Gong Chenying's party was not moving very fast, but now that there were no more restrictive attacks from the space on their path forward, they still managed to leave the dark shadow in the sky far behind them. However, this progress did not last long before they ran into immense trouble.
After they had advanced about thirty li, Gong Chenying's group had tried their best to hide their auras to avoid being detected by Divine Sense scans. So, Gong Chenying only scanned a small area before continuously confirming their route forward. But even if you don't look for others, others will not let you go. While sneaking cautiously, they were eventually caught in the scans of two intersecting Divine Senses. They dodged the first one but failed to dodge the second. When they were covered by the Divine Sense, Gong Chenying couldn't help but sigh in her heart. She could only follow this person's Divine Sense and scan back. A moment later, her pretty face was a mask of solemnity. Then, she simply released her Divine Sense over a large area in an instant, while shouting, "Full speed ahead!" Then she slapped the storage bag at her waist, and various formation disks and flags were already in her hand.
In her counter-scan just now, she had already ascertained the opponent's situation. The other party was not hiding at all; instead, they seemed to be constantly searching for prey everywhere. It was a small team of four. In Gong Chenying's senses, the leader was like a madman, his eyes completely blood-red. It was none other than Wang Lang from the Ten-Pace Courtyard. At this moment, after Wang Lang's Divine Sense detected Gong Chenying's party, despite only having three Qi Condensation cultivators with him and being greatly outnumbered, he had already begun to fly rapidly in their direction. The two teams were only about three hundred li apart. If not for the three Qi Condensation cultivators, he could have flown over alone in just a dozen breaths. Although Wang Lang was filled with anger and unwillingness over the inexplicable change in the last trial, he still hadn't lost his reason. He hadn't abandoned the three Qi Condensation disciples. Otherwise, after he left, the three disciples would have likely faced certain death. He had made no attempt to hide his aura just now, so when he was scanning others, several other Divine Senses had also scanned him. A few of them had changed direction after a single scan, clearly not wanting to engage a Sword Cultivator who had reached the Pseudo-Core Realm at this time. But there were still two Divine Senses that, after scanning Wang Lang's party, had begun to move rapidly in his direction.
In his haste, Wang Lang had not identified them carefully, because he had just scanned the aura of the Malevolent Spirit Sect, and the leading cultivator was clearly heavily injured. This made a killing intent rise in him, and with a flash, he had led his three men in hot pursuit of Gong Chenying.
As Gong Chenying's party fled at high speed, her jade-like hands continuously waved out, and many formation flags and disks had already fallen into the grass. Her Divine Sense was also extended to its maximum range. But to her disappointment, neither Baili Yuan nor Gan Shi were within her Divine Sense. Clearly, their positions were beyond her scan range. There were only two small teams within four hundred li. Besides Wang Lang, who was flying toward her without hesitation, the other Divine Sense hesitated for a moment and then chose to dash directly toward the center.
What she didn't know was that in two other directions, several hundred li from Wang Lang, two small teams were rapidly approaching him. One of them was Baili Yuan's team. But clearly, both sides could only scan Wang Lang at the edge of their range and could not scan any farther.
In her Divine Sense, Wang Lang's party was extremely fast and was constantly closing in. Gong Chenying frowned. She understood the problem. She was the one slowing them down. Every time she moved now, it would aggravate her injury, making it impossible for her to use her movement technique to advance. She was actually slower than Mei Bucai and the others.
"You lot, with Mei Bucai as the leader, from here, head diagonally forward for a hundred li, then go straight for the center. Hide your auras as much as possible along the way. For now, all orders will come from Mei Bucai." Gong Chenying did not hesitate, her voice as cold as ice. Her action was clearly to stay behind and intercept Wang Lang's party. The reason she had them go diagonally for a hundred li was to take advantage of the fact that the other Divine Sense was no longer scanning them, to get Mei Bucai and the others out of the opponent's Divine Sense range as much as possible, and then head for the central sphere. These were the two small teams she could confirm within her current Divine Sense range. As for whether Mei Bucai and the others would be scanned by other Divine Senses after going diagonally for a hundred li, that could only be attributed to fate. The only thing she could do now was to delay Wang Lang's party's pursuit.
"Martial Aunt, this is not appropriate!"
"Martial Aunt, let us stay. If we set up a formation together, we might not be unable to take the lives of the newcomers!"
