This was something the two of them had been plotting for eighteen years to achieve.
Old ghost Shuang had always been extremely cautious and never drank tea or discussed the Dao with outsiders. If not for this opportunity to congratulate the other party on his upcoming grandson, which had put him in a good mood and made him relax, they wouldn't know when they would have had the chance to poison him.
"I don't know them!"
Li Yan's hands were tucked into his large sleeves, his expression giving no hint as to what he was thinking.
Hearing the other party's frank reply, the cultivator surnamed Ma and the tall, thin green-robed cultivator couldn't help but feel a surge of joy.
"Since you don't know them, fellow Daoist, then what is the meaning of this..."
This time, before the cultivator surnamed Ma could finish his sentence, the gray-robed old man suddenly interrupted.
He too was extremely experienced. Although he didn't understand the intentions of the person who had suddenly appeared, he had heard from the other party's first sentence that he seemed displeased with the two of them about to harm a pregnant woman. This was a good opportunity.
If he didn't seize this opportunity, when would he?
Even if he and his son were to die here, perhaps he could use this opportunity to preserve his family's bloodline.
"Fellow Daoist, for a cultivator to slaughter women and children is one of the ten unpardonable sins, let alone an infant in the womb. I implore you, fellow Daoist, to help the mother and child to safety. You can take everything I have, Shuang, and I will repay you by being a loyal steed in the next life...!"
But before he could finish his words, Li Yan had already interrupted him coldly.
"A loyal steed in the next life? That's too vague and ethereal, hehehe. What is this 'Divine Puppet Art' you were talking about before?"
As soon as he said this, the expressions of everyone present changed. Even Shuang Lianzhou, who was slowly recovering his senses, was stunned.
A hidden murderous intent instantly flashed in the eyes of the cultivator surnamed Ma and his companion.
'So this person had already heard what we were saying, and he also wants to stick his hand in!'
That was the fruit of their nearly twenty years of painstaking scheming. For this person to ask about this item as soon as he appeared, he must have also taken a fancy to it, but it seemed he didn't know what it was exactly.
The gray-robed old man's heart also skipped a beat, his expression changing erratically.
'So this person is also after the 'Divine Puppet Art'!'
For a moment, a bitter taste filled his mouth. He didn't know how to respond. In the struggle between his family's legacy and the continuation of his bloodline, he was hesitating, not knowing whether to take the gamble.
'Judging from both sides' attitudes, this person is definitely not familiar with Ma and the other one. If I can really trade for the lives of Mingling and the unborn child, it might be worth the risk... But will this mysterious young man in profound robes just take the item and leave... And will Ma and his companion fight him? And this is the clan's legacy. I once swore an oath that I would rather die than pass this art on to others...'
As thoughts swirled rapidly in his mind, the gray-robed old man was somewhat at a loss.
But he had lived for over a hundred years and had seen many great storms. Although his heart was still hesitating, his mouth had already explained quickly, "The 'Divine Puppet Art' is a puppet and mechanism refining method passed down in my Shuang family. That red tiger and the 'Three-legged Green Luan' were refined by me, Shuang! It's just that..."
As he said this, his eyes glanced at the headless red tiger that had fallen to the ground, a trace of sadness appearing in his eyes.
This giant red tiger was his masterpiece. It had been famous in the clan back then, but his ambition was also very high. He had thought of having a stronger puppet as his natal magical treasure.
So, he had not dripped his blood to refine it. Even after the family's accident and they were displaced, he had been gathering better refining materials.
But even so, the giant red tiger had been with him for more than forty years, like his companion spirit beast. Now that it had come to such an end, the thought of it brought a pang of pain to his heart.
He had revealed the "Divine Puppet Art" without hesitation precisely because he did not want Li Yan to leave easily.
The art of puppets and mechanisms was considered a relatively niche one among the hundred arts of cultivation, but for this very reason, the inherited methods were also extremely rare.
