Bai Huang outside coughed up several mouthfuls of black blood. Clearly, he had exerted himself too much and was not feeling any better.
Operating such a massive formation undoubtedly consumed an enormous amount of spiritual power.
It had been manageable when his realm was higher; controlling it had taken practically no effort.
But now, he could barely activate the four spirits. He could no longer summon the remaining water spirit.
Unless he took the initiative to withdraw one of the other spirits!
"No wonder Heaven cut off Martial Arts. It's too monstrous!"
He could not help marveling at Zhang You's formidable strength.
And he had personally experienced the might of Martial Arts as well.
But now, it would all be his!
As long as he seized the other man's special physique, perhaps he could cultivate both immortality and Martial Arts.
Then, once he obtained the source flame of the Netherworld Ghostfire—
After leaving this godforsaken place, he would surely stand at the pinnacle of this world!
"Four Symbols: White Tiger Thunder Prison Qi Armor!"
A steady voice suddenly came from the other side.
A sphere of blood qi over a hundred meters in diameter appeared, within which the phantom of a white tiger raced while arcs of lightning flashed.
Zhang You stood in its center, completely unharmed, gazing down at Bai Huang with disdain.
As for the four-spirit attacks of the Five Elements Spirit-Extinguishing Formation, they had all been neutralized. The five spirit swords around them had also lost their luster and broken into two.
"You..."
Bai Huang was so shocked that he could not speak, spitting out several more mouthfuls of black blood.
"Looks like this is all you're capable of!"
The blood qi sphere contracted and vanished.
Zhang You vanished from where he stood as well.
Using his movement technique, he had already arrived before Bai Huang.
Several red flashes slashed down, cutting Bai Huang into several pieces.
"What a pity... years of forbearance... If... if my realm hadn't fallen... if... if..."
Bai Huang's head rolled to one side. He stammered out a few broken words before dying with eyes that refused to close!
"Hmph! You certainly had plenty of tricks!"
Zhang You picked up an inconspicuous piece of rotten wood nearby and crushed it to powder with a hard squeeze.
"Spare... spare me!"
A Yin Soul in Zhang You's hand was begging for mercy—it was Bai Huang's remnant soul.
Who knew what secret technique he possessed that had allowed him to remain not quite dead?
But Zhang You no longer cared!
"Anyone who wants to kill me, I won't spare a single one. Especially those who want to eat me—they deserve death even more!"
Zhang You used his blood qi to strike the remnant soul.
Poor Bai Huang did not even manage a scream before his soul scattered and dispersed!
A dense blue-white aura was absorbed by him!
The blue-white aura he gained this time was far denser than any he had obtained before.
"Haa..."
Zhang You let out a long breath and sat on the ground.
Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators truly were not easy to kill.
Bai Huang had expended too much power using the formation just now, which was why Zhang You had wiped him out without so much as lifting a finger.
If Bai Huang had not fought him to the death and had instead chosen to flee, escaping would have been ridiculously easy. Zhang You likely would not have been able to keep him.
All that could be said was that Bai Huang had been too confident and had underestimated him.
"Are you all right, young friend?"
Qingyuan Old Daoist approached at this moment.
"I just used up a bit too much energy. A short rest will do!"
Zhang You shook his head.
"That's good! That's good!"
Old Daoist also let out a long sigh of relief!
"By the way, did Bai Huang count as an evil cultivator back then?"
Zhang You suddenly thought of a question.
It concerned the targets from which blue-white aura could be obtained!
"It seems you still don't understand the world outside, young friend!"
"What do you mean?"
"In this day and age, where are there still righteous paths and evil paths? Which cultivator is not out for himself? If Great Xia had not still been suppressing things, the world would likely be far more chaotic!"
"The spiritual energy in the air is growing thinner by the day. Only in certain special places is there even the tiniest bit more spiritual energy."
"With no spiritual energy, cultivators naturally have to seek substitutes!"
"What is most plentiful in today's world? Naturally, it is the human race!"
"You have not seen what lies beyond Great Xia's borders! That truly is a tale too bitter to tell..."
Old Daoist looked toward the sky, sorrow in his eyes.
Then he added, "The two of us have gone through hardship together. Though we cannot claim much friendship, I'll still offer you a piece of advice: in this world, only yourself can be trusted! Others are untrustworthy, and you must not trust them!"
Old Daoist's meaning was obvious. This was a discordant world, where even family might stab you in the back!
"Yes... only yourself can be trusted!"
Zhang You sighed deeply, lost in thought.
"Don't dwell on it too much! As long as the two of us work together now, our chances of getting out are still very high!"
Old Daoist changed the subject, sounding highly confident.
Zhang You continued recovering his strength, though he also kept part of his attention on his surroundings.
Several hours later, he had finally recovered seven or eight tenths of his strength!
"Let's go! The sooner we get out, the better!"
Zhang You glanced at Old Daoist, then headed toward the mountain ahead.
"I have already sensed it. The mountain is the weak point of this ghost domain. As long as we can open even the slightest crack, the World-Breaking Talisman can be used. Then we can leave this godforsaken place!"
Old Daoist smiled and followed after him.
They chatted about everything along the way, like two old friends who had not met for years!
Not long after they left, the cluster of houses returned to its former state. Only the gray-black flames had disappeared!
It was as though nothing had happened before. The place remained as silent as ever!
Before long, yin energy once more shrouded the entire area. Within the houses and even on the streets, shadowy figures could vaguely be seen moving about...
"There's something wrong with this place! It feels like we've been walking in place, without getting any closer to the foot of the mountain!"
Zhang You stopped and looked ahead in surprise.
"Indeed!"
Old Daoist was also somewhat frightened.
"Let's try going back!"
After pondering for a moment, Zhang You turned around and headed back. Yet after half a day, he discovered that the road they had come from was gone.
It seemed they were trapped!
Looking at the mountain that appeared so close before them, they felt somewhat helpless!
Though it looked near, it was as if they were separated by a handspan that stretched to the ends of the earth, forever unable to draw closer.
Only the road on the ground, leading straight to the foot of the mountain, seemed so real!
"Ghost Wall?"
Zhang You looked at Old Daoist.
He hated this sort of thing most!
It had little killing power, but it tormented people.
"Probably not! It likely involves space. It seems a token or guidance is needed to enter. Otherwise, we can only exhaust ourselves to death on the way!"
Old Daoist stopped walking and furrowed his brow.
"After you dealt with that flame spirit body earlier, did you get anything? Was it a Black Flame?"
After thinking for a moment, Old Daoist suddenly asked.
He had not expected Old Daoist to know so much.
Zhang You had concealed the collection of the Black Flame very carefully!
After a moment's thought, Zhang You took out the Black Flame!
The instant he brought it out, he suddenly felt the surrounding space rapidly receding. In the blink of an eye, the two of them had reached the foot of the mountain.
"Hm?"
The Black Flame suddenly seemed to receive some kind of summons and tried to break free from Zhang You's palm.
"Be still!"
Zhang You forcibly suppressed it.
At that moment, something atop the mountain seemed to awaken, its aura gradually emerging from nothingness!
At the same time, the Two-headed Corpse and the Evil Buddha Statue fought each other as they moved closer in this direction!
When they passed through the burial ground of yin, an Octopus Monster shot into the sky from its depths and joined the battle.
Yin energy surged along the way, and the ground had already been battered into a complete mess!
Before you continue