Can't beat, Kai Run

"Huh?" Qin Ran, who was concealed midair using his illusion magic like a dream, was stunned when he saw this move from the seven-tailed fox demon.

He felt like he had been completely outmatched by the fox clan!

His eye technique Phantasm could create illusions, but their passive skill was Charm.

His magic Like a Dream, Like an Illusion allowed him to turn invisible, but their first innate ability was Invisibility.

His magic Reflections in the Water, Reflections under the Moon allowed him to summon water clones, but their second innate ability was Clone.

His cultivation base was solid, but they were a whole two realms higher than him!

"This is really a hopeless situation," Qin Ran admitted.

Qin Ran looked up towards Su Changqing in the sky, but Su Changqing was wrapped up in silver sword qi and blue lightning, completely invisible.

"Since I cannot bid you farewell in person, please accept my apologies for the discourtesy," he said silently. "It's not that I don't want to help my brother, but my abilities are truly limited. If I don't leave now, I'm done for. Farewell for now...or maybe forever!"

The six clones of the seven-tailed fox demon chased after Qin Ran's clones, while the main body suddenly noticed the invisible Qin Ran midair. In a flash, it struck out its claw towards Qin Ran.

This strike was heavy, batting Qin Ran flying while also knocking some odds and ends out of him - array stones, Lei Jie pills, Earth Flame pills, Soul Pearls, and more went flying out.

Strangely, the things that got knocked out reacted differently - some like the array stones and Soul Pearls fell down to the ground, while others like the Lei Jie pills and Earth Flame pills somehow accelerated sideways and flew into the pile of bones in the valley.

Qin Ran's trajectory after getting battered was also odd - he traced out a horizontal arc in midair, like a boomerang, and got flung straight back into the fog.

The seven-tailed fox demon in midair raised its paw and looked at it in confusion, not understanding why that strike had such a strange effect...that was one of the weaknesses of demonic beasts like them who don't take human form - their brains are just not sufficient.

Jian Yuanjie, who was getting beaten up in the distance, immediately understood what was going on when he witnessed this scene - he knew Qin Ran was making his escape.

As a fellow cultivator, he too had been looking for a chance to slip away, but was restrained by his sense of propriety and hadn't left yet.

Now that Qin Ran had already made the first move, he needn't keep up the act of being virtuous and righteous.

He was very righteous - before leaving, he even signaled to Qi Yun, but Qi Yun was confused and didn't understand. Still, Jian Yuanjie didn't bother anymore - they weren't that close anyway, and he had already done his utmost by giving him a chance to escape too.

After that, Jian Yuanjie turned and ran when the Green Eyed Eagle came chasing, and went through several close shaves before finally getting slapped flying into the fog by the Green Eyed Eagle's wing as well.

Bai Ruoxi was still fighting the Soul-Devouring Human-Faced Spider when she noticed the seven-tailed fox demon approaching. She looked up and saw that Qin Ran was already gone, and a glance around the valley showed that only she and Su Changqing remained now. Even that colorful butterfly had slipped away somehow without her noticing.

Her expression darkened as she yelled to the sky, "Senior brother, they've escaped!"

Su Changqing flew out from the rolling thunder of the lightning qilin, took out his Soul Pearl pendant, and laughed. "They can't get away!"

In the fog, Qin Ran climbed up from the ground and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, chuckling softly. "Quite a hefty price to pay for escaping."

He turned back to look in the direction of the valley, but the dense fog obscured his vision and he couldn't see anything. His expression kept shifting as he murmured,

"I know you guys didn't actually come here to stop the Extremity Demon Weeping Willow, you came here to help it. You want to offer up the entire Hengduan Mountain Range to assist the Extremity Demon Weeping Willow in its ascension.

"That so-called locator technique was meant to conveniently allow Elder Ning to bring the high-level cultivators of the three major Hengduan Mountain sects - the Dao Sword Sect, Boundless Sword Sect, and Zhican Valley - here to feed the Extremity Demon Weeping Willow. The plan is to prioritize feeding it with high-level cultivators and high-level demonic beasts."

"But why?!" He had figured out a lot, but this was the one thing he just couldn't comprehend. "Could it be they want an ascended cultivator? Doesn't the Lingnan Immortal Sect already have ascended cultivators as common as dog hair?"

Actually, from the moment the people from Lingnan Immortal Sect first appeared, Qin Ran felt something was off.

The Extremity Demon Weeping Willow erupts once every thousand years, and every eruption brings endless horror and death. Since the Lingnan Immortal Sect clearly knew about this, why didn't they come earlier to deal with the Extremity Demon Weeping Willow?

If they felt the Extremity Demon Weeping Willow's eruptions were just part of the natural order, they shouldn't have come this time either!

And then there was the fact that the Lingnan Immortal Sect had many high-level cultivators, even immortals, so why didn't they send someone of even higher cultivation instead of just a Golden Core elder?

Why didn't Elder Ning come along to find the Extremity Demon Weeping Willow so everyone could join hands and directly destroy it together, instead of going to look for high-level cultivators from the various sects?

None of this made sense...unless they did it on purpose, deliberately creating an opportunity for the Extremity Demon Weeping Willow to ascend.

"This is not something I can get involved in!"

Qin Ran shook his head again and again, hurriedly casting out all these speculations from his mind as he used his magic to sense for the array stones he had left behind and flew rapidly towards the nearest one.

"Did something big happen?" Li Shiyin wondered aloud.

At this moment, she was riding her sword with Long Qiqi in her arms and Chasing the Wind treading on air beside her. They were on their way to the main peak to find some people to play with, but hadn't arrived yet.

One escape light after another was rising up from the main peak plaza, all shooting out towards the sect gates. The aura of each escape light was terrifying, clearly nothing less than a Golden Core elder.

"So many Golden Cores?!" Li Shiyin exclaimed as she stopped midair and quickly counted over twenty Golden Core escape lights shooting forth. "How scary!"

Chasing the Wind's round eyes watched each escape light intently like a kitten chasing a laser pointer. When the last one departed, he cried, "Dad...dad..." and wanted to chase after them.

"What dad?" Li Shiyin gave him a slap upside the head that made him settle down. "Calling every man you see dad, silly thing. No rounded candy for you today!"

Li Shiyin brought Long Qiqi and Chasing the Wind to land on the main peak plaza. She suddenly noticed there were also a lot more people gathered than usual, standing around in noisy clumps.

She listened closely and realized their discussions all revolved around a few key phrases - "Demonic beast uprising", "Extremity Demon Weeping Willow", "White willow fluff", "Demonic pills", and also, "Dao fruits"!!!

"What are Dao fruits?" someone asked.

Someone educated them, "You know ascension into the Golden Core realm right? What happens after your Primordial Spirit ascends into the Nascent Soul realm? Dao fruits! That's the result after a Primordial Spirit ascends. And when demonic beasts and plants ascend, it's just like ordinary fruits flowering and bearing fruit. Dao fruits, the Dao fruits of the Extremity Demon Weeping Willow will turn into actual fruits..."

"How mystical!" Li Shiyin marveled.

By now, guided by the markings of his array stones, Qin Ran had arrived at the nearest one...underneath that vicious Blood Dragon Bone tree.

But as he approached the Blood Dragon Bone Tree, he suddenly noticed three familiar figures below it.

His heart sank. He looked them over one by one - it was Su Changqing, Bai Ruoxi, and also, Qi Yun!

"Why did Brother Qin leave in such a rush?" Su Changqing bowed courteously to Qin Ran and asked gently with a smile.

What a refined gentleman he looked!