Chapter 50: Now Is Different From the Past

The Ice Sword Technique was merely a feint. With the rapid advance of his Illusory Steps, Wang Yu had already reached the cultivator controlling the bowl-shaped magic artifact. With a flick of his sleeve, he released a large amount of green, oily venom.

This was the venom he had extracted from the corpses of the Corrosive Poison Bee swarm. Though the quantity wasn't large, it was enough for two or three battles.

The sudden venom immediately corroded the bowl.

The artifact malfunctioned.

His left fist, wreathed in a small ice storm, struck swiftly. The cultivator reacted extremely quickly, opening his mouth to spit out a white silkworm-like Gu worm.

In a blink, it exploded, forming a silk cocoon shield that enveloped Wang Yu's left fist. However, under the immense strength, nearly at the second stage, there was no delay whatsoever.

"Bang---"

The Qi Cultivation Stage 7 cultivator, having taken the full force of the blow, exploded like tofu. His internal organs pulverized and bones shattered, erupting into a bloody mist mixed with chunks of flesh.

Wang Yu had struck with lethal intent.

"You are a disciple of Savage Ghost Peak?!?"

The other person was terrified. Savage Ghost disciples were known for their powerful physiques, almost invincible within a ten-foot radius against peers of the same realm, but for a Qi Cultivation Stage 5 cultivator to instantly kill a Qi Cultivation Stage 7 cultivator with a single punch was utterly exaggerated.

It was like facing a peak first-stage Body Cultivator.

"Golden Snake Gu, strangle him."

In a narrow path, the brave prevails. Even with his companion dead, he didn't give up. Instead, he continued to command his Natal Gu worm, hoping to gain an advantage while Wang Yu's previous strength had just faded and his new strength had not yet emerged.

However, he didn't anticipate that the numerous ice swords, which had been deflected and shattered, had already reformed into six thick ice walls, now converging on him.

The extended Golden Snake phantom quickly retreated to defend. With a flick of its tail, it pushed two ice walls back slightly, and just as he tried to seize this opportunity to retreat,

an iron chain shot out from underground, coiling around his legs with snake-like flexibility.

Under the power of the magic artifact, he was completely inverted and directly flung into the ice walls' encirclement. The situation rapidly deteriorated.

The Gu poison disciple quickly took out a bronze bell, intending to protect himself. But he saw one of the iron chains split off and actually coil around the bronze bell he had just conjured. This time, the ice walls completely closed in.

As the Ice Coffin Spell took form, Wang Yu changed his hand seal.

"Kill!"

Numerous ice spikes grew and pierced through him, turning him into a bloody mess in the blink of an eye. His life force rapidly dissipated. The Golden Snake Gu, which had lingered between his eyebrows, let out an unwilling hiss, then fell, frozen into a block of ice, devoid of life.

He had won, but Wang Yu's expression did not improve. Killing two ordinary late-stage Qi Cultivation cultivators changed nothing; the true difficulty lay with Liu Jin Xian's faction, not any individual.

He collected the bodies and took their storage bags.

The spiritual energy fluctuations emanating from this area immediately caught Liu Jin Xian's attention. This was because the aura suggested a chaotic battle involving three cultivators, clearly not the kind of fluctuation expected from dealing with bone lions and bee swarms.

Therefore, she flew over, riding a giant winged mosquito-beast.

The moment she saw Wang Yu, her brows furrowed into a tight knot.

"You killed my Gu Poison Peak disciples?!?"

Wang Yu looked up. His body, modified by the Corpse Demon Secret Art, had pitch-black eyeballs and eerie green pupils, giving him an evil appearance that clearly marked him as no good.

"Yes. They insisted on seizing the territory I had claimed; they sought their own demise. What's wrong with killing them?"

"Good, very good. In this situation, with only Qi Cultivation Stage 5 cultivation, you still dare to make a move. Do you think you can defeat me?"

"Not at all."

