Under the gaze of the crowd:

Zhang Yao transformed into a white rainbow, effortlessly breaking through the Light Domain, arriving before the Sun Burning Celestial Sunflower.

"Swipe!"

He merely extended his hand lightly, and the dazzling Nine leaf Golden Sunflower was drawn into his grasp.

The Sun Burning Celestial Sunflower, which had previously rejected Ascendant Tianying, was unexpectedly obedient in his hands, without a shred of resistance.

"What?"

This scene left Ascendant Tianying bewildered, and many of the Golden Core Cultivators were equally surprised.

But they reacted swiftly, instantly unleashing divine techniques, Daoist skills, and channeling magical treasures, all targeting Zhang Yao.

However, though their actions were swift, Zhang Yao’s movements were even faster!

As soon as he procured the Sun Burning Celestial Sunflower, he immediately reversed his escape light and vanished as a white rainbow.

"Boom!" "Boom!"...

A torrent of divine techniques, Daoist skills, and magical treasures, however, only struck the afterimage left by Zhang Yao’s escape light, not even touching the hem of his garment.

This sight equally astonished the numerous Golden Core Cultivators—being so swift under the suppression of Primordial Magnetic Power within Nether Abyss, wouldn’t his escape light be faster than a magical treasure flying sword in the outside world?

"He’s too fast!"

"Quick! Block him!"

"Chase! Don’t let him escape."

Waves of divine thoughts reverberated through the dark cavern, with Yin Flame Ancestor, Ascendant Tianying, and more than ten Golden Core Cultivators in mad pursuit, even those following Ascendant Tianying couldn’t hold back.

Momentarily:

Over twenty escape lights clung tightly to Zhang Yao’s escape light, determinedly refusing to give up until achieving their goal.

In an instant, the escape lights of numerous Golden Core Cultivators formed a distinct hierarchy—

Zhang Yao was fleeing at the forefront, incredibly fast, with Ascendant Tianying and Yin Flame Ancestor in hot pursuit, but the distance was rapidly widening.

As for the remaining Golden Core Cultivators, their escape light speeds lagged far behind, merely watching as the front escape lights sped away.

"Good! What skills!"

While Nether Abyss Ancestor and others were overjoyed, they also adjusted their escape lights to steer away from another direction.

Their speeds were far inferior to Zhang Yao’s; contributing only slowed them down, fleeing amidst chaos seemed better, reconvening after matters calmed.

But just then, Jiuhua Ancestor’s divine thought echoed loudly:

"Fellow Daoist Qingxu, over here!"

"Hmm?"

Zhang Yao’s expression flickered, with a spark of speculation, he swiftly turned his escape light, hastily converging with Nether Abyss Ancestor’s group.

"Jiuhua? You..."

As Nether Abyss Ancestor and others were stunned:

"Give me the Sun Burning Celestial Sunflower!"

Jiuhua Ancestor called out, and Zhang Yao, without hesitation, tossed the Sun Burning Celestial Sunflower to him.

At that instant:

"Buzz!"

The Sun Burning Celestial Sunflower fell into Jiuhua Ancestor’s hands, immediately becoming as gentle as a civet cat, its brilliance swiftly dimming and retracting, even the Light Domain, Bright Ripple vanished without a trace.

In front of dozens of Golden Core Cultivators, he simply, straightforwardly stowed the Sun Burning Celestial Sunflower into his storage bag.

"This!!"

Ascendant Tianying, Yin Flame Ancestor, and other Golden Core Cultivators were shocked, their expressions changing instantly.

Jiuhua Ancestor flung the storage bag to Zhang Yao, succinctly uttering one word:

"Go!"

Zhang Yao, already prepared, grabbed the storage bag without hesitation, readjusting his escape light and swiftly leaving.

"Boom!" "Boom!"...

As escape lights rose, Zhang Yao and Nether Abyss Ancestor’s group split again.

