229: catch

But at the instant the thought arose, the gentle smile on Elder Xue's face opposite him vanished, replaced by cold ruthlessness!

His spiritual energy suddenly erupted like a tsunami, and his purple robes billowed.

"Since Fellow Daoist insists on investigating, then this old man will take you there to 'verify' it personally!"

As the words fell, Elder Xue struck with a palm. Zhao Jingchen felt as if a thousand-ton mountain was crashing down upon him. The air was compressed by the majestic spiritual energy until it became stagnant, his chest felt painfully tight, and his breathing instantly stalled.

The gap between the Nascent Soul Realm and the Golden Core was simply too vast after all.

Even though Zhao Jingchen was already exceptionally brilliant within his Sect and had killed across Realms before... that was only across small Realms.

"Whoosh~"

At the critical moment, a piece of Translucent White Jade actually flew out from Zhao Jingchen's sleeve on its own, hovering three feet above his head.

Pale blue ripples suddenly appeared on the jade's surface, spreading out like water waves to form a semi-transparent shield that enveloped his entire body. With a dull "bang," Elder Xue's palm force slammed into the shield. The pale blue ripples vibrated violently, and the jade emitted an overwhelmed hum as fine cracks quickly surfaced.

Within just a few breaths, a crisp "crack" pierced his eardrums. The Translucent White Jade shattered, turning into a shower of crystalline shards that scattered with the wind.

The crushing pressure from above suddenly dissipated. Zhao Jingchen's blood and qi surged, a trace of blood leaked from the corner of his mouth, and his face turned as pale as paper, his heart filled with lingering fear.

Seeing this, Elder Xue showed no surprise. Instead, a cold sneer curled on his lips. His purple robes billowed under the surging spiritual energy, and the pressure around him grew even more intense.

"It seems you are indeed a Personal Disciple of some Elder from the Tianque Sect. I wonder how many more of these life-saving Magic Treasures you can produce?"

He raised his right hand again. The purple light condensing in his palm was even more radiant than before. The surrounding spiritual energy gathered frantically toward his palm, forming a visible spiritual energy vortex.

"You dodged this move, but what about the next?"

The Heroic Woman and her Senior Brother had already quietly circled behind. Dealing with a Golden Core Cultivator was enough with Elder Xue; they didn't need to add unnecessary help.

Their target was only those ordinary Disciples.

Zhao Jingchen's expression suddenly turned extremely dark. He gripped the longsword in his hand tightly. Although he had suffered internal injuries from the jade shattering, his Aura did not diminish in the slightest.

"Fellow Daoist actually dares to strike to kill against Disciples of the Tianque Sect. Aren't you afraid of a reckoning later?"

The Tianque Sect was a top-tier Sect in the Rain God Continent. Sending just one Elder could wipe out a force like the Tianjian Sect entirely. This was also why Zhao Jingchen had been overconfident this time.

After all, the status of a Tianque Sect Disciple was right there. In the past, when dealing with those second-rate forces, which one of them wasn't full of polite smiles and didn't even dare to breathe loudly?

Hearing this, Elder Xue burst into laughter as if he had heard a joke. "A reckoning later? Do you think you can leave here alive today and spread word of this back to the Tianque Sect?"

"None of you will be able to leave today. Who will know that it was my Tianjian Sect that acted?"

He was still continuing to mislead Zhao Jingchen.

"You dare!"

Zhao Jingchen shouted in anger, but he also understood that now was not the time for a hard fight. The priority was to send the message back to the Sect. He immediately turned to his fellow Disciples and the accompanying Cultivators behind him and shouted sternly:

"The situation is lost! Disperse and break through immediately, and escape back to the Sect to report!"

As soon as he spoke, everyone summoned their longswords and infused spiritual energy into the blades. With a light "hum," the sword bodies glowed with various spiritual lights.

In the next second, eight figures took to the air, flying on their swords in different directions to escape.

Seeing this, the Heroic Woman and her Senior Brother's lips curled into a smile.

