21: The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the eagle behind it

Su Mo suddenly stopped and deliberately lowered his voice, saying, "Who are you? Why are you blocking me?"

Princess Tianning looked at the Man in Black in front of her and sneered.

"You truly have great skill, Sir. You managed to escape the pursuit of hundreds of people."

"Fortunately, my master gave me a spirit-guiding insect, which allowed me to pinpoint your location."

Su Mo frowned slightly, not understanding when he had been set up.

Seeing his confused expression, Princess Tianning continued, "I had already ordered people to scatter spirit-guiding insects in box jia qi. Even if you got one on any part of your body, you wouldn't be able to escape my lock-on."

"Alright, that's enough talk. Hand over the divine stone and the storage bag, kneel and swear allegiance to me, and I can spare your life."

Upon hearing this, Su Mo looked up and laughed loudly, "Just you?"

"Or those cowards hiding who dare not show their faces?"

His gaze was cold as he stared at the distant forest.

Princess Tianning saw that Su Mo had discovered her ambush.

She reluctantly said to the forest, "Come out, everyone."

As soon as Princess Tianning finished speaking, over a dozen figures in brocade robes appeared out of thin air.

These brocade-robed individuals were all Flying Heaven Realm experts.

The leader among them even made Su Mo feel a faint sense of danger.

Princess Tianning looked at Su Mo, who had lost his earlier arrogance.

With an arrogant demeanor, she said again, "I'll give you one last chance. Hand over the items and surrender to me, or die!"

Having walked this path for so long, Su Mo was already accustomed to life-and-death struggles.

At this moment, his eyes narrowed, and he had already made a decision in his heart.

"To catch the bandits, first catch their king."

Su Mo made a decisive choice.

He suddenly drew his longsword and, with a flash of his figure, attacked Princess Tianning.

Princess Tianning saw Su Mo attacking but did not dodge, a look of mockery on her face.

Su Mo had just reached Princess Tianning's front.

Suddenly, a blade light slashed towards his face.

Su Mo calmly drew his sword back to block, and the blade light met the longsword.

It directly sent Su Mo retreating three zhang before he stopped.

"Half-step Venerable Realm...?"

Su Mo steadied himself and blurted out.

This blade light carried a hint of domain aura; this was a Flying Heaven Realm expert who had already touched upon the domain.

He was only half a step away from the Venerable Realm, with the possibility of taking that half-step at any time.

Su Mo quickly calculated in his mind.

"I can't hide my strength anymore. I must kill this person with one strike; the remaining few are not worth mentioning."

Thinking of this, Su Mo no longer hesitated.

He frantically mobilized all the spiritual power in his body, then with a flash of his figure, he appeared in mid-air.

He was seen holding his longsword with both hands, swiftly unleashing three crescent-shaped sword lights in the air.

This was a set of sword moves he created, "Divine Crescent Slash," by integrating Great Emperor Yun You's thousands of years of combat essence.

The crescent sword lights, without any discernible trajectory, slashed towards the leading person.

The leader, seeing these strange sword lights, did not dare to be careless.

The first sword light was blocked by the nascent domain he condensed with spiritual power.

The second sword light was blocked by a shield he conjured with his long saber, slowing its attack speed, and the aftershock of the sword light pushed him back several steps.

Before he could stabilize his footing.

The third sword light, which followed immediately, passed through his chest without any hindrance.

This sword light not only shattered his Sea of Consciousness but also severed his head.

This scene actually happened in an instant.

Everyone was stunned and somewhat lost their composure by Su Mo's terrifying attack.

At this moment, Su Mo was not doing well either.

He had used all his strength to unleash three swords, and his spiritual power was depleted by nearly ninety percent.

Three swords were his limit; if he hadn't been able to kill that person just now, he would likely be in grave danger today.

Princess Tianning, seeing her greatest reliance killed in one move, also panicked.

She frantically shouted, "Attack together!"

The remaining ten Flying Heaven Realm experts, although shocked by Su Mo's power.

