"Xuan Sha!"
"No, Xuan Sha!"
Before Elder Xuan Sha's corpse could be fully devoured by the phantom souls, the atmosphere within the domain had already grown heavy to the extreme.
Qingyunzi stared at the scattered pile of flesh and blood, his hair and beard bristling with rage. His eyes were filled with fury and disbelief—a companion with whom he had worked for a thousand years had been slain in a single breath. Not even a remnant of his divine soul remained. To him, this was an unprecedented humiliation and shock!
Elder Ling Qing trembled uncontrollably, his hands clenched tight beneath his green robes. For the first time, a bone-deep fear surfaced in his eyes as he looked at Ye Chuan.
This child... his cultivation realm and strength were undoubtedly far beyond theirs!
"Evil cultivator! How dare you kill a Supreme Elder of my Qingyun Sect!" Qingyunzi roared furiously, blasting Bai Qianshuang back with a shockwave. His brocade robes snapped loudly in the surging spiritual energy. He raised his hand, and the dragon head atop his cane let out a mournful cry as golden spiritual light surged violently.
"The Taichu Holy Land is a peak power on the Tianxuan Continent, and my Qingyun Sect has deep ties with them. If you dare touch my Qingyun Sect today, you make an enemy of the Holy Land itself!"
Realizing the extent of Ye Chuan's power, he attempted to use the name of the Taichu Holy Land to intimidate him. Yet, even as the words left his mouth, he felt a lack of conviction—
Even Xuan Sha, a cultivator at the Mahayana Realm, had been easily slaughtered. Could the mere name of a Holy Land truly frighten this god of slaughter standing before him?
Hearing this, Ye Chuan's lips curled into a mocking smile.
"Enemies with the Holy Land? When your Qingyun Sect slaughtered my entire Yuxu Sect, why didn't you mention anything about having lost all conscience?"
He took a step forward, his small figure appearing increasingly eerie amidst the domain's black mist.
"You call us a Demon Sect? Then today, I shall let you witness the true methods of a 'Demon Sect'!"
"Cognitive Contamination."
Ye Chuan raised his hand, and a wisp of formless chaotic power flew out silently, instantly drilling into Qingyunzi's sea of consciousness.
In the next second, Qingyunzi's eyes widened abruptly, the rage on his face instantly replaced by agony.
He felt as though his sea of consciousness was being pierced by countless steel needles. Terrifying hallucinations flooded his vision—enemies he had slaughtered transformed into vengeful ghosts, pouncing towards him;
Elder Xuan Sha's remnant soul roared in his ears, demanding to know why he hadn't saved him;
Even the dragon head cane in his hand seemed to turn into a venomous snake, striking to bite his wrist!
"Argh!" Qingyunzi let out a blood-curdling scream. He clutched his head with both hands and retreated madly, the spiritual energy around him becoming uncontrollably chaotic.
Even more terrifying was that his skin began to ulcerate at a visible rate. Black patterns spread from the rotting wounds, and as blood seeped out, it was instantly devoured by the domain's black mist, leaving not a trace of vitality behind.
He tried to circulate his spiritual energy to resist, only to find his sea of consciousness in complete disarray. His spiritual energy was like a wild horse off its reins, rampaging through his meridians and tearing them apart inch by inch.
What was this?!
Poison?!
"Hallucinations?! Poison... What a violent and eerie technique!" Qingyunzi finally understood why Xuan Sha had fallen so quickly!
He hurriedly took out a medicinal pill and stuffed it into his mouth.
Although he barely managed to stabilize his condition, that strange toxin continued to erode his body relentlessly!
It felt as if there was no end to it!
Bai Qianshuang seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The Emperor Seal on her forehead shone brilliantly as the inheritance power of the Luo Xuan Empress erupted in full force.
Gripping her sword with both hands, a massive ice lotus coalesced at the blade's tip. The petals were crusted with fine ice crystals, emitting a chilling frost capable of freezing the very soul.
"Qingyunzi! The blood debt of Yuxu must be paid today!" she shouted clearly. Her longsword swung out violently, unleashing a thousand-zhang sweep of ice-blue sword energy wrapped around the ice lotus, hurtling towards Qingyunzi!
Wherever the sword energy passed, the black mist within the domain was frozen into ice, the air crackling with the sound of freezing.
"You seek death!" Qingyunzi roared. However, given his weakened state, he subconsciously looked towards Elder Ling Qing.
Elder Ling Qing's expression changed drastically. If Qingyunzi died too, he would stand no chance against Ye Chuan and Bai Qianshuang!
He abruptly bit the tip of his tongue, spat out a mouthful of essence blood, and rapidly formed hand seals. "Ten Thousand Woods Return to Origin!"
