Wu Tao shook his head, unfazed. He hadn't expected a mere high-grade magic artifact, the Flaming Shadow Spirit Sword, to subdue the four of them.
Wu Tao directed the Flaming Shadow Spirit Sword to continue entangling with their artifacts, then cupped his left hand, and the high-grade magic artifact, the Shimmering Gold Rope, suddenly moved.
The Shimmering Gold Rope shot out instantly, transforming into a streak of light and heading towards the burly man.
At this moment, the burly man had just narrowly escaped the danger of "certain death." Now, he faced another fatal threat, pushed to the brink by Wu Tao, one wrong step and he would lose his life.
The burly man, while frantically fumbling for something in his storage bag, shouted, "Damn it, this one's tricky! Be careful!"
As soon as the word "careful" left his lips, his eyes widened in horror...
Before he could even speak, a golden rope, a zhang in length, had already approached him. In an instant, his body was bound without any ability to resist.
His hands and feet were also wrapped with several golden ropes, making it impossible to retrieve any artifacts from his storage bag for a counterattack.
...
The Shimmering Gold Rope tightly bound the burly man, preventing him from moving freely.
Seeing this, a sharp glint flashed in Wu Tao's eyes. He decided to resolve the remaining three first, then deal with the burly man who was like fish on a chopping block.
It was for this reason that the burly man was temporarily spared.
Wu Tao then took out the Golden Python Bow from his storage bag, pulled it taut with his left hand, and drew the Golden Python Bow.
"Swish," "swish," "swish," one arrow after another, three shots in quick succession, flew out towards the middle-aged man closest to him, attacking with sonic speed.
The middle-aged man retrieved a high-grade magic artifact, the Dark Gold Woven Steel Shield, from his storage bag and blocked the three golden arrows.
Seeing that the middle-aged man still had some ability, Wu Tao grabbed a handful of talismans from his storage bag and hurled them at the man.
Then, while the middle-aged man was fumbling, he launched a sneak attack and ended the middle-aged man's life.
...
Since the burly man, that good-for-nothing, had not yet escaped the binding and control of the Shimmering Gold Rope, there was no rush to deal with him.
Wu Tao's mind raced, and he shifted his target to the two people in front of him.
Seeing one companion dead and another trapped, the fat man no longer concealed his trump card. From his spirit beast bag, a strange, emerald-green snake with a pair of purple wings emerged.
As soon as the snake appeared, it let out "squawk, squawk" sounds, revealing its purple fangs. Its venom was extremely potent, and its speed was like the wind.
Within seconds, the emerald-green snake flew to Wu Tao's side.
The emerald-green snake repeatedly rammed its body violently against Wu Tao's protective Yuan Magnetic Astral Qi.
...
Wu Tao's protective Yuan Magnetic Astral Qi vibrated under the impact, seemingly from the snake's considerable strength.
The fat man was inwardly pleased. He then removed another spirit beast bag, intending to release another demonic beast to quickly combine forces and kill Wu Tao.
He was confident that it wouldn't be long before he completely dealt with Wu Tao.
At that time, he vowed to pull out every single bone from his opponent's body to vent his hatred.
...
However, just as the fat man revealed a triumphant smile, he saw Wu Tao's arms suddenly emit a dazzling golden light.
Wu Tao forcefully gripped the body of the emerald-green snake with purple wings in both hands and then gave a mighty tug.
He had, with brute force, torn the emerald-green snake with purple wings in half, its head and tail separated!
Just as the fat man wailed over his precious dead spirit beast, his actions momentarily halted.
Wu Tao's "Wind Riding Azure Bird Boots" flashed with azure light. An afterimage flickered, and Wu Tao instantly appeared before the fat man.
Wu Tao's fist, imbued with terrifying power, shot out and struck the fat man's throat.
His entire neck snapped with a crack, bones breaking, blood splattering, and his head flew off.
Wu Tao's actions were swift and decisive, eliminating the middle-aged man and the fat man in mere breaths.
As for the burly man, his fate was grim. He still had not broken free from the Shimmering Gold Rope's restraints...
The narrow path suddenly became eerily silent, as if no one was present.
The only remaining old man pulled out a high-grade demonic artifact, the "Hundred Ghosts Soul Guiding Banner," and was preparing to unleash some formidable demonic techniques.
Gazing at the cold corpses of the fat man and the middle-aged man, the old man trembled with fear, frozen in place. He was so startled that he even forgot to continue casting the demonic technique he had half-initiated.
The old man, experienced and seasoned, was now filled with extreme dread.
