The leader was a man in green with a long, narrow face and a high-rimmed crown on his head.
His skin was deathly pale, his eyes were sunken, and he carried a black paper lantern. His presence was cold and unsettling, as if he’d crawled straight out of hell.
A group of blank-eyed living corpses, wooden-faced men and women, followed him. All of them emanated dense black baleful energy.
Daoist Corpse Controller, Zhong Yao!
He was one of the Deathbringer’s Gate’s nine elders, and he’d mastered the art of corpse puppetry. He was a peak fourth-level Grandmaster.
“Old man, don’t tell me you’re the only one here?” Mu Xi’s eyes flashed like lightning as he spoke loud and clear.
“I alone am I enough to deal with the likes of you.” Zhong Yao smiled faintly, his voice high-pitched and grating. “Of course, if you leave this instant, I naturally won’t kill you.”
Mu Xi smiled. “I’d actually like to see why a half-human, half-ghost bastard like you dares to be so boastful! How capable can you even be?”
His voice boomed like thunder, reverberating throughout heaven and earth.
His clothes were white as snow, and he held a golden spear. As he called upon his cultivation, a mighty force spread throughout the surrounding area, enveloping the landscape.
“Hmph! Kind words cannot convince those determined to die. In that case, I’ll just have to send you to the next world!”?Zhong Yao snorted coldly, then flipped his left hand in the air. A round copper dish appeared in his palm.
He drew his fingernails across its surface and….
Bzzzz!
The nine massive hovering baleful lotuses produced a series of strange rumbling noises.
Immediately afterward, the one hundred and eight sacrificial altars lining both sides of the rift trembled, as if awakening from a deep slumber.
Boom!
Heaven and earth shook.
Obscure, indecipherable whispering filled the air, like the secret conversations of ghosts, or hideous wailing.
That invisible yet eerie power rose and spread like the tide.
“It’s the power fluctuations of the formation!” The expression on Ning Sihua’s pretty face shifted.
This was different from the whispering they’d encountered thus far. This time, the whispering came crashing in like a tidal wave, booming like thunder and terrifying to the extreme.
“This is bad!” Grand Elder Pu Yi of Starcliff Academy, Grand Elder Jiang Tianyun of Kongtong Academy, Second Elder Lu Zhangfeng, and Shen Jiusong all reacted as if they’d been struck by lightning. They felt rending agony, as if their souls were tearing apart, and all of them looked visibly pained.
Even Ning Sihua couldn’t help but let out a muffled grunt. She staggered and swayed, her youthful face suddenly pallid.
Furthermore, as the strange whispering crashed into them, they staggered as if intoxicated and clutched their skulls. It was too painful to describe in words.
Bodily cultivation alone wasn’t enough to resist or disperse the invading whispers!
This was unquestionably terrifying.
“Mountain-Subduing King, do you see that? In the face of the Deathbringer’s Gate’s ‘Nine Palaces Yin-Locking Formation’, those helpers of yours can’t take so much as a single hit!”
Daoist Corpse Controller’s proud, high-pitched laughter emanated from afar. “I’m not exaggerating when I say that even if an Earthly Immortal were to show up, they couldn’t bear this level of attack!”
Beneath the dome of the heavens, the nine massive lotuses swayed, linking with the power of the one hundred and eight altars to release one wave of obscure whispers after another. The waves spread out, like ripples across the surface of the water.
As strong as Martial Dao Grandmasters were, they looked fragile in the face of the formation’s terrifying power!
“Everyone, hold on a little longer. I’ll go slaughter that mongrel!” Mu Xi bellowed, and his eyes flashed like lightning as he charged toward the distant Daoist Corpse Controller.
Clang!
His clothes fluttered in the wind as his golden spear swept through the air, his handsome face filled with raw killing intent, like a god gazing down upon all of creation, terrifying and imposing.