Before his voice had even faded, the ground of the domain trembled violently, and countless thick tree roots burst forth from the earth!
Covered in profound patterns and glowing with a dark green spiritual light, the roots instantly wove together to form a vine armor shield thousands of zhang thick, blocking the path in front of Qingyunzi.
The moment the thousand-zhang sword energy collided with the vine armor shield, a deafening boom erupted!
The ice-blue sword energy madly sliced into the vine armor, the dark green spiritual light and icy blue frost dissolving one another. Countless ice crystals and wood chips flew through the air, and the entire domain shook violently from the impact!
"Qingyun Sect, pay with your lives!" Abandoning her usual composure, Bai Qianshuang practically screamed the words. The Emperor Seal on her forehead seemed to emit tangible light, imbuing her spiritual energy with a terrifying aura!
"Crack!" A fine fracture appeared on the vine armor shield. Elder Ling Qing's face went pale, and he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood—
His defense had been pushed to its limit by a single strike from Bai Qianshuang!
Meanwhile, Qingyunzi, tortured by the Cognitive Contamination, had completely lost the ability to resist. He collapsed to the ground, watching helplessly as the ice lotus sword energy broke through the vine armor and slashed towards him!
But at that very moment, the entire mountain range of the Qingyun Sect began to hum, as if something had been activated!
Bai Qianshuang's sword energy was obstructed by an invisible force, brought to a forceful halt!
The sound of tolling bells rang out, one after another!
The chiming resonated through the clouds, piercing through Ye Chuan's pitch-black domain, causing the entire Qingyun Mountain Range to tremble violently.
Immediately after, a brilliant golden light erupted from all around the Qingyun Sect. The spiritual light soared into the sky, weaving together into a massive barrier of light above the domain. Countless ancient runes surfaced on the barrier—it was the Qingyun Sect's Grand Guardian Formation,
The Cangwu Qingyun Array!
"It's the Grand Guardian Formation!" Elder Ling Qing's eyes erupted with ecstatic joy. This formation required three Mahayana ancestors to activate simultaneously. With Xuan Sha dead, he had thought it impossible to start, but he hadn't expected Qingyunzi to trigger the formation eye with his final traces of Dao Rhyme right before death!
The barrier of light draped down billions of golden rays, like a celestial river pouring in reverse, instantly enveloping Qingyunzi.
Bai Qianshuang's thousand-zhang ice lotus sword energy slashed against the golden barrier, producing a deafening boom. The ice-blue sword energy and golden spiritual light clashed madly, sending countless ice crystals and shards of light flying. The entire domain was turned upside down by the impact of these two terrifying forces.
"What?"
"Crack!" A fissure appeared on the golden light barrier, but it was repaired in the blink of an eye by the spiritual light surging from the Qingyun Sect's formation.
Bai Qianshuang's sword energy had been forcibly blocked by the array!
"..." Bai Qianshuang's face turned deathly pale. She had already unleashed her full power, yet she never imagined that the Grand Guardian Formation would be this formidable!
Just as Bai Qianshuang prepared to draw upon the Luo Xuan Empress's power once more, a hand held her back.
Bai Qianshuang turned around, only to find Ye Chuan smiling at her.
"Ye Chuan..."
"I'm still here," Ye Chuan said with a faint smile.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
uld barely embark on the path to immortality. Just as he was on the verge of death, his golden finger awakened. No matter whether it was poison, drained blood and vital energy, diminished lifespan, or any other physical debuff caused by paying a price—once midnight passed, everything would be refreshed. From then on, whenever someone asked what kind of person Chu Ran was, the answer was simple: Forbidden arts that other cultivators dared not learn? Chu Ran would learn them. Prices that even demonic cultivators dared not pay? Chu Ran would pay them. Lifespan that even righteous cultivators dared not burn? Chu Ran would burn it. All the blood essence in his body? Take it. Want both his hands and feet? He would cut them off and send them to you. You say he’s finished? He wasn’t built to sit idle. You think he’s gone mad? No—he was simply waiting for midnight. From that day onward, Chu Ran would respect neither Heaven nor Earth, bow to neither gods nor ghosts. He had only one wish: For midnight to arrive a little sooner.
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
ts me of treason?" "Correct. The host must return to the capital and gradually build up influence." "Wait—I have half a million soldiers, and you want me to go back to the capital to 'build influence'?" "Host, you are currently the Northern Garrison General, loyal to the Great Xia Dynasty." "Of course I am loyal to Great Xia! Absolutely loyal!" "But you keep referring to yourself as 'We'..." "Never mind the details! Summon all the regional commanders and military officers! We suspect treacherous officials are manipulating the court! They shall march with Us to the capital and purge the corrupt!" "......"
