Seeing Cheng Wenming had already gotten behind the Snow Sprite Lord, a sharp look flashed in the eyes of Ye Xiuwen and Tan Zeshan. The same thought rose in their minds simultaneously: 'Cheng Wenming is going to use us to cover his rear.' But there was no time. They knew this was likely the case, but if the two of them didn't act against the Snow Sprite Lord, they would surely be blocked, and the numerous Snow Sprite demonic beasts behind them would immediately swarm in.
Escape was a matter of a split second. Ye Xiuwen glanced at the pale-faced Tan Zeshan out of the corner of his eye, then grit his teeth fiercely. He held the Iron Scroll Cinnabar Book in his hand horizontally. A faint scholarly fragrance rose from it. He then stepped onto the Iron Scroll Cinnabar Book and, at the same time, fiercely grabbed Tan Zeshan. With his pull, both of their bodies twisted strangely, shrinking to twenty percent of their normal height in an instant, causing several blue, sharp claws to grab at empty air.
Then, the two of them appeared less than two zhang behind the Snow Sprite Lord, less than five zhang from the just-escaped Cheng Wenming. At this moment, Ye Xiuwen's face was as pale as paper, and a large amount of blood was overflowing from the corners of his mouth. A thick layer of plasma seeped from his exposed skin. Although Tan Zeshan on the other side was not in such a state, he also opened his mouth and spat out an arrow of blood. The two were fellow martial brothers, and their coordination was very tacit. As they fled, they had already put several medicinal pills into their mouths, causing their auras to surge.
The sudden change also greatly surprised the Snow Sprite Lord. Instantaneous Movement! A divine ability that only a Nascent Soul cultivator could achieve. The speed that tore through space in a short period of time was something that even the body of a Golden Core cultivator could not withstand. It might directly cause the physical body to explode into a bloody mist. These two low-level cultivators before him could actually do it. But on second thought, it didn't seem like it.
The moment Ye Xiuwen and the other broke free from the pincer attack of the Snow Sprite Lord and the large swarm of Snow Sprites, they shot forward fiercely. At the critical moment of life and death, Ye Xiuwen had no choice but to use the Confucian School's Righteous Qi. This was something he had painstakingly collected over a hundred years. There was only a very small, faint amount of it, which he had refined into the Iron Scroll Cinnabar Book as a final life-saving measure. Tan Zeshan, however, had not been able to cultivate even a sliver of it. At the last moment, Ye Xiuwen could not bear to abandon his junior brother and had pulled him along with all his might.
This single use had consumed forty percent of the Righteous Qi refined in the Iron Scroll Cinnabar Book. This made Ye Xiuwen's heart ache terribly. But even with the support of the Righteous Qi, the two were still only at the Foundation Establishment stage. Even a short-distance rapid movement was far beyond the limits of their bodies.
If Ye Xiuwen had used the Righteous Qi to face the enemy head-on, the effect might have been better, causing considerable damage to the Snow Sprite Lord. But he was not confident that he could finish off the Snow Sprite Lord opposite him in one go. If he couldn't kill it, the Snow Sprite Lord might, in its dying moments, unleash all its power. Coupled with the large number of Snow Sprites behind them, that would be a certain-death situation.
Although the Snow Sprite Lord had been here for a long time, there were too many Melting Caves. It wasn't that no cultivators had ever come to this particular passage, but there had never been a Confucian cultivator. So it really knew nothing about the function of Righteous Qi. It was important to know that a Snow Sprite could only leave the Melting Cave where it grew after cultivating into a Snow Sprite King and reaching other places. This made the worldview of the Snow Sprite demonic beasts much narrower.
Although the Snow Sprite Lord's worldview was not too broad, the inheritance in its bloodline told it that what had just happened was definitely not an Instantaneous Movement technique. Otherwise, a single instantaneous movement would have taken them a hundred zhang away, or even further, not the current distance of about two zhang.
But in this brief moment of change, the three of them had already gotten behind him. By the time he turned around again, with the swarming large swarm of Snow Sprites in pursuit, the three cultivators, in their desperation, had advanced at least another twenty-plus zhang. Although they were still being chased, this would turn into a seesaw battle, unless a demonic beast comparable to a Foundation Establishment cultivator appeared ahead to close the distance between them.
If other demonic beasts appeared to intercept them within the next five hundred li, it would give the Snow Sprite Lord some help. This was still its territory. But once the three of them escaped this distance, then other Snow Sprite Lords might appear, which would inevitably lead to a multi-party battle. The three cultivators might be able to take the opportunity to escape. So this Snow Sprite Lord naturally wanted to end the battle as quickly as possible, devour them, and then go to its secret cave to merge these powers. The next time it came out of seclusion, it might be able to break through to the high-tier of the second grade. Then the thousand-li range on the other side would also belong to him, and the other Snow Sprite Lord would also be devoured by him, bringing him one step closer to the realm of a Snow Sprite King. Thinking of this, this Snow Sprite Lord's heart burned with passion, and it began to run wildly.
Cheng Wenming flew on his escape light, heading deep into the Melting Cave. This miscalculation filled his heart with terror. He didn't know where that cultivator Jianghai was waiting for them. Now, he was certain that the other party was a Golden Core cultivator. Due to different origins, cultivation methods, and many other reasons, there were many cultivators with strange personalities and changeable temperaments. Some cultivators even had a penchant for enjoying playing games with the world and toying with others. It was just that Cheng Wenming and his group had never thought they would encounter one.
