95: Desperate situation!

"A demonic Cultivator?!"

Liao Qinglin's pupils shrank suddenly, but he then burst into loud laughter, his voice filled with mockery. "I never expected, truly never expected, that you, a seemingly ordinary Loose Cultivator, would actually be a low-life demonic Cultivator!"

In the Canglang Plane, although demonic Cultivators had not reached the point of being like rats crossing the street with everyone shouting to beat them, they were still rejected by mainstream Cultivators and viewed as outcasts.

Previously, Liao Qinglin had been vaguely worried that killing 'Han Yu' would bring unpredictable trouble.

But when Su Ling summoned the ten thousand souls banner, the last trace of concern in his heart vanished.

Killing a demonic Cultivator was essentially 'acting on behalf of heaven'; even if someone were to investigate, they would have no grounds to complain.

Facing the swarming beast souls, Liao Qinglin still stood tall and proud. An orange-yellow jade seal suddenly appeared above his head, its body carved with intricate talisman patterns. Once activated, it burst forth with ten thousand rays of golden light, as scorching as a miniature sun.

In just a single encounter, dozens of second-grade beast souls wailed and turned to ash within the golden light.

Su Ling's expression was as calm as still water. His hand seals shifted, and over a hundred Third-grade Talismans were scattered like snowflakes. The Talismans spontaneously ignited in the air, instantly transforming into countless Ice Crows, lightning, and Wind Blades, which shot out in a dense, overwhelming tide toward Liao Qinglin.

In the forty-plus years since leaving Thousand Star City, Su Ling didn't have much else, but the Talismans he had crafted were piled high as mountains; they were coming in handy now.

He used the Rushing Thunder Steps to retreat rapidly, dodging the golden light palm prints that Liao Qinglin occasionally struck out, while quietly condensing ghost soul arrows within his sleeves.

"Oh? You do have some skill."

Watching the offensive Su Ling unleashed, Liao Qinglin couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, a hint of surprise appearing in his eyes.

He truly hadn't expected that this seemingly ordinary Early Core Formation Stage Loose Cultivator could erupt with a might comparable to the Late-stage Core Formation. No wonder he dared to hide Pei Jianbai's Cultivation Technique.

For a moment, a sense of playfulness, like a cat playing with a mouse, arose in Liao Qinglin's heart.

His magic power surged, and a layer of pale gold shield formed instantly, blocking all the incoming Flying Swords and flying needles. Even the lightning from the exploding thunderclap pearls was isolated by the shield, failing to stir even a single ripple.

Following that, the orange-yellow jade seal above his head shone even brighter, violently smashing toward Su Ling's three offensive Magical Artifacts.

In a mere breath's time, those three artifacts—the highest being only High Grade—shattered under the jade seal's immense force. Their spiritual light dimmed, and they fell to the ground as a pile of fragments.

"Soul Fusion!"

The moment his Magical Artifacts were destroyed, Su Ling remained as calm as ever. He gave a low shout, and several hand seals were struck into the ten thousand souls banner in succession.

Over a thousand beast souls within the banner surged like a tide, frantically converging toward the strongest soul in the banner—the Abyssal Ice Soul Flood Dragon!

"Ang!"

A shrill hiss echoed through the valley. The originally illusory Ice Soul Flood Dragon soul rapidly became solid under the nourishment of the other beast souls.

Scales and claws became clearly visible, and in an instant, it transformed into a ferocious black flood dragon dozens of feet long. It hovered in mid-air, radiating a bone-chilling cold.

"A Peak Core Formation Stage soul?!"

Liao Qinglin's pupils shrank suddenly, and for the first time, a hint of vigilance rose in his heart.

Although this was just the soul of a sea beast, it did have a Peak Core Formation Stage cultivation level. If it erupted with full force, it could pose a significant threat even to him, a Nascent Soul Early Stage Cultivator.

To be safe, Liao Qinglin stopped being overconfident and abruptly pulled an ancient bronze mirror Magic Treasure from his Storage Pouch.

The bronze mirror hovered before him, emitting a soft glow. Outside his golden magic power shield, another layer of glowing shield was added. With this double-layered protection, he was thoroughly guarded.

Su Ling gripped the ten thousand souls banner tightly, its surface whipping in the black wind.

