Chapter 81: Ambush and Counter-Ambush

Pig Demon Forest. This was a mountainous forest typically used for training by Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators. The forest was densely populated with pig demons, and though thickly wooded, the terrain was relatively flat with limited dangers. Many Golden Core cultivators and above would pass through Pig Demon Forest to save time. Yang Pingzhi, a Nascent Soul elder from the Seven Extremes Sect's Art Extremity Peak, was currently traversing Pig Demon Forest en route to several important mineral sites belonging to the sect. Her expression appeared calm yet slightly anxious, as if rushing to provide support. Yet deep in her eyes lurked a terrifying calmness. Her gaze casually swept over several inconspicuous locations while her lifebound treasure remained ready to activate at any moment. The first wave would be the most dangerous - she would face an ambush from three experts of equal cultivation level. Without preparation, this would be extremely perilous. But prepared as she was, she felt confident in withstanding this assault. "They're coming!" *3 Hidden in the shadows, three Nascent Soul demonic elders lay in wait. To avoid alerting Seven Extremes Sect's Nascent Soul experts with formation fluctuations, they hadn't set up any arrays. Yet they were confident that with careful planning against an unsuspecting target, the ambush would succeed. As Yang Pingzhi flew over a particular section of forest, the three Nascent Soul demonic cultivators struck simultaneously! In the sky above, thousands of Heavenly Demons materialized out of thin air, transforming into towering demonic shadows that dove downward! [Demonic Divine Ability: Heavenly Demon Dance!] From the surrounding forest, four flying corpses pounced with lightning speed! [Corpse Path Divine Ability: Thousand Miles in a Day!] From the earth below, dark ghostly energy billowed upward, instantly transforming the surroundings into a nether realm! [Ghost Path Divine Ability: Netherworld Ghost Domain!] The three Nascent Soul demonic cultivators had opened with their most lethal techniques! In an instant, Yang Pingzhi found herself in a seemingly inescapable deadly situation! Yang Pingzhi's eyes narrowed sharply. In the next moment, a long red-tasseled spear appeared in her hands! [Lifebound Treasure Self-Detonation: Desperate Strike!] The middle section of her red-tasseled spear shattered instantly as a mouthful of concentrated vital essence blood sprayed from Yang Pingzhi's mouth onto the suddenly protruding spearhead! Her body merged with the spear, clinging to the spearhead as it shot forward. The spearhead concentrated formidable Nascent Soul power, arriving with unbelievable speed - striking first despite moving last! It slammed violently into one of the flying corpses, splitting open a massive gash in the golden corpse's torso as Yang Pingzhi and the spearhead shot straight through! She had torn open the encirclement, escaping ten miles away in a single breath! The three demons - Vulture, Mad Demon, and Mistwalker - froze momentarily, clearly not expecting such an extremely decisive reaction. The speed of her response to the ambush, her quick thinking to break the encirclement, and her ruthless decision-making surpassed all their expectations. "After her!" But how could three Nascent Soul experts let Yang Pingzhi escape so easily? With her lifebound treasure nearly destroyed, most of her vital essence blood expended, and her strength less than 20-30% of peak condition - if they didn't kill her now, when would they? Their pursuit speed skyrocketed, rapidly closing the distance to Yang Pingzhi. Vulture sneered coldly: "What a formidable Immortal Yang! Quick reaction indeed, but today you'll fall into our demonic sect's hands. I've yet to taste a Yang family woman!" His eerie laughter went unanswered - not only by the fleeing Yang Pingzhi ahead, but even his companions Mad Demon and Mistwalker remained silent. Vulture's smile stiffened slightly as he couldn't help asking: "Why aren't you two playing along?" "Focus on pursuit, no nonsense! Demonic cultivators die from talking too much!" Mistwalker retorted. Mad Demon's eyes flickered as he sensed something unusual. As a precaution, he activated a contingency plan - a ripple of soul energy flashed briefly within the damaged corpse's head that had been struck earlier. Mad Demon finally responded: "We're too close to Seven Extremes Sect - make this quick!" Vulture's expression darkened, as if he was the only unreliable one here. The three demons rapidly closed in on Yang Pingzhi. Without hesitation, Yang Pingzhi repeatedly struck her chest to activate more vital essence blood while simultaneously burning her Nascent Soul. Waves of even more powerful Nascent Soul energy surged forth, stirring heaven and earth to dramatically increase her speed, repeatedly extending the distance! In the blink of an eye, the four had already traversed three thousand miles! As Yang Pingzhi passed over a particular mountain peak, her gaze briefly met with something below before she flashed past. The three demons following close behind also crossed the peak in an instant. Then - suddenly! Heaven and earth inverted! The mountain peak turned upside down! The three Nascent Soul demonic cultivators' expressions changed drastically! Horrified, they looked around. "Qiankun Inversion Four Symbols Grand Formation - activate!" Four Nascent Soul cultivators sat firmly at the cardinal directions as four pillars of light shot into the sky, connecting heaven and earth to instantly form an isolated formation space! The inverted heaven and earth marked the formation's completion! The entire world began pressing down on the three Nascent Soul demonic cultivators, their expressions turning extremely ugly! Beyond the four main formation