But as Princess Tianning's personal guards, they could only fight to the death.

They attacked Su Mo ferociously, fearless of death.

Immediately, sabers and swords flashed, flying up and down.

Princess Tianning's heart was currently wavering.

She vaguely felt that these ten subordinates might not be able to defeat Su Mo, and defeat was only a matter of time.

But to make her give up, she was still unwilling.

Seeing that more than half of her subordinates in the field were dead or injured.

Princess Tianning, with a look of unwillingness, chose to give up.

She activated her spiritual power, flew up, and quickly fled in one direction.

Suddenly, an unexpected change occurred.

A sword light, at an extremely fast speed, directly struck Princess Tianning.

The jade pendant protecting her chest was instantly shattered.

Princess Tianning spat out a mouthful of fresh blood and fell straight down.

The two sides who were fighting, seeing that there was a hidden third party, tacitly stopped their hands.

The remaining four guards quickly flashed to Princess Tianning's side, shielding her in the middle.

"Clap, clap, clap."

Crisp applause came from the dark forest.

Immediately after, a Youth in White Robes, accompanied by a Black-clothed Old Man, slowly walked out.

"This show was truly spectacular," Lin Mu praised while clapping.

Princess Tianning angrily questioned, "Who are you, and why did you ambush me?"

Lin Mu looked at this princess, who was originally stunningly beautiful but now looked disheveled and glared at him.

"Because I haven't seen enough of this show yet, and no one is allowed to leave."

Lin Mu said with an arrogant expression, "How about you two continue fighting? Whoever wins, I'll let them leave."

As soon as Lin Mu and the Black-clothed Old Man appeared, Great Emperor Yun You quietly reminded Su Mo to be ready to escape at any time.

Because Great Emperor Yun You hadn't been able to detect the whereabouts of Lin Mu and the Black-clothed Old Man.

Su Mo cautiously watched Lin Mu.

He spoke with a faint sarcastic tone:

"That sounds good, but it's just to make us fight to the death so you can reap the benefits."

Princess Tianning frowned slightly and also echoed:

"That's right. How about we join forces first to kill this person?"

Su Mo said in a deep voice, "Alright, let's attack together."

As soon as he finished speaking, the six people from both sides simultaneously activated their spiritual power and attacked Lin Mu and Lao Mo.

Lin Mu stood still and did not make a move, but looked at the attacking individuals with a mocking expression.

Lao Mo, standing beside him, simply waved his sword casually, and the four leading attackers were directly cut in half by the sword light.

This scene caused a huge shock in the hearts of the remaining two.

Princess Tianning, scared, turned to flee.

Just as she turned around, a sudden gust of wind struck.

Her shoulder took a solid palm strike, and she flew towards Lin Mu like a kite with a broken string.

"You're despicable."

Princess Tianning angrily shouted at Su Mo.

Su Mo, having successfully landed a blow, dared not linger.

He borrowed the power of Great Emperor Yun You's remnant soul and instantly fled several hundred meters.

Then he used a secret technique to continue his rapid flight.

Suddenly, Great Emperor Yun You warned, "Be careful."

He reacted quickly, promptly deploying a purple energy shield around himself.

However, the crescent sword light that attacked from behind shattered his purple energy shield with just one blow.

Furthermore, it pierced through his body with irresistible force.

Su Mo spat out three mouthfuls of fresh blood in succession, his body falling to the ground like a flickering candle in the wind.

At this moment, a turbulent storm raged in his heart!

Because he was astonished to discover that what had injured him just now was his own unique skill, "Divine Crescent Slash."

Lin Mu, carrying the heavily injured Princess Tianning in one hand, appeared before Su Mo in a few flashes.

He casually threw Princess Tianning to the ground.

"You two truly surprised me. More spectacular than I expected."

"Cunning and treacherous, ruthless and merciless, stopping at nothing to achieve your goals."

"I'll make an exception this once and let you off."

"But before that, you need to return my things to me."