At the beginning, I cleaned the Sutra Library and completed the incomplete skills.

Chapter 206: Thank You, Senior, For Protecting Me

However,

facing such a perilous situation,

Li Lan didn't panic much; his expression remained calm and unruffled.

He had hidden his brilliance for decades to successfully reach Foundation Establishment Stage.

Having been so cautious throughout his life, how could he not have anticipated a situation like today?

Li Lan slapped his Storage Pouch with one hand and also took out a Talisman Treasure.

The difference was,

the Talisman Treasure Fu Yang had previously unleashed was inscribed with obscure and difficult-to-understand runes,

while Li Lan's Talisman Treasure depicted a palm-sized Xuanming Wuxiang Formation.

Li Lan silently chanted the incantation.

As massive spiritual power was injected into it,

this Xuanming Wuxiang Formation quickly detached itself from the Talisman Treasure.

A buzzing sound emerged.

Various Gu insects crawled out of the Xuanming Wuxiang Formation, fluttering their wings and flying in mid-air, forming a black cloud.

In an instant,

the myriad sabre lights had arrived.

But when they landed on the insect cloud,

they merely cut down many insect corpses before dissipating in an instant.

The twisted smile on Fu Yang's face froze, and his eyes instantly widened to their fullest.

"What—what is this? How can my Famous Sabre, No Limit, fail to kill even a group of insects?"

The scene before him was too shocking, so much so that he couldn't believe his eyes anymore.

Not only the sabre lights of No Limit,

but even the Magic Treasure of the two Black-Clothed Male Cultivators failed to make any waves.

Even under the包裹 of the insect cloud,

the two Magic Treasures seemed to be covered in rust by the military formula, completely severing their connection with the two of them.

What was worse,

these peculiar Gu insects seemed to possess the Divine Ability to devour spiritual power.

They could clearly feel that

the spiritual essence of their carefully refined Magic Treasures was rapidly diminishing.

It wouldn't be long before

these two extraordinary Magic Treasures would completely turn into a pile of scrap metal.

But what shocked them most was far from just these; looking at the black Xuanming Wuxiang Formation,

the two exchanged glances, both seeing the horror in each other's eyes.

Fu Yang was still young and lacked experience,

but these two were different; they naturally recognized what it was at a glance.

The two had thought that Li Lan possessing a Magic Treasure was already the limit,

but they never expected that the other party actually had a Talisman Treasure on him.

A Talisman Treasure is different from pseudo-Magic Treasures and Magic Treasures, which are imitations.

It is a genuine treasure refined by extracting the power of a Magic Treasure.

It's naturally not surprising that it could block the sabre lights of the pseudo-Magic Treasure No Limit.

The moment Li Lan unleashed this Talisman Treasure,

their hearts sank deeply.

With a Talisman Treasure protecting him, the opponent was already in an unbeatable position.

Unless they unleashed a Magic Treasure of the same rank, they absolutely couldn't do anything to this person.

After reaching this conclusion in their hearts,

the two Black-Clothed Male Cultivators simultaneously transformed into streaks of rainbow light, preparing to quickly retreat and escape.

In their haste,

they didn't even have time to transmit a message to warn Fu Yang.

Evidently,

these two old fellows had tacitly agreed to use this arrogant young man as cannon fodder to buy time.

But since Li Lan had decided to act, he had naturally anticipated all possible subsequent outcomes.

He calmly performed a hand seal.

The surroundings suddenly darkened,

and everyone instantly fell into a state of Chaos.

Here, there seemed to be no distinction between up, down, left, or right; there was only an endless darkness.

"This is? The Demonic Path's Xuanming Wuxiang Formation?

No wonder this person has a genuine Magic Treasure and a Talisman Treasure protecting him.

It seems your speculation was correct; this fellow is indeed not an ordinary Loose Cultivator, but rather a Golden Core Stage Devil Head Reincarnation!"

The Black-Clothed Male Cultivator said in a shocked tone.

However, in this Formation that could gradually engulf the five senses,

the Black-Clothed Female cultivator, though very close, couldn't see where her companion was.

"I had some research into this Formation in my early years. Although its effect is not bad, setting it up requires a considerable amount of time.

When exactly did he set up this grand Formation? Why didn't we notice anything before?"

The Black-Clothed Female cultivator frowned in thought.

She carefully reviewed the previous scene in her mind.

Li Lan's every move was under the Divine Sense of the three of them.

If he had made any subtle movements,

it would have been impossible for them to escape their notice.

The Black-Clothed Male Cultivator thought of a possibility, and a bitter taste involuntarily emerged in his mouth.

"This guy arrived much earlier than us, didn't he? Could this grand Formation have been set up by him in advance?"

The Black-Clothed Female cultivator realized upon hearing this,

but then more questions popped into her mind.

"This child holds a genuine Magic Treasure and a Talisman Treasure. With just these two treasures, let alone against someone of the same rank,

even against a Foundation Establishment Stage Middle Stage Cultivator without a Magic Treasure, he could fight and kill them.

Why would he go to such extra trouble to set up this Xuanming Wuxiang Formation, which is only useful below Qi Refining Great Perfection,

and can only serve as a delaying effect for Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivators?"

The Black-Clothed Male Cultivator's old face was already wrinkled like a bitter gourd.

"Perhaps he really just wanted that momentary delaying effect.

Damn it, I've cultivated the Dao for over seventy years, and I've never encountered someone with such profound and meticulous thoughts.

Did he even anticipate our escape and set up a grand Formation in advance to cut off our escape route?"

The Black-Clothed Female cultivator's voice didn't come for a long time; his hearing had also unknowingly disappeared.

