It was then that the peach blossom staff seemed to come to life, growing into a winding peach branch, over ten zhang long. With a gentle tremor, it shed thousands of peach petals.
These peach petals did not attack immediately but swirled together, transforming into several giant pink skulls, mouths emitting shrill howls, and spewing out puffs of pink ghostly wind, which instantly spread across most of the space.
The old woman cackled and tossed out several items, her figure becoming vaguely hidden within the mist.
Zhang Ling glanced over hastily, noticing that the items thrown out seemed to be magical artifacts. Not daring to be careless, he mobilized his spiritual power to reinforce the diamond-shaped shield in front of him and the Yellow Canopy Umbrella above.
At the same time, Heavenly Star Sand flowed out of the Earth Yuan Gourd, encircling his body and transforming into several earthen-yellow stone dragons, adding another layer of protection.
He conjured three spiritual talismans in his hand, two black and one azure.
The azure talisman was activated first, transforming into a massive azure wind vortex, sucking and swirling in all directions. With continuous whistling sounds, most of the pink mist was immediately dispersed.
This was a fourth-tier Hurricane Talisman, a valuable high-grade talisman worth twenty to thirty thousand spirit stones. But it seemed to have limited effect, as the pink mist spread quickly and condensed again, revealing ghostly figures within, accompanied by the giggling of women.
As the sound approached, the ghostly figures in the mist materialized, revealing over a dozen beautiful women, tall and short, plump and thin, striking seductive poses.
Some wore thin red veils, accentuating their shapely figures; others had shy, blushing expressions, appearing like modest young ladies; and still others had alluring eyes, exuding irresistible charm.
Each one swayed towards him like a fairy.
Zhang Ling snorted coldly, recognizing it as some kind of illusion technique meant to disrupt his mind. He tossed out the two black talismans in his hand.
With a series of booming explosions, the two talismans flew above and burst into a vast black cloud, from which countless thick bolts of cyan-white lightning crackled and struck down.
Amidst the continuous thunder and lightning, the approaching beautiful women were all blasted into smoke, and most of the pink mist dissipated.
These were Azure Lightning Talismans, also high-grade fourth-tier talismans, even more valuable. Their effect was also significant, as lightning-based techniques were highly effective against ghost cultivators.
However, Zhang Ling didn't have many of these high-grade talismans he had collected over the years. And lightning-attribute ones were even scarcer, only seven or eight in total.
At this moment, Zhang Ling showed no hint of stinginess, flipping his hand to reveal three more blue talismans, also fourth-tier lightning-attribute talismans, but releasing cyan-blue lightning.
The lightning thundered and filled the entire space, and wisps of cyan smoke rose from all around. Under the effect of five high-grade lightning talismans, the pink mist had completely dissipated.
Scanning with his divine sense, Zhang Ling locked onto the hidden white-haired old woman. She wasn't far from him, still standing on the peach blossom staff, staring at him with a grim expression.
Most of the petals on the peach blossom staff had withered, obviously depleting some of its power.
Before Zhang Ling could counterattack, he didn't notice when a black light appeared behind him. The black light shone, opening like an eye, revealing two sections of white, skeletal hands. The hands grasped a green ghost-head saber, silently slashing towards him.
The ghost-head saber landed, and Zhang Ling was sent flying.
The stone dragons formed by the Heavenly Star Sand were immediately shattered, and the light of the Yellow Canopy Umbrella flickered erratically, nearly extinguished.
Zhang Ling's face was pale as he flew backward, though he wasn't killed by the saber strike, he was severely injured. In mid-air, he struggled to stabilize himself, but before he could react, the ghost-head saber slashed again.
Zhang Ling hurriedly flung out several purple light orbs, which exploded into a purple mist that enveloped his entire body. The ghost-head saber struck into it, and with a crisp clang, Zhang Ling was blasted away again.
This time it seemed even more serious, as he spat out blood while flying. Even worse, the direction he was flying in was towards the white-haired old woman.
The old hag gave a sinister laugh, seemingly having waited for this moment. Amidst a flurry of peach petals, the pink ribbon formed from Fiend Soul Silk lashed out.
Instantly, Zhang Ling was trapped inside.
Within the black rift, the true form of the two skeletal arms appeared, turning out to be a black cloak several zhang wide.
Strangely, there was no figure inside the black cloak, it floated lightly, revealing only a few sections of white bone. Only below the cloak was a pale, aged face, looking much like the gaunt old man.
It was as if he had used some kind of divine power to transform into this form.
With a rustle, the cloak shook, and the ghost-head saber slashed towards Zhang Ling again, demonic fire blazing on the blade. The already large ghost-head saber transformed into a green fire blade over twenty zhang long, slashing down with terrifying power.
