217: Despair of defeat

Midnight Gao Sou pondered for a moment, then let out a cold snort and abruptly launched a bloody hand, attacking Xiang Yuan directly.

His mind was still clear; he knew that Xiang Yuan and the others truly weren't trying to bargain.

They genuinely intended to refine human elixirs, and Golden Core Grand Elixirs at that.

Xiang Yuan, however, curved his lips into a smile, shifting his feet lightly, and easily dodged the bloody hand's attack.

Then, with a flick of his sleeve, a scroll flew out, suddenly enlarging and pressing down on Midnight Gao Sou like a mountain of books.

Midnight Gao Sou couldn't dodge in time, his head was instantly suppressed, and he immediately felt as if his internal organs were crushed. Most terrifyingly, his spiritual sense was once again restricted, now only covering a few meters.

"Magic Treasure..."

Midnight Gao Sou looked at Xiang Yuan, his mood growing increasingly gloomy.

He endured the blow, feeling uncomfortable all over. With great difficulty, he broke free and flew to the side, looking for a way to counterattack.

Just then, a sinister wind suddenly swept from behind him. Xiang He, at some unknown point, had appeared behind him. A large saber then emerged, enveloped in black mist, instantly severing Midnight Gao Sou's arm.

Midnight Gao Sou cried out in pain, quickly fleeing with a Blood Escape Art. Clasping his broken right arm, he gritted his teeth and formed a hand seal, but he couldn't make it regenerate.

The power of the Magic Treasure was truly formidable.

At this moment, Xiang Qing hovered above Midnight Gao Sou's head, forming a grand seal and pressing it down towards his head.

Midnight Gao Sou immediately felt a massive mountain pressing down fiercely on his head, almost pulverizing his bones. He fell miserably towards the ground, crashing through dozens of miles until he found an opportunity to escape using the Blood Escape Art.

"Hoo hoo..."

Hovering in mid-air, Midnight Gao Sou gasped for breath. The Righteous Aura Scripture was already somewhat obstructed in its circulation, and his severed arm couldn't be restored. After enduring three consecutive attacks, he had sustained considerable injuries.

He quickly marshaled his spiritual power and circulated his cultivation art.

The Golden Core volume of the Righteous Aura Scripture also recorded many cultivation arts for combat. Although Midnight Gao Sou couldn't claim to have perfectly mastered them over the past century, he had, after all, acquired offensive methods befitting a Golden Core.

Before him, a blood mist appeared, rotating rapidly, and suddenly transformed into a blood lotus. It instantly bloomed, shooting out crimson petals. Each petal was exceptionally sharp, capable of slicing mountains and blasting open the earth.

This move was the strongest method Midnight Gao Sou had mastered.

He unleashed it with all his might, not hoping to defeat the three Immortal Masters, but only to buy some time so he could find a way to break the formation and leave.

However, none of the three on the opposite side showed any surprise, nor even the slightest fear.

Xiang Qing, with a wave of his large hand, conjured numerous small Formation Flags. In a flash, they transformed into a pale green arc, directly blocking each petal of blood mist.

Then, Xiang Qing formed a hand seal, and the Formation Flags converged, forming a long spear that shot rapidly towards Midnight Gao Sou, striking him directly in the chest and forcefully knocking him to the ground, pinning him firmly there.

Midnight Gao Sou struggled, feeling his entire body's spiritual power dissipating. He had clearly been struck by a formidable technique.

Most embarrassingly, he knew nothing about the methods of Xiang Qing and the other two. Forget about countering them, he couldn't even name them.

When he saw Xiang Qing begin to form hand seals again, summoning Formation Flags once more, seemingly preparing a powerful move, Midnight Gao Sou grew increasingly anxious.

He gritted his teeth and suddenly threw out a yellowish-brown bead, activating it with all his might and instantly shattering it.

Xiang Qing and the other two's expressions changed for the first time, appearing somewhat startled, as if they hadn't expected it.

