Volume 2 Chapter 26

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Volume 2 Chapter 26: Astonishment

Although Xu Qingfan’s Spirit Qi was almost depleted, leaving him defenseless against the overwhelming spells, he still clung to a glimmer of hope, mustering his remaining strength to transform the "Three Meters Green Silk" into a green mist to shield his companions. Meanwhile, Lv Ziqing and Shang Nianyao also made their final efforts, with Lv Ziqing expanding his turtle shell artifact several times larger to float above them, and Shang Nianyao using his last bit of Spirit Qi to conjure a stone shield in front of them.

However, the power of the Five Demon Generals’ spells was exceedingly strong. Each of them was already superior to Xu Qingfan and his companions, and given that Xu Qingfan and the others were almost out of Spirit Qi, the difference was evident. Although the three layers of defense exhausted their strength, they still offered no resistance to the powerful attacks of the Five Demon Generals. In an instant, Shang Nianyao’s stone shield shattered, Lv Ziqing’s turtle shell artifact fell to the ground out of control, and Xu Qingfan’s "Three Meters Green Silk" lost its glow completely.

In that moment, there was no more protection in front of Xu Qingfan and the others.

Seeing the deadly fire, water, thunder, and stones rushing at them, Xu Qingfan and his companions closed their eyes in despair, quietly awaiting their fate.

But just as they gave up on resisting, a golden light began to shimmer around them. Within that light, a broad and solid stone wall suddenly rose around them, shielding them completely. As this stone wall appeared, the Five Demon Generals’ attacks came crashing down. Sparks flew, and stone fragments scattered, but the wall held strong and untouched, as if nothing had happened. Thanks to this unexpected stone wall, Xu Qingfan and his friends remained unharmed.

Having closed their eyes and awaited death, Xu Qingfan and his companions found themselves shocked to realize that nothing had happened, prompting them to open their eyes. To their amazement, they saw a broad and solid stone wall in front of them, not only blocking their view but also stopping the deadly attacks from the Five Demon Generals.

Just as Xu Qingfan and the others were stunned, the stone wall suddenly emitted a faint yellow light, then transformed into the most primitive Earth Spirit Qi and dispersed, revealing the scene before Xu Qingfan and his companions once again.

Before them, two elderly men with white hair appeared out of nowhere, dressed similarly to Xuan Xiu in simple clothes and bare feet, their hidden aura no less powerful than Xuan Xiu’s. In the sky, fiery clouds had formed at some point, with the silhouettes of over ten cultivators faintly visible within. Dense fiery rain fell from the clouds, painting the world red, while the crowded army of demons and mutated beasts on the square below let out cries of pain and despair, filling the air with lament.

Seeing the attire of the two elderly men before them, Xu Qingfan and his group breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that reinforcements from Penance Valley had finally arrived, ensuring their safety. The stone wall that had blocked the magic of the Five Demon Generals was evidently the work of one of the elderly men standing before them.

However, after rescuing Xu Qingfan and the others, the two elders showed no intention of speaking with them. Instead, they stared intently at the three strongest members of the Five Demon Generals, who wore similar attire, clearly individuals from Penance Valley controlled by the demon orb.

"Thank you, Venerable Ones, for your timely rescue. We will be eternally grateful," Xu Qingfan said, ignoring everything else and hastily walking with Lv Ziqing and Shang Nianyao to the side of the two elderly men, bowing deeply in thanks.

Hearing Xu Qingfan’s words, one of the elders, taller than the other, turned and calmly said to Xu Qingfan and his companions, "No need for thanks, my taoist friends. Since you have risked your lives to prevent the demon orb from harming the world, it was our duty to rescue you. Now, you should find a secluded place to meditate and restore your Spirit Qi to heal your internal injuries. Delaying will be detrimental to your future development. Rest assured, my friend Dai and I will protect you here, and there will be no problems."

The other elder, however, continued to fix his gaze solely on the Five Demon Generals, without sparing a glance at Xu Qingfan and the others.

Curiously, the Five Demon Generals did not launch their usual frenzied attack on the group, leaving Xu Qingfan and his companions puzzled. Upon closer examination, they noticed a faint Five-colored glow surrounding each Demon General, with five differently-colored spiritual tablets suspended quietly in mid-air around them.

"The Five-Element Confinement!" Xu Qingfan murmured softly to himself as he observed the scene. He had seen this formation before during the sect’s grand competition seven years ago. Lü Shangqing had used this very formation to defeat Bai Qingfu, who was far stronger than him. Although Bai Qingfu had hidden his true strength, the effectiveness of this formation was evident.

Clearly, it was the silent elder who used a formation to trap the five Demon Generals, preventing them from launching a wild attack on everyone.

