A battle of wits at the highest level: the Diviner feigns death

"Who is this Diviner '?"

Qin Siyu asked curiously after hearing Lin Yu's words.

"A fellow even more powerful than Daoist Master Xingyi, though human, is more cunning, cruel, and evil than Yaomo; a born bad seed."

Lin Yu briefly explained to Qin Siyu.

Upon hearing this, Qin Siyu became somewhat nervous. "There's such a dangerous person... Where is he?"

She looked nervously at the thronging snake heads, trying to find the one that was different.

And then...

Behind the two, the Formation of the Duxuan Sect suddenly erupted with strong fluctuations, and then a stream of Pure Qi directly condensed into the shape of a human figure.

Although Jian Cunyi seemed unable to escape immediately due to the Formation, he could only descend in the form of an "avatar".

However, judging from the strength of this avatar and the speed at which it appeared... Jian Cunyi definitely gave it enough attention and respect.

"Diviner? Where is that?!"

Jian Cunyi looked at Lin Yu and asked hurriedly.

Seeing the usually calm and elegant Daoist Master Xingyi in such a hurry, Qin Siyu immediately and intuitively understood what Lin Yu had just said, even though it was the first time she had heard of the title "Diviner".

This "Diviner" is definitely an extremely dangerous individual.

Before Lin Yu could answer, Jian Cunyi spoke again, "It's in those snakes, right... Never mind, they're all Yaomo anyway!"

As he spoke, Jian Cunyi's avatar of Pure Qi made a hand seal, pointing two fingers together forward.

"Demon-Slaying!"

He shouted out two words, and then the sky suddenly changed color as the wind and clouds gathered, followed by a rumble of thunder!

Lin Yu looked up and saw a ripple of golden light. He sensed that an invisible barrier that had been covering the Duxuan Sect had opened up.

Lin Yu immediately realized that Jian Cunyi was actively activating the Sect-Protecting Grand Formation of the Duxuan Sect —during this period, his control over the Duxuan Sect's array had increased to a new level.

Jian Cunyi's reason for activating the Sect-Protecting Grand Formation was quite simple.

He wants to let the lightning strike... in.

"Snap!!!!!"

It was as if a hole had been torn open in the sky, and scorching lightning from beyond poured down. The bluish-white lightning bolts were as thick as ancient trees, and because of their terrifying size, they seemed to have been "crushed" down rather than "struck" down!

Moreover, it also contained some high-level power— Lin Yu, who was familiar with Authority, tried to identify which Authority it was after a while, and then belatedly realized it.

The heavenly lightning that Jian Cunyi summoned... was "Heavenly Tribulation Lightning".

The high-ranking power within does not derive from Authority, but rather from... the World Will of the Prison Mountain Realm.

Even though Lin Yu knew that Jian Cunyi was no ordinary person— Rankings -ten "Feng Shui Master" and a top expert who almost single-handedly killed Zhu Qiansi —he couldn't help but feel utterly astonished.

"Brother Jian... you are truly formidable!"

Lin Yu murmured.

And what's most deadly is that when the lightning strikes... it doesn't end all at once.

"Boom boom boom boom--!"

Lightning bolts rolled down, relentlessly covering and washing over the roof.

The thunder that had lasted for so long seemed less like a thunder-summoning technique and more like an alien spaceship or Lin Yu using lasers.

The bombardment of the lightning lasted for a full ten seconds before it ended.

Not to mention those Gu-Heart Snake Demons, even the roof of the Duxuan Sect storehouse was shaved down by three inches—if the roof hadn't been made of solid materials and the tribulation lightning didn't seem to be primarily of the "physical destruction" attribute, the storehouse would probably have been directly blasted through.

"They're all dead?"

Jian Cunyi swept his True Essence across the rooftop and asked, puzzled.

Then, his Pure Qi avatar lightly leaped up and flew into the air.

Lin Yu followed Jian Cunyi's avatar and soared into the air, where he saw the scene on the rooftop—because Jian Cunyi deliberately preserved it, the corpses of those Gu-Heart Snake Demons were still there.

It had simply changed from its original grayish-white color... to an almost faded, transparent grayish-white, like ashes that had been burned through and then continued to burn completely.

Although they were left with intact corpses, these Snake Yaoguai died a truly utter death.

After the Thunder Art dissipated, Lin Yu could clearly feel that... there was no longer any fluctuation of soul, spirit, or even Life Force on the rooftop.

This Heavenly Tribulation Lightning, carrying the power of heaven and earth of the Prison Mountain Realm —that is, the power of the World Will— struck all those Snake Yaoguai, annihilating their souls Three Hun and Seven Po, reducing them to ashes!

Jian Cunyi's avatar of Pure Qi looked at Lin Yu beside him. "Brother Lin, you said there's a 'Diviner' among these Snake Yaoguai, what exactly is going on?"

"If he was among them... even if it was just an avatar, he couldn't have died so easily without leaving a trace."

