Chapter 166: Changing Faces

"Success!" Song Yihang exclaimed, a look of delight on his face.

A clearly man-made passage appeared before the four. While delighted, they simultaneously widened the distance between themselves.

The passage was wide enough for two people. On the left wall, a bronze lamp held a fist-sized moonstone.

"Fairy Wang, I'll walk ahead with you, while Daoist Wang and Daoist Li follow behind."

Wang Ruyan looked at Wang Changsheng, who nodded in response.

Anticipating potential traps within the cave dwelling, Wang Ruyan released an ape puppet to lead the way. After activating their protective shields, she and Song Yihang followed. Wang Changsheng and Li Tianzheng brought up the rear.

After walking a hundred paces, turning a corner, and then proceeding for another fifty-odd paces, they arrived at a stone chamber, over ten zhang in size.

The left wall of the stone chamber was covered by a yellow light barrier, clearly a restrictive spell.

Upon seeing the yellow light barrier, all four simultaneously showed expressions of joy.

The ape puppet leading the way suddenly sank into the ground. Simultaneously, a large volume of yellow smoke erupted from the corners of the stone chamber.

Fortunately, all four were covered by protective shields, so they did not inhale the yellow smoke. As soon as the smoke touched their shields, it sizzled, emitting puffs of green smoke.

After a moment, the yellow smoke dispersed.

"Isn't a Core Formation cultivator's cave dwelling a bit too simple? Daoist Song, Daoist Li, could you two have made a mistake?"

Wang Ruyan's willow-like eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"How could a Rank 3 formation be set up by a Foundation Establishment cultivator? Besides, the restriction is right in front of us. We'll know if it's a Core Formation cultivator's dwelling once we break through it, won't we?"

Li Tianzheng appeared nonchalant, summoning a green wooden sword to attack the yellow light barrier.

"That's right, at this point, we'll know once we break through the restriction."

Song Yihang echoed him, controlling a silver flying sword to attack the yellow light barrier.

Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan hesitated briefly, then also controlled their magic tools to attack the yellow light barrier.

A quarter of an hour later, Li Tianzheng's face twisted in pain. He clutched his abdomen as if enduring some agony.

Witnessing this, Song Yihang and the other two immediately ceased their attacks.

"Daoist Li, what's wrong?"

Song Yihang moved closer to Li Tianzheng, asking with concern, though his face was full of vigilance.

Li Tianzheng did not reply. He took out a green porcelain bottle, poured out a green pill, and swallowed it. However, a layer of black energy quickly appeared on his face, and he collapsed to the ground, motionless.

Witnessing this, Song Yihang instinctively looked at Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan, saying chillingly, "How despicable! You actually poisoned Daoist Li?"

Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan were utterly bewildered. They exchanged glances, but quickly turned their attention to Song Yihang.

"Daoist Song, Daoist Li is dead. Are you still going to pretend?"

Wang Ruyan's expression turned cold.

Song Yihang was at the fifth level of Foundation Establishment. Having dealt with Li Tianzheng, dealing with Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan, both at the third level of Foundation Establishment, would be no problem for him.

Song Yihang's eyes darted, and he sneered, "You two poisoned Daoist Li; you made the first move. Don't blame me for being impolite. Fairy Wang, considering our acquaintance, if you help me kill Daoist Wang, I'm willing to split the treasures with you."

He suspected Wang Ruyan or Wang Changsheng had poisoned Li Tianzheng, but the poisoning method seemed quite sophisticated. Now that Li Tianzheng was dead, greed immediately surged within him. With his capabilities, dealing with two third-level Foundation Establishment cultivators was indeed not a problem.

Without a word, Wang Changsheng summoned a Thousand Ice Talisman, which transformed into thousands of white ice needles, striking towards Song Yihang.

Song Yihang flicked his sleeve, and a foot-long white short sword appeared in his hand, radiating immense spiritual energy.

With a flick of his wrist, a large swathe of white sword energy swept forth from the white short sword, meeting the white ice needles.

With a muffled thud, the white sword energy shattered the white ice needles and then slashed towards Wang Changsheng.

A clear flute sound rang out, and a wave of red sound energy flew from the red flute in Wang Ruyan's hand, countering the white sword energy.

"Boom!"

