"Everyone, attack! He’s heavily injured and can’t hold on for much longer!" An unknown voice cried out, and several figures shot out from their hiding places.
All kinds of Magic and Magical Artifacts, gleaming with multicolored light, rained down upon the seemingly ordinary cliff face.
BOOM!
RUMBLE!
A series of violent explosions rang out.
The crude Blinding Skill Wu Yushan had cast held for only a few monts before shattering like a bubble, revealing the pitch-black entrance to a cave.
Inside the cave, Wu Yushan’s face was grim, his eyes boiling with killing intent.
’To think I’d fall so low, besieged by a pack of Qi Refining Middle Stage rabble!’
"You’re courting death!"
He forced a surge of True Essence. Despite the sharp pain in his Purple Mansion and the feeling of his ridians being sliced apart, he swiftly wove several Spells, making a sweeping gesture toward the cave’s entrance.
Yin Sha Soul-breaking Finger!
SWISH—
A gray-black finger beam, so condensed it seed tangible, shot out silently, its speed astonishing.
A Loose Cultivator at the very front had just activated his Defensive Magical Artifact, its Spiritual Light barely flaring up.
The finger beam pierced through it as if it were paper, followed instantly by the man’s own forehead.
The greed on the Loose Cultivator’s face froze instantly. His gaze went slack, and his body slumped to the ground, his life force completely severed by the Yin Sha Qi.
A one-hit kill!
The prowess of a Qi Refining Great Perfection master was on full display.
Even a casual strike was far beyond what an ordinary Cultivator could withstand.
This ruthless and decisive strike sent a chill through the hearts of the besiegers, and their assault faltered.
Seizing the opportunity, Wu Yushan’s figure flickered, appearing like a phantom in the shadows of the cave mouth.
He couldn’t let himself be trapped in the cave; he would be a sitting duck.
He needed space. He needed to project an aura of deterrence.
He stood there, his fra seemingly as tall as ever, his body exuding the chilling, heart-pounding pressure of a Qi Refining Great Perfection master.
He deliberately suppressed the roiling qi and blood and the excruciating pain within him.
He was trying to create a facade—’I may be injured, but killing the likes of you is still as easy as flipping my hand.’
"If you don’t want to die, get lost!" his voice was hoarse, yet it carried an undeniable authority.
But the lure of profit was enough to make n reckless.
Furthermore, when he had attacked, he hadn’t been able to completely conceal the slight disorder in his aura. And although the finger beam was powerful, it had shown subtle signs of lacking follow-through. These details had not escaped the notice of the more sharp-eyed veterans in the crowd.
"He really is badly hurt! He’s just putting on a brave face! Don’t let him scare you!" a shrill voice cried out from the crowd, once again fanning the flas.
"Kill him! We’ll split his treasures equally!"
Even more lights from Magic and Magical Artifacts flared up. This ti, the attacks were more concentrated and far more cunning.
So controlled Flying Swords to aim for his vitals, so released poisonous mist to corrode the rock walls, and so used Earth Elent Techniques, trying to break through from underground.
Wu Yushan was furious, but he had no choice but to rouse his True Essence to deal with them once more.
With a flick of his sleeve, a small, black Bone Shield flew out. It grew as it t the wind, blocking the majority of the physical and energy-based attacks.
Magic Patterns flickered across the Bone Shield’s surface; it was clearly a high-grade item.
This was his other Protective Magical Artifact besides the Five Yin Pouch.
At the sa ti, his footwork shifted, his Body Skill still as strange and unpredictable as ever.
He always managed to dodge fatal sneak attacks by a hair’s breadth.
His occasional counterattacks—silent Yin Soul Curse Techniques—could easily claim a life or two.
The combat experience and endless bag of tricks he displayed were truly worthy of his status as a Qi Refining Great Perfection master.
Every seemingly casual dodge or counterattack was steeped in the wisdom of countless life-and-death battles.
But all of this ca at the cost of worsening his injuries.
"PTUI—"
After forcefully activating the Bone Shield to block three powerful blasts of Sword Qi, Wu Yushan could no longer hold back and violently spat out a mouthful of dark red, stagnant blood.
The blood landed on the ground with a SIZZLING sound, a faint black Demonic Qi swirling around it.
