Realm of the Night God

A thunderous sound came from the cage, and the man's gaze was immediately drawn to it. Under his watchful eyes, cracks appeared on the four massive stone pillars, and the chains wrapped around them snapped one by one.

The man's face changed drastically. He knew that this technique would not keep Zhao Hong restrained for long, but he thought it would at least hold her for some time, during which he could team up with his Guardian Spirit to defeat Zhao Hong's Guardian Spirit.

However, the reality was not as he had anticipated. His technique had only managed to restrain Zhao Hong for a moment!

Another thunderous sound rang out, and the four massive stone pillars exploded, with dust filling the air. Zhao Hong's silhouette could be faintly seen.

The gusting wind dispersed the dust, revealing Zhao Hong beneath it. At this moment, Zhao Hong's face was slightly pale. Evidently, forcefully breaking through the cage he had set up had taken a toll on her.

"You've made some progress, but it's still not enough to deal with me!" Zhao Hong said in a deep voice. As she spoke, she quickly formed hand seals, and by the time she finished, the seals were complete.

"Spirit summoning! Cage!"

The same spirit summoning technique was unleashed, and the ground around the man cracked as four even larger stone pillars emerged from the earth.

The man knew what Zhao Hong was trying to do. Without hesitation, he leaped into the air, attempting to escape the range of the cage.

However, the cage formed faster than he could react. With a clash of chains, they criss-crossed, enveloping the stone pillars from top to bottom, and the man's airborne body collided with the chains above.

Boom!

The impact of his body against the chains did not break them, only causing them to shake violently. The man himself was thrown back to the ground by the powerful recoil force.

The same spirit summoning, the same cage, but Zhao Hong's execution was not only more robust, but also covered a larger area, appearing far more impressive than the cage the man had set up.

"The power of a spirit summoning depends on the strength of the spirit master themselves. Even though your Guardian Spirit is superior to mine, when it comes to spirit summoning, you are far behind. Lacking in combat experience, even with powerful resources, they are wasted in your hands," Zhao Hong said coolly, then turned her gaze to the area where the Guardian Spirits were battling.

Since Zhao Hong's Guardian Spirit was one realm lower than the man's, it was currently at a complete disadvantage. At this rate, in just a few breaths, her Guardian Spirit would be defeated.

Once the Guardian Spirit was defeated, it would face the fate of being devoured. Zhao Hong had expended a lot of her energy on this Guardian Spirit, and naturally, she did not want to see it become a mere supplement for the man's Guardian Spirit.

So, she joined the battle between the Guardian Spirits!

With her participation, the situation immediately turned around. The man's Guardian Spirit was suppressed and rendered powerless against her fierce attacks.

In the cage, the man watched this scene, anxious and restless. He quickly formed hand seals, drawing heavily on his spiritual power, and once again unleashed his spirit summoning, the Yin Wind Blade, bombarding the cage in an attempt to break it by force.

Spirit summoning is a secret technique that only spirit masters can use, and each type of spirit summoning has different effects and power, as well as varying spiritual power consumption.

However, there are many types of spirit summoning, and not every spirit master knows them all. It's similar to talisman masters - not every talisman master can draw all talismans. They must understand the corresponding incantations and the talismans' own spells.

Similarly, for a spirit master to learn a particular spirit summoning, they need the corresponding cultivation method, and mastering the hand seals is the key. If they don't understand the corresponding cultivation method, even if they know of the existence of that spirit summoning, they would not be able to perform it.

The man was not as capable as Zhao Hong. The spirit summoning techniques he knew were limited. Besides summoning spirits and dispelling illusions, the other spirit summoning techniques were not something he was well-versed in. The Yin Wind Blade was currently his most powerful spirit summoning.

So, trapped in the cage, his only option to quickly break free was to use the Yin Wind Blade again!

Performing a spirit summoning can greatly enhance the power of one's spiritual power. Similarly, it also consumes a significant amount of spiritual power. The more powerful the spirit summoning, the greater the spiritual power consumption.

In this situation, the man knew that using his regular spiritual power alone would not be enough to break Zhao Hong's cage. Zhao Hong was able to do it because her spiritual power was stronger than his.

His spiritual power was not as strong as Zhao Hong's, and using ordinary spiritual power would not be able to break the cage Zhao Hong had set up through her spirit summoning, as it was not easily breakable.

Therefore, to break the cage, he would need to consume more spiritual power by unleashing a spirit summoning.

The Yin Wind Blade continued to bombard the cage, with very obvious effects. Under the thunderous sounds, the chains wrapped around the stone pillars shattered with a series of cracking noises, and the four massive stone pillars also developed cracks.

After a wave of Yin Wind Blades, the cage was badly damaged, though not broken open by the man.

In this situation, the man would not use the Yin Wind Blade again, as it would be too draining on his spiritual power. He chose the fastest and most efficient method, directly channeling a portion of his spiritual power and releasing it to strike the cage.

With a loud explosion, Zhao Hong's cage shattered and was successfully broken through by the man.

All of this took less than ten breaths, which was a short time, but in the current situation, being trapped for over ten breaths was not a trivial matter.

After breaking free from the cage, the man was panting heavily, and beads of sweat had formed on his forehead. But he did not have time to worry about himself, and immediately turned his gaze to where his Guardian Spirit was.

To his dismay, he saw Zhao Hong take out a small porcelain bottle and forcefully capture his Guardian Spirit inside it.

He wanted to intervene, but it was too late!

In just a matter of ten or so breaths, Zhao Hong had decisively subdued his Guardian Spirit. Without his Guardian Spirit, defeat was certain in this battle.

In a situation like this, anyone with even a bit of cunning and foresight would understand that the tide had turned against them. They would not continue to fight, but would choose to flee immediately.

The reason is simple - to persist in battle would only lead to one's demise, unless a miracle occurred, but the chances of that are incredibly low. Fleeing, on the other hand, means one can live to fight another day, and even potentially seek revenge later through one's own efforts.

Although the man was young and lacked the sophistication, he was not foolish. He knew that snatching back his Guardian Spirit from Zhao Hong was not realistic. In this situation, the best course of action was to immediately escape, to prioritize saving his own life.

Without any hesitation, the moment he came to his senses, he tore open a spatial rift, intending to flee. He was aware that this would make him look cowardly, but compared to saving his life, losing face was inconsequential.

However, just as he was about to enter the spatial rift, a burst of spiritual power struck his body, sending him flying.

"I must say, you have become a certain threat to me now. If you had waited until your strength grew a little more before coming to find me, your threat would have been even greater. But it seems you still lack patience."

Zhao Hong's voice came from behind him. The man struggled to get up from the ground, coughing up a mouthful of fresh blood.

He knew Zhao Hong would not let him escape through the spatial rift, so after getting up, he immediately fled in a random direction.

This scene was almost identical to when he had previously chased Zhao Hong's doppelganger, except now the roles were reversed.

"It was letting you escape from me back then that led to tonight's sneak attack. This time, I won't give you any chance to get away."