Rumble!
A violent wail, accompanied by increasingly turbulent Spiritual Qi fluctuations, surged from midair. Ouyang Haoze's eyes were bloodshot—he had clearly been driven to desperation.
Seeing this, the other two Qi Refining Late Stage cultivators of the Divine Martial Sect, Wu Zhichong and Duanmu Yuan, could no longer sit still.
"Senior Brother Ouyang!"
Wu Zhichong stepped forward first. Seeing Ouyang Haoze's bedraggled state, he felt his heart tremble with fear and said quietly, "The Taixiao Mirror is, after all, a matter of great importance..."
"I know."
Ouyang Haoze glanced back at Wu Zhichong. The fury in his blood-red eyes swiftly subsided as he said calmly, "But the demon within this formation is even more important! At such a young age, he is already proficient in formations, and his cultivation is not weak either. If he reaches Qi Refining Completion in the future, he may well be able to challenge Foundation Establishment."
"If we can kill a Foundation Establishment Seed of the Demon Sect, then let alone one Taixiao Mirror—discarding it is nothing!"
Buzz!
In midair, the Taixiao Mirror let out a violent tremor, as though it held a different opinion.
Yet Ouyang Haoze turned a deaf ear. It was merely a Spiritual Treasure. When it was useful, he called it "Lord Taixiao"; when it was not, what was it worth?
Seeing that Ouyang Haoze had made up his mind, Wu Zhichong could only sigh and cease his persuasion. After all, Ouyang Haoze, at Qi Refining Great Perfection, was the one in charge of the Divine Martial Sect's operation this time. Since he had made the decision, he would naturally bear the consequences. It was enough that Wu Zhichong had tried to dissuade him.
Meanwhile, inside the Marketplace.
Lu Yang put away the Blood Sun Sword Pellet, more than half of which had been blasted into ruin. Holding the Primordial Breath Ten Thousand Spirit Banner, he gazed inscrutably at Ouyang Haoze beyond the Marketplace.
"Junior Brother Lu, you're alive?"
Fairy Feixia and Lu Yuanchun came close. One wore unrestrained delight across her face, while the other, after surviving the calamity, was also deeply wary of Lu Yang.
"Brother Lu truly hid his talents well!"
Lu Yuanchun praised loudly, "Now that Ouyang Haoze has been driven back, the Marketplace can rest easy. It will be enough to hold out until the Sacred Sect receives word and sends additional reinforcements!"
"Driven back? It's still too early for that."
Lu Yang shook his head.
"Indeed. Look at Ouyang Haoze's condition—his vital blood is severely depleted. This is more than merely driving him back; he has plainly been heavily injured. It counts as teaching him a profound lesson!"
Fairy Feixia clapped her hands and laughed.
Hearing this, Lu Yuanchun hurriedly chimed in as well.
Yet Lu Yang gave a cold laugh at the sight and said something startling. "How can merely driving him back uproot the problem once and for all? I have never liked leaving future troubles behind."
"It is simpler and cleaner to kill him."
"Kill... kill who?"
Ouyang Haoze?
For a moment, Fairy Feixia and Lu Yuanchun stood rooted to the spot. Even in their most optimistic imaginings, they had never envisioned such a scene.
That was a Qi Refining Great Perfection cultivator, a true disciple of the righteous path!
Who could kill him?
How could he be killed?
The next moment, Lu Yang took out the Mysterious Female Yin Jade that Lu Yuanchun had returned to him earlier. Forming a hand seal and casting his art, he refined it in his palm.
Immediately afterward, the jade gradually melted under Lu Yang's control. In the end, it transformed into a circle of light, like a ghastly white, translucent treasure mirror. Beneath its illumination, one shadow after another swiftly appeared in Lu Yang's eyes, each corresponding to a remnant aura.
Judging from the others' reactions, it seemed that only he could see them.
Fairy Feixia, Lu Yuanchun, Ouyang Haoze, Wu Zhichong, Duanmu Yuan... Everyone who had fought here had left behind their aura in this place.
"This is the Mysterious Yin Form-Capturing Great Art..."
The second divine power within the True Method of Yin-Transformation Corpse-Dissolution. Its only difficulty lay in the external object required, so after obtaining the jade, Lu Yang had mastered it in no time at all!
"Let us test its power."
