn Talisman, ignite! Gale Talisman, swift!”
“Well done! I didn’t expect you to have a few tricks up your sleeve either!”
“It only looks impressive; there’s not much actual power… It seems like someone is coming… What do we do?”
“Deal with what’s in front of us first. Damn it, I bet it’s those two troublemakers again.”
“Senior Sister said she’s already taken care of the demon beast and is rushing back.”
“That makes this even harder to handle!”
“Alright, don’t get distracted. These Pincer Scorpion demon beasts are venomous. If we don’t wipe them out quickly, we’re finished.”
Yun Li’s forehead was covered in sweat.
She bit her lip, fished out a pill and stuffed it into her mouth, then took out a talisman paper and pasted it onto her jade plate.
Flames instantly flared from the talisman paper and splashed outward with the wind.
In front of her, swarms of half-human-height Pincer Scorpions poured out from the surrounding stone forest and slopes.
Their earth-gray bodies dragged whip-like tails, the very ends tipped with pincer-stingers the size of a human head.
These demon beasts feared fire.
Faced with the flames Yun Li unleashed, they did not dare press too close, yet they still kept closing in, climbing over one another in dense layers that looked ready to completely fill every inch of space around the three of them.
These Pincer Scorpion demon beasts normally moved underground and rarely appeared on the surface.
Heaven only knew how many more still lurked beneath the earth.
A scalp-tingling sound of jointed limbs scraping against the ground rose up, accompanied by thin, sharp shrieks that rose and fell one after another.
Yun Li and Chu Yao continuously cast spells to attack.
Although they could take out quite a few with each wave, the next second the gaps would be filled by even more demon beasts surging toward the three of them together.
Shen Zhi circulated spiritual power to cover the stone piles around the three of them, refining and reinforcing the rocks to serve as a barrier.
Yet the stone material was far too fragile and could only provide a brief obstruction.
Just as the three of them were struggling to retreat while thinking of how to escape, two girls with long swords at their waists leisurely stood atop a stone pillar.
“Hey now, isn’t this Chu Yao? Weren’t you still shouting last time that you’d make me look good the next time we met? How did you end up in such a sorry state yourself?” one girl with a flamboyant hairstyle said in a languid, mocking tone.
“Meng Yu, what are you pretending for! If you’ve got the guts, come fight me one-on-one!” Chu Yao snapped angrily. “All you know is hiding in the back and stabbing people in the dark!”
“Qi Yan, she says she wants to fight me one-on-one. Should I accept?” Meng Yu asked, putting on an innocent look.
“I have no opinion,” Qi Yan said expressionlessly.
“Better forget it. I’m afraid if I injure her, the sect master will punish me,” Meng Yu sighed.
“If you know you can’t win, then don’t do extra things. I won’t get mixed up in your side matters.”
“Tsk, fake righteous,” Meng Yu pursed her lips and said nothing more.
In a one-on-one frontal fight, she really could not beat Chu Yao.
Qi Yan did not want extra complications, nor did she want to push things to the extreme.
A talisman cultivator’s frontal combat ability was not strong; at the very least they could not match a spell cultivator.
She glanced at Meng Yu’s waist.
Clearly a talisman cultivator, yet she carried a sword almost everywhere she went. It truly made one unable to understand her.
Forget it… why am I even caring about this? Better focus on the proper business first.
“Meng Yu, see that girl on the left?” Qi Yan said.
“I see her, I see her. Qingyun Sect uniform. That’s the Qi Refining disciple, right? Tsk tsk, what a cute face. I almost can’t bear to make a move.”
Meng Yu squinted and smiled, crossing her arms as she looked down from above. “Little sister, why are you together with those two? Where’s your senior sister? Don’t tell me she found you a burden and abandoned you?”
Yun Li’s face had clearly paled from overdrawing too much spiritual power, yet she still stuck her tongue out at Meng Yu and said huffily, “Who are you calling little sister! Hmph, I’m much older than you. You’re the only one here who’s underdeveloped! My senior sister will be back in a moment to deal with you!”
“That’s right, that’s right, you smug little thing. Once Senior Sister Su gets back, she’ll take care of you flat-chested woman in minutes!” Chu Yao chimed in.
Meng Yu’s face darkened.
Who were they calling flat-chested?
These two who didn’t know what was good for them—could they not tell the current situation? Why weren’t they begging for mercy, and they even dared to provoke her?
“Can you split your focus to control all the demon beasts here? Check the surroundings. I’m afraid that Nascent Soul cultivator is nearby,” Qi Yan said in a low voice.
“There are at least several hundred demon beasts within a hundred li. I can’t do it. It’s beyond my limit,” Meng Yu shook her head and answered quietly.
If the demon beasts’ rank were a bit lower, perhaps it would still be possible.
Right now these demon beasts were at Foundation Establishment. If they were Golden Core, controlling them would be even harder.
“Just split your focus to control one to scout,” Qi Yan said.
“Driving seventy or eighty demon beasts at the same time is already strenuous enough, and I’m only guiding them, not fully controlling them, let alone splitting my focus,” Meng Yu rolled her eyes.
“No need to waste effort looking for that Nascent Soul cultivator. Since these three are together, we might as well tie them up first and hold them as hostages. That way the Nascent Soul cultivator will have something to worry about and won’t dare act recklessly.”
“Fine, let’s do that,” Qi Yan nodded.
Meng Yu inclined her head, ending their quiet exchange, and looked down at the battlefield below once more.
She raised a hand, using her finger as a brush and spiritual power as ink, swiftly sketching and painting in midair.
The entire process was completed in one breath without the slightest pause, finally forming a complete talisman.
This was a technique talisman cultivators could only master after reaching the Golden Core stage.
Although not using talisman paper and a talisman brush greatly reduced the effect, it had the advantage of being convenient and fast.
“Spirit-Binding Talisman, descend!” Meng Yu shouted in a low voice and pointed downward with her finger.
A restrictive barrier faintly spread out around them, enveloping the battlefield below.
This barrier could prevent anyone of lower cultivation than hers from escaping; it only allowed entry, not exit.
Although it could not trap Chu Yao and Shen Zhi, trapping that Qi Refining disciple and those demon beasts was enough.
A faint pressure settled over Yun Li.
Chu Yao noticed the surrounding demon beasts’ movements suddenly stall, snapped her head up, and spotted Meng Yu’s actions.
In just a brief moment, three more talismans gradually took shape in midair around Meng Yu.
Three lightning talismans…
Given their current situation, they either had to tank it head-on or flee.
But if they fled, they would inevitably be ambushed by the demon beasts in the opening.
Their own cultivation was high enough that they were not afraid, but Yun Li was only at Qi Refining; she could not withstand even one of the lightning talismans or the demon beasts’ attacks.
“Meng Yu, you really have no shame! This girl is still only at Qi Refining! Leaving her no way out—do you want to kill her?” Chu Yao cursed angrily.
Under Immortal Alliance regulations, deliberately injuring someone already stepped on the red line of the rules, let alone killing.
“She voluntarily signed a life-and-death contract. She can’t blame anyone else,” Meng Yu said. “But don’t worry. I can’t bear to kill such a pretty little girl. I’ll just… cripple her? After all, we still need to use her to threaten that Nascent Soul cultivator from Qingyun Sect. How can we do that if we don’t leave her a life?”
As she spoke, a cold smile at the corner of her mouth turned fierce.
Her finger suddenly pressed downward, the fingertip leisurely pointing at Yun Li.
“Dare call me flat-chested? Let’s see if you’re still flat after this bolt of lightning!”
“Lightning Talisman, descend!”