“As expected. He really does have something up his sleeves. His soul hasn’t taken any damage….” When he saw?Mu Xi’s?attack, Daoist Corpse Controller wasn’t the least bit surprised. He actually shook his head in disdain. “Mountain-Subduing King, do you really think I’m the only one here?”
As soon as he said this….
Boom!
Amidst the rumbling of thunder, a tall, stalwart man with twin hammers and hair as red as blood shot through the sky.
Tu Hong.
He was one of the Deathbringer’s Gate’s headquarter’s nine elders. He was born with innate divine strength, and he was long accustomed to bloodshed. His temperament was fierce and tyrannical, and he was infamous as the “Bloody-Handed Butcher.”
When Tu Hong appeared, he bellowed and waved his twin hammers at Mu Xi with all his might.
Boom! 𝒷𝓭ℴ𝓋𝓵.𝒸ℴ𝓶
The hammers struck like twin mountains accompanied by explosive torrents of power, forceful and overbearing.
“Get the hell out of my way!” Mu Xi grunted coldly, then suddenly swung with his spear, creating a destructive golden?current.
.
Clang!
The sound of the resulting impact shook heaven and earth. The red-haired Tu Hong was sent flying backward, and when the spear hit the ground, it formed a massive crater and scattered fragments of rock.
Tu Hong was a ferocious and despotic figure amongst fourth-level Grandmasters, but in a direct clash, he couldn’t even take a single hit from Mu Xi!
As for Mu Xi, he didn’t delay. He launched himself directly toward Daoist Corpse Controller.
He could tell at a glance that the formation disc in Daoist Corpse Controller’s hand was the key to controlling the sinister whispering.
So long as he broke it, the situation would turn in their favor.
But before Mu Xi could get close—
A woman in black appeared strangely, as if out of nowhere, to block his path.
Her skin was clear and fair, and she had delicate, pretty features, but her eyes were an unearthly shade of blue.
She beckoned with both hands and…
Whoosh!
Blades of blood-colored wind howled through the sky, sweeping across heaven and earth.
The sharp crimson blades slashed open countless eye-catching rifts, as if the sky were made of silk.
Mu Xi’s pupils constricted, and he suddenly took a deep breath and stabbed the air. “Hah!
Boom!
Golden lightning arced from his spear. Hundreds and thousands of bolts surged forth, as if intent on destroying the world. A series of booms rang out as they effortlessly broke through the countless blood-colored wind blades. Light scattered and fell like rain.
“Activate!” The woman in black let out a high-pitched whisper, and a hundred-foot-tall blood-colored windstorm rose behind her and tore through the air.
Rumble!
Mu Xi was instantly swept up. He shook like a leaf that had fallen into a vortex; his plight seemed dire.
However, in the blink of an eye, he lit up with dazzling golden radiance and swept out with his spear.
“Break!”
With a single, booming shout, the massive, blood-colored windstorm burst apart.
The woman in black let out a low grunt and staggered back, a trace of surprise in those eerie blue eyes.?This Mountain-Subduing King really is strong!
Amidst the rain of sparks, Mu Xi charged, fast and unstoppable as lightning, swinging his golden spear with the intent to kill.
The woman in black dared not hesitate. She raised her hand and shook a string of crimson bells.
Whoosh~!
Billowing black baleful energy appeared out of nowhere, as if someone had opened the gates to hell. A group of yin souls and vicious ghosts charged out.
They howled and roared, spreading across heaven and earth as they charged toward Mu Xi.
At the same time, the red-haired Tu Hong attacked once more, waving his massive hammers as he charged Mu Xi from behind.
Mu Xi furrowed his brow and said flatly, “You’re throwing your lives away!”
His sleeves billowed as a blood-red pendant silently appeared in the palm of his left hand. His aura instantly surged. Soon, it was more than twice as powerful as it had been before!
Su Yi had been watching this whole time. Naturally, he noticed the source of the change. Despite himself, a strange light flashed in his eyes.