In fact, they only guessed half right.

When this Xuanming Wuxiang Formation was set up, Li Lan himself hadn't even arrived yet.

He, who was always cautious, how could he come into this muddy water without any preparation?

Before his main body acted,

the Spirit Bean Soldier responsible for scouting had already gone ahead with the Formation Materials.

As Fu Yang and the two struggled to break through the Formation,

Li Lan waved a hand, causing the insect cloud to seek them out and completely envelop them.

Under the power of the Xuanming Wuxiang Formation Talisman Treasure,

the two Black-Clothed Cultivators were quickly devoured by the Gu insects, leaving only two Storage Pouches floating in mid-air.

As for Fu Yang, he relied on the circular jade pendant at his waist to hold on for a long time.

The halo emanating from this object could resist the power of the Talisman Treasure, so it must be quite extraordinary.

Li Lan eventually unleashed the Judge Cui's Pen Magic Treasure and six Fishing in a Plate Diagrams, barely managing to hook the jade pendant away from the opponent.

Without the protection of the body-protecting jade pendant,

this Genius of Lingxiao Sect instantly followed in the footsteps of his two companions, becoming a casualty under the mouths of those Gu insects.

After completely resolving the three troubles,

Li Lan waved his hand, withdrew the grand Formation, and put their Storage Pouches into his own.

Immediately after,

he looked at the surrounding Qi Refinement Stage Cultivators and showed a friendly smile.

"I, Xu, am not a bloodthirsty person. Those who wish to remain here to comprehend the mysteries of Breakthrough are naturally welcome.

But if anyone, like those three Fellow Daoists, harbors any malicious intentions, then don't blame me, Xu, for being merciless."

These Qi Refinement Stage Cultivators had long been scared witless by his endless stream of Magic Treasures, so they dared not truly believe his words and linger here for too long.

They immediately scattered like birds and beasts, each using their Divine Abilities to flee,

disappearing without a trace in an instant.

Li Lan did not kill all these low-level Cultivators.

He wasn't worried that today's events would eventually reach Lingxiao Sect and provoke their retaliation.

Anyway, once this matter was settled, he would use the bone contraction technique to change into a new face and live.

Even if Lingxiao Sect found out, this matter would definitely not be traced back to him.

Compared to going on a killing spree,

he had more pressing matters to attend to at the moment.

Li Lan turned his gaze to the Yellow Mane Hound, once again comprehending its Breakthrough state.

After the Lion-type demon Cultivator was freed,

he didn't dare to disturb Li Lan.

He quietly returned to the Yellow Mane Hound's side to act as its Protector.

With the help of Li Lan's Restriction Formations,

the spiritual power storm here was concealed, and no other high-level Cultivators set foot here afterward.

Twenty-four hours later,

the spiritual power storm, upon reaching its peak, suddenly dissipated.

The Yellow Mane Hound within it slowly opened its eyes, and a Killing Intent instantly swept outwards,

only slightly converging when it landed on Li Lan.

Although it had been in the process of Realm Breakthrough, this didn't mean it was unaware of its surroundings.

The undisguised greed of Fu Yang and the two,

and its friend almost dying by its side because of it—all these made the Yellow Mane Hound incredibly angry.

But now that the culprits were dead, the anger in its heart had nowhere to vent.

"Big Brother, thank you for this time."

The Yellow Mane Hound swallowed its anger and said gratefully to the Lion-type demon Cultivator.

"Oh, you and I are brothers; saying thank you is too formal.

If you really want to thank someone, you should thank this Fellow Daoist instead. Although he is human, his Heart-Nature is good, and—"

The Lion-type demon Cultivator said, looking at the canine Yao Beast beside him.

The other party was the Yellow Mane Hound's offspring; due to its shallow cultivation, it hadn't yet developed strong sentience and could only act on instinct.

The canine Yao Beast barked twice, and as a fellow kin, the Yellow Mane Hound easily understood its meaning.

Its eyes widened, filled with surprise.

"Is that true? You actually smelled the aura left by a Senior of the Ouroboros clan on this human?"

Although Li Lan had saved it, the Yellow Mane Hound didn't have a good impression of humans.

It had originally planned to just give the other party some compensation and let the matter go.

But its offspring's accidental discovery changed its mind.

"Don't you believe in our race's Divine Ability? This can't be false."

The Lion-type demon Cultivator grinned, showing its sharp teeth.

It was precisely because of this that it hadn't insisted on driving Li Lan away earlier.

Otherwise, with the Bloodline of a Yao Beast,

even if it knew the opponent had a Magic Treasure, even if it knew it would die, it would have done so without hesitation.

The Yellow Mane Hound didn't delay, using all four paws, it quickly came to Li Lan's side.

It lowered its head, performing the highest courtesy among Yao Beasts, and said with a voice full of gratitude:

"Thank you, Senior, for protecting this little demon earlier. Thank you."

Li Lan had observed its general Breakthrough process,

and at this moment, he was still frowning in deep thought.

He didn't pay much attention to the other party's thanks; after waving his hand, he instead asked another question.

"Fellow Daoist's Breakthrough failed? Why?

Although the previous fight was quite intense, I had set up a Formation to protect you, so logically, you should have succeeded in advancing.

But Fellow Daoist seems to still be at the Fifth Stage Early Stage; how could it have failed?"

Upon hearing this, the Yellow Mane Hound smiled and explained:

"Actually, this little demon has already successfully advanced.

It's just that the Cultivation Technique passed down through our clan's Bloodline is quite special, which is why there isn't a significant change in spiritual power after the Breakthrough.

After a little more settling, the power of the Fifth Stage Middle Stage will manifest."