If he was truly struck, Zhang Ling, even with all his defenses, would likely not escape death.
The green blade light struck his body, directly splitting Zhang Ling in two, and the blade light carved a huge ravine into the ground.
Zhang Ling's two halves of his corpse fell to the ground, leaving a pool of blood, appearing to be dead.
The pale old face under the cloak chuckled. "Ghost Granny, how is this old man's skill..."
The old man's aged voice carried a hint of triumph. But before he could finish speaking, the white-haired old woman's expression changed drastically, and she shouted.
"Be careful..."
The old man's face stiffened. Scanning with his divine sense, he discovered a strange gourd behind him, emitting a cloud of cyan-white mist.
This seemed to be the enemy's magical treasure from earlier, but the enemy had already been killed by him, how could the treasure still act on its own?
As soon as this thought emerged, a cold black light shot out from the cyan-white mist.
It was too late to dodge, the black light struck his body, and the old man felt as if he was sinking into a mire, unable to break free. A bone-chilling cold spread, and the black light turned out to be a dense stream of Yin-Cold water, instantly freezing the cloak into a huge black ice block.
Immediately afterward, a bronze long-halberd stabbed over. With cracking sounds, the ice shattered, and the cloak sealed inside naturally fell apart, dropping out chunks of white bone fragments.
"Ghost Elder!"
The white-haired old woman roared with a grim expression, and also charged over.
At this moment, the old woman also clearly saw that hidden within the mist spewed out from the gourd was a black-faced man, also a Nascent Soul stage old monster.
The pink ribbon, mixed with countless peach petals, attacked.
The Xuan Tortoise expressionlessly gripped the bronze long-halberd, holding a dark-blue gem in his other hand, surrounded by circles of water vapor.
The bronze long-halberd need not be mentioned, the gem was also an ancient treasure, releasing Yin-Cold water vapor that was not weak.
This gem was also divided from the Xuanming Tortoise's remaining treasures. Cooperating with the Xuan Tortoise's spellcasting, it could not only reduce the consumption of spiritual power, but also slightly enhance the power of ice-water attribute attacks.
The dark-blue gem spun around, the sound of water flowing continuously, forming a water snake that intercepted the incoming pink ribbon.
The pink ribbon was condensed from Fiend Soul Silk, possessing considerable power, but as long as it didn't attack the treasure's main body, only using this spiritual power attack to resist would be easier to deal with.
While the water flow attacked, the Xuan Tortoise spewed out a ball of pitch-black Ice Soul Poison, directly freezing both the water flow and the ribbon. The bronze long-halberd attacked, tearing apart most of the pink ribbon.
The long-halberd flashed, transforming into a bronze two-headed giant snake, pouncing towards the white-haired old woman.
The old woman's expression changed, and she wrapped herself in pink mist, hurriedly retreating behind.
But suddenly, her divine sense noticed that seven or eight cyan-red beads had inexplicably appeared beside her, radiating a violent sense of danger.
What is this?
The white-haired old woman knew something was wrong, and her speed suddenly increased, trying to leave the range of these beads.
But it was too late, they had already surrounded her, and the beads simultaneously lit up with dazzling spiritual light. With booming explosions, the power of thunder and fire erupted.
The terrifying thunder and fire engulfed the white-haired old woman.
This scene may take a while to describe, but only two or three breaths had passed since Zhang Ling was killed.
And Zhang Ling would naturally not die so easily, all of this was within his plan.
The purple mist created by the purple light beads that had been released earlier had already dissipated, and Zhang Ling, who had been split in two by the blade light, reappeared, but with a faint layer of five-colored spiritual light on his body.
He knew that dealing with two Nascent Soul cultivators would not be easy, so he did not use his full strength from the start, first showing weakness to the enemy. He also used methods such as spiritual talismans to give the enemy the illusion that his strength was not strong.
This led to the gaunt old man's sneak attack.
He was naturally watching such a Nascent Soul cultivator at all times. Only during the battle with the white-haired old woman did the old man not jointly attack him, but instead kept observing.
Zhang Ling realized that this old man was probably even more difficult to deal with. Therefore, he used the lightning attribute spiritual talisman to temporarily force back the white-haired old woman, gaining a slight advantage. This was to lure the gaunt old man to attack.
The gaunt old man's methods were very strange, silently approaching his back and launching a sneak attack.
Zhang Ling was really startled, and then he played along. He used a water bubble to create a clone, pretending to be killed by this person.
At this moment, the clone that was killed on the ground had turned into a broken cyan-red vine. To make the act more realistic, the vine was also attached with some of his essence blood.
