After transmitting his message to the purple-robed youth, the hunchbacked old man kept his attention on Bloodhand Flying Sickle. However, his finger lightly and imperceptibly wiped across the withered branch. A heart-palpitating gray smoke emanated from the branch, but he caught it in his other hand as if by accident. At the same time, a faint grayish-blue tinge appeared on his aged face. Then, without even looking, he lightly flicked his finger backwards. The gray smoke transformed into an extremely fine thread, instantly merging into the vast black smoke behind him. It followed the rest of the black smoke, being sucked towards the mouth of the Azure Skywolf in the sky. The old man's actions were extremely fast, and amidst the vast black smoke, the three opponents did not notice.
At the same time, the purple-robed youth also activated his spiritual energy. The foot-tall white jade vase that he had been holding was brought horizontally in front of him. He gripped the neck of the vase with one hand and slapped the bottom hard with the other. Instantly, wisps of colorful, silk-like gas floated out into the air. Intertwined with the hunchbacked old man's black smoke, they directly met the rain of snakes.
The rain of snakes, which covered the sky, had already slowed down the moment it came into contact with the black smoke. The black smoke directly drilled into the bodies of the small green snakes upon contact. After the black smoke entered the snakes' bodies, they immediately began to hiss madly in the air. Then, their bodies began to expand rapidly. With a series of "bang bang" sounds, many of the snakes exploded directly, turning into a rain of blood and dots of green spiritual light. But this rain of blood and green spiritual light seemed to have a devouring power. The black smoke that was still spreading outwards began to diminish at a speed visible to the naked eye. The scene before them quickly began to clear up. The black smoke either merged with the rain of blood, falling to the ground with a "hissing" sound and turning into a pool of black water, or dissipated in the air with the dots of green spiritual light. Both sides were being rapidly consumed.
Then, the speed of the snake rain from behind took advantage of the reduction in black smoke and suddenly accelerated, shooting towards the backs of the purple-robed youth and the hunchbacked old man. Watching the patches of snake rain disappear in the black smoke, He Manzi's face twitched. If his brother's Azure Skywolf hadn't already absorbed most of the black smoke, reducing its concentration, his snake rain would have had to lose at least sixty percent to achieve the current effect. But now, it was clear that the other party's thick smoke couldn't hold out for much longer.
And at this moment, a cry of alarm came from the other side from He Manhua. "Not good!" He Manzi quickly looked over and saw the Azure Skywolf suddenly stop. It had stopped absorbing the black smoke, and even his brother's hand seals could no longer control it. The light on the Azure Skywolf's body flickered uncertainly. Its already pained, huge face was now covered in a layer of gray, giving it a feeling of rapid decay.
The hand seals in He Manhua's hands disintegrated as the Azure Skywolf trembled violently. His qi and blood instantly reversed, and he felt a wave of dizziness. Then he saw the Azure Skywolf's huge body fall uncontrollably towards the ground, rapidly reverting to a huge wolf-tooth club.
Just now, He Manhua had felt the Azure Skywolf, which he had refined into his life-bound magical treasure, let out a mournful cry, as if it had reached the end of its life. This made him quickly probe it with his Divine Sense to check.
Inside the wolf-tooth club, the Azure Skywolf's body, which had turned completely black from absorbing a large amount of black smoke, now had a fist-sized gray mark on its forehead. Its entire head was filled with a sense of decay and weakness.
He Manhua had originally planned to have it hold on for ten breaths before stopping. In that case, although the Azure Skywolf would be injured from the devouring and would need a year and a half of recuperation to recover, if it could refine the black smoke during this period, it would definitely be able to advance to the mid-stage of a second-tier demonic beast. That would be a blessing in disguise. And weighing the overall reward if he could kill the boy because of this, it was worth the risk. So he had resolutely launched a self-damaging attack, even at the cost of injuring the Azure Skywolf. But now it seemed that 'Demondog Moonshadow's' methods were indeed formidable. He had launched an attack when they hadn't noticed, and in an instant, had almost taken the Azure Skywolf's life.
Without the Azure Skywolf's devouring, the thick black smoke that had begun to dissipate immediately began to thicken again, spreading in all directions. It seemed that it would only take a few breaths to expand to the edge of the forest. The fair-faced black-robed man looked at his brother on the other side.
