Everything that happened was, of course, Ling Tian's doing. He used the Spirit Realm's spatial teleportation to appear behind Hu Lan and launch a surprise attack. At the same time, he didn't stand idle; he directly absorbed the puppet doll from Hu Lan's hand into the Spirit Realm.
The Spirit Realm was essentially another dimension, and the law of space was supreme. When an object was placed into another dimension, its connection to the original space would be severed.
Although theoretically, the red thread on the puppet doll could extend infinitely, once thrown into another dimension, the puppet doll became useless.
Thus, the control over the Punishing Evil Monk's body was released, and he slumped to the ground.
At this point, only about twenty Yin Soldiers remained. Ling Tian sneered, raised his hand, and unleashed two fire talismans. Over twenty fireballs whistled towards the Yin Soldiers and then exploded.
Amidst the vast flames, these Yin Soldiers were reduced to shattered beans, not a single one left!
Ling Tian sheathed his ma槊 and produced the Crimson Flame Sword. He charged towards Hu Lan, who was dozens of meters away, sword in hand.
Hu Lan's face turned ashen with shock. He quickly formed hand seals with both hands and chanted incantations. Soon, a mass of black mist coalesced into a skull, which hurtled directly towards Ling Tian.
This mass of black mist was Yin Sha, and the skull formed from condensed Yin Sha would inflict severe injuries, if not death, upon impact!
Ling Tian raised his hand, injecting fire-attribute true essence into the Crimson Flame Sword in his hand. Immediately, a red light shot out from the sword, striking the whistling skull in mid-air.
"Boom!"
The red light exploded, transforming into a ball of flame that incinerated the black mist of the skull!
Witnessing this, Hu Lan's eyes widened in fury. He accelerated his incantations, and in an instant, three more black skulls were released from his body. These three skulls flew towards Ling Tian from different directions!
This technique was called Shadow Arrow. It was not part of their ancestral secret arts but a cultivation technique called "Mysterious Yin Ghost Arts" that Hu Lan had obtained from the Heavenly Demon Sect Master.
This cultivation technique involved absorbing Yin Sha energy to strengthen oneself and inflict damage on opponents, making it a formidable art.
After cultivating this technique, Hu Lan's cultivation progressed through continuous breakthroughs, and he deeply felt the immense power of this art.
Not only were the techniques contained within "Mysterious Yin Ghost Arts" incredibly potent, but even their ancestral secret arts became usable due to his increased cultivation.
This was one of the primary reasons why Hu Lan was so devoted to serving the Heavenly Demon Sect.
The Shadow Arrow was one of Hu Lan's favorite techniques—simple, efficient, and practical, catching opponents off guard. By releasing the accumulated Yin Sha energy within his body and driving it with spiritual power, he could inflict immense damage on his opponents.
After cultivating this technique, he quickly used it to eliminate a long-standing rival.
Although Ling Tian had neutralized one skull's attack earlier, Hu Lan didn't believe Ling Tian could handle three skulls simultaneously. Furthermore, in his opinion, Ling Tian's spiritual power must be nearly depleted after such a prolonged and intense battle.
Even if one had many trump cards, one still needed the strength to play them.
The three skulls, flying at extreme speed, instantly reached Ling Tian. This time, Ling Tian did not swing his sword to attack; he even let his sword hang by his side.
The three skulls were formed from Yin Sha energy, and Yin Sha inherently detested living beings, with their instinct being to destroy all life.
And then... there was nothing more.
A shield of flames formed around Ling Tian, making it appear as if Ling Tian himself was burning.
The three skulls, unfortunately for them, crashed directly into the wall of fire and were instantly reduced to ashes.
This wall of fire was no ordinary flame; it was a Fire Spirit!
Ling Tian discovered that neither spiritual bodies nor Yin Sha could withstand the thousand-degree heat of the Fire Spirit.
Of course, the Fire Spirit moved slowly, making it easy for enemies to dodge if used for direct attacks. However, one could change the approach: let the enemies attack oneself.
With a temperature of over 6,000 degrees, even tungsten, the metal with the highest melting point in the world, could be melted within seconds, let alone this Yin Sha energy.
Even if hundreds or thousands of skulls were flying towards Ling Tian simultaneously, they likely wouldn't last more than a few seconds against the Fire Spirit!
Witnessing this scene, Hu Lan could no longer bear it. He knew he had encountered someone far too formidable.
He immediately began chanting, and a wisp of black smoke emerged from his body. This black smoke then transformed into a black wind, which rapidly flew away into the distance!
Ling Tian hesitated for a moment before turning his attention back to the Punishing Evil Monk. He did not immediately pursue Hu Lan.
The monk was sitting on the ground, rubbing his limbs. The previous brutal assault had left his arms and legs with significant injuries.
"Master, how are you? Do you need me to help you heal?"
The Punishing Evil Monk gritted his teeth and shook his head with effort.
"Brother Ling Tian, don't worry about me. I'm fine. I'll recover after a short rest. Your priority now is to quickly catch that person who escaped and eliminate him! I'm certain that this Han Tan Village becoming the way it is today is related to that person. If he escapes, perhaps other places will become another Han Tan Village someday. Please don't mind me; I won't die. I'll be fine after half a day's rest. Evil must be eradicated completely!"
Ling Tian reached into his bag and pulled out a bottle of medicinal wine, specially formulated with his sect's secret recipe, and tossed it to the monk.
"This medicinal wine is very effective. Rub it on your limbs, and it will speed up the healing of your wounds! I'm going to chase after that fellow now!"
After speaking, Ling Tian vanished from the monk's sight. Dozens of meters away, a sea eagle soared into the sky.
Watching Ling Tian disappear, the Punishing Evil Monk stood stunned for a long while. Now, he deeply understood the meaning of "there is always someone better."
He took off his monk's robe, revealing his strong upper body. At this moment, the monk felt a burning pain in his arms. He unscrewed the medicinal wine, poured some into his palm, and spread it evenly over his arms.
Within mere seconds, joy appeared on the monk's face. He felt a cool sensation penetrating the skin of his arms and entering his body.
The soreness and numbness in his arms were completely replaced by this cool sensation.
As a martial artist, the monk was no stranger to bruises and sprains, nor had he used medicinal wine sparingly. However, he had never encountered a bottle with such miraculous effects.