Junior sister, I really need to control you

Below, within an array that is difficult to detect with the naked eye and divine sense.

Mu Xiaoyu patted her chest, looking like she was still in shock.

"That beam of light was only ten feet away from us! It was terrifying..."

She looked at the ground ten feet away, where the scorching light had just touched the ground, and it was now a brand new lava pool.

“This item should be the Fire Dragon Box,” Elder Yue said to Li Yinsheng. “That person should be Cheng Xuyun of the Ingenious Pavilion, a highly accomplished Taoist master.”

"The other two are the youngest Immortal of the Four Absolutes Society and the Fellow Daoist Qianxue of the Snow Rainbow Sect."

"Does Senior Sister Yue know that female cultivator? Why do you only call her Fellow Daoist?" Li Yinsheng asked.

"I've only met them once," Elder Yue nodded. "I've only heard of the other two and don't know much about them. Judging from the current situation, Master Cheng should be the strongest."

Shangguan Ling'er frowned and said, "But we still can't break through the giant ape's defenses. Moreover, attacks that are too powerful will also affect the surrounding spiritual herbs, making us hesitant to attack."

Elder Yue's gaze fell on the tallest of the seven spiritual herbs.

Although it is a Ganoderma lucidum, it is a full six feet tall, larger than an ordinary umbrella.

"Is that the Thousand-Year Dragon Horse Fungus?" Li Yinsheng rubbed his chin, his attention focused on the spring water in the middle of the seven spiritual herbs.

With so much millennium-old spiritual milk, there is more than enough to help the Spirit-Devouring Fish advance its level.

The rest can be divided with Senior Sister Yue and Miss Shangguan, and then left for Junior Sister to refine pills.

but……

He sensed the aura of the seven thousand-year-old spiritual herbs and frowned slightly.

With his current level of spiritual awareness, his perception at this distance is almost incredibly detailed.

He was quite certain that each of these seven spiritual herbs was imbued with a trace of a cultivator's aura.

Of course, it's normal that the three people above fought the giant ape for an unknown amount of time, and their aura dissipated and stained the spiritual herbs.

The problem was that, in his perception, all seven spiritual herbs were still tainted with a fourth, even fainter, cultivator's aura.

Chapter 173 The Precious Illumination Scripture at the Human Immortal Level

Deep within Zhelong Valley.

After sensing the presence of a fourth cultivator on the medicinal herbs, Li Yinsheng scanned his surroundings more carefully with his divine sense.

Finally, after careful investigation, he discovered that beneath the giant ape's raging miasma, a faint trace of a cultivator's aura could be detected in the ground beneath its feet.

“Someone used earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a technique used in Chinese magic) to hide under that giant ape,” Li Yinsheng said.

Shangguan Ling'er and Elder Yue were both taken aback.

Elder Yue then probed the giant ape with his divine sense, but withdrew it after a short while.

"When I need to hide myself, I can't examine myself too closely, so I can't sense anything wrong," she said, shaking her head.

“That person’s method of concealment is quite unique, and it seems to be particularly effective against miasma beasts. At such close range, the giant ape was completely unaware of him, and instead, he became a cover for the beast,” Li Yinsheng said.

In terms of concealment, that person took an unorthodox approach, unlike him who relied on his own skills.

Not only did the formation he set up have the effect of concealing and hiding his presence, but he also used the method of concealing poison from the Five Poisons True Scripture to cover up the presence of himself, Elder Yue, Shangguan Ling'er, and his junior sister.

While that person's earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a type of magic/essence) was quite good, it mainly relied on the aura of the giant ape miasma beast to conceal himself.

"Could it be that person can command that giant ape?" Mu Xiaoyu guessed.

“It’s unlikely. It’s almost universally acknowledged that miasma beasts cannot be controlled,” Elder Yue immediately denied.

"However, I've heard that there are some special treasures that can allow cultivators to hide themselves in front of miasma beasts. As long as they don't actively release their aura, the miasma beasts will treat them as if they don't exist."

Hearing Elder Yue say this, Mu Xiaoyu's eyes lit up, and she had another guess.

"Is that person hiding all this time, waiting for both sides to be exhausted so they can reap the benefits?"

"That's probably it." Elder Yue nodded and patted Mu Xiaoyu's head.

Li Yinsheng nodded in agreement: "Those three are not bad among the Dharma Aspects. Although they are suppressed by the annual eclipse miasma, they have the advantage of numbers."

"That giant ape ranks in the upper-middle range among demon kings. Although it is not very intelligent, its immunity to the eclipse miasma makes up for it," Elder Yue said.

"From this perspective, the two sides are indeed evenly matched," Li Yinsheng added.

Shangguan Ling'er, who hadn't gotten a chance to speak until now, finally found an opportunity to say: "But it seems they haven't really gone all out yet, they haven't even used their Dharma Forms."

"Manifesting a Dharma form already consumes a lot of energy, and being suppressed by the eclipse will consume even more. When it comes to using a Dharma form, it will really be a fight to the death."

Li Yinsheng raised his hand and cast several spells to further enhance the array's ability to conceal his aura.

"Let's wait and see."

……

Since Li Yinsheng and his companions arrived, the battle between the three of them and the giant ape has continued for most of the day.

Although the giant ape was not very intelligent, no matter how the three tried to lure it, it showed no intention of leaving the vicinity of the spiritual herb.

Therefore, at its center, the entire battlefield has been completely leveled and turned into a wasteland.

But in more peripheral areas, there was almost no impact.

It was as if a piece of the dense ancient forest had been wiped away out of thin air.

The only area where the seven spiritual herbs and the thousand-year-old spiritual milk were located was deliberately avoided by the three of them, and the giant ape would not attack there, so they were spared.

At this point in the battle, the three Imperial Masters finally couldn't hold back any longer.

“No, it would be too much of a waste for us to fight this beast in a war of attrition while we are surrounded by this yearly eclipse!” the Confucian scholar said first.

He was the last of the three to condense his Dharma form, had the shallowest cultivation, and consumed the most magical power.

“Yes, Fellow Daoist Qianxue, we’ve been testing this beast for so long, and it only uses the same few moves over and over again. It probably doesn’t have any real skills left.”

The cultivator surnamed Cheng also spoke up, saying, "We don't need to hold back anymore. Let's use swift and decisive methods to kill this beast."

Although he had the highest cultivation level among the three, he also exerted the most effort and consumed a considerable amount of magical power.

“Alright, let’s get started.” Master Qianxue nodded as well.

"I urge Fellow Daoist Qianxue to take good care of those spiritual herbs and spiritual milk. As for killing this fiend, I and Brother Cheng will take care of it," the scholar said with a smile.

The cultivator surnamed Cheng secretly rolled his eyes.

What's with all this talk about taking care of spiritual medicine and spiritual milk? Isn't it just an attempt to curry favor with that Fellow Daoist Qianxue?

The female cultivators of the Snow Rainbow Sect have never been swayed by worldly desires; this Lu fellow is still too young and doesn't believe in superstition.

But at this juncture, he was too lazy to say anything more, he simply shouted and revealed his Dharma form.

His entire body glowed with a scorching light similar to that inside the long box. The long box opened completely, and a dragon-shaped puppet flew out.

The scholar laughed heartily, revealing his Dharma form. Instantly, he resembled a free-form ink wash landscape painting, his original brush and inkstone transforming into an ink sword that fell into his hand.

The female cultivator was wrapped in ribbons, making her look like a translucent ice sculpture. With a wave of her hand, a thick, hollow ice mountain condensed below, enveloping the spiritual medicine and spiritual milk.

As the three revealed their true forms, the giant ape seemed to sense the threat. It roared, and its deep purple fur, which had been emitting sharp light, began to shine.

Then his body suddenly expanded, growing from thirty or forty feet to over two hundred feet.

His palms, enveloped in a blinding purple light, slammed together towards the three of them.

"You beast, do you think you're the only one who can grow bigger?"

The cultivator surnamed Cheng roared, and the dragon-shaped puppet he released instantly transformed into a puppet four or five hundred feet long, wrapping around the giant ape and locking its limbs.

At the same time, the long box, which should have been empty, was suddenly filled with a bright light, and a beam of light more than twenty feet thick shot straight toward the giant ape's head.

The giant ape used the same trick again, and an amethyst shield appeared before its eyes.

But the scholar wielded his sword as if writing with a brush, and a handful of ink fell on the amethyst shield. Although it still withstood the scorching light, it could not disperse it as before, and the power of the scorching light bombarded it without missing a single detail.

In just a moment, fine cracks appeared on the blackened amethyst shield.

The female cultivator, who was told by the Confucian scholar that she only needed to protect the spiritual medicine and spiritual milk, was not really idle. While the scorching light and the amethyst shield were locked in a stalemate, she kept making hand seals with her ten fingers, and a ball of ice mist the size of a walnut condensed in her hands.

As the amethyst shield was shattered by the scorching light, the giant ape opened its mouth, about to spew out a thick cloud of purple light from its throat to clash with the scorching light.

The female cultivator suddenly flicked her finger, and the icy mist appeared in front of the giant ape as if by teleportation, exploding and freezing its entire head.

Although the purple light that had gathered in the giant ape's throat was about to shatter the seal in the next instant, the scorching light seized the opportunity to blast over and completely engulf the giant ape's head.

The blazing light lasted for a full thirty breaths before slowly fading away.

The area above the giant ape's neck was completely empty.

The dragon puppet that had locked the giant ape's body and limbs flew back into the long box, and the giant ape's enormous corpse knelt down like a mountain.

The three of them almost simultaneously withdrew their divine forms, their faces turning pale.

"Although this giant ape has simple methods and low intelligence, in terms of physique and demonic power, it is in no way inferior to those long-established demon kings."

The cultivator surnamed Cheng put the long box back on his back. Not only was his face pale, but even his bald head was somewhat pale.

Not only did he expend a lot of magical energy, but after fighting for most of the day, he also suffered some internal injuries due to several unavoidable evasions.

"Fortunately, Brother Cheng's Fire Dragon Box displayed its divine power and annihilated this scoundrel, which can be considered as acting on behalf of Heaven." The scholar's face turned even paler.

“We are here to retrieve the treasure, not to act on behalf of Heaven. Besides, this giant ape probably never had the chance to harm anyone; it is simply guilty of possessing a treasure.” The female cultivator shook her head and said.

The scholar looked embarrassed and was about to speak when he saw the female cultivator's expression suddenly change.

"Who! Come out..." She raised her hand and pointed at the ground beneath the giant ape, and a thick ice spike shot out.

"Hehehe... It seems this young lady really doesn't have much magic power left, using such methods."

A charming, even slightly seductive voice rang out, and a beam of light burst forth from the ground, transforming into a woman who looked to be in her thirties, with a voluptuous figure and alluring appearance.

Before the three could say anything, she shone brightly, and a halo of light faintly rippled behind her head.

As the halo spread, her body became as translucent as glass, somewhat similar to the ice-sculpted Dharma form of True Immortal Qianxue, but with an added sense of holiness.

The ice spikes that flew towards her from a different direction shattered without warning under the light of this crystal-like radiance.

Shangguan Ling'er's eyes widened as she grabbed Li Yinsheng's wrist.

"That! That looks like the Baozhao Sutra from your Xuanzhen Temple!"

Li Yinsheng's eyes widened even more than hers: "Miss Shangguan, is this really true?"