Chapter 3253: Casting a Long Line to Catch Big Fish

A continuous expanse of lush green mountains stretched across the land. A streak of gray light swiftly darted through the high sky.

A deafening roar from a man echoed. The gray light halted, revealing a gaunt man in gray robes with sunken eyes.

The void rippled, and a gigantic, hazy yellow hand materialized from thin air, striking the gray-robed man's protective spiritual barrier.

The gray-robed man rapidly plummeted towards the ground. Fortunately, protected by his spiritual barrier, he was temporarily unharmed.

The ground within a hundred-mile radius turned from earth to sand. Gusts of wind raged, and a colossal sand pit emerged. Countless yellow grains of sand danced in the wind, converging into hazy yellow giant fists that assailed the gray-robed man from all directions.

The gray-robed man conjured a black banner, which spun ceaselessly around him, releasing a hazy gray hurricane to shield him. A shadowy, black monitor lizard apparition appeared in the high sky. The monitor lizard phantom spewed a viscous gray mist that surged forward.

The yellow giant fists touched the gray mist, immediately emitting green smoke and dissolving. The mist was highly corrosive.

"A poison cultivator! That's quite rare."

A cold, emotionless male voice rang out. As soon as the voice faded, countless yellow sand grains flew up with the wind, suddenly congealing into the form of Wang Qingcheng.

The moment Wang Qingcheng appeared, two beams of gray light shot from the eyes of the monitor lizard apparition, heading straight for him.

Innumerable yellow sand grains flew up, forming a thick yellow high wall in front of Wang Qingcheng. The two gray beams struck the yellow wall, creating two large holes from which green smoke billowed. However, a large amount of yellow sand quickly surged forward, sealing the breaches.

Wang Qingcheng's body glowed with a brilliant yellow light, and countless yellow sand grains surged towards him. His body rapidly swelled, transforming into a yellow giant several hundred zhang tall with indistinct facial features. The giant strode towards the gray-robed man.

Simultaneously, more yellow giants, each several hundred zhang tall with indistinct features, emerged from the colossal sand pit, moving towards the gray-robed man.

The gray-robed man frowned, executed a hand seal, and the black banner's spiritual light intensified, releasing dozens of gray hurricanes that met the advancing giants.

With a thunderous roar, more than a dozen yellow giants were pulverized by the gray hurricanes. However, countless yellow sand grains quickly flew up, transforming once again into more than a dozen yellow giants, each several hundred zhang tall, who resumed their advance towards the gray-robed man.

The gray-robed man's brow furrowed tightly. He wanted to cast a spell to escape, but a powerful gravitational force held him firmly within the sand pit.

Dense yellow sand spears shot from all directions, seemingly intent on piercing him like a sieve.

The gray-robed man's face darkened. He changed his hand seals, and the monitor lizard apparition opened its gaping maw, spewing a large cloud of pungent gray mist. Upon contact with the yellow sand spears, the spears emitted green smoke and dissolved instantly. However, the yellow sand spears regenerated endlessly; as long as the yellow sand pit remained, they could re-form and attack the gray-robed man.

No matter how many times the gray-robed man destroyed the yellow giants, they quickly reappeared, an endless onslaught.

As time passed, the gray-robed man's face grew pale. His prior combat with Zheng Qiuyue had already depleted a significant amount of his spiritual power. If this continued, he would surely die once his spiritual power was exhausted.

A massive yellow sand dragon swooped in, reaching him in an instant.

The monitor lizard apparition spewed a thick gray beam that swept across the yellow sand dragon's body, causing it to explode. A gust of wind blew, and another massive yellow sand dragon flew out from the bottom of the sand pit, attacking once more.

The gray-robed man's brow was tightly furrowed as he prepared to cast a spell to resist. A yellow giant, several hundred zhang tall, burrowed out of the sand pit and appeared behind him.

The gray-robed man was startled. Just as he was about to cast a spell to resist, a man's loud roar resonated—it was the Spirit Suppression Roar.

The gray-robed man's head felt heavy, and he became dizzy. The yellow giant's fists struck, hitting the monitor lizard apparition, while simultaneously spewing a beam of yellow light from its mouth.

With a colossal crash, the monitor lizard apparition emitted a pained screech and then disintegrated.

His Dharma Aspect shattered, the gray-robed man spat out a large mouthful of blood, his eyes filled with terror. He quickly performed a hand seal, and the black banner's spiritual light surged, unleashing a hazy gray tornado that shot towards the yellow giant. Simultaneously, a large cloud of pungent black poisonous mist erupted from his body.

The black tornado struck the yellow giant with a muffled thud. As the yellow giant came into contact with the black mist, green smoke billowed. Two yellow-glowing fists pierced through the black mist and slammed towards the gray-robed man.

With two thudding sounds, the gray-robed man's protective spiritual barrier blocked the yellow fists.

At that moment, the yellow sand dragon lunged, colliding with the gray-robed man's protective spiritual barrier with a muffled thud. The sand dragon's body disintegrated, revealing a yellow-glowing spear.

The yellow spear struck the gray-robed man's spiritual barrier, which flickered once, then dissipated.

With a shriek of agony, the gray-robed man's body was pierced by the yellow sand spear. A miniature lizard flew out of his body, rapidly expanded, and then a dazzling black light shot skyward, detonating itself directly, giving Wang Qingcheng no chance to capture him alive.

As the black light dispersed, Wang Qingcheng stood mid-air, clad in yellow-glowing armor. The yellow armor transformed into a large expanse of yellow sand, which vanished into his sleeve.

"Self-detonation! So decisive."

Wang Qingcheng frowned, then reached out a single hand towards the sand pit below. A black storage ring shot out and flew towards him.

He swept his divine sense over it, finding numerous items within, including over twenty millennium-old spiritual herbs and three mid-grade Heaven-reaching Spirit Treasures.

He flew back the way he came. In less than the time it takes to steep a cup of tea, he appeared in an open area where Zheng Qiuyue's complexion had regained some color.

"Fellow Daoist Wang, did you catch him?"

Zheng Qiuyue asked curiously.

"I caught him, but he self-detonated, so soul-searching isn't possible."

Wang Qingcheng explained.

"Thank you for your assistance, Fellow Daoist Wang. Otherwise, I might not have survived."

Zheng Qiuyue expressed her gratitude.

"It was merely a small effort. We are all humans, and the Lizard Clan is our common enemy."

Wang Qingcheng replied modestly.

Not long after, Wang Yidao and Duan Tongtian returned sequentially. Wang Qingcheng asked curiously, "Did you catch them?"

"He self-detonated," Wang Yidao replied, stating that the enemy, unable to defeat him, directly self-detonated.

"That fellow's escape technique was quite formidable; he got away," Duan Tongtian replied, having deliberately let the enemy escape to obtain some of their essence blood.

The Ten Thousand Spirit Sect's guardian treasure, the Ten Thousand Demon Mirror, when infused with demon beast essence blood, can sense the presence of demon beasts within a certain range and then track them.

It's better to cast a long line to catch a big fish.

Zheng Qiuyue was half-skeptical but did not press further.

"Let's return! We should report this news so that human cultivators will be more cautious when entering the Barren Lands in the future and guard against the Lizard Clan."

Wang Qingcheng suggested.

Duan Tongtian and Wang Yidao had no objections, nor did Zheng Qiuyue. The four then departed from the area.