The night wind howled in their ears as three figures moved like meteors catching the moon, tightly trailing the twisted, escaping Black Smoke ahead.
That demonic cultivator in black was clearly proficient in some kind of bizarre movement Technique; the Black Smoke flickered unpredictably, sometimes dispersing and sometimes condensing, attempting to confuse the pursuers’ vision and perception.
However, Lu Li’s Divine Sense had already spread out like an invisible net, Zhou Ruoxi’s combat instincts were exceptionally sharp, and Feng Lingshuang’s Sword Heart Enlightenment could also lock onto that sinister Qi.
The three of them held their targets firmly in their sights; no matter how the smoke transformed, it could not truly shake them off.
After a short pursuit, they arrived above the slum market on the edge of the Royal City.
Below were densely packed, low-slung, and cluttered houses.
Occasional sporadic lights flickered, but most of the area was submerged in the darkness of sleep.
The demonic cultivator in black saw that he could not escape.
He knew that if he continued to run and was caught, he would have no chance of survival against three Righteous Path cultivators with clearly extraordinary cultivation.
Despair and madness instantly flooded his reason!
He abruptly stopped his light flight, the Black Smoke condensing back into a human form as he suddenly turned around!
Facing the charging Lu Li and the others, he let out a hoarse, unpleasant roar, his hands dancing wildly as if he were having a seizure!
“Stop him!”
Zhou Ruoxi shouted through her Ghost Mask.
She felt an extremely dangerous and unstable energy fluctuation coming from the Demonic Cultivator!
In that instant—
“DIE—!”
Dozens of talismans of various colors and shimmering spiritual light were thrown out by the Demonic Cultivator as if they cost nothing!
Fireball Talismans, Ice Spike Talismans, Golden Blade Talismans, Earth Prison Talismans… like the most brilliant yet deadly fireworks at a festival, they suddenly detonated in mid-air!
Blazing fireballs, frigid cold air, sharp golden blades, and the heavy power of earth and stone mixed together, forming a violent and chaotic energy storm that covered a radius of dozens of feet, crashing toward Lu Li and the other two!
But that was not all!
Immediately after, he sacrificed seven or eight more magic weapons of various shapes, all emitting sinister Black Smoke!
There was a spinning Skull Head spitting poison; a banner that grew in the wind, transforming into a giant ghost claw; a Bone Bell that emitted ear-piercing shrieks to disturb the mind…
These Magic Weapons were clearly his hidden treasures.
At this moment, to save his life, he didn’t care about the loss.
He pushed them with all his might, turning them into streaks of black light that mingled with the talisman storm, attacking all at once!
However, most outrageously, while throwing out all his belongings, a flash of ruthlessness and cunning crossed the Demonic Cultivator’s eyes.
He suddenly stomped his foot, sending a hidden vibration toward the ground!
The target was none other than the defenseless, sleeping civilian houses below!
He actually intended to use the lives of hundreds of innocent people as a distraction to create a sliver of a chance for himself!
“Despicable!”
Zhou Ruoxi and Feng Lingshuang shouted at the same time!
The ghostly light on Zhou Ruoxi’s Mysterious Armor intensified.
Without hesitation, she gave up the best pursuit route, her body sinking as she plummeted downward like a falling star!
Her fists struck out together, and her surging, heavy Qi transformed into a massive, semi-transparent black shield wall, attempting to intercept the energy ripples and potential hidden attacks aimed at the residences!
Her choice was to protect!
Feng Lingshuang’s sword seal changed.
The Sword Qi that was originally meant to strike the Demonic Cultivator suddenly expanded like a peacock spreading its tail in front of her, transforming into thousands of fine ice-crystal sword threads.
They wove into a massive frost sword net, shielding another area that might be affected!
Her choice was also to protect!
Even though she hated the Demonic Cultivator to the core, she could not sit idly by while innocents suffered.
In that split second, the talismans, Magic Weapons, poisonous mist, and sinister lightning… the destructive energy of the Demonic Cultivator’s entire arsenal combined with Zhou Ruoxi’s heavy protective Qi, Feng Lingshuang’s icy sword net, and that sinister hidden force aimed at the civilians.
It was as if two volcanoes were erupting simultaneously on the field.
Colors flashed, collided, and intertwined wildly.
The chaotic turbulent energy almost tore the night sky apart!
The blinding light instantly illuminated the scattered, terrified faces looking up from below.
The breath of destruction rushed toward them!
However, at this critical moment—
Lu Li, who had been standing still in the void, seemingly delayed slightly by this frantic counterattack, moved.
He did not dodge, he did not block, and he did not even show a hint of tension.
He simply calmly raised his hands and slowly pressed them together in front of his chest.
There was no earth-shattering momentum, no brilliant, eye-catching light.
There was only… darkness.
Pure darkness, as if it could swallow all light and sound, spread silently in all directions from the center of his palms.
This darkness was not nothingness; it was more like a living, flowing substance.
Everywhere it passed, the brilliance of the Demonic Cultivator’s talismans, the light of his Magic Weapons, the toxic Black Smoke, the corrosive energy, Zhou Ruoxi’s heavy black Qi, Feng Lingshuang’s frost Sword Qi net, and even the sinister hidden force the Demonic Cultivator had sneakily aimed at the houses below… everything, regardless of friend or foe, regardless of attribute, was twisted and pulled by an invisible, massive force.
They turned into writhing curves of residual light, forming a strange and heart-stopping spiral, gathering uncontrollably toward Lu Li’s joined palms.
It was as if there were a singularity connected to an unknown abyss, a Return to the Void that could swallow all things!
[Technique: Sleeve Universe]
Lu Li’s calm voice echoed in the darkness.
Strangely, the voice was not swallowed by the darkness; instead, it reached everyone’s ears clearly, carrying a strange power that smoothed over agitation.
In the next moment, the speed of the darkness’s spread suddenly increased, like a rising tide.
It instantly submerged Lu Li’s figure completely and then moved toward Zhou Ruoxi, Feng Lingshuang, and even the terrified Demonic Cultivator without hesitation.
Everywhere the darkness passed, everything fell into silence.
Zhou Ruoxi tried her best to widen her eyes.
Her face under the Ghost Mask was full of disbelief.
She found that she had seemingly become blind in an instant; before her eyes was only pure, pitch-black darkness where she couldn’t see her own hand.
She tried to open her mouth to shout, to warn Lu Li to be careful or to ask about the situation, but she found she couldn’t make a sound.
The surroundings were deathly quiet; even the sound of her own heartbeat and blood flow seemed to have disappeared.
Her protective Qi, which had been as solid as a mountain, was now like a clay ox entering the sea, completely losing connection with her.
Feng Lingshuang was also trapped in an extreme state of sensory deprivation.
She tried to use her Sword Heart to perceive her surroundings, but she found that her mental power was like hitting an infinitely extending soft wall, silently absorbed and dissipated.
The agile and sharp ice-crystal sword threads she had released earlier had been blooming with icy blue light just a moment ago.
In the next, they were as if caught by an invisible hand, dragging their trailing light in a spiral into the darkness ahead, her connection with them severed.
At this moment, she felt as if she had fallen into an endless abyss, stripped of all perception of the outside world, and even her own sense of existence became blurred.
A strong, absurd thought flooded her mind—’Did I… die just now in that terrifying explosion?’
It wasn’t just them.
Even the Foundation Establishment Demonic Cultivator, the one who started it all, was in the same situation.
He frantically pushed the remaining demonic essence in his body, trying to detonate a hidden secret treasure or use a blood escape Technique.
However, he found that as soon as any power left his body, it was like a drop of water merging into the ocean, vanishing without a trace.
He felt like an insect frozen in amber; all his struggles were in vain.
Perhaps only a moment passed, or perhaps it was a long century.
In this absolute darkness where there was no light, no sound, no sensation, and where even time seemed to have lost its meaning, no one could judge accurately.
Finally, as abruptly as it had arrived, the darkness began to recede like a tide.
Light returned to their eyes, sound returned to their eardrums, and their bodily sensations returned to normal.
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