Cultivation is just so scientific!

He did not advance but retreated; no matter how much it pained his heart to see his spiritual insects harmed, he still released two more Iron-winged Smoke Cloud Worms to shield himself.

"Don't think about reaping the benefits without effort, his strength is too formidable; none of us can handle him alone!" Lin Ping shouted as he kept retreating.

He was aware that several familiar auras of True Inheritor Demon Cultivators had been trailing him since he left the sect. At this moment, his focus was on killing Li Yuanba; as for the resources to form the Golden Core, those could be considered after Li Yuanba was dead.

If he launched another attack on Li Yuanba, he might just be paving the way for the few True Inheritor Demon Cultivators following him.

He had utmost confidence in his own abilities. Although Li Yuanba was a True Sword Practitioner, he had only joined the sect a few years ago, so his strength couldn't be that overwhelming.

"Lin Ping, even you can have such an unsightly moment!" From the direction to Li Yuanba's left, two figures emerged, one of whom spoke while the other was an Iron Corpse.

Li Yuanba's gaze sharpened; disregarding the combat abilities of the Devil Cultivator who had spoken, the aura coming from the Iron Corpse beside him was that of a Peak Iron Corpse, its skin occasionally shining with a silvery light, a sign that it was not far from the Silver Corpse Realm.

He knew very well how terrifying the Peak Iron Corpse could be; Jiang Chen was a Peak Iron Corpse.

Of course, Jiang Chen was a special case, being a Peak Iron Corpse refined from a Golden Core Sword Cultivator. In reality, his strength wasn't sufficient to advance to the Silver Corpse Realm, but his attacks were boosted with some of the Sword Intent from a Golden Core Sword Cultivator, making him much stronger than an ordinary Peak Iron Corpse.

"Li Yuanba, it would be a shame for our competence if we allowed you to wander around with the Golden Core resources and still leave you alive," another voice called out from afar to the right.

Li Yuanba looked in that direction and saw that although the figure was a Late-stage Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivator, he was shrouded in a shadowy, almost illusory aura, with phantoms appearing and disappearing continually around him.

"Just the three of you? That's not enough for me to kill!" Li Yuanba said sternly to the newly appeared Devil Cultivators.

"Senluo Sect's True Inheritor Du Ke, you've stolen our Golden Core resources. Hand them over, and I'll leave you a whole corpse!" Du Ke from the left said coldly as he made a move without being provoked by Li Yuanba's indifference.

"Remember the name Yu Piao of Senluo Sect, I will be the one to kill you!" Yu Piao from the right followed up.

"You two, be careful; his Sword Intent is a bit strange!" Lin Ping warned from his position in the void.

He stood in a spot that, along with the other two Devil Cultivators, formed a triangular position, trapping Li Yuanba inside.

"Lin Ping, you became a True Inheritor by playing with bugs. Once your bugs are countered, you have no combat strength to speak of, a disgrace to the title of True Inheritor!" Du Ke taunted.

"Du Ke, aren't you the same, relying on your Iron Corpse? Why don't you refine yourself into one too!" Lin Ping retorted angrily.

Although they had a common enemy, Devil Cultivators weren't the most straightforward characters, and they had already started targeting each other even before the fight began.

"Stop arguing, the ingredients for the Mountain-breaking Pill are mine. The rest are up to you!" Yu Piao interjected, waving his hand.

"In your dreams, the Mountain-breaking Pill is mine to claim!" Lin Ping turned his head and shouted back at Yu Piao.

"Yu Piao, why don't you take it all for yourself!" Du Ke also expressed his discontent.

Li Yuanba watched the three True Inheritors from Senluo Sect, and if he didn't know any better, he would have thought they had already killed him and obtained the Golden Core resources.

However, he soon realized he was being tricked, as more and more auras of Cultivators were rapidly approaching from the directions of the three Devil Cultivator True Inheritors.

The three True Inheritors had coordinated quietly, using their arguments as a diversion to buy time for their respective subordinates to arrive.

The three True Inheritors were the fastest to arrive, while their Devil Cultivator subordinates were slightly slower.

The three True Inheritors had a clear understanding of Li Yuanba's combat abilities; Lin Ping's spiritual insects were formidable, but they had been annihilated shortly after the encounter.

To capture Li Yuanba, they needed to rely on their numerical superiority.