"Martial Aunt..."
Hearing this, how could Mei Bucai and the others not understand Gong Chenying's intention? For Gong Chenying, in her current heavily injured state, to stay behind and block the enemy was a certain death sentence. They were not cowards who feared death.
Gong Chenying's jade-like face slowly turned grim upon hearing this. For them to stay would only be to increase the casualties. Mei Bucai and the others had already used up about ninety percent of their medicinal pills and poisons in the previous trials. Even the only two remaining Spirit Insect Peak disciples had their spirit beasts heavily injured and unable to fight anymore. Otherwise, their masters would have likely been dead or injured by now.
Without poisons and toxins, just these few people would not be able to withstand a single blow from a Pseudo-Core cultivator. Perhaps they could kill the three Qi Condensation cultivators from the Ten-Pace Courtyard, but what then? The wrath of a Pseudo-Core cultivator would be completely ignited. In her Divine Sense, although Wang Lang's clothes were also stained with blood, and his chest and abdomen also seemed to be heavily injured, his breathing was long and steady. Clearly, he had used a secret art or taken some kind of pill to suppress his external injuries, making him several times better off than her. Not to mention, she was two minor realms lower than him. Even at her peak, she could only rely on formations to trap him.
"Hmm? You dare to defy your superior?" Gong Chenying's eyebrows shot up, her voice bone-chillingly cold. The aura of the Foundation Establishment realm faintly pulsed from her body. Her words made Mei Bucai and the others not doubt that in the next moment, this Martial Aunt might kill them. They all fell silent as cicadas in winter, and the clamor slowly died down.
"Are you not leaving yet? Do you want me to kill you all right now?" The long halberd in her hand erupted with a green light, pulsing with power. An immense pressure radiated from her body, pressing down on the Qi Condensation disciples.
"As... you command..."
"Martial Aunt, take care." Mei Bucai and all the others could only face Gong Chenying in unison and give this excessively beautiful Martial Aunt a serious bow with cupped fists. Tears welled up in Cheng Jingnian's eyes, his voice filled with sorrow.
"Go quickly! I'll be right behind you. Don't be a crybaby," Gong Chenying said with a straight face, her voice sharp. In her Divine Sense, Wang Lang and the others were already within two hundred and seventy li. She slapped her waist, and a Spirit-Storing Pouch flew toward Mei Bucai.
Mei Bucai and the others were stunned. When they saw clearly what had flown over, their hearts filled with even more grief. Gong Chenying's action clearly showed that she was planning to intercept the enemy with the intention of dying. But under Gong Chenying's sharp gaze, they could only take the Spirit-Storing Pouch, turn, and fly away at a great pace.
After the dozen or so people had disappeared from sight, Gong Chenying muttered, "This is as far as I can take you. The rest of the journey is up to you. May fate be with you!" Then, a sharp light flashed in her eyes. She took out a few pills from the storage bag at her waist, swallowed them, and as she secretly refined them, she began to run back the way she came. She wanted to set up a formation as much as possible, a formation that could trap Wang Lang.
Wang Lang's figure paused. His star-like eyes scanned his surroundings, his eyebrows knitted into a deep frown. He had sensed something was not right a few breaths ago. In his Divine Sense, he had already sensed that Gong Chenying had actually split her forces. Gong Chenying herself had stayed behind, while the other six had quickly left. He couldn't help but sneer in his heart. 'Hmph, although we are both heavily injured, you are clearly in a worse state. You think you can block my path alone? I will let you know the difference between a Pseudo-Core and a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.' Wang Lang sneered endlessly in his heart and charged toward Gong Chenying's position without any hesitation, gradually leaving the three behind him.
Just like that, at his extreme speed, he was only about a hundred li from Gong Chenying after a few breaths. But the three behind him had disappeared along the way. At first, he didn't pay any attention, but as he advanced, he slowly realized something was wrong.
Originally, with his charge, he had quickly come within about a hundred li. But after he had advanced for a while, in his Divine Sense, he was getting farther and farther away from the female cultivator of the Malevolent Spirit Sect, and the three behind him were nowhere to be seen.
"A formation." Wang Lang's figure paused. He stopped, his eyes narrowed, and he looked ahead. In his Divine Sense, Gong Chenying was now nearly three hundred li away from him.
