Shi Yu activated several defensive spirit talismans in quick succession. The Iron Skin Talisman, Earth Shield Talisman, and others flared to life one after another. Instantly, spiritual light shimmered around her body, and colorful protective shields lit up before her.
Sheltered behind these shields, she tossed out a handful of offensive spirit talismans as though they cost nothing. In an instant, flames and lightning erupted with thunderous roar, showering sparks and dust in all directions.
The flurry of talismans temporarily kept the three Wu brothers from approaching. Wu Hao's expression chilled. “Tch, a kid hiding his true strength.”
Beside her, Xie Cheng stood in stunned silence, at a loss for words.
The value of the talismans Shi Yu had thrown out alone far exceeded the bounty he had offered. He couldn't fathom why this young fellow Daoist had accepted his bounty in the first place.
However, now was not the time to dwell on such thoughts. Letting the thought pass, Xie Cheng focused entirely on suppressing the poison inside his body to regain some strength to fight.
Seeing that the talismans could buy them a moment, Shi Yu seized the chance to toss a bottle of pills she had refined to Xie Cheng, uttering succinctly, “Detoxification Pills.”
Xie Cheng caught it, poured out a pill, and swallowed it. After adjusting his breath for just a moment, he looked at her with a surprised expression.
Though both were Detoxification Pills, the efficacy of the one Shi Yu gave him was far superior to his own. The moment he took it, the poison in his body showed signs of neutralizing.
“Do you still have the strength to fight back?” Shi Yu asked Xie Cheng while continuously activating talismans, doing everything she could to hold off the onslaught.
If anyone present could stand against the three Wu brothers, it would be Xie Cheng, who possessed the highest cultivation.
Xie Cheng struggled to his feet and took a deep breath. “I will do my best. But as for my young master... I hope fellow Daoist can look after him a bit.”
Shi Yu refused without a second thought. “I can barely protect myself.”
She had used 《Lesser Swallow Steps》 on the round trip to harvest the Dragon Bamboo Grass, and had played 《No Thought of Return》 to deal with the swarms of toxic creatures in the toxic swamp. More than half of her spiritual energy had already been drained.
Right now, using her spiritual energy just to activate these talismans wouldn't last much longer. How could she possibly spare the energy to protect another person?
Xie Cheng opened his mouth, realizing the truth of her words. How could he pin his hopes on Shi Yu, who was only at the third layer of the Qi Refining Realm?
She had already done more than enough. Asking for more was truly... shameless of him.
He said no more and solemnly summoned his artifact.
Spiritual energy flowed into the artifact, but just as its glow brightened, he coughed up a large mouthful of dark blood.
Seeing that despite his claims, he was in no state to fight, Shi Yu knew relying on him was out of the question.
Frowning, she separated one of the two Spirit Wandering Talismans she had been holding and handed it to him. “Do you recognize this?”
Xie Cheng took it, his eyes narrowing.
Of course he recognized the Spirit Wandering Talisman. Though it was only a Tier-2 spirit talisman with many drawbacks in practice, it was nonetheless a rare life-saving asset.
Spatial talismans and artifacts of this nature were far more difficult to craft than ordinary ones of the same tier, making them extremely precious.
Seeing his expression, Shi Yu understood. She shifted her gaze back to the battle. “It seems I don't need to waste breath explaining its use.”
Xie Cheng pulled Xie Zhixun close, his eyes full of gratitude as he lowered his voice. “Thank you, young friend. If we are fortunate enough to survive this ordeal, in the future—”
“The three Wu brothers likely possess a tracking technique,” Shi Yu interrupted directly, in no mood for promises or gratitude at this life-or-death moment. “Even if you use this, they will probably still find you. It will only buy us a little time.”
Hearing this, Xie Cheng nodded solemnly.
Shi Yu wasn't doing this purely out of kindness to save the master and servant. It was also to buy time for her own escape.
If everyone else died and she escaped alone using the Spirit Wandering Talisman, the three Wu brothers would focus all their tracking efforts on her.
By having Xie Cheng take Xie Zhixun and splitting into two groups, even if they were tracked, the Wu brothers would have to split up to pursue them.
That way, her own chances of survival would be higher.
Seeing fewer and fewer survivors and her own spiritual energy nearly exhausted, Shi Yu knew she had done all she could. Without hesitation, she channeled her remaining spiritual energy into the Spirit Wandering Talisman.
The dragon-like seal markings on the talisman paper lit up one by one, giving off a silver luminescence along the drawn strokes.
The Spirit Wandering Talisman would randomly teleport her to a location within a three-hundred-li radius. Shi Yu silently prayed that the talisman would be cooperative and take her somewhere relatively safe.
“Just don't let it be a spirit beast den or something...”
At the exact instant the Spirit Wandering Talisman activated, a poison-tipped sleeve arrow shot toward her from afar.
Shi Yu's eyes narrowed. She tilted her head slightly, dodging the arrow by a hair's breadth.
The sleeve arrow shattered the jade hairpin in her hair, and her neatly bound boy's topknot immediately unravelled.
Shi Yu's silky black hair cascaded down to her waist, making her otherwise plain face appear striking and vibrant.
The three Wu brothers only caught a glimpse of her fluttering long hair before her figure vanished on the spot.
Before they could react, Xie Cheng and Xie Zhixun vanished as well.
Wu Hao froze in shock, then blurted out, “A teleportation-type talisman!”
The three were furious. They never expected a sure thing to turn out like this.
Not daring to delay, they slaughtered the remaining survivors, hurriedly gathered the valuables from the corpses without inspecting them closely, and frantically began discussing their next move.
“How could they have teleportation talismans!”
Wu Qian frowned in thought, then suddenly remembered something and stammered, “I-I remember! He—he's that Shi Yu!”
“Who? Who is Shi Yu?” Wu Hao asked in a deep voice.
Wu Qian's eyes flickered with anxiety. “He's a talisman master! A talisman master! Back during the spirit beast riot at the defense line formed by Yuxu Sect, I caught a glimpse of him!”
“The talismans sold at Tongyi Pavilion that are several degrees more powerful than ordinary ones all come from his hands!”
Hearing this, Wu Hao flew into a rage and slapped him across the face. “You fool! Why didn't you say so earlier?!”
Wu Qian mumbled, “I only thought he looked vaguely familiar before and didn't pay attention... I only just remembered...”
Wu Hao took a deep breath and muttered, “The talismans he crafts are extraordinary, and he even has teleportation talismans on him. He must come from some major sect or prominent family, or perhaps has a powerful master backing him...”
Wu Qian and Wu Shi asked nervously, “Big Brother, what do we do now?”
“Xie Cheng and the kid probably both have extraordinary backgrounds. If we let them escape like this and they come back for revenge later, we... we...”
“What else can we do!” Wu Hao's eyes turned ferocious, his face turning pale and dark by turns. “We must find them and kill every last one of them!”
Wu Shi calmed down and said, “Though that kid is a talisman master, his own strength is only at the third layer of the Qi Refining Realm. As long as we watch out for his talismans, he won't be hard to handle.”
“As for Xie Cheng, the poison in his body can't be cleared quickly. His strength has plummeted, and he's dragging along a deadweight. We just need to find him as quickly as possible.”
Wu Hao exhaled heavily and nodded. “They're all tainted with the pollen I scattered.”
“We'll split up to pursue them.” He released several glowing blue butterflies. “Follow the Tracking Butterflies. You two go together, and I'll go alone.”
The other two nodded repeatedly.
The deep blue butterfly wings fluttered gently as they flew gracefully off in different directions.
Rate on N.U.
