Chapter 303: Fool (3)

Novel:

"Form the array!"

Yun Youzi dared not place all his hopes on the Spirit Bamboo Flying Boat. The Man-faced Owl, a late-stage demon-spirit bird, was certainly no slower than the flying boat. At this moment, merely thinking of escape would surely lead to a dead end!

They hastily prepared and activated the Golden Ring Array. However, with Shangguan Lifeng and the strongest cultivator, Luo Xingnan, missing, only four of them remained. The array's power was greatly diminished, and whether it could withstand the Man-faced Owl was unknown.

Meanwhile, Luo Xingnan's situation was also grim.

The Man-faced Owl's cries and the Hooked Snakes' roars seemed to harmonize, giving the impression that the demon beasts were communicating. The Man-faced Owl appeared to be accusing the Hooked Snakes of the cultivators' heinous act of stealing medicine.

Immediately after, the Hooked Snakes let out furious roars, and a red mist spread towards them at an alarming speed.

Luo Xingnan had not anticipated the Hooked Snakes being alerted prematurely. Caught off guard, he was directly intercepted by the snake horde and once again fell into their encirclement.

The Hooked Snakes had previously besieged cultivators, suffering heavy casualties from their counterattacks, leaving few with sustained combat ability. The scene was not as terrifying as before. However, the two mid-stage demon-spirit Hooked Snake Kings were not seriously injured and still possessed formidable strength, making the situation extremely perilous.

Both parties were separated by the demon beasts and had to fight independently.

However, Qin Sang's group faced the most danger.

The moment the four of them activated the Golden Ring Array, their vision went black as the Man-faced Owl swooped in. In the open terrain, the Man-faced Owl's advantages in speed and power were fully displayed.

Its speed surpassed that of the Spirit Bamboo Flying Boat.

Fortunately, Yun Youzi had foresight. Otherwise, they would have been caught by the Man-faced Owl by now, crammed onto the flying boat with no time to form an array, facing the fate of being slaughtered one by one by the demon bird!

"Bang!"

The copper rings rattled violently, and golden light erupted. Countless overlapping phantom copper rings shattered instantly under the Man-faced Owl's sharp talons, barely repelling the attack.

However, due to the array's diminished power, repelling the Man-faced Owl's attacks was far from as easy as before.

All four felt as if they had been struck by a heavy blow simultaneously. Their bodies trembled, and their faces turned deathly pale. Spiritual energy was swallowed by the Golden Ring Array like flowing water. In an instant, more than half of the spiritual energy in their dantian was depleted, barely allowing them to maintain the array and prevent its collapse.

But without time to adjust or recover, the Man-faced Owl's next attack arrived.

Everyone was shocked and hastily took out spirit stones and elixirs, doing their best to restore their spiritual energy.

They all knew that if the array was broken, they would be no match for the Man-faced Owl.

The Man-faced Owl seemed to remember its previous entrapment. Using its speed advantage, it continuously circled them, striking and then retreating, but each raid was a thunderous blow.

Yun Youzi, being the array's controller, was under even greater pressure and had no chance to activate the Spirit Bamboo Flying Boat.

The Golden Ring Array was on the verge of collapse.

The distance between them and the exit was not far, but at this rate, they wouldn't make it there before the Golden Ring Array was torn apart by the Man-faced Owl.

In this situation, the best solution was to set aside their past grievances with Luo Xingnan and cooperate again!

However, with one party suppressed by the Man-faced Owl and the other besieged by Hooked Snakes, it wouldn't be easy to reunite; they would have to break through.

Qin Sang's thoughts raced. He had the Ten Directions Yama Banner and the Jade Ruyi Talisman available. Comparatively, the Ten Directions Yama Array was more powerful.

If Yun Youzi hadn't been present, and the others didn't know his true identity, only seeing him as a rogue daoist cultivator, exposure wouldn't matter. However, the two treasures focused on different abilities, and in this situation, the Jade Ruyi Talisman was more suitable than the Ten Directions Yama Array.

Unexpectedly, after Qin Sang discussed and strategized with Yun Youzi and the others, asking them to buy him time, and just as he was about to activate the Jade Ruyi Talisman, Ge Yuan suddenly made a surprising move.

The Man-faced Owl swooped down again.

Everyone hurriedly gathered their recently recovered spiritual energy, fully activating the Golden Ring Array to block the attack. Just then, Ge Yuan suddenly flung the copper ring in his hand and silently detached himself from the array.

He clearly had a plan. The moment he broke free, he transformed into a streak of light and fled towards the exit without looking back.

He sacrificed his companions!

Everyone was furious. No one had expected Ge Yuan to make such a move, especially at such a critical moment.

Yun Youzi even cursed aloud.

"Idiot!"

"Whoosh!"

The hurricane stirred by the Man-faced Owl's massive wings was already upon them. No matter how angry they were, there was nothing they could do. In haste, Yun Youzi swiftly changed the array's formation.

With only three people maintaining the array, its power had been drastically reduced to its limit. The Golden Ring Array couldn't hold on for long before the Man-faced Owl tore an opening in it, its incredibly sharp talons reaching in, aiming for their skulls.

Qin Sang was both shocked and enraged, but his hands moved without delay. The Jade Ruyi Talisman was already prepared. With no other option, he was forced to unleash the talisman to resolve the immediate crisis.

"Whoosh... whoosh..."

The talisman manifested, and thousands of jade Ruyi symbols shot out.

At that moment, the Man-faced Owl was incredibly close. Although it sensed danger, it had no time to dodge. The talisman's power was not wasted in the slightest, striking the Man-faced Owl entirely.

Black feathers scattered everywhere.

Even though the Man-faced Owl's feathers were tough and its defense formidable, being struck by the talisman at such close range, it was inevitably injured. Its chest was ripped open by the talisman, and blood and feather fragments splattered everywhere, emitting a foul, bloody stench.

The Man-faced Owl shrieked in pain and hastily flapped its wings, retreating to higher altitudes.

However, its injuries, though seemingly severe, were far from fatal.

The Man-faced Owl let out a wild shriek, its ferocity increasing instead.

Just then, Qin Sang suddenly heard a cry of alarm from ahead; it was Ge Yuan.

Qin Sang glanced sideways and saw that Ge Yuan was already nearing the abyss, about to skim past the edge of the red mist.

A beam of white light, without warning, pierced through the red mist and shot out. Within the white light, there seemed to be a vortex, from which an immense suction force emerged, directly capturing Ge Yuan.

The white light originated from a compass-like artifact in Luo Xingnan's hand.

It seemed Luo Xingnan was not much better off than them, his hair disheveled, and his aura remarkably chaotic.

At this moment, a sinister grin appeared on Luo Xingnan's face.

Ge Yuan was rejoicing at his imminent escape, completely unaware that Luo Xingnan would ambush him. Before he could react, he was directly pulled by the white light to Luo Xingnan's proximity.

Then, Luo Xingnan's figure flickered, appearing to Ge Yuan's left.

At the same time, the white light abruptly changed, instantly turning black, and the suction force transformed into a powerful repulsive force.

As Ge Yuan struggled to pull away, his body was instantly sent flying like a meteor. Under Luo Xingnan's control, he was thrown directly into the mouth of a Hooked Snake King.

Ge Yuan's face turned ashen with fright.

Regarding this, Yun Youzi and the White-Robed Scholar seemed to have anticipated it, showing little surprise in their expressions.

Yun Youzi repeated a phrase, his tone cold.

"Idiot!"