Chen Ming waved his hand, and poisonous insects flew out of the White Bone Demon Pot, landed on the purple chains, and nibbled at them.
The purple chains were devoured in an instant.
Those purple chains had taken shape from the Supernatural Ability Purple Light Spirit Trapping Scroll, which Fuyunzi had cultivated.
When Chen Ming's poisonous insects broke his Supernatural Ability, Fuyunzi immediately suffered a backlash. He grunted, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, and pointed at Chen Ming. "You, you, you..."
"Your household's Old Ancestor is at the Origin Return Realm. What are you supposed to be?" Chen Ming snapped coldly.
Fuyunzi was momentarily at a loss for words. His chest tightened with indignation, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Judging by your methods, you're a demon too. No wonder you'd save this beast!" Fuyunzi said, clutching his chest.
With Chen Ming's help, Wuhun had now escaped the purple chains, though he was in a terrible state.
He cried out, "Wah, wah," sending gusts of Soul Hooking Wind toward Fuyunzi.
"I only wanted to devote myself to cultivation. Why is it so difficult?
"When I was at Vast Mountain, I hid in a cave to cultivate and never fought with anyone.
"When the spiritual energy of Vast Mountain went awry, I came here. I only gained Incense and Fire because I helped ordinary people with their troubles!
"When I entered this temple, it was the people of the city who invited me. I merely went along with it!
"I'm a Ghost Cultivator, a demon, the beast you call me. But all I wanted was to cultivate in peace. I never meant to hurt anyone!
"Why?
"Why!
"Why keep hounding me? What did I do wrong?!"
"Just because you wear the name of a righteous sect, and your ancestor was at the Origin Return Realm, you think you can bully me like this? How can you bully me like this?!"
Wuhun's eyes glowed red. His cries rose and fell like a sobbing lament, imbued with magic power. In Fuyunzi's ears, they thundered like a storm!
Wuhun raised the White Bone Staff high and said mournfully:
"Today, I finally understand how to live!"
"All that patience was a joke. There's only one answer: kill, kill, kill!"
Wuhun disregarded the damage to his own essence, drove his magic power, and summoned the White Bone Staff. Again and again, he unleashed Soul Hooking Wind, sketching the phantom shape of an old crow in the air.
"Caw!"
The phantom crow opened its beak and cried out. The sound shook Fuyunzi's Divine Soul, which seemed to be blown right out of his body, lurching and staggering as it emerged.
Although Fuyunzi was injured, the moment his Divine Soul left his body, he jolted awake. Purple light shone from both his body and his Divine Soul, answering each other from afar.
In the blink of an eye, the purple light joined together and transformed into a gleaming jade scroll—the manifested Supernatural Ability known as the Purple Light Spirit Trapping Scroll. It yanked Fuyunzi's Divine Soul back into his body.
With his Divine Soul returned to its place, Fuyunzi broke out in a cold sweat. He hurriedly activated his Supernatural Ability, surrounding himself with purple light.
But Wuhun had spent his whole life timidly clinging to survival; now, he had forgotten all about life and death.
He fused with the phantom crow without a second thought and charged at Fuyunzi.
"Bang!"
The protective purple light around Fuyunzi stopped Wuhun.
But Wuhun didn't retreat. He burned through his magic power and body, and the phantom crow shrieked with a terrible cry.
A gale roared, and purple light blazed!
When everything settled, the phantom crow had vanished.
A gaping hole had been bored through Fuyunzi's body.
He reached to cover it, but the hole was too big. There was no way to plug it.
"Guh... guh..."
Fuyunzi made a strange sound. He turned toward Blue Lotus Monk as if to say something, but the words wouldn't come.
Blue Lotus Monk remained calm and said mildly, "Are you asking me to save you?"
"But my sect's Old Ancestor isn't at the Origin Return Realm, and my own abilities are meager. I wouldn't dare invite trouble and entanglements!"
Hearing this, Fuyunzi gave up hope. His body crashed to the ground, and his Divine Soul fled it, riddled with cracks and ready to shatter with a brittle snap.
