214: Mysterious Little Beast

On the Night of the Dark Moon, the Demon Burial Valley deep within Lie Feng Gorge was pitch black, save for a massive Formation at the valley floor that emitted an ominous red light, illuminating the craggy rocks like bloodthirsty fangs.

The sound of space tearing and distorting was constant, and a deep fissure was expanding and writhing at the center of the Formation.

Several miles away, Lin Feng suppressed his entire aura; the pressure pervading the valley was like a mountain, weighing heavily upon his heart.

Above the eye of the Formation, Elder Shangguan of the Blood Fiend Sect and Elder Qin of the Heavenly Demon Palace hovered, their spiritual power surging and billowing as they exerted all their strength to maintain the terrifying Formation.

This situation was several degrees more dangerous than the worst-case scenario he had anticipated; reason told him he should flee a thousand miles away immediately without looking back, but that sliver of curiosity held his steps firmly in place.

Just then, a dazzling flash of Spell light erupted from the direction of the valley entrance, followed by the crisp sound of weapons clashing and a few short, angry shouts.

"Who goes there!"

"Stop them!"

It was the voice of a Xuandan Pavilion Cultivator.

Almost simultaneously, on the other side of the Formation, several rapid flashes of treasure light lit up; the forces of the Tian Gong Workshop appeared like ghosts, striking like lightning and charging straight toward the edge of the Formation.

"You're courting death!"

Elder Shangguan let out an angry roar that sounded like a thunderclap on flat ground; he did not even turn his head, merely striking out with a backhand palm behind him.

A blood-colored palm imprint flew out, growing against the wind and charging forward with a foul, bloody stench.

A Late Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator from Xuandan Pavilion who was charging at the front had his protective light shattered; he let out a miserable scream, spat blood, flew backward, and slammed heavily into the rock wall.

Elder Qin, standing nearby, struck almost at the same time; with a wave of his wide sleeves, a pitch-black whirlwind materialized out of thin air, emitting a shrill whistle that forced several Tian Gong Workshop Disciples who were attempting to approach to retreat repeatedly in a sorry state.

The two Elders struck with ruthless decisiveness, immediately suppressing the spoilers.

However, just as Elder Shangguan and Elder Qin were briefly distracted by the forces from Xuandan Pavilion and the Tian Gong Workshop, that Void Realm fissure, which had been expanding steadily, suddenly twisted violently.

Immediately following, an indescribable aura, mixed with pure vitality and an ancient Dao rhythm, erupted from deep within the fissure.

This aura was completely incompatible with the surrounding miasma and the Blood Fiend power; its appearance was so sudden and intense that even the four parties currently engaged in combat paused in their actions.

Elder Shangguan and Elder Qin, who bore the brunt of it, had their expressions change drastically; as the leaders of the Formation, they felt it most clearly.

What was coming from that fissure was not at all the aura of an Otherworld demon they had expected, but rather a kind of... a kind of pure energy that made one's heart and mind feel involuntarily calm and peaceful.

"What is going on?!"

"The aura is wrong!"

The two exclaimed almost simultaneously, their eyes filled with shock and disbelief; the Nine Heavens Yin Sha Formation they had painstakingly managed for decades and spent countless efforts to set up had drawn in an aura completely different from what they had expected, and this sudden deviation made their hearts sink.

"Has the Formation gone wrong?!" Elder Shangguan roared in a low voice, his eyes full of suspicion.

Elder Qin's face was also ashen, staring fixedly at the fissure with the abnormal aura.

Although this peaceful aura flashed and disappeared, it was clearly perceived by everyone in the valley.

Immediately after, ten thousand rays of rosy light emerged from the fissure, and a stone-egg-shaped object shrouded in five-colored swirling mist spun out; the pure Spiritual Qi it emitted made everyone's spirits soar.

"A rare treasure! A rare treasure has appeared!" It was unknown who shouted hoarsely first.

Before the voice had faded, the four parties struck almost simultaneously, their magical power turning into giant palms that grabbed toward the stone egg.

However, the stone egg exploded on its own, and an even stronger rosy light swept out, slightly pushing away the four streams of magical power.

