Old Goat sighed emotionally.
In the sky, Old Lord Hu Ba was utterly in despair, mentally prepared to face death, but at that extremely critical moment, Li Hanguang appeared at some unknown time.
His aged face stern, the horsetail whisk in his hand was swung rapidly, the soft and flexible tail like a willow collided swiftly with the incoming fox tail.
The speed was as fast as lightning.
In just one breath of time during the clash, the two sides collided no less than a hundred times. Each clash was like Mount Tai crashing into Mount Huang, clouds in the heavens were scattered, and sound waves rippled in all directions.
Old Lord Hu Ba was sent flying.
Elder Zhang was unable to remain at the site of their battle and could only choose to avoid the sharp edge, retreating far back.
He and the other old lords from the Xian family fell together on a mountaintop.
Though they were worldly immortals of the human realm, there was still a massive gap in strength between them and Old Lord Hu San. Now, aside from Li Hanguang, no one could intervene.
"Brother Hu San is stronger than when we went to the Southern Heavenly Gate." Old Lord Hu Ba also landed on the mountaintop at this time and immediately spoke.
Elder Zhang's expression turned serious. "You're certain?"
"Certain. I know Brother Hu San's strength the best. It's significantly stronger than before we left." As soon as Old Lord Hu Ba finished, the old lord of the Huang family spoke from the side.
"Is it because of the black liquid?"
He hadn't forgotten the incident earlier—the black, thick liquid had caused an ordinary bug to instantly gain sentience and advance a hundred years in cultivation. Though the side effects were severe, and the bug explode.
There was no doubt, that the black, thick liquid seemed to boost strength.
The old lord of the Liu family flicked his snake tongue, keeping an eye on the battle in the sky. "We have to figure out what the black liquid is. Maybe there's a chance we can find a way to save Brother Hu San from it."
As he spoke, his eyes shifted, pupils reflecting Old Lord Hu San in the sky. Black, thick liquid was still seeping out from his body, occasionally dripping onto Changbai Mountain below, causing decay and death wherever it landed.
Fortunately, due to warnings from all the ancient great monsters, no ghost, demon, or mountain spirit dared to touch the black, thick liquid.
"Put the black liquid aside for now. Let's first capture Old Lord Hu San. We can gather samples of the black liquid later."
Elder Zhang said while editing a message on his phone. "I've already notified Bureau 749. They'll send people to collect samples of the black liquid. Until then, I must trouble all of you to work together with the ancestors to capture Old Lord Hu San. If necessary—kill him."
He looked toward Old Lord Hu Ba as he said this, the meaning clear.
Seeing this, Old Lord Hu Ba spoke, "Let's do as Elder Zhang says. No need to consider my feelings. If Brother Hu San were still the same as before, he would also agree with Elder Zhang's suggestion."
In the face of the greater situation, Old Lord Hu Ba ultimately set aside brotherly feelings and even took the lead, once again stepping into the sky.
The other old lords followed closely behind. Though their strength couldn't match that of Old Lord Hu San or Li Hanguang, they were still worldly immortals. Joining forces, they might still be able to achieve something.
Next, a fierce battle lasted for half a moment.
Three of Old Lord Hu San's fox tails were severed by the old lords.
The Liu family's old lord was delighted, flicking his snake tongue as he said, "Keep it up! If we can cut off two or three more fox tails from Brother Hu San, we'll definitely be able to take him down!"
But just as he finished speaking, barely two seconds into his joy, suddenly, the old snake eyes of the Liu family lord contracted. He saw that the severed fox tails were oozing black, thick liquid, which rapidly reconnected with Old Lord Hu San, and just like that, the three tails were reattached.
And it wasn't just simple healing, Old Lord Hu San seemed completely unharmed, his strength completely unaffected.
It was just like the Black City God before. The Liu family's old lord was moved, unable to understand what Old Lord Hu San was anymore.
Li Hanguang frowned. "The black liquid not only makes Old Lord Hu San stronger, but can it also ignore the life gate of a fox demon?" He muttered, his horsetail whisk movements not slowing, and while the others held Hu San back, he cut off another fox tail.
And as expected, Old Lord Hu San, as a fox demon, had his life gate in his nine tails, yet after having a tail severed, there wasn't even the slightest sign of injury or weakness, completely going against the traits of a demon cultivator.
This greatly shocked Li Hanguang, and made him realize a very serious problem.
If the situation was caused by the black, thick liquid, then if any demon cultivator obtained it, their life gate weakness would disappear. For example, if a dragon got hold of the black liquid, even its inverse scale would no longer be its life gate.
"That thing seems to be a treasure." A great monster who had lived for 600 years said faintly, eyes openly filled with greed.
Just like humans are born with birth dates and Eight Characters, demons are born with life gates. It's a demon cultivator's weakness, attack their life gate, and you can seriously injure them.
Now, the black liquid could resolve this issue.
The Longbai Mountain, previously deterred by Li Hanguang, now had many demon cultivators stirring once more.
Even though the black liquid was dangerous, wealth comes from risk.
Just as some demon cultivators grew restless, and even great monsters wanted to steal some of the black liquid.
"Do you have no self-awareness? Even Old Lord Hu San turned into that—and you think you're stronger than him?" Old Goat buzzed out loudly.
Immediately after, another ancient great monster also spoke. "A bunch of fools. Even we don't dare touch that stuff. Where do you get the courage to?"
This was one of the remaining two of the five ancient great monsters spared by Li Hanguang. Unexpectedly, it spoke up now to stop them.
"Everyone behave. Just one Old Lord Hu San is already troublesome. If you mess things up and bring more trouble to Longbai Mountain—don't blame me for being merciless."
Its cold voice, laced with demonic energy, spread deep into Longbai Mountain.
Many demon cultivators were shaken. Just as they were about to abandon the thought—
"AHHH!!!"
A heart-wrenching scream shattered the thoughts of the demons. Instinctively, they looked to the sky.
"Liu Old Four!"
The old lord of the Hui family was filled with anger and shock.
In just the blink of an eye while the demons stirred, the battle above suddenly changed. The Liu family's old lord, who had planned to continue chopping off Hu San's tails, believed that Hu San couldn't heal endlessly, that there must be a limit. If the tails were cut enough times, Hu San could be wounded.
But, though the idea was good, it was hard in practice. With each healing, Hu San gained what felt like extra lives. He was already an elite among worldly immortals, and Liu wasn't his match.
When trying to cut another tail, Liu was caught by Hu San up close.
Immediately, three or four fox tails shot out, entangling the Liu family's old lord.
Under the stunned gaze of the other worldly immortals, the fox tails oozed black, thick liquid that seeped into Liu's body. Then, in a terrifying, inconceivable scene, the Liu family's old lord seemed to be assimilated.
His body and the fox tails fused together, inseparable. The skin on his face melded into the tails, gradually merging.
Even though Li Hanguang wanted to stop it he couldn't.
Now, Hu San's strength was above his, plus the limitless healing—it was too troublesome.
Just like that, whether it was Li Hanguang and the worldly immortals above, or Old Goat and the worldly immortals below Longbai Mountain, they could only watch as the Liu family's old lord was assimilated.
In the end, as if fate tied them together, he and Old Lord Hu San became one.
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