The Poison Ghost Elderly Fiend was surrounded by toxic gas, making it impossible for cultivators to get close to him. Lou Huaijing and Ying Muqing had their belongings stripped from them when they were captured. To fight against the enemy together, Gu Yao couldn't let them fight empty-handed.
However, even with spiritual talismans and spiritual weapons in hand, it was still tricky to deal with the poison gas of the Poison Ghost Elderly Fiend. If they stayed far away, their attacks would be like scratching an itch through a boot, causing little damage. If they got too close, the toxic gas could penetrate through their spiritual shields and just the smell alone could make them dizzy. "Zaizai, come back!"
Seeing the stalemate, Gu Yao mentally called out to the little cat, Zaizai, who was somewhere unknown. Zaizai immediately returned to Gu Yao's side. Gu Yao needed to borrow its Dark Abyss Flames; otherwise, they would have a difficult time dealing with this old fiend, as his poisonous attacks were too powerful.
Unbeknownst to everyone, the Blood Dragon Whip was enveloped in a thin layer of black flames. Even if someone noticed, they would assume it was stained with darkened blood or filth. Gu Yao swung the whip fiercely, lashing towards the Poison Ghost Elderly Fiend. His spiritual consciousness spread out, capturing the old fiend's movements in advance, allowing the whip to accurately land on him.
"Crack!"
The whip struck the entire back of the Poison Ghost Elderly Fiend, breaking through the outer layer of defense and tearing his inner garments. Enraged, the Poison Ghost Elderly Fiend couldn't believe that someone had actually injured him. He intended to use the most venomous methods to refine corpses, but then he realized something was wrong within his own body. There was something defying his poison, devouring his flesh and strength.
In that moment of hesitation, the whip once again landed on him, leaving deeper wounds this time.
"Kid, let me show you the power of this old fiend!" The Poison Ghost Elderly Fiend was furious. He had been repeatedly attacked by a youngling with delicate skin and tender flesh, which was a disgrace to his reputation. He waved his hand and released two corpses whose strength was not weaker than his own. The corpses emitted eerie screams as they lunged towards Gu Yao.
However, before the two corpses could reach him, Lou Huaijing and Ying Muqing intercepted them. They had noticed that Gu Yao seemed to have a method of resisting the poison gas, and the whip he wielded was not ordinary—it was capable of causing harm to the old fiend. Therefore, they decided to let Gu Yao focus on dealing with the old fiend.
Gu Yao swung the whip, creating a blur of whip shadows that surrounded the Poison Ghost Elderly Fiend, the sounds of "crack, crack" intermittently heard from within. The old fiend's screams resounded, along with his cries of, "What in the world is this?
I will spare your life, kid. No, I will make you my disciple."
"Quick, come and kill this kid for me, hurry..."
However, his voice weakened, as if he was struggling in his final moments. But the Dark Abyss Flames that had gathered within his body were abundant enough, suddenly igniting from within.
"No—Dark Abyss Flames..."
It was only in the end of his life that he realized what exactly was attacking him. However, it was already too late. Even if he had known a little earlier, he wouldn't have been able to remove the dark flames that had infiltrated his body. He was consumed by black fire, until his flesh and poisonous gas were completely burned, leaving nothing but ashes. Not even his soul remained.
Once the poisonous ghost died, the two corpses he released immediately stopped their attack and stood still in their original positions. Luo Huaijing and Ying Muqing were panting heavily, dealing with the aftermath. These two were truly powerful. Although they couldn't release poison gas, their claws and bodies were still toxic.
At the same time, many cultivators fell to the ground, clutching their heads. Their bodies convulsed uncontrollably, and soon they spat out blood and died.
Luo Huaijing was startled. "What is happening?"
Gu Yao said, "Those people were most likely bound by soul restraints by the poisonous ghost. Now that the poisonous ghost is dead, the soul restraints in their minds are backlashing, and they have no other way but death."
Luo Huaijing and Ying Muqing breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out that it was advantageous for them to die together. However, the tribulation was really fierce, and the battle on the other side with Chi Changye had not yet ended. The three of them hurried over to help, fearing that if the tribulation spread over, it would be troublesome.
In this place filled with thunderous sounds and clouds of tribulation, it was actually more favorable for Chi Changye's performance. The air was permeated with vibrant and rich spiritual power of thunder, making this his main battlefield. However, there was a risk of accidentally attracting the tribulation over, which would cause his nascent soul tribulation to descend prematurely, and that would be disastrous.
The monster fighting alongside Chi Changye on this long night is covered in scales, with strong limbs and steel-like fur. Its defense is extremely strong, and Chi Changye struggles to break through its skin with a sword since he has not reached the Yuan Ying stage. He can only leave sword marks on the monster's body, with black blood oozing out in some places. It is hard to imagine how such a monster was created.
"Zaihui, go!" Gu Yao commands the cat cub. As long as the defense is broken, the cat cub can get close to the monster and inject the Black Ming Flame into its body. Chi Changye, seeing Gu Yao approaching, knows what he is going to do. Therefore, he tackles the monster in the front to divert its attention, slashing at it with successive waves of sword strikes that accumulate like a powerful crashing wave, accompanied by a roaring sound.
