However, Jiang Yifan was no pushover.
He had long anticipated that the opponent might try to trip them up during the high-speed chase, and his peripheral vision remained locked onto that restless martial monk!
At the moment the monk’s body shifted, Jiang Yifan’s footwork shifted in a mysterious pattern. His body suddenly slid half a step toward the rear side, narrowly avoiding the fierce collision!
At the same time, his free left hand had already secretly gripped a small and exquisite bronze seal. He instantly poured spiritual energy into it, causing it to emit a heavy, earth-yellow light!
With a flick of his wrist, Jiang Yifan didn’t smash the seal at the monk. Instead, he skillfully pressed it toward the ground beside him.
"Buzz!"
A low hum sounded as a solid, heavy wall of earth-yellow light rose from the ground, precisely appearing beside the monk, who was leaning forward slightly due to his overextended momentum!
"Bang!"
Unable to stop himself, the monk’s shoulder slammed heavily into the sudden wall of light!
The wall trembled violently, light flowing across its surface, but the counter-shock was solid and unforgiving.
The monk felt a massive force surge through him. He stumbled, his footing becoming unstable as he swayed toward the edge of the crimson elimination circle behind and to his side!
"Senior Brother, be careful!" a cry of alarm came from the Mingguang Sect team!
The monk’s face changed drastically. In a panic, he slammed his demon-subduing pestle into the ground, using the leverage to force his body to twist, narrowly stabilizing himself at the very edge of the red light.
The sneak attack had failed and resulted in a counterattack, leaving the Mingguang Sect’s intentions fully exposed.
Huineng’s face darkened. He simply stopped pretending, chanting a high-pitched Buddhist name, though his voice carried a hint of severity: "Amitabha! In the competition for the secret realm, everyone uses their own means! Fellow Daoists, forgive me!"
Before his voice had even faded, the thin, small Golden Core monk beside him immediately flicked his sleeve. Several fine needles shimmering with faint golden light shot silently toward the lower bodies of the Five Elements Dao Sect team, specifically targeting ankles and calves to interfere with their running!
"Shameless!" Duan Xianxing cursed, his footsteps shifting rapidly to dodge the golden needles, while simultaneously flicking his hand to send the fine needles back.
On the other side, the Golden Core monk holding the precept knife also moved again. However, he didn't dare use full strength in his slashes, fearing that the recoil would affect his own speed.
With a phantom slash of his precept knife, several concentrated but faint arcs of blade qi snaked along the ground. They specifically targeted where the Five Elements Dao Sect members were about to step, forcing them to frequently change their footwork, which inevitably slowed their speed slightly.
"Hmph, petty tricks!" Zhu Yinxi snorted coldly. He didn't look back, yet it was as if he had eyes in the back of his head. He pointed his fingers like a sword, and several water pillars shot out precisely, shattering the incoming faint blade qi mid-air, turning them into scattering specks of spiritual light.
He struck with great precision, consuming minimal spiritual energy, not affecting his speed at all as he led Feng Weilan in their dash.
Naturally, the others weren't about to sit and wait for death either. Threads of spiritual energy, almost imperceptible to the eye, flowed from Feng Qingping’s hands, constantly being laid out on the open ground between the two teams.
These threads were extremely fragile and would break upon contact, but they were enough to trip an opponent at a critical moment or cause their pace to falter for a second.
"Amitabha, Fellow Daoist has good methods!"
Seeing that their harassment was ineffective, Huineng frowned. He muttered an incantation and flicked a point of faint Buddhist light toward the front of the Five Elements Dao Sect team. It seemed intended to blend into the mist and interfere with their judgment of the path ahead.
"Huineng, you bald bastard! You’re chanting just to mess with our sound-based navigation!" Liu Qingyang jumped in frustration. His cultivation was lower, and as a refinery master, he was more sensitive to this kind of divine sense interference.
Fortunately, Ling Suxin directly threw her lotus lamp forward. That patch of faint Buddhist light was instantly dispersed, stabilizing the aura in front of the team.
At this moment, both sides were holding their breath, trying to create trouble for the other while ensuring they didn't fall behind, all while managing their spiritual energy consumption to avoid running out of steam later.
