Liu Ming and Bi Yan floated in the air. Soon, 2 escape lights galloped from a distance. With a flash, 2 figures appeared.
They were the half-insect Fiend and the tiger-faced Fiend.
"We're here, Fellow Daoist Bi Yan!" The two of them greeted Bi Yan, but Liu Ming didn't seem to notice them at all.
Liu Ming didn't seem to mind, and his expression remained as calm as ever.
Bi Yan shot a glance at Liu Ming, and his heart stirred upon seeing that his expression didn't change.
However, he smiled, and asked, "Fellow Daoists, did you find any clues about the Voidspirit's true body?"
"Sigh, let's not talk about it. That clone was extremely cunning, and it disappeared after just a few flashes. Just as I turned around, it suddenly reappeared in the distance. Thus, we ran into Brother Chi Hu, and we traveled together. By the way, you must have some other instructions for us to gather here, right, Brother Bi Yan? "The tiger-faced Fiend sighed.
"Judging from all of the clues we've received from the clone, it seems that the Voidspirit's true body isn't planning to leave. In that case, it most likely has some ulterior motive for luring us here. As such, Brother Yin Han and I decided that it would be best for us to travel together," Bi Yan said.
The half-insect Fiend and the tiger-faced Fiend exchanged a glance before nodding in agreement.
The four of them waited for a while longer, and it wasn't long before the azure-robed elderly man and the tiger-faced Fiend also arrived.
The three of them were also in full agreement with Bi Yan's suggestion.
"Brother Bi Yan, the enemy is in the dark, while we're out in the open. What should we do next?" the azure-robed elderly man asked.
Bi Yan pondered the question for a moment before asking, "The Voidspirit's true body must still be hiding in this Black Crystal Forest. Does anyone have any objections?"
The others looked at each other and fell silent for a moment.
Liu Ming cleared his throat, and said in an indifferent voice, "From my observations, the Black Crystal Forest's interference with one's spiritual sense grows stronger the deeper we go. Why don't we explore the center of this forest?"
Bi Yan nodded upon hearing this, and a thoughtful look appeared on his face. "What you're saying makes sense, Brother Yin. We can give it a try."
The cyan-robed old man, the other three experts, and the tiger-faced Fiend all nodded in response.
The half-insect Fiend wanted to say something, but seeing that Bi Yan didn't have any objections, he didn't say anything.
Since there were no objections, Bi Yan called out, and the group of seven immediately identified a direction and began to fly toward the center of the Black Crystal Forest.
At the same time, under the center of the Black Crystal Forest, Xu Ling sat cross-legged on the ground and slowly opened his eyes.
The humanoid puppet before him appeared to have completely awakened. Azure spiritual light was radiating from its eyes, and countless runes had appeared over its greyish-white body, as if it were wearing an azure suit of armor.
However, for some reason, the left half of the puppet's body was much dimmer than the rest of the azure light, making it look rather strange.
Xu Ling's eyes fell on the dim cyan light on the puppet, and a trace of regret appeared in his eyes, which was immediately covered by a strong joy.
This puppet didn't look very large, but the spiritual pressure it emitted was extremely terrifying. It was like a vast and unfathomable ocean.
"Good, very good! Although I can't fully control this puppet, I can at least exert seventy to eighty percent of its strength, which is comparable to that of a late-stage Celestial Phenomenon cultivator. It's not in vain that I've endured in Bi You City for so many years and risked my life to steal the True Spirit Chalcedony, "Xu Ling muttered to himself with great joy.
He took a deep breath, and his expression gradually calmed down. Suddenly, he frowned and muttered to himself, "Four doppelgangers have been killed.
"Four of his doppelgangers were killed. Thankfully, those fellows are still inside the Black Crystal Forest. Eh? They're coming to the center of the forest, which saves me a lot of effort! "
A cold smile appeared on Xu Ling's face, and then his figure twisted and blurred, turning into a wisp of gray mist that floated into the center of the puppet's forehead and disappeared.
After a few breaths, the humanoid puppet suddenly stood up and walked toward the exit of the stone gate.
Although the area of the Black Crystal Forest was not small, with the speed of Bi Yan and the others, they flew to the center of the forest in less than the time it took for half an incense stick to burn.
At this moment, the seven of them stood in mid-air and released their divine sense to investigate the forest.
The Black Crystal Forest here was much taller than the forest's outer area, reaching a height of over a thousand feet. Upon arriving here, everyone could sense an even stronger interference force.
"Hmm?"
The tiger-faced Fiend suddenly exclaimed in surprise, and his body blurred as he flew to the side.
Bi Yan and the others hurriedly followed after him.
After flying for several kilometers, an open space that was several hundred feet in size appeared in front of everyone, and it was very conspicuous among the tall Black Crystal Forest.
Aside from that, there was a flat, greyish-white platform in the center of the open space that was about ten feet in size.
Everyone's expression changed slightly at the sight of the platform.
"This doesn't seem to be naturally formed …" the half-insect Fiend said in an indifferent voice.
"Brother Guang Liang, did you discover something just now?" Bi Yan carefully looked around the forest, but didn't discover anything, so he turned to the tiger-faced Fiend and asked.
Just as the tiger-faced Fiend was about to open his mouth, the ground around him suddenly tremored, and the Inkcrystal Forest also shook violently, giving rise to a loud crashing sound.
