However, as the white-robed middle-aged man watched Bu Luo flee into the distance, his heart filled with even greater joy. 'This brat truly has numerous magical treasures on him! And that bamboo basket itself is a magical treasure. Not only does it possess spatial storage power, but the magical treasures within it can even attack on their own. This is something a storage pouch could never do.'
At this thought, the white-robed middle-aged man's figure became even swifter as he pursued Bu Luo.
'This person intends to extract Bu Luo's soul. He must want to get some secret from him.'
From a distance, Li Yan witnessed these two attacks. He saw that although the white-robed middle-aged man's strikes were vicious, they were only aimed at the physical body. He pondered this, still puzzled by the man's earlier actions.
If he had launched a sneak attack when Bu Luo passed their ambush spot earlier, his chances of success would have increased to at least fifty percent. Yet, the other party had let that perfect opportunity slip by.
But from the white-robed middle-aged man's two attacks, it was clear he was a cultivator who had experienced countless battles. How could he possibly have made such a low-level mistake?
Since the battle began, the other white-robed young man had been following slowly, showing no intention of intervening.
But Li Yan felt a very weak wisp of divine sense circle around him. It came from the white-robed young man. Strangely, the young man had not focused his divine sense on Bu Luo's side but had seemingly inadvertently swept it towards him. Under the current circumstances, this action seemed rather deliberate.
A distance of dozens of li was a matter of moments for two Foundation Establishment cultivators in a chase. Bu Luo was being forced closer and closer to the Flame Palace mountain, unable to change direction for the time being. And until this moment, the Jingtu Sect Chan Monk in the mountain cave showed no fluctuation in his aura, still lurking like a fierce beast.
Li Yan sat cross-legged on the distant desolate hill, coldly watching the fight between the two in front, but an alarm was already blaring in his heart.
'Now that Bu Luo has been forced not far from here, if that Chan Monk and the white-robed middle-aged man are in collusion, this would be the best opportunity for a pincer attack. But the monk is still lurking and not coming out. This is becoming more and more strange...'
Li Yan's face remained impassive, but his thoughts were racing. Coupled with the white-robed young man's seemingly unintentional attention to his location just now, Li Yan felt that these three were definitely not just dealing with Bu Luo.
At this moment, Bu Luo was genuinely scared. He hadn't expected this person who had sneak-attacked him to have such profound magic power, not as simple as the three Pseudo-Core cultivators who had been chasing him these past few days. That flying saber, which had arrived like a thunderbolt and as fast as lightning, was stuck in the cyan halo at the back of his neck.
He could feel the bone-chilling coldness coming from the blade's body, as if even his neck had been frozen stiff. He couldn't even turn his neck. In fact, he didn't dare to turn his neck easily.
Bu Luo could only fly forward desperately, but the tip of the saber seemed unstoppable, still slowly and continuously penetrating. Bu Luo's heart beat more and more violently, as if it could fly out of his mouth at any moment. His mouth was dry, and the shadow of death followed him like his own shadow.
At this moment, Bu Luo had even forgotten about Li Yan, who had appeared not far away. It should be said that he simply had no time to spare for him. If Li Yan were to attack at this time, Bu Luo would surely die. This was also why Li Yan suspected why the Chan Monk hidden in the darkness did not make a move.
The white-robed middle-aged man was closing in, a cold smile on his lips. He stretched out his long fingers, and with a hand seal, his index finger bent towards his palm. The Willow Leaf Flying Saber, originally stuck in the back of Bu Luo's neck, suddenly trembled and began to rotate slowly.
'After I capture this book-boy, I must preserve his soul well. I'll definitely be able to torture more secrets out of him. It's just that old monk Yiming didn't lift a single finger. I'll still have to give him some benefits. He's really getting a good deal out of this.'
The white-robed middle-aged man sneered, a hint of regret in his heart. But this was the plan he had discussed with the monk Yiming, so of course, he couldn't go back on his word. Apart from his initial glance in Li Yan's direction, he seemed to have completely forgotten about Li Yan's existence.
Feeling the trembling of the saber body that followed him like a shadow, and its tip beginning to rotate slowly, Bu Luo's eyes started to turn red.
"You're trying to wipe me out completely!" he roared. At this moment, he hadn't had time to wipe away the blood flowing from the corner of his mouth and his ears, making his originally handsome face look ferocious.
With his roar, at the top of the bamboo branch rising from the basket behind him, an umbrella-like bamboo leaf suddenly fluttered down. The leaf seemed as light as nothing, and as it drifted, it seemed unable to catch up with the rapidly advancing Bu Luo. But just as it seemed to others that it was about to fall into the dust behind him, the verdant, glowing bamboo leaf suddenly accelerated, instantly catching up with the speeding Bu Luo. Then, like a giant palm spreading out, it suddenly contracted, enveloping the exposed half of the Willow Leaf Flying Saber's body within the verdant bamboo leaf.
The rapidly approaching white-robed cultivator's expression changed dramatically. His figure also came to a sudden halt. Then, his originally pale face flushed red and green. His halted figure swayed, and he let out a muffled grunt. The index finger that had been bent in a hand seal was now rapidly changing.
