A mortal cultivating immortality can nurture spirit beasts.

That Soul-Gathering Banner was truly powerful. Countless Yin spirits and demonic souls quickly emerged from the banner, and for a moment, gusts of Yin wind and eerie howls filled the air. Just hearing these sounds was enough to chill people to the bone, making it difficult to exert one's full strength.

Lin He, Lan Chou, and Yuan Yi were all busy defending against the Seven-Colored Mountain Peak and had no time to fight back.

At this moment, dozens of ghosts had already rushed out. These ghosts were trapped inside the banner, in darkness and filled with resentment. When they saw a living person like Lin He, they immediately pounced on him without any regard for the consequences.

"Blue Sorrow!"

Lin He urged with his divine sense, and Lan Chou hurriedly took out the pitch-black alms bowl. This alms bowl was also filled with eerie yin energy. Even Lin He was unwilling to possess this magical artifact, but Lan Chou used it at this moment. Instantly, countless yin spirits came out of the alms bowl and rushed towards the opposite side.

A great battle between ghosts and demons ensued, filling the air with eerie atmosphere, ghostly wails, and the howls of various low-level demons, which sent chills down one's spine.

The Xu family patriarch was fully expecting that the opponent would obediently accept death after using the Soul Gathering Banner. He never expected that the seemingly upright young man in blue was actually a demonic cultivator. Even he was secretly surprised by the black alms bowl. He wondered how many lives it had taken to have such power.

"Isn't this person a disciple of Yellow Maple Valley? He's even practicing demonic techniques. It seems ordinary methods won't work."

Thinking of this, the Xu family patriarch pointed at the Soul Gathering Banner beside him. The banner trembled violently, and then a skeleton holding a large knife walked out from the banner. Its body was filled with yin energy, and it actually emitted spiritual power fluctuations no less than those of a late Foundation Establishment cultivator.

It seems that this skeleton was also a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator in life. After being killed by the Xu family patriarch, it was actually refined into a powerful skeleton. The skeleton, wielding a large sword, immediately pounced on Lin He.

"We can't fight them head-on, let's go!"

Lin He threw out all two broken tooth magic artifacts and the dragon horn magic artifact at once, along with more than twenty low-level high-grade talismans.

A series of explosions finally brought the seven-colored mountain to a halt. Upon seeing this, Yuan Yi immediately transformed into a small monkey and was put into Lin He's spirit beast bag.

Lin He casually launched a few fireballs to destroy the corpse and cover up the evidence. Then he took out the Divine Wind Boat. Lan Chou put away the black alms bowl and immediately jumped on it. A white light shot into the sky and sped off in a certain direction.

Lin He's decisive escape and the great price he paid surprised even the Xu family patriarch, who then let out a cold snort.

"If I let you get away today, how will I, a Core Formation cultivator, ever face the world again?"

He put away the Soul Gathering Banner and the Seven-Colored Peak, and immediately chased after them on a yellowish-brown flying sword.

The two chased and fled, with Lin He using numerous talismans to block the other whenever he was about to catch up. They quickly covered dozens of miles in this way. Suddenly, Lin He fell directly into a forest below. Seeing this, the Xu family patriarch sneered.

"It seems you've set up a formation here, you cunning brat. But setting up a formation in front of me is just asking for death."

After saying this, he showed no fear and rushed into the jungle below. Sure enough, as soon as he entered the jungle, the scenery around him changed. It was as if the Xu family patriarch was in the middle of the ocean waves. The seawater around him surged towards him, and an invisible force made his movements sluggish.

"Azure Water and Green Armor Formation!"

As a Core Formation stage cultivator of the Heavenly Star Sect, he naturally had extensive knowledge of formations and recognized the formation at a glance, immediately easing his tension.

"If you were to use this formation to trap a Foundation Establishment cultivator, it would be difficult to break, but you're using it against me? How laughable! I can break this formation in just a few breaths, letting you truly understand the strength of a Core Formation cultivator!"