Within the halo of light, a Little Beast resembling a young leopard with five-colored fur on its back appeared, looking dazed; it seemed extremely unaccustomed to the surrounding miasma and let out a faint whimper.

The Little Beast glanced at the several figures in the air emitting terrifying auras, its small body trembling.

Suddenly, its purple-gold eyes turned toward the direction where Lin Feng was hiding, and it turned into a faint stream of light, stumbling and rushing over.

This sudden change caused Lin Feng's heart to shake violently.

He considered his concealment technique to have reached the Transcendent stage; even a Mid-Stage Core Formation Cultivator had failed to detect him. How did this newly born, seemingly frail Little Beast discover him so precisely and rush directly toward him?

Just at the moment when Lin Feng was filled with suspicion and his thoughts were racing, Elder Shangguan and Elder Qin roared sternly almost simultaneously.

"Who is there?!"

"A rat hiding its head and showing its tail!"

They were exerting all their strength to maintain the Formation and deal with the spoilers, their Divine Sense constantly covering the entire scene, confident that there were no omissions. Yet, at this moment, they were watching helplessly as an outsider had been hiding right under their noses and was even being proactively sought out by that Spirit Beast.

This was simply a harsh slap in the face in front of everyone.

Especially since they had not noticed at all when this person had infiltrated or how long they had been hiding.

For the two Mid-stage Core Formation Elders, this was an unprecedented provocation and humiliation.

"You Little Beast! How dare you deceive me!" Elder Shangguan's hair and beard stood on end, and he struck out in anger.

A condensed blood-colored ghost claw appeared out of thin air, tearing through the air and grabbing straight down.

"Stay!" Elder Qin's eyes were cold, and a magic blade struck first, forming a pincer attack with the ghost claw.

How terrifying was the angry strike of two Mid-Stage Core Formation Cultivators?

Lin Feng was horrified; he had no time to think about why the Little Beast had sought him out, and he manifested the dou su sword and xingxiu sword in front of him.

The xingxiu sword suddenly erupted with a dazzling crimson light; a move, "Rain of Fire," poured out, and countless fine, fiery Sword Qi met the blood-colored ghost claw, attempting to use the explosive fire elemental power to slightly delay its sharpness.

At the same time, the dou su sword carved out a deep blue arc, forming the Vortex Shield, and heavy water curtain vortexes rolled toward the pitch-black magic blade, wishing to overcome rigidity with softness.

With both swords out, Lin Feng did not even look at the result, his body using the force to retreat violently.

Just in this gap, his hands rapidly pinched a complex Spell seal.

In an instant, with Lin Feng as the center, the temperature plummeted, and countless tiny, shimmering ice crystal snowflakes drifted down from the sky.

These ice crystals rotated rapidly, refracting light and transforming into five or six ice crystal phantoms that were identical to Lin Feng's true body, with Spiritual Pressure fluctuations so indistinguishable from the real one.

These phantoms, aided by the drifting snowflakes and refracted light, were lifelike and sped off in different directions, disrupting the battlefield's Qi.

And Lin Feng's true body, taking advantage of the perfect cover of the ice crystal snow mist, had his aura completely blend into the environment, and holding the listless Little Beast tightly in his arms, he fled far away.

"Small tricks!" Elder Shangguan laughed in extreme anger; with a squeeze of the blood-colored ghost claw, he crushed all the fiery Sword Qi, but his movements were ultimately delayed for a moment.

Elder Qin's magic blade also tore through the water curtain vortex, but he had lost the accurate position of Lin Feng's true body.

In just the blink of an eye, the several phantoms had scattered, and combined with the chaotic miasma in the gorge, their Divine Sense was greatly affected; the two were unable to distinguish which was the true body for a moment.

"Split up and pursue!" Elder Shangguan roared, and he and Elder Qin each chose a direction and gave chase.

However, the path chosen by Lin Feng's true body was extremely tricky; utilizing the complex terrain, he disappeared into the depths in a few leaps, his aura completely gone.

A moment later, the two returned empty-handed, their faces so gloomy they were almost dripping water.

The cooked duck had actually flown away right under their noses.

With no place to vent their full anger and frustration, the two's gazes once again locked onto the Xuandan Pavilion and Tian Gong Workshop Cultivators who had not yet completely retreated from the valley.