"Nascent Soul Talisman Treasure."

Fang Hao’s pupils suddenly contracted, and his heart almost skipped a beat. The pressure emanating from that Three-legged Golden Crow phantom far exceeded the Golden Core level, carrying a terrifying will to incinerate all things; it was clearly Nascent Soul Level power. This was definitely a life-saving trump card of the Chiyang Sect. To seize the treasure, Blazing Evil had actually used such a precious item.

The Golden Crow phantom’s cry shook the heavens as its wings spread, the scorching light instantly illuminating the entire passage, and even the hard stone walls began to melt! It locked onto the golden puppet and pounced down with a momentum that could destroy everything.

"Golden puppet. Full defense." Fang Hao’s mind was shaken, and he immediately issued a command to the golden puppet. At the same time, his hands waved rapidly, throwing out every defensive Formation Plate he could use as if they cost nothing!

"Thick Earth Formation! Mysterious Water Formation! Golden Light Barrier! Rise!"

Layers of light curtains instantly stacked up in front of the golden puppet! Fang Hao himself used Shrinking the Ground to an Inch to retreat to the furthest corner of the passage, opening his Five Elements Spirit Shield to its full power, yet he still felt his skin burning as if it were about to be ignited!

Facing the attack of the Nascent Soul Talisman Treasure, the golden puppet showed no fear. Its dark-gold body erupted with blinding light as its arms crossed in front of its chest, and its core Formation operated at full power, condensing a heavy phantom of a dark-gold shield!

BOOM!!!!!!!!!!

An earth-shaking roar erupted! The Golden Crow phantom and the golden puppet collided violently! A terrifying energy storm swept in all directions like a tsunami!

The layers of Formation light curtains Fang Hao had set up were like paper, instantly shattered and annihilated! The energy storm slammed hard against the stone wall at the end of the passage; that hard, special stone wall trembled violently, countless cracks appearing as stone fragments flew everywhere!

The golden puppet, bearing the brunt of the attack, let out a dull, booming sound. Its massive body was sent flying backward, smashing heavily into the stone wall and becoming embedded within it! The dark-gold shield phantom in front of its chest completely shattered, and a scorched, blackened mark appeared on its chest, even showing faint signs of melting! The light flowing around its body also dimmed significantly!

"Pfft!" Fang Hao was struck by the energy aftershocks. Even with the spirit shield and the distance as a buffer, he still felt a sweetness in his throat and spat out a mouthful of blood. His internal organs were injured, and his aura became withered. A collision of the Nascent Soul Level, even if only an aftershock, was definitely not something a Foundation Establishment Cultivator could easily endure!

"Hahaha! Under the Nascent Soul Talisman Treasure, let’s see how much longer your scrap metal can last!" Seeing this, Immortal Master Blazing Evil laughed madly, his face appearing exceptionally flushed due to the loss of essence blood and excitement. While struggling to resist the remaining impact of the energy storm, he stared fixedly at the golden puppet, expecting it to be completely scrapped.

However, the golden puppet’s body embedded in the stone wall moved. Although the golden light in its eyes was dim, it hadn’t gone out. It gave a sudden jolt and broke free from the stone wall. Though its movements were slightly stiff and the wound on its chest was shocking to behold, it still radiated intense Battle Intent! It had withstood a strike from the Nascent Soul Talisman Treasure and hadn’t been completely destroyed! Its Materials and the strength of its core Formation far exceeded Blazing Evil’s expectations!

"What?! It’s not broken yet?" Immortal Master Blazing Evil’s laughter stopped abruptly, his face instantly turning extremely ugly, his eyes filled with disbelief and a hint of panic. This Nascent Soul Talisman Treasure was his greatest trump card, and it could only be used once!

In that split second when Blazing Evil’s mind wavered, Fang Hao moved! He endured his injuries, a fierce look flashing in his eyes! This was the chance!

"Now! Spirit-Disrupting Formation! Earth-Binding Formation! Rise!"

He had already secretly set up the last two auxiliary Formations, which were instantly activated! One disrupted the flow of Spiritual Qi around Blazing Evil, and the other generated a powerful gravitational force to bind his movements! Although they couldn’t truly trap someone at the Late Golden Core Stage, they were enough to create a momentary delay!

At the same time, Fang Hao issued the strongest command to the golden puppet: "Kill!"

Receiving the command, the golden puppet ignored its own damage. Golden light burst from its eyes as its massive forging hammer rose once more. Seizing the perfect opportunity while Blazing Evil was distracted by the Formations, his old strength exhausted and new strength not yet gathered, and his mind shaken, it condensed its remaining energy into a single point, turning into a streak of dark-gold light that tore through space, smashing towards Blazing Evil’s head with thunderous force!

"No!!!" Immortal Master Blazing Evil screamed in terror, desperately urging his spiritual power to dodge and defend, but the interference of the Formations and that momentary delay made him lose his last chance!

BOOM!!!

The dark-gold giant hammer slammed solidly onto Immortal Master Blazing Evil’s head! His Protective Spiritual Light shattered like bubbles! Red and white... splattered everywhere!

Immortal Master Blazing Evil’s mad laughter and terror were completely frozen. His entire being was smashed into a pile of meat by the terrifying force. He didn’t even have time for his Golden Core to escape before he was instantly annihilated in both body and soul!

