"What's so strange about that? Did you really think that madman would see through our body-possession soul technique? He was already obsessed with the blood sacrifice to begin with, and on top of that, he's supremely arrogant. Now that he's got a perfectly good excuse, he naturally can't be bothered to verify whether it's real or fake. With his immortal-level powers, how could any ordinary Mahayana cultivator possibly put up even the slightest resistance?" The Jiaochi Clan man gave a cold laugh in reply.
"That's true enough, but I didn't expect you to know such a profound and complete soul-possession secret technique, one that can even temporarily evade the other party's surveillance. If I'd known earlier, we should have used this method from the start, rather than being hunted down in such a wretched state." The Jiaochi Clan woman still seemed puzzled.
"What do you know? This technique is nothing like ordinary spiritual sense projection or Body Seizing — it involves transferring one's complete soul into another person's body, and the casting process is extremely dangerous. I only had a seventy to eighty percent chance of success. Moreover, once it's activated, the original body is forced into temporary slumber and can only be carried along by the host body. Most of one's powers are naturally sealed as well. I would never have taken such a massive risk unless I was pushed to the absolute brink. As for why it was able to temporarily block his surveillance, I suppose it may be because this technique is itself a secret art from the Immortal World. That much I hadn't anticipated in advance. I had actually prepared another contingency to slip away in the chaos, but that one didn't end up being needed." The Jiaochi Clan man spoke with some vexation.
Judging from their conversation, these two were none other than Six Wings and Ice Phoenix.
They had somehow managed to project their souls into the bodies of two Jiaochi Clan cultivators, and had temporarily escaped Ma Liang's pursuit.
"A secret art from the Immortal World? How did you come to obtain such a technique?" Ice Phoenix asked in surprise.
"Back in the wilderness, I stumbled into the cave dwelling of an alien race and obtained a single page from the Golden Tower Jade Book. It recorded a remarkable immortal secret art. Unfortunately, the art can only be performed in its entirety by an immortal body. This soul-possession method is merely one small component of it — the only part I could barely cultivate. The real pity is that the possession can only be sustained for half a day. Once that time is up, we'll have no choice but to return to our original bodies. Otherwise, if we could simply flee like this, it wouldn't have been without hope." Six Wings spoke with considerable frustration.
"Forget it. The fact that the immortal secret art you know can temporarily block soul tracking is already an unexpected boon. All we need to do now is take advantage of this window while it lasts and rush to another major city of the Jiaochi Clan. Once we arrive, our mission is as good as accomplished. With the Jiaochi Clan's tyrannical behavior across the Thunder Continent, and especially after the blood sacrifice at that previous Gailing City, I find it hard to believe the two sides won't clash in a major way. As long as that madman is held up for even a short while, we can find another super teleportation array and teleport directly back to the Fengyuan Continent. This time, as long as he doesn't follow us immediately, finding us again won't be an easy task. And if it still doesn't work out, we can always go seek out Daoist Han. With Brother Han's heaven-defying ability to have slain the Matriarch of the Heavenly Devouring Moths, he might very well have a way to remove the soul imprints on us," Ice Phoenix said, her eyes flashing.
"Seek out Han Li? In your dreams! I would sooner perish than ever take that step!" Six Wings flew into a rage the moment he heard this.
"Hmph, you've offended that True Immortal madman so deeply. If he ever catches you, I'm afraid it won't be as simple as mere death." Ice Phoenix was not the least bit surprised by his reaction, and merely replied in a flat tone.
"There's no need to say any more about this matter. Whatever will be, will be. Perhaps once we return to the Fengyuan Continent, we'll be able to shake off this True Immortal madman easily enough." Six Wings calmed himself.
"Fine. Since you've put it that way, let's just take it one step at a time. Let's get to the next Jiaochi Clan main city as quickly as possible. I can already faintly feel that this body isn't going to hold up much longer. That madman will be able to locate us again soon." Ice Phoenix truly dropped the subject of Han Li.
And so, their streaks of light accelerated as they transformed into two orbs of blue radiance, hurtling forward through the sky at full speed.
Half a day later, the gaunt young man who had followed them like a shadow arrived at another major Jiaochi Clan city. Just as he was preparing to manipulate the Blood River to conduct a blood sacrifice on every living being within, he finally ran headlong into the six Mahayana grand elders of the Jiaochi Clan who had long been lying in wait nearby.
Given that the Jiaochi Clan had already seen so many of their people sacrificed, and that two Mahayana grand elders had been slain, they naturally had no intention of sitting down to negotiate with the fearsome enemy before them. The instant he appeared, they joined forces and activated a formidable grand formation they had long since prepared.
The True Immortal who had descended this time did not employ the mysterious talisman to break the chains of law on his body once more. Instead, he relied purely on his own innate powers to engage the six Mahayana grand elders in a battle that shook heaven and earth.
The six Jiaochi Clan Mahayana grand elders were clearly no ordinary Mahayana existences — each and every one of them was a true powerhouse on the level of a world-class expert. With the six of them joining hands and bolstered by the grand formation, their combined strength was more than enough to sweep across the entire Thunder Continent.
Ma Liang, the descended True Immortal, may have had the greater part of his power restricted, but with several immortal secret arts and a number of genuine Immortal World treasures to aid him, he felt not the slightest trace of fear.
When the two sides clashed, the battle reached a deadlocked stalemate — but this only caused the fighting to grow ever more ferocious.
The battle ultimately raged for over half a day before finally concluding with the fall of four Jiaochi Clan Mahayana grand elders and the grave wounding and retreat of the remaining two.
However, at the very last moment of the battle, several of the Jiaochi Clan Mahayana grand elders simultaneously detonated a number of Primordial Treasure fragments, catching Ma Liang off guard and injuring him.
Furious, the descended True Immortal proceeded to go on a rampage of slaughter, conducting blood sacrifices on three more major cities of the Jiaochi Clan in succession.
Under these dire circumstances, the remaining Jiaochi Clan leadership had no choice but to invoke the power of an ancient pact, summoning in one fell swoop three ancient True Spirits — the Hoofed Dragon, the Grand Finch, and the Solar Deer — who had been venerated by their clan since time immemorial. Together, they launched yet another epoch-shaking battle against Ma Liang.
This battle of titans persisted for several days and directly impacted an area spanning a million miles in every direction.
Three days later, when the tremors of battle finally subsided, nearby members of the Jiaochi Clan rushed to the scene.
All they found were the cataclysmic scars of battle. The three ancient True Spirits had vanished into thin air, and Ma Liang himself had disappeared without a trace.