The battle was fierce.
The second-tier Yao Beast was trapped in the Formation, being ganged up on by five Qi Refining cultivators.
Xu Lijin maintained the Formation, while the others either released Flying Swords or threw giant golden silk nets to inflict damage on the Yao Beast.
The second-tier Yao Beast roared continuously, relying on its thick skin and flesh to withstand the damage, but it couldn't break free from the Demon Subduing Formation's restraints and was unable to counterattack.
“Quick, use any trump cards you have! If it breaks free, we’re finished!” Xu Lijin continuously poured in spiritual power, struggling to maintain the Demon Subduing Formation, urging everyone on anxiously.
“Watch me!” Mo Yuanzhou waved his hand, and five Flying Swords flew out from his Storage Pouch, then merged into a single giant sword, descending from the sky with the force of a thunderbolt.
“Roar!” The second-tier Yao Beast roared in pain, the giant sword deeply embedded in its back, causing it immense injury.
“Sword Array! Well done!” Xu Lijin was overjoyed.
With this blow, the second-tier Yao Beast’s ferocity plummeted, and the pressure on the Formation was greatly reduced.
Xu Lijin seized the opportunity to take out a Spirit Pill and put it into his mouth, continuing to output spiritual power to maintain the Formation.
“Fellow Daoist Du, Fellow Daoist Zhou, lend a hand!” Fei Zi Zhong took out a ten-foot wide giant crossbow from his Storage Pouch, reminding Du Shi Long and Zhou Guangzhi.
Upon hearing this, Du Shi Long and Zhou Guangzhi flew over with their swords, working together to help Fei Zi Zhong hold the giant crossbow.
Fei Zi Zhong then took out a two-zhang long spear-arrow, placed it on the giant crossbow, and began to pull the crossbow string with great effort.
The second-tier Yao Beast sensed the threat of death, roaring madly, ignoring its injuries, and furiously smashing the Formation’s barrier.
Under the second-tier Yao Beast's pounding, several giant Formation stone pillars of the Demon Subduing Formation swayed precariously.
Xu Lijin’s face was pale, and he held a Mid-Grade Spirit Stone to replenish his spiritual power, struggling to maintain it.
Li Mu, who was observing the battle from a thicket a thousand meters away, saw this scene and felt a secret urgency; he absolutely could not let them kill this Yao Beast so easily.
Li Mu’s spirit lifted as he saw the key to breaking the situation: as long as an external force could break the Formation restraining the Yao Beast and release the second-tier Yao Beast, they would be in for a show.
Thinking of this, Li Mu quickly summoned the laborer puppet from his storage compartment, then took out an earth-element Spirit Talisman – the Mud Transformation Talisman.
Li Mu attached his Divine Sense to the laborer puppet, making the laborer puppet carry the Mud Transformation Talisman and rush towards the Demon Subduing Formation.
Under Li Mu’s control, the laborer puppet ran into the battlefield, aimed at a giant stone pillar of the Formation, and activated the Mud Transformation Talisman.
The next second, a gray spiritual light shot out from the laborer puppet’s hand and entered the giant stone pillar, which instantly turned into mud and sand.
The Formation patterns carved on the stone pillar lost their effectiveness because the stone pillar had turned into mud, and the Demon Subduing Formation consequently disintegrated.
Discovering that the Formation that had trapped it had disappeared, the second-tier Yao Beast paused for a moment, then bared its fangs, revealing a brutal face, its bloodshot eyes fixed on the five people.
Who?
Xu Lijin was scared out of his wits, looking at the destroyed Formation pillar.
What he saw was a wooden Puppet.
He swept his Divine Sense over it but found no one.
What!
Fei Zi Zhong, Zhou Guangzhi, and Du Shi Long, who were about to fire their crossbow bolts, all widened their eyes, their faces full of disbelief, as they looked at the second-tier Yao Beast that had escaped the Formation, and they all felt the aura of death.
Fei Zi Zhong was terrified and immediately pulled the trigger of the giant crossbow.
With a “whoosh,” the long spear-arrow vanished in an instant, carrying powerful penetrating force, heading straight for the Yao Beast’s chest.
