156: Chapter 156 Reversal

Everyone turned back to find several bone spears thrust into the ground around the sturdy shield held by True Man Zhuzhao.

The bone spears intertwined with each other, forming a cage.

Meeting his gaze, one could see True Man Zhuzhao's helplessness; he had used all his strength but still couldn't break free.

At the same time, a Golden Core pressure as solid as substance bore down on everyone.

As soon as Ye Quan and the other Qi Refining Cultivators came into contact with this pressure and looked up to see Gu Lingye, who appeared like a descending demon god, their expressions instantly turned blank.

*Thud.*

Unable to withstand it, they fell to their knees one after another.

Being Foundation Establishment Cultivators, Crimson Rainbow and Xu Changsheng fared slightly better, barely managing to remain standing.

"Oh?"

Seeing this, Gu Lingye concentrated her Spiritual Pressure onto their shoulders.

Wild winds howled, and the mountain forest shuddered.

Facing the even stronger pressure, Crimson Rainbow couldn't resist; her knees buckled, and she was about to drop into a half-kneel.

As she was going down, a pair of strong and powerful hands supported her.

She raised her head slightly. "Thank you, Brother Xu."

Her delicate face was full of apology, tears welling in her eyes. "I'm the one who dragged you down, Brother Xu. If I hadn't come myself, perhaps you would have been safe."

"It's good that Fairy Ni knows."

"You..."

Crimson Rainbow was speechless and could only glare at him fiercely.

The latter ignored her, still quietly looking straight at Gu Lingye.

She immediately regretted her previous actions, her heart filled with guilt.

It was because of her self-righteousness that her good intentions had led to a bad outcome.

Lowering her eyes, she had worried that Xu Changsheng wouldn't take the message seriously, and that she hadn't clearly described the safe path out of Three Realms Mountain.

At this thought, her eyes could no longer hold the tears, which surged down like a clear spring.

Gu Lingye watched the scene coldly, looking at the still-calm Xu Changsheng.

A sense of shame and annoyance rose in her heart. "Fellow Daoist, you're still acting all profound even when death is at your door. It truly makes me sick!"

Xu Changsheng smiled indifferently. "Death is at the door? I wonder who Senior is talking about?"

Hearing this.

Gu Lingye was first stunned, then flew into a rage. "Who am I talking about? Who else could it be but you all?"

"Could it not be you, Senior?"

These words left everyone wide-eyed in shock; even True Man Zhuzhao, trapped in the bone cage nearby, paused his movements.

Crimson Rainbow looked at him, her eyes filled with disbelief.

After processing it, she squeezed out a bitter smile. "Brother Xu really has a strong heart to be able to make such a joke at a time like this."

Gu Lingye snapped back to reality, her sharp brows furrowing fiercely as she erupted in anger. "Sharp-tongued! I'll grind your bones to dust and extract your soul for refinement right now."

In the next moment.

She raised the bone blades in both hands, slashing from the left and right sides toward the people in the middle.

Before the blades arrived, the pressure descended.

The bone blades, comparable to top-tier Magic Treasures, carved white streaks through the Void Realm, about to cut everyone in half at the waist.

Crimson Rainbow's fingers gripped the corner of Xu Changsheng's clothes.

To be able to die with him, she had no regrets.

Just then.

Xu Changsheng suddenly spoke up, shouting toward the sky, "Senior Huai, if you don't act now, then when?!"

"What?"

Hearing this, Gu Lingye's heart jolted, but her movements suddenly accelerated, intending to finish off Xu Changsheng and the others even faster.

However.

At the very instant the bone blades touched Crimson Rainbow's wide sleeves, a pressure far exceeding the Golden Core Stage suddenly appeared.

It stretched for miles, covering most of the Mizong Old Forest.

Along with the pressure, a sudden, intense palpitation appeared in Gu Lingye's heart.

This was the instinctive physical reaction that occurred when she faced a life-or-death crisis.

Yet the bone blades did not slow their assault, closing in with full force.

