Chapter 195: Even a Golden Core Cultivator Can Only Go Crazy

Chapter 195: Even a Golden Core Cultivator Can Only Go Crazy

As Chu Ning was about to detonate the Thunder Pearl, Elder Xia of the Yin Demon Sect felt his heart skip a beat.

At this moment, having finally realized what had happened, he immediately unleashed a defensive maneuver.

His body suddenly shot diagonally upward, attempting to dodge the arc of lightning.

However, the lightning was too fast, and even a Golden Core cultivator like him couldn't dodge it completely.

A look of fear flashed across the face of the slender, black-robed elder.

Simultaneously, the arc of lightning struck his protective shield.

Instantly, the defensive shield of the Golden Core elder was shattered.

But the thick arc of lightning seemed unaffected.

As he leaped diagonally upward, it struck his legs with full force!

"Ah!"

The slender, black-robed elder let out an incredibly shrill and hoarse scream.

He spat out a mouthful of blood.

Under this attack, the Golden Core cultivator's legs were reduced to countless shattered pieces of flesh below the calves, spraying blood in all directions!

At the same time, his legs were charred black.

The charring quickly spread upward, as the surging power of the thunder technique continued to ravage his body.

The slender, black-robed elder was exceptionally ruthless and decisive. Gritting his teeth, he reached down and severed his own legs at the roots!

Strangely enough, black light coiled around the severed stumps, and not a drop of blood flowed from them.

"Boy, I'll take your life today!!!"

In the next moment, the Golden Core cultivator, now only half his original size, had a look of madness and ferocity on his face.

As he roared, he continued to pursue Chu Ning, his half-body wrapped in darkness.

Chu Ning, keenly aware of the commotion behind him, sensed everything clearly with his spiritual sense. Witnessing this scene, he felt a chill run down his spine.

The power of the Thunder Pearl was already formidable.

Even this Golden Core cultivator had been severely injured to such an extent.

However, the fact that his opponent was still relentless in his pursuit despite his condition gave Chu Ning a headache.

"We're less than a hundred miles away from Calm Lake Island!"

Chu Ning had exhausted all his offensive capabilities and could now only grit his teeth and continue flying forward.

But the black-robed, slender elder, now only half a body, once again narrowed the distance between them.

After flying for just over forty miles, he had once again closed in to within a hundred meters.

At the same time, the black-robed, slender elder opened his mouth, and a multicolored, lustrous pill shot out, speeding directly toward Chu Ning.

"Golden Core!"

Sensing the situation behind him, Chu Ning's expression changed.

Even without thinking, he knew that this was the Golden Elixir cultivated by an Elixir cultivator!

The fact that this skinny, black-robed elder had brought out his Golden Core meant that he was going all out.

Immediately, Chu Ning activated the sub-rings of the Twin Fire Rings and rushed toward the pill.

At the same time, he waved his hand, activating several mid-grade, high-quality offensive talismans.

However, the Golden Core was exceptionally swift. Facing so many attacks, it dodged them all with a few flickers, unhindered.

In the blink of an eye, it reached Chu Ning's back and struck the protective light shield around his body.

The defensive shields that Chu Ning had formed with several mid-grade, high-quality talismans were instantly dissipated by this strike.

The Golden Elixir then hit the flame shield formed by the mother rings of the Twin Fire Rings.

Instantly, the flames around Chu Ning vanished.

Even the twin fire sub-rings behind him were violently shaking as if they were about to fall off at any moment.

However, the sub-rings immediately flew back toward Chu Ning.

As the flames around him disappeared, Chu Ning felt a powerful force strike his body.

Chu Ning's entire body was propelled forward several meters.

The only thing that gave Chu Ning some peace of mind was that although his qi and blood were in turmoil, he didn't seem to be seriously injured.

"It's this armor!"

Chu Ning quickly realized what had saved him.

But his expression remained grim, as one strike had not been enough.

The skinny, black-robed elder was now attacking again with his Golden Core.

"Yin!"

At that moment, Chu Ning heard Ling Xiao Bai's voice.

