The Demon with Holy Radiance

The only outcomes were the death of the target or the death of the caster—there were no other options.

It was a mutually destructive Technique. Unless faced with a truly desperate situation, no one would ever resort to using it.

The price for activating this Daoist Technique was... sacrificing one’s own soul.

After reviewing the Techniques within the Earth Spirit Skill and comparing them to those of the Five Wheels Ultimate Technique, Yang An ultimately chose one from the Earth Spirit Skill that caught his eye to practice first.

’The entire Earth Spirit Stele is mine anyway. With enough time, I can master every Technique recorded on it. It’s just a matter of which one I learn first.’

As night fell, Yang An retrieved an Array from his Storage Magical Artifact.

It was part of the spoils he had obtained from killing Elder Profound Dragon at the Xiyue River.

The Array was a set of flags refined from thirty-six human bones and a single Demon Bone. The Demon Bone served as the core, while the human bones were supplementary.

He set up the Array Flags on the unclaimed mountaintop. Should any living creature enter the Array’s range, Yang An would sense it regardless of his distance. He could also unleash the Array’s power to trap or kill any intruders.

Furthermore, once activated, the Array could conceal a portion of the natural phenomena in the area, masking any disturbances on the mountain and making them difficult to detect.

The Array’s power could reach the equivalent of the Middle Stage of Corpse Transformation at its peak, making it perfectly suitable for sentry duty.

With the Array in place, he would be able to detect any new developments immediately and react in time.

And so, Yang An began his training, remaining on the mountain and dedicating himself wholeheartedly to cultivating the new Technique.

He trained for over a month. Given Yang An’s current Cultivation Level, had he been practicing his previous Techniques, he would have mastered them long ago.

However, the Techniques recorded on the Earth Spirit Stele were considerably more difficult.

After more than a month, Yang An had only just managed to grasp the basics. From there, he began to deepen his proficiency.

Thanks to the Array’s concealment, no one knew what was happening on the mountain, only that heaven-shaking rumbles would occasionally echo from its peaks.

「More than ten days passed in the blink of an eye, and the calendar turned to the sixth month.」

The Four Outer Domains shared a common system of timekeeping. Hours were determined by the movements of the sun and moon, while months were calculated based on the constellations in the heavens.

There were twelve major star charts in the celestial dome, one for each month, and every month, the corresponding star chart would display a unique phenomenon.

For example, in the current sixth month, the Cansu Star Chart, located in the southern part of the celestial dome, would shine brighter than any other and emanate a brilliant, blood-red aurora.

Yang An sometimes wondered if these timekeeping methods were an invention of their predecessors or had some other origin, because the star charts looked just like a giant clock hanging high in the sky.

’When the ’hand’ pointed to the southern star chart, it corresponded perfectly to six o’clock, signaling the arrival of the sixth month.’

That night, a familiar aura and Qi Seal swept past from several thousand meters away. Yang An, who had been cultivating with his eyes closed, snapped them open, a smile spreading across his face.

’Wen Yin is here!’

But just then, he suddenly frowned.

Wen Yin wasn’t coming from the direction of Broken Armor. Instead, she was coming from within Chongwen State and heading *toward* Broken Armor.

Moreover, several other auras were in hot pursuit behind her, and the distance between them was rapidly closing.

’Why is she coming from inside Chongwen State?’

Yang An stood up, a flicker of confusion in his heart.

’I’ve waited here for over a month and a half and never once detected her Qi Seal. Now she’s appearing from the opposite direction. There’s only one explanation for this... Wen Yin got lost again. But who are those people chasing her?’

Yang An decided to rescue Wen Yin first and figure out what was happening later. His figure flickered and vanished from sight.

「At this moment.」

Wen Yin was enveloped by the form of an Evil Spirit. The spirit, intertwined with her own body, unfurled a pair of massive wings and flew with lightning speed, yet she still couldn’t shake off her pursuers.

’She had no idea why she had provoked these people. She had followed her Senior Brother’s instructions, barely making it through the treacherous Broken Armor. But while searching for Chongwen State, the place he’d told her about, this group had started hunting her for no reason at all. She didn’t even understand what was happening. These people had just attacked her, and their first moves were all lethal blows, clearly intending to kill her. There was nothing she could do. Their Cultivation Levels were all higher than hers. Trapped and pursued, her only option was to burn her own Essence Blood for a temporary boost to her Technique, hoping to lose them. But her pursuers were just as fast and hadn’t given up after a long chase. Wen Yin was running out of ideas. If they kept this relentless pursuit up, her only choice would be to retreat back into Broken Armor. ’Let’s see if they have the guts to follow me in there.’’

WHOOSH—

A bizarre streak of blood-red light shot toward her from behind. It was incredibly fast, instantly piercing one of the fleshy wings of the Evil Spirit surrounding her.

Green flames immediately erupted on the wing as a sinister, venomous power began to seep through its veins, heading for Wen Yin’s body.

Seeing the dire situation, Wen Yin reacted in a flash. She controlled the Evil Spirit to forcibly tear off its own wings, narrowly preventing the venomous power from invading her body.