Chapter 517: You Again? Who Are You?

He Bing, seizing the advantage, pursued relentlessly. His long spear, like a dragon, lunged at the retreating Li Baxian, determined to finish him off.

Spiritual power surged around Feng Yuechan. A thick mist suddenly appeared, and the surrounding temperature plummeted. He Bing, caught off guard, plunged into the chilling air. The cold condensed into ice, and ice crystals spread, threatening to completely encase He Bing.

If their cultivation levels had been similar, He Bing would undoubtedly have been unable to escape the spell's restraints. However, He Bing's cultivation was a full three minor realms higher than Feng Yuechan's. Sensing danger, his body vibrated, and with a surge of spiritual power, the ice crystals covering him shattered.

He turned to look at Feng Yuechan nearby. With a thought, several controlled artifacts shot out, striking her spiritual umbrella.

The enormous impact sent Feng Yuechan flying, and she landed awkwardly.

"So, you like saving people, do you!" He Bing gritted his teeth, his figure darting out directly towards Feng Yuechan, intent on killing her.

Just then, Li Baxian, enveloped in sword light, pounced. Simultaneously, Lu Ye, dragging his long blade, attacked from behind He Bing. A fiery red blade light flashed as Lu Ye struck downwards, forming a pincer attack with Li Baxian from front and back.

Yet, despite their seamless coordination, the immense gap in their cultivation levels proved impossible to bridge. After just three breaths of engagement, both were sent flying, blood spurting from their bodies.

Feng Yuechan's spells struck again, hindering He Bing.

In the underground cavern, Yiyi held the Nine-Formation Map with both hands, desperately channeling spiritual power into it. She watched the figures within the diagram constantly moving, intertwining, and fiercely clashing, her heart filled with silent anxiety.

Now at the Cloud River Realm A, she was much stronger than before. Logically, she should have been able to slightly activate the Nine-Formation Map's power to provide some assistance to Lu Ye and the others.

But at that moment, she was willing but powerless. The four individuals clashing within the Nine-Formation Map were all Cloud River Realm cultivators, and their fierce combat caused the formation diagram to violently fluctuate. She had to exert all her strength just to maintain its operation. If she failed, He Bing would have an opportunity to break free.

Therefore, she dared not make any rash moves and could only continue to maintain the Nine-Formation Map's operation.

In the rocky forest, Lu Ye and Li Baxian launched attacks at He Bing repeatedly, only to be sent flying back each time, landing in utter disarray.

Compared to them, Feng Yuechan's situation was undoubtedly much better, yet she dared not show the slightest carelessness. The release of spells from her hands hardly ceased, for any pause on her part could mean the death of either Lu Ye or Li Baxian.

From the beginning of their cultivation, neither Lu Ye, Li Baxian, nor Feng Yuechan had ever experienced such a perilous struggle. It was like walking a tightrope over a ten-thousand-foot cliff; any slight mistake could lead to utter ruin.

He Bing's disdainful expression slowly receded as the battle unfolded in an unexpected manner.

After confirming his opponents' cultivation levels, he had initially expected a one-sided slaughter, but their performance greatly surprised him.

Strategically, even united, the three were no match for him. Though alone, he still held the absolute upper hand thanks to his powerful cultivation. Yet, in reality, he found it difficult to kill any one of them.

Whenever he tried to deliver a killing blow to one of them, the other two would desperately intervene. The sword cultivator, in particular, was an unbearable nuisance, with his flying swords darting back and forth, displaying astonishing lethality.

Several times, he had considered risking serious injury to kill the sword cultivator outright, but ultimately, he was unwilling. He could only continue this prolonged struggle, slowly searching for an opportunity. In a hunting ground, suffering a severe injury would mean he could only recuperate afterward.

The injuries of the soldier and sword cultivators were gradually worsening, which was undoubtedly to his advantage. Eventually, one of them would fall, and then the remaining two would pose no significant threat.

If anyone had told him before today that a few third or fourth-realm cultivators could fight him so fiercely, he would have scoffed.

Yet, at this very moment, he was experiencing exactly that.

Unbelievable!

These three individuals must not be unknown. Especially with the sword cultivator and spell cultivator, the more he fought them, the more he felt a strange sense of familiarity.

Another round of fierce combat ensued. Li Baxian and Lu Ye were successively repelled, and while in mid-air, the child's face mask on Li Baxian's face shattered, revealing a crimson mark on his forehead from which blood trickled.

If he hadn't retreated quickly just then, it wouldn't have been as simple as a crimson mark on his forehead; his head might have been pierced by a spear.

Fortunately, Lu Ye, at the critical moment, deflected the opponent's long spear with a slash, creating an opportunity for Li Baxian to escape.

The shattered face mask fell away, revealing Li Baxian's resolute features. Although he saw no hope of winning this battle, given the situation, there was only a fight to the death!

He Bing swept his long spear, shattering the spell from Feng Yuechan. Gazing at Li Baxian's revealed face, he paused for a moment in surprise, then exclaimed, "You are Li Baxian!"

No wonder this sword cultivator had given him a familiar feeling; it was this very person.

Both had ascended from the Spiritual Stream Realm and had once been active in the Spiritual Stream Battlefield. How could He Bing not know the famous Li Baxian, a monster who had long dominated the top ten of the Spiritual Stream Ranking with Heavenly Eight cultivation? He was a formidable expert He Bing had once looked up to.