The Xu family patriarch sneered and was about to make a move when Yuan Yi transformed into a giant ape and charged out again.

"snort!"

The Xu family patriarch casually tossed the seven-colored mountain peak to block the giant ape.

After Yuan Yi was unable to break free, Lan Chou's figure appeared, and the Xu family patriarch used the late Foundation Establishment stage skeleton to stop him.

He looked around but couldn't see Lin He anywhere, and couldn't help but sneer.

"What? Your true form is too afraid to come out and see me? You only send your avatars and spirit beasts to fight? Are you afraid of dying at my hands?"

However, his provocation was obviously useless. All around was the sound of the sea waves. The Xu family patriarch did not care. He took out the earth-yellow flying sword. With the power of the Core Formation stage, the flying sword magic weapon became exceptionally dazzling. Then he aimed at a certain place and slashed fiercely!

With a deafening roar, the Xu family patriarch had clearly found the key to the formation. With a slash of his flying sword, the entire Azure Water Armor Formation trembled violently, appearing as if it were about to be destroyed at any moment.

"Hmph! Just one more sword strike and your formation will be broken. Let's see what tricks you have up your sleeve to fight me then!"

At this moment, the earth-yellow flying sword once again aimed at the array's core, and the dazzling light struck again. Just as it was about to break the array, a huge emerald green figure appeared. It was the fourth-level spirit beast, the Jade Mantis!

The Jade Mantis swung its forelimbs wildly, unleashing streaks of emerald light that slashed furiously at the earthen-yellow flying sword. However, the power of this magical weapon was extraordinary. No matter how the Jade Mantis slashed, it was all futile, like a mantis trying to stop a chariot. It was then struck by the sword light, and a deep, bone-revealing wound appeared, with blood gushing out. The Jade Mantis was directly cleaved dozens of meters away by the sword, and it looked as if it was about to smash into a deep crater. At the critical moment, the surrounding seawater gathered up and supported the Jade Mantis's body.

"Hmph! The Jade Mantis, yet another level four spirit beast!" The Xu family patriarch exclaimed with surprise, then quipped.

"You brat, it's unbelievable that you have two level-four spirit beasts. But to deal with me, you'll need at least seven or eight. Do you have any other level-four spirit beasts? If so, feel free to release them all for me to see."

As soon as he finished speaking, the surrounding sea waves suddenly surged towards the Xu family patriarch. A tremendous force struck, causing him to freeze and his movements to become somewhat sluggish.

At the same time, a young man in blue suddenly stepped forward and said, "Since the senior wants to see, then let the senior see to his heart's content."

The next moment, twelve golden figures appeared simultaneously; they were actually twelve giant golden pythons.

"Golden Pythons! They're all level four spirit beasts! This is impossible, absolutely impossible!"

At Lin He's command, the twelve golden pythons simultaneously opened their massive mouths, and twelve golden orbs of light appeared at the same time. Then, to the astonishment of the Xu family patriarch, special arrays lit up on their bodies, and the twelve golden orbs of light actually merged into a single giant golden sphere under the effect of the arrays!

Sensing the terrifying spiritual power contained within the golden sphere, the Xu family patriarch could no longer remain calm. He hurriedly used all his magical power to try to break free from the formation's restraints.

At this moment, the entire Azure Armor Formation was on the verge of collapse. Seeing this, Lin He activated his divine sense, and the golden giant ball flew out the next moment.

The Xu family patriarch hurriedly tried to recall Seven-Colored Peak and the skeleton to help, but he was held back by Ape One and Blue Sorrow with all their might, so he had to take out his earth-yellow flying sword to defend himself.

"No!"

A deafening explosion resounded, accompanied by the angry roar of the Xu family patriarch, before his figure was finally engulfed by golden light.

A dignified early-stage Core Formation cultivator, an elder of the Heavenly Star Sect, perished here.