This left Ascendant Tianying, Yin Flame Ancestor, and others chasing in a dilemma:

Continue pursuing Elder Qingxu?

Seeing his terrifying escape speed, it was evident they couldn’t catch him, now that even the Bright Ripple had vanished, pinpointing him was impossible; continuing the chase was merely being led on a wild goose chase.

Turn and pursue Nether Abyss Ancestor’s group, attacking their apparent rescue attempt?

Not to mention if they could catch up, even if they did, so what? Elder Qingxu hailed from Da Li and had no deep connection with them; what "necessary rescue" was there?

Perhaps encircling and eliminating Nether Abyss Ancestor’s group inadvertently aided Elder Qingxu, amusing him instead!

"It’s ruined! A single wrong move!"

Yin Flame Ancestor, Ascendant Tianying, and others turned pale, subconsciously slowing down their escape lights.

Just as they watched Zhang Yao’s escape light flying farther afield:

"Boom!"

From the corner of the dark cavern, a mass of black shadows erupted suddenly, enveloping Zhang Yao completely!

"Not good!!"

In that moment, Zhang Yao’s pupils contracted, his hairs standing on end.

He saw clearly, at the center of that mass of shadows was a pitch-black Faceless Shadow, accompanied by a total of seven or eight Black Death Beasts!

"It’s him! He’s been here all along, lurking?!"

Zhang Yao’s face changed dramatically, his escape light promptly halted, intent on a sharp turn.

Yet his action was evidently a step late; caught unawares, he was enveloped by the broad shadow, with Soul Tamer launching an attack upon appearance.

"Roar roar!!"

The seven or eight Black Death Beasts coordinated flawlessly, instantly sealing him in all directions, leaving no room for evasion.

"Boom... "

The Faceless Shadow’s slow but swift strike aimed directly at Zhang Yao’s reveal, combined with the Black Death Beasts’ offensive, leaving him with no escape!

"Qingxu!!"

Nether Abyss Ancestor roared, a mix of shock and anger.

Without hesitation, he adjusted his escape light and crazily fled to assist, Jiuhua Ancestor, Black Abyss Ascendant, and others followed behind him, but it was clear that distant water couldn’t quench present thirst.

"It’s that monster!"

Ascendant Tianying, Yin Flame Ancestor, and others were astonished, but soon their hearts surged with a tinge of joy and hope.

The two instinctively slowed down their escape light, as if preparing to watch the tigers fight from the mountain, letting Elder Qingxu, the Nether Abyss Ancestor, and their group contend with the black shadow creature.

At that very moment:

"Splash!"

Zhang Yao’s body suddenly shattered and transformed directly into a formless Qingfeng, causing the attacks of seven or eight Black Death Beasts and the Faceless Shadow to completely miss.

This sudden turn of events momentarily stunned both the Faceless Shadow and several Black Death Beasts.

"Huh?"

A puzzled thought rose in Zhang Yao’s divine thought.

Even though he was immune to most attacks after transforming into Qingfeng, he could still sense the intensity and force of the attacks.

In his perception:

The supposedly fierce and thunderous attack of the Faceless Shadow seemed lacking in power, no different from an ordinary Golden Core, far from the level of a late stage Golden Core powerhouse.

"What is happening..."

Zhang Yao didn’t have time to ponder, instinctively maneuvering his Qingfeng form to instantly escape the shadow-covered area.

"Whoosh!"

After escaping the danger, he immediately reverted to his true form, transforming into a dazzling white rainbow that quickly disappeared.

After the failed ambush, the Faceless Shadow’s movements were a bit slow, unable to catch up with Zhang Yao’s escape light, and simply gave up the pursuit, standing in place and watching Zhang Yao successfully reunite with the Nether Abyss Ancestor and his group.

"Whew..."

Upon reuniting with the group, Zhang Yao breathed a sigh of relief.

"Such skill! Such divine techniques!"