Chiyang Sect Elder, Late Golden Core Stage Cultivator, Blazing Evil, has fallen!

All of this happened in the blink of an eye! From the explosion of the Golden Crow talisman treasure to the golden puppet’s endurance, then to Fang Hao seizing the battle opportunity with Formation interference and the golden puppet’s thunderous strike, the entire process took no more than two or three breaths!

On the other side, the already heavily injured Immortal Master Gloomy Dove had just barely suppressed the rampaging Chaos Finger Force within his body and was preparing to cooperate with Blazing Evil to give Fang Hao a fatal blow, only to witness the tragic sight of Blazing Evil being instantly killed! He was scared out of his wits, his Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering!

"Impossible! Senior Brother Blazing Evil!" Immortal Master Gloomy Dove’s soul almost left his body. How could he dare to fight anymore? He turned around, wanting to transform into an escape light and flee! Neither the nascent soul puppet nor the treasures were as important as his own life!

"Want to leave? Too late!" How could Fang Hao let the tiger return to the mountain? He forced up a breath of spiritual power and used Divine Spirit Steps, instantly blocking the direction of the passage entrance. Although his aura was weak, his eyes were cold as knives. At the same time, with a thought, the golden puppet, though severely damaged and moving slowly, also took heavy steps to block Gloomy Dove’s other path of retreat.

With Fang Hao blocking the way in front (though he was at the end of his rope, Gloomy Dove, being heavily injured, didn’t dare to underestimate him) and the golden puppet blocking from behind (though damaged, its residual power remained), Immortal Master Gloomy Dove was trapped in a desperate situation!

"Little friend! No, Senior! Spare my life! I am willing to offer all my treasures and swear a Heart Demon Oath never to reveal today’s events!" Immortal Master Gloomy Dove’s face was ashen, having completely lost his will to resist. He fell to his knees with a thud, kowtowing like a woodpecker and pleading bitterly. The wound on his right chest was still gurgling blood, and his aura was in complete disarray.

Fang Hao’s eyes were cold, without the slightest wavering. Let Gloomy Dove go? That would lead to endless future troubles! The Chiyang Sect would never let the matter rest! Only by killing him to silence him and destroying all evidence would there be a chance of survival!

He did not waste words and directly issued the final command to the golden puppet.

The golden puppet stepped forward, its massive shadow looming over the desperate Immortal Master Gloomy Dove.

"No!!!" Gloomy Dove let out one last shrill scream.

BOOM! The giant hammer fell, and everything returned to silence.

In a short time, both of the Chiyang Sect’s two Late Golden Core Stage Elders were executed!

Inside the passage, only the heavy scent of blood, violent energy remnants, and a mess remained. Fang Hao staggered and leaned against the stone wall, panting heavily, his face as pale as paper. The continuous high-intensity combat, mental calculations, and injuries had left him nearly exhausted.

The golden puppet stood quietly to the side, the scorched marks on its chest hideous and its light extremely dim. It was clearly severely damaged and needed a long time of nourishment and repair.

After resting for a moment, Fang Hao struggled to stand up. This place was not suitable to stay for long! He had to clean it up as soon as possible!

First, he walked to the spot where Blazing Evil and Gloomy Dove had been turned into meat. Enduring the nausea, he used spiritual power to pick up two blood-stained Storage Rings, quickly erased the Divine Sense imprints on them, and checked them. Inside was indeed incredibly rich: Spirit Stones, Medicinal Pills, Materials, and Cultivation Technique Jade Slips were everywhere. Especially in Blazing Evil’s ring, there were several treasures with extraordinary auras, truly befitting the wealth of a Late Golden Core Stage Elder.

Then, he took a deep breath and formed hand seals. The faint but high-quality wisp of Earth Core Flame Fire within his Dantian was triggered, separating into a small cluster of flames.

"Burn!"

Fang Hao gave a low shout and flicked the Earth Core Flame Fire toward those two bloody messes. Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle! The pale purple flames touched the flesh and residual souls and immediately began to burn fiercely, letting out faint popping sounds. The Earth Core Flame Fire was extremely powerful and possessed purifying properties. In just a few breaths, it burned all the flesh, bones, and even the remaining Divine Soul marks completely clean, turning them into nothingness without leaving even a trace of ash!

Next, he used the Earth Core Flame Fire again to carefully scorch all the traces, bloodstains, and energy residues in the passage resulting from the battle, ensuring no clues remained. He even used gravel to barely fill the dents where the golden puppet had smashed into the wall.

After doing all this, Fang Hao was covered in sweat, and his injuries showed signs of worsening. He didn’t dare to delay any further, taking the damaged golden puppet back into his storage ring and swallowing several Medicinal Pills for healing and restoring spiritual power to barely suppress his injuries.

He took one last look at the passage that had returned to silence, his eyes filled with complex emotions. A risky counterattack had actually succeeded, and he had even killed two powerful Late Golden Core Stage enemies. The danger involved was known only to himself.

"I must leave immediately!" Fang Hao no longer hesitated. He used his movement technique and followed the path back toward the ruins’ exit, silently sneaking away. He had to reunite with Liang Ling and the others as soon as possible and return to the Sect. The shocking events that occurred here must not be leaked in the slightest.