"Brother Cheng, if it weren't for my brother and I having some tricks up our sleeves just now, I'm afraid we would have really been left behind as shields." As Cheng Wenming's thoughts ran wild, Ye Xiuwen's cold voice came to his ears. The two had already caught up, one behind the other. It was just that both of their faces were still deathly pale. The use of Righteous Qi for movement, their bodies not being tough enough, had already injured their internal organs and caused a great loss of qi and blood. In their temporary safety, they couldn't help but feel resentment towards Cheng Wenming, especially Ye Xiuwen. This time, not only had he gotten nothing, but he had also lost forty percent of the Righteous Qi he had painstakingly cultivated for a hundred years. This made his heart bleed. Even if he killed all the Snow Sprite Lords here, it would not be enough to make up for his loss.
Cheng Wenming, while flying at high speed, looked back at the two of them, a bitter smile on his lips. "You two, you've wronged me. If I had wanted to leave alone before, if I hadn't spoken, wouldn't I have been able to leave you behind, caught off guard? I had already notified you to be ready to leave at any time. And I was the one who created the conditions. Just now, to break away from the battlefield quickly, I used my fire-type divine ability. I don't think I need to say it, but to dare to actively use a fire-type divine ability against a Snow Sprite Lord, what do you think the consequences are? In just that one strike, I sacrificed thirty percent of the soul of the Crimson Crow artifact spirit in my magical treasure, letting it fight to the death to block and cut off the entanglement with the Snow Sprite Lord's blue ethereal fire, seizing the first opportunity to escape. In this situation, wasn't I the one who created the opportunity?"
Hearing Cheng Wenming's words, Ye Xiuwen and Tan Zeshan thought about it. The situation at that time was indeed so. Cheng Wenming had also paid a huge price this time. The artifact spirit of his magical treasure was severely damaged. The lost soul would take thirty or forty years of careful nurturing of the magical treasure to recover. But the two still held a grudge against Cheng Wenming's actions. But with their lives on the line, they closed their mouths. For a time, only the earth-shattering sound of the Snow Sprite Lord's footsteps in the cave behind them could be heard.
Although the three had temporarily created some distance from the Snow Sprite Lord, what made them most uneasy was the cultivator named Jianghai. His disappearance was too mysterious. This was also the main reason why the three of them had not hesitated to use their life-saving measures to leave this place. Staying here for another moment made the hair on their backs stand up. They always felt that the mysterious cultivator had not gone far, like a poisonous snake hidden in the dark, staring at them, waiting for an opportunity to deliver a fatal blow.
Although the three were flying for their lives, their Divine Senses were already fully spread out. Although this caused them to consume Spirit Power and Divine Sense faster, they did not dare to relax in the slightest. Just like that, the three of them, with a group of demonic beasts, shuttled rapidly through the Melting Cave. Even if they encountered some low-level demonic beasts along the way, after sensing the unconcealed powerful aura of the three and the roar of the Snow Sprite Lord, they all dodged away. This allowed the three to maintain their speed, and they actually flew forward for nearly thirty li.
And just when the three were feeling a little more at ease, suddenly, Cheng Wenming, who was flying at the very front, let out a strange cry. Then, a series of explosions sounded ahead. Then Ye Xiuwen and Tan Zeshan saw that on the snow-covered ground of the cave ahead, one ice spike after another was suddenly drilling out from the ground, reaching straight to the top of the cave, blocking the path completely. Each ice spike was as thick as an adult's arm. Normally, this would be nothing in the eyes of Cheng Wenming and the others. They could shatter a large area of them without using much magic power, revealing the path. But in the current situation, although they could still easily shatter these ice spikes, it would inevitably create resistance, causing their forward speed to slow down, affecting their time.
Although Ye Xiuwen and Tan Zeshan also quickly went forward to help shatter these ice spikes, just that moment's delay had allowed the Snow Sprite Lord behind them to get much closer. And the reality was far from just this. Looking at the ice spikes continuously emerging from the ground, Ye Xiuwen said in a startled voice, "It's... it's... Senior... Jiang...!" At this moment, his voice was already trembling.
Tan Zeshan's lips parted and closed a few times. He said in a low voice, "This... he's here to kill us!" Although his voice was still calm, it was clear that he had already lost confidence.
"No, this isn't him. It's not him. The spirit power fluctuation of the ice spikes here is very pure water spirit power. No one can have both water and fire spirit power at the same time. That doesn't conform to the rules of heaven and earth. Absolutely not. No! At least I've never seen such a cultivator." As the three continued to push forward, although they felt the aura behind them constantly approaching, they still struggled forward. Only Cheng Wenming remained relatively calm. At first, he also thought it was Li Yan who had secretly started to act. But he quickly sensed the extremely pure water spirit power from these ice spikes. It was not an immortal art condensed from other spirit powers. But he immediately thought of a problem. How could a cultivator have both water and fire attribute spirit roots at the same time? This was impossible in cultivation. So his first reaction was to deny his own thoughts, and he was very certain.
But then, he thought of a possibility. When one possessed all five elements as miscellaneous spirit roots, it was possible for a cultivator to have both water and fire spirit roots. But how could such a spirit root emit such pure water spirit power and still be able to reach Foundation Establishment, or even form a Core? He had only seen such a legend in ancient texts, so his tone became uncertain.
Li Yan hid in the dark, watching the three people in the cave who were once again surrounded by Snow Sprites. At this time, Cheng Wenming's group of three was in a desperate situation, appearing very frantic. After several forward pushes, they were finally caught up by the Snow Sprite Lord. They simply turned around and fought with all their might against the Snow Sprite Lord and the numerous Snow Sprites.
Now, the one at the greatest disadvantage was actually the one with the highest cultivation, Cheng Wenming. His greatest divine ability was his fire-type immortal art. The Snow Sprite Lord's attention was focused on him. Once he used his fire-type immortal art, he would be faced with the consequence of being devoured, unless he once again used the desperate blow of his Crimson Crow artifact spirit. But that, apart from delaying some time, would not cause any damage to the Snow Sprite Lord.