"To the left of the island in front, I sense the ancient sect's restriction."

Chu Ning quickly unleashed several defensive strikes, fending off the Golden Core, while his mind raced to process Ling Xiao Bai's words.

Logically, he still had some distance to cover before reaching the ancient sect's restriction on Calm Lake Island.

But why was there a restriction here, fifty miles away from the island?

"That's right, the overlap between the small world and the real world isn't always a perfect match.

When I came out of the ancient sect's ruins before, I also didn't end up on Calm Lake Island."

As this realization struck him, Chu Ning's heart filled with joy.

As the skinny, black-robed elder's Golden Core struck him, Chu Ning veered to the left, flying toward the island in front.

At the same time, the skinny, black-robed elder closed in again, leaving only about sixty feet between them.

Seeing that his consecutive Golden Core attacks had failed to inflict substantial damage on Chu Ning, the elder's shadowy, emaciated face twisted with shock and rage.

As the pill flew back to him, the skinny, black-robed elder spat out a mouthful of blood, spraying it onto the Golden Elixir.

Instantly, the multicolored radiance of the Golden Core intensified, and it sped toward Chu Ning even faster.

Chu Ning had just managed to condense the flames of the Twin Fire Rings, and he hadn't even had time to condense another layer of talismanic spell power for protection.

The Golden Elixir Pill struck him with tremendous force.

Under this unprecedented blow, the flames of the Twin Fire Rings were instantly extinguished, and there was no trace of spell power left in Chu Ning's hands.

As his body flew out again, Chu Ning felt his throat turn sweet, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. His face paled instantly.

If not for that quick reaction, Chu Ning imagined that he would have surely perished from such an attack.

His body, propelled by the force of the blow, fell rapidly towards the island below.

Chu Ning released another puppet from his storage bag and, at the same time, took out an object, which he threw towards the skinny elder, following closely behind the puppet.

Simultaneously, Chu Ning asked Ling Xiao Bai anxiously, "Xiao Bai, are we ready?"

"Another hundred zhang forward and we'll be there!" Ling Xiao Bai replied.

Hearing this, Chu Ning forcefully suppressed the turbulent spiritual energy within his body and continued biting his teeth as he flew diagonally downwards.

The skinny, black-robed elder, seeing that his attack had finally injured Chu Ning, finally revealed a hint of joy on his face.

Looking at the puppet attacking him, he sneered in disdain.

Even though Chu Ning was injured, he was not someone a mere Foundation Establishment level puppet could stop.

The skinny elder struck the puppet with his Golden Core.

The carefully refined puppet that Chu Ning had crafted instantly shattered into pieces in the air.

However, at that very moment, the skinny elder suddenly heard a loud shout from Chu Ning in front of him.

"Explode!"

This shout startled the Yin Demon Sect's Elder Xia, almost causing his soul to scatter.

Because, at that moment, he clearly saw a round bead flying out from behind the shattered puppet, identical to the Thunder Pearl that had just severely injured him.

"How does he have so many of these treasures?" The skinny, black-robed elder was shocked. He immediately retreated, dodging the Thunder Pearl with his Golden Core.

"Bang!"

The bead exploded, but instead of arcs of lightning, only a wisp of white smoke emerged.

The skinny elder, who had already flown away, was taken aback by this unexpected turn of events.

"I've been tricked!" he realized.

Soon, the Golden Core cultivator reacted.

His face turned ashen.

But when he looked intently forward, there was no sign of Chu Ning.

And because he hadn't dared to use his spiritual sense in that instant, he had no idea how Chu Ning had disappeared.

The black-robed, skinny elder flew forward and hovered above the island.

He unleashed his spiritual sense to its fullest, searching the area below.

However, within the range of his spiritual sense, there was no sign of anything amiss.

"Can he just disappear into thin air? I refuse to believe that you can hide forever!" The Yin Demon Sect elder gnashed his teeth in anger.

Then, he threw down the Soul-Summoning Banner.

Immediately, streams of yin souls spread out and searched around the island.

Yet, no matter how they searched, they could not find any trace of Chu Ning.