He knew he couldn't get away unscathed today, and worse, he might lose his life here.
After a while, the old man seemed to awaken from a dream. He immediately began chanting incantations, and thick black mist emerged from the Hundred Ghosts Soul Guiding Banner in his hand.
Following the dense black mist, two fierce ghosts, tens of meters in size, with gaping maws and sharp claws, lunged out.
These two monsters had short horns on their heads, long, pointed tails, black eyes, and wielded sharp claws as they pounced towards Wu Tao.
...
Wu Tao let out a cold laugh and charged forward, his figure like a charging tiger, covering over thirty meters in an instant and crashing towards them.
"Gale howls, fist intent surges, invincible under heaven!"
Wu Tao's speed was not only swift but also ferociously aggressive.
The mysterious runes on Wu Tao's "Wind Riding Azure Bird Boots" flashed. The "Armor Piercing Dragon Whelp" in his hands glowed with a faint golden light, and the Yuan Magnetic Astral Qi swirling around him writhed and coiled like a colossal dragon.
At the center of his fist was the dragon's head, radiating unmatched might.
Wu Tao moved with the grace of a dragon and the power of a tiger, his body strong as divine iron, possessing a thousand pounds of force. With each step and each punch, golden light illuminated the surroundings.
Wu Tao effortlessly pulverized the two black-green fierce ghosts, each tens of meters in size, into mere dust.
The black-green ghosts turned into black smoke and vanished, returning to the Hundred Ghosts Soul Guiding Banner.
...
The last thing the old man saw before his death was Wu Tao's eyes, filled with murderous intent, and as cold as ice.
"Die!"
With a simple punch, Wu Tao didn't even use any magical augmentations, yet he effortlessly blasted the old man's head apart!
A cold, headless corpse fell into a pool of blood.
...
From the very beginning of the battle, the burly man, bound to the ground by the Shimmering Gold Rope and unable to move, had clearly witnessed the tragic end of his three sworn brothers.
"Spare me, spare me, hero!"
The burly man's eyes widened, and in his terror, he couldn't help but beg Wu Tao for mercy repeatedly.
The burly man, thinking that he was next to die, became even more panicked.
His limbs turned cold, and a chill ran down his spine. He almost scared himself to death.
Wu Tao did not, in the end, let him go.
When Wu Tao approached the burly man, he simply kicked him.
This kick carried thousands of pounds of force.
With a stomp, the ground around him shook violently, making a tremendous noise.
"Crack."
"Ahhh."
First, there was the sound of bones breaking, followed by the burly man's scream.
...
A several-foot-high fountain of blood spurted from the burly man's chest. In the next second, he fell to the ground and died.
Having caused such a commotion, it was no longer safe to linger. Wu Tao incinerated the four corpses with fire-attribute magic and left the scene with the surprisingly found seven or eight storage bags.
...
After reaching a safe location, Wu Tao took the time to examine the seven or eight storage bags. He found several magic artifacts of varying quality, over a thousand spirit stones, some elixirs for healing and enhancing spiritual power, and countless miscellaneous items.
After traveling for another day and night, Wu Tao left the "One Line of Heaven" section.
...
Further ahead lay a vast forest, a good place for ambushes and killings.
Drawing on his previous experience, Wu Tao cautiously scouted the vicinity, carefully comparing the information he remembered with the surrounding scenery. He finally found some very useful information.
This information was accumulated over many years by outer disciples who had successfully exited the Huangji Taiyi Secret Realm alive.
"Yu Guo Forest is located in the northeast corner of the Huangji Taiyi Secret Realm. Within an area of a dozen li, there are many Jade Scale Fruits, Yin Bell Flowers, and Red Sandalwood, among other spiritual herbs, spiritual grasses, and rare woods."
These spiritual herbs, grasses, and woods could be used to make elixirs to replenish vital energy and other treasures, but their overall value was not particularly high.
As soon as Wu Tao entered Yu Guo Forest, the Huangji Taiyi Secret Realm entered a period of intense slaughter.
Various powerful figures revealed their fangs and began a bloody purge of the weaker individuals in the vicinity.
The closer one got to areas with more spiritual grasses and herbs, the more frequent and terrible the killings became.
Of course, during this extremely delicate period, it was occasionally possible for "experts" of comparable strength to encounter each other. They would usually tacitly ignore each other and pass by.
It was not yet time for them to engage in a life-or-death battle.
However, the most dangerous situations in the Huangji Taiyi Secret Realm were the innate restrictive formations and the never-ending hordes of demonic beasts.
...
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