A duel of arts, "Diviner" vs. "Feng Shui Master"!
Lin Yu and Qin Siyu's figures completely faded away. In Jian Cunyi's perception, the two had completely left the territory of the Duxuan Sect.
To be honest, his current condition is not very good.
As the "Diviner" Leng Jing stated, forcibly pulling oneself away from the operating array, especially when the blood essence had already corrupted Formation, was akin to jumping off a speeding Vehicles.
Even though he is a "Tier 4" being with many methods to nourish his soul and his soul strength is relatively high, Jian Cunyi's soul is currently on the verge of trembling and almost splitting apart.
But...
Jian Cunyi now had no distracting thoughts in his mind.
Fear, worry, tension—none of it exists.
After all...
First of all, Lin Yu and Qin Siyu have left safely.
That "Director" truly lives up to his reputation as a rising star of "Order," possessing exceptional abilities. He managed to escape unscathed even under such circumstances—and even managed to bring Qin Siyu with him.
This relieved Jian Cunyi of any worries.
If the "Director" is truly trapped here and something bad happens to him because of his own actions, then Jian Cunyi... will indeed feel guilty.
Given his personality and sense of responsibility, he absolutely could not accept such a thing happening.
Fortunately, the "Director" didn't put himself in that situation.
"Although I don't know how you did it, or what the principle was... but thank you," the Director. "I guess I owe you a small favor."
Jian Cunyi sighed inwardly.
"But thinking about it this way... Brother Lin is indeed quite remarkable, managing to keep both me and the 'Diviner' from figuring out how he did it—was it through the manipulation of 'Desire'? But how did 'Desire' achieve that?"
Jian Cunyi had some doubts.
He was quite certain that the "Diviner," like himself, hadn't figured out what methods Lin Yu had used.
After all, Jian Cunyi well aware of Leng Jing's strength, and even more so of Leng Jing's personality.
Given that guy's character and style... if he had figured out how Lin Yu managed to break through his blood curse, he would have definitely taken action!
But the Diviner did nothing from beginning to end.
This convinced Jian Cunyi... the other party hadn't figured out how Lin Yu escaped either!
Therefore, Jian Cunyi could rest assured about this matter—because Leng Jing didn't even know how they left, so it was even less likely that she would harm them after they left.
So... what I need to do next is very simple: just try to kill him here.
This is another reason why Jian Cunyi this moment.
Since the "Diviner" advanced to the "Tier 4," he has had very few opportunities to catch this guy in person.
This guy is always deliberately avoiding me... and the Diviner himself is also a master of avoidance.
Even though his search skills were already quite advanced, after advancing to the "Tier 4," he could only catch him a handful of times.
And right now... although it's a "predicament," or even a "killing trap," that Leng Jing deliberately set up for himself, in Jian Cunyi's view...
This is a tremendous opportunity!
Because, in order to kill and completely trap oneself, even a "Diviner" has to come in person.
After all, he was the seventh-ranked expert on the Rankings, and he had officially activated the Tier 4 of his "Heart Domain"!
He wanted to eliminate his own opportunity, and this was also the best time for him to eliminate the other.
This is why Jian Cunyi completely disregarded the risk of his soul tearing apart and shattering, and forcibly broke free from the Formation.
On the one hand, the situation was indeed urgent—Jian Cunyi the power of the Diviner's [Red Gold Compass].
After all, he already had a replica made based on the other party's [Red Gold Compass].
If this [Compass] is put into practice, the "Director" might really have a hard time escaping.
And another reason is...
Jian Cunyi didn't want to remain on the defensive and wait for his death.
"When--!"
The [Soul-Seizing Bell] shook again, and a grand sound rang out once more.
"Sorry, Brother Cunyi, I won't take care of you in your current unstable state... I'll only take advantage of your weakness to kill you!"
"You gave those 'peppermints' to those two guys, what are you going to do now?"
The Diviner's voice rang out in the sky, and the [Soul-Seizing Bell] shook repeatedly, emitting a loud and piercing sound.
The sound waves, carrying a soul-shattering power, swept towards Jian Cunyi, almost completely shattering his already unstable soul.
But...
Like reeds swaying in the wind, though seemingly on the verge of bending and crumbling, Jian Cunyi's soul remains... intact!
He looked up at the Diviner was activating the [Soul-Seizing Bell]. His eyes were completely bloodshot, and his face was twitching. He was clearly having a splitting headache due to the shock to his soul.
Yet he still retains the ability to move and even speak.
"You say you understand me... but actually, you still don't really care about me."
"That 'peppermint candy' was indeed prepared for the [Soul-Seizing Bell], but from the very beginning... it was prepared to heal others and prevent others from being affected by your [Soul-Seizing Bell]."
