Chapter 229 - 221: Asking for a Beating
"Arrogant!"
The leader of the Yellow Springs Netherworld Masters, Yin Xuan Master, let out a sharp, cold snort.
The viciousness on his ghastly pale face intensified as the Ghost Qi around him erupted like a boiling sea of ink!
"Today, we settle all scores, new and old!"
His hands formed a Sealing Technique. He thrust them down, and the void behind him suddenly collapsed, transforming into a boundless, grim Ghostly Realm overflowing with resentful energy!
Within the Ghostly Realm, a Blood River surged and mountains of bone stood tall. Countless twisted phantoms of Fierce Ghosts struggled and wailed, their shrieks piercing one’s very Divine Soul.
Moreover, the phantoms of three enormous Ghost Kings flickered in and out of sight among the Blood River and bone mountains, radiating a heart-stopping pressure!
This was Yin Xuan Master’s Foundation Establishment Realm Heaven—the Ten Thousand Ghosts Netherworld!
"Form the Three Talents Gathering Yin Array! We’ll start by cutting down these two reckless fools!" Yin Xuan Master ordered sharply.
The other two Yellow Springs Masters responded instantly, their figures blurring as they formed a triangle, faintly encircling Qi Yun and Qian Xin Master.
Their auras linked in an instant. Beneath their feet, the ghostly image of a bizarre Array appeared, constructed from countless pale white skulls.
The Array activated, and Yin Sha Qi surged into it like a hundred rivers flowing to the sea, empowering the three Masters!
"Netherworld Blood River, defile the Ten Thousand Laws!"
The Master on the left sneered and flung his sleeve.
A tributary broke off from the surging Blood River in the Ghostly Realm, transforming into a foul, stinking river of blood that shimmered with a filthy light as it swept toward Qi Yun and his companion!
This Blood River was not a physical entity but an amalgamation of filth-qi that could defile a cultivator’s Magical Power and corrode their Magical Treasures.
If an ordinary Magical Artifact was touched by it, its Spiritual Light would dim. If a Cultivator were caught within it, even their Dao Foundation would be tainted!
"Devouring Heart of Ten Thousand Souls! Life-taking Impermanence!"
The Master on the right shook a White Bone Banner. As if commanded, the countless Fierce Ghosts in the Ghostly Realm converged into a grayish-black storm of soul-sha. Within the storm, the glint of Soul Hook Chains and the echo of Soul-Catching Demonic Sound could be perceived.
It was a vicious technique designed specifically to attack a Cultivator’s Divine Soul Purple Mansion!
Facing this overwhelming onslaught of Yellow Spring Evil Techniques, Qian Xin Master laughed heartily, showing not a trace of fear.
"Mere goblins and ghouls, you dare show off before the myriad phenomena of the mortal world?
Behold my Red Dust Illusion Barrier: Seven Emotions and Six Desires!"
The dark-red Red Dust Evil Mist around him suddenly billowed and expanded, as if pulling a concentrated piece of the vast mortal realm into this gloomy cavern.
Within the mist, shimmering lights and shadows revealed all the states of mortal existence.
The power struggles of emperors and generals, the tangled love and hate of scholars and beauties, the sordid scrambles of common folk, the Cultivators’ delusional obsession with Longevity... Countless thoughts born of the seven emotions and six desires became intangible yet omnipresent threads, weaving themselves into a sky-spanning net that cast itself over the river of blood and the storm of soul-sha!
The next instant!
The filthy Blood River crashed into the Red Dust Illusion Barrier.
The viciousness and resentment it contained were triggered and dispersed by the chaotic seven emotions and six desires, its power greatly diminished.
It was like a clay ox sinking into the sea, unable to maintain its form as it dissolved away.
As for the soul-sha storm that specialized in attacking the Divine Soul, it was ensnared and eroded by countless thoughts of desire.
The Fierce Ghosts within seemed to fall into illusory worlds born of their own lingering obsessions from life, tearing at and devouring one another. The storm’s momentum instantly collapsed by nearly half!
"What a bizarre Magic!"
Yin Xuan Master’s pupils contracted. He hadn’t expected his opponent’s methods to be so peculiar, capable of suppressing their Netherworld Evil Power.
"Nine Nether Gate, open!
Unleash the Bone-Eroding Yin Wind!"
Deep within the Ten Thousand Ghosts Netherworld behind him, the phantom of an ancient stone gate, wrapped in countless chains and carved with ferocious demonic heads, rumbled open.