Once a cultivation method appeared, it would often become a coveted item in the eyes of others. If nothing else, as long as one achieved minor success in cultivation, the speed of earning Spirit Stones would be much faster than others.
And puppets, unlike tamed demonic beasts, did not have the danger of being difficult to tame and turning on their masters. This was a purely refining-type auxiliary attack magic treasure.
Cultivators were quite fond of it.
The gray-robed old man believed that as long as he said it, this young man in profound robes would definitely be attracted.
Sure enough, just as he had revealed the reason for being hunted down, the cultivator surnamed Ma and the tall, thin green-robed cultivator were too late to stop him, and their faces changed drastically.
They regretted that in their panic just now, they had forgotten to seal old ghost Shuang's six senses.
In the dark night, the cultivator surnamed Ma and his companion stared deadly at Li Yan. They knew that a great battle might be unavoidable.
It was just that they were still wary of the other party's strength. This person's appearance was too strange, silent and without a trace. At least just now, they had not been able to discover his tracks.
Regardless of whether the other party had a magic treasure that could conceal his aura, this was enough to make them be extra careful.
And after Li Yan heard the gray-robed old man's words, he suddenly let out a light laugh.
"So it's a puppet and mechanism cultivation method. Fellow Daoist Shuang has a good plan. If I'm not mistaken, the combat power of this giant red tiger puppet before should not have been just this, right? If you were not poisoned, the combat power of this puppet should have been comparable to your own!"
Li Yan sneered in his heart. Although this old man surnamed Shuang seemed to be under control, he was still not being honest. Even if he had asked about the "Divine Puppet Art," although the other party seemed to answer readily, every sentence was a scheme against others, and he had no intention of offering it as a reward.
Of course, all of this was meaningless to the current gray-robed old man. He was already meat on the chopping block, with sharp knives on both sides.
But Li Yan knew the other party's thoughts. The gray-robed old man still wanted to delay for time, to drag it out as long as he could. During this period, he still wanted to find an opportunity to escape.
Never underestimate any cultivator. Even if you have already mastered his life and death, as long as he is not truly dead, who knows if the situation will turn into him living and you dying in the next moment.
A cultivator's dying counterattack was the most terrifying. Although the other party was subdued, he might still have a life-saving trump card that he hadn't had a suitable opportunity to use. They often only needed a fleeting opportunity.
Another point was that even though the gray-robed old man had reached such a state, he still had not revealed the brilliance of his puppet art.
He had just pointed out that the incomplete puppet on the ground and the flying puppet that had been caught up by the enemy were both refined by him, which was to imply that his puppets were simply no match for Foundation Establishment cultivators.
At the same time, he was not afraid that the other party would leave directly because he felt that the "Divine Puppet Art" was not good enough. The other party had just appeared because there was a pregnant woman here.
If not for Li Yan having discussed the art of puppets and mechanisms with Bai Rou many times, he would have really been deceived by him.
Li Yan could roughly judge the smoothness of its Spirit Power circulation and its ability to condense the various spirit stone grooves in its body just by the movements of the giant red tiger just now.
The Spirit Qi condensation of the giant red tiger before an attack was very short. This showed that the formation inscribed inside this puppet was very clever, and it was very easy to gather the Spirit Qi from the spirit stones to any part of the body at will.
The giant red tiger's fatal attacks, such as tearing, biting, leaning, bumping, pouncing, and sweeping, were all very powerful, and there was no sense of weakness.
But it was only because the person controlling it was seriously injured and his Divine Sense was greatly damaged that he could not exert the true power of the giant red tiger.
Although the giant red tiger's attack power was sufficient, there was always some sluggishness. But it was only the sluggishness of its reaction that prevented it from forming an effective attack, wasting a lot of power.
That gray-robed old man was already at the Pseudo-Core Realm, and if Li Yan was not mistaken, the true combat power of this giant red tiger was probably at the Late-stage Foundation Establishment, not inferior to either of the two enemies opposite.