"Now that things have come to this, even with my soul damaged, I can withstand this [Soul-Seizing Bell]."
As soon as he finished speaking, Jian Cunyi bit his fingertip and smeared a smear of blood on the back of the Peachwood Sword in front of him.
A cold, sharp glint flashed across the originally wooden, blunt blade.
"Thunder!"
Jian Cunyi pointed the tip of his sword at the Diviner, and a streak of blue-white lightning struck down from the sky!
"Snap!"
This lightning bolt was much thinner than the earth-washing tribulation lightning that Jian Cunyi had summoned earlier; it was only the thickness of ordinary lightning, and its duration was just the instant that a normal Lightning strike would take!
But...
The crisp sound and the thin, white thunderclap caused even the Diviner to Cataclysm drastically.
"Jingle bells!"
The moment the lightning struck, the Diviner raised his hand and threw sixteen copper coins into the air, shielding his head!
The copper coin collided with the lightning, instantly exploding into dozens of blazing white sparks that tumbled and fell to the ground.
Subsequently, although the lightning strike was weakened to the extreme, a thin, static-like wisp of electricity still touched the rapidly retreating Diviner.
And the moment the Lightning touched the Diviner...
"Boom!"
Black flames rose up and instantly engulfed the Diviner.
Amidst the flames, the Diviner's voice rang out. "Jian Cunyi, you've even resorted to such evil Fang Techniques to deal with me!"
Black flames spread, almost engulfing the entire Duxuan Sect, echoing the blood-red aura in the sky.
Jian Cunyi found himself surrounded by the black flames, which swirled around him, creating a vacuum.
He stood in the fireless circle and coldly spoke, "'Karmic Fire' only burns the guilty. You have committed many sins, and this world will naturally record them. Incineration you now... is all your own sin. How can this be considered evil?"
Within the flames, the Diviner's figure was blurred, but his cold laughter still rang out. "You think I don't understand Fang Techniques, Jian Cunyi? This 'Karmic Fire Leads Tribulation' requires killing to refine souls, specifically Living Sacrifice living souls for refining them. It involves fusing the Karmic Obstruction fire of refining living souls into one's own flesh and blood, letting the Karmic Fire Incineration oneself before it can be unleashed."
"How many people did you kill, how many souls did you extract, to master this Fang Techniques to such a degree?!"
The black Karmic Fire flickered and reflected on Jian Cunyi's face. He showed no joy or sorrow, but the bright red birthmark was reflected as a bluish-purple color, like a bruise.
"It wouldn't be difficult to find some people in this Prison Mountain Realm who deserve to die and have fallen into demonic ways."
The Diviner burst into laughter. "Is this your answer? Brother Cunyi, you're truly a remarkable person—is this how you convince yourself?"
"Perhaps everyone you killed deserved to die, and not a single one of them was innocent... but is it their just deserts that you refined their souls?"
"You killed to refine souls, not to punish evil and uphold justice—no matter how you try to cover it up, you are not righteous, Brother Cunyi!"
"After more than ten years of cultivation, is this the crooked path you've come up with?!"
Jian Cunyi said coldly, "I know I won't excuse myself, I understand what I'm doing... but this is my choice. Killing one criminal to save a hundred, is acceptable!"
"To kill a hundred sinners to save all living beings, one can kill!"
"I'll kill them, and I'll kill you too— Leng Jing. Even if I've strayed from the right path, I'm still a hundred times better than a heartless, unfilial, and ungrateful wretch like you!"
"Look at these Karmic Fire —after I mastered this Fang Techniques, I used it to kill a Twelve-Guans Yaomo had devoured countless people. The Karmic Fire burning on that Yaomo were not even a tenth as intense as these now—your demonic nature is so profound, it's simply outrageous!"
"I may tread on gray ground, but you are utterly and undeniably evil. You are a born Demon Lord, devoid of humanity, conscience, morality, greed, and ruthless. Even if I were to fall into hell in this life, I would still utterly annihilate you!"
"Leng Jing! Today... I will drag you down to eternal sleep right here!"
Jian Cunyi spoke, he then stuck the Peachwood Sword into the ground.
Black Karmic Fire rose from his body, scorching him and causing Jian Cunyi's brows to furrow slightly.
But...
As a result, the Karmic Fire on the field Incineration even more fiercely.
But the next moment...
"Buzz--!"
In the sky, the Qimen Formation rotated, and a sudden downpour began!
"Splash!!!"
That Karmic Fire, ignited for sin, should never be extinguished...
Surprisingly, many of them were extinguished by the heavy rain!
The fire... actually started to subside!