Before Death, I'll See You Off

"Array formation!?"

Rank Six howled, her eyes bloodshot as she glared at Xie Xuanyi, who stood suspended in the air on his Purple Bamboo Flying Sword, looking back at her.

"Despicable! You actually set a trap for me!"

Xie Xuanyi, clutching his shoulder pierced by the Blood Refinement Art, merely watched with indifference as the Heavenly Puppet Sect woman stepped into the grand formation, along with those Death Puppets containing the evil essence blood.

"Do it!"

Xie Xuanyi transmitted his voice.

Deng Baiyi, holding the talisman of the main array, transformed into the Sovereign of this world. Thousands of strands of Phoenix Fire materialized and coalesced in the void!

Jiang Huang, who had been sound asleep on the mountaintop, twitched her nose, catching a familiar scent.

She groggily opened her eyes, sat up, and stared blankly at the blazing fire spreading across the mountains.

Above the desolate mountain.

Countless Phoenix Fires floated, resembling lotus flowers.

Deng Baiyi held the talisman in one hand, raised before her chest, while with the other, she brought two fingers together, mimicking the motion of a sword qi strike.

With a gentle sweep.

The entire world seemed about to be cleaved in two—

Countless Phoenix Fires connected into a long line, passing by in such a simple and unadorned manner. Wherever it went, grass and leaves were incinerated, trees were uprooted, and Rank Six roared as she raised her four arms, enduring the pressure of the grand formation to press forward.

Those dozens of unconscious Death Puppets, only knowing to obey their master's orders, surged toward that streak of crimson red like moths to a flame.

"Shred!"

In the next moment.

The bodies of the Death Puppets were torn to pieces like paper.

The overwhelming sound of tearing paper engulfed the mountaintop like a tide.

Finally, the dust settled.

Silence returned to the mountaintop.

The wind rustled through the withered grass.

Rank Six slowly lowered her head.

Her eyes were filled with bewilderment.

More than that, they were filled with fear.

All four arms were forming seals to resist, but unfortunately, the seal only resisted for an instant, perhaps not even an instant.

Her body had already been cut in two, the cut smooth, emitting a faint, scorched smell.

The Heavenly Puppet Sect's most proficient "Blood Refinement Art" had no room to be used under the suppression of the Phoenix Fire... Every drop of Gu blood prepared by Rank Six was incinerated into nothingness by the Phoenix Fire, symbolizing the pure Yang of the world, meeting instant annihilation the moment it was offered.

She raised her head, looking at the dazzling and stunning woman slowly descending before her, like a deity, with an incomprehensible and incredulous gaze.

Countless Phoenix Fires swirled around Deng Baiyi, dyeing her snow-white clothes a faint red... Taking charge of this grand formation, even for just a moment, had consumed most of Deng Baiyi's mental energy. Her face was almost as pale as Xie Xuanyi's, but the divine radiance of the Phoenix Fire lingering in the depths of her pupils had not yet dissipated.

Their eyes met.

"You... deserve to die."

Deng Baiyi looked down at this ugly and filthy dark face, her expression cold, her eyes bursting with killing intent.

The hand clutching the array talisman tightened its grip once more.

Strands of Phoenix Fire aura gathered in the void again—

Deng Baiyi raised her arm, which had already begun to tremble, preparing to point out another finger, completely ending the life of this woman who had injured Xie Zhen.

"...Wait."

Xie Xuanyi reached out his palm and gently pressed down on her hand.

Deng Baiyi paused for a moment.

Xie Xuanyi's voice suppressed her killing intent.

The warmth from his palm also recalled her rationality.

Deng Baiyi obediently lowered her arm, gently exhaling the killing intent and pent-up energy that had been pressing on her chest.

Thus, the hundreds of strands of Phoenix Fire wandering in the void dissipated, and the dazzling brilliance emitted by the grand formation also vanished into the long night.

"No need to waste your energy, she's already dead."

Blood trickled from half of Xie Xuanyi's shoulder, his face as pale as paper.

Enduring the Blood Refinement Art to lure Rank Six into the trap...

This was the only way to kill this Grotto-Heaven Realm expert tonight.

The Heavenly Puppet Sect's corpse refining technique was very strong. Once those Death Puppets buried in Sunken Chime Mountain fully awakened, this confrontation would no longer be fair.

Rank Six had come to meet him with the determination to kill him.

The only way to break the deadlock.

Was to unleash immense destructive power in an extremely short time, obliterating Rank Six along with all the Death Puppets.

Something that.

Xie Xuanyi couldn't do right now...

However, the Ninefold Bright Phoenix Fire Refining Void Grand Formation could.

Rank Six's body had been completely severed, but the Phoenix Fire's cutting speed was too fast, so she still had a breath left... If Deng Baiyi delivered a second strike, even one with depleted momentum, Rank Six wouldn't be able to withstand it.

That would mean owing another life.

Rank Six had to die, but not now.