As the yellow bead exploded, a pure and powerful surge of golden sharp Qi swept out, breaking through in all directions. The grand formation used to seal Midnight Gao Sou simultaneously shattered.

Xiang Qing and the other two used their methods to protect themselves, and with great difficulty, waited for the golden sharp Qi to dissipate.

By this time, Midnight Gao Sou was nowhere to be seen. A vast crater was left in his place, and countless mountains of the Great Love Sect were obliterated along with it.

Xiang Yuan frowned: "A Golden Core Great Demon's demon core? How does he have one?"

Xiang He pondered for a moment: "It's probably given by a Great Desert Loose Cultivator... Heh."

Beside them, Xiang Qing frowned slightly. With a flick of his wrist, the Formation Flags spun, and he vanished... Midnight Gao Sou fled in disarray, filled with terror.

While stabilizing his cultivation, he had also studied the treasure Real Person Gan Wu had given him. Although he didn't know exactly what it was or its most effective use,

he was certain that directly injecting spiritual power to trigger its explosion would yield excellent results.

So, at the critical moment, Midnight Gao Sou didn't bother considering the bead's true value. He quickly activated it to explode, using its power to escape to safety.

'It's a pity the Great Love Sect is practically destroyed. The scale of that explosion was too immense.

'Fortunately, Jiang Yezi and his group have gone to besiege the imperial city, so there's no need to reopen it. Otherwise, things would be even more troublesome.

'Duan Kong Cave is untrustworthy, and Heshui Prefecture belongs to the Righteous Path. So, the only option left is to seek out Qingling Sect and see if they can lend me a hand...'

Suddenly, Xiang Qing landed sharply in front of Midnight Gao Sou.

His gaze was icy, and without a word, he directly waved his Formation Flags, and a sharp offensive killing formation swept towards Midnight Gao Sou.

Midnight Gao Sou was startled. He hadn't expected the opponent to pursue so quickly. He was immediately knocked to the ground, his entire body torn apart by the killing formation.

When he struggled miserably and leaped out of the killing formation, his last arm also broke, and his entire body's spiritual power was in complete disarray, almost losing all combat ability.

Midnight Gao Sou stared at Xiang Qing, preparing to seize an opportunity to quickly escape.

Just then, a streak of light flashed, and Xiang Yuan appeared beside him, having also caught up.

Next was Xiang He, a slight smile on his lips, quietly watching Midnight Gao Sou.

Midnight Gao Sou was utterly despairing.

Crack, crack, crack!

Xiang Yuan's scroll Magic Treasure flipped, making a clicking sound like gears, changing its form, aiming at Midnight Gao Sou, poised to strike.

Xiang He stood with his hands behind his back, but his great saber hovered before him, emanating a black aura, ready to cleave off Midnight Gao Sou's head at any moment.

The pressure from these two was immense, but Midnight Gao Sou feared Xiang Qing even more.

Although it was only a brief clash, if he still couldn't recognize Xiang Qing's methods and understand that he was a formation cultivator, then Midnight Gao Sou, as a Golden Core, would be truly incompetent.

"Three of you."

Midnight Gao Sou said bitterly, "Must you really put me to death?"

Xiang Yuan sneered:

"Immortal Master Midnight, when you achieved this Golden Core, you must have refined quite a few human elixirs, didn't you?"

Midnight Gao Sou remained silent for a long time, finally saying angrily, "If you are so aggressive, and I were to self-detonate, wouldn't all your efforts be in vain?"

At this moment, Xiang Qing formed a hand seal, and the Formation Flags danced, suddenly transforming into azure chains. They moved so quickly that Midnight Gao Sou didn't even react before he was completely bound.

Xiang Yuan spoke, "Self-detonate? You're welcome to try."

Midnight Gao Sou was completely bound, his spiritual power unable to circulate, his spiritual sense sealed, and he couldn't even introspect his own body, let alone self-detonate his Golden Core.

Midnight Gao Sou was utterly despairing.

"Fellow Daoist, let's go."

Xiang Yuan chuckled lightly, and directly took Midnight Gao Sou towards Chu Country.