This undoubtedly made the skinny, black-robed elder's expression uncertain.

"Could there be some kind of restriction nearby?" he wondered.

Aside from that, he couldn't think of any other reason.

So, he carefully probed the area with his spiritual sense again.

However, the array formations and restrictions of the ancient sect's ruins were quite mysterious. No matter how the elder probed, he could not find anything.

"You may have escaped for now, but I refuse to believe you can hide forever!" The elder hovered in the air, his eyes filled with anger and unwillingness as he stared at the island below.

This time, he had pursued a mere early Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Not only had his Blackfire Vulture Wing been injured, forcing him to refine its essence blood ahead of schedule, but he had also suffered heavy losses himself.

Half of his body had been destroyed by the thunder technique, and even though he understood some secret techniques, there was no possibility of regrowing the lost half.

His Golden Core had also been damaged significantly from the consecutive attacks.

It would take him several decades to recover from this severe injury to his primordial spirit.

And to make matters worse, the person he had been chasing had escaped right under his nose.

Such a humiliating defeat was something he could not accept.

The skinny, black-robed elder's eyes gleamed with a sinister light. He took out a pill from his storage bag and swallowed it, then sat down to meditate in the same spot.

However, even after a whole day had passed, there was still no sign of Chu Ning.

"Perhaps he's too scared to come out because I'm here?" the skinny elder thought to himself.

So, he stopped hovering in the air and, after circling the area once, hid himself on the island.

However, he kept his spiritual sense unleashed and had yin souls searching around the island.

"If he's alive, I'll see him. If he's dead, I'll see his corpse!"

He had made up his mind to wait, even if it took him a year or two, until Chu Ning reappeared.

Half a day passed.

"Hmm?"

The skinny, black-robed elder suddenly noticed a faint blood-red light rising in the distance.

It was the signal for transmitting messages that he had given to Chen Chengzong earlier.

"That direction is where the Blackfire Vulture Wing refined its essence blood. Could something have happened to the sacred bird as well?" he wondered.

With a hesitant look on his face, the skinny elder still said viciously:

"I hope I never hear of this brat again in my lifetime. Otherwise, I will definitely capture him alive and flay him to vent my anger!"

After speaking, the black-robed, skinny elder rose into the air and flew back in the direction he had come from.

The Blackfire Vulture Wing was the sect master's treasure.

This time, he had been responsible for setting up the Blood Fiend Yin Demon Array to help the Blackfire Vulture Wing collect the essence blood of cultivators to aid its breakthrough.

Now that the Blackfire Vulture Wing was injured, he had already failed in his duty.

He dared not let anything else happen to it.

After flying back for a while, the Yin Demon Sect elder arrived at the island where the Blackfire Vulture Wing had stopped before.

At the same time, he glanced at the group hiding far away.

In just one day, not only Chen Chengzong and the middle-aged Confucian scholar were present, but also Chen Jiasheng, Chen Jiarong, and another Yin Demon Sect cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage.

"What's going on? Why is the sacred bird so furious?"

Upon seeing the arrival of the skinny, black-robed elder, Chen Chengzong and the middle-aged scholar initially looked relieved.

However, when they saw the elder's appearance, their faces turned shocked.

For a moment, everyone forgot to speak.

The already agitated skinny, black-robed elder coldly stared at the two and asked again, "Are you both mute? I'm asking you what happened?"

Everyone could sense the anger of the Golden Core elder, and finally, the middle-aged scholar plucked up the courage to answer, "We don't know either, Elder.

The sacred bird has been refining the essence blood here, but suddenly it became furious and violent."

Although he was incredibly puzzled as to why their esteemed elder from the sect looked so disheveled, he dared not ask at the moment.

The skinny, black-robed elder coldly hummed and flew to communicate with the Blackfire Vulture Wing.

The middle-aged scholar and Chen Chengzong exchanged glances, their eyes filled with bewilderment.

They couldn't fathom how Elder Xia, a cultivator close to the mid-stage Golden Core, could be so badly injured.

"Could it really be that Chu Ning?"

