The black-and-white domain of Daoist Youya exerted long-range suppression on the Hunyuan prisoner, the ‘tall man.’ Among those present, only Daoist Youya’s domain remained effective, while the other cultivators’ techniques had negligible impact on the Hunyuan prisoner.
Eight cultivators executed a joint attack formation, attempting to entangle their foe.
Yet the tall man, after a brief period of adjustment, broke free from their encirclement in mere moments! These eight cultivators… while capable of self-preservation, were far from sufficient to restrain this Hunyuan prisoner.
“Hunyuan prisoner, prepare to die!” Xie Fan roared with savage fury, joined by five other cultivators as they lunged at the tall man.
“Boom—”
Xie Fan’s aura erupted in full force.
The space-time around him distorted, and under the terrifying influence of his domain, even the tall man was affected by the gravitational pull.
“Kill!” The five cultivators attacking alongside Xie Fan were originally his subordinates. Now, their domains seemed to merge with his, like five stars orbiting around him, unleashing wave after wave of attacks upon the tall man.
“Die!” Xie Fan was utterly ruthless, his claw-like hands striking with such ferocity that even Dongbo Xueying felt a sense of inevitability.
Xie Fan, after all, was a Dao-comprehender who had achieved the state of a semi-Hunyuan lifeform—his techniques were naturally profound.
“Ah…”
The tall man sighed softly.
Under the dual suppression of the black-and-white domain and the gravitational domain, he found himself momentarily unable to shake off this short, elderly man.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!” The tall man clashed fiercely with Xie Fan. In close combat, though Xie Fan’s techniques surpassed even Dongbo Xueying’s in subtlety, the tall man was even more formidable. Two or three out of every ten strikes landed squarely on Xie Fan, yet the latter merely cackled, effortlessly enduring the blows. “Is this all a Hunyuan prisoner can do? A high-level Hunyuan lifeform? How disappointing!”
A flicker of anger flashed in the tall man’s dark red eyes.
But there was nothing he could do.
The shackles and chains binding him suppressed his strength to an abysmal level. The black-and-white domain, the gravitational domain, and the joint attacks of the surrounding cultivators made the battle unbearable. Though he could barely wound Xie Fan, the latter’s regenerative abilities rendered such minor injuries meaningless.
…
“It seems they can handle it.” Dongbo Xueying reverted to his normal size. There was no choice—earlier, he had relied on Hunyuan crystal jade to restore his vitality from twenty percent to thirty percent, but in just a few breaths, it had dropped back to twenty.
Aside from those besieging the Hunyuan prisoner, over thirty other cultivators were dealing with the surrounding horde of Demon Hunters. For them, this was still relatively easy—they even held a slight advantage.
“Ah!”
The shackles and chains binding the tall man suddenly flared with golden light, forcing a cry of pain from him. His movements faltered for an instant, and in that moment of vulnerability, Xie Fan seized the opportunity, driving his palm like a blade into the tall man’s chest. The strike tore through his robes and pierced his flesh, revealing skin etched with countless golden runes.
These runes, like cursed brands, had withered his flesh, leaving countless wounds. Beneath the torn skin, his bones were also inscribed with golden patterns, riddled with cracks.
His branded skin, crisscrossed wounds, decayed muscles, and fractured bones—
The tall man’s body seemed on the verge of collapse at any moment.
It was this relentless torment that reduced a mighty high-level Hunyuan lifeform to a prolonged struggle against beings who had yet to escape their mortal confines. Even if most of these “mortals” had reached the semi-Hunyuan lifeform level, to a high-level Hunyuan lifeform, they were still laughable.
“Again…” the tall man growled in fury.
The torment was constant, but occasionally it intensified—each surge of agony was unbearable.
“Thud! Thud! Thud!”
The cultivators responsible for the joint attacks struck relentlessly, further wounding the tall man’s already fragile body. Yet even in this weakened state, the combined assaults of Xie Fan and his allies only managed to inflict slightly more damage.
“Retreat!!!” the tall man suddenly roared.
With a thunderous motion, he abandoned the fight, transforming into a streak of black light that darted away in erratic arcs, evading Xie Fan and his allies as best he could.
“After him! Don’t let him escape!” Xie Fan bellowed.
Despite their pursuit…
The Hunyuan prisoner, the ‘tall man,’ poured everything into his escape, enduring injuries to break free from the encirclement. Once outside their formation, his terrifying speed allowed him to vanish into the distance. He didn’t even spare a thought for his Demon Hunters—losing a few meant nothing to him.
…
“Block them!”
“Trap them—don’t let a single one escape!”
“These are perfected Divine Emperor-level Demon Hunters! Every one we capture counts!”
At their master’s command, the Demon Hunters scattered in all directions. With over twelve hundred of them, interception was nearly impossible. Dongbo Xueying and the others could only watch helplessly as the horde fled, managing to trap just nineteen.
Defeating them was easy—keeping them captive was far harder.
“Hahaha!”
“Nineteen of them!”
The cultivators were overjoyed.
“Let’s finish this quickly,” Dongbo Xueying urged, maintaining his Illusory Realm from the sidelines. His contribution was already unmatched.
The others wasted no time, launching a frenzied assault. Cornered and outmatched, the nineteen Demon Hunters fell one by one, becoming prized trophies for Dongbo Xueying’s group.
“Nineteen perfected Divine Emperor-level Hunyuan lives in a single battle—unthinkable before! Only the teams assembled by the City Lords could achieve such feats!”
“But those teams are on another level, with multiple top-tier experts. For us to pull this off… it’s all thanks to Emperor Feixue!”
“Exactly! With Emperor Feixue here, even perfected Divine Emperor-level Hunyuan lifeforms are reduced to late-stage Divine Emperor strength!”
The cultivators buzzed with excitement.
The spoils would be divided according to contributions, with Dongbo Xueying taking the lion’s share. Yet even a fraction of such a haul dwarfed their usual gains—likely by tenfold or more.
“Let’s move. No point lingering here,” Dongbo Xueying said with a faint smile.
“Onward!”
“Full speed ahead!”
The group set off in high spirits.
The return journey to Chiyun City was far easier. Having withstood an assault led by a Hunyuan prisoner and twelve hundred perfected Divine Emperor-level Hunyuan lifeforms, they faced the road with confidence. Some even hoped for minor skirmishes—each encounter meant another handful of kills.
“Such efficiency in slaying Divine Emperor-level Hunyuan lifeforms… Emperor Feixue is undoubtedly the best in all of Chiyun City,” Xie Fan admitted grudgingly.
In one-on-one combat against a Hunyuan prisoner, at least ten surpassed Dongbo Xueying.
But in large-scale battles, especially against perfected Divine Emperor-level foes, his Illusory Realm was peerless.
“Haha, we’re back!”
“Finally, Chiyun City!”
“Honestly, I almost didn’t want to return. More time on the road means more kills, more resources!”
As the distant silhouette of Chiyun City came into view, the cultivators were torn between joy and reluctance.
This expedition had been beyond fruitful.
Their gazes toward Dongbo Xueying burned with fervent hope—how they longed to join a team under his command!
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