Pi Xiu stared at his still beating heart and the bloodied hand holding it, his eyes widened with disbelief.

Knowing his own early-stage Core Formation cultivation, though he could be considered a prominent figure outside, he was the weakest in the group except for Yan Sijing, so he dared not be careless and had activated a protective treasure bracelet early on, forming a white ring of light around him.

However, this circle of light did not have any effect. The red-clothed woman's hand appeared directly inside the circle and easily penetrated his body.

Behind the palm of this hand, however, there was nothing, as if it had reached out directly from the void.

The thunderous roar came from Yan Sijing, who looked somewhat bewildered. Behind her, silver lightning flickered in the void a few times before dissipating.

After recovering from the shock, several Nascent Soul cultivators clearly saw the red-clothed woman's other hand was attacking Yan Sijing but was repelled by a bolt of silver lightning coming from an unknown source.

Wan Qi Hong, Dugu Feng, and others quickly retreated. They were not surprised that Yan Sijing had dodged disaster, assuming she wore some kind of automatic defensive treasure bestowed by Thunderbolt Ancestor when facing an enemy.

Thunderbolt Ancestor's eyes also flashed with surprise. He knew he had not given such a treasure to Yan Sijing, but in the current situation, he naturally did not have time to care more.

Inside the Stealing Heaven Tripod, Yuan Ming put down a silver hammer he was holding. It was he who had driven the Thunder God Hammer to save Yan Sijing's life just in time.

This woman was his only believer currently in Shura Palace. Should she perish, it would be troubling. Most of all, he would lose the chance to understand the situation firsthand. Thus, risking the exposure of some details about the Stealing Heaven Tripod, he also took the risk to save her.

"Sorceress!"

Golden Dawn Fairy did not retreat. She raised one hand and threw the golden book she held.

The book instantly burst into blinding golden light. Countless golden characters densely emerged, swirling around the book without ceasing, and then the shape of the book transformed into a golden giant bird several zhang in size, with wings on its back and sharp beak and claws, looking majestic.

The giant bird flapped its wings toward the red-clothed woman, its sharp beak pecking toward the void where Pi Xiu was.

"Swoosh"

A majestic golden light arrow shot out, its dazzling golden light illuminating the entire third layer space in gold, directly targeting the bloodied hand that had pierced through Pi Xiu's body.

The red-clothed woman moved her arm, and with a flash of the bloodied hand, retracted it along with Pi Xiu's heart, making the golden light arrow miss its target.

By the time the golden giant bird had charged in front of the red-clothed woman, its two sharp claws quickly reached out, shooting out claw beams like Sword Qi, grabbing toward the woman's head.

The red-clothed woman, however, ignored this completely, not even bothering to defend herself. Just when everyone was slightly amazed, the body of the golden giant bird suddenly froze without warning, then hovered in midair, just like what had happened earlier to Su Zimo and the golden-haired youth.

Yuan Ming raised an eyebrow. The red-clothed woman's attacks could freely shift space, similar to the Night Parade of Hundred Demons but even surpassing it in the effect of shifting.

As for the capture of the golden giant bird, it was naturally the work of an invisible spider web, which now entangled the bird, pulling it into midair.

As the red-clothed woman withdrew her hand, Pi Xiu's body was tossed out by a gust of air, hitting the back wall like a rag doll before sliding down, spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood, his breath extremely weak.

Golden Dawn Fairy did not continue to attack the red-clothed woman but flew to Pi Xiu's side, fed him several elixirs, and applied several talismans on him, to no avail.

Pi Xiu's breath continued to fade quickly, and he soon lost all signs of life.

Although the physical bodies of Core Formation Stage cultivators are much stronger than ordinary humans, the heart is the Life Gate of the body. Once destroyed, survival is nearly impossible unless there is some miraculous elixir capable of regeneration or high-level Wood Attribute healing magic is applied immediately.

Golden Dawn Fairy's expression darkened as she collected Pi Xiu's body and turned to look at the red-clothed woman, her eyes filled with deep resentment as she made a hand gesture in the air.

The golden giant bird, unable to escape and hanging in midair, suddenly flashed with golden light all around it, reverting to the form of a book, which shot out dozens of runes forming a small array.

The book "swooshed" and disappeared, appearing in the hands of Golden Dawn Fairy the next moment. Carrying Pi Xiu's body, she also flew back.

The red-clothed woman's eyes flashed with surprise but she did not make another move.

By this time, Wan Qi Hong and others had retreated to the location of the stone steps entrance, coldly watching the red-clothed woman.

"What is your intention? By controlling us with illusions, do you intend to slaughter all of us?" Wan Qi Hong asked coldly, five golden Flying Swords floating above his head, trembling slightly, ready to strike at any moment.

The red-clothed woman, as if she had not heard, looked up and opened her mouth, revealing full, fiercely sharp teeth. She bit into Pi Xiu's heart, swallowing it in a few bites, chewing audibly.

At the same time, the rectangular blood-colored Light Domain that filled the void quickly dissipated, as if it had never appeared before.

Wan Qi Hong's eyes flickered with cold light, yet he did not immediately take action but exchanged thoughts with the others through their Divine Sense.

"It appears the words spoken by this red-clothed woman were all nonsense; she's most likely not even a Tower Spirit, merely using illusion techniques to control and lure us close to the Shura Blood Devouring Map, most likely aiming to annihilate us all!" Thunderbolt Ancestor grimly transmitted.