The two of them produced a Large Black Net. Driven by spiritual energy, the net expanded instantly, covering another Cultivator who was trying to flee like an inescapable snare. The two of them cooperated with great chemistry, striking quickly and accurately, giving the opponent no chance to react.

Screams and the sound of Magical Artifacts colliding rang out one after another. In just half an incense stick's time, the eight Cultivators who had scattered were all captured.

Below, Ye Hao, who was mingled among the commoners, saw all of this. His brow furrowed slightly as he whispered to himself:

"Strange, why did these Tianjian Sect Disciples only choose to capture them instead of killing them directly? With their ruthlessness just now, wouldn't killing them outright be easier and more effective for silencing them?"

Hearing this, Li Pingan looked at the villagers beside him and said thoughtfully:

"Perhaps their purpose for capturing these Cultivators is the same as for capturing those villagers."

Seeing his fellow Disciples all captured, the fire of anger burned in Zhao Jingchen's eyes. Spiritual energy surged frantically around him, and the longsword in his hand hummed incessantly, glowing with a brilliant silver-white spiritual light.

In an instant!

A several-zhang-long dazzling Sword Qi suddenly slashed out! This Sword Qi condensed all of his spiritual energy and carried a sharp killing intent, like the Milky Way pouring down, heading straight for Elder Xue's face.

But facing this swift Sword Qi, Elder Xue showed no fear.

He neither dodged nor avoided it. He casually raised his right hand, the purple light in his palm surging, and actually grabbed directly at the Sword Qi. With a crisp "rip," the silver-white Sword Qi struck Elder Xue's purple-glowing palm and was instantly clamped tight as if it had hit a bronze wall. Its sharp power rapidly dissipated, finally turning into specks of spiritual light that vanished in the air.

Elder Xue blocked the Sword Qi with one hand and said calmly, "This Divine Ability is not bad. Unfortunately, the difference in our Realms is too great."

Zhao Jingchen hadn't expected this strike to achieve much anyway; it was only to distract him.

He quickly gripped a Talisman emitting golden light between two fingers—it was the instant shadow thousand zhang talisman his Junior Sister had left for him.

He hadn't expected that he would actually end up using this thing.

He activated his spiritual energy without hesitation. The golden Talisman instantly erupted with a dazzling light, and then... there was no "and then."

The light of the golden Talisman gradually dimmed, as if it had already performed its function.

Zhao Jingchen's expression changed drastically. Before he could figure out what had happened, he saw faint green spiritual light suddenly appear around him. The spiritual light quickly interlaced, forming a transparent light shield that enveloped the area for several miles.

Elder Xue laughed loudly, his eyes full of mockery. "Fellow Daoist, did you think I wouldn't expect you to try to run? Do you really think I chatted with you for so long just because I was in a good mood? This Pingquan Village has long been covered by a Formation barrier for several miles around. It's easy to enter but hard to leave!

Don't think that just because you have an instant shadow thousand zhang talisman you can get away; even a Nascent Soul Cultivator wouldn't dream of breaking through easily in a short time!"

"Since I decided to act against your Tianque Sect, I have naturally made thorough preparations!"

Zhao Jingchen looked at the sturdy green light shield around him, then at his fellow Disciples who were being held aside with faces full of despair, and his heart sank completely.

Elder Xue struck out with a spiritual energy vortex, and Zhao Jingchen spat out a mouthful of blood with a "puff!"

He was clearly seriously injured and had no strength left to resist.

Below, the commoners who only spent their lives in the fields saw the "battle of the immortals" in the sky. Initially, they were so scared they shrank in place, not daring to breathe. But seeing that the people in the sky were busy confronting each other and no one was paying attention to them, a few bolder villagers felt the urge to flee.

Several men wearing coarse cloth short coats immediately tried to sneak away.

The Heroic Woman narrowed her eyes slightly. Seeing this, she gave her wrist a light flick, and the Green Longsword in her hand emitted a crisp hum. A slender but sharp green Sword Qi suddenly shot out, intending to make an example of someone!

To serve as a deterrent!