Nothing happened that night.
The next day, just as the sky began to brighten, the cultivators silently appeared above the "evil cultivators' lair."
"Is this the place?" Fairy Ziling looked over the pitch-black island below her several times, feeling somewhat doubtful.
The island was simply too small, only a few li across at most. Rather than an island, it would be more fitting to call it a giant reef.
"That's right. Not only did the Golden Cicada Bees track them here, but the two Elders also came one after another to confirm that the people coming and going were indeed those evil cultivators," Madam Fan said softly from the side.
Hearing this, the purple-robed woman silently nodded, and the doubt in her heart vanished.
However, this place was clearly nothing more than a temporary hideout for the enemy.
Not only was the island pitifully small, but there was only an extremely simple little illusion formation laid over it, one that could not stop anyone at all.
"Kill them all! Spare no one!"
At this icy command from Fairy Ziling, a strange laugh echoed out from the dark clouds where Old Fiend Crimson Fire was hiding. Several rumbling bolts of thunder-fire struck down and easily swept the formation away entirely. Then, no longer showing courtesy, the cultivators charged straight down.
The commotion of breaking the formation had clearly alerted the people on the island.
After several sharp whistles, nearly forty or fifty streaks of light of various colors rose from the island, and a large group of cultivators flew out to meet them, led by three Core Formation cultivators. The moment they saw the people of the Wonderful Sound Sect before them, they could not help but be stunned.
But before they could react, Madam Fan had already spat out the word "Attack!" and released a silver-wheel magic tool, striking first.
Seeing this, the other cultivators likewise attacked without the slightest courtesy.
In an instant, light of every color splashed across the sky, and sharp cries rose up in a din.
Since Han Li had his eye on the Heavenly Lightning Bamboo, he naturally could not very well refrain from making a move. Together with Qu Hun, he casually released their magic treasures and surrounded five or six Foundation Establishment cultivators, intending to wipe them all out in one stroke.
With Han Li and Qu Hun's Core Formation cultivation, dealing with a few Foundation Establishment cultivators should have been an easy matter. Yet something astonishing happened.
The moment these four or five Foundation Establishment cultivators discovered that Han Li and his companion were Core Formation cultivators, their expressions changed drastically. They burst free of their clothes, their bodies swelled wildly, and they transformed into the fiend forms that Han Li knew all too well. Han Li was so shocked that his eyes nearly popped out of his head.
Although the speed and cultivation of the transformed men had risen by a large margin, Han Li was no longer the Foundation Establishment cultivator he had once been. After holding on a while longer, the men were blasted into flying ash by the Green Radiance Sword and the Hunyuan Bowl of Han Li and Qu Hun.
Only then did Han Li discover that these people's transformations seemed somewhat different from the fiends of the Black Fiend Sect. Not only did they not need to chant an incantation and form a cocoon in order to transform, there was also no Blood-Condensed Five Elements Pill condensed within their bodies.
This left Han Li as if lost in a fog, and he grew even more suspicious, wondering what connection this band of raiders really had with the Black Fiend Sect.
But he immediately collected himself and looked intently in other directions.
This was no time to ponder such questions. Otherwise, if someone took the chance to launch a sneak attack against him, that would be a truly unjust misfortune.
Yet the scene before his eyes only made the knot of doubt in Han Li's heart grow larger and larger.
Of these evil cultivators, eight or nine out of ten of the Foundation Establishment ones had unleashed the fiend transformation art. Forming into small groups, they were fighting desperately with utmost ferocity!
The three Core Formation cultivators with the highest cultivation among them had long since been dragged into the black clouds by Old Fiend Crimson Fire's magic, trapped within and unable to break free.
From the constant rumbling inside the dark clouds, they seemed to be struggling bitterly to hold on.
As a result, under the wild assault of several Core Formation cultivators and a dozen or so Foundation Establishment cultivators, more than half of the enemy's Foundation Establishment cultivators were wiped out in the blink of an eye. Yet those who remained showed not the slightest fear, fighting on fiercely and fearless of death.
Their ferocious bearing left even the Wonderful Sound Sect cultivators, who had shown no mercy, greatly taken aback, and they marveled inwardly.
But right at that moment, a furious shriek came from below, making the ears of the Wonderful Sound Sect cultivators buzz with ringing. Everyone's faces could not help but change completely.
"What are you standing around for? Finish them off quickly. The troublesome ones are coming!" Old Fiend Crimson Fire's ringing voice carried out from the dark clouds. Only then did the cultivators suddenly understand, and they hurriedly drove their magic treasures and magic tools to continue the fierce assault.
But hearing the shriek, the cultivators on the island were greatly emboldened and resisted all the more stubbornly, so that the battle gains could not be expanded for a while.
Then several grayish-white rainbows flew out from the island, reaching the sky in the blink of an eye.
Only then did the cultivators stop one after another, regarding the five newly arrived Core Formation opponents as if facing a great enemy.
The burly middle-aged man at their head had an iron-gray face. Though his features were regular and well-formed, they were now covered in a baleful aura.