"What's going on?" Everyone's expression changed upon seeing this.
Liu Ming narrowed his eyes as he extended his divine sense into the ground. However, he had only gone about twenty feet into the ground when he suddenly came into contact with an invisible restriction, and was unable to advance any further.
Right at that moment, the ground trembled violently again, and this time, it was much stronger than before. Many of the thinner Black Crystal Pillars on the ground let out cracking sounds.
"Be careful! There's a restriction on the ground that prevents our divine sense from probing. I'm afraid something's going on!" Bi Yan said in a grave voice.
"Ever since Voidspirit's doppelgangers were destroyed, it hasn't made a sound. Could it be that it's doing all of this?" Liu Ming asked.
Everyone's expression changed upon hearing this.
It was very likely that this was the case.
Everyone's expressions changed upon hearing this. The azure-robed old man and the other two Grand Elders fell into deep thought, while the tiger-faced Fiend and the half-insect Fiend began to scan their surroundings.
Indecision flickered across Bi Yan's face, as if he were pondering something.
Liu Ming's expression didn't change in the slightest when he saw the changes in everyone's expressions. Instead, his hands, which were hidden within his sleeves, began to make hand seals.
Right at that moment, a sudden change occurred!
"Rumble!" A loud sound suddenly came from the ground, and an incomparably powerful force suddenly gushed out from the ground, causing the ground below to collapse with a loud bang.
Countless chunks of earth shot out in all directions like a volcanic eruption, and all of the Black Crystal Pillars within a radius of several kilometers were uprooted and shattered.
The expressions of Liu Ming and the others flickered drastically as they realized that the ground had exploded right beneath them.
However, none of the people present were ordinary Fiend cultivators. In the instant that this happened, their bodies lit up with light of various colors before scattering in all directions.
Even though the impact of the scattering chunks of earth and Black Crystal Pillars was very powerful, Liu Ming and the others were still able to defend against it. However, they were still pushed back several hundred feet by the tremendous force.
However, before they could regain their footing, a huge cyan figure shot out from the ground.
An overwhelming spiritual pressure instantly spread out, enveloping Liu Ming and the others.
Everyone's expression changed drastically. This huge spiritual pressure was like a huge mountain pressing down on them, and they couldn't even circulate their magic power smoothly. The cyan-robed old man and the other two, whose cultivation was slightly weaker, almost fell from the sky.
With a loud rumble, a humanoid puppet, which was several feet tall, landed heavily in front of Liu Ming and the others.
"A Celestial Phenomenon puppet …"
Black Qi surged out of Liu Ming's body and wrapped around him. Looking at the puppet that had appeared in front of him, he narrowed his eyes and made a hand seal. Then, an earthy yellow light emerged from the black Qi.
At this moment, Bi Yan and the others naturally saw clearly that the existence in front of them was actually a huge humanoid puppet, and their expressions changed dramatically.
"Hehe, Bi Yan, boy, for the past few decades, you've been chasing me everywhere. Why don't we exchange places today?" Xu Ling's wild laughter came from the humanoid puppet.
Hearing this, Bi Yan's face instantly turned livid.
At this moment, three rays of light rose into the sky and shot in different directions. It was the cyan-robed old man and the other two.
Seeing that the situation was not good, the three of them fled in panic without saying a word. In the blink of an eye, they were hundreds of feet away.
"You want to leave? Humph, no one here today can escape! "Xu Ling sneered among the humanoid puppets.
Then, the humanoid puppet raised an arm, and a cyan light flashed on it.
The void shook, and three vague black shadows shot out, chasing after the cyan-robed old man and the other two.
The black shadows were extremely fast, and in the blink of an eye, they were behind the three.
The next moment, three screams were heard almost at the same time.
Three head-sized holes appeared in the lower abdomen of the cyan-robed old man and the other two, almost cutting their bodies in half.
With a soft thud, the three corpses fell into the Black Crystal Forest in the distance. They had died just like that.
In the blink of an eye, they had killed three middle Jin Dan Fiends!
Liu Ming's pupils shrank. Even with his eyes, he could only vaguely see that the three black shadows seemed to be shuttle-like objects, and that their offensive power was so strong that they had instantly penetrated the cyan-robed old man and the other two Fiends' defenses.
Bi Yan's face turned pale with fright, while the half-insect Fiend and the tiger-faced Fiend, who had always thought highly of themselves, also turned very grim.
"A late-stage Celestial Phenomenon puppet? There are very few people in the Ninth Netherworld who cultivate in the art of puppets, and I've never even heard of a late-stage Celestial Phenomenon Stage puppet. Where did you get this thing? "Bi Yan took a deep breath and finally regained some composure before speaking in a low voice.
At the same time, Bi Yan's faint voice transmission rang out in Liu Ming's ears.
"If we split up and run, we won't stand a chance. Now that the four of us work together, we might have a chance at survival."
The half-insect Fiend and the tiger-faced Fiend also shuddered slightly. Clearly, they had also received Bi Yan's voice transmission.
"Hehe, as expected of Bi You's trusted subordinates. Even now, you're still trying to get information out of me. But don't even think about stalling for time. All of you will die today! " As soon as Xu Ling's voice rang out coldly, the strange runes on the surface of the puppet's body glowed with bright cyan light. As it spread its arms, several black shadows flashed out and shot towards Liu Ming and the other three.
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