There, a large area of snake rain was already in contact with the black smoke. Although patches of snake rain fell and melted into pools of black water, there were still many small snakes that passed through the black smoke, which had already begun to thin, and pounced towards the purple-robed youth. It was just that with the disappearance of the Azure Skywolf, a large area of black smoke surged forward from behind the purple-robed youth again, but its speed was not as fast as the small snakes that had already pounced in front of him. This gave He Manhua a slight sense of relief. At least his actions had bought his brother some time.
Just as he was preparing to use another treasure to assist his brother's attack, the purple-robed youth, looking at the countless scalp-numbing green snakes pouncing towards him, the foremost of which were less than three feet from his face, slapped the bottom of the Jade Purification Vase hard again, his face pale. Several streams of five-colored gas floated out from the mouth of the vase. They intertwined with each other like enchanting dancing maidens, instantly weaving a protective net in front of him. The snakes crashed headlong into the colorful net. Then, these snakes were like they had been shot into a red-hot furnace. The moment they made contact, they turned into a stream of green smoke. A strange smiling maiden's face appeared on the colorful net, and with one gulp, it swallowed the dissipating green smoke, its face even showing a look of savoring the aftertaste. It was just that with every snake that crashed into the net, the purple-robed youth's face would turn a shade paler, and blood would ooze from the corner of his mouth. His spirit was rapidly weakening. But even so, this colorful net held him tightly in the middle. Although it couldn't be broken for a while, it was clear that the purple-robed youth was also finding it very strenuous to activate this treasure. It was estimated that he couldn't hold on for too long. But he only held on for this moment, and the black smoke in front of him had already thickened again. The snake rain that had already broken through to the front of him hissed and fell one after another. Only a few could occasionally fly to the front of the purple-robed youth and be blocked by the five-colored net.
Seeing this, the He brothers became anxious. This Jade Purification Vase was actually a magical treasure that integrated both offense and defense. This was extremely rare among cultivators. Even if one had money, it was generally not something one could buy. If they could also get this treasure while killing the purple-robed youth, then this trip would be extremely rewarding.
All of this took a long time to describe, but it all happened in a very short time. At the same time, the hunchbacked old man turned his head and suddenly changed his hand seal towards Bloodhand Flying Sickle. He stretched out a finger and tapped the space between his eyebrows. Instantly, a crescent-shaped object similar to a wind blade flew out from his forehead. It spun and slashed forward rapidly. Clearly, he wanted to finish off Bloodhand Flying Sickle within two breaths.
And at this moment, He Manzi let out a low cry, "I estimate this boy can still hold on for another seven or eight breaths. We can't get close enough to kill him past the black smoke. This is not good." As he spoke, a cold light appeared in his eyes, as if he was considering whether to use his ultimate secret technique.
At the same time, Bloodhand Flying Sickle's furious roar came from the front. The crescent-shaped wind blade was like a ghost under the moonlight. It flashed in front of the hunchbacked old man and disappeared. The next moment, it appeared next to one of the remaining two Flying Sickle Blood Mantises. With a flash of white light, the Flying Sickle Blood Mantis had no resistance at all and was directly split in two. Then, with another flash of white light, the crescent-shaped wind blade was next to the other Flying Sickle Blood Mantis. With another flash, the last Flying Sickle Blood Mantis also let out a mournful cry and was cut into several pieces.
After doing all this, the hunchbacked old man's face turned a little paler. Clearly, this had also consumed a great deal of his energy.
Bloodhand Flying Sickle's eyes narrowed at the same time, and he let out a low cry, "Moon Shadow Slash!" His whole body tensed up. But the hunchbacked old man just sneered coldly. The crescent-shaped wind blade that had been hovering next to the corpse of the Flying Sickle Blood Mantis flashed again and disappeared.
"You two, quickly deal with that boy. I can't hold on here for too long!" Bloodhand Flying Sickle's voice was transmitted directly to the He brothers, his tone already anxious. After speaking, he summoned a few more Flying Sickle Blood Mantises. It was just that these Flying Sickle Blood Mantises' auras were clearly much stronger than the previous ones, and their appearance was even more ferocious.
