A furious look appeared on Bing Qianren's face as his body swayed incessantly in an attempt to evade the golden light, but he was a lot more sluggish than normal as his spiritual sense was being drawn into the silver vortex.
A crisp clang rang out as the golden light struck his neck, only to be repelled by an eruption of crimson light.
Within the crimson light was a jade badge that was as red as blood; it was a top-grade protective devilish treasure that had activated on its own to save him from that lethal strike just in the nick of time.
Even so, Bing Qianren's entire body was drenched in cold sweat, and he let loose a loud roar as fierce crimson winds erupted from his body. His spiritual sense was immediately forcibly swept back, and at the same time, he instantly vanished before reappearing over 100 feet away.
The streak of golden light shot forth toward him in pursuit in a flash, but he was already prepared and instantly opened his mouth to expel an inky-black ghostly head, which began to battle the golden light.
Right at this moment, a resounding boom rang out from the other side, and Old Man Yang was hurled through the air by the ghostly claw. However, he seemed to also be carrying a protective treasure. A layer of silver light flashed over his body, and immediately transformed into seven or eight projections that fled in all directions, thereby allowing him to survive the surprise attack as well.
A faint cry of surprise rang out, and spatial fluctuations erupted where Old Man Yang had stood a moment ago, and seven or eight streaks of black light shot forth out of thin air in pursuit of the projections. Immediately thereafter, a ball of black Qi emerged, within which stood a brocade-robed humanoid figure who was slowly withdrawing his hand.
The humanoid figure was extremely pale, but was identical to Bing Qianren in appearance, as if they were twin brothers.
A resounding boom rang out as the fleeing projections were all destroyed by the streaks of black light, but one of them expelled a ball of green light backward that canceled out the oncoming streak of black light.
The blurry projection then stopped and became clear again. Old Man Yang cast his gaze toward the humanoid figure within the black Qi, and said in a cold voice, "I was wondering why your cultivation base hadn't improved at all during all these years; I can see now that it's because you were busing cultivating this clone."
"Do you think I would follow you here without a backup plan? Call out your hidden companion as well. Qi Ling's secret treasures can only be obtained by one of us; there's no way we can split them evenly!" Bing Qianren said.
"Hmph, in that case, there's nothing else for me to say. Show yourself, Brother Ya. He may have a clone, but it's weaker than his true body; with our combined powers, there's still a very good chance that we can defeat him," Old Man Yang said with undisguised malice in his eyes.
"I knew that the map wouldn't be that easy to secure. After all, Fellow Daoist Bing was able to steal three holy bricks from right under the noses of the Seven Scourges of the Lightning Sea and the Heavenly Abode Mountain."
Immediately thereafter, golden light flashed, and a tall and broad barefoot man with a set of hideous features appeared.
The man was completely empty-handed, but was carrying a large golden gourd on his back, and was appraising Bing Qianren with a hint of a smile on his face.
"Devilish Lord Jin Hu!" Bing Qianren exclaimed at the sight of the hideous man.
Devilish Lord Jin Hu cupped his fist in a salute as he smiled, and said, "I didn't think that you would've heard of me; I've also heard much about you, Fellow Daoist Bing. I'm looking forward to facing you today."
Contrary to his rugged and unsightly appearance, the devilish lord spoke like a refined and unfathomable being.
"Looks like I'll just have to kill both of you here to claim Qi Ling's secret treasures for myself. I guess this is well worth the several centuries I've spent plotting for this," Bing Qianren suddenly cackled as he appraised his two assailants.
"What do you mean by that?" Old Man Yang was immediately struck by a sense of foreboding upon hearing this, as was Devilish Lord Jin Hu.
However, Bing Qianren didn't offer any explanation and merely laid both of his hands onto his waist with a cold smile on his face.
Two leather pouches, one black and one red, flew out in unison, then tipped themselves over to release a ball of crimson light and a swarm of black insects.
The crimson light appeared to be quite ordinary, but it was split up into seven barely discernible layers of different shades, and was emitting a faint buzzing sound.
As for the thumb-sized devilish insects in the swarm, they were completely inky-black in color and had unsettling white skull patterns on their backs.
