Chapter 125: The Undying Body

"Not good!"

The aura of the demonic mosquito before them suddenly surged to the half-step Foundation Establishment stage, and its body swelled to more than twice the size of a fist. Sensing the violent demonic energy within it, both the grim-faced youth and the elder behind him turned deathly pale.

While the elder in black was relatively further away and able to retreat in time to manifest a protective light barrier, the grim-faced youth, standing mere inches away, was not so fortunate.

The light barrier he had just manifested shattered into fragments of spiritual light amidst a thunderous roar.

Advancing in cultivation is a process of cleansing the marrow and continuously refining the purity of one's internal spiritual power. Although a Foundation Establishment practitioner's physique is stronger than that of the Qi Refining stage, cultivators are not inherently skilled in close-quarters combat. Their true advantages lie in mystical spells, magic tools, and magical treasures. Once attacked without any defense, even a single sword qi from a spell can cost them their lives.

The grim-faced youth’s misfortune stemmed from his own carelessness; he had failed to thoroughly scout the area outside the cave and had been so distracted by Chu Xin'er's beauty that he never imagined Xiao Wenzhi would resort to self-destruction.

Caught in the blast wave at point-blank range, his spell-based sword qi disintegrated inch by inch. His right arm, which he had instinctively raised to block the attack, was instantly shattered, broken clean off at the root.

With a loud thud, his body, now a mangled mess of flesh with his chest and abdomen blown open, was sent flying like a discarded sack for over ten meters before slamming heavily onto the valley floor.

In truth, a Foundation Establishment cultivator's defense would not have been so fragile. The reason he failed to hold out for even a second was that the protective light had only just begun to spread, and the youth had not yet injected enough spiritual power into it.

"Junior brother!"

The elder in black, having retreated in time, suffered little damage. He hurried to the side of the youth, exclaiming in shock as he looked at his unrecognizable, dying companion.

"Qiao... Brother Qiao, save... save me..."

Not only had the youth’s body suffered catastrophic damage, but his soul was also extremely weak from the cranial trauma, and he murmured intermittently.

*Sigh.*

With a silent groan, the elder said nothing more. He reached into his storage pouch, withdrew a medicine bottle, and poured out a few pills for the youth to swallow.

These were merely ordinary healing pills; the elder neither possessed the spiritual elixirs capable of repairing souls or bringing back the dead, nor would he be willing to waste them if he had. By doing this, the elder was merely doing his best while leaving the rest to fate. Whether this reckless junior brother of his could survive would depend on his own fortune.

***

Suddenly, the elder in black narrowed his eyes and turned toward the entrance of the cave, for another mosquito, identical to the first, had appeared out of thin air.

"This... how is this possible?"

Just moments ago, he had witnessed the creature self-destruct until its very aura vanished. If the female cultivator here were keeping more than one of these demonic mosquitoes, his spiritual sense should have detected them long ago.

But the alternative was even more preposterous: that the giant mosquito possessed an immortal body.

To resurrect after self-destruction—even if the creature’s cultivation level were only equivalent to a Qi Refining practitioner, not even a legendary Tribulation Transcendence ancestor could return from the dead after the self-destruction of their body and Nascent Soul.

Xiao Wenzhi ignored the wide-eyed elder entirely, and certainly had no intention of explaining the secret behind it.

With a flick of his will, talismans of various colors and palm-sized dimensions appeared before him one after another. Flapping his wings, he unleashed them, turning them into fireballs, blade beams, and hurricanes that roared toward the elder.

A sneak-attack self-destruction could only work on an unprepared, careless foe. Xiao Wenzhi knew that if he tried the same trick again, he likely wouldn't be able to inflict serious damage on the old man before him, so he decided to use the talismans to stall for time and buy a chance for Chu Xin'er.

Caught within the onslaught of fireballs, blades, and hurricanes formed by the talismans, the elder’s jaw nearly dropped.

The giant mosquito before him was simply too bizarre. It clearly carried no storage equipment, yet it could conjure so many strange talismans—each comparable to a mid-grade talisman—out of thin air.

However, amazement aside, the demonic fire and wind talismans, which only possessed power comparable to the attacks of a first-level Foundation Establishment cultivator, posed little threat to him. Still, the elder was not foolish enough to take them head-on.

As he retreated to dodge, he crushed a high-grade defensive talisman to reinforce his body. Simultaneously, he flicked his finger, and his mid-grade magic sword cleaved through the incoming hurricane, slashing viciously toward Xiao Wenzhi.

Xiao Wenzhi only intended to buy time until he could coordinate with Chu Xin'er. Naturally, he would not clash with the magic tool directly. His body shimmered, and in an instant, he split into seven or eight identical mosquitoes, scattering in all directions.

*Ah!*

The elder’s sword struck nothing but air, while his protective light flickered under the bombardment of the demonic fire, wind, and blade talismans. His face darkened. From nearby came a scream—it was Junior Brother Yi, whom he had been unable to protect, suffering fresh wounds from the shockwaves.

"Abominable! Do you really think I cannot deal with you?"

Seeing his junior brother lapse into unconsciousness amidst his screams, and watching Xiao Wenzhi "summon" more talismans from the other side, a look of fury crossed the elder's eyes, as if his genuine wrath had been ignited.

As he spoke, he slapped his storage pouch and withdrew a black banner.

***

*Hummm—*

Black mist swirled, and Yin energy surged. Hideous, fierce ghosts emerged from the black banner, lunging toward Xiao Wenzhi under the elder's command.

The Soul Banner was a favorite tool for disciples of the Extreme Demon Sect. Although the elder’s "Thousand-Soul Banner" contained no particularly powerful spirits, it held many who had been at the thirteenth level of Qi Refining before being slaughtered and refined into the banner.

With dozens of fierce ghosts unleashed, the elder was certain that the giant mosquito had nowhere left to run.

Surrounded by so many grotesque ghouls, Xiao Wenzhi felt not a shred of fear. He quickly activated two mid-grade Demonic Shield talismans to protect himself, then unleashed all his remaining fire, blade, and wind talismans.

*Boom, boom, boom!*

Explosions roared and ghosts shrieked. The spirits within the Thousand-Soul Banner lacked physical forms; even if blown to pieces, they could return to the black banner to absorb the Yin energy within and manifest once more.

Because the space was completely filled with the figures of the ghouls, the light barrier formed by the Demonic Shield talismans was constantly being gnawed away. For a moment, it was not easy for Xiao Wenzhi to escape.

The moment he was trapped, a clear, crisp sword-hum rang out. The elder in black had maneuvered his mid-grade magic tool to slash down at him.

Before the physical sword arrived, the sharpness of the sword qi had already caused the light barrier to twist and crack. Knowing he could not escape, Xiao Wenzhi’s body began to swell violently once more.

*BOOM!*

Amidst the thunderous explosion, the elder, whose pupils constricted upon realizing the creature was self-destructing, failed to recall his flying sword and ghosts in time.

The blast wave swept through, and a dozen or so ghosts at the peak of the Qi Refining stage were instantly reduced to ash. Even the mid-grade flying sword lost much of its luster.

"Abominable mosquito, you must be dead now."

Because the spiritual sense he had attached to his sword was damaged, the elder couldn't help but cough up blood, his teeth gritting in hatred.

What infuriated him even more was that the ghosts destroyed by the explosion were truly dead; they could never be resurrected from the banner again. Those were spirits he had painstakingly collected and refined over a long period of time.