controllers stood eight additional Nascent Soul cultivators watching them with icy gazes! Twelve Nascent Soul righteous cultivators in total! Among them, Vulture even recognized several Nascent Soul elders from other righteous sects! This was a premeditated ambush all along! But how was this possible? "You..." Vulture's fingers trembled as he looked at the pale-faced but calmly meditating Yang Pingzhi in the distance, realizing his doom had arrived! It wasn't the enemy's cunning he feared, but their ruthlessness surpassing his own! This wasn't acting - she had truly destroyed her lifebound treasure! Even with preparation, this would severely damage her foundation, requiring extensive recovery time. Did she care nothing for future breakthroughs? Vulture turned to his two companions: "Friends, it seems we must fight desperately now. Even if we perish here, we won't let these righteous cultivators off easily!" "Kill one to break even, kill two for profit!" Mad Demon's eyes turned icy, his voice filled with madness. "Death is but death!" Mistwalker also responded to Vulture. The three exchanged glances, their eyes filled with determination! "Kill! Kill! Kill!" "Divine Ability..." A fierce and brutal battle commenced within the formation. Twelve Nascent Soul righteous cultivators ambushing three Nascent Soul demons with a grand formation - this was an inescapable death trap! Hoping to trade one life for another? Utterly impossible! Two hours later. The movements within the formation ceased. Righteous cultivators began collecting their spoils. Suddenly, one Nascent Soul cultivator's expression changed: "Besides Vulture, both Mistwalker and Mad Demon's storage rings are missing!" Yang Pingzhi sighed upon hearing this: "I was still too hasty and revealed a flaw!" "You did well enough given their paranoid natures!" "At most some split souls or remnant spirits escaped. Even if they possess new bodies, their future threat is minimal. We've achieved our primary objective!" A Seven Extremes Sect elder smiled. "Order counterattacks at all outposts!" Another elder declared. "Agreed!" Instantly, the elders sent out their messages. At Seven Extremes Sect outposts that had been barely holding on while awaiting reinforcements, defensive formations suddenly blazed with radiant light, dispersing surrounding ghosts, demons, and monsters! Inside these outposts that originally held only hundreds of disciples, two to three thousand cultivators suddenly emerged - not just from Seven Extremes Sect but other righteous sects as well. "Counterattack! Counterattack! Slaughter these demonic bastards!" They charged from the outposts toward the demonic cultivators! "Dammit! The plan's gone wrong! Retreat!" Seeing several Core Formation cultivators appear, the demonic commander immediately turned to flee without a second thought for his subordinates! While two Core Formation cultivators pursued the fleeing commander, the other two directly attacked the demonic Golden Core cultivators! Generals against generals? Kings against kings? Sorry - this was a massacre! Between righteousness and demonic paths, there were no real rules. This was a premeditated, well-planned counter-ambush. The three great demonic sects suffered heavy losses. Somewhere in Pig Demon Forest. A zombie head flew into a dark cave. From the zombie's eyes emerged a weakened soul. "Cough! Cough!" Mad Demon coughed violently, streams of pure soul energy dissipating and worsening his injuries. Yet his eyes still shone with relief. Thank goodness! He had kept a backup plan! He had left a split soul in the damaged flying corpse as a contingency measure - now it had truly saved his life! Moreover, he had kept his main storage ring with this split soul. Though his main body's destruction had damaged this split soul as well, leaving it severely injured, at least he still lived. He quickly retrieved his storage ring and consumed a pill. Like a physical body, his soul seemed to contain meridians through which the pill's effects spread, repairing soul damage. "Who leaked our plans? That Southern Palace Star Cultivator? No, he couldn't be this capable. Then who? That Founding Ancestor?" He couldn't help muttering to himself. Suddenly. He sensed something amiss in his surroundings. Warily observing around, he found nothing unusual beyond the howling yin winds. Feeling inexplicably uneasy, Mad Demon didn't hesitate to relocate his split soul. But Su Yuan had already locked onto his position! An overwhelming pressure suddenly descended upon Mad Demon's split soul! The powerful suppression instantly slowed the split soul's movements! Though souls could move much faster than physical bodies, it was useless against this area suppression! At the Soul Transformation level, this pressure could suppress even a peak-condition Mad Demon by 30%. Now facing only a severely injured split soul, his power was reduced to pitiful levels! Mad Demon looked around fearfully but couldn't locate the source of this pressure. "Senior! Senior spare me! I beg-" Before he could finish. The Big Dipper in the sky suddenly shone brilliantly! Seven starlights transformed into seven star swords, gathering fire, earth, and metal concepts while infused with stellar intent, descending with thunderous momentum! Fierce in power! Swift in speed! The suppressed split soul had no means to evade! Mad Demon took out a treasure weapon from his storage ring to block. But with his soul energy so depleted, how long could he last? As starlight rained down, his treasure weapon was knocked away. When the swords struck his body, their extreme destructive power worsened his injuries. In the end, Mad Demon didn't die from Su Yuan's long-range attack - but from his own injuries erupting! The noisy forest soon fell silent. All demonic beasts sensing the commotion hid away, not daring to make a sound.