After the onslaught, a wound appears on the monster's forehead, and black blood flows out. Enraged, the monster roars. Seizing the opportunity, the cat cub jumps over and lightly stomps on the monster, as if treading on a cushion, then jumps away just as the monster swings its claws to grab it. But another wave of sword strikes follows closely, as rows of thunderous sword lights rush forward like surging waves. Gu Yao and Lou Huaijing also take the opportunity to throw a stack of spiritual talismans.
"Boom!"
The monster is swept away by the shockwave and falls right on the edge of a thunder calamity. The thunder calamity strikes the monster like a thunderstorm, and Chi Changye quickly pulls Gu Yao away, just as the previous wave of sword strikes attracts the thunder calamity energy towards them.
Lou Huaijing and Ying Muqing quickly fled and, after finding some safety, turned to look. The monster's entire body was covered in thunder tribulation, writhing in pain on the ground. It couldn't escape the baptism of thunder and rain, until it was finally struck by thunder tribulation and turned into a lump of charcoal. The two of them trembled as they watched, realizing that if they were dragged into the range of thunder tribulation, their fate would be even more miserable than that of the monster, which at least had the strength of Yuan Ying.
However, the fact that they could confront the Yuan Ying monster head-on amazed Lou Huaijing and Ying Muqing. Especially Lou Huaijing, who had previously been obsessed with finding Late Night to surpass their previous encounter. Now, that thought was completely extinguished. Several of them combined still couldn't match Late Night alone.
When the four of them were far away from the range of thunder tribulation, they happened to save someone, who was Li Changhui. One more step and he would have lost his life. Li Changhui was extremely grateful for being saved again.
They killed the Yuan Ying monster and the poisonous ghost elder, causing everyone to be afraid to approach them. The group found a distant high ground and waited for the end of this thunder tribulation.
From the high ground, they saw people being engulfed by thunder tribulation, blasted to ashes. They watched as layers of land were blown away, the thunder tribulation roaring in anger, as if it wanted to completely cleanse the evil and filth from this land.
Until there was nothing left for the Thunder Tribulation to strike, the calamitous clouds in the sky slowly dispersed, revealing the sunrise and allowing the light to shine again. The air around became much fresher, no longer filled with the nauseating smell of blood.
Ying Muqing still felt terrified. "If it weren't for the fact that everyone involved in the Thunder Tribulation was killed, how long would this calamity have lasted?^"
This experience had caused him to develop a psychological shadow towards future Yuan Ying Tribulations. The thunderous Thunder Tribulation was absolutely deafening. Even now, after the Tribulation dispersed, he still felt like he could hear the booming sound of thunder in his ears.
"Search the surroundings and see if there are any survivors." Chi Changye ordered. Even Lou Huaijing followed his instructions without hesitation and began searching, sweeping back and forth with their divine senses.
Because there were four natural pits for the poisonous ghostly monsters to use, when the heavenly tribulation descended, the other three areas also fell into chaos. Some took the opportunity to escape, while others took advantage of the chaos to kill the cultivators guarding them. In short, there was as much chaos as one could imagine. There were also many remains on the ground. Some were tightly clutching their enemies, biting into their flesh, refusing to let go even in death. These two people died together in such a way, and the scene was shocking to anyone who saw it.
They also found some surviving cultivators and gathered them together. For the time being, their identities couldn't be determined. After half a day of searching, they found over twenty people still alive, most of whom clearly endured a lot of torture on a daily basis. Their bodies were almost completely damaged. Now that they could see the light of day again, they had a look of relief in their eyes. As long as they escaped the clutches of evil, it seemed like they didn't care whether they could leave this place or not.
"Liu, we found another survivor here. He says he was captured and barely managed to survive in the hands of the poisonous ghostly monster." Lou Huaijing walked over with a person. Gu Yao and Chi Changye looked up to see. The exposed neck and arms of the person were covered in small scales, obviously carved out, but the man's face made the two of them curl their lips. Gu Yao reached out his hand, and the blood whip burst out from his sleeve, tightly wrapping around the person without giving him a chance to dodge.
Lou Huaijing was shocked. "You two know each other?"
Gu Yao and Chi Changye have never found Gu Yan, even after searching several times. They thought he had died in the Thunder Tribulation and couldn't even find his body. But it turns out he's still alive, even better.
"Why, why are you arresting me? I was also forced, barely managed to survive in the hands of Poison Ghost's old monster!" The man struggled with a hoarse voice.
Gu Yao curled his lips, pointing at the man and said to Lou Huaijing and Ying Muqing beside her, "This man is called Gu Yan. Maybe you don't recognize him, but he is your fellow disciple, an outer disciple of the Changxian Sect. He came from the Tianlin Mainland, and he is also the capable assistant of Poison Ghost's old monster. This inhuman appearance may not necessarily be forced upon him, perhaps he willingly paid any price to obtain power."
Not expecting his identity to be exposed, Gu Yan, who had just been struggling fiercely, calmed down and looked at them coldly: "Who are you? Although the Poison Ghost's old monster unfortunately died at your hands, you won't escape the pursuit of the entire organization. You better let me go, otherwise you won't be able to get out."