"An illusion formation. A petty trick, and you dare to show it off? With your current strength, what kind of powerful formation can you set up? No matter how many interlocking formations you have, I will just force my way through." After thinking this, he formed a hand seal. Five small swords flew out from his Niwan Palace. They grew in the wind, and in an instant, each small sword had grown to ten zhang in size. Then, Wang Lang drew his fingers together like a sword and split them to the left and right. The several giant swords flew and danced in a circle, letting out a sharp whistle as they slashed at the surroundings. The next moment, a series of thunderous booms echoed continuously. For a time, sand and stones flew everywhere, and the world changed color.
Watching Wang Lang, with his unparalleled momentum, directly crush his way through, Gong Chenying couldn't help but sigh internally. In fact, she was only about thirty li from Wang Lang at this moment. And a few dozen li behind Wang Lang, in a patch of grass, lay three Qi Condensation cultivators from the Ten-Pace Courtyard. Each of them was tightly gripping their longswords, but they were already dead. With Gong Chenying's methods, as long as she used a formation to separate the opponent, she had dozens of methods and hundreds of toxins that could instantly take the lives of Qi Condensation cultivators.
But this Wang Lang was not someone she could defeat. If she were not heavily injured at this moment, the formation she had set up would have made it extremely difficult for Wang Lang to escape. Even if she couldn't kill him, she could still trap him for an hour or so. But now, her body was extremely weak, and her spiritual power was mostly depleted. She could no longer use many of her methods and divine arts. She couldn't even summon her most powerful small golden axe.
Seeing Wang Lang break the formation in this way, Gong Chenying could only sigh in her heart. 'His method is the fastest way to break the formation I've set up in my current state. One force to break ten skills. I no longer have the strength to set up many of the formation's variations. Otherwise, no matter how his sword qi raged, he would have had to honestly stay put for at least half an hour.'
Thinking of this, Gong Chenying forced herself to stand up and dashed in a different direction from Mei Bucai. It was just that this "dash" was only at thirty percent of her usual speed.
About the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea after Gong Chenying had left, a series of huge explosions sounded, and a loud laugh came from the smoke of the explosion. Then, a figure shot out at an extremely fast speed. It was Wang Lang.
At this moment, Wang Lang's eyes were even redder. After he got out of the formation, his Divine Sense swept over the corpses of the three Qi Condensation disciples in the grass a hundred li behind him. He couldn't help but let out an angry roar. After a brief check of the direction, he chased straight in one direction. It was the direction Gong Chenying had fled. Before leaving, Wang Lang glanced in the direction Mei Bucai and the others had gone and let out another cold snort. "You won't escape either. I'll be there soon."
Baili Yuan and Gan Shi were now intermittently engaging Qiu Jiuzhen, and their speed had slowed down.
Wang Lang's Divine Sense swept in all directions. In two other directions were Baili Yuan and Qiu Jiuzhen. They had also captured Wang Lang's Divine Sense at the same time. These two teams flew directly toward Wang Lang. But before they could get close, the two teams had already met in advance, facing each other from a distance. When Qiu Jiuzhen saw Baili Yuan's team clearly, she was greatly shocked. The other side already had two Foundation Establishment masters together. This made her heart pound. In her Divine Sense, on her own side, there was only Wang Lang's team. Neither of the two Supreme Mystery Teachings teams nor the three Pure Land Sect teams had appeared. The most pressing matter was, of course, to meet up with Wang Lang. But seeing Wang Lang completely ignore her and Baili Yuan's Divine Senses and instead fly in another direction, the towering killing intent that filled the heavens must have been directed at either the Malevolent Spirit Sect or the demonic beasts. After a moment of thought, Qiu Jiuzhen grit her teeth. She could not let Baili Yuan and his group pass. So, she directly adopted a harassment strategy. This made Baili Yuan and his group very frustrated. If they didn't stop, they would be subjected to Qiu Jiuzhen's long-range attacks. Once they stopped, Qiu Jiuzhen and her group would flee far away, not engaging them in a direct fight at all. This made Gan Shi's yellow hair fly about in anger, his face grim. He was currently in the weakened period of the Aged Vigor Pill's side effects and was unable to assist Baili Yuan. Otherwise, if he and Baili Yuan attacked from both sides, Qiu Jiuzhen would surely be killed, and the others would not be a threat.