Daoist Dragon Profound’s anger surged. Without the interference of the frost smoke, his Divine Sense quickly swept through the tree canopy, but he was surprised to receive over a dozen identical feedbacks. It was as if more than a dozen Shu Han were leaping across the branches, and this sensation continued to multiply.
“Damn! So many Substitute Talismans! What a troublesome little bastard!”
He had never imagined that after immersing himself in the Foundation Establishment stage for many years and establishing himself as an expert in the early stage, he would feel utterly helpless against a mere Qi Condensation kid.
Fortunately, the boy had no intention of running. If he had been determined to flee, given his methods, Daoist Dragon Profound doubted he could have stopped him.
With this thought, Daoist Dragon Profound laughed.
“Brat! If you wanted to escape from this old man’s hands, you genuinely had a strong chance of succeeding. Unfortunately, young people always reach too high for the heavens. With a shred of skill, they lose all sense of proportion and still delusionally dream of killing this old man! Let me tell you, no one defeats me within this forbidden ground!”
Hearing these words, Shu Han couldn’t help a sudden chill.
“Does this old ghost still have a trump card?”
Daoist Dragon Profound now looked as though victory was securely in his grasp. Raising his sword, he shouted, “Do you know why this is the rear mountain forbidden ground?”
“Because this place is not only my alchemy chamber, but also a formation site!”
“Whoosh!”
Daoist Dragon Profound drove his sword straight into the scorched earth.
In an instant, the surrounding atmosphere shifted.
This sensation dragged Shu Han straight back five years-to that dark night haunted by specters.
The air, previously baked dry and hot by the Fire God Talismans, grew icy and grim. Countless wailing cries began to echo in his ears, as though he had plunged into a ghostly purgatory where tiny fiends shrieked within his skull.
Panic seized him. He tried to leap away, but hands suddenly burst from the tree canopy to clamp onto his ankles.
Wandering souls crawled out from every corner of the forest-some youths, but many more children under the age of ten.
They stretched out their hands, weeping without pause.
Shu Han’s heart hammered. He felt the Substitute Talismans he had scattered fail all at once. In the blink of an eye, the black hands of countless grieving souls had tightly bound him, their sorrowful faces pressing close to his as if eager to devour him whole.
Amidst the cluster of faces, Shu Han caught sight of a familiar figure.
“Ah!”
He shoved a handful of pills into his mouth as though they were worthless pebbles!
Roaring with rage, Shu Han unleashed his Spiritual Power to the absolute limit. The full might of the Qi Condensation Twelfth Heaven erupted, shattering the clutching spirits.
With reddened eyes and a trembling hand gripping the Golden Serpent Sword, he stood atop the canopy and bellowed, “I want your life!”
“Whoosh!”
A streak of red light flashed. The Black-Iron Heart-Protecting Mirror automatically activated, intercepting the Blood Soul Sword’s strike once again.
The top-grade magical artifact was now reduced to its final layer of defense.
Struck by a monstrous impact across the chest, Shu Han vomited a mouthful of blood and stumbled down from the canopy.
Before he even hit the ground, the wandering souls swarmed him anew, countless dark hands binding his limbs.
Daoist Dragon Profound strode toward him, the Blood Soul Sword resting lightly in his grasp. He raised Shu Han’s chin with the blade and mocked, “Little thing, do you have any other tricks? Use them all! The Guizhou donkey has exhausted its skills!”
Shu Han, head bowed, suddenly looked up and grinned.
His hand gripped the bundle slung across his back with absolute resolve. “Old ghost, you’ve fallen into my trap! Go to hell!”
Daoist Dragon Profound’s pupils constricted violently!
Only then did he realize with a jolt that throughout this fierce engagement, the boy had never once discarded the heavy bundle on his back!
“Whoosh!”
Four golden rays plummeted from the sky, instantly cleaving through the wraiths gripping Shu Han.
The Four-Pole Heavenly Sword Formation formed a barrier of astral qi, sealing him safely inside.
Second Elder arrived in a flash, bellowing, “Dragon Profound, old monster! Let’s talk this through-unhand my disciple!”
Both Shu Han and Daoist Dragon Profound froze.
Second Elder landed before Shu Han, opening his mouth to speak, but the sight of Daoist Dragon Profound’s charred, furious, and wretched appearance choked the words back in his throat. He turned his head in exasperation and glared at Shu Han. “You brat! How did you beat this fellow into such a wretched state? How is your master supposed to mediate this now?!”
“Mediate?”
Daoist Dragon Profound flew into a frenzy. “Old Bai! Get out of my way! Today I am refining this brat into a Deficiency-Mending Pill! If you dare block my path, don’t blame me for casting aside old ties-I’ll kill you right along with him!”
Second Elder clutched his forehead in utter misery. “I must be out of my mind to have taken on a disciple like you!”
With a flick of his wrist, the Four-Pole Heavenly Sword Formation settled around him. Second Elder sneered, “Fine! I’ve had enough of you anyway, old thief Dragon Profound. I shouldn’t have saved your hide back then! Today, let my Four-Pole Heavenly Sword Formation test your Blood Soul Sword!”
“You truly have grown tired of living!”
The dazzling, razor-sharp golden light of the sword formation scattered the surrounding ghostly mist.
Second Elder flew forward on his sword, engaging Daoist Dragon Profound in a fierce aerial clash of profound techniques.
Shu Han hurriedly swallowed several Qi-Fusing Pills to replenish his depleted Spiritual Power.
Though the Four-Pole Heavenly Sword Formation was marvelous, his master remained at the Qi Condensation Twelfth Heaven. In terms of realm, he fell far short of Daoist Dragon Profound and could not possibly prevail for long. Shu Han needed to restore his qi instantly and seize the precise moment to deliver the lethal strike hidden within his bundle.
Yet barely moments passed before Second Elder plummeted from the sky.
Daoist Dragon Profound laughed wildly aloft, roaring, “Today, both stubborn master and disciple shall die here! No one can obstruct my ascension to immortality! No one!”
Yet the only response was Shu Han’s mocking laughter.
“Die here? Old ghost Dragon Profound, stop dreaming!”
Daoist Dragon Profound sneered coldly, “Still running your mouth at death’s door? Your Spiritual Power is drained and your trump cards spent. What other means do you have left?”
Abruptly, Shu Han untied the bundle, gripping it tightly in both hands as he raised it high.
Daoist Dragon Profound’s expression faltered in shock.
“That bundle!”
Shu Han turned to the heavily injured Second Elder, shouting, “Master! This old ghost’s realm exceeds yours, but he completely forgot your lineage! Though it’s a waste, let your disciple use the forbidden treasure your Bai family refined over twenty years to finish him off! Let him witness a true legacy artifact!”
Second Elder’s eyes widened in sheer disbelief: ???
Hearing this, Daoist Dragon Profound felt a jolt of genuine alarm.
No wonder the boy had stubbornly clung to that cumbersome burden all this time-it held a secret treasure crafted by Old Bai over two decades!
Without hesitation, he unleashed a torrent of sword qi from the Blood Soul Sword, sweeping toward the dying Second Elder.
“Master!”
Horrified, Shu Han scrambled to his master’s side, throwing up an Iron Armor Protection Talisman that barely deflected the deadly barrage.
Seizing the exact moment of Shu Han’s exhaustion, Daoist Dragon Profound manipulated his Object-Control Technique, yanking the bundle straight out of Shu Han’s hands.
Clutching the package, Daoist Dragon Profound burst into a triumphant laugh.
“Old Bai! Twenty years of secret refinement! Let’s see what kind of wonder this is. Today, this old man shall graciously accept it for you!”
No answer came. Lowering his gaze, Daoist Dragon Profound saw that Shu Han was already hoisting Second Elder onto his shoulder and fleeing at a dead sprint. A sudden sense of wrongness struck him-the bundle felt entirely wrong in his hands. He tore it open, and his face drained of all color.
“So many… I’ve been tricked!”
Shu Han roared as he sprinted away:
“Explode!”
Twelve hundred Fire God Talismans ignited simultaneously within the canvas.
A blinding, searing white-hot flame erupted from the bundle.
In a single heartbeat, a scorching fireball half the size of Yandang Mountain swallowed the rear peaks.
The raging heat wave instantly reduced half the mountain’s forests to ash, while the other half became an inferno of raging fire.
Viewed from afar, Yandang Mountain had been transformed into an earthly purgatory.