31: The oriole is behind

Ji Mo's gaze was like a torch, keenly observing every subtle change in the battlefield situation.

He clearly perceived that even though Song Dong and the others cooperated quite tacitly, they inevitably fell into a bitter struggle when facing a powerful Level 3 High-Tier Yao Beast like the Golden Flame Lion.

Among this group, Song Dong's strength was the most outstanding, taking on the heavy responsibility of the main attack, while the other six each performed their duties, mainly responsible for restraining the Golden Flame Lion.

They either activated Sword Qi to fiercely attack the Golden Flame Lion, or used their weapons to cast long-range spells, attempting to continuously deplete the Golden Flame Lion's physical strength and spiritual energy.

However, facing the roaring golden flames protecting the Golden Flame Lion's body, these few people were truly somewhat constrained.

Ordinary weapons, once they touched the scorching flames, would instantly melt, let alone close-quarters combat; just the high temperature rushing towards them was enough to make people shrink back.

Helpless, everyone could only rely on their Movement Technique to engage in a guerrilla fight with the Golden Flame Lion.

Song Dong's expression grew increasingly solemn; he knew that dragging this on was absolutely not a good strategy. Thus, he made a decisive move and shouted loudly:

"Everyone, be careful!"

"According to the original plan, Jiang Hao, you specialize in the Ice Spirit Art; now, fully unleash your spiritual power barrier and absolutely restrict the Golden Flame Lion's movements!

Dahai, protect Jiang Hao with all your might, you must not let anything happen to him! The rest of you should act according to the situation!"

Song Dong's shout clearly reached every teammate's ear.

As soon as his voice fell, the Disciple named Jiang Hao quickly circulated his Cultivation Technique, and in an instant, waves of bone-chilling coldness emanated from his body.

His hands formed seals as fast as phantoms, and in the blink of an eye, a crystal-clear, ice-blue spiritual power barrier abruptly condensed in front of the Golden Flame Lion.

This barrier emitted faint coldness, attempting to block the Golden Flame Lion's attacks and simultaneously restrict its movement space.

The Golden Flame Lion seemed to sense everyone's intention; it roared angrily at the sky, and the flames around its body instantly surged violently like boiling magma.

Immediately after, it pushed off with its hind legs, and its entire body, like a burning fire meteor, charged fiercely towards the spiritual power barrier with the force of a thunderbolt.

"Boom!"

Accompanied by a deafening roar, the spiritual power barrier instantly shattered, turning into countless ice shards scattering in all directions.

Jiang Hao also couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of fresh blood due to the powerful recoil, staggering back several steps.

The Golden Flame Lion, likewise, experienced a momentary pause in its movements due to the fierce impact, revealing a slight flaw.

Song Dong, quick-witted, immediately unleashed his Movement Technique at the Minor Achievement Perfection stage, rushing towards the Golden Flame Lion like a ghost. The longsword in his hand, carrying a sharp Aura, fiercely stabbed towards the Golden Flame Lion's left eye.

"Ow!"

The Golden Flame Lion let out a painful howl, its left eye instantly gushing with blood. With one eye blinded,

its remaining right eye glared fiercely at Song Dong, filled with venom and ferocity.

It let out an angry roar at the sky, then began to gather power in its mouth. A blood-red fireball quickly condensed into shape, precisely locking onto Song Dong.

"Brother Dong, stop holding back, use your Sword Intent!"

One of the teammates anxiously shouted.

At this moment, Song Dong also understood that it was a critical moment of life and death, and he could no longer hold back in the slightest.

His eyes instantly became as sharp as an eagle's, two parts of Sword Intent erupted from his body, Sword Qi crisscrossed around him, and the sword light of his longsword suddenly surged, reaching three meters in length in the blink of an eye.

The Sword Qi was sharp and formless, yet it seemed to contain terrifying power capable of tearing space apart.

"Break!"

Song Dong let out an earth-shattering roar.

Immediately after,

"Pfft, pfft, pfft,"

a Sword Qi, condensing all his power and carrying two parts of Sword Intent, shot up into the sky, slashing cleanly and decisively towards the fireball spat out by the Golden Flame Lion with an unstoppable Aura, its sharpness seemingly irresistible.

The moment the Sword Qi and the fireball made contact, with a "whoosh" sound, the fireball was split in two and then rapidly annihilated in mid-air.

This Sword Qi, empowered by Sword Intent, not only sliced through the fireball but also extinguished the explosive, terrifying energy contained within it.

The Sword Qi, its momentum undiminished, continued with an unstoppable, sharp Aura, heavily striking the Golden Flame Lion's wide-open mouth.

The Golden Flame Lion's mouth, already relatively fragile, was like a tender piece of tofu under this indestructible Sword Qi, instantly having half its head sliced off.

