Splash!

 Blood splattered through the air! Xu Yangyi’s pupils trembled for a moment, and then they then began to gently slacken.

“Urgh…” He only had time to gasp for air. He could no longer do anything else.

“MASTER?!” At this moment, underground, Li Zongyuan bolted up on his feet. His eyes stared ahead vacantly.

How could this happen?!

His master’s spiritual sense… was dissipating!

Without resistance, Xu Yangyi had been killed in one decisive blow!

“How… how could this…”

“SPUD!!!” In the outside world, Mao Ba’er’s eyes reddened, and the husky raced over frantically. However, Xu Yangyi could no longer hear.

The view in front of his was already slowly turning dark. His eyelids were so heavy… so heavy… 

All his pain up and vanished away. His entire body seemed to be treading on cotton. All that was left of the horizon in his eyes was a sliver… 

“Woof! Woof woof! Awooo!!!” Mao Ba’er suddenly began to yell. Even if he could feel that Xu Yangyi’s life was slipping away—terrible anxiety weighing on his heart—he still felt pangs of helplessness.

What to do?

Was there something that could be done?

What could he do?

There was nothing he could do.

A Dao Master was on his back. Although her present divine ability was incredibly strange, she was an honest-to-god Core Formation cultivator!

Mao Ba’er seemed to be able to see Xu Yangyi’s gaze glance down at him. The demon slayer’s lips consumed the last of his strength to speak.

There was no sound, but Mao Ba’er understood. 

Become strong.

One’s power is their foundation.

“Noisy,” Hiddenscent released her mouth over Xu Yangyi’s throat. Her pointed teeth were colored with blood. She wiped her mouth and giggled, softly patting down on Mao Ba’er’s back.

Boom!

 All that was heard was the sound of crunching bones from Mao Ba’er’s almost-fifty-meter-long demon form. Without the slightest care, the husky toppled over.

He wore an unfathomable expression on his face. His legs couldn’t help but soften; he simply couldn’t control them. His enormous frame rumbled as it smashed into the ground.

Time seemed to slow in this instant. His pupils became larger upon looking at the lonesome, taciturn, and occasionally arrogant figure on his back. Hiddenscent tossed him up, and a bloody arc sprinkled through the air. Afterwards, her neck suddenly extended, like a snake on the hunt, and stuffed Xu Yangyi into her mouth.

Crunch…

 The sound of breaking bones filled the air.

“Spud…” Dogs couldn’t cry, yet tears now welled up in Mao Ba’er’s eyes. “I-I can’t do a thing… I let you down… woof, woof, whimper…”

Ten more meters… 

Just ten more meters and the Transference Formation would’ve been in sight!

Why did things have to be this way?!

But all of a sudden, another massive figure appeared in the darkness!

Eyes completely flushed red, a huge one-horned toad followed in the wake of a croak. It chomped down towards Hiddenscent’s neck that had stretched out by over a dozen meters, as if it had gone insane!

“Dreg.” Hiddenscent’s gaze chilled, and the look in her eyes dimmed. In the blink of an eye, Li Zongyuan was struck like an artillery shell. With a miserable ribbit, the toad-demon flipped over several times in the air! He flew back, unknown to life or death.

“BARK!!!” Mao Ba’er exerted the complete sum of his power and used the last of his strength to bite Hiddenscent!

Mao Ba’er loved money, but there was also affection between him and Xu Yangyi. He had spent so many years with Xu Yangyi. As he looked on as the former crybaby boy to this now, his heart was driven into a frenzy of killing intent as well!

And yet in the face of absolute power, killing intent was like paper.

“Courting death?” Hiddenscent brushed her gaze below. “In that case… I shall aid you both in your endeavors.”

They couldn’t know that under Danxia Temple, Xiaoqing and Fahai had now completely risen to full height.

“It has activated…” Fahai’s voice was terribly solemn, and he stared straight above. “At the intersection of life and death… a Godseal Spark is ultimately activated in full… I do not know which demon was sealed, but to actually force this junior to reveal a demon form…”

Xiaoqing said nothing, yet the serenity of her gaze carried a trace of caution. Only they could feel a domain of indescribable, towering demonic qi, coalescing in Nanzhou at an extreme speed! However… in this demonic qi there was still another demonic qi hiding!

