The young man running in front was riding a flying magic treasure, but his speed was obviously not as fast as the others. In the blink of an eye, he was caught up. One of the people behind him struck his shoulder with a whip, causing him to stagger and fall.

The injured man looked up, saw Zhou Yin and the others, and ran towards them, shouting as he ran, "Senior Brother, Senior Brother, wait for me!"

This cry of "Senior Brother" completely dragged down Yun Zong and Zhou Yin. The pursuers heard this and sneered, "So there are accomplices. Perfect, we can catch them all in one net!"

"Wait!" Yun Zong said coldly, "We are not together with him!"

The young man reacted quickly and immediately put on an innocent face, "Senior Brother, I know I was wrong, but if I die, when you go back, you won't be able to explain it to Master!"

He approached and lowered his voice, "You clearly left the city first, and I just followed behind to take advantage. You can't just leave now. In the face of a great enemy, we should work together even more. Now that they have seen you, you can't leave even if you want to."

Yun Zong gave him a cold look without saying a word.

The three opposite them heard their whispers and took the young man's words as truth.

"Someone will come to investigate the sudden death of the Marquis of Yongning tomorrow. You chose this time to break the barrier and escape, so there's an eighty to ninety percent chance you are the culprits. If you are willing to come back with us, we can still spare your lives!"

Those three people, two at the early Core Formation stage and one at the late Core Formation stage, were all rogue cultivators hired by Sima Liang for a heavy price.

They usually came and went freely. There were only one or two cultivators protecting him in the mansion. This time, for the treasure appraisal conference, Sima Liang invited all thirteen cultivators back to take charge. As a result, such a thing happened, so these cultivators naturally could not stand by. They followed the orders of the Yongning Marquis Mansion and joined hands to set up a barrier, sealing the entire Luzhou City.

Although there were also three people on Zhou Yin's side, Yun Zong, despite being at the middle Core Formation stage, was injured and not yet healed. Zhou Yin was at the middle Foundation Establishment stage, and the young man was at the early Foundation Establishment stage.

Compared to the other side, they were at a disadvantage. If they confronted each other head-on, it was still uncertain who would win or lose, or if both sides would suffer.

Just now, they had broken through the barrier, and at this moment, the two were lacking in energy and did not want to fight with them at all. But from the other party's reaction, it seemed they would not give up until they captured them.

Since they had to fight, they should end it quickly.

Yun Zong made up his mind, glanced at Zhou Yin, and saw that Zhou Yin was also slightly turning his head. The two exchanged a look.

Without a word, Zhou Yin pulled out his jade hairpin, which transformed into the Lingyin Sword, and a white sword light slashed through the air.

The white-clothed Core Formation cultivator on the opposite side reacted just as quickly, grabbing his long whip and lashing it towards them.

The whip made a whooshing sound, and countless tiny green-scaled snake heads suddenly emerged from the thin, long whip, flicking their forked tongues. The snake bodies were half coiled around the whip, covered in fine spines.

The young man shouted, "Be careful!"

Actually, there was no need for him to shout. Zhou Yin had already dodged to the side. The whip fell empty on the ground, splashing green liquid and instantly scorching the soil with a mark.

The grass and trees that came into contact with the forked tongues and venom withered and died.

On the other side, Yun Zong had already summoned the Wuchang Blade. The blade edge swept past the whip, cutting off all the snake heads. The snake blood stained the blade, causing the blade to suddenly glow bright red, and a faint bloody smell permeated the air, adding a touch of eeriness to the Wuchang Blade.

With his hand rising and falling, those venomous snakes were cut into two segments and fell struggling to their deaths, only to quickly regenerate new snakes, as if they existed by relying on the whip - dying and being reborn, living on endlessly, impossible to completely exterminate, possessing infinite numbers.

Those snakes that were cut in half flew into the air, the heads still able to move. A few of them took the opportunity to bite Yun Zong's sleeve. With a tearing sound, the corner of his sleeve was torn.

Zhou Yin held the Heaven Washing Brush in his left hand and drew a circle in front of him. The circle expanded, forming a waterfall barrier that isolated all the venom and venomous snakes outside.

