15: Chapter 15: Eradicating the Demonic Cultivators!

Outside the Earth God Temple, the wind had died down.

Three figures descended from the sky, their toes touching the ground without making a sound.

The leading female cultivator was dressed in a red skirt and held a dark red long banner. To her left was a bald, burly man, and to her right was a youth with a sinister expression.

The thick aura of blood and malevolence was nauseating.

The female cultivator stopped, her brows furrowing; the courtyard was a bit too quiet...

Even the temple door was gone.

"Old Fourth?" the bald man called out.

There was no response.

The female cultivator raised her hand, and the Blood Banner moved on its own without any wind. She stepped into the temple, her gaze sweeping across the corner: three shriveled corpses and the remains of a crushed head.

The Bone Urn was gone, and the Storage Pouches were gone.

"Who did this!"

The sinister youth gnashed his teeth in anger. In the darkness, a massive bear paw silently reached out, heading straight for the back of his head.

There was no fluctuation of spiritual power, only the dull sound of air being torn apart!

The sinister youth reacted extremely quickly, drawing a black short sword to block.

*Crack.*

The short sword snapped abruptly, and the bear paw slammed into the youth's shoulder. Half of his shoulder collapsed instantly, the sound of shattering bones echoing through the temple.

The youth screamed as he was sent flying, his breath becoming as faint as a thread.

The Blood Banner in the female cultivator's hand shook violently. A vast cloud of red mist surged out, covering the area ahead.

Within the red mist, Shi Jian's figure appeared.

He neither dodged nor avoided it, letting the red mist hit his body with a sizzling corrosive sound. Instead, he used the momentum to crash into the bald man.

The burly man's reaction was not slow; with a wave of his hand, a Bone Shield appeared in front of him to block.

But in the next moment, Shi Jian opened his mouth and let out a low roar. A Divine Sense Roar crashed directly into the man's mind, causing his movements to stall.

Meanwhile, Shi Jian's sharp claws had already swung out, tearing through the Bone Shield and leaving three deep, bone-deep gashes across the man's chest!

Simultaneously, his other claw attacked.

The man couldn't care about anything else and hurried to protect his head and chest, only to see the bear claw suddenly change direction, its fingertips hooking and pulling lightly.

The Storage Pouch at his waist was instantly snatched away!

"You're looking for death!"

The female cultivator had just recovered from the Divine Sense Roar. Seeing that this bear demon dared to harm people, the Blood Banner immediately whipped up a torrent of blood, surging straight toward Shi Jian's face.

Shi Jian glanced at the Storage Pouch in his hand and retreated several steps. Unafraid of the Blood Banner's attack, he turned and crashed through the back wall of the Earth God Temple, making a move to escape.

"Chase him!"

Seeing this, the bald man grew desperate, ignoring his injuries. That Storage Pouch contained most of his life's savings!

If it were gone, he might as well die.

The woman in the red dress gritted her teeth, fed the sinister youth a healing Medicinal Pill, and turned to pursue the black bear along with the bald man.

However, what they didn't expect...

...was that Shi Jian had already vanished into the mountain forest, concealing his aura and disappearing without a trace in an instant.

He estimated the time and looked up at the northern night sky.

In the far distance, an extremely sharp streak of light was rapidly approaching. Clearly, the people from White Cloud Temple had arrived.

And their speed was much faster than expected.

The woman in red also noticed the movement from the north.

Her face turned grim, and she hurriedly put away the Blood Banner:

"Old Second, retreat quickly!"

She wasn't stupid; the reinforcements from White Cloud Temple had arrived, and staying any longer would be suicide.

"Think you can leave?"

At that moment, a thunderous shout came from the heavens. A giant sword pierced through the clouds, carrying a blinding white light as it instantly slashed toward the female cultivator.

The ground shook, and soil flew everywhere.

The female cultivator barely managed to dodge. She saw an old man standing atop the giant sword, wearing the Daoist robes of White Cloud Temple, with hair and a beard as white as snow...

The aura of the Late Foundation Establishment Stage instantly swept over them!

Yun Song followed behind the old man, standing suspended in the air on his Flying Sword. His aura was also impressive, carrying a sharp edge...

"Cunning villains, to dare run wild in the territory of our White Cloud Temple, you truly seek death!"

The old man formed hand seals, and the giant sword transformed into hundreds of sword shadows, enveloping the two demonic cultivators. The sword shadows split the light, resembling a sword formation.

Its killing power was immense, filled with righteous Qi!

Seeing this, the female cultivator bit the tip of her tongue and spat a mouthful of essence blood onto the Blood Banner. The banner immediately glowed with intense red light, attempting to block the sword shadows.