A hair-raising wail echoed from within the gate. A Yin Wind, sickly green in color and so corrosive it slightly ate away at the void itself, surged out like a bursting dam, rushing madly toward Qi Yun.
This Bone-Eroding Yin Wind was exceptionally vicious. It could not only melt flesh but also directly blow away a Cultivator’s Protective Gang Qi and Magical Power. It was one of the secret killing moves of the Yellow Springs Netherworld!
Faced with this Bone-Eroding Yin Wind, a force potent enough to make any Master of the same realm pale, Qi Yun, who had been standing still and observing the battle, finally moved.
He raised his right hand, fingers slightly apart, and made a grasping motion in the air toward the surging, sickly green Yin Wind.
In his palm, a nine-colored radiance quietly flowed, emitting a Supreme Daoist Intent that transcended the Ten Thousand Laws and commanded all paths of the Dao.
Mastering All Skills!
The Divine Technique activated, silent and traceless!
The sickly green Yin Wind, originally potent enough to melt bone and soul, was stopped dead in its tracks as it entered a ten-zhang radius of Qi Yun, as if an invisible hand had seized it by the throat.
The corrosive Daoist Intent within the wind twisted and struggled violently, but it was utterly unable to escape the irresistible force of control!
Before the horrified eyes of Yin Xuan Master and the other two Yellow Springs Masters, Qi Yun gently twisted his five fingers.
The Bone-Eroding Yin Wind, potent enough to melt bone and dissolve the soul, had its connection to the caster forcibly severed.
"What kind of Divine Technique is this?!"
The Yellow Springs Master who had cast the Bone-Eroding Yin Wind’s face fell, his pupils trembling.
He felt his connection to the Magic completely severed, and the force of the backlash was already upon him!
Qi Yun glanced at him with an indifferent gaze.
Then, he flicked a finger.
"Returning it."
The mass of Bone-Eroding Yin Wind, now completely seized and controlled, shot back several times faster and more violently than it had come!
The Yin Wind expanded rapidly in mid-air, its color deepening to an even more profound, sickly green.
It was now faintly imbued with a trace of Qi Yun’s overbearing Daluo Magical Power, its might multiplied!
"What?!"
The hair on the Yellow Springs Master’s head stood on end. He frantically channeled his Magical Power, summoning several protective Ghost Artifacts as he retreated with all his might.
But the Yin Wind, enhanced by Mastering All Skills and reflected back at him, had already locked on.
BOOM!!!
The Yin Wind tore through his body!
His protective Ghost Artifacts were corroded and pierced in an instant, as if they were made of paper.
The terrifying corrosive power bypassed all defenses, acting directly on his physical body.
"ARGH—!"
With a bloodcurdling scream, the Foundation Establishment Master from the Yellow Springs Netherworld’s physical body withered, rotted, and disintegrated at a speed visible to the naked eye.
His skin turned to pus and blood, his flesh melted away, revealing stark white bones.
But even the bones quickly blackened and shattered under the Yin Wind’s corrosion.
In the blink of an eye, his entire body had completely disintegrated in mid-air, turning into a cloud of ash mixed with stinking blood mist and bone fragments. His physical form was destroyed.
Only his Divine Soul managed to escape, hovering in the void in utter disbelief.
The scene fell deathly silent.
Only the remnant of the sickly green Yin Wind was left, whining and circling in the air.
Yin Xuan Master and the other remaining Yellow Springs Master stood frozen, their expressions shifting unpredictably, unable to speak for a long moment.
Qian Xin Master’s eye twitched as he thought to himself:
’This kid... he’s even more terrifying than he was half a year ago!’
Qi Yun slowly retracted his hand. The wisp of lingering sickly green Yin Wind landed in his palm. His gaze shifted as he stared at the captured Magic.
With a wave of his hand, he summoned the Human Emperor Banner and pressed the sickly green Yin Wind directly into it.
After the Refinement of the sickly green Yin Wind, a new, wind-like pattern faintly flickered on the deep, black surface of the Human Emperor Banner, but it did not fully emerge.
’Just a little more...’
Seeing that he hadn’t successfully unlocked the third Grand Array, Qi Yun shrugged. No rush, there would be plenty more opportunities.
Witnessing this young Daoist so overwhelmingly crush the physical body of a Foundation Establishment Master from the Yellow Springs Netherworld made all those who were still coveting the Undying True Blood freeze.
