Hu Li realized the moment he saw Ji Yuan swooping toward him.

"This guy is definitely not that simple, he's most likely an old schemer!"

Surrounding three sides and leaving one open, Hu Li set up an array outside the west city wall. Under the three-pronged attack, a normal cultivator would usually think to escape through the open side first, to avoid the siege and then make further plans.

Once they go out from the west city wall, Hu Li would immediately activate the array.

Falling into that trapping array then... it would be easy to handle.

But unexpectedly, this Ji Yuan actually went against the norm; instead of fleeing, he charged toward him.

What does this indicate?

It indicates he must have guessed there's a trap in the west!

Such a cautious person, his strength must also be formidable.

So Hu Li ran at once; he didn't confront Ji Yuan head-on. Guarding the east originally, he turned and ran, not hesitating at all.

Ji Yuan followed closely, directly chasing him out of the east city wall.

But the moment he stepped out of the east city wall, Ji Yuan realized something was wrong...

Array!

From all directions, thick black smoke pillars rose up, and a suction force came from the ground, directly pulling Ji Yuan's flying boat down.

At the same time, the other two demon thieves at the early stage of Foundation Establishment also rushed over, joining Hu Li to gather in a triangle formation outside this array.

Hu Li couldn't help but laugh:

"Daoist Ji, being able to guess there's a trap in the west does show some skill, but unfortunately… I've set up arrays outside all four sides of the city walls: east, south, west, and north."

Once Ji Yuan landed, just putting away his flying boat, he felt the Spiritual Qi around violently raging.

They didn't even give me time to talk… finally, a villain not dying from monologuing!

Thoughts flashed through Ji Yuan's mind, and he immediately activated the Five Elements Protective Talisman Array stuck to his chest. Before he could take further action, blood arrows shot down from all directions within the black fog.

From the ground, two ghostly skeletal hands grabbed hold of his ankles firmly.

In an instant, a chilling aura entered Ji Yuan's body through his ankles, but fortunately, his vital energy was abundant, quickly dissipating the cold.

From the array emerged black vines flowing with black blood, seemingly trying to grab his hands.

If succeeded, Ji Yuan would be almost instantly killed!

"Go!"

Even in this perilous situation, Ji Yuan wasn't panicked. With a heart thought, he activated a flying sword, "Flowing Frost," of mid-grade Spiritual Artifact level, which flew out from his storage bag and swept underfoot.

Where Flowing Frost passed, light frost petals cascaded down.

With a flash of sword light, the two ghostly hands grabbing his ankles were immediately severed.

Free, a blue protective shield flared around Ji Yuan, enveloping him completely, blocking the incoming blood arrows with the "Sea Dragon Armor."

Flowing Frost without losing momentum.

In the blink of an eye, it shredded all the black vines around Ji Yuan before returning to hover by his side.

Not waiting for the opponent to act again.

Ji Yuan pointed forward with his hand, and in an instant, a water-blue Qiu Dragon and a blood-colored serpent dragon surged out from him, continuously roaring.

However, these two dragon-like shadows did not leave but hovered around Ji Yuan, protecting him in the center.

The Qiu Dragon was condensed from the first layer "Treading Sea" of the Water Dragon Technique.

The blood-colored serpent dragon was unleashed by Ji Yuan using the mid-grade Spiritual Artifact "Blood Remnant Saber."

With the protection of the two dragon shadows, the attacks from the surrounding array were all blocked.

Ji Yuan got a brief respite, activating the "Sea Dragon Armor" to protect himself while summoning a Cold Iron Shield of mid-grade Spiritual Artifact level.

At the same time using Divine Sense to control Flowing Frost Flying Sword, continuously slashing at the ghost hands emerging from the ground.

Simultaneously operating three Spiritual Artifacts and performing spells.

This was entirely thanks to the strength of his Divine Sense; any early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator wouldn't be able to operate so many Spiritual Artifacts simultaneously.

Of course, they also couldn't afford three mid-grade Spiritual Artifacts.

As for Ji Yuan… it's not that he couldn't afford top-grade Spiritual Artifacts, but they were too consuming for his early-stage Foundation Establishment self.

The Spiritual Artifacts couldn't last long, not worth the cost.

Meanwhile, outside this array.

Hu Li, with an ugly expression, sent a voice transmission to the other two, "Looks like Sister Feng was right, this Ji Yuan is indeed the most difficult to deal with. Damn, being able to use the Water Dragon Technique and manipulate three Spiritual Artifacts at once, is this bastard even human?!"

The short man said in a deep voice: "Directly kill him; if we take too long, we won't gain anything. Lao Hu, keep the array steady."

After speaking, this person unleashed a powerful Secret Technique, with Spiritual Qi surging in crazily.

Above the array, a gray tombstone slowly formed.

The overwhelming pressure weighed on the hearts of the three.

"Alright!"

The other black-robed man said nothing but took out a blood-stained straw doll from his storage bag.

The straw doll was only palm-sized, with a mottled black dry blood mark on its chest and forehead.

He held the straw doll in his right hand and took out a Bone-Piercing Nail with his left.

Upon seeing this, Hu Li couldn't help but feel a shiver in his heart.

This straw doll, known as the Life-Taking Doll, is a type of Spiritual Artifact; if one obtains the opponent's hair or skin and buries it into this Life-Taking Doll, then drive this Bone-Piercing Nail into the doll's forehead,

It could effectively obliterate a late-stage Foundation Establishment's Divine Soul directly.

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