From amidst the murky yellow sand, a Giant Man dressed in strange clothing emerged.
Around his waist hung five or six colorful, bulging, peculiar leather pouches.
The surface of the leather pouches seemed to be subtly wriggling, as if some living creatures were contained within them.
The strange Giant Man was clearly startled to see Yang Che, seemingly not expecting a Cultivator to appear here.
He asked with a rather unfriendly expression, "Fellow Daoist, which Immortal Cultivation Sect are you from?"
Yang Che's expression was calm, while his mind was carefully recalling the information he had obtained from the Wulong Valley's library regarding other Immortal Cultivation Sects in Jiang Country.
Jiang Country has five major Immortal Cultivation Sects: Wulong Valley, Beast Controlling Sect, Lingxia Palace, Qing Jian Sect, and Taiyan Temple.
And this Cultivator, the Giant Man before him, should be from the Beast Controlling Sect.
Almost every Cultivator from the Beast Controlling Sect knows how to control Spirit Beasts.
The more spirit beast bags they hang from their waist, the more Spirit Beasts they can typically control, and their strength is likely to be greater.
This strange Giant Man before him actually had five or six spirit beast bags on his waist, and he was at the ninth level of the Qi Refinement Stage; it seemed this Giant Man was not someone easy to deal with.
Seeing that Yang Che did not speak, the strange Giant Man snorted coldly in dissatisfaction and directly slapped one of the spirit beast bags at his waist.
Accompanied by a strong stench, an enormous greenish-yellow toad immediately appeared before Yang Che.
Gong Xiao instantly turned pale with fright, but upon seeing that his 'savior' showed not the slightest fear on his face, his heart immediately settled down considerably.
"Gong Xiao, you should hide far away," Yang Che waved his hand at Gong Xiao.
Upon seeing this situation, Gong Xiao immediately understood that both individuals before him were 'Immortals'; as a Mortal of Jianghu, besides fear, it was naturally best for him to run as far away as possible.
Seeing Gong Xiao leave, Yang Che narrowed his eyes slightly and said to the strange Giant Man, "Fellow Daoist, I am a Disciple of Wulong Valley. Our five great Immortal Cultivation Schools of Jiang Country have always stood united against external threats; we merely happened to encounter each other, there's no need to fight."
"Hehe, scared? It's fine if you don't want to fight, just hand over your Storage Pouch to me, and I'll let you go immediately."
The Giant Man sneered, his eyes filled with bloodlust and greed.
Yang Che's expression turned cold, as if he understood something.
It seemed his attempt to probe the other party was completely futile.
He stopped wasting words, lightly patted his Storage Pouch, and grasped the Wandering Cloud Sword in his hand, while quickly calculating in his mind.
Seeing that Yang Che was 'unaware of good intentions,' the Giant Man snorted coldly again, then commanded, "Go."
The toad pushed off with its feet, two foul-smelling green poisonous mists sprayed from its nose, and at the same time, it opened its gaping maw to swallow Yang Che.
Yang Che's heart stirred, but his body remained still; he neither dodged nor avoided, allowing the toad to pounce.
Then, he suddenly threw a punch, striking hard at the toad's lower jaw, which was now within arm's reach.
The toad twisted its massive body and flew directly to the side, landing heavily on the yellow sand with a 'rumbling' sound.
The strange Giant Man's expression suddenly changed; only then did he realize he had underestimated Yang Che, and he immediately cast aside his contempt.
Subsequently, he directly released all the Spirit Beasts from his other five spirit beast bags, swiftly surrounding Yang Che.
At the same time, he took out a green gourd Magical Artifact from his Storage Pouch and aimed it at Yang Che.
It seemed that upon discovering Yang Che could actually send one of his Spirit Beasts flying with bare hands, such a peculiar attack method also made the Giant Man abandon his underestimation and prepare to fully engage Yang Che.
Yang Che naturally did not dare to be arrogant; the opponent's magical power cultivation was one level higher than his, and he even had these Spirit Beasts, comparable to Qi Refining Stage fourth or fifth level, as helpers.
