Chapter 3356

“Retreat!”

The demon impersonated by the first clone also leaped out of the ground at that moment and ran toward the demon army, as if frightened by the enormous thunder dragon beast.

In reality, as he passed by the two Black Tortoises, he casually collected them both into his spatial world, leaving the remaining demon experts for the spiritual-energy beast to slaughter. Every kill counted.

Ao Yan merely assumed that the thunder dragon beast had frightened him away and paid him no attention, continuing to focus on the beast as he considered how to deal with it.

At the same time, Little Lan Bing and Chi Lian continued their assault, making the remaining demons much easier to kill, just as before.

After fleeing from this side, the first clone immediately rushed toward the other side.

Ao Yan had no time to deal with him at that moment. He merely ordered some demon soldiers to go and reinforce the demon experts. The spiritual-energy beast had no divine sense, so he could not make use of his advantage and did not dare risk himself.

The demon experts engaged by the spiritual-energy thunder dragon beast had now spread out and were attacking it from all sides.

Aside from the more than ten experts killed by the thunder dragon beast’s initial barrage of lightning and the seven or eight experts killed by the two Black Tortoises, the spiritual-energy beast could now kill only one demon expert with each attack, while also having to withstand attacks from every direction.

Thus, the thunder dragon beast did not hold out for long this time. After killing fewer than ten more experts, it was blasted apart and dissipated.

As soon as the thunder dragon beast dissipated, the first clone told Little Lan Bing and Chi Lian to stop and join him. Once Ao Yan shifted his attention underground, he would certainly search for traces of the two of them.

The panic among the demons finally settled down as well. Some demon soldiers hurried over, but they were of no help. Of the more than fifty demon experts lying in ambush within the formation on that side, half had been killed.

Ao Yan also ordered the remaining half to withdraw for the time being. Their positions had clearly been exposed, so there was no point in staying there.

Ao Yan immediately searched underground for the demons lying in ambush again, only to discover that even more had died—more than sixty had already been killed. He promptly recalled the remaining forty as well.

However, after carefully searching underground for quite some time, he found no trace of anything. He could only determine that the demons had died after being frozen and having the power of their bloodlines drained away.

“It seems all these ambushes have already been discovered!”

Thinking this, Ao Yan immediately ordered the fifty demon experts lying in ambush on the other side to withdraw as well.

After collecting Little Lan Bing and Chi Lian into his spatial world, the first clone calmly watched the demons. Now that he saw them trying to withdraw, he immediately resumed the appearance of a black-armored soldier, donned the Demon-Hunting Armor, drew Heaven Devourer, and charged out.

Using blade intent together with Spatial Force, he ambushed the demons and killed three ninth-level peak demon experts with a single slash.

Once the demons realized the danger, he once again employed the power of time to freeze time, condensed a spiritual-energy beast, and had it assist him in his attack.

Thus, even when the demon experts brought out treasures for defense, they were no match for the spiritual-energy beast. He specifically targeted the demon experts who lacked defensive treasures.

“How dare you act right under my nose? You must be tired of living!” Ao Yan was furious. Before the battle had even begun, he had already lost more than half of the experts under his command.

Now that he saw a human martial cultivator daring to attack openly within the range of his divine sense, he immediately released a soul and sent it straight to kill him.

The first clone had been keeping a close watch on his soul attacks all along. After detecting the intense fluctuation of divine sense, he stopped fighting at once and had the spiritual-energy beast cover him while he withdrew using Spatial Force.

However, even with Spatial Force, he was still not as fast as the soul attack.

“Trying to run? Too late!” Ao Yan’s soul let out an angry roar and unleashed an attack akin to a soul-shaking wave before plunging into the first clone’s sea of consciousness.

The entrance to the first clone’s sea of consciousness was a Soul-Poison Flower. Ao Yan’s soul ignored it and charged straight in, sending the Soul-Poison Flower flying. Even after being tainted by some potent poison, it paid no attention.

“Hmph, this little bit of poison is useless against me!”

Ao Yan let out a cold laugh and began attacking the overlapping void. His soul could actually use the power of heaven and earth to launch attacks, and its might was about the same as Ye Liuyun’s soul attacks.

However, the overlapping voids within the first clone’s sea of consciousness were like a maze, layered one upon another. For a time, it could not see the first clone’s true soul power and could only bombard the void with the power of heaven and earth, wreaking destruction.

One of Ao Yan’s souls was indeed no match for the first clone’s two souls.

After observing for a while, the first clone discovered a black demonic flame clinging to Ao Yan’s soul. No wonder it was unafraid of the Soul-Poison Flower; it was probably using the demonic flame to burn away the poison in its soul.

“Since that little bit of poison is useless against you, I’ll give you something stronger!”

The first clone chuckled inwardly and first launched an attack on Ao Yan’s soul with his Purple Eyes.

All of Ao Yan’s soul power came from the soul refined by the Soul-Refining Cauldron, so his soul was extremely solid. The first clone attacked with the intention of shattering it outright, but he only inflicted severe injuries on Ao Yan’s soul, shaking numerous cracks into it.

At that moment, the first clone’s soul, tinged with dark green, suddenly charged out and launched a series of attacks on Ao Yan’s soul.

Ao Yan tried to use his demonic flame to resist, but the first clone’s soul also contained Netherworld Ghostflame. Although it was somewhat weaker, it was more than enough to withstand the demonic flame.

Ao Yan’s soul was already gravely injured. It did not dare continue fighting and was also worried that the first clone would strike it again. After blocking several attacks, it immediately retreated.

The first clone struck at it with several palm strikes from behind, but Ao Yan blocked them with his own palm force. Both were using the power of heaven and earth, and even one of the first clone’s souls was no match for him.

Thus, only the force of the palm strikes brushed against its body, causing it no further injury.

“That should keep it busy for a while! I’ve already driven the source of the poison into its soul. Even if the poison doesn’t kill it, it will greatly weaken its soul power!”

The first clone did not continue pursuing this soul. Instead, he immediately fled under the cover of the spiritual-energy beast, lest he be intercepted by the other demons if he left too late.

Two other demons also released their souls and charged into the first clone’s sea of consciousness. The moment they entered, they both collided with the Soul-Poison Flower, after which the soul blade formed from the first clone’s soul cleaved them to death, carrying corpse poison with it.

The reason the first clone had not used this move earlier was that he feared completely destroying one of Ao Yan’s souls would frighten him into fleeing immediately. Otherwise, he could simply have attacked it once more with his Purple Eyes, and its soul would never have escaped.

Ao Yan’s soul had suffered severe damage, but he did not know that Ye Liuyun had deliberately held back. Thus, although furious, he never considered fleeing and instead hurried to recover from his injuries.

The injuries caused by the cracks shaken into his soul were not easy to heal in the first place. On top of that, he had been poisoned by corpse poison, so he could only use demonic flame to burn away all the poisoned portions before treating his wounds.

As a result, this soul of his visibly shrank and was far weaker than before.