The Nether Abyss Ancestor exhaled, uttered a compliment, then turned his gaze coldly towards the Faceless Shadow.

Their gazes clashed in the air, neither making a rash move, resulting in a brief stalemate.

"Hmm?"

He frowned slightly, speaking:

"Fellow Daoist, have you noticed, this person’s aura seems to have changed slightly..."

"Aura change? I haven’t noticed that."

While adjusting his magical power, Zhang Yao said:

"However, the power of his attack has greatly diminished. Could it be that he suffered serious injuries earlier?"

"That’s unlikely, isn’t it?"

The Nether Abyss Ancestor shook his head, refuting:

"In just a few hours, still within Mo Yuan, who could have severely injured him?"

Zhang Yao appeared thoughtful:

"That seems to be the case, but if he wasn’t severely injured by someone..."

Within the brief moments of their confrontation and discussion:

Ascendant Tianying and the Yin Flame Ancestor, who were approaching, had slowed down their escape light, with several Golden Core cultivators behind them quickly catching up.

Among them, Mo Heng Daoist’s escape light, seemingly unstable due to injuries, failed to halt in time and rushed straight towards the Yin Flame Ancestor, instantly getting within three feet of him.

"Hmm?"

The Yin Flame Ancestor was slightly stunned, and before he could react:

"Rip!"

Mo Heng Daoist split open!

He literally split open, his outer skin instantly shattered, and a large mass of black shadow erupted out!

It was like the fur of a little white rabbit being torn from the inside out, revealing the hideous, terrifying black true form beneath the white fur!

"Boom!"

The entirely black Faceless Shadow launched a palm straight at the Yin Flame Ancestor’s back!

The three feet distance, for Golden Core cultivators, was almost as close as a breath away, with not even a tenth of a second needed, and the Yin Flame Ancestor was caught off guard!

"What?!"

All the Golden Core cultivators present were stunned.

"Boom!"

The Yin Flame Ancestor’s body was directly blown apart!

At the moment he was struck by the black shadow, his magic robe shattered, and as his protective magical power was pierced, his body turned into a mass of deep red flames burning furiously.

The flames, shattered by the powerful force, exploded into ninety-nine tiny sparks, scattering in all directions, illuminating a dazzling sky full of sparks.

"It’s that monster!!"

"Damn! How could there be two Black Tide monsters?"

"He disguised himself as Fellow Daoist Mo Heng!"

After this moment passed, many Golden Core cultivators finally reacted.

In the next instant:

"Boom..."

A torrent of over twenty divine techniques, Daoist skills, and magical treasures inundated the area where the Faceless Shadow was located.

"Bang!"

Facing the full force assault of over twenty Golden Core cultivators, the Faceless Shadow had no ability to resist, being decisively blasted apart, with blood and bones flying everywhere.

"Crash!"

Deep red flames gathered and rose again, reforming into the body of the Yin Flame Ancestor.

Yet everyone’s divine thought captured that, in the instant the ninety-nine sparks scattered, no less than sixteen groups of sparks extinguished, and the returned Yan Flame Ancestor looked pale, with an unstable aura.

Evidently, the Yin Flame Ancestor, having used a life-preserving divine technique to evade the attack, also paid a significant price, with his strength having declined considerably.

Most life-preserving divine techniques in the world are overly exhausting and costly magic skills, with Zhang Yao’s "Celestial Wind Formless Body" being a rare existence.

"Mo Heng!!"

He roared in rage and shock.

Although knowing well he wasn’t actually Mo Heng Daoist, who was likely long dead, the fear and fury in his heart were hard to quell.

"Something’s not right..."

One Golden Core cultivator’s expression changed multiple times as he repeatedly scanned the scattered blood and bones with his divine thought and suddenly exclaimed:

"Something’s wrong!!"

"This, this aura seems to be Fellow Daoist Heisen’s Dharma Body?"