Lu Yang lowered his eyelids and swiftly locked onto a remnant aura. It belonged to Ouyang Haoze, and he drew it over through the Mysterious Yin Form-Capturing Great Art.
"Mysterious Yin Form-Capturing."
Lu Yang activated the divine power. In the next instant, the circle of light formed from the Mysterious Female Yin Jade swallowed Ouyang Haoze's aura, then reflected his figure.
"...Nail-Head Life-Snatching!"
Lu Yang immediately brought two fingers together and slashed.
With a sharp crack, the circle of light split in two, and Ouyang Haoze's reflected figure was likewise cleaved from head to toe, divided into two halves.
To be safe, Lu Yang had cut vertically.
Almost at the same time.
Outside the Marketplace, Ouyang Haoze had just finished speaking with Wu Zhichong. Turning toward the Marketplace, he raised a hand and tossed the Taixiao Mirror into the formation.
Though the Taixiao Mirror struggled violently, his mind was made up. He was about to detonate it.
But in the next instant, Ouyang Haoze's movements abruptly froze.
Then, a bizarre slash mark appeared out of thin air atop his head. It rapidly spread downward before finally turning into splattering blood blossoms.
He split apart.
His corpse fell from midair. Only half his face still retained its astonishment, its eyeball turning slightly as though he had yet to realize what had happened.
"What happened... I'm... dead?"
His consciousness dissipated amid confusion.
After losing Ouyang Haoze's control, the Taixiao Mirror that had fallen into the formation also returned to calm. Lu Yang beckoned with one hand, and it flew over of its own accord.
Northern Border, Divine Martial Sect headquarters.
Within a brightly lit grand hall.
This place was called the Soul Lamp Hall. As its name implied, it housed the Soul Lamps of many Divine Martial Sect higher-ups, including the sect master, elders, and even true disciples.
As an old-established force of the Northern Border, the Divine Martial Sect had ruled the region for over a thousand years. Its prestige ran deep throughout the Northern Border, and the deaths of higher-ups were rare. Thus, the disciples assigned to guard this place were mostly lax, regarding the post as an easy job for collecting sect subsidies.
Today was no different from usual. The guarding disciple conducted his routine inspection of the Soul Lamps.
He entered and swept his gaze across them.
Lit, lit, lit, lit, extinguished, lit, lit...
Hm?
The guarding disciple blinked, instinctively turning his head to look. He then rubbed his eyes again, and the casual expression on his face gradually turned to terror.
"Extinguished... extinguished! Senior Brother Ouyang's Soul Lamp has gone out!?"
The cry spread at once.
In the next moment, a middle-aged Daoist appeared out of thin air inside the hall. His gaze fell upon the extinguished Soul Lamp, and his face twisted with both fury and shock.
How many years had it been? How many years had it been since a true disciple of the Divine Martial Sect had fallen?
"Ouyang... Skull Mountain!?"
The middle-aged Daoist's face turned ashen. Suddenly reaching out, he summoned Ouyang Haoze's Soul Lamp and poured dharma power into it, forcefully reigniting its flame!
Of course, the dead could not be brought back to life.
This rekindled flame could not restore Ouyang Haoze's life. At most, it could recreate the final scene he had witnessed before his death.
Very quickly, the flame reflected an image.
The middle-aged Daoist recognized it at a glance—it was the Marketplace of the First Saint Sect at Skull Mountain. Within the Marketplace, a handsome and refined young man was gazing into the distance.
Was it him? Had he killed Ouyang Haoze?
A hatred that sank deep into his bones surfaced in the middle-aged Daoist's eyes.
For Ouyang Haoze had not merely been a true disciple of the sect. He had also been the most outstanding member of the younger generation of his Ouyang Family, a junior in whom he had placed great hopes!
For this hatred and this grudge, there would be no rest until death!
"Hm?"
Within Skull Mountain Market, Lu Yang had just put away the Taixiao Mirror that had voluntarily submitted to him when his brows suddenly furrowed. He looked up at Heaven, and a chill rose within his heart.
He knew this feeling well.
It was the sensation of his own Karma being disturbed by an external force. In his previous life, he had felt something similar when the Peak Master of Heaven Mending calculated his Karma.
Could it be that another Foundation Establishment True Person was plotting against him?
Before you continue