"Fellow Daoist Yu is not wrong. Fortunately, we regained our senses in time, or the consequences would have been unimaginable, perhaps even worse than Su Zimo's fate," Dugu Feng said slowly.

"Is that so? I believe someone helped us, otherwise how could we have broken free from the illusion simultaneously? And if I'm not mistaken, the one who awakened us possessed some kind of Soul Cultivator Divine Power," Wan Qi Hong remarked as he looked meaningfully towards Dugu Feng, clearly suspecting someone from the Black Desert Alliance was involved.

Thunderbolt Ancestor and Golden Dawn Fairy also looked at Dugu Feng with suspicion in their eyes.

It wasn't strange for the three to have such doubts. The Northern Desert was desolate and isolated, with very little interaction with the Central Plains Cultivation World, but one thing everyone from the Central Plains knew was that the Northern Desert had a relatively higher number of Soul Cultivators.

Unlike the animosity towards Soul Cultivators in the Central Plains Cultivation World, the Northern Desert not only refrained from restricting them but greatly revered them, and thus many renowned Soul Cultivators in the history of Yunhuang Continent hailed from the Northern Desert.

The Central Plains Cultivation World often demanded that the Cultivation Sects of the Northern Desert restrict Soul Cultivators, but the latter would publicly conform while defying secretly, and the various sects from the Central Plains could do nothing but turn a blind eye.

"What do you mean by that, Fellow Daoist Wan Qi? Apart from the three attendants, I haven't brought anyone else!" Dugu Feng said in a deep voice.

"If Fellow Daoist Dugu says there's no one, then there's no one," Wan Qi Hong dismissed with a smile, not pressing further.

Dugu Feng's expression darkened, but he offered no explanation.

"Whether there's someone else involved, we can discuss that later. What should we do next?" Thunderbolt Ancestor coughed, asking.

"That red-clothed woman is definitely unwilling to hand over the Shura Blood Devouring Map. In that case, we don't need to hold back. We should join forces and kill her! As for the Shura Blood Devouring Map, after killing this woman, we may then contest it amongst ourselves based on our abilities," Wan Qi Hong transmitted.

"Agreed!" Thunderbolt Ancestor approved, and Dugu Feng also slowly nodded.

As for Golden Dawn Fairy, she had no second thoughts and immediately activated a golden book, transforming once again into a golden bird that dove at the red-clothed woman.

The golden bird stretched out its claws; two millstone-sized golden claw shadows tore through the air, striking at the red-clothed woman.

The claw shadows emitted astonishing mana fluctuations, leaving clear traces in the void, their power far surpassing that of the earlier Golden Arrow, evidently driven by Golden Dawn Fairy's real anger.

Wan Qi Hong, Dugu Feng, and Thunderbolt Ancestor also utilized their Magic Treasures, summoning five golden Flying Swords, the Thunder Seal Treasure, and twenty-one Black Needles towards the red-clothed woman.

Facing the pincer attack from four Nascent Soul cultivators, the red-clothed woman's expression turned solemn. She opened her mouth and spewed out a stream of blood light that flared up, instantly forming a sea of blood-red fire about seventy to ninety feet wide.

An invisible spider web descended and merged with the sea of fire which then thickened, exhibiting a net-like pattern within it.

The Magic Treasures struck it, producing a low, muffled sound, causing the sea of blood fire to shake but not shatter; it managed to engulf all four Magic Treasures.

The red-clothed woman sneered slightly and gestured behind her. A ray of blood light entered the Shura Blood Devouring Map, which began to flicker rapidly.

Amidst Wan Qi Hong and others, the void fluctuated, and thirty-some skeletal corpses appeared out of thin air, the same emaciated figures that had appeared on the first layer, their numerous bone claws striking down.

Each of these skeletal corpses possessed strength not lesser than that of Core Formation cultivators, catching Wan Qi Hong and his companions off guard. They quickly released Protective Magic Treasures around their bodies.

"Bang" "Bang" "Bang" — a series of loud impacts!

The combined strike from dozens of Core Formation cultivators was formidable, causing the Protective Magic Treasures of Wan Qi Hong and his comrades to waver incessantly. The less experienced Thunderbolt Ancestor and Golden Dawn Fairy were even blown away, though fortunately uninjured.

Not just Wan Qi Hong's group, but Yan Sijing, Xi Ying, and the Black Robed Cultivators from the Black Desert Alliance were also under attack from several skeletal corpses.

Xi Ying and the Black Robed Cultivator together raised a strange bird-shaped Magic Treasure, and white wings emerged on their bodies, enhancing their movement speed extraordinarily as they flickered and escaped the clutch of the skeletal corpses in a flash.

In comparison, Yan Sijing's techniques were mediocre. She summoned a golden treasure sword and a white Ruyi, managing to barely block the attack from two corpses.

This woman's lack of combat experience was apparent as she struggled to resist the two corpses, despite wielding quite exquisite Magic Treasures. Her face turned pale as she was on the verge of being overwhelmed, subconsciously praying fervently to the Nether Moon God in her heart.

Within the Stealing Heaven Tripod, Yuan Ming furrowed his brows.

He had traveled with Yan Sijing for a while, but during that time he had taken on almost all the fighting himself, not realizing Yan Sijing's poor combat skills until now.

However, given that the woman had just advanced and was an alchemist with limited combat experience, her poor performance was somewhat understandable.

Since he had promised to help her escape her dire straits and considering her current value, he naturally could not let her perish so easily.

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