In the distance, the flying saber stuck in the back of Bu Luo's neck, under the white-robed middle-aged man's spell, let out a very soft "weng" sound. It then rose into the air and broke free from the back of Bu Luo's neck.
At this time, only a few inches of the Willow Leaf Flying Saber's tip were exposed; ninety-nine percent of its body was wrapped in the bamboo leaf. And the verdant bamboo leaf was withering and drying up at a speed visible to the naked eye. As the saber body flew back, the bamboo leaf fell bit by bit towards the scorching earth below. The moment it touched the ground, being too dry, it burst into a small flame and green smoke, then dissipated into the world.
The Willow Leaf Saber flew back into the white-robed middle-aged man's hand very quickly. The moment he caught the saber, the white-robed middle-aged man's body swayed again, and the sharp glint in his eyes actually began to dim.
With the flying saber in hand, the white-robed middle-aged man's gaze suddenly turned from dim to sharp, and his face was so dark it could drip water.
At this moment, the flying saber's body was completely snow-white, its silver light dazzling, like a peerless divine weapon. But in the eyes of the white-robed middle-aged man, fire was almost spewing from his eyes.
Although the white-robed middle-aged man's Willow Leaf Flying Saber was not his natal magical treasure, it was one of his most prized possessions, also refined with his essence blood. When the magical treasure was damaged, his own mind was also harmed.
Originally, to deal with a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, this flying saber was not necessary. The white-robed middle-aged man felt that he only needed to be a little careful. But of course, he had other purposes for chasing Bu Luo.
However, the cultivators behind Bu Luo were also not slow. If the fight here took a little longer, the first few cultivators might arrive soon. Naturally, it was best to kill Bu Luo in one blow without affecting his own plans.
But he had never expected that although this book-boy's cultivation was not high, the magical treasures on him were endless, and each one's power was beyond his expectations. In the end, even his own Willow Leaf Flying Saber was severely damaged, to the point where he could no longer control it as he wished.
His Willow Leaf Flying Saber's most bizarre features were its speed and its ability to launch a sneak attack with almost no spirit power fluctuation.
When it was first successfully refined, it was just like the one in his hand now, completely snow-white. This kind of blade body could not be used for sneak attacks. The moment it moved, its light would flash everywhere. So he needed to add a rare artifact refining material called "Nightfall" for a second refinement. While it dimmed the blade's luster, "Nightfall's" spirit power shielding function could maximize its surprise attack function.
To obtain this bit of "Nightfall" refining material, the white-robed cultivator had spent almost all his family's fortune to buy just three drops. In the end, although it was refined into the Willow Leaf Flying Saber, because the amount of "Nightfall" was too small, after the blade was refined, there was still a faint silver light and a slight spirit power fluctuation. But this was already extremely rare.
But this time, he didn't know what kind of magical treasure that bamboo branch was. A single bamboo leaf had beaten his flying saber back to its original form. Although its power was still there, the "Nightfall" refined within it had been completely consumed, completely losing its ability to launch a sneak attack.
At this moment, the white-robed cultivator's heart was not just bleeding; he hated this book-boy to the bone. He now just wanted to catch Bu Luo immediately and use the most vicious methods he could think of to make this book-boy wish for death.
At this time, Bu Luo had already rushed forward several more li. The moment the crisis behind him was resolved, he immediately took out several bottles of pills and swallowed them one after another. Only then did his complexion slightly improve, but the internal backlash he had suffered earlier could not be immediately recovered.
After he had done all this, his speed did not decrease. Only then did he have a moment to turn his head and look at the bamboo basket behind him. His heart ached just as much, if not more, than the white-robed middle-aged man's.
At this time, the bamboo branch that had risen from the basket had already returned to its original size. The moment the bamboo leaf fell from it, the branch's volume had already shrunk by thirty percent. And both the branch and the remaining two bamboo leaves were no longer a vibrant green but had turned a grayish-green, as if they had lost a small half of their vitality in an instant.
After the bamboo leaf had wrapped around the saber body and left, the entire branch had completely returned to its original size.
Bu Luo panted heavily. This bamboo branch was one of the two life-saving items his young master had given him.
The other treasure was something he would only use when he was truly in a desperate situation. That magical treasure could withstand a full-power blow from a late-stage Golden Core cultivator. That was his true life-saving trump card. Treasures of this category were so rare that you would only ever hear about them in any market but would never be able to buy them.
A magical treasure that could withstand a full-power blow from a cultivator at the mid-stage Golden Core or above could basically only be made by a Nascent Soul cultivator, and it would require a large amount of their magic power and energy, and even the cost of damaging their own cultivation to refine. From this, one could see the green-robed scholar's affection for Bu Luo.
As for this bamboo branch, although it was not as precious as Bu Luo's other life-saving magical treasure, it was also a priceless treasure. When all three bamboo leaves were used together, it could also withstand a full-power blow from a peak initial-stage Golden Core cultivator.
But just now, he had used one bamboo leaf to save his life. The opponent was merely a Pseudo-Core cultivator, and Bu Luo had had to lose a bamboo leaf, which meant the power of the bamboo branch magical treasure had dropped a level. And this loss was irreversible.
Bu Luo took a few more deep breaths. He did not immediately lower the bamboo branch with its remaining two leaves back into the basket but glared viciously at the white-robed cultivator.