"Ah! Ah! Ah!"

In just the blink of an eye, the apprentice by the door with merely a Fetal Breathing cultivation level couldn't react in time. Along with a few other apprentices who were sitting in front of the shop chatting, they were all captured by the white mist, emitting inhuman screams.

The apprentice guarding the door had his upper body turn into nothingness, with the flesh of his lower body dissipating, leaving only two shiny white thighbones standing lonesomely on the ground. The group of apprentices around the table met various gruesome fates, with those who were hit in the head dying instantly. Those with head and mouth intact could cry out twice before they too collapsed.

Li Yuanyun, who was by the side watching the commotion on the street, luckily wasn't affected by the white wind but indeed broke into a cold sweat, crying out in shock.

Seeing an apprentice who had lost his lower half wailing like a ghost, reaching out with blood-red hands and crawling towards him, leaving behind a trail of blood, Li Yuanyun broke out in a sweat, jumped up from the ground, and started running away.

Li Xuanxuan could not concern himself with his injuries as the cultivator surnamed Gong was already striding towards him. The bamboo hat lifted, revealing a face full of scars, his eyes malevolent and ferocious as he cursed from midair:

"How dare you deceive me?!"

Li Xuanxuan cursed inwardly, raising his hand high, hurling the dark jade bead that had come into his possession like lightning toward the face of the cultivator surnamed Gong. He then activated the Blood Escape Technique, fleeing like a streak of bloodlight.

"Ridiculous!" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

The Technique Thunder had to be paired with a matching spell and incantation to be detonated. That's why the cultivator surnamed Gong confidently gave the Technique Thunder to Li Xuanxuan. Seeing Li Xuanxuan throw it aimlessly, he just snorted coldly and continued forward.

"Boom!"

However, the dark bead exploded in midair into a burst of scarlet sparks, illuminating the face of the cultivator surnamed Gong in golden hues. He was stunned and exclaimed in disbelief:

"Impossible!"

Almost reflexively, he reached for the talisman in his sleeve, his fingers tensing slightly as if he was about to activate it but managed to suppress the impulse and stepped back a few paces, observing the small sparks falling from the dark jade bead.

"Huff..."

The cultivator surnamed Gong broke into a cold sweat, drew the jade bead towards him, and scoffed. Looking at the blood-colored light now far away, he estimated that the delay would cost him a lot of time to catch up and reluctantly muttered:

"Quite clever, sticking a talisman to this Technique Thunder, almost fooled me... Good thing I'm battle-hardened, or else I would've wasted a precious body protection treasure."

"Pity I still have to head to the formation point, can't afford to chase him now... Li Family! Known as a Sword Immortal Family, now that Li Tongya is dead, I might lead some people through there..."

He took a deep look at the retreating Li Xuanxuan, then abruptly turned his head. Li Yuanyun had just managed to get up and had barely run a dozen yards when the black-robed cultivator flicked his finger with a sneer.

"Ah!"

A streak of white light like a meteor chased after the wet spot on Li Yuanyun's back. He only had time to cry out in pain before his flesh dissolved into a pile of white bones that clattered noisily to the ground.

The marketplace had started to erupt in chaos, with signs of magical battles everywhere. The white formation in the sky flickered on and off, indicating it was overwhelmed and on the verge of collapse. The cultivator surnamed Gong, devoid of any anger, laughed heartily as he flew toward the calculated formation point.

On the other end, Li Xuanxuan, propelled by the Blood Escape Technique, sped away and collided with the Xiao Family's flickering formation, which was oscillating like ripples on water, clearly in turmoil and on the brink of collapsing.

He looked carefully and saw that although it was noon, everything outside was pitch black, with demonic smoke billowing. He paused for two breaths, not daring to go out.

"Who knows how many devil cultivators are waiting outside, just waiting for the formation to break to swarm in and partake in this feast... Charging out recklessly now, I'm likely to fall victim to their hands, becoming a mere appetizer for these devils."

His blood and mana were churning inside him like a river in torrent, overwhelming Li Xuanxuan, so he couldn't maintain the glaringly conspicuous red light of his escaping technique any longer.

Seeing the cultivator surnamed Gong had not pursued, Li Xuanxuan quickly stopped the spell, descending to the street, coughing twice. His body ached all over, and as he examined himself with his spiritual sense, he felt emaciated and loathsome.

"That's good, that's good."

Li Xuanxuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. The Blood Escape Technique was tyrannical, and he had used it to barely escape a certain death. He had expected to be severely weakened and near death, only to find that he had just lost a bit of weight and his looks had suffered, which made him unexpectedly pleased.

"Hiss!"

The wound on his hand was deep and bleeding profusely. While Li Xuanxuan pressed his mana to stop the bleeding and applied several healing spells, he also swallowed two elixirs, thinking to himself:

"I can't leave now. Qiuyang must still be in the marketplace, but I don't know where... Yuanyun, that boy, can't be saved now..."

Li Xuanxuan felt a suffocating pain in his heart. Li Xuanling from the 'Xuan' generation of the Li family had not long ago died, followed by Li Tongya who had left this world and now Li Xuanling's son had also perished within the marketplace, weighing heavily on his conscience...

If it weren't for Li Qinghong, who was now among the two highest of cultivation within the family, and the two brothers Xihong and Xijun, each with a Spirit Aperture and talents that were not too shabby, the 'Zong' branch might have become completely trivialized. At this thought, Li Xuanxuan felt a profound sorrow, seeing his own reduced lifespan as nothing in comparison.

Looking up at the sky, his only option was to wait for the devils among them to break the formation and the devils outside to rush in, dispersing throughout the marketplace, only then would he have a chance to escape.

Resting for a moment, Li Xuanxuan finally got a chance to catch his breath and adjusted the qi within his body, his mind racing: