Mountain Venerable and Sea Immortal

The stalemate at the valley entrance was broken in an instant.

Seeing that his attacks were ineffective and that Lin Yan and his group of four were suppressing his momentum, Huo Xiao's anger surged. He no longer cared about the Qingyun and Shuiyue sects who were secretly watching, and roared fiercely throughout the battlefield: "Disciples of the Burning Heaven Sect, listen to my command! Form the Fire Burning Formation, flatten the Spirit Immortal Valley, seize the spiritual vein, and capture Lin Yan!"

At the command, the three thousand fire cultivators responded in unison, their bodies surging with flames. They summoned magical artifacts such as fire blades, fire banners, and fire cauldrons, and, using fiery footwork, quickly formed a large encirclement formation. The fiery energy gathered into a towering sea of ​​fire, the flames rolling like a tide, turning the sky above the entire valley entrance crimson. The scorching heat waves almost melted the rocks, and they relentlessly crushed towards the Laoshan disciples.

At this moment, a murderous aura suddenly erupted from the dense forests on both sides of Lingxian Valley!

The Bone Demon's sinister laughter ripped through the sky, his body surging with evil spiritual energy. Holding a piece of blood-stained, withered bone, he led a large group of Blood Fiend Sect evil cultivators out in full force. The evil cultivators, each with a ferocious expression, surrounded by a blood mist, their weapons coated with deadly poison and malevolent energy, roared as they flanked from both sides, forming a pincer attack with the Burning Heaven Sect!

"They've joined forces!" Yunxi's expression changed slightly. The jade hairpin at her fingertips shone brightly, and a gentle spiritual energy spread out instantly, protecting everyone's flanks.

"Perfect timing!" Shen Yue's eyes were bloodshot, and the fine iron spear in his hand hummed incessantly. All the fierce and violent spiritual energy was poured into the spear, and the tip of the spear emitted a sharp, cold glint of light. "Today, I will let these heretics witness the power of my Laoshan spear technique!"

Su Lingyue spun around, her longsword fully drawn. A cold, sharp light sliced ​​through the heat, and her swift, wind-like sword intent unleashed itself. Her swordplay precisely targeted the weakness of the leading evil cultivator, her eyes filled with resolute determination: "Defend the valley entrance to the death! We will not let them get even a step closer to the spiritual vein!"

Lin Yan's deep blue robes billowed, and two beams of dark blue spiritual light surged around him. The inkstone and the Dingyuan Pearl floated above his head, one defending and the other attacking, their auras as steady as a mountain: "Form the Laoshan Inner Sect Formation! Shen Yue guards the front, withstanding the Burning Heaven's attack; Su Lingyue cuts off the flanks, clearing out the Blood Fiend evil cultivators; Yun Xi stabilizes the formation's core, supporting the entire field!"

"Yes, sir!"

The three responded in unison and immediately took their places.

Shen Yue charged straight ahead, spear in hand, fiercely advancing into the sea of ​​fire of the Burning Heaven Sect. His spear swept horizontally, the powerful force shattering the oncoming fire snakes. His spear tip flicked, thrust, chopped, and swept—each move carried overwhelming power. Several Burning Heaven cultivators at the forefront had no time to dodge and were struck by the spear's force, flying backward repeatedly.

Seeing this, Huo Xiao was enraged. He personally confronted Shen Yue with his flaming spear. The two spears clashed violently, and flames and fierce spiritual energy exploded, sending shockwaves scattering in all directions. "A mere inner disciple dares to block my way!" Huo Xiao roared, his anger escalating, and his attack became increasingly ferocious.

Shen Yue was not afraid at all, gritted his teeth and resisted. His spear technique was fierce and skillful, and every move was aimed at Huo Xiao's weakness. He shouted: "How can I, a disciple of Laoshan, be afraid of you, the madman of the Burning Heaven!" The two were instantly entangled in battle. The shadows of their spears clashed and sparks flew. They fought fiercely and were evenly matched.

On the flank, the Blood Fiend Sect's evil cultivators, their murderous aura overwhelming, charged forward fearlessly, brandishing their blood-stained weapons. Su Lingyue moved with the agility of a swallow, weaving and shifting among the evil cultivators. Her longsword moved swiftly and nimbly, her swordplay precise and ruthless, targeting the cultivators' meridians and weaknesses. With each flash of her sword, an evil cultivator fell to the ground, their murderous aura utterly shattered by her sharp sword intent.

Watching his evil cultivators retreat in defeat, the Bone Demon smiled wickedly, formed hand seals, and countless sharp bone needles condensed from his evil bone spiritual energy, shooting towards Su Lingyue: "Little girl, you do have some skill. Today, I won't let you live!"

Su Lingyue's expression hardened, and her longsword spun and transformed into a wall of swords, blocking the countless bone needles. Then, she flashed forward and charged towards the Bone Demon, her agile sword intent suddenly becoming fierce as she engaged the Bone Demon in battle.