This scene, rather than a life-or-death battle, was more like an extreme racing obstacle course that tested micro-management and mental fortitude!
"This fight is... too frustrating!" Duan Xianxing dodged an earth spike technique and couldn't help but complain.
Just then, Li Nanzhu suddenly tugged on Feng Qingping’s sleeve.
Feng Qingping understood immediately. Her pace slowed half a beat without drawing attention, bringing Li Nanzhu toward the rear of the team. This angle allowed Li Nanzhu’s attacks to more directly cover the Mingguang Sect team running alongside them.
Li Nanzhu quickly reached into the storage bag at her waist and pulled out several black spheres. She threw them fiercely toward the middle of the Mingguang Sect team while shouting loudly to draw their attention: "Hah! Take a hit from your grandma!"
Hearing this, the members of the Mingguang Sect instinctively looked over warily. They saw several black, round objects flying toward them with a faint whistling sound, their spiritual energy fluctuations extremely obscure.
However, because Li Nanzhu’s cultivation was only at Foundation Establishment, they didn't take it too seriously, assuming it was just another interference magic tool like the gold needles.
"Petty tricks!" the Golden Core monk with the precept knife snorted. He didn't even bother to swing his knife, casually striking out with his palm. A gust of wind swept toward the small balls, intending to knock them away.
However, the moment their spiritual energy touched the small skull balls...
"Pop, pop, pop!"
A few soft explosions sounded. The small balls weren't knocked away; instead, they instantly burst, turning into a vast cloud of grey-white powder that rapidly spread, enveloping more than half of the Mingguang Sect team!
"Not good! Hold your breath!" Huineng’s face changed drastically. He was the first to shout sternly while holding his breath. Buddhist light shimmered around him as he tried to disperse the powder.
The Mingguang Sect disciples reacted quickly enough, holding their breath or covering their faces with their sleeves.
However, that grey-white powder was extremely fine. It wasn't just inhaled through breathing; it was pervasive, clinging to their skin and clothing!
Even though they held their breath, once the powder touched their skin, an unbearable sensation—like ten thousand ants crawling and biting simultaneously—erupted from all over their bodies!
"Ugh! Wh-what is this!"
"It’s so itchy! What's happening?!"
"Amitabha... I’m itching to death!"
The Mingguang Sect team instantly fell into chaos. The lower-level Foundation Establishment disciples couldn't help but start squirming and scratching, their running rhythm completely disrupted!
Li Nanzhu smiled slightly. "Special enhanced Smile in the Spring Breeze itching powder, a gift for the masters to clear their heat! No need to thank me!"
This was something she had improved based on several obscure alchemy formulas left by her master, Xiao Yan, combined with her own experience tinkering with all sorts of strange materials.
Its core characteristic was that once touched, any attempt to use spiritual energy to disperse or suppress it would not only fail to relieve it but would instead act like adding fuel to the fire, causing the bone-deep itch to explode tenfold!
"Damn it! There’s something strange about this powder! Don’t use spiritual energy to force it out!" Huineng, being experienced, soon realized something was wrong and hurriedly shouted to stop them.
But even his own forehead was bulging with veins from the itch, and an unnatural flush appeared on his bald head. He could only forcefully circulate a heart-calming mantra to endure it, but the effect was minimal.
The monk who had struck the balls with his palm was the unluckiest of all!
He had the most contact with spiritual energy, and now he felt an intolerable itch all over, especially in the arm he had used to strike. His face was contorted with the itch, and he wished he could scratch off a whole layer of skin!
While running desperately, he used that arm to frantically rub against his coarse monk robes. His posture was pathetic, devoid of any high-monk dignity.
The entire formation of the Mingguang Sect team collapsed instantly. The distance between them and the Five Elements Dao Sect, who maintained their high speed, widened noticeably!
Zhu Yinxi immediately seized the opportunity and spoke in a low voice, "Good chance! Full speed ahead, lose them!"
The members of the Five Elements Dao Sect exerted more force, their speed rising another level. However, what they didn't expect was that the terrain ahead suddenly tightened—a narrow canyon entrance that only allowed one person to pass at a time appeared before them like a bottleneck!
"Oh no! It’s the One-Line Sky!" Duan Xianxing’s face paled.
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