With a dull thud, the Golden Flame Lion's massive body crashed to the ground, its breath gone.

Song Dong gasped for breath; that full-power sword strike just now had consumed a huge amount of his energy. At this moment, his breathing was slightly disordered, and large beads of sweat continuously rolled down his forehead.

Just as Song Dong had not yet recovered from the fatigue of the fierce battle, Ji Mo moved.

He pushed his Lightness Skill to the extreme, instantly transforming into a lightning-fast black shadow, pouncing fiercely towards Song Dong.

After all, there was still a considerable distance between the two. As Ji Mo's figure flickered, one of the Disciples in Song Dong's team keenly noticed the abnormality, his face changing drastically as he shouted in alarm:

"Be careful!"

Song Dong's heart suddenly jolted, as if an invisible large hand had fiercely clutched it.

In his haste, he had no time to raise his sword to meet the attack. In a flash, his mind stirred, and a set of battle armor exuding an Innate Aura instantly appeared on his body.

This battle armor was no ordinary item; it was the innate battle armor, a life-saving treasure he had specifically borrowed from his elder brother before setting off.

"Bang!" The next second, Ji Mo's fist, containing over 80,000 catties of immense force, struck Song Dong's battle armor like a whistling cannonball.

How terrifying was the power of this punch? Song Dong was like a punctured balloon, uncontrollably flying backward, tracing an arc of several tens of meters in the air before heavily smashing into a huge rock, finally stopping his momentum.

At the same time, Ji Mo was also shaken back four or five steps by the powerful recoil.

He couldn't help but feel a little shocked, originally thinking that this full-power punch would be enough to deliver a fatal blow to Song Dong, but he didn't expect that under such circumstances, Song Dong could still forcefully block this punch.

Ji Mo knew in his heart that even though Song Dong was sent flying so far,

in reality, he had only suffered some minor shock and was not seriously injured, far from fatal, not even counting as severe injury.

As expected, a moment later, Song Dong's extremely angry roar came from within the swirling dust.

"Who is it, who dares to ambush me!"

As the dust gradually settled, when Song Dong saw Ji Mo's figure, his angry expression instantly froze, and he became somewhat stunned.

Thoughts raced through his mind like lightning, but he could never have imagined that the person before him would be Ji Mo.

"You... you are Ji Mo? How could you be here?"

Song Dong was full of disbelief.

"That's right, it's me. Didn't expect it, did you? I'm naturally here to take your life. You sent people to intercept and kill me in the Wushuang Mountain Range; I will settle this score today."

Ji Mo said coldly, his expression calm and his gaze like a torch.

"Hahaha, I really didn't expect it, truly didn't expect it, kid!

I have to say, I really admire your courage. In such a short time, you were actually able to Cultivate to the Acquired Ninth Layer realm, and your Physical Body strength is even more formidable than imagined.

If you had kept hiding and Cultivating in peace, you might truly become a major hidden danger to me in the future.

However, what a pity, what a pity, you still overestimated yourself.

Since you've delivered yourself to my doorstep, don't even think about leaving alive. This place will be your burial ground!"

Although Song Dong said this, he still felt some lingering fear in his heart. If he hadn't been cautious in his actions,

and borrowed this innate battle armor from his elder brother in advance for protection, that blow just now, even if it didn't kill him, would have certainly caused serious injury.

But at this moment, he still feigned composure, attempting to intimidate Ji Mo with words.

"Hmph, enough nonsense, give me your life!" Ji Mo snorted coldly.

The killing intent in his eyes was as dense as a materialized sharp blade. His figure flashed like lightning, rushing fiercely towards Song Dong once again.

Song Dong, confident with the innate battle armor protecting him, grew bolder. His longsword was infused with two parts of sharp Sword Intent, its blade shimmering with light, so sharp it seemed capable of cutting through everything in the world.

Ji Mo instantly judged that with his current Physical Body strength, it would probably be difficult to withstand this sword strike containing Sword Intent head-on.

He absolutely cannot take it head-on!

Thoughts raced through Ji Mo's mind. With a thought, the mysterious heaven and earth creation bell instantly emerged from his body, floating above his head, emitting a soft yet majestic light.

Immediately after, a thick golden-yellow beam of light poured down from the heaven and earth creation bell, tightly protecting Ji Mo's entire body.

At this moment, Ji Mo no longer had any reservations. He clenched his fist, now enveloped in golden light, and fiercely smashed it towards Song Dong's longsword.

Seeing this, Song Dong couldn't help but feel secretly smug. In his opinion, Ji Mo's action was simply courting death.

To use one's Physical Body to contend with sharp Sword Intent, what else could it be but seeking death? However, what happened next greatly exceeded his expectations.