He commanded the Abyssal Ice Soul Flood Dragon, which had temporarily recovered its Peak combat power, to entangle Liao Qinglin. Meanwhile, he stepped on thunder, his figure like a streak of green lightning as he fled toward the vast mountain forest below.

As the Ice Soul Flood Dragon's massive head swayed, black frost Qi overflowed. While its giant claws swiped at Liao Qinglin, it occasionally spat out Ice Soul Secret Techniques, barely managing to stall the man's progress.

Everywhere he went, whether it was the remnant souls of Yao Beasts lurking under rotting leaves or the resentful spirits of Cultivators remaining in mountain streams, all were drawn by the black Qi from the ten thousand souls banner. They rose from the ground as phantom shadows, howling as they lunged at Liao Qinglin, who was in hot pursuit.

Although these remnant souls were weak, they were numerous and clung to him like maggots on a bone, buying Su Ling precious time to breathe.

While fleeing, Su Ling's mind raced, constantly thinking of a way to escape.

A Nascent Soul Cultivator's flight speed was far beyond that of the Core Formation Stage. Moreover, Liao Qinglin had already locked onto him with Divine Sense, and with that extremely fast High Grade Flying Boat, even if Su Ling could briefly lose him, he would eventually be unable to escape the pursuit.

"A dead end!"

Su Ling cursed inwardly. He had never expected that the lightning-attribute Cultivation Technique Pei Jianbai had casually gifted him would be sensed by a Nascent Soul Cultivator.

Nor had he expected that a dignified Nascent Soul Disciple of the Haoyang Sect would actually covet a Soul Transformation Cultivation Technique.

That was a major Sect with a True Immortal presiding over it; could they possibly lack top-tier Cultivation Techniques?

This was simply absurd to the extreme!

"Fellow Daoist, stop struggling in vain. You cannot escape."

Golden light suddenly flashed ahead, and Liao Qinglin's figure appeared as if teleporting, blocking the path with a playful, cat-and-mouse expression.

But what greeted him were the hundreds of Third-grade Talismans Su Ling threw without hesitation, along with that sizzling, lightning-wrapped thunderclap pearl!

"Boom!"

A violent explosion and the roar of thunder instantly echoed through the valley. Fire and lightning intertwined, completely enveloping Liao Qinglin's figure.

Su Ling didn't care at all about the self-destructing thunderclap pearl. If he didn't use these external items now, they would only end up benefiting Liao Qinglin.

Taking this opportunity, he circulated his internal magic power to its limit, activating the Ghost Soul Arrow in his sleeve, frantically absorbing the power of the Wandering Souls scattered around.

The arrow's eerie light grew more intense, emitting a heart-palpitating aura.

If Su Ling hadn't applied the Turtle Breath Technique to the Ghost Soul Arrow with all his might, it probably would have been detected by the opponent long ago.

But the strength of a Nascent Soul Cultivator was formidable after all.

In just over a dozen breaths, the Ice Soul Flood Dragon's mournful cry came from behind.

Su Ling glanced back and saw that the Ice Soul Flood Dragon soul, which had condensed the power of a thousand souls, had been blasted apart by Liao Qinglin's golden light palm print. it had turned back into hundreds of weak beast souls, flickering unsteadily in the air.

Su Ling made a prompt decision, drawing out all the remaining beast souls from the ten thousand souls banner and pouring them all into the Ghost Soul Arrow.

While flying low to the ground, his left hand quietly flipped, and one by one, Nine Palaces Lightning Descent Array flags covered in lightning patterns were subtly inserted into the ground.

Using the cover of the forest, he quickly activated the formation core and continued to flee deeper into the dense woods.

"Stubborn!"

A violent surge of magic power suddenly spread out, annihilating all the Ice Crows and lightning surrounding him. Liao Qinglin's voice came through with obvious impatience.

The orange-yellow jade seal above his head suddenly erupted with a blazing golden light, shooting toward Su Ling's back like a falling miniature sun.

If he hadn't been worried that Su Ling would destroy the Cultivation Technique Jade Slip in desperation, he would have already used a high-power Spell to kill this troublesome brat.

Liao Qinglin felt somewhat regretful. Had he known it would be like this, he shouldn't have put on an act earlier and should have struck with lightning speed from the start; then there wouldn't be all this trouble now.