The leader, Yin Xuan Master, his face so dark it looked like water might drip from it, said in a low, suppressed voice:
"You’re clearly only in the Foundation Establishment Early Stage, yet you possess such overbearing methods... Some time ago, someone from the Holy Sect successfully attained the eternally rare Venerable Dao Foundation... That person is you, isn’t it?"
Venerable Dao Foundation!
The moment those words left Yin Xuan Master’s lips, it was as if a thunderclap had exploded in the ruined cavern.
The Masters from the second-tier powers and the Loose Cultivator Masters on the periphery, who had still been scheming and hesitating, all gasped in unison upon hearing this. The way they looked at Qi Yun changed dramatically in an instant!
Venerable Dao Foundation!
That was something that only existed in ancient texts and secret records. Someone had actually achieved it?
"Too much nonsense! You’re asking for a beating!"
Qi Yun couldn’t be bothered with Yin Xuan Master’s petty attempt to stir up everyone’s hostility. He swung the large, dark-black banner in his hand decisively!
RUSTLE—
On the banner’s surface, the dark gold patterns of mountains, rivers, and state altars suddenly lit up.
A corner of an incomparably complex, pitch-black Array Pattern spread rapidly across the void, as if drawn with flung ink!
VMMM—
Wherever the Array Patterns passed, phantoms of simple, ancient, and thoroughly dark black coffins slowly emerged from the void and solidified.
These black coffins shared the same aura as the Chaotic Heaven Black Coffin itself. Although they were much smaller, their terrifying Daoist Intent of burying all things was identical.
The Black Coffin Annihilation Array!
"It’s that Ghost Coffin! Retreat!"
"Damn it! How can he summon this thing too?!"
The Masters who had personally experienced being entangled by the black coffin phantoms at the Zombie Alliance Headquarters, nearly getting dragged into a coffin to be buried and destroyed, were now like startled birds fleeing a bowstring.
The moment they saw the familiar black coffin phantoms appear again, they reacted as if they’d seen a ghost, frantically retreating in their Escape Lights, terrified of being locked onto by the coffins of annihilation if they were a step too slow!
Even Yin Xuan Master and his sole remaining companion felt their pupils shrink.
Faced with this bizarre Grand Array that had caused the fall of several Masters, they didn’t dare be the slightest bit careless. Ghost Qi surged around them as they braced for a fight.
In the fleeting moment when the Black Coffin Annihilation Array stunned the entire field, causing everyone to retreat and drawing all their attention—
"A perfect chance!"
A sharp glint flashed in Qian Xin Master’s eyes. His coordination with Qi Yun was impeccable; how could he miss such a fleeting opportunity?
His figure moved like a phantom, closing in on the Giant Bronze Cauldron. His large sleeve swept across the cauldron’s mouth like a flowing cloud!
SWOOSH!
With that one sweep, the remaining nine drops of Undying True Blood suspended within the cauldron were all swept away. They vanished into his sleeve in a flash of light.
At almost the exact same time, Qi Yun’s gaze swept over the Three-legged Giant Bronze Cauldron, now empty of True Blood and looking ancient and desolate. A flicker of hesitation crossed his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by resolve.
He reached out his left hand, fingers splayed, and covered the giant bronze cauldron from a distance.
"Up!"
With a low shout, a vast and majestic Daluo Magical Power surged forth, like an invisible giant hand, and ruthlessly seized the cauldron’s legs and body.
With a muffled RUMBLE, the Giant Bronze Cauldron—which had stood there for untold years and was faintly connected to the entire Magic Altar—was forcibly shaken.
The sound of cracking under immense strain came from where the cauldron’s body connected to the altar.
Amidst flying debris, the Giant Cauldron was ripped out by its roots!
The cauldron’s body shrank rapidly, turning into a Flowing Light that Qi Yun casually stuffed into the Magic Bracelet on his wrist.
The True Blood and the treasured cauldron—they’d taken everything, leaving not a single drop behind!
"Things are hot! Let’s scram!"
Qian Xin Master let out a great laugh, called out, and transformed into a hazy, dreamlike Flowing Light of red dust, enveloping Qi Yun and instantly fleeing into the distance.
By the time Yin Xuan Master and the others recovered from the intimidating presence of the Black Coffin Array...
...all that remained before them was the empty base of the bronze cauldron and the fading trail of the two fiends’ Escape Lights on the horizon.
"Wuji Holy Sect!"
"My Yellow Springs Netherworld will be your mortal enemy!!"
...