In terms of power, both sides were almost at the same level of strength! But while they intertwined and twisted together, one qi rushed out from Xu Yangyi’s body and the other hid inside his body in an even deeper place!

“This demonic qi…” She suddenly lifted her head to look at the cavern’s ceiling. “This demonic qi… is no less than a Kun Peng’s. This boy… what kind of demon form does he ultimately possess? Such a demon… not even I know what it is!”

Her spiritual sense felt the other demonic qi. This qi was being wrapped inside by the majestic demonic qi freed from Xu Yangyi’s body. If not for her realm, she wouldn’t be able to sense it.

“Such a familiar demonic qi… It seems to be an old acquaintance. It is hidden so deeply… Before a Godseal Spark has broken out, it is impossible for anyone to sense it. What does this person want to accomplish?”

Crack… 

Suddenly, a stone fell to the ground. Xiaoqing’s and Fahai’s gazes quickly grew cold, and they looked around in surprise.

Crack… Crack crack…

 In Danxia Temple’s depths… the Five Phases Godseal Formation actually started to slightly tremble!

“This…” Fahai gasped sharply. “The Five Phases Godseal Formation… is resonating?”

“This formation… might also be sealing a supreme greater demon apart from myself!” This time, Xiaoqing’s expression was finally overtaken seriousness, and she quickly looked up above. “In thousands of years… I have never once seen it shake… This… might be a Greater Demon recognized by Jiang Ziya! When all is done, what is it? To actually make the Five Phases Godseal Formation shake!”

Crash!

 Before her voice even fell, infinite violet talismans glimmered in harmony! In less than three seconds, a massive talisman in the shape of grass emerged throughout the sky!

“This…” Xiaoqing glanced carefully and immediately stood up, her voice lost. “Wolfbane?!”

“Wolfbane?” Fahai said in confusion, never having once heard this name before.

Xiaoqing didn’t answer, but instead looked at the plant. After ages, she regained her calmness. “Wolfbane… This is Wolfbane!”

“Junior…” She looked to Fahai. “You may have never heard of Wolfbane, but you have surely heard of its tale passed down throughout the countless ages.”

“In the olden days, one of the Three Sovereigns, Shennong, sampled a hundred grasses. He died to the last one…”

[1]

“Heartbreak Grass?!” Fahai finally cried out in surprise. “You’re saying that junior’s body in itself is Heartbreak Grass?! Wolfbane?!”

“Exactly!” Xiaoqing pursed her lips and said, “To be able of poisoning one of the Three Sovereigns to death… no wonder… no wonder I could not see through it… No wonder Jiang Ziya’s Five Phases Godseal Formation would resonate…”

With these words said and done, the light of the duo’s gazes brightened. They continued on in silence.

Such a terrible demon body… Who had planted a Godseal Spark inside Xu Yangyi’s body?

Someone… was pushing him to demonize, but moreover forcing the situation of a Godseal Spark versus the Wolfbane!

And on top of that, this demonic qi being wrapped up by the Wolfbane’s demonic qi still hadn’t been surprisingly erased! Even if it was inferior to the Wolfbane, it was perhaps extremely terrible as well! 

Several seconds later, Xiaoqing began to gently laugh. “The Godseal Spark absolutely wouldn’t imagine that it’s being forced out by such a demon body. Hehehe… now, it is who will devour who. The result is hard to anticipate.”

Back on the surface, Hiddenscent’s killing stroke still hadn’t slammed down.

And that was because a qi, terrible like the reaper, was madly approaching her from behind!

At Ancientpine’s back, he brought forth a sky brimming with shadows, already coming for the kill! Yet the first thing he saw was Xu Yangyi being held in the air by Hiddenscent’s mouth, her neck extended out.

“Disciple…” Ancientpine’s hand paused, and he soon followed with a long sigh. “Do not blame Master…”

In the next second, a ray of sword-light, almost capable of cleaving apart the horizon, flared with shining qi!

He was bound by honor not to look back, absent of the slightest hesitation! He didn’t even check whether Xu Yangyi was still alive!

A snow-white thread seemed to part heaven and earth. It lingered in the world and remained unscattered for a few seconds. It almost solidified. 

Regardless of what angle, one could see the snow-white thread. It seemed to have been established since Nanzhou’s beginning, as if it had existed here.

Hiddenscent’s pupils suddenly tightened. Others couldn’t see, but she saw… an extremely thin, hair-raising sword qi cutting down at her with unimaginable speed!