His face instantly grew paler, and his aura weakened noticeably.
"He’s done for! He’s coughing up blood!" The attackers, as if injected with a stimulant, beca even more frenzied.
Wu Yushan’s eyes were sinister, his heart filled with utter frustration.
’At my peak, I could have wiped out this rabble with a wave of my hand!’
’How could I have ended up in such a pathetic state!’
He still had stronger techniques, such as a Secret Technique that could devour the lifeblood of living beings over a large area, or a few imnsely powerful Yin Thunder Seeds...
But these either required a massive amount of Origin True Essence or would trigger violent fluctuations of Daoist Intent.
Either one would fully detonate the terrifying Demonic Qi that Situ Huaji had left inside his body.
The consequences would be unimaginable.
At this mont, he was like a gravely ill man holding the key to a treasure vault.
He had the ans but dared not use them to their full extent.
Just then, an Evil Cultivator specializing in Divine Soul Attacks silently brought out a Soul-Attracting Bell that emitted a decadent, enchanting sound.
The crisp ringing of the bell wasn’t loud, yet it was like a Demonic Sound that pierced the ears, penetrating straight into his Sea of Consciousness!
Wu Yushan’s Divine Soul was already damaged.
Struck by the Soul-Attracting Bell’s power, his head was instantly wracked with a sharp, stabbing pain.
His vision went black, and his body staggered.
And in that instant, as his Divine Soul was assaulted and a tiny gap appeared in his defenses, a sudden change occurred!
The tyrannical will belonging to Situ Huaji, which had been lying dormant like a dead ember within the cracks of his Purple Mansion, was "awakened" by this external Divine Soul Attack.
"HUMMM!"
A violent, deathly still, and utterly destructive will leaked uncontrollably from Wu Yushan’s body.
Wu Yushan let out a muffled groan as an unnatural black energy surged across his face.
He hastily forced his Cultivation Skill to operate, barely managing to suppress the restless tyrannical will once more.
But the price was another mouthful of blood and an even more weakened aura.
...
On a distant mountain peak, Qi Yun, who had been calmly observing the battle through his Thousand Crane Talisman, had a glint flash in his eyes.
’Just as I thought...’
He had clearly caught that fleeting, yet familiar and terrifying, fluctuation of Demonic Qi.
’The power Situ Huaji left behind is still inside his body. And... it seems to be especially sensitive to external Divine Soul provocations?’
Qi Yun stroked his chin, the smile on his lips growing ever deeper.
This was truly... an unexpected discovery.
...
Back on the battlefield, Wu Yushan’s situation was growing more and more dire.
He didn’t dare play all his trump cards, and his injuries were constantly worsening. Situ Huaji’s tyrannical will was a ticking ti bomb.
anwhile, the surrounding "hyenas" grew even more frantic as they saw more signs of his weakness.
His body trembled slightly as he coughed up another mouthful of dark, almost black, stagnant blood, which splattered in a glaring stain on the ground before him.
The cold, sinister aura around Wu Yushan flickered unsteadily, like a candle in the wind.
The glow on his black Bone Shield had also dimd significantly. A few fine cracks had even appeared on its surface.
Seeing this, the greed and madness in the eyes of the attacking Cultivators practically overflowed.
"He’s about to collapse!"
"Kill him! Seize his Creation!"
"The treasures of a Qi Refining Great Perfection master are right in front of us!"
Fear was dispelled by the promise of even greater rewards. The dozen or so remaining Cultivators, like sharks that had slled blood, charged forward, utterly fearless of death.
Flying Swords, Poison Banners, Yin Thunder, Enchanting Demonic Sound... all sorts of techniques interwove into a great net, sealing off all of Wu Yushan’s escape routes.
They no longer held back their Magical Power, no longer cared about casualties.
Their only goal was to butcher and devour this heavily wounded "elephant" as quickly as possible.
Enough ants can kill an elephant.
What’s more, among this swarm of "ants" were several skilled cultivators at the Seventh or Eighth Layer of Qi Refining.
Wu Yushan slapped away a gout of fla aid at his face, snuffed out a bone-eating Yin Soul with a flick of his finger, and scrambled to dodge a longsword thrusting up from the ground.