At the central array eye, Yunxi stood steadily, her jade hairpin emitting a soft, continuous light that connected all the spiritual energy of the Laoshan disciples, forming a solid defensive light net. On one hand, it blocked the scattered fire and evil energy, and on the other hand, it continuously supplied spiritual energy to Lin Yan, Shen Yue, and Su Lingyue, stabilizing the three-person defense line.

Lin Yan stood at the front of the formation, his hands forming a seal, manipulating the Inkstone and the Dingyuan Pearl. The ink-colored spiritual energy dissolved the evil energy, while the shimmering blue spiritual energy suppressed the raging flames. The two treasures attacked from both sides. Any cultivators who managed to slip through the net, whether they were Burning Heaven Fire cultivators or Blood Fiend evil cultivators, were instantly crushed by his spiritual energy. He firmly guarded the core position, while continuously stabilizing the earth energy connected to the spiritual veins to prevent the battle from affecting the Guixu Seal.

In an instant, the entrance to Lingxian Valley was filled with the sounds of battle, flames and malevolent energy intertwined, and sword energy and spear force crisscrossed.

The inferno of the Burning Heaven Sect was overwhelming, and the evil shadows of the Blood Fiend Sect appeared one after another. The two sects launched a joint attack like a tidal wave. Lin Yan and his three companions led the disciples of Laoshan Mountain to defend the valley entrance to the death, not giving an inch. The four core disciples each displayed their strengths and cooperated perfectly.

Above the sky, Chu Linfeng led the sword cultivators of the Qingyun Sect, his eyes fixed on the fierce battle below. His sword energy surged around him, but he remained still, waiting for the best opportunity.

Amidst the mist over the southern sea, Luo Wei frowned slightly, watching the fierce attacks of Fen Tian and Xue Sha. Her fingertips twitched slightly, but she ultimately obeyed Su Wanli's orders and did not act rashly. Instead, she kept a close eye on the battlefield, ready to respond to any changes.

On the battlefield, Huo Xiao and Gu Mo exchanged a glance, both seeing the ruthlessness in each other's eyes. They exerted their strength at the same time, and their offensive suddenly surged.

"Lin Yan, today is your death day!"

Lin Yan's eyes narrowed, and his spiritual energy erupted, a dark blue light shooting into the sky. He shouted sharply, "If you want to seize the spiritual vein, you'll have to step over our corpses first!"

A disciple from Laoshan Mountain barely managed to block the fiery blade of the Burning Heaven Fire cultivator, but he was caught off guard by the poisoned bone claws of the Blood Fiend Cultivator behind him. The poisoned claws pierced straight through his shoulder, and pitch-black poisonous blood gushed out instantly. The disciple groaned, still desperately slashing with his longsword to kill the fire cultivator in front of him, but his spiritual energy was rapidly corroded by the deadly poison. He staggered and fell to the ground, the wound on his shoulder festering and his life force rapidly waning. Seeing this, Yun Xi hurriedly sent out a stream of warm spiritual energy to try to suppress the poison, but it was blocked by the scattered evil energy and fire. She couldn't save him in time and could only watch helplessly as the disciple died, his blood staining the rubble beneath him.

The Burning Heaven Sect's side wasn't faring much better. Several fire cultivators formed an array, unleashing their blazing flames, attempting to surround Shen Yue. However, he swept them aside with a single, violent spear strike, the force shattering the flames before them. The fine iron spear pierced through the chests of two men, scalding blood splattering across Shen Yue's blue robes. The remaining fire cultivators fled in terror.

The Blood Fiend Sect's evil cultivators were already fearless, but under Su Lingyue's precise and ruthless sword techniques, their casualties were even more severe. With a flash of sword light, an evil cultivator's throat was pierced, and blood mist spurted out; with a sweep of sword wind, an evil cultivator's meridians were severed, and he collapsed to the ground.

Seeing countless evil cultivators under his command die, the Bone Demon unleashed his ferocious aura. His dark, malevolent energy surged like waves. In the instant he dodged Su Lingyue's sharp sword light, he suddenly activated a forbidden technique.

Dozens of highly poisonous bone needles, gleaming with a dark light and carrying a strong killing intent, bypassed the frontal sword strikes and suddenly shot towards Su Lingyue from an extremely tricky blind spot!

Su Lingyue was focused on killing the two evil cultivators in front of her. Her body was airborne, her old strength exhausted and new strength yet to be generated. When she sensed the danger, there was no way to avoid it. She gritted her teeth and twisted her body, using her longsword to defend and deflect most of the bone needles, but one bone needle still pierced her left shoulder!

"Well!"

A muffled groan escaped her lips as the dark, deadly poison spread instantly through the wound, soaking her shoulder with black blood. Her sharp sword intent suddenly dissipated. She staggered and fell from mid-air, nearly dropping her sword. The excruciating pain in her left shoulder wound pierced her heart, and the poison coursed wildly through her meridians, leaving half of her body numb and stiff.

"Su Lingyue!" Shen Yue and Yun Xi exclaimed in surprise at the same time.

The Bone Demon chuckled sinisterly, then seized the opportunity to swing its blood-stained, withered bone, smashing it down towards Su Lingyue's head...