And if it were controlled by Li Yan, it would be no problem to fight a strong Initial-stage Golden Core cultivator. It was just that Li Yan was not sure how long the formation inscribed inside could support that kind of intensity.
This would have to be specifically tested to know. But Li Yan could be sure of one thing: this red tiger puppet could do it.
This person's puppet art was higher than Bai Rou's, and not just by a little bit.
The art of puppets and mechanisms was a method that easily made cultivators envious. What's more, this was a puppet and mechanism art that could refine puppets close to the Golden Core realm, which would make people's greed uncontrollable.
This was also the reason why the gray-robed old man had not said it all along. He wanted to use Li Yan's hand to escape, or to save his daughter-in-law's life.
Since the other party had also noticed the "Divine Puppet Art," while throwing out the bait, he could not let the other party become greedy.
At the same time, he also concluded that the two enemies opposite would not reveal the true background of the "Divine Puppet Art." Unexpectedly, all of this was revealed by Li Yan in one sentence.
Now, everyone looked at Li Yan with a look that had changed from shock to horror. They all knew that no matter what, it could not be covered up anymore.
"Attack!"
The cultivator surnamed Ma suddenly sent a voice transmission to the tall and thin green-robed cultivator. At the same time, a violent Spirit Power surged from one of his palms, and he sharply cut towards the heart meridian of the woman in front of him.
In his other hand, the plank-like broadsword turned into a monstrous wave and rolled towards Li Yan, who was diagonally in front.
And on the other side, the tall and thin green-robed cultivator's two swords, which were crossed at Shuang Lianzhou's neck, immediately cut down fiercely. The other two flying swords forked Shuang Lianzhou's single sword and suddenly rose up.
Suddenly, a dazzling light erupted in the dark night, making everyone subconsciously close their eyes for a moment.
The next moment, the two swords, carrying Shuang Lianzhou's single sword, had already appeared above the gray-robed old man's head, and they chopped down fiercely in an instant.
At the same time, the layers of blade waves from the cultivator surnamed Ma's plank-like broadsword had also reached Li Yan. Sharp blade qi blew in the night sky, forcing the enemy's mouth and nose to be filled with a strong wind, unable to breathe.
There was still a distance of about two zhang between Li Yan and the gray-robed old man. The plank-like broadsword had already turned into a ten-zhang-high light wall, blocking between the two of them.
All of this was unbelievably fast, taking less than half a breath to form a killing situation.
The cultivator surnamed Ma and the tall and thin green-robed cultivator had cooperated for many years. All of this required no communication.
Just a simple word or a look from the other party was enough to understand what the other party was going to do and what he should do.
And the killing situation they had now formed was not aimed at Li Yan, but was to kill the gray-robed old man's family of four in one blow.
They felt that Li Yan was not easy to deal with, so they decided to destroy everything. If they couldn't have it, the other party couldn't have it either.
After their one blow, they would flee in separate directions, and then sneak back to old ghost Shuang's home to investigate for clues. The young man in profound robes did not know old ghost Shuang's background, so he could not compete with them.
Now, even if the young man in profound robes was stronger than them, and they were killing multiple people at the same time, the other party would definitely be in chaos in his haste.
At the same time, they wanted to use this one blow to test the strength of the young man in profound robes.
Now, the other party would have to attack the plank-like broadsword. Otherwise, those blade qi would not just be a light wall.
If the other party was just playing tricks, then there was no need to say what would happen next. Even if his strength was much stronger than theirs, as long as he had not reached the Golden Core realm, the two of them would join forces to attack in the next moment.
The last possibility was that the other party was really strong. The two of them had already gathered their strength and were prepared to flee immediately after one blow.
All of this existed in the thoughts of the cultivator surnamed Ma and the other man. It was so fast that they themselves felt very satisfied with their seamless cooperation.
Just as they suddenly launched their killing move, and everything moved like lightning and rushed like a galloping horse.
The cultivator surnamed Ma and the other man felt the surrounding space suddenly tighten. The violent Spirit Power that had been surging in their bodies instantly slowed down.