*Clang.*

Countless vines rose from the ground at an astonishing speed, wrapping around everyone in an instant and knocking the bone blades away!

*Rumble.*

A grey tree trunk several zhang tall burst through the soil beside them and rose tall.

It vaguely resembled the shadow of a locust tree, but it looked like dead wood, with only this massive, grey-brown skeleton remaining.

Yet a Heaven-Defying pressure surged forth in waves like a tide.

Gu Lingye's voice was terrified. "Fourth-tier..."

Having no intention of fighting to the death with such a terrifying demonic wood, she took a deep breath, kicked off the ground, and fled into the distance.

"It's too terrifying. Just the moment I saw it, my heart couldn't help but throb."

She quickly made a judgment.

The strength of this strange tree trunk was far above her father's.

After all, her father was a fourth-tier Nascent Soul True Lord, and the awe he inspired in her was already strong enough.

Thus, facing this demon, she couldn't muster the slightest thought of resistance; all her thoughts eventually consolidated into one.

"Escape!"

Her figure sped along the edge of the Mizong Old Forest.

From behind came Xu Changsheng's teasing voice, "I wasn't wrong, was I? It's you who's at death's door, Senior."

Gu Lingye's figure paused in mid-air for a split second, but she didn't stop at all and continued her distant flight.

In a few breaths, she had flown to the end of the mountain, appearing to be on the verge of escaping the range of the pressure.

Her heart settled slightly.

Thinking of Xu Changsheng's calm demeanor just now, it seemed he had such a trump card all along.

"Damn it, how can a Foundation Establishment Cultivator have a fourth-tier demonic wood? This is truly unbelievable!"

The bone spikes retracted into her body.

The aura on her body gradually weakened, finally returning to the Early Stage Golden Core level.

Dusting herself off, she thought, "Since I've used the fourth-tier demonic bone anyway, I'll go back and report this to my father. I must investigate this Xu Changsheng thoroughly!"

...

On the other side.

Xu Changsheng cupped his hands and bowed to the old locust tree.

At the critical moment earlier, it was this 'Senior Huai' who had sent him a message, saying he wanted to thank him because the Eight Directions Reversal Formation had helped him reconsolidate his Divine Soul back into his main body.

When asked about his cultivation and if he could defeat Gu Lingye, the answer was "a piece of cake."

"Only..."

"Senior Huai, I wonder if you've finished off that Gu Lingye?"

Through the Eight Directions Reversal Formation, he could faintly sense a figure moving at the edge of the Formation.

"No, she's out of reach."

"Ah!"

Xu Changsheng's vision went dark. Although his life was saved, he had gained a powerful enemy in the Demonic Path out of thin air!

The Ghost Shadow Sect's previous suspicions of him were already headache-inducing enough, and he still hadn't managed to clear them.

This was even worse; a Golden Core assassin would be keeping an eye on him from now on, so he wouldn't even be able to sleep soundly.

Xu Changsheng decided that after returning to Yellow Ox Immortal City, he would ask Chu Linger to change his residence, ideally moving into somewhere like the City Lord's Mansion, where he could receive the direct protection of a Golden Core Cultivator.

The old locust tree said no more, and a streak of grey light suddenly flew into Xu Changsheng's sleeve.

"This is the second reward: an Protection Talisman made from my Locust Heartwood. Activating it at a critical moment can save your life."

Overjoyed, he bowed with cupped hands. "Thank you, Senior."

"Our fate has reached its end. I must continue my recuperation."

With that, the trunk burrowed back into the soil, and the surrounding pressure vanished.

The sky suddenly cleared, and the sun shone brightly through the clouds.

Without the support of magical power, True Man Zhuzhao also broke free from the cage and came before everyone, looking somewhat disheveled.

"So Senior Huai has made an appearance. Our luck is indeed quite good."

The conversation between Xu Changsheng and the old locust tree had taken place within their Seas of Consciousness, so some of the physical movements hadn't caught True Man Zhuzhao's attention.

He gave Crimson Rainbow a deep look, a light of admiration flashing in his eyes.