Moreover, judging from the fluctuations of magic power on his body, his cultivation far exceeded that of the other four—it seemed to be late Core Formation cultivation. The other four were merely ordinary early Core Formation cultivators, but these men likewise glared at the people of the Wonderful Sound Sect with fire in their eyes.
"Who are you people, that you dare slaughter the disciples of our Hidden Fiend Sect? I will have you repay this blood debt in blood!" The middle-aged man glanced briefly at the few disciples remaining on the field, his expression utterly sinister and fierce.
Hearing this, everyone else was taken aback!
How could this raider show not the slightest awareness that he had been tracked down, and instead speak with such righteous confidence?
Some of the sharper ones could not help hesitating a little, looking toward Fairy Ziling, Madam Fan, and the other women who led this expedition.
A layer of doubt also surfaced in Fairy Ziling's clear, beautiful eyes. Just as she was about to say something, someone roared and charged out.
"Save your nonsense! All of you deserve death a hundred times over!"
It was Elder Zhao, who had been closely following Madam Fan, who suddenly flew out of the crowd. With a raise of his hand, he released a ten-foot-long blaze of flame that flew straight toward the few men opposite.
Seeing this, the middle-aged cultivator flew into a rage. With a whoosh, grayish-white demonic qi more than thirty feet high surged from his body. The grayish-white qi churned rapidly and, in an instant, transformed into an enormous, pallid, gleaming ghost face.
The moment this ghost face appeared, it opened its huge maw and viciously charged forward.
The flame released by Elder Zhao plunged straight into the ghost face's giant maw and vanished in a flash.
Then, without the slightest pause, the ghost face pounced straight at Elder Zhao himself.
At once, Elder Zhao's face showed panic.
At a speed even faster than when he had flown out, his figure flickered a few times, and he immediately flew back into the crowd, loudly shouting:
"Everyone, attack together! This fellow is a late Core Formation cultivator. None of us is a match for him fighting alone!"
Hearing this utterly obvious incitement, two Core Formation cultivators on this side and some Foundation Establishment disciples of the Wonderful Sound Sect actually did immediately release magic tools and magic treasures to attack the ghost head.
But more people looked on coldly from the sidelines, doubtful expressions on their faces.
The field grew somewhat chaotic.
At this scene, Han Li's face twitched slightly. His hands and feet did not move, but his body slowly slid backward along with Qu Hun's.
Something was a little off here.
Though he did not know what would happen, Han Li had already resolved that if danger appeared, he would withdraw immediately.
"Hold your hands! Something is amiss here!" The purple-robed woman had also noticed that something was wrong, and she coldly rebuked the Wonderful Sound Sect disciples.
But the cultivators who were attacking showed no reaction at all, still stubbornly besieging the ghost head with fierce attacks, as if they had seen and heard nothing.
Seeing this, Han Li and the others who had not attacked slightly changed their expressions, their hearts sinking.
The middle-aged cultivator opposite was no fool either, and he likewise saw the strangeness of the matter.
After a slight start, he decisively beckoned toward the ghost head. The ghost head gave a strange whistle, opened its mouth, and spat out countless grayish-white spheres of light, which in an instant knocked all the magic tools and magic treasures staggering every which way. Seizing the chance, it flew back to hover before this man.
The cultivators who had attacked were stunned, and for a moment no one dared to rush out of the crowd alone to attack him.
"Can anyone tell me what exactly is going on?" Taking this opportunity, Fairy Ziling finally flew out of the crowd and stood between the two sides, asking coldly.
"What's going on? You killed so many of our sect's disciples for no reason, and you still ask me, the Sect Leader?" the middle-aged man said with sinister coldness, his two eyes having at some point turned a strange emerald green.
"You raided our Wonderful Sound Sect's goods and even killed our Sect Leader. That was your doing, was it not?" The purple-robed woman stared into the man's eyes, slowly asking without any emotion.
"Nonsense! Though our Hidden Fiend Sect rarely associates with cultivators from the outside, how could we ever do such a shameful thing?" the middle-aged man said loudly, anger showing on his face.
Hearing this, the purple-robed woman fell silent, but her beautiful eyes revealed an icy chill.
Hearing these words, the others also realized something, and their expressions began to vary.
"It seems that both of our sides have fallen into someone's trap!" Madam Fan suddenly stepped out from among the cultivators and said slowly.
"Hmph, you're the ones who fell into a trap, not us?" the middle-aged man said darkly, his face sunk like still water.
This man had painstakingly cultivated these disciples for so many years, and now they had been wiped out almost in a single day on this very spot. How could he not hate the people before him to the bone?
If he had not felt that the enemy had too many Core Formation cultivators, and that he had no confidence in dealing with that eerie cultivator in the dark clouds, then even knowing the enemy had fallen into someone else's trap, he would still have risked grave injury to his vital energy to heavily wound these people right here.
Hearing this, the purple-robed woman's eyes remained utterly icy, while Madam Fan beside her could only respond with a wry smile.
"Elder Zhao, Elder Fu—shouldn't you two give us an explanation?" Fairy Ziling slowly turned her head, gazing at the two men in the crowd, and said calmly.