Seeing this scene, Xu Qingfan and the others finally relaxed and stumbled toward the "Sky Melting Curtain" as they urgently needed to meditate to restore their Spirit Qi and heal their internal injuries.

As they were leaving, Xu Qingfan vaguely heard the elder ask, "Taoist friend Dai, do you think Taoist friend Xuanfang and the others can recover?"

"It’s very difficult, the hope is faint," the always-silent elder sighed softly.

Hearing the two elders’ conversation, Xu Qingfan felt much better, as he had been somewhat uneasy about having killed seven Demon Generals.

Just then, Naxiu’s thunderous roar suddenly echoed between heaven and earth. Xu Qingfan and the others couldn’t help but turn to look, only to see countless bolts of lightning, ten times stronger than what Xuan Xiu had used before, relentlessly striking Naxiu. Meanwhile, the demon orb in Naxiu’s hand had vanished without a trace. As for Xuan Xiu and Bao Wei, who had been fighting Naxiu, they were sitting on the ground with closed eyes, meditating, while two cultivators from Penance Valley stood guard.

It turned out that after Naxiu had used the demon orb to launch a sneak attack on Bao Wei and Xuan Xiu, he was about to retrieve it when a massive bolt of lightning suddenly struck from the sky, hitting the orb as it was returning to Naxiu. Under this incredibly powerful lightning strike, Naxiu lost control of the demon orb in an instant!

Without Naxiu’s control, the demon orb began to fall rapidly toward the ground. Just as it was about to hit the earth, a jade box filled with Spirit Qi suddenly appeared and swiftly enclosed the orb before Naxiu could regain control. After the jade box encapsulated the orb, Naxiu was horrified to find that his mental connection with it had abruptly severed!

Once the demon orb was enclosed by the jade box, it quickly flew into the hands of a dignified middle-aged man.

Seeing the scene, Naxiu was furious and swiftly flew towards the middle-aged man, intending to reclaim his magic pearl. But just as he had flown a few yards away, the lightning that had struck the pearl reappeared, striking Naxiu repeatedly. It was only then that Naxiu noticed seven elders in the distance, quietly floating in the sky, using a joint lightning spell to block him.

The thunder technique is powerful not only because it contains the purest energy of heaven and earth, but also because once it’s cast, unless blocked beforehand, it’s impossible to evade. The lightning spell cast by these seven high-level cultivators, whose strength was similar to Xuan Xiu’s, was incredibly formidable. Although Naxiu cried out in pain after being hit repeatedly by the lightning, and the black mist around him was scattered halfway, he had no intention of confronting the seven elders who were casting the spell. Instead, he doggedly pursued the jade box encapsulating the magic pearl.

Naxiu knew that although his power was strong now, it wasn’t from his own cultivation—it was a gift from the magic pearl. Without the pearl continuously supplying him with strength, his power would be as illusory as a mirage, diminishing with use. So, he would rather be injured by the celestial lightning than lose the pearl. As long as he could reclaim it, no matter the extent of his injuries, he could quickly recover completely.

Finally, under Naxiu’s relentless pursuit, he quickly closed the distance with the middle-aged man holding the jade box.

Seeing Naxiu’s fierce expression and the overwhelming demonic energy radiating from him, the middle-aged man remained calm. With a cold snort, he raised his hand, and a wall of green flame suddenly appeared in front of him, blocking Naxiu’s path.

But Naxiu, unfazed by the sudden appearance of the green flame wall, twisted his body in an unusual manner, dodged the wall, and swiftly reached the middle-aged man’s side. At the same time, he conjured a black longsword in his hand, striking towards the man’s head with incredible speed.

"Nanming Li Fire!"

"Floating Cloud Step! Swift Soul Sword Technique!"

Seeing this, Xu Qingfan and the other two, who were about to return to the "Sky Melting Curtain" to recuperate, exclaimed in surprise.

The surprising thing for Lv Ziqing and Shang Nianyao was that the fire technique used by the middle-aged man was the legendary "Nanming Li Fire," known for its power to burn everything under the sky. It’s said that among advanced fire practitioners, only a few can master it, but if they do, its power far surpasses ordinary fire spells.

Xu Qingfan was amazed by Naxiu’s movement skills, used to dodge the sudden wall of fire, and his sword technique when attacking the middle-aged man. These skills are known as "Floating Cloud Step" and "Swift Spirit Sword Technique," which were secret techniques of the Xu family not shared with outsiders. Even Xu Qingfan, who wasn’t fond of martial arts and had little talent, did not learn them.

How did this mysterious Naxiu come to know these two secret Xu family techniques?