At this moment, Chen Chengzong's mind suddenly flashed with this thought.

His expression became extremely bizarre.

The speculation was so shocking that he couldn't comprehend how Elder Xia could suffer such a loss despite being aware of Chu Ning's Thunder Pearl attack.

"Could there be another Golden Core cultivator backing that kid?"

Chen Chengzong then thought of another possibility.

He even associated it with Song Li, thinking that if this were the case, his Chen family would undoubtedly face retaliation from them.

As these thoughts raced through Chen Chengzong's mind, a cultivator at the late Foundation Establishment stage, who couldn't help but be bewildered by the extremely unexpected events of the past two days, the skinny, black-robed elder suddenly shouted furiously.

"Damn it!!!"

"You bunch of good-for-nothings!"

Without waiting for them to ask, the skinny, black-robed elder turned around, his eyes flashing with a mix of anger and complexity.

"The sacred bird was injured by that Thunder Pearl. It needs to use a significant portion of the essence blood it consumed for healing.

Moreover, it will require a long period of rest, and even with sufficient cultivators' essence blood for refinement, it won't be able to advance in a short time."

Hearing the skinny elder's words, everyone's faces turned unsightly.

They naturally understood that if the Blackfire Vulture Wing couldn't advance, they would face dire consequences for their failure.

"That yellow-haired brat! He injured the sacred bird and ruined my body; he should be torn into a million pieces!!!"

The skinny, black-robed elder roared in rage.

Hearing this roar, Chen Chengzong and the others looked at each other in dismay.

Chen Chengzong, with a horrified look on his face, couldn't help but ask, "Elder Xia, are you saying that brat also injured you?"

The skinny, black-robed elder's expression froze for a moment. He didn't want to let others know about this embarrassing situation.

But having already let it slip, he could only vaguely reply, "I had already captured that kid, but I never expected him to make a desperate move.

He secretly detonated another Thunder Pearl, and this one was even more powerful than the previous one.

If I hadn't had some cultivation left, you wouldn't be seeing me here now."

The skinny elder didn't mention that Chu Ning had also managed to escape, but even so, it was enough to leave Chen Chengzong and the others utterly shocked.

"A cultivator at the early Foundation Establishment stage consecutively inflicted severe injuries on a level-six demonic beast and a cultivator close to the mid-stage Golden Core.

As a result, the former is unable to advance to a level-seven demonic beast, and the latter lost half his body and suffered a severe loss of vitality.

And such a person has been hiding in the Thousand Lakes and Islands without revealing his true capabilities."

Chen Chengzong and his two sons exchanged glances, all of them feeling astonished and incredulous.

At the same time, the skinny, black-robed elder's hoarse and sinister voice rang out.

"The Thousand Lakes and Islands have been hiding such a cultivator, and you lot were unaware of it. You dare to call yourselves the Thousand Islands Alliance? You all deserve to die!"

Hearing the skinny, black-robed elder's words, Chen Chengzong and his sons' faces changed simultaneously.

"Elder Xia..."

Before Chen Chengzong could finish, he realized something was wrong.

"Run!"

Chen Chengzong immediately shouted to Chen Jiasheng and Chen Jiarong.

At the same time, the middle-aged Confucian scholar and the other Yin Demon Sect cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage moved to block Chen Jiasheng and Chen Jiarong's escape routes.

The Blackfire Vulture Wing then let out a "Gu" sound and spewed a stream of black demonic fire at Chen Chengzong.

"Elder Xia, no!"

Chen Chengzong cried out in fear, but the skinny elder didn't budge, instead appearing ghost-like beside him and pushing him out of the way.

Instantly, the black demonic fire engulfed Chen Chengzong.

"Xia Kui, even if I become a ghost, I won't let you off!"

"A ghost? Have you forgotten what I'm best at? Since you want to be a ghost so badly, come into my Soul-Summoning Banner!

The Chen family wanted to monopolize the rare treasure, causing the plan to fail. The entire Chen family will be slaughtered, leaving none alive!"

Along with the sinister voice, three miserable screams reverberated throughout the island.

It was spine-chilling.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end