Li Yuanba remained still, sensing the Demon Cultivators who were drawing closer. All of these Cultivators were at the Foundation Establishment level, with the strongest being at Late-stage Foundation Establishment.

As long as the opponent was a Devil Cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Stage, he felt he had the power to fight.

In just the span of ten breaths, over twenty Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivators gathered around Li Yuanba, their eyes glittering with greed as they looked at him.

Li Yuanba thought to himself that if he threw out his storage bracelet now, it would likely instantly provoke a fierce battle among these Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivators.

Of course, it was just a thought, as he no longer waited. His blood was boiling, and he was somewhat impatient to test his combat strength.

He chose to attack Du Ke on the left side first, where Du Ke was accompanied by six Demon Cultivators and an additional ten Iron Corpses, appearing to be the strongest faction.

Li Yuanba still prioritized attacking this direction because his Sword Intent naturally suppressed Corpse Refinement.

He had tested it on Jiang Chen before, and even with his Life-bound Corpse Refinement, which should be immune to its master's unintentional energy influence, it was extremely fearful in the face of the Supreme Yang Power within the Sword Intent, to the point of considering a retreat.

And that was his own refined corpse. How would it affect an enemy's refined corpse?

Today, he wanted to see just how effective it would be, with Du Ke's ten Iron Corpses providing a good test.

His sword light shot out, flying toward Du Ke.

Although surprised by the sudden attack, Du Ke still laughed and waved his subordinates to meet the enemy.

After surrounding Li Yuanba, Du Ke saw him as a fish caught in a net. What he needed to be careful of was actually the True Inheritor Demon Cultivators from the other two sides.

Li Yuanba's proactive attack on his side was just what he wanted; killing Li Yuanba and snatching the storage bracelet to then immediately leave, would mean no involvement with the other two True Inheritor Demon Cultivators.

As he thought this, he felt a sudden palpitation, an innate response to facing a natural enemy.

Li Yuanba's sword light approached, not aiming to attack the Demon Cultivators—who were protected by their Spirit Artifact Shields—but rather the ten Iron Corpses, solely relying on their own defensive power.

The Sword Intent on the sword light suddenly surged, shining like the sun, which made the advancing Iron Corpses come to an abrupt halt. Then Du Ke's Peak Iron Corpse hesitated to advance, while the nine weaker Iron Corpses turned and fled.

But their speed was no match for the sword light. Under Li Yuanba's control, the sword light decapitated Iron Corpse after Iron Corpse.

Li Yuanba was now controlling the flying sword with his Divine Thought, which increased the power of the "Sky-Surging Sword Intent Technique" by at least twenty percent.

Furthermore, the attribute of the Supreme Yang Power of the Sword Intent naturally suppressed, resulting in the immediate extermination of the Iron Corpses upon contact.

Even Du Ke's Peak Iron Corpse was not an exception. The Supreme Yang Power within the Sword Intent affected the actions of the Peak Iron Corpse, and under the control of Divine Thought, there was little difference between slaying the Peak Iron Corpse and the other Iron Corpses.

As their Iron Corpses were destroyed, Du Ke and the six Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivators groaned, their Spirits sustaining injury.

"Kill!" Li Yuanba let out a thunderous roar as he controlled the flying sword with his Divine Thought, concentrating all of his Sword Intent and shooting it toward Du Ke's body.

Spiritually wounded, Du Ke managed to defend against the flying sword with his Spirit Artifact Shield in front, but the shield also suffered great damage. Du Ke felt that another blow like that would injure his Spirit again due to the damage to his Spirit Artifact.

"Quick, block him for me!" Du Ke urgently called for help.

It was only then that the other two, Lin Ping and Yu Piao, finally reacted. They had been stunned by Li Yuanba's rapid slaughter of the ten Iron Corpses.

"Surround him, if he doesn't die, we'll be in trouble!" the two True Inheritor Demon Cultivators ordered in unison.

A hint of fear laced their voices; such a terrifying Sword Cultivator reminded them of Elder Jian.

If they allowed Li Yuanba to continue growing, he would become another Elder Jian, and then they'd only be waiting for Li Yuanba's frenzied revenge.

A growing Sword Cultivator was terrifying, so they couldn't allow Li Yuanba to continue his growth. It was no longer a matter of resource competition for the Golden Core, but a life-and-death issue.