38: Successfully intercepted the goods, escape!

"Heh, Phantom Shadow Technique..."

Wu Tiehun was in mid-air, and at a glance, he saw Su Ling moving like lightning, trailing phantom shadows behind him.

He scanned the other with his Divine Sense, detected Su Ling's cultivation level, and a flash of disdain crossed his eyes.

Changing the Spell seals in his hands, over a dozen dark red fire snakes lunged at Su Ling.

A mere Middle Foundation Establishment Stage, yet he dared to snatch food from the tiger's mouth?

If it weren't for the fact that Su Ling was heading towards the yin gui fungus in the black swamp, he wouldn't even have bothered with him.

But the next moment, an unexpected change occurred.

A large hand wreathed in black mist appeared out of thin air from another direction and grabbed at Wu Tiehun from afar.

The dozen or so dark red fire snakes instantly dissipated into nothingness.

"Soul Capturing Art?!"

Even though Wu Tiehun was powerful and his Divine Soul was more stable than that of an Early Stage Tier 3 Yao Beast, he could not withstand such a grab when caught off guard.

His Divine Soul was instantly forced an inch out of his body.

His briefly hovering figure couldn't help but plummet downward.

"Yun Qingluan, how dare you?!"

A voice of shock and rage, transmitted via Divine Soul, echoed throughout the area.

Wu Tiehun possessed a supreme grade Fire Spiritual Root and was not suited to Cultivate the "Xuanming Soul Refining Treasure Record".

The Cultivation Technique he practiced was the "Xuanming Fire Refining Scripture", also a direct lineage of the Xuanming Sect.

The Nether Fire refined from the subsidiary Nether Flame Art was more overbearing than the Soul Capturing Art in terms of raw attack power.

But having practiced the Soul Refining secret arts of the Xuanming Sect, how could he not recognize it?

Except for the Sect Head's direct Disciple Li Xinghe, among all the Foundation Establishment Stage Disciples of the Xuanming Sect, only Yun Qingluan, who had not yet reached the Peak Foundation Establishment, had cultivated the Soul Refining Treasure Record.

Once the Netherworld Ghost Hand appeared, Wu Tiehun immediately realized what was happening.

Who else but Yun Qingluan could the person who had yet to reveal themselves be?

Behind a giant rock, Yun Qingluan's face was as cold as frost as she surged all her magic power to push the Soul Capturing Art to its limit.

If she were dealing with an ordinary Peak Foundation Establishment, she wouldn't be struggling so much.

But as the personal Disciple of the Artifact Refining Hall Master, Wu Tiehun practiced a very high-quality Cultivation Technique, and his Divine Soul was much more stable than that of a Wind-Roaring Tiger.

The fact that Yun Qingluan could control him now was only because she had taken advantage of the element of surprise.

Even so, it would last no more than three breaths.

In the first breath, Su Ling flew above the yin gui fungus, swiped a jade knife across its roots, and lifted it up along with a portion of the black swamp mud.

He opened a prepared jade box and stored the yin gui fungus inside.

In the second breath, Su Ling stepped onto his Flying Sword and retreated rapidly.

Before the Divine Soul-controlled Wu Tiehun could land, two thick branches slammed heavily into his body.

Fortunately, the bronze bell Magic Treasure still faithfully protected its master.

But this blow caused Wu Tiehun to be sent flying a hundred zhang away.

"Retreat!"

In the third breath, Yun Qingluan threw out a black jade hairpin, which transformed mid-air into a massive black bird.

The two of them leaped onto the bird's back, turning into a streak of black light and disappearing rapidly.

What remained in Wu Tiehun's field of vision was a dense swarm of azure ice crows.

Fire Crow Spell!

It was a Foundation Establishment Stage Spell that Su Ling had found in the Storage Pouch of those unlucky fellow Disciples.

With the amplification of the Nether Abyss Ice Flame, these fire crows had all changed color, but their power was on a whole new level.

"Yun Qingluan!!!"

Seeing the black bird carry the two away, Wu Tiehun let out a hysterical roar.

A pair of crimson wings extended from his back, and with a flap of his wings, he prepared to give chase.

But the Vine Demon was now demonstrating the strength expected of a Tier 3 Yao Beast; besides the exposed main trunk, countless thick roots burst out of the ground and the black swamp within a radius of hundreds of zhang.