He had heard that Li Baxian couldn't advance to Heavenly Nine due to a shattered spirit aperture, but he had no idea when he had arrived at the Cloud River Battlefield.

No wonder he possessed such a powerful foundation; if it was Li Baxian, it all made sense.

"You are Feng Yuechan?" He Bing then looked to the side.

Having confirmed Li Baxian's identity, it wasn't difficult to guess Feng Yuechan's, as the two had always been inseparable, and her identity as a female spell cultivator also matched.

He then looked at Lu Ye: "And who are you?"

It was understandable that Li Baxian and Feng Yuechan possessed such profound foundations, as over a decade of accumulation in the Spiritual Stream Realm was no trivial matter. But who was this individual wearing a blue-faced, fanged mask?

This person's cultivation was one realm lower than Li Baxian's and Feng Yuechan's, yet the strength he displayed was no less than theirs. Where had this monster emerged from?

Faced with He Bing's inquiry, Lu Ye had no intention of answering. Seizing the moment of his opponent's inaction, he quickly began to recover.

His body was covered in blood. Though individually not severe, his wounds were numerous, and even the web of his right hand, which held the blade, was split, staining the hilt crimson.

"Never mind," He Bing said, receiving no reply but not caring. He grinned and chuckled, "I never thought the renowned Li Baxian and Feng Yuechan would die by my hand. Truly, 'thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river'; the wheel of fortune turns!"

He spoke with the air of having completely cornered the three. As his words fell, he took a step, instantly appearing before Li Baxian. His spear shot out like a dragon, lunging directly at Li Baxian's face. Among the three, the sword cultivator, Li Baxian, posed the greatest threat to him, so it was naturally best to eliminate him first.

As He Bing moved, Lu Ye also pounced towards him, and Feng Yuechan, too, raised her hand and unleashed a spell.

Flying swords raged, but they couldn't hinder the long spear in the slightest. Each flying sword was repelled by a fierce surge of spiritual power, and the long spear instantly reached Li Baxian's eyes.

Facing this strike, Li Baxian showed no intention of dodging. He held his long sword vertically in front of him, and it suddenly transformed into a streak of sword light, actively meeting the attack.

Sword qi raged, and spear light roared like thunder as the two figures brushed past each other.

Li Baxian immediately knelt a dozen yards away, clutching his abdomen, crimson blood seeping through his fingers.

A wound with torn flesh also appeared on He Bing's cheek.

The pain infuriated him; he had actually been injured by a fourth-realm cultivator!

As Feng Yuechan's spell arrived, He Bing swept his spear, shattering it. He immediately turned and lunged at Li Baxian again, his killing intent chilling.

He had just taken one step when Lu Ye lunged from the side with a horizontal thrust. The Immovable Mountain Blade slashed down, its light flickering.

"Get lost!" He Bing roared, raising his spear to meet the attack. However, the moment they clashed, he sensed something was off. This third-realm soldier cultivator's slash was now faster and more powerful than before.

Clanging and clanking, after several sharp impacts, Lu Ye was sent flying, landing beside Li Baxian, his blade-holding right arm trembling uncontrollably.

He Bing's expression was a mix of surprise and uncertainty...

Earlier, when he had fought Lu Ye, he could usually repel him with a single strike. But just now, Lu Ye had blocked several of his spear thrusts. The opponent's strength seemed to have suddenly increased dramatically, which was clearly abnormal.

He looked up to see Lu Ye's spiritual power and vital energy surging around him. Fiery red spiritual power and crimson vital energy intermingled, radiating immense vitality. Furthermore, Amber, who had been crouching on his shoulder, also had its vital energy merging with Lu Ye's, enveloping Lu Ye in a dark red aura.

What secret art had he activated?

What He Bing couldn't see was a blood-stained spiritual pattern continuously activating on Lu Ye's chest.

Lu Ye rarely used Bloodstain because, until now, few enemies he encountered had forced him into a bitter struggle. Either the opponent was too weak to resist, or he himself was too weak to resist.

A spiritual pattern like Bloodstain, which required time to accumulate and gradually take effect, was naturally difficult to employ.

But this time was different. Facing a seventh-realm opponent, if they were truly no match, that would be one thing. But now, with the three of them united, barely clinging to their lives against him, the Bloodstain spiritual pattern could finally take effect.

Lu Ye had constructed this spiritual pattern on his chest almost at the very beginning of the battle.

As he was continuously injured and blood flowed, the accumulation of Bloodstain finally caused a qualitative change in his strength.

Although he was still at the third-realm cultivation level, the strength he could exert was no less than his own fourth-realm, and it was still increasing, possibly even reaching the fifth-realm! If that were truly the case, then he would be qualified to truly fight his opponent, rather than just struggling to survive with all his might as he was now.

Although He Bing felt that something was off with Lu Ye, this was clearly not the time to dwell on it. Having fought to this point, neither side would back down; it was a battle to the death.

Beside Lu Ye, Li Baxian stood up, his flesh wriggling as he channeled spiritual power to seal his wounds. The scattered flying swords flew back to him. Pointing his long sword, he softly shouted, "Let's go."

Two figures darted out simultaneously, attacking He Bing from both sides. Feng Yuechan also made her move at the same time, not aiming to wound or kill, but merely to distract the enemy and alleviate the pressure on Li Baxian and Lu Ye.