A mortal cultivating immortality can nurture spirit beasts.

"Senior, I am Huang Long, a protector of the Thousand Bamboo Sect. I have come here only to eliminate this traitor, and have no other intentions."

"Senior, don't believe him. These people are the traitors of the Thousand Bamboo Sect."

Huang Long and Senior Brother Lin each held their own version of events, while the old man with the pigeon-like face merely sneered, clearly unconcerned, and simply looked in a deserted direction, saying...

"You brat, you've been watching for so long, it's time to show yourself. Do you really think you can fool your ancestor with just a mere veil of concealment?"

"As expected of a Core Formation cultivator from the Heavenly Star Sect, you saw through me so easily."

Lin He removed the veil and magical artifact from his head, naturally revealing his figure, a sight that greatly surprised Huang Long and the others.

The old man with the pigeon-like face was a Core Formation stage cultivator, so they naturally couldn't detect him. But Lin He was only a mid-Foundation Establishment stage cultivator, yet they hadn't been able to find anything unusual. They were surprised and even a little scared. What if Lin He hid and suddenly launched a sneak attack? Wouldn't that be extremely bad?

Facing the old man with the pigeon-faced appearance, a Core Formation stage cultivator, Lin He remained calm and composed, which caused the old man to frown.

"Boy, are you still bluffing after seeing me? Hand over the Golden Rain Sword, and I might let you die a little more painlessly."

Lin He completely disregarded the enemy's threat, which infuriated the old man with the pigeon-faced expression.

Seeing Lin He's composure, Senior Brother Lin perked up and suggested,

"You can all feel the killing intent of the person above, right? Only by joining forces can we have a chance of survival. Otherwise, none of us will leave here today."

"Join forces?"

Huang Long was taken aback by what he heard, but the male and female protectors behind him nodded in agreement, since the old man with the pigeon-faced expression made no attempt to conceal his killing intent.

Huang Long had no choice but to nod and say, "Alright, we'll settle our scores later. For now, let's join forces against the enemy."

Upon hearing this, Senior Brother Lin was delighted, and Lin He nodded indifferently.

"Hmph! Are you done? Then this old ancestor will send you on your way!"

The Xu family patriarch took out a miniature seven-colored mountain from his pocket and threw it into the air. The seven-colored mountain grew in the wind and quickly became a giant seven-colored peak. It fell from the sky like Mount Tai, crashing down on everyone.

"Oh no, that's a magic weapon! Stop it!"

Sensing the powerful spiritual energy contained within the seven-colored mountain peaks, far exceeding that of ordinary magical artifacts, Senior Brother Lin's face turned pale. He quickly reminded everyone and then hurriedly manipulated more than two hundred puppets to emit various colored lights to resist.

Huang Long and his two companions did not dare to be negligent. They all displayed their supernatural abilities, and in an instant, the light emitted by five or six hundred puppets struck the seven-colored mountain peak. With the advantage of their large numbers and the full force of the giant tiger puppet in the late Foundation Establishment stage, they actually managed to temporarily resist the magic weapon.

Senior Brother Lin and the others were overjoyed at the sight, but Lin He frowned. Sure enough, the next moment, the Xu family patriarch in mid-air quickly made hand seals and cast spells that fell into the seven-colored mountain. The entire mountain hummed, and the base of the mountain emitted beams of earthy yellow light.

The various colored lights below fell into the yellow light, but it was like a mud ox entering the sea, with no reaction at all. Instead, the yellowish-brown light swept over, and hundreds of the numerous puppets below were wiped out in an instant.

With the seven-colored mountain peak no longer obstructed, it crashed down with even greater force. Huang Long, Senior Brother Lin, and the others' expressions changed upon seeing this, and they quickly retreated. With a deafening roar, another hundred puppets were smashed to pieces.

"Huang Long, don't be scared by him. Let's continue to use the puppet army to deplete his magic power."

Seeing that Huang Long seemed unusually afraid, Senior Brother Lin quickly encouraged him again. Huang Long did not answer, but nodded in a deep voice.

"Junior Brother Lin, you shouldn't just stand by and do nothing."

Faced with Senior Brother Lin's words, Lin He remained silent, simply nodding and casually taking out a top-tier flying sword to launch an attack.

"How laughable! Two mid-Foundation Establishment cultivators and three early-Foundation Establishment cultivators think they can challenge Core Formation cultivators? They're courting death!"

The Xu family patriarch's lips moved slightly, as if he were saying something. At the same time, he raised his hand, and the seven-colored mountain peak flew above everyone's heads once again, with streaks of earthy yellow light sweeping over from the base of the mountain peak.

"Senior Brother Lin, you and the two protectors hold him off for now. I need to activate the talisman bestowed by the sect leader to deal with him."

"Good!" Senior Brother Lin perked up upon hearing this. It was naturally excellent that Huang Long was willing to contribute. He immediately urged, "Huang Long, you need to speed up. I can't hold on for much longer."

Senior Brother Lin and the male and female protectors each controlled their puppet armies to resist the yellow light. Although they suffered considerable losses, they managed to hold it off for the time being.

Seeing this, Lin He glanced at Huang Long, then stepped back to create distance between himself and his senior brother. With a flick of his wrist, a miniature, earth-yellow figure vanished in a flash.

"Don't worry, it'll be over soon, I promise!"

Huang Long suddenly revealed a strange expression, and then patted the giant tiger puppet beside him. The giant tiger opened its mouth and a thick beam of light shot out. However, the target was not the Seven-Colored Mountain, but Senior Brother Lin who was not far away.

Senior Brother Lin was focused on blocking the yellow light emitted by the Seven-Colored Mountain Peak, so he couldn't concentrate on defense. He was killed by the thick beam of light without even uttering a sound.

"Hehe!" Huang Long chuckled wickedly, and was about to take Lin Shixiong's storage bag when two fireballs flew over. Huang Long dodged them easily, but Lin Shixiong's storage bag had already been snatched by a blue figure.

"Hand over the storage bag!" Huang Long's face was extremely anxious. He knew that the first four levels of the original Great Evolution Technique were in the hands of this Senior Brother Lin, and it was very likely that he had put them in the storage bag. But now they had fallen into Lin He's hands.

Lin He ignored him, instead putting away the storage bag and looking at him with a half-smile.

"It seems you've reached an agreement with the Xu family patriarch. What? Are you planning to kill me too?"

At this moment, the Seven-Colored Mountain Peak ceased its attack, and Huanglong and the two guardians revealed obvious hostility, no longer concealing it in the slightest.

Lin He wasn't as foolish as his senior brother Lin, who would actually believe in such a thing as joining forces. Even if Huang Long and his senior brother Lin didn't have a grudge against each other, it would be difficult for them to cooperate without any reservations under such a dire situation.

In mid-air, the Xu family patriarch couldn't help but clap his hands and say, "Good, good, you are quite clever. If you hadn't killed Xu Yan, I might have been able to take you as my disciple. But now... Huang Long, if you three kill this person, I will let you go."

"Alright! As you said, senior, the two protectors, kill this man and retrieve the Great Evolution Manual. Our mission will be complete, and we'll even receive a reward from the sect leader upon our return!"

The male and female protectors were overjoyed upon hearing this and were about to control their puppet army to attack, while Huanglong was also about to control his giant tiger puppet to attack.

Faced with such a crisis, Lin He merely glanced at them coldly, a mocking smile playing on his lips.