The bald man condensed a spiritual power shield, resisting desperately. Already heavily injured, his face grew even paler...

Shi Jian stepped out from the shadows. He was in no hurry to act; he was waiting for the right moment, waiting for a chance to strike a killing blow and claim a great merit!

Sword shadows and blood light collided.

Although the female cultivator's Blood Banner was powerful, it eventually fell into a disadvantage under the suppression of the Late Foundation Establishment Stage Elder. The bald man became even more pathetic.

Several more bone-deep wounds appeared on his limbs.

Meanwhile, the sinister youth, having caught his breath, was now targeted by Yun Song. With a downward press of Yun Song's hand, a giant sword descended from the sky.

The sword pierced through him, pinning him to the earth!

Seeing one resolved, the old man laughed aloud and quickly commanded:

"Junior Brother Yun, block their retreat!"

"Don't let a single one of these demons escape!"

Yun Song nodded. His Flying Sword turned into a streak of light, circling behind the two demonic cultivators. With a flick of his finger, several Flying Swords patrolled the sky.

Despair flashed in the female cultivator's eyes.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Shi Jian, then looked at the Elder from White Cloud Temple in front of her:

"Since I can't live, then let's die together!"

The female cultivator roared, thrusting the Blood Banner into the ground. Her hands quickly formed seals, and the spiritual power in her body surged frantically into the banner.

The Blood Banner began to swell violently, numerous cracks appearing on its surface!

"She's going to self-detonate her Magical Artifact!"

Yun Song's expression changed. A Foundation Establishment Cultivator actively controlling a Top-grade Magical Artifact to self-detonate was enough to injure someone at the Late Foundation Establishment Stage!

The old man's brows furrowed tightly. He quickly formed seals, trying to use the sword formation to suppress the Blood Banner's detonation, but the red mist spread too fast, and the sword formation showed signs of collapsing.

Just then...

Shi Jian moved. He charged out from the shadows, his massive body stretching in mid-air as his Foundation Establishment Middle Stage Demonic Qi erupted completely!

He ignored the female cultivator and landed directly in front of the Blood Banner that was about to detonate. Raising his bear paw, a majestic demonic power suppressed it.

"Suppress!"

Shi Jian spat out a single word, and his bear paw slammed down onto the Blood Banner...

*Boom!*

A dull, massive explosion erupted on the ground. The force of the Blood Banner's self-detonation was actually suppressed within a three-foot range by Shi Jian's Physical Body and Demonic Qi.

The ground collapsed into a deep pit. Shi Jian stood at the bottom, his paws firmly pressing down on the shattered Blood Banner. A large patch of black fur on his paws had been blown off, and blood was seeping out, but he didn't even let out a grunt.

The Elder seized the opportunity, and the sword formation instantly closed in.

Hundreds of sword shadows instantly pierced through the female cultivator's body from behind. Without giving her another chance to self-detonate, she was slain on the spot, her eyes wide in death.

The remaining bald man was already heavily injured, and now he was the only one left.

In the end, he was cut down by Yun Song with three sword strikes and hacked into pieces!

The battle had come and gone quickly. In the blink of an eye, the night wind blew away the remaining blood mist.

The Elder retracted his sword and walked to the edge of the pit.

He looked at Shi Jian at the bottom of the pit, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes:

"You are Shi Jian? The clan-protecting Spirit Beast enshrined by the Sun Clan?"

Shi Jian slowly stood up, shaking off the dirt and blood. He looked up at the old man, his gaze and tone extremely calm:

"Precisely."

"When demonic cultivators invade and the Sun Clan is in danger, I naturally must act. These three demonic cultivators intended to plunder the lands under the Sun Clan's jurisdiction; they naturally deserved to die."

The Elder nodded, a hint of admiration appearing in his eyes.

"Though you are a beast, Fellow Daoist, to have such a heart for protecting Mortals is rare. I am the Law Enforcement Elder of White Cloud Temple, Lei Lie."

"Thanks to your intervention tonight to suppress the Blood Banner, otherwise, taking down these demonic cultivators would have likely required much more effort."

Shi Jian did not respond, only nodding slightly. He didn't make any requests, as if he truly were a benevolent beast serving the people.

"Since the demonic threat has been removed."

"Fellow Daoist Shi has performed a great service this time. Although it was out of self-preservation, your performance was excellent."

"How about this: there are eight Rank One Spiritual Veins under the jurisdiction of Hongtian County. From now on, the spirit taxes of those eight families will be handed over to the Sun Clan for collection."

"In the future, the annual spirit tax for the Sun Clan will be increased to forty percent."

"Fellow Daoist Shi, what do you think?"