His movents were no longer as fluid and smooth as they had been at the start.
Every ti he circulated his True Essence, an agonizing, tearing pain ca from the great void in his Purple Mansion.
Furthermore, the remnant of Situ Huaji’s tyrannical will was stirring restlessly, threatening to erupt and consu him at any mont.
A dead end!
A true dead end!
’To think that I, Wu Yushan, have road the Northwest for over a hundred years. I held a position of authority in the Yellow Springs Netherworld. How could I have ever imagined I would fall in such a desolate place, killed by a mob of naless grunts?’
Unreconciled! Venomous! And a sliver of... overwhelming hatred for Situ Huaji, for the mastermind who had plotted against him.
"You forced my hand..." He lowered his head, his hoarse voice carrying a heart-stopping calm.
In the instant before countless attacks landed, Wu Yushan abruptly raised his head.
His pupils, which had been sowhat unfocused due to his weakness, now burned with a nearly crazed ruthlessness.
He no longer suppressed his injuries. Instead, he madly activated every last shred of his origin power.
With a speed that defied the naked eye, his hands ford an ancient, bizarre, and ominous Dharma Seal before his chest!
At the sa ti, a string of obscure and difficult syllables for a Spell tumbled rapidly from his lips.
The Spell was not loud, yet it seed to echo directly in the depths of everyone’s soul, carrying a tragic, sacrificial madness!
BOOM—!!!
An indescribable, terrifying aura far beyond the Qi Refining realm suddenly erupted from Wu Yushan’s withered body!
In that mont, his stooped fra seed to instantly beco as tall as the heavens.
The energy swirling around him was no longer the cold Evil Qi, but a dim, gray radiance that carried an ancient, majestic, and world-despising air.
His aura soared, instantly shattering his forr limits and reaching a towering height that made the very souls of every Cultivator present tremble.
Wu Yushan slowly raised his eyes. His pupils had turned a pure, emotionless gray.
Just a single glance swept over them—
THUD!
THUD!
As if crushed by an invisible Divine Mountain, every charging Cultivator, regardless of their Cultivation level, froze in place.
The crazed expressions on their faces solidified, then morphed into absolute terror and disbelief, as if they were witnessing sothing beyond all comprehension.
A vast, boundless, and irresistible power pressed down, pinning them to the spot, unable to move so much as a finger.
It was an absolute difference in the level of their very existence.
Looking impassively at these suppressed ants, Wu Yushan saw them as nothing more than dust.
He let out a light, almost inaudible snort.
"Hmph."
There was no earth-shattering explosion, no brilliant flash of Magic. But a formless, intangible power, containing the purest Daoist Intent, spread out from him like silent ripples, instantly sweeping over the ten-mile radius!
This power ignored physical defenses, ignored Protective Magical Artifacts. It acted directly upon the most fundantal thing—the Divine Soul!
In an instant, the wind stopped. All sound died.
The light in the eyes of the Cultivators, who just a mont ago had been savage and boiling with killing intent, dimd and extinguished in an instant, like candles snuffed out by the wind.
Their bodies remained frozen in their charging or spell-casting postures, but they were now utterly devoid of life, like figures in a painting where ti had stopped.
Divine Souls annihilated! Life force severed!
Within a ten-mile radius, aside from Wu Yushan himself, not a single living thing remained.
Silence, a dead silence, enveloped the battlefield that had been so chaotic just monts before.
Having done all this, the imnse aura around Wu Yushan receded as quickly as a tide.
The unnatural ashen-gray color on his face spread rapidly.
He seed to have aged a hundred years in an instant, his aura as faint as a dying lamp about to go out.
He was in an even worse state than when he was heavily injured before.
"Pleggh..." Unable to suppress it, he spat out a mouthful of black blood. Wu Yushan’s body shook violently, and he nearly collapsed to the ground.
...
「Dozens of miles away.」
The Thousand Crane Talismans arranged in the mountain pass were all destroyed by Wu Yushan’s soft snort, but the final monts of footage were still transmitted back.
Qi Yun’s expression was grave. Staring at the all-too-familiar aura in his mind, he said hesitantly:
"Is that... the power of a Foundation Establishnt Master?"
...
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