No… it was not a coming slash, but rather bordering the movement of space! In the last second it was far away at the sky’s edge, yet in the next it had already approached her neck!

“HIIISSS!” In great fright, her cry of alarm shook the vicinity. Her neck pulled back by a hair’s breadth, unexpectedly evading Ancientpine’s sure-kill move! Yet as she let go of Xu Yangyi, who was in her mouth, and retracted her neck… his corpse fell right in the face of Ancientpine’s resplendent sword light!

Ancientpine’s gaze turned frosty, and his grip tightened and then slackened. Nonetheless, he didn’t swerve from his path.

“Disciple…” his voice was somewhat raspy, and he bitterly shut his eyes. “Master has failed you…”

At this moment, however, his closed eyes snapped open and looked at Xu Yangyi incredulously.

“This!”

On this blood-colored night, a halo of green light emerged without the slightest omen.

Yes… it had blossomed out from Xu Yangyi’s body?

How was this possible?

He was already dead!

Indeed… Xu Yangyi should’ve died, but his corpse was now floating in midair, not yet fallen to the ground.

Crash!

 Ancientpine’s thread of sword light welcomed the green radiance, but unexpectedly shattered with a boom!

“Gasp…” One step behind, Titanspirit caught sight of everything and nearly recoiled without a moment’s pause! He was not alone, however. Without a second word, Ancientpine promptly flew back by several hundred meters!

Akin to a tide, rays of soft green light, crept out from Xu Yangyi’s body little by little, rising and falling. Spreading out ring after ring, the light’s softness was just like a woman’s muslin veil. And yet, no one had expected that Ancientpine’s full-powered slash would actually meet such an end upon meeting this harmless-looking green tide.

In the green tide, a hair-raising aura soared into the sky! It took Xu Yangyi’s motionless body and blew his clothes into a flying mess!

“This is…” Ancientpine sensed the aura for a long period of time. In a twinkling, he gritted his teeth and said, “Demonic qi…”

“What strong demonic qi.” Titanspirit took a deep breath and searched all around with great focus. He suddenly grabbed onto Ancientpine and phased several hundred meters away.

Ancientpine was still silent. Across from him, Hiddenscent had already drew a cold breath. Without fanfare, she tucked tail and ran!

In the place where Xu Yangyi was hovering in the air, the ground was already starting to blacken inch after inch… becoming darker thread after thread, turning blacker and blacker! Like a dot of ink spilling into water, the ink stain gradually started to infect all of Nanzhou with Xu Yangyi as the epicenter!

“Squeak squeak squeak!” Unexpectedly, countless rats scurried out from underground. Their little heads listened all around with great vigilance, as if they were instinctively afraid of something. Nervous of something. In a flash, however, they all perished as they stepped foot on the black ground!

Titanspirit gasped sharply and looked at the floating Xu Yangyi in disbelief. “What an extreme poison… He… is a demon?”

“No…” Ancientpine’s face was heavy like water. “This demonic qi… is a little abnormal…”

“How so?”

“I cannot say…” Ancientpine’s brows furrowed deeper and deeper. “I keep on sensing a kind of strange feeling. Just like… it is not simply here alone…”

In a place thousands and thousands of kilometers of way, a man suddenly opened his eyes in an old, dilapidated Buddhist temple.

“At last…”

“At last awakened…”

“The bloodline of my Xu Clan… hehehe… you are the only branch remaining… It was not in vain that this old man slaved for decades of effort upon you but for one day…” 

“What is this…” Far away, the Crimson Rakshasa and the Five Honored Stars dumbly observed everything in front of them. They saw with their own eyes how Xu Yangyi died. It could even be said that he could be no deader. So what was this situation now? 

“This green light… doesn’t have a feeling of danger to it…” A Foundation Establishment cultivator focused in on everything before him. The green light had almost spread over to them. He stood up, used his hand to softly grab at the wind, and sniffed at it under his nose.

“It’s nothing…” Yet before his voice even fell, his face turned completely purplish-black! His eyes violently needled, and his hands clutched at his throat. Even his tongue stuck out!

“Senior!”

“Senior, what happened?!”

“Hurry! Hurry and report this to the Ancestor!”

1. Shennong is the Chinese farmer god. Lots of good information on wikipedia.

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