A series of explosions erupted as the white sword energy collided with the red sound wave, both bursting apart and dissolving into a vast wave of energy.

"You're not dead!"

Wang Ruyan and Wang Changsheng exclaimed simultaneously, utterly stunned.

Li Tianzheng was covered by a layer of bloody spiritual light; the white ice needles had not harmed him.

Li Tianzheng stood up, his expression indifferent, and said, "Of course I'm not dead, but you are about to be."

Song Yihang sensed something was amiss and quickly put distance between himself and Li Tianzheng.

He hadn't taken two steps when the protective shield around his body vanished, and his silver flying sword fell to the ground.

Song Yihang's face was filled with terror; he realized he couldn't muster even a trace of spiritual power.

Li Tianzheng sneered, flicked his finger, and a streak of blood-red light shot out, piercing through Song Yihang's head.

The protective shields on Wang Ruyan and Wang Changsheng also vanished. Wang Ruyan was horrified to discover she couldn't summon even a shred of spiritual power.

"A Spirit-Seeking Mother-Child Talisman? You tampered with the child talisman? Aren't you afraid of retaliation from our Wang family if you do this? Our Wang family has Core Formation cultivators!"

Wang Ruyan said, feigning composure.

"Hehe, the talisman isn't the problem. The problem is the wooden box made of green oak. Green oak automatically emits a fragrance, which is harmless on its own. However, when combined with the scent of the purple tulips in the valley, it becomes a strange poison that temporarily robs cultivators of their spiritual power. This poison takes over an hour to take effect. Don't worry, Fairy Wang, after I deal with Daoist Wang, I'll take good care of you; I won't kill you so quickly."

Li Tianzheng chuckled lewdly, his obscene gaze sweeping over Wang Ruyan.

Upon hearing this, Wang Ruyan's face showed a resolute expression, and she was about to bite her tongue to commit suicide.

"Want to die? Not so easy. Halt."

Li Tianzheng flicked his finger, and a streak of green light shot out, fleetingly striking Wang Ruyan's body. Wang Ruyan immediately became immobile.

If she had spiritual power, the immobilization spell wouldn't have affected her at all. But now, without any spiritual power, being immobilized meant she couldn't even commit suicide.

Her eyes darted about, two clear tears tracing paths down her cheeks. Her heart was filled with regret.

"You want to kill me? Then let's see what you're capable of."

Wang Changsheng sneered, patted his storage bag, and the Azure Cloud Guandao flew out.

In addition, he simultaneously summoned five Rank 2 puppet beasts: two crow puppets, two green eagle puppets, and one tiger-shaped puppet beast.

"Aren't you Foundation Establishment Level 3? No, wait, are you a body cultivator?"

Li Tianzheng's expression changed slightly, and he said in surprise.

The strange poison he created was less effective against body cultivators. Furthermore, the higher the cultivation level, the smaller its impact.

Although Wang Changsheng was only at the third level of Foundation Establishment, the 'Kuisui True Scripture' he cultivated utilized natural spiritual materials, making his spiritual power inherently deeper than that of cultivators at the same level.

To put it bluntly, although he was only at the third level of Foundation Establishment, his spiritual power was even deeper than that of a fifth-level Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Wang Changsheng offered no explanation to Li Tianzheng. He commanded the five Rank 2 puppet beasts to charge towards Li Tianzheng.

The tiger-shaped puppet opened its jaw, spitting out a thick beam of red light that struck the bloody light barrier surrounding Li Tianzheng.

The two crow puppets and two green eagle puppets flew up, each spraying over a dozen red fire blades and a dozen green light swords, which also struck the bloody light barrier.

A series of loud explosions rang out, accompanied by rolling flames.

Wang Changsheng simply refused to believe that Li Tianzheng would be a second Fang Mu.

Fang Mu, facing the attack of the five Rank 2 puppet beasts, appeared somewhat nervous, and the bloody light barrier around him flickered incessantly.

He took out a palm-sized green small mirror, its back engraved with a glowing green flower.

He aimed the mirror at the four flying puppet beasts, injecting a large amount of spiritual power. With a flash of green light, a thick green light beam shot out, precisely enveloping two of the flying puppet beasts.

At this moment, Wang Changsheng, brandishing the Azure Cloud Guandao, charged towards Li Tianzheng.