Ahhh I'm going to kill you

He let out a loud roar, and a cloud of blood mist instantly erupted from his body, preparing to sweep Mo Bufan away and escape.

But the array had already been formed; how could they leave so easily?

Rumble—!!!

There were no flames, no waves of heat.

There were only countless bolts of black lightning, like tentacles reaching out from the abyss of hell, surging madly from underground.

That was no ordinary lightning.

It was Yin Lightning, born from extreme Yin water condensed to its absolute limit.

It was silent, yet utterly malicious.

Ahhh—!!

Three mid-Foundation Establishment disciples standing at the edge of the array did not even have a chance to react.

The black lightning tentacles instantly wrapped around their ankles.

Their protective spiritual shields were like paper before the Yin Lightning, instantly corroded and pierced.

Immediately after, their flesh and blood began to liquefy and turn black at a visible rate, eventually turning into a puddle of foul-smelling black water. Only a set of eerie white bones remained standing in place before collapsing with a clatter.

What the hell is this thing!!

The remaining disciples were terrified out of their wits and frantically summoned their magical treasures to defend themselves.

But once those artifacts were tainted by the Yin Lightning, they immediately lost all their spirituality and turned into scrap iron.

Mo Bufan, who was at the center of the array, was also caught in the crossfire.

A bolt of Yin Lightning darted toward his face like a venomous snake.

Get lost!!

Mo Bufan roared furiously. His newly regenerated dark red demonic arm swung out violently, bringing with it a storm of blood and gore, forcefully swatting the Yin Lightning away.

However, his palm was also corroded, sizzling and emitting black smoke.

Who is it?! Who is plotting against us!!

Mo Bufan's enraged roar echoed through the great hall.

He snapped his head around, looking in the direction where the mechanism was triggered.

However, there was already no one there.

In their place were three giants emitting an iron-cyan luster, wielding massive blades. Reeking of corpse stench and seething with anger, they charged out from the corridor where Gu Yang had disappeared.

These three peak Rank Two Iron Corpses seemed to have been led on a wild goose chase by Gu Yang all the way here, filling their bellies with rage.

The moment they rushed into the hall, they instantly lost the aura of Gu Yang, who had used a breath-concealing technique.

In their simple brains, they couldn't care less about mechanisms or traps.

They only saw the group of living, vibrant cultivators brimming with vitality right in front of them.

Roar—!!

The three Iron Corpses were like three out-of-control heavy chariots. Riding the momentum of their charge, they smashed directly into the chaotic crowd.

Pfft!

A Blood River Sect disciple who had just dodged the Yin Lightning didn't even have time to breathe a sigh of relief before he was sliced in half at the waist by a massive horse-chopping blade.

Blood sprayed wildly, and his intestines spilled all over the floor.

Iron Corpses?! Peak Rank Two Iron Corpses?!

Daoist Xueku had just used his natal magical treasure to block a wave of Yin Lightning. Turning his head to see this scene, he was so angry he almost spat blood.

How was this an accident?

This was clearly a meticulously planned scheme to kill with a borrowed knife!

Kill them! Slaughter these three beasts first!

Daoist Xueku was furious, his hair standing on end as the oppressive aura of the Core Formation stage erupted explosively.

The scene instantly devolved into utter chaos.

Black Yin Lightning wreaked havoc, Iron Corpses roared, cultivators screamed miserably, and magical treasures thundered...

The entire branch hall turned into a meat grinder.

And at the edge of the chaos.

A figure wearing a gray robe and a bamboo hat was hugging the base of the wall, moving swiftly like a ghost.

Gu Yang did not turn back to admire his masterpiece.

His goal was clear—to snatch the prize amidst the chaos.

Just as Gu Yang was about to disappear into the southeastern corridor.

At the center of the battlefield.

Mo Bufan, who had just punched back an Iron Corpse, suddenly felt something in his heart.

That familiar feeling of being played and schemed against made all the hairs on his body stand on end.

He snapped his head around, his gaze piercing through the layers of blood mist and lightning to lock onto that back figure about to vanish into the shadows.

A gray robe.

A bamboo hat.

And that back profile...

Although the other party had concealed their aura, that deep-seated sense of disgust etched into his very bones could absolutely not be wrong.

In the split second before Gu Yang stepped into the corridor, he seemed to sense Mo Bufan's gaze.

He turned his head slightly.

The bamboo hat tilted up just a bit.

Beneath the shadow, half of a side profile was revealed.

It was a face covered in hideous scars.

That face held no expression, save for an extremely subtle twitch at the corner of the mouth.

Even separated by hundreds of meters, Mo Bufan understood that look.

It was the look of looking at a fool.

It was the look of looking at easy prey.

Boom—!

The string of reason in Mo Bufan's mind completely snapped at this moment.

The humiliating memories of having his lotus snatched in the Biluo Mystic Realm, being swatted away by a peacock, and being hunted across the entire map surged into his mind like a volcanic eruption.

Scarface!!

An exceptionally mournful and shrill roar squeezed out of Mo Bufan's throat, carrying a heavy stench of blood and vibrating the entire hall until it hummed.

It's you!! It really is you!!

I will kill you!! I will tear your corpse into ten thousand pieces!!

Seeing his sworn enemy, Mo Bufan's eyes turned crimson red, and the corners of his eyes even cracked and bled.

Ignoring the Yin Lightning still ravaging beside him, and disregarding the Iron Corpse swinging its blade at him, he transformed into a bloody mad dog, ready to chase after Gu Yang.

Young Master! Do not be impulsive!

The main objective is more important! The Empress is more important!

Ahhh—!!!

Mo Bufan let out an unwilling roar, forced to watch helplessly as that gray figure completely vanished into the darkness of the corridor.

...

...

Having shaken off the clamor behind him.

Deathly silence returned within the corridor.

Since Mo Bufan has been delayed, then next... it's time to intercept the Concentric Gu.

In the gloomy corridor southeast of the side hall.

This place was far from the center of the main hall, which was filled with smoke and lightning fire. The air was no longer permeated with the stench of burning, but rather a musty, damp smell accumulated over years, much like the moss breeding beneath a coffin lid.

Tap, tap, tap.

The footsteps were hurried and chaotic.

Li Qingzhe walked very fast.

His pale face, which hadn't seen the light of day all year round, was now flushing with a sickly redness. In his deeply sunken eyes danced ghost fires named greed.

Behind him, an extremely thin, translucent silk thread connected to his fingertips. The other end of the thread was tied to the Southern Border Holy Maiden, Lan Caidie.

Faster... even faster...

Li Qingzhe muttered nervously under his breath as he walked.

He violently yanked the silk thread in his hand.

Ugh...

An unconscious, muffled groan escaped from Lan Caidie's throat.

Due to the force of the pull, her long, straight legs involuntarily sped up their pace, stumbling to keep up with Li Qingzhe's stride. The silver fringed hem of her skirt dragged along the rubble-filled ground, making a rustling friction sound.

Her originally lively fox-like eyes were now hollow and lifeless, like a delicate porcelain doll, allowing the pulling thread to dig into her tender flesh.

It's just ahead... the intelligence shows, it's right ahead...

Li Qingzhe had no time to show any tender affection for a woman.

In fact, watching Lan Caidie's somewhat miserable stumbling posture as she struggled to keep up, a twisted sense of pleasure arose in his heart.

Normally, she was the lofty Holy Maiden, the goddess in the hearts of countless Gu Masters in the Southern Border.

But now, she was just a dog held on a leash by him, Li Qingzhe.

We're here!