Just then, another Core Formation cultivator in black sneered coldly. With a flick of his sleeve, a banner painted with strange totems appeared in his hand. He waved it a couple of times, and a sinister wind rose from the ground, instantly turning the coolness in the forest into something eerie.

Without warning, a skeletal hand broke through the ground and grabbed Yun Zong's ankle.

It was followed by a second, a third, a fourth...

Not only Yun Zong, but Zhou Yin and the young man also suffered the same attack.

"Ignite!" the young man shouted. With a whoosh, flames erupted around their feet, burning the skeletal hands to ashes.

But just like those venomous snakes, when one was gone, new ones would emerge. As long as there was soil, these skeletons could be born from the earth.

The fingertips of the skeletal hands pierced through their shoes and socks, intending to crush their flesh and blood.

The corner of Yun Zong's mouth curled into a cold smile. He turned his hand and plunged the Wuchang Blade straight into the ground beneath his feet.

In an instant, with the point where the blade was inserted as the center, the soil cracked in all directions at an astonishing speed. Wherever it passed, the skeletons were lifted by the cracked soil blocks and torn to pieces.

The soil fragments floated in the air as if an invisible hand had blended them into sharp soil blades, piercing through the black-clothed cultivator's corpse-raising banner.

While the few of them were preoccupied and had no time to pay attention to other matters, the only Foundation Establishment cultivator among the three watched coldly from the side, finally finding an opportunity to launch a sneak attack.

He ignited a talisman and silently chanted an incantation. Before long, all the nearby trees suddenly began to grow wildly. Those branches quickly extended tendrils, stabbing towards the backs of the few.

The young man who was with Zhou Yin obviously lacked battle experience. After cutting down a few branches, he also had to deal with those venomous snakes in front of him, appearing a bit overwhelmed. In a moment of carelessness, those branches coiled around from all directions. Seeing that the three had their backs exposed, they took the opportunity to stab over.

"Focus on dealing with the front, I'll handle the back!" Zhou Yin said to the young man, while joining his fingers into a sword. The Lingyin Sword followed his hand gestures and flew towards that Foundation Establishment cultivator, engaging in battle with him.

The young man responded in a fluster, but he failed to react in time. The venomous snakes sprayed venom like rain. He slashed down some of them, but there were still some that slipped through and relentlessly bit towards them, attaching to the whip.

Although Zhou Yin had erected a barrier with the Heaven Washing Brush, he still had to direct the Lingyin Sword to deal with that Foundation Establishment cultivator. In a moment of inattention, his shoulder was bitten.

Seeing that the battle was at a stalemate and victory could not be achieved for a while, Yun Zong endured the surging of his qi and blood, forcibly swallowed a mouthful of blood, pressed the hilt of the Wuchang Blade, and quickly transmitted a message to Zhou Yin, "Can you still cast spells?"

Zhou Yin replied with the same brief two words: "I can."

Yun Zong suddenly pulled out the Wuchang Blade and shouted sternly, "Condense!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the soil beneath his feet started to dry up inch by inch, then quickly returned to its original state.

Zhou Yin made a hand seal, and the Heavenly Brush drew a talisman in the air. The ground looked as if it had just been soaked by heavy rain, becoming muddy and damp at a visible speed. As the water content increased more and more, in the blink of an eye, the land surrounding the three cultivators had completely turned into a swampy mud sea, causing them to sink down immediately, from their feet, to their calves, thighs, and even waists, submerging them inch by inch.

Last time, when Zhou Yin was fighting against that Qinggu Sect cultivator Wei Yichang at the Shangxuan Sect, his opponent had used the Eight Trigrams Formation to unleash this move. However, he was far less proficient than Yun Zong, and the power was not as great as it was now.

Seeing that the three of them were temporarily buried in the mud sea, unable to break free, Yun Zong shouted, "Let's go!"

He grabbed Zhou Yin's arm and took off on his flying magic weapon.

The young man, upon seeing this, also hurriedly followed behind.