Lin Yu looked at Jian Cunyi, and helplessly touched his hair. "Brother Jian, why didn't you ask me first?"

"If we had been a step too late, that cunning fellow might have gotten away... So what exactly happened?"

Jian Cunyi asked again.

Lin Yu looked embarrassed and said, "It's like this, Brother Jian, I actually just wanted you to get here faster, so I lied to you. There are no 'Diviner' here... I'm sorry!"

Upon hearing Lin Yu's words, Jian Cunyi was stunned. Although the avatar of Pure Qi could not see the face clearly, Lin Yu could still sense the other party's helplessness from the blurred features.

But... even after being Deception by Lin Yu, Jian Cunyi didn't seem angry.

"Brother Lin, it's best not to joke about 'Diviner,' otherwise what if I hesitate next time you actually encounter one?"

Jian Cunyi words of advice.

Lin Yu looked at Jian Cunyi: "Brother Jian, you won't. Even if I use this trick to deceive you ten thousand times, you will still go all out for the ten thousand and first time."

Jian Cunyi smiled helplessly, "Well... you're absolutely right."

"Besides... I wouldn't actually joke about something like this," Lin Yu's voice suddenly rose, his Mental Power and Soul Power erupting as he locked onto the corpse of a dead, grayish-white Gu-Heart Snake Demon. "Brother Jian, lock him down—'The Diviner's is trying to escape!"

Lin Yu shouted, and as he had said, Jian Cunyi did not hesitate at all this time.

Even though it was just an ordinary corpse of Gu-Heart Snake Demon, and even though it didn't have the slightest fluctuation of soul or power, Jian Cunyi still immediately took action. His Pure Qi incarnation raised his Arms, which transformed into two gusts of wind that solidified into chains in mid-air, locking the Snake Yaoguai's corpse like a winch and suspending it in mid-air.

Subsequently, layers of Pure Qi and runes emerged, completely suppressing the corpse of the Gu-Heart Snake Demon.

Even if the ancestor of this Snake Yaoguai, the "Gu-Heart Soul-Seizing Demon Lord," were to come in person, this would probably be the only treatment he would receive if he were sealed away.

After doing all this, Jian Cunyi belatedly asked, "Brother Lin, is this... really a 'Diviner'?"

Lin Yu nodded and stared at the Snake Yaoguai demon's corpse as he spoke.

"Of course... 'Diviner,' you must be very curious, right? Do you think I'm bluffing? Do you think I can't see through your disguise?"

"You think that even if I chose this corpse, I couldn't possibly pinpoint your location or know the principles behind your disguise... So, you think that by just playing dead, you can make me believe you're not really here?"

"But... you're sorely mistaken, 'Diviner,' I know you better than you think—I can smell the stench on you."

"Ever since you murdered that innocent girl from the Night Watcher right in front of me, I've been thinking about your disgusting methods... You must think that if even Brother Jian couldn't see through your stealth, then no one in the world can, right?"

"But... I'm sorry, but I really can. In this aspect of your methods, I understand you even better than Brother Jian —because my understanding of how to 'divide one's own soul' is no less than yours."

"Moreover, your biggest Error... was using the means of 'Oblivion' —last time you sent Oblivion to deal with me, I already learned one of your many secrets: the 'God of Oblivion'!"

"Making yourself forget your own existence, and thus the world forget yours, is indeed a good method, but the prerequisite is... I also have to forget it."

Lin Yu tapped his head, his gaze fixed intently on the faint gray mist filling the body of the Snake Yaoguai soul had already dissipated—mist that would be forgotten if one simply shifted their senses away.

Even if you just stare at it, the process of "Oblivion" itself is constantly happening.

However... the [Ancient Notebook] in his arms was constantly delaying the input of Lin Yu's Memory from the previous second into Lin Yu's brain, thus reminding Lin Yu not to forget the fact that he was looking at what he was looking at. After the last encounter with the "God of Oblivion", Lin Yu set up this function of the [Ancient Notebook], so that once he noticed abnormal Memory loss, he would activate this automatic backup "external Memory" mode.

From that day on, Lin Yu never turned off this function.

Therefore, he was indeed clearly aware of the existence of the "Diviner's " tiny soul Doppelganger shrouded behind the mist.

And after Lin Yu finished speaking...

One second, two seconds, three seconds --

Three seconds of silence passed, and then the Snake Yaoguai's body began to change.

Its scales are falling off, its flesh is turning inside out, and its snake bones and fangs are deformed, like a poorly made animation with transition frames added with one click.

Soon, this giant snake, which was originally about the size of a human, also transformed into... the image of a "Diviner".

A young man wearing a dark blue robe, with his white hair loose and barefoot with his hands behind his back, floated in mid-air, his body wrapped in chains of Pure Qi.

"Diviner!"

Jian Cunyi called out the other person's name sharply.

The white-haired youth smiled and nodded slightly.

"It's me, Daoist Jian, Lin Yu... We meet again."

"You two are as good as ever... No, Lin Yu, you're even better than I imagined."