The fact that the other party didn't act immediately proved there was room for maneuver. Wang Yu's eyes darted, and he said:

"I greatly admire Senior Sister Liu's talent and have long wished to pledge my allegiance. However, my cultivation realm is too low, and rashly offering my services might lead to me being overlooked. Those two simply walked into their own destruction."

After offering a string of flattering words and explaining his reasoning, he immediately turned his attention to Gu Zheng Shun, preparing to launch his verbal attack!

"Senior Sister Liu, aren't you curious why Gu Zheng Shun is holed up in the bottom thirty levels, not resisting at all?"

Liu Jin Xian raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? You mean, he has another plan? Not that he fears my pressure?"

"Precisely."

Wang Yu nodded in affirmation, then used his words to guide Liu Jin Xian to think for herself: "Senior Sister, do you truly believe that the grand-disciple of a Core Formation elder is so simple? There must be far greater interests beneath this Profound Bone Mountain than just the Profound Essence Flower for him to give up like this."

"Otherwise, what was the point of him expending all that effort to obtain this Mountain Lord Token? To be a mere pig?!"

These words were more logical and fit the cunning and scheming atmosphere among demonic cultivators; it was highly probable.

However...

Liu Jin Xian suddenly smiled.

"What of it? You killing my Gu Poison Peak disciples is an affront to my authority. You're seeking death!"

With a cold snort, Liu Jin Xian commanded her mosquito-beast to attack.

Wang Yu quickly retreated, his heart chilling. Liu Jin Xian was even more overbearing than he had imagined.

Indeed, when outside the sect, with nearly three hundred cultivators at her command, she could naturally do whatever she pleased. Gu Zheng Shun's strength was undeniable, and Liu Jin Xian wouldn't pay any significant price for a strong assault.

Naturally, she cared more about her own prestige.

It seemed, then, that a fight was necessary; only by making her experience both his strength and weakness would he gain the capital for a confrontation.

Having identified the problem, Wang Yu quickly said:

"If Senior Sister wishes to fight, I will gladly oblige. If I lose, these two levels will be yours. But for the next five years, Senior Sister must always be careful and guard against the danger of mountain beasts."

"You dare to threaten me?"

Without waiting for her reaction, Wang Yu preemptively formed hand seals.

"Swish swish---"

It was still the Ice Sword Technique as his opening move. The perfect mastery of a mid-grade spell immediately revealed something to Liu Jin Xian. Different backgrounds naturally led to different perspectives, and she exclaimed in surprise:

"A perfected mid-grade spell? Your comprehension is good, but unfortunately, your cultivation realm is lacking."

With that, she opened her mouth and exhaled a wisp of pale pink smoke.

A sweet, cloying scent assailed him. Wang Yu immediately held his breath, but traces of the poisonous smoke still coiled around him, and numerous illusions appeared before his eyes.

The mosquito-beast also charged forward, flapping its wings, and sprayed out numerous blood needles from its elongated proboscis. These collided with the ice swords and were all annihilated in mid-air.

This was a Gu Beast, a monster whose body was controlled by a Gu worm. The Gu worm either nested within it or used its effects to create a symbiotic mutation, thus producing these peculiar Gu Beasts.

Its status was similar to that of a cultivator practicing the Beast Taming Dao.

Most importantly, this mosquito-beast was also at Qi Cultivation Stage 8. The Ice Sword Technique achieved no success. Relying on his spiritual sense, Wang Yu suddenly threw a punch, directly confronting the Gu Beast.

The moment they collided, the giant insect flew straight up into the sky like a kite with a broken string.

Second-stage divine power of the Corpse Arm — truly terrifying!

Its chitinous shell was almost completely shattered, and it was on the verge of death. Liu Jin Xian quickly cried out:

"Stop!"

Wang Yu actually didn't pursue further, watching as Liu Jin Xian exhaled a mouthful of blood-red mist. Upon contact, the wounds on the Gu Beast's body rapidly healed.

Moments later, shedding a layer of sticky, damaged shell, it was restored to its original state.

Only then did Liu Jin Xian breathe a sigh of relief, her gaze somewhat wary as she looked at Wang Yu's clearly abnormal left hand.