The second-tier Yao Beast roared, its massive and clumsy body sidestepping to dodge the crossbow bolt coming from the front.
The second-tier Yao Beast swung its paw forcefully, and the crossbow bolt grazed its thick shoulder, bringing out a splash of blood, and disappeared.
“Bang!” With a loud crash, Fei Zi Zhong and the other two, along with the giant crossbow, were sent flying by a powerful bear paw.
“Pfft! Pfft, Pfft!” Three violent impact sounds rang out consecutively, and blood splattered.
Fei Zi Zhong and the other two were slammed into the mountain wall, three blood flowers exploded, and they all collapsed into shapeless piles of bloody flesh.
Xu Lijin and Mo Yuanzhou turned pale with fright and immediately turned to escape on their swords.
How could the second-tier Yao Beast let them get away so easily?
“Roar!”
The second-tier Yao Beast let out an earth-shattering roar, and terrifying Divine Might was released, instantly causing their spiritual power to circulate sluggishly, their bodies to stiffen, and their speed of escape on their swords to decrease.
The second-tier Yao Beast pounced, swatting them one by one like flies, slamming them fiercely to the ground.
Then, it stood up, leaped, and bit off the giant eagle that was about to fly away, successfully rescuing its cub.
“Bang, bang!” Two loud thuds echoed from the ground.
Xu Lijin and Mo Yuanzhou’s bodies heavily hit the ground, both turning into flattened meat patties, their deaths horrifying.
In the blink of an eye, the demon-hunting battle underwent a shocking reversal.
The second-tier Yao Beast, covered in blood, ignored its own injuries and continuously licked its cub.
Seeing the second-tier Yao Beast unleash such Divine Might and terrifying combat power, Li Mu abandoned the idea of profiting from their struggle.
He controlled the laborer puppet to lie motionless, quietly waiting for the second-tier Yao Beast to leave.
After about a quarter of an hour, the second-tier Yao Beast carried the giant eagle’s corpse in its mouth and slowly departed with its frightened cub.
Watching the Yao Beast’s retreating figure, Li Mu couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
The Yao Beast did not retreat towards Xiao Liang Mountain but instead retreated towards Burial Cloud Mountain, which once again confirmed to Li Mu that the Yao Beast’s passing through Xiao Liang Mountain was entirely related to Xu Lijin and his group.
Li Mu controlled the laborer puppet to walk into the ravaged valley, picking up ‘compensation money’ and ‘spiritual damage fees’ from the five bloodied, unidentifiable corpses.
Before long, the laborer puppet picked and chose, collecting three Storage Pouches, four Spirit Swords, one Formation Plate, and a large pile of miscellaneous loot.
Finally, the laborer puppet’s hands could no longer carry everything, so Li Mu had to personally step in, relying on the function of his 64 storage compartments to successfully pack all the spoils and take them back.
I’m rich!
The wooden table was covered with various cleaned spiritual items.
As their owners perished, the Divine Sense Restrictions attached to the three Storage Pouches automatically lifted, and Li Mu easily retrieved the spiritual items inside.
Li Mu’s eyes crinkled with joy as he happily counted the spiritual materials on the table.
There were 78 Mid-Grade Spirit Stones the size of a baby’s fist, 1244 lower spirit stones, a small pile of broken Spirit Stones worth about 150 lower spirit stones, and four Spirit Swords—one High Grade and three Medium Grade—all of very good quality.
There were also seven or eight Cultivation Technique books, various beast hides, spiritual ores, Spirit Pills, and Spiritual Plants, totaling over a hundred items.
“They’re so rich, no wonder they use Storage Pouches to carry them!” Li Mu happily collected all the Spirit Stones, putting them into a separate Storage Pouch.
Under the effect of his Heavenly Talent - Identifying Myriad Spirits, Li Mu began to count them one by one, immediately discovering five high-tier spiritual items that caught his attention.
“Sword Array Basic Chapter.”
Seeing this Cultivation Technique book on Sword Arrays, Li Mu recalled the scene where the black-clad man simultaneously released five Spirit Swords, which merged into one, severely injuring the second-tier Yao Beast.
Li Mu’s interest greatly increased.
