Ten Thousand Souls Banner Destroyed

Faced with the Holy Maiden's furious close-quarters attack, her fingertips crackling with corrosive, malevolent energy that gnawed at the very soul, Mo Yuan felt a death threat unlike any he had ever experienced. The gap between Qi Refining level seven and half a step into Foundation Establishment was laid bare in this instant. To take the hit head-on would mean certain death!

In a flash of lightning, Mo Yuan's Primordial Comprehension was pushed to its absolute limit, his combat instincts surpassing conscious thought. He didn't choose to block or retreat, but instead made an incredibly risky move—his body folded backward like it had no bones, narrowly dodging the claws aimed at his crown. Simultaneously, he pushed his Ghost Shadow Footwork to its extreme, his form sliding sideways and backward like a slippery loach!

"Screeech!"

The Holy Maiden's claws grazed Mo Yuan's chest, tearing through his robe instantly and leaving five gouges deep enough to see bone. The malevolent energy clinging to them burrowed into the wounds like living creatures.

Pain surged through him, and Mo Yuan grunted, but his eyes grew colder and sharper. As he used the momentum to retreat, his left hand, which had already gripped a golden talisman, activated it in a flash!

"Buzz!"

A blinding golden light erupted, exploding like a miniature sun between them! The talisman wasn't of high grade, but its intensely yang and rigid energy had a powerful disruptive effect on yin and evil cultivation techniques. The Holy Maiden, caught off guard, squinted as the golden light pierced her eyes, her movements faltering.

This was the moment of hesitation!

Mo Yuan, enduring the intense pain and the erosion of the malevolent energy, slammed his right hand, holding the Thunder Dragon Evil-Slaying Spear, into the ground!

"Earth Vein, Thunder's Call!"

He frantically circulated the trace of Earth Vein affinity he'd obtained from the Thunderglory Dragon King, along with his recent perception of the mine's yin veins, to forcibly draw out a wisp of thin lightning energy suppressed deep within the earth by the evil formation. He channeled it through the spear towards the pursuing Holy Maiden!

"Crack!"

A small, yet incredibly condensed, earth-yellow lightning snake shot out from the ground, striking the Holy Maiden's ankle! The attack lacked the power to heavily injure her, but it successfully interrupted her pursuit, causing her to pause.

"Cunning brat!" The Holy Maiden roared in fury. Just as she was about to pounce again, Uncle Nine's angry shout came from behind her!

"Fiendess, cease your arrogance!"

It turned out that in the mere few breaths Mo Yuan had spent desperately holding off the Holy Maiden, Uncle Nine had already unleashed his power! His Peach Wood Sword shone with a solid golden light, his feet traced the Big Dipper, and he chanted an incantation: "Five Stars Guard the Radiance, Light Illuminates the Netherworld... Haste, as the Law Commands!"

The Mount Mao secret art—Five Thunder Incantation—reappeared!

But this time, wielded by Uncle Nine, who had reached Foundation Establishment, its power was incomparable to before! Five bolts of silver heavenly lightning, each as thick as a bowl, didn't appear from nowhere. Instead, they drew upon the faint lightning power contained within the rock strata above the cave, descending like divine punishment from the Thunder God, carrying immense heavenly might, and striking the three Golden Armored Corpses and the blood pool formation!

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The thunderous roar was deafening, and the entire cave seemed on the verge of collapse! The three Golden Armored Corpses, suppressed by the intensely yang heavenly lightning, let out piercing wails. Their heavy armor shattered, black smoke billowed out, and they were instantly heavily wounded, their movements becoming sluggish.

Meanwhile, the Soul Refining formation surrounding the blood pool was shaken to its core by the impact of this supremely rigid and yang lightning power. Its light dimmed drastically, causing the remaining seven elders to simultaneously spit out blood. The formation was on the verge of collapse! The phantom image of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner also became extremely unstable, as if it could shatter at any moment.

The Holy Maiden's face changed drastically. She hadn't expected Uncle Nine's lightning techniques to become so powerful after breaking through to Foundation Establishment! If the formation was destroyed and the Ten Thousand Souls Banner failed to be refined, not only would her prior investment be wasted, but she would also face severe punishment from the sect.

"Protect the formation!" the Holy Maiden shrieked. Forgetting Mo Yuan entirely, she flickered back to the high platform, summoning the bone jar in her hand. She spat a mouthful of vital blood onto it, and the bone jar erupted with dark light, transforming into a black barrier that barely shielded the core of the faltering Soul Refining formation. The seven injured elders also desperately suppressed their wounds, madly channeling their evil energy to stabilize the formation.

Mo Yuan's pressure eased considerably. He immediately took the opportunity to retreat, quickly retrieving and consuming pills to suppress the malevolent energy in his wounds while circulating his spiritual power to heal. He looked at Uncle Nine, who was battling the Golden Armored Corpses and the formation's barrier, and was inwardly shocked by the power of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

"Mo Yuan!" Uncle Nine said urgently, while controlling his Peach Wood Sword to continuously bombard the barrier with lightning, "The core of this evil formation is connected to the underground yin veins. A direct assault will be difficult to break quickly! You possess a rare treasure and keen senses, quickly find its weak points in energy flow or the key connection to the yin veins! Only by severing its roots can this banner be thoroughly destroyed!"

"Understood!" Mo Yuan mustered his strength, closed his eyes, and spread his divine sense to its limit, while simultaneously communicating with the Soul Cleansing Banner in his sea of consciousness and the Thunder Dragon Evil-Slaying Spear in his hand.

The Soul Cleansing Banner was sensitive to soul power and resentment. The Thunder Dragon Evil-Slaying Spear was sensitive to energy fluctuations, especially yin and evil energy.

In his perception, the entire cave seemed to transform into a massive energy vortex. Countless yin and malevolent energies were being drawn from all directions, especially from the depths of the earth, converging into the blood pool, and then injected into the phantom image of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner through the seven elders and the Holy Maiden.

Directly beneath the blood pool, a spot pulsed like a heart, emitting the purest and most concentrated yin vein aura—that was the core where the formation's eye connected to the earth's yin veins!

"Master! Three feet below the blood pool!" Mo Yuan's eyes snapped open, and he pointed to the bottom of the blood pool.

Uncle Nine's eyes flashed with brilