Although he was wary of the black-faced cultivator's current strength, the Cane Old Man held him in low regard.
Once he broke through to the Golden Core stage, the black-faced cultivator would no longer be his match.
“Juniors, I advise you not to be deceived by this sanctimonious hypocrite.”
“He is nothing but trouble. His words are as worthless as farts; not a single one can be trusted. You would be better off listening to me and letting my little darling eat you. At least then your time in the cultivation world won't have been entirely for nothing.”
The Old Woman tilted her chin, and the centipede shifted its course. Although its target remained the flying boat, it moved further away from the black-faced cultivator.
She tapped her tobacco pipe, knocking out some black ash. With a flick of her finger, the ash flew forward and landed on the centipede.
The centipede's carapace visibly darkened and grew glossier, and a faint black mist—similar to the one on the Old Woman's face—began to swirl around its body.
Initially, the black-faced cultivator had been secretly pleased, maintaining his air of righteous indignation.
However, when those two spoke, his heart skipped a beat, and he nearly lost his composure.
One of these juniors had finally softened their stance and was considering letting him on the boat; he couldn't let these two old fossils ruin it.
“Actions speak louder than words,” he said, gritting his teeth to force a kind expression. “From the very beginning, I have done nothing to harm you or your flying boat. My words have always matched my actions. You are young and inexperienced; do not let these two sow discord between us.”
Mu Chenze had been wavering because of the words from the Cane Old Man and the toxic Old Woman, but after hearing the black-faced cultivator, his expression hardened with resolve once more.
“I naturally trust you more than those two who are actually damaging our boat, Senior. Rest assured, I will open the array and let you in right now.”
As Mu Chenze spoke, he suddenly turned and moved to seize Gu Ningyun.
Jiang Yao raised his arm to block the attack. “Mu Chenze, get a grip! Don't trust him. If you open the array, none of us will survive!”
“If we open it, we might have a slim chance. If we don't, we're already dead.”
Jun Luo gripped his sword, hesitating for a long moment before finally making up his mind. He raised his peach wood sword.
“Jiang Yao, move aside. I don't want to hurt you.”
Jiang Yao froze in shock, and Gu Ningyun looked on in disbelief.
Her expression was filled with profound shock. “Jun Luo, Mu Chenze, what are you doing? Don't be so naive! They will never let us go!”
Jun Luo said nothing more and lunged forward with his sword.
Wen Xuan raised her mace to parry his strike. “Ningyun, Jiang Yao, stop making excuses for them. They aren't being naive; they're just terrified.”
As if his secret had been exposed, Jun Luo's attacks became even more ferocious.
Mu Chenze didn't bother to argue. He just gritted his teeth and fought Jiang Yao, his face flushing a deep red.
It was as if he still had a shred of conscience left and was ashamed to have his cowardice called out so bluntly. Yet, he didn't dare stop, terrified of losing his only lifeline—the black-faced cultivator.
Faced with the brutal reality of her companions' betrayal, Gu Ningyun's face turned pale, and the flying boat even wobbled slightly.
Seeing this, the Cane Old Man looked delighted.
“They're fighting amongst themselves! They won't last much longer. Toxic hag, why don't we cooperate? You keep Little Black busy so he doesn't swoop in at the end, and I'll attack the boat. Once we have it, we can fight to decide who it belongs to.”
“Get lost.”
The Old Woman didn't even give him a second glance. She pulled a mysterious-rank high-grade Swift-Walk Talisman from her storage bag.
She hesitated for a few moments, looking from the boat to the Cane Old Man and the black-faced cultivator, before steeling herself and slapping the talisman onto her body.
The Swift-Walk Talisman flared with spiritual light, and the Old Woman's speed surged. She was suddenly faster than the black-faced cultivator and almost as fast as the centipede.
Seeing this, the Cane Old Man also slapped a Swift-Walk Talisman on himself. “In that case, let the best man win!”
A flash of jealousy and anxiety crossed the black-faced cultivator's eyes.
To cultivate a sword intent prototype as early as possible, he had spent almost all his time practicing his sword and had little time to earn spirit stones. He simply couldn't afford a mysterious-rank Swift-Walk Talisman.
Previously, he hadn't felt much pressure because the two old fossils were slower than him. But now, both were slightly faster. If he hadn't been holding onto the tongue for leverage, he would have been left behind.
If those two took advantage of the juniors' infighting to strike first, all his efforts would be for naught.
Steeling his resolve, he pulled on the tongue, preparing to leap onto the flying boat's protective barrier.
Naturally, the Old Woman wouldn't allow it. She unleashed a palm-strike of toxic smoke at him.
This toxic smoke was clearly far more potent than her previous mist. The black-faced cultivator didn't dare tank it and was forced to swerve his sword to dodge.
On the flying boat, the infighting was fierce. Gu Ningyun's face was deathly pale, and the determination in her eyes had vanished.
Under her control, the boat wobbled erratically, lurching up and down, left and right.
The three pursuers were glued to the tail of the boat, still bickering and fighting amongst themselves. None of them noticed that their altitude had dropped to less than four hundred meters above the sea.
In the blink of an eye, the flying boat dropped another hundred meters, reaching the two-hundred-and-fifty-meter mark.
The toxic Old Woman paused for a fraction of a second, a flicker of doubt crossing her eyes.
Gu Ningyun glanced back, her eyes filled with the desperate determination of someone prepared for mutual destruction.
“Mu Chenze, Jun Luo... I never thought you two would be such spineless cowards! I would rather die than give this flying boat to anyone!”
With that, she steered the flying boat into a vertical dive toward the sea. They were soon only a hundred meters away from the churning waves.
The Old Woman's brief hesitation vanished, replaced by a frantic urgency.
The centipede had already overtaken the black-faced cultivator and was about to reach the boat.
The toxic Old Woman glanced at the sea. This area was some distance away from the two-faced whale. While the waves were large, it was merely due to the storm.
Hardening her heart, she continued the pursuit downward.
The black-faced cultivator and the Cane Old Man were not to be outdone and followed close behind.
Suddenly, the flying boat jerked five meters to the left.
The three pursuers saw it, but they were a split second too late. Their momentum carried them forward another five meters in their original direction.
At that moment, hundreds of water arrows suddenly coalesced in the air around them.
The toxic Old Woman was horrified and tried desperately to change direction.
The Cane Old Man was also scared out of his wits. He slammed a palm against the Old Woman, trying to use the recoil to escape.
No matter how fast their reactions were, they couldn't outrun the water arrows that already surrounded them.
In an instant, the two of them were riddled with holes like a hornet's nest, their flesh and blood splattering everywhere.
Even the giant centipede did not escape the slaughter.
Dozens of water arrows had also appeared out of thin air just three meters in front of where the flying boat had been. If the boat hadn't turned and had continued its original path, it would have been skewered through by the rank three demon beast's attack.
The black-faced cultivator, who was still being dragged along by the boat's tail via the tongue, watched this scene with lingering terror.
He hadn't expected that the two peak Foundation Establishment cultivators who had been competing with him for the boat just moments ago would die so abruptly under the water arrows.
The flying boat came to a momentary halt, and an ominous premonition rose in the black-faced cultivator's heart.
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