A jade pendant formed of the divine blood of a True Spirit!??No wonder he became a non-Zhou king at his tender young age despite living in this mundane realm!
Earlier, Su Yi had deduced that Mu Xi likely had some incredible secret treasure.?Now, seeing the pendant suffused with divinity in Mu Xi’s palm, Su Yi instantly understood.
“The divine blood of a True Spirit” referred to the innate blood essence of a True Spirit divine beast. It contained incomparably terrifying power, as well as mysterious and inscrutable capabilities.
Even in the Nine Provinces of the Wilds, a pendant formed of divine beast blood was a rare and precious treasure; even Imperial Realm cultivators would salivate and fight over it!
There was no doubt about it; the pendant was the Mountain-Subduing King’s greatest trump card!
But Su Yi was more curious about just where Mu Xi had obtained it.
After all, this was a mundane realm. A place so spiritually barren couldn’t possibly give rise to terrifying creatures born of heaven and nourished by the earth like True Spirit divine beasts.
I’m sure this guy has other secrets about him too,?thought Su Yi.
Boom!
Meanwhile, the battle raged on. After activating the pendant’s power, it was as if Mu Xi had received divine aid. Nothing could stand in his way.
In a few blinks of an eye, he shattered the black-robed woman and Tu Hong’s joint attack.
The woman in black coughed up blood, and her scalp went numb.
A long, bloody line burst open on Tu Hong’s chest. Skin broke, and flesh split apart. Soon, he was covered in blood.
They looked at Mu Xi, their gazes filled with newfound terror and dread. They would never have guessed that the nation’s youngest non-Zhou King would be so terrifying!
“Die!” Mu Xi’s clothes fluttered about as he swung his spear and struck once more.
It was then that a deep sigh rang out. “Mountain-Subduing King, you sure live up to your reputation. Given another ten years, I’m afraid the Great Zhou would have another Hong Shenshang.”
As this sigh drifted throughout heaven and earth, a man in simple white clothes appeared out of nowhere.
His hair and beard were graying, his face was thin, and his eyes shone with the vicissitudes of life. The instant he appeared, he gently waved his right hand.
Boom!
A storm raged, and the blood-red clouds churned. The massive imprint of a hand condensed, each finger as thick as a tree trunk. It shot through the air with a streak of dazzling, blood-colored light.
A Giant Demonblood Hand Print!
Mu Xi staggered; he’d actually been forced back.
His pupils constricted as he realized who the man in white was, and a rare, serious look appeared on his face. “Vice Sect Master Hua Liuye of the Deathbringer’s Gate?”
The man smiled faintly. “Mountain-Subduing King, I wouldn’t have guessed you’d know my humble name.”
Mu Xi’s eyes surged with intimidating starlight. “Everyone believes that, ten years ago, State Preceptor Hong Shenshang killed you. Now, it seems we’ve been deceived.”
Hua Liuye was a valiant figure amongst heretical cultivators, as well as an infamous Xiantian Martial Ancestor!
His ill reputation first spread throughout the nation decades ago. They called him an old demon capable of contending with the state preceptor!
Ten years ago, Hong Shenshang arranged to fight Hua Liuye atop the Great Zhou’s True Martial Mountain.
In the end, State Preceptor Hong Shenshang emerged victorious.
And according to the spectators, following their duel, State Preceptor Hong Shenshang?ran?Hua Liuye’s corpse through, destroying it. He then flung Hua Liuye’s body over the cliff and into the waters of the Tianlan River below.
Mu Xi would never have expected that now, ten years after that fateful duel, he’d encounter this infamous old devil on Bloodthistle Yao Mountain!
Were news of this to spread, it would cause uproar throughout the empire!
After all, Hua Liuye’s ill reputation preceded him. It was decades ago that he first swept through the nation’s Xiantian Martial Ancestors, stirring up countless storms and causing who-knows-how-much bloodshed!