"Those are Seven Kill Blood Baleful Qi and Blackbone Devilish Insects! Fellow Daoist Yang, we have to retreat!" Devilish Lord Jin Hu exclaimed upon seeing this, and he immediately laid a hand onto his golden gourd, upon which it instantly flew up into the air, then transformed into a burst of golden light that swept him up before flying away.
Old Man Yang's heart also sank at the sight of the crimson light and insect swarm, and he knew that he had underestimated Bing Qianren. Thus, he immediately swept a sleeve through the air, and a burst of green flames rose up from beneath his feet as he fled toward the same direction.
It was quite clear that the two of them were extremely fearful of the crimson light and black insect swarm.
"Don't you think it's too late to be running now? It's taken me all my years in Blood Crow City to nurture these creatures, and they were meant precisely for the two of you!" Bing Qianren guffawed as he made a hand seal, and the crimson light and insect swarm immediately surged forth in pursuit at an even faster speed than the two fleeing devils.
Old Man Yang and Devilish Lord Jin Hu had naturally also discovered this, and they frantically expelled mouthfuls of blood essence to raise their own speed.
Bing Qianren's expression darkened upon seeing this, and he and his clone shot forth in unison as streaks of grey light, plunging into the cloud of Seven Kill Blood Baleful Qi up ahead after just a few flashes.
Immediately thereafter, their bodies blurred and released layers of crimson light, and they seemed to have melted away within this light.
As a result, the Seven Kill Blood Baleful Qi were sped up by about twofold, catching up to the two fleeing devils in just a few flashes before skirting around them to intercept them from the front.
The crimson light faded, and Bing Qianren re-emerged alongside his clone, both with sinister smiles on their faces.
Old Man Yang and Devilish Lord Jin Hu were forced to stop, and they hurriedly looked back to find that they had been sandwiched right between the cloud of Seven Kill Blood Baleful Qi and the swarm of insects flying toward them from behind.
The two exchanged a glance upon seeing this, and both of their expressions had darkened significantly.
Old Man Yang was quite a decisive character, and he immediately decided, "Alright, you win. I'll hand over this final holy brick to you in exchange for our lives."
"Sure, hand over the holy brick so I can verify its authenticity, and I'll let you go once I confirm that nothing is amiss," Bing Qianren immediately agreed.
At this point, the swarm of insects and Seven Kill Blood Baleful Qi had formed a massive circle that completely trapped Old Man Yang and Devilish Lord Jin Hu.
Bing Qianren's fast response came as quite a surprise to Old Man Yang, and his brows furrowed slightly with skepticism.
"Before I give you the holy brick, you have to swear a vow on your inner demons and sign this blood pact that was refined by a Sacred Ancestor," Old Man Yang said in a cautious manner.
"I can do that, but before that, you have to show me whether you actually have the holy brick. Otherwise, I'd rather destroy you, then search your souls to determine the whereabouts of the holy brick," Bing Qianren said in a cold voice.
"Brother Jin…" Old Man Yang turned to his companion with a dark expression.
"We can let Fellow Daoist Bing take a look at the holy brick. If he dares to try and attack us, we'll just have to destroy the holy brick," Jin Hu said in a cold voice.
"You're right, Brother Jin; I'll show Fellow Daoist Bing the true holy brick right away. However, just as you did before, you can only observe it from afar using that secret technique of yours," Old Man Yang said.
"Of course. If the holy brick is genuine, then I'll swear the vow and sign the blood pact right away," Bing Qianren replied in an expressionless manner.
Old Man Yang nodded before opening his mouth to expel a ball of black Qi, within which was a green wooden box that was around half a foot in length.
He laid a hand onto the box, and the lid flew off, following which a brick that was identical to the one from before emerged.
"This is the true fourth holy brick. If you want it, then…" All of a sudden, Old Man Yang's words were cut off as a spatial rift opened up in front of him, and a golden hand reached out in a casual manner before grabbing onto the holy brick.
"Crap!"
"Don't you dare!"
Old Man Yang and Devilish Lord Jin Hu faltered momentarily upon seeing this before immediately springing into action.
Old Man Yang opened his mouth to expel several inky-black ghostly heads that flew directly toward the golden hand, while Devilish Lord Jin Hu swept a sleeve through the air to send a sword projection that was over 100 feet in length hurtling through the air, trying to slice the golden hand in half along with its owner.