Deep within his Divine Soul, a flash of purple light suddenly flickered out and landed in the Purple Light Spirit Trapping Scroll in the air.
The Purple Light Spirit Trapping Scroll gave off an arcane aura, connecting to the void.
"Rumble!"
A dense purple light descended from the void and landed on the Purple Light Spirit Trapping Scroll.
"Fuyunzi! How could he have died!"
"Who killed Fuyunzi?!"
Amid an angry shout, the Purple Light Spirit Trapping Scroll burst apart, transforming into a dense mass of purple light from which a phantom figure appeared.
The phantom gradually solidified, becoming a Daoist.
He was none other than the head of the Divine Firmament Sect, the Spirit Condensation Realm cultivator True Person Suyuan!
However, he had only arrived through the void by means of the Purple Light Spirit Trapping Scroll. What had appeared was merely a clone of True Person Suyuan.
Fuyunzi was a descendant of the Divine Firmament Sect's founding ancestor. Though he was already of the ninth generation, he held a special place within the sect.
To protect Fuyunzi, True Person Suyuan had left many safeguards on him.
He never expected his Secret Method to be triggered and bring him here, only for him to find Fuyunzi's corpse.
True Person Suyuan shifted his gaze to Chen Ming and Blue Lotus Monk.
"You demon!"
"So Blue Lotus Divine Monk colluded with a demon to kill a disciple of my Divine Firmament Sect!"
"He was a bloodline descendant of my sect's founding ancestor!"
Seeing that only Chen Ming and Blue Lotus Monk had the power to kill Fuyunzi, True Person Suyuan decided they must be the culprits.
Chen Ming smiled. "Is this how the Divine Firmament Sect always conducts itself?"
Blue Lotus Monk recited a Buddhist invocation. "I wouldn't dare make such a claim. I'm not close to them!"
"Wuhun said something I think was absolutely right: patience is a joke. The only way to contend is through killing!"
The White Bone Demon Pot in Chen Ming's hand soared into the sky. Countless insects poured out, and Karma Poison Smoke filled the air.
True Person Suyuan's clone looked astonished. "Demon, you know I'm from the Divine Firmament Sect and still dare to attack? If I weren't here as a clone, I'd trap you and refine you to death!"
"Spare me the big talk. Today I'll kill your clone; one day, I'll wipe out the Divine Firmament Sect!"
Chen Ming spoke in earnest. He had truly formed the intent to kill.
The Divine Firmament Sect had acted so brazenly that he had already offended them. There was no making peace now.
The Divine Firmament Sect still had some foundations, but those belonged to the past.
Now, True Person Suyuan was their only Spirit Condensation Realm cultivator. Others showed the sect respect and were mindful of their ties to it.
But Chen Ming didn't care about any of that. In an instant, Karma Poison Smoke and insects had swallowed True Person Suyuan's clone.
True Person Suyuan's clone formed hand seals and blasted out streak after streak of purple light. Each had the power of the Spirit Condensation Realm.
But it was only a clone; it couldn't possibly withstand Chen Ming's Supernatural Ability.
"I've memorized your aura. And you, Blue Lotus Monk—you deserve to die too! Is Lotus Temple looking to start a war with my Divine Firmament Sect?"
True Person Suyuan's clone gradually faded away, but he was still hurling threats.
"So True Person Suyuan won't mistake me for colluding with a demon, and to preserve the friendship between Lotus Temple and the Divine Firmament Sect, please leave this clone here."
At his words, Blue Lotus Monk raised an eyebrow, joined his palms, and silently began reciting scripture.
A blue lotus appeared beneath his feet, swaying as it released sandalwood incense and sealed off the surrounding area.
No one knew what method Blue Lotus Monk had used, but True Person Suyuan's body stiffened, and his movements slowed.
Chen Ming seized the opportunity. Karma Poison Smoke corroded True Person Suyuan's clone, then swept him up and dragged him into the White Bone Demon Pot.
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