"Roar!" A tiger's roar rang out, and the Zen staff that had been flying rapidly toward Shi Chan transformed into a golden tiger about ten feet long, which leaped and pounced on the demon who had attacked him. The tiger's two front paws landed on the demon's shoulders, and it opened its huge mouth to bite his neck.

The demon was shocked, broke free from the tiger's grip, and hurriedly retreated.

"Li Molin, let go of me!" Liu Li frowned, struggling against Li Molin's hand that was tightly gripping her arm, and said anxiously, "I need to go see him, the little monk is injured, I need to go see him!"

Li Molin's face was cold and stern as he said coldly, "You are not allowed to go!"

Liuli frowned and pleaded, "I'll just take a look, I promise I'll come right back, okay?"

Li Molin remained silent and unmoved.

"Li Molin!" Liu Li couldn't help but get angry and shouted, "Let me go!"

Li Molin stared coldly at her, slowly uttering two words: "I won't let go!"

"You!" Liuli was furious, but she couldn't break free from Li Molin's grip. She could only glare at him angrily, but there was nothing she could do.

A flash of tri-colored light appeared, and Ahua flew over and leaped onto Liuli's shoulder, her eyes scanning the battlefield intently. After a while, she finally spotted Liang Yihan. He was covered in blood, though some of it was his, and some of his opponent's. He didn't seem to be seriously injured, but he looked tired.

Ah Hua was finally able to relax a little.

Not only Liang Yihan, but everyone on both sides of the righteous path was exhausted at this time. However, without the order from their masters to retreat, the young men who were already impatient dared not retreat and could only hold on.

Suddenly, a dozen or so beams of light flew rapidly from afar, and Li Molin, Liuli, and Ahua immediately looked in that direction. Liuli and Ahua's gazes were filled with doubt and inquiry, while Li Molin's face was solemn.

The battle has now reached a point where both sides are severely weakened. If reinforcements from the righteous path were to arrive at this moment, the demons would surely be defeated, and they might not even be able to protect their mines.

Li Molin watched intently as the dozen or so beams of light flew rapidly towards them. Soon, the light grew closer and closer, and Li Molin secretly breathed a sigh of relief because he could tell that only a dozen or so people were coming from that direction, and none of them had high cultivation levels.

Soon, more than a dozen beams of light of various colors flew over, revealing the figures of more than a dozen righteous disciples. Among them were monks, nuns, and Taoists. They paused in the air for a moment, glanced at the battle on the ground, and then exchanged glances in twos and threes, all showing a hint of pity on their faces.

After a while, the dozen or so people landed on the ground and rushed into the battle. They moved back and forth in the fierce battle, delivering a message to every righteous disciple.

Before long, all the righteous disciples began to gather together. Then, a small group stayed behind to cover their retreat, while the main force flew into the sky and flew away.

Shi Chan was also among that large group of people. Liu Li was being pulled along by Li Molin. She saw Shi Chan glance at her from afar before turning and flying away. She kept staring at the golden light that Shi Chan had transformed into until she could no longer see the light, and then she turned her gaze to Li Molin.

She looked Li Molin up and down and asked with concern, "Li Molin, are you alright?"

Li Molin couldn't help but sigh softly to herself. In her heart, the monk was the most important person. If he were here, she wouldn't care about her at all. Only when he left would she even notice her.

Thinking of this, a murderous glint flashed in Li Molin's lowered eyes. So, if that monk were to leave this world forever, would she only be able to see him, and never anyone else?

After a moment of silence, Li Molin looked up at Liuli, his expression softening, and shook his head, saying, "I'm fine."

The small group of righteous disciples left behind to cover the retreat also began to try to withdraw after the main force had gone, but the demons would not allow them to escape unscathed. Thus, after a final, fierce battle, only one or two out of ten of the righteous disciples who had stayed behind had survived.

At noon on this day, a great battle between good and evil, which was caused by the struggle for the mine, finally came to an end. At this time, the ground in front of the mine was littered with corpses and blood. Most of the mutilated corpses and the blunted weapons were half-hidden in the river of blood, reflecting a faint light under the bright sunlight.

Yu Ke, wounded and covered in blood, flew to Li Molin's side and asked in confusion, "Young Master, why did these righteous people suddenly retreat?"

Li Molin shook his head silently, his face also showing doubt.

After pondering for a moment, Li Molin decided to put this question aside for the time being. He said, "Yu Ke, give the order to clean up the battlefield."

"yes."

Yu Ke nodded in agreement. Just as he was about to return to the battlefield, a clear bird song suddenly rang out. Yu Ke turned his head and saw a demonic bird fluttering over.

The demonic bird quickly flew closer, landed on Li Molin's shoulder, and began to chirp.

Liuli stared at the bird curiously until it stopped chirping, then asked curiously, "Li Molin, what's wrong?"

Li Molin replied in a low voice, "Another divine artifact has been born."

“No wonder,” Yu Ke said knowingly. “No wonder these righteous people suddenly retreated.”

"Another divine artifact has appeared?" Liuli asked. "Where?"

Li Molin smiled faintly and said, "In the swamp next to Tongtian Mountain."

"Oh." Liuli nodded and smiled, "Then let's go play in the swamp."

"Okay." Li Molin patted her head and smiled, "You go back to the mine first, I'll take stock of the casualties."

Liuli's gaze shifted to the battlefield to the side, her eyelashes fluttering slightly. She glanced at him briefly before quickly averting her gaze, her face grim, and without a word, she turned and flew away.

Yu Ke withdrew his gaze from Li Molin's face. He was about to fly to the battlefield to count the casualties and clean up the battlefield, but he suddenly stopped after moving. After hesitating for a moment, Yu Ke turned to face Li Molin, lowered his head slightly, and said in a deep voice, "Young Master, our Demon Clan suffered heavy casualties this time, but originally... we could have avoided these casualties."

Li Molin's expression changed, and he remained silent for a long time. His voice held a hint of apology as he whispered, "I'm sorry, Yu Ke. But... we can't let Liuli be sad..."

Yu Ke's face darkened. He glanced at Li Molin, then silently turned and flew away.

All that remained was Li Molin's somewhat lonely figure suspended in the air. The wind whipped his robes and brushed against his blood-stained face, but it could not erase the deep self-reproach on his face.