He quickly cast a protective spiritual energy shield on himself, put away the Wandering Cloud Sword, and replaced it with the mid-grade Magical Artifact 'Fire Cloud Hammer'.
At this moment, a strange black ox Spirit Beast suddenly charged towards him.
Yang Che directly smashed out with a hammer.
At the same time, two Flying Fire Needles, transformed to the size of nails, were silently attached beneath the hammer.
The instant the Fire Cloud Hammer heavily struck the black ox, the Flying Fire Needles, like venomous snakes, swiftly drilled into the black ox's ears.
The strange black ox was smashed onto the sandy ground, black blood flowed from its ears, and after a few convulsions, its life force was extinguished.
The strange Giant Man's face was gloomy; after the black ox Spirit Beast died, he didn't even glance at it, continuously chanting incantations. The green gourd quickly spewed a series of black beads, which shot towards Yang Che.
Yang Che quickly took out the 'Fiery Red Shield' and held it in front of him.
The black beads struck the shield one after another, exploding with crackling and rumbling sounds, their power astonishing.
Seeing that the Fiery Red Shield blocked the explosive force of these black beads, Yang Che used the same method to kill all the remaining Spirit Beasts one by one.
He deliberately adopted a probing approach and utilized the advanced Move of the Flying Fire Needles. After a series of exchanges, he had basically figured out the Giant Man's tactics and strength.
Although this person had many Spirit Beasts, they only looked intimidating.
Indeed, when all the Spirit Beasts were killed, the Giant Man finally began to show a look of confusion. He didn't understand why this young man, whose magical power was clearly one level lower than his, could so easily kill all his Spirit Beasts?
The purpose of these Spirit Beasts, besides sneak attacks, was primarily to deplete the enemy's magical power.
But all these Spirit Beasts were killed, and this young man before him did not seem to show any signs of severely depleted magical power.
Faintly, the Giant Man felt a ridiculous sense of being toyed with.
He was enraged.
After a series of changes in his expression, he actually pulled out a slightly smaller spirit beast bag from his bosom.
He opened the bag's mouth, and immediately, a huge emerald green flying snake with wings shot directly towards Yang Che, its speed so astonishing that Yang Che couldn't help but feel a shock in his heart.
Before the flying snake even got close, a wisp of venom was sprayed first, directly hitting the fiery red shield held by Yang Che.
A 'hissing' sound rang out, and Yang Che discovered that the surface of the shield had actually been corroded.
This was a fire-attributed mid-grade defensive Magical Artifact, yet it failed to block the flying snake's venom.
This both startled Yang Che and made him intensely interested in this flying snake.
However, he had no time to think further; he immediately controlled thirty-six Flying Fire Needles to form the Tai Xuan Hidden Light Formation, surrounding the flying snake.
At the same time, another thirty-six Flying Fire Needles shot towards the strange Giant Man, also forming the Tai Xuan Hidden Light Formation to surround the Giant Man.
With this series of operations, Yang Che's magical power was already almost at rock bottom.
He held a Spirit Stone in his hand, frantically replenishing his magical power, while simultaneously moving the five fingers of his other hand.
Within the two Tai Xuan Hidden Light Formations, the black light intertwined in a dazzling display, and the screams of one person and one beast rang out simultaneously, followed by the cold corpses of one person and one beast appearing on the sandy ground.
Yang Che collected the Giant Man's Storage Pouch and spirit beast bag, as well as all the Spirit Beast corpses, while also retrieving all the Flying Fire Needles. Then he swiftly conjured fireballs, burning the Giant Man's corpse to ashes.
Immediately after, he took out the locust leaf Magical Artifact, pulled up the already dumbfounded young man Gong Xiao, and swiftly flew out of this desert area, speeding towards the direction of the Wu Gate.
"Immortal Master, you... you..."
Gong Xiao was somewhat incoherent, unable to articulate anything for a long time.
"Is Wu Qingxuan doing well?" Yang Che suddenly asked.
Gong Xiao immediately looked crestfallen, and after a long while, he whispered, "Sect Leader she... is dying."