The two black-robed men didn't get angry at Bloodhand Flying Sickle's impolite words. They knew that the hunchbacked old man had already used his ultimate move. The last two words in "Demondog Moonshadow" were known as "Where the moon's shadow reaches, the bright light is like blood."
Before He Manzi could make a move, He Manhua suddenly reached out his hand and beckoned. The huge wolf-tooth club that had already fallen to the ground immediately flew into the air. Then, a ruthless look appeared in his eyes. He formed a hand seal with one hand, and the huge wolf-tooth club once again reluctantly transformed into the Azure Skywolf. It was just that at this time, the Azure Skywolf's eyes were dull, and the gray aura had already spread to its neck.
The next moment, under the guidance of his hand seal, the Azure Skywolf flickered, passed through the layers of black smoke, and appeared directly above the purple-robed youth and the hunchbacked old man. And in the short process of passing through the black smoke, the Azure Skywolf's fur had begun to fall off, and in many places, its white bones were already exposed, its flesh and blood turning into black water and dripping down.
The moment the Azure Skywolf reached the top of the purple-robed youth's head, a heart-palpitating aura fluctuation suddenly emanated from its body. At this time, the hunchbacked old man, who was controlling the "Moon Shadow Slash," saw that the crescent wind blade had bypassed several Flying Sickle Blood Mantises and was behind Bloodhand Flying Sickle like a ghost. Just as he was about to activate it, he suddenly felt a palpitation. Although he had left his Divine Sense behind him, he had not expected that He Manhua would disregard the damage to the artifact spirit in his magical treasure and suspend it directly in the black smoke. And a bad feeling instantly spread throughout his body, and his heart sank.
At the same time, He Manhua let out a loud cry, "Explode for me!" His actions were so sudden that not only the hunchbacked old man, but even his brother He Manzi didn't have time to react. One must know how difficult it was to refine a magical treasure, especially since this was self-detonating the artifact spirit's soul within it. The result of this was that He Manhua, being life-bound to the magical treasure, would be the first to suffer a backlash and be seriously injured.
No one would have thought that this person would be so ruthless. This was a life-bound magical treasure. If it was destroyed, it would take at least several decades to refine it again. A trace of sorrow appeared in the Azure Skywolf's eyes. But it was a refined soul. Although it could simply resist its master's will, under the ruthless suppression of its master's hand seals, it had no choice but to obey. It let out a long howl to the sky, and its tattered body instantly expanded rapidly, followed by a world-shaking, tremendous explosion.
This sudden turn of events, even for a veteran Foundation Establishment cultivator like "Demondog Moonshadow," was completely unexpected. This was not a life-or-death moment, yet the other party was so vicious.
In his haste, the hunchbacked old man could only surge his spiritual energy throughout his body, forming a temporary protective shield, while the withered branch in his hand suddenly burst with a dazzling black light.
At the same time, a dazzling green light exploded above their heads, followed by a deafening roar, which was even more powerful in the night.
Instantly, this open, flat ground was like it was being swept by a hurricane that stirred up the heavens and the earth. The spiritual energy shield on the hunchbacked old man's body flickered uncertainly, as if it would shatter in the next moment, like a small boat in a raging storm. As for Bloodhand Flying Sickle, the moment he sensed something was wrong, he immediately burst out with all his spiritual energy, not caring about the cost, and fled more than ten li in an instant. Fortunately, the hunchbacked old man had no time to control the "Moon Shadow Slash" to pursue him. As he ran, he kept cursing, "He the Second, you're a f*cking lunatic! That's a magical treasure, and you just self-detonate it like that!"
And on the other side, He Manzi also quickly flew away from here. His face was twitching non-stop. If they weren't blood brothers, he would have wanted to kick this guy to death. To outsiders, his brother looked fair and clean, but gloomy and deep. But once he became impulsive, he was simply uncontrollable.
'Second Brother, oh Second Brother, this is a life-bound magical treasure! You... you... even if the reward we get this time is generous, it might not be enough to cover this magical treasure. And if you want to repair it, it will take at least several decades. Did a dog eat your brain?' he cursed inwardly.