The black-robed elder slapped his storage pouch. A golden flying sword shot out, its blade, initially only a few inches long, rapidly expanded in the wind, reaching several feet in length in an instant.

  "Go!" The black-robed elder formed sword seals with both hands, his left hand's index and middle fingers pointing forward.

  The golden flying sword flashed with light as it shot towards the Spirit-Tusked Boar King.

  The Boar King swung its head, its two massive tusks clashing against the golden flying sword with a sharp clang. Emitting a proud grunt, the Boar King then charged towards the black-robed elder on all fours.

  "This Boar King is so formidable!" The burly bearded man and the others were greatly alarmed. They were well aware of the sharpness of the black-robed elder's golden flying sword. That the boar king could deflect it with a mere head shake and continue its charge unimpeded was shocking.

  "Burly Bearded! Assist me!" A flicker of fear crossed the black-robed elder's face as he shouted.

  "Fall back!" the bearded man yelled. Among the four of them, he was an earth-attribute cultivator, boasting the strongest defense. Only he could withstand the Boar King's charge.

  The bearded man recited an incantation. Instantly, an earthen wall, over ten feet high and more than a foot thick, materialized right in front of the black-robed elder.

  Boom!

  The Boar King crashed into the earthen wall. The tremendous sound was deafening, and dust was kicked up everywhere.

  Oink! Oink! The Boar King panted heavily. The wall didn't deter it. After the first impact was blocked, it snorted angrily and rammed the wall again.

  Boom! Boom!

  Once, twice, three times...

  As the Boar King slammed into it, large cracks began to appear on the massive earthen wall.

  "This beast is terrifyingly powerful! Don't hold back, everyone! Let's give it our all! 'To catch bandits, first catch their king'—we must join forces to kill this monster together! The remaining boars will likely scatter then! Otherwise, we'll be exhausted to death by these beasts sooner or later!" The black-robed elder cried out in alarm.

  "My strongest attack requires a few moments to prepare," the burly bearded man gasped, after cleaving a nearby boar in two. Although these Spirit-Tusked Boars weren't highly intelligent, they were fiercely aggressive. Once they engaged an enemy, they launched relentless charges. Their attack pattern might be simple, but their sheer numbers had put the group in disarray. And there was still the third-grade Boar King to deal with, whose defensive power was several times greater than theirs.

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  Despite all of them being at the late Qi Refinement stage, with the black-robed elder even at the Great Perfection level, after killing nearly ten boars, they were already in a rather sorry state.

  "I'll try to restrain the Boar King. I can probably buy us five breaths of time. Everyone, make it count!" The green-skirted woman, whipping her purple silk ribbon to entangle and fling away another boar, recognized the dire situation and shouted.

  "Blood Dwarf! You hold off the other boars! Five breaths is enough for us to kill this beast!" The black-robed elder gave a sinister smile.

  Boom! The earthen wall conjured by the burly bearded man ultimately couldn't withstand the Boar King for long. It shattered into pieces, earthen fragments scattering and dust filling the air.

  The Boar King burst through the dust cloud, triumphantly swishing its tail as it charged once more at the black-robed elder, who had previously struck its tusks with a flying sword, making them ache. How could it not seek revenge?

  At that moment, the green-skirted woman retracted her purple silk ribbon and threw something with her left hand. A black sphere flew to a spot above the Boar King. With a soft poof, it burst open, releasing a large black net that fell from the sky.

  "Bind!" the green-skirted woman shouted softly. The falling black net enveloped the Boar King perfectly.

  Oink! Oink!

  The Boar King was furious. Having just smashed through an earthen wall, it never expected to be entangled by this net. It let out a furious bellow and struggled violently.

  "This boar king has immense strength! Hurry! I can't hold it much longer!" As the boar king thrashed wildly, the green-skirted woman's face paled. After her urgent shout, she dared not let her focus waver, channeling more spiritual power into the black net.

  Rip! Shaking its head and kicking its hooves, the Boar King tore a foot-long gash in the black net. It was on the verge of breaking free.

  The Blood Dwarf, brandishing his twin wheels, killed the few boars that had pressed closest. In the frantic moment, he glanced anxiously at the black-robed elder and the others.

  The black-robed elder let out a fierce roar. Biting the tip of his tongue until it bled, he touched the emerging blood with his finger. Then, his hands formed a rapid series of complex sword seals as he snarled, "Go!"

  The golden flying sword, which had been knocked away by the boar, suddenly grew nearly double its previous size. Glinting brilliantly, the enlarged golden sword shot directly towards the Boar King's head.

  The burly bearded man gave a mighty shout, swinging his large axe with both hands and chopping down hard at the boar king just as it was about to break free from the net.

  Thud! The golden flying sword plunged directly into the Boar King's skull. Simultaneously, the bearded man's sharp axe struck its abdomen, cleaving a massive, bone-deep gash. The Boar King's intestines and internal organs, along with a torrent of blood, spilled out.

  The Boar King let out a final, agonized shriek. Its death throes erupted with tremendous force, blasting the already tattered black net into dozens of shreds. The green-skirted woman's face turned pale as she spat out a mouthful of blood. Her spiritual weapon was destroyed, causing some injury to her divine sense.

  Mortally wounded, the Boar King's thousand-kilo body crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.

  The pungent smell of blood filled the air. With their king dead, the remaining Spirit-Tusked Boars, most being only first-grade beasts, were frightened by their leader's demise. The several dozen remaining boars scattered in all directions.

  "That beast was truly formidable. If I encountered it alone, I likely wouldn't be its match either," the burly bearded man said, retrieving his axe and panting heavily. The intense battle had drained much of his spiritual energy. "The hide and that pair of sharp tusks from this Boar King would fetch quite a few spirit stones if traded with other cultivators at a market. Pity we're still stuck here; holding onto them isn't much use right now."

  The black-robed elder beckoned with his hand. The golden flying sword shrank back to a few inches long, but its surface was noticeably duller. The elder wore a pained expression, clearly distressed by the damage to his weapon.

  "Eh, look! Something's changing!" The Blood Dwarf, who had expended the least energy in this fight and was inwardly quite pleased, was the first to notice the shift in the surrounding environment.

  The green-skirted woman wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, momentarily setting aside her frustration over the destroyed net. Seeing the surrounding fog surging towards the northwest at an astonishing speed, her face filled with astonishment. "Such a drastic celestial phenomenon... Could it mean a rare treasure is appearing?"

  The Blood Dwarf and the others immediately perked up. Hadn't they joined forces to explore this canyon precisely for the spiritual resources and potential treasures within? What kind of extraordinary treasure could cause such a spectacular phenomenon?

  They watched as the spiritual mist from the entire canyon was frantically converging towards one direction. The canyon, once shrouded in thick fog where one couldn't see far with the naked eye, began to clear as the mist dissipated.

  "The illusion formation seems to have vanished!" The Blood Dwarf exclaimed joyfully, realizing the surroundings were no longer shifting. Trapped in the formation for months, he had nearly gone mad.

  The green-skirted woman also cried out with excitement, "Yes! That damnable formation really has disappeared!"