The branches filling the sky shimmered with a dark green luster, blotting out the sun as they stabbed, coiled, and smashed, all attacking Wu Tiehun.

Together with those ice crows that showed no obvious magic power, they completely blocked Wu Tiehun's path forward.

"Damn it!"

Wu Tiehun was extremely annoyed; a gourd Magic Treasure appeared in his hand.

The mouth of the gourd spewed out countless crimson beads, all directed toward those...

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Successive explosions rang out, and the area within a radius of one li instantly turned into a purgatory.

The Vine Demon's branches bore the brunt of the attack and were all reduced to ashes.

Needless to say, those ice crows were burned to nothing by the crimson flames without even a chance to explode.

Wu Tiehun flapped his wings to pursue, but upon flying into mid-air, he discovered that the black bird transformed from the Magical Artifact had already left his Divine Sense range and disappeared into the horizon.

A supreme grade flying Magical Artifact, the Nether Sparrow Flying Heaven Hairpin!

Wu Tiehun knew this Magical Artifact that Yun Qingluan possessed all too well.

Back then, Mo Jinghun had hunted a Peak Tier 3 Nether Sparrow, imprisoned its Divine Soul within a jade hairpin, and refined it into a supreme grade flying Magical Artifact.

When he took Yun Qingluan as his Disciple, he gave it to her as a gift.

Wu Tiehun and a group of personal Disciples were present at the time, so he recognized it at a glance.

The flight speed of a Nether Sparrow was notoriously fast in the Underground World; even without its Physical Body, its speed was still faster than the supreme grade Magical Artifact refined from his own Crimson Refined Fire Crane wings.

It was now impossible to catch up.

Wu Tiehun caught a glimpse of the Vine Demon below, which had become a bare commander, timidly trying to escape into the underground.

The volcano of anger in his heart erupted instantly, "If I can't deal with Yun Qingluan, fine, but can't I even deal with you?!"

He immediately gripped the Magic Treasure gourd in his hand and pointed the mouth of the gourd at the severely injured Vine Demon.

A dark red fire bead shot out like lightning and plunged straight into the tunnel left by the Vine Demon.

"Boom!"

A few breaths later, an unprecedented explosion roared.

The sky-filling Nether Flame enveloped the surrounding few li, and even the ground was incinerated and gradually disappeared.

A moment later.

Centered on the area where the Vine Demon had been, a super-large crater a li deep and several li in radius appeared.

Everything—the ancient trees, the black swamp, and the Vine Demon—had all vanished.

Wu Tiehun slowly landed on the ground, and a wood spirit crystal shimmering with dark green light flew out from the underground and fell into his hand.

Harvesting a precious wood spirit crystal did not in the slightest appease the anger in Wu Tiehun's heart.

"The direction the Nether Sparrow flew in was north..."

"With that bitch's strength, she definitely wouldn't dare to fly in a straight line."

Wu Tiehun analyzed the possibility of catching the two with a gloomy face.

There were many Yao Beasts in the Cuiye Secret Realm, and this place was relatively close to the central area, so the chance of a Core Formation Yao Beast appearing was greatly increased.

Half a month ago, he had encountered a Late-stage Core Formation Yao Beast.

It was only by relying on the two Magic Treasures in his hand, as well as the Crimson Refined Crane feathers, that he narrowly escaped.

While he said Yun Qingluan wouldn't dare to fly in a straight line, in reality, he himself wouldn't dare to do so either.

The probability of catching the other party now was not high.

After some hesitation, he couldn't help but snort coldly, "Fine, I'll find a place to Breakthrough first. Once I advance to Core Formation and my strength increases significantly, it will be much more convenient to search."

"At that time, I want to see what right that ant has to possess a spirit fire..."

With Wu Tiehun's discernment, he had immediately discovered that the sky-filling ice crows Su Ling released at the end were actually a type of spirit fire with ice attributes.

As the personal Disciple of the Artifact Refining Hall Master, he himself didn't even possess a spirit fire!

It was one thing for Yun Qingluan to possess the Soul Devouring Flame; that was something belonging to Mo Jinghun, which even Zheng Ke coveted.

But why, how could even a lackey by her side possess such a spiritual object?

Wu Tiehun's eyes were cold, and the fire wings on his back flapped violently, taking him into the air once again.