Chapter 118 Melee

Ahead, the crowd saw a motley assortment of Demonic Path Cultivators. There were six Late Foundation Establishment Cultivators in total, with another sixty or seventy Foundation Establishment Cultivators remaining. The rest were Late Stage Qi Refining Demonic Path Cultivators, numbering over a hundred when combined.

They had no uniform attire; some of them looked even more righteous than those of the Righteous Path. They appeared directly in the path ahead of the three spirit boats.

The five Late Foundation Establishment Cultivators on the spirit boats looked grim, sensing the situation was extremely tricky. This was because another piece of news had just arrived: Luoyue's team of Cultivators had also been ambushed by Demonic Path Cultivators.

The other Cultivators who had signed up as guards also felt heavy-hearted, and many were regretting their decision at this moment.

Three routes of Cultivators, all ambushed. Eighty thousand Spirit Stones—this was where their true value was shown; they wouldn't be easily obtained!

"Activate the spirit boat Defensive Formation Array! Everyone maintain the Formation together!"

At this moment, Formation energy condensed on each of the three spirit boats. Everyone quickly released their spiritual power to strengthen the Formation.

Chen Li was currently concerned about Yang Ziyang's location. He hadn't forgotten his ultimate objective, but he still maintained the spirit boat's Formation, albeit needing to divert some attention.

The Demonic Path Cultivators ahead split into three groups and began to circle around, seemingly preparing to cast some kind of Formation-breaking attack.

Boom—Boom—Boom—

Three massive sounds struck the Formation energy of the three spirit boats, creating a huge clamor. Cultivators from both sides were locked in a struggle!

After more than ten breaths, those inside the Formation felt it was on the verge of shattering. The Formation energy everyone maintained began to slowly weaken, consuming a significant amount of spiritual power, and everyone started to flag.

The Demonic Path Cultivators outside the Formation continued to strike with the same intensity of energy. Now it depended on which side would break first!

"Everyone, hold on! Just hold on! We can definitely resist it! spirit boats, continue moving forward!"

The spirit boats maintained their Formation energy while continuing to advance, but every inch forward met enormous resistance; it was extremely difficult!

Finally, after another dozen breaths, the people maintaining the Formation on one spirit boat could no longer hold on. The Formation shattered, and the Demonic Path Cultivators' energy struck the spirit boat, causing it to plummet rapidly.

Everyone on the spirit boat leaped off. Seeing this scene, the Demonic Path Cultivators cheered wildly. That group of Demonic Path Cultivators immediately rushed over, pulling out Magical Artifacts, ready to kill.

Three more breaths passed, and the spirit boat carrying Chen Li and the other one also shattered in succession. The scene instantly descended into complete chaos.

Falling spirit boats, leaping Righteous Path Cultivators, charging Demonic Path Cultivators, and multi-colored attacks.

A Ninth Layer of Qi Refining Demonic Path Cultivator quickly locked onto Chen Li and rushed towards him to kill.

Chen Li also noticed this Demonic Path Cultivator. He was currently watching Yang Ziyang's battle, thinking that he truly lived up to his reputation as a Fifth-Rank Talisman Master!

Chen Li fought back and forth with this Demonic Path Cultivator, putting on a very convincing show. The Demonic Path Cultivator frowned, finding the fight difficult!

Chen Li observed Yang Ziyang on the side, sending out one Talisman after another. Even when besieged by two Foundation Establishment Demonic Cultivators, he did not fall into a disadvantage.

Suddenly, Yang Ziyang spotted an opportunity and consecutively fired three Talismans, blasting one Foundation Establishment Demonic Cultivator away, before rapidly retreating away from the center of the incident.

Chen Li also moved closer to Yang Ziyang's direction. On the field, Righteous Path Late Foundation Establishment Cultivators were facing off against Demonic Path Late Foundation Establishment Cultivators. Among them, two Late Foundation Establishment Demonic Path Cultivators were ganging up on one Late Foundation Establishment Cultivator from the Righteous Path side.

That Late Foundation Establishment Cultivator was already at a disadvantage. Casualties were beginning to appear on both sides of the battle, and the combat range was spreading out, with many individuals creating considerable distance between themselves.

The three spirit boats crashing onto the ground made huge noises and kicked up dust, yet they hadn't completely fallen apart!

Chen Li fought while retreating. If he exerted even a little more force, the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining Demonic Path Cultivator fighting him would show a slight disadvantage.

At this time, Yang Ziyang was trading blows with that Demonic Path Cultivator relying on his Talismans. The injured Demonic Path Cultivator swept back, bringing another Foundation Establishment Demonic Path Cultivator to jointly hunt Yang Ziyang.

With three people attacking him, Yang Ziyang slapped a Talisman onto himself and turned to flee.

The guards from the spirit boat side were losing ground. They lacked long-term combat experience against Demonic Path Cultivators; they were mostly artisans, not skilled in slaughter. After two rounds of fighting, the spirit boat Cultivators were either dead, injured, or fleeing.

The Late Foundation Establishment Cultivators of the spirit boat Alliance shouted repeatedly, "Everyone, hold on! Reinforcements will arrive soon!"

However, everyone knew that if they didn't flee now, they were likely to die, and those Eighty Thousand Spirit Stones would probably be lost!

The Cultivators who initially harbored a sliver of hope now understood that there were no free lunches in this world; eighty thousand was not something they could secure!

Chen Li watched the direction Yang Ziyang fled, slapped a Talisman onto himself, and prepared to follow.

The Ninth Layer of Qi Refining Demonic Path Cultivator besieging him, seeing that he couldn't capture Chen Li and noticing Chen Li preparing to flee, immediately called over two Late Stage Qi Refining Demonic Path Cultivators to intercept Chen Li.

However, the three of them were slow. Chen Li quickly flew toward Yang Ziyang's direction.

Ahead lay a mountain forest. Yang Ziyang immediately dove into it, and the three pursuing Demonic Path Cultivators quickly followed.

Chen Li followed closely behind, flying into the forest as well, with his three little tails chasing him inside.

Deep in the mountain forest, Yang Ziyang ran a long distance before finally taking out his ultimate weapon—a Fifth-Grade Talisman—and firing it at the three Demonic Path Cultivators.

Those three Foundation Establishment Demonic Cultivators—one Middle Stage Foundation Establishment and two Early Foundation Establishment Stage—saw how many Talismans Yang Ziyang possessed and stared intently, determined not to let him escape.

These were the experts of the Demonic Path Cultivators in interception; killing this person would yield significant Demonic Path resources.

The East Sea Archipelago had received the mission a month ago. They didn't know how the Elders found out, but they knew, and secretly organized a group of Cultivators to plot this matter!

The more Righteous Path Cultivators escorting the shipment they intercepted and killed, the greater the reward. Demonic Path resources could then be freely exchanged.

The spirit boats were their primary target, and killing people was their second objective.

"Die!"

The Middle Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator also took out his trump card: a Fifth-Grade Poison Burst Bead.

He directly blasted it towards Yang Ziyang, who quickly pulled out three Fifth-Grade Defensive Talismans.

He was regretting coming out now a little. His purpose for escorting the shipment was for those Eighty Thousand Spirit Stones. He hadn't been spending money because he needed to save up Talisman Materials.

Although he was a Fifth-Rank Talisman Master, his success rate for Fifth-Grade Talismans was very low, so most of the time he made Fourth-Rank Talismans.

He planned to stay here for a few years. Because he spent the first few years refining Fifth-Grade Talismans, his Early Foundation Establishment Stage cultivation had been delayed.

So, he had to come out to earn Talisman Materials, then refine high-grade Talismans, sell them for Spirit Stones, and buy Medicinal Pills. Those Eighty Thousand Spirit Stones were enough for him to buy three or four mirror-breaking pills' worth of Spirit Medicine!

That's why he wanted to gamble this time, but he had lost the gamble!

The Talisman Legacy stored in his Storage Pouch was what he needed to rely on for his future survival. Escaping alive was his only hope!