This was a clone technique he had newly researched. It was to parasitize the vine on the water bubble transformed clone, which could make the clone more realistic.
Even the Yellow Canopy Umbrella and the diamond-shaped shield fell to the side, suffering considerable damage.
At this time, seeing the white-haired old woman covered by thunder and fire, Zhang Ling would not hold back, and the gray mist released by the Four Directions Flag swept out. The Black Bone Giant Claw also grabbed out unceremoniously, intending to give the enemy a fatal blow.
This scene was exactly the same as the battle with the ghost monkey not long ago. But the ending was unexpected.
Because, a change occurred again on the battlefield.
The skeleton cloak transformed by the gaunt old man was not killed.
The skeleton cloak fragments that were frozen by the Xuan Tortoise with Ice Soul Poison and shattered, had now turned into strands of black Yin energy, gathering into a black cyclone about ten zhang in size, rushing over.
The Xuan Tortoise discovered this situation at the first moment, and one of his hands instantly turned into a tortoise claw, quickly waving. One of the nails fell off, turning into a silver-black arc of light.
The black cyclone did not dodge or avoid, and the silver-black arc of light flashed, splitting the cyclone in two. But the black energy only shook slightly, and gathered into a ball again. It seemed to be completely unharmed.
No physical body!
Zhang Ling also noticed this scene. Although he felt a little strange, his movements were not slow, and he quickly fired a large ball of Heavy Yuan Profound Light, and seven flying swords also flew out.
The black energy ball was very fast, and did not dodge or avoid these attacks, flying straight towards the white-haired old woman in the thunder and fire.
It seemed that it wanted to save the old woman.
Seeing that many attacks were ineffective, Zhang Ling's face sank, and he gave up controlling other attacks. He only controlled the Four Directions Flag and the Black Bone Giant Claw.
A large amount of gray mist rushed out of the Four Directions Flag, and he planned to use this treasure with all his strength to completely trap these two ghost cultivators. Even if they joined forces, so what, as long as they were completely trapped. The Black Bone Giant Claw was enough to kill them with one blow.
In the blink of an eye, the black cyclone transformed by the gaunt old man rushed into the thunder and fire that had not yet dissipated.
At the same time, the gray mist trapped them in place.
Zhang Ling's whole body surged with spiritual power, and under his unsparing urging, the Black Bone Giant Claw turned into more than twenty zhang in size, grabbing over after arriving first. It drew out sharp whistling sounds in the air.
This attack was extremely powerful, but in fact it only had about 30% of the Black Bone Giant Claw's power.
Because the time was too rushed, even if he did not spare spiritual power, he could not release all its power. But Zhang Ling was still very confident in killing two trapped and seriously injured ghost cultivators.
The Black Bone Giant Claw slammed down fiercely, directly extinguishing the thunder and fire, grabbing the white-haired old woman inside. As long as the giant claw gently pinched, it could crush this person into minced meat.
But the old woman's eyes bulged, not showing any fear, but staring at Zhang Ling with a resentful expression. At the same time as the giant claw crushed this person, she spewed out a ball of black-pink light.
This person's body swelled several times, and exploded. It looked like a self-detonation, but the power was not strong. It only shook the entire space. A not-so-strong pink air wave slightly shook the giant claw that was pinching them open a little.
A black-pink skull flew out and disappeared with a flash. When it reappeared, it was already more than ten zhang away, rushing towards the bronze giant gate.
Another teleport!
Zhang Ling snorted coldly, and commanded many attacks to chase after it.
In the skull, there were two vague infants. It seemed to be the Nascent Souls of these two ghost cultivators, but they were more illusory than ordinary Nascent Souls. They were very fast. After teleporting again, they approached the bronze giant gate.
However, a black shadow blocked in front of the bronze gate faster, it was the Xuan Tortoise controlled by the second soul.
This was what Zhang Ling had ordered, to prevent these two guys from escaping with other means. Then the direction they escaped would most likely be towards the bronze giant gate.
The Xuan Tortoise took a breath and transformed into a giant tortoise. Blocking the entire bronze giant gate. The ice-cold mist directly froze the giant gate.
The two Nascent Souls in the black-red skull then revealed angry expressions. But they still unhesitatingly cast the teleportation technique, rushing over.
In the skull, the gaunt old man's Nascent Soul rubbed his hands, shooting out a green light, turning into a giant ghost-head staff. More than a dozen fierce ghost heads emerged, carrying endless Yin Fiend evil energy, fiercely knocking towards the Xuan Tortoise.
The white-haired old woman's nascent soul also let out a low roar, spitting out a large mass of baleful soul threads.