"She's still useful."

Xie Xuanyi gently patted Deng Baiyi's shoulder, signaling that she could rest well.

The task of an excellent array master is not only to inscribe arrays but also to control them.

After all, every array pattern on this mountain was personally inscribed by Deng Baiyi. She knew every subtlety of this grand formation and its limits... Truly top-tier array pattern masters personally control the array, taking charge of the killing power. The killing power unleashed by the person who personally inscribed the same array patterns is stronger than anyone else!

To be so compatible with the array patterns while controlling the grand formation for the first time...

Deng Baiyi's talent in array formations was much higher than her talent in cultivation.

Xie Xuanyi came before Rank Six.

He smiled and sighed softly, "I told you, it's a pity you only know how to refine corpses and not inscribe arrays. Otherwise, who would win tonight would be uncertain."

If Rank Six also knew how to set up a grand formation to seal off the space for escaping with the sword.

Then in tonight's situation at Sunken Chime Mountain... Xie Xuanyi might have had a one in ten thousand chance of survival.

However, everything exists in this world.

Except for "what if."

"I... lost..."

Rank Six's voice was hoarse as she slowly spoke.

The vertical pupil that had opened between her eyebrows slowly closed. This festering body was undergoing "purification" by the Phoenix Fire. The vicious Gu blood, fused with dozens of toxins, would not extinguish once ignited by the Phoenix Fire... On the surface, she still looked "complete," but soon, her entire body would shatter like porcelain.

Her lungs would soon turn to ashes.

"I don't understand, what kind of formation is this? And what kind of fire is this?"

Her gaze passed over Xie Xuanyi.

It landed on the wandering sparks floating on the mountaintop. The Phoenix Fire that had covered the mountains and plains had died down, and now faint specks of light still drifted around, like small flowers, carrying a desolate and lonely meaning.

Once the sparks of fire burned out, they no longer brought warmth.

What remained was endless, terminal coldness.

"This is the Ninefold Bright Phoenix Fire Refining Void Grand Formation."

Xie Xuanyi slowly transmitted his voice in a tone that only the two of them could hear, "These fires are the Phoenix Fire."

"..."

Rank Six's eyes were even more blank.

She hadn't heard of this formation, but she had heard of the Phoenix Fire.

Phoenix Fire...

Was it the kind of Phoenix Fire she was thinking of?

"Yes... it's the kind of fire you're thinking of. You didn't die unjustly."

Xie Xuanyi saw through Rank Six's thoughts at a glance and transmitted his voice calmly.

He stood opposite Rank Six, waiting silently.

He was waiting for the moment before Rank Six's death, when her consciousness would dissipate.

After all, the person before him was a Grotto-Heaven Realm cultivator. To initiate a soul search and obtain enough memories, he needed to wait for the safest moment...

"Cough cough..."

After a violent fit of coughing.

Rank Six raised her head, and the scarlet, bewitching vertical pupil had completely closed. This indicated that all the vital energy in her body had been exhausted, unable to support the opening of the Grotto-Heaven. The so-called Blood Refinement Art had become a joke at this moment.

Because her body had been hollowed out by the Phoenix Fire.

Not even a drop of blood remained.

How could she activate Blood Refinement?

However, Rank Six's eyes still held a hint of mockery at this moment. She looked at Xie Xuanyi's shoulder, which she had pierced through, and laughed softly, "Although I'm going to die, you're not much better off."

"...Having been poisoned by the Gu blood, you'll lose half your life even if you don't die."

Xie Xuanyi didn't say anything, just waited silently.

After a brief silence, Rank Six snapped back to her senses, vaguely guessing what the person before her was waiting for.

She chuckled softly.

The Blood Refinement Art... it wasn't as though it was completely impossible to activate. She still had a little blood left.

Right there, within that broken head.

"Buzz buzz buzz!"

The vertical pupil that had just healed reopened. Rank Six kept her eyes closed, blood overflowing from the sockets, instantly streaming down both sides of her face.

This time, she merely stared at Xie Xuanyi with the vertical pupil—

"Before you die, I'll send you on your way."

Xie Xuanyi had long anticipated Rank Six's intentions.

He extended his palm and pressed it onto the vertical pupil. An incomparably dense surge of divine sense instantly crashed into the Grotto-Heaven Realm expert's exhausted sea of consciousness.

Soul-Searching! Activate!

(ps: Brothers, let me tell you something speechless. Recently, someone has been impersonating me on blind dates, and it seems like there's more than one person doing it. Let me clarify here, I don't sell courses, I don't chat in groups, I basically don't add any friends, and I don't go on blind dates! Everyone, please don't be fooled!)

Brothers, let me tell you something speechless. Recently, it seems like someone has been impersonating me... on blind dates. And it seems like there's more than one person doing it. Let me clarify here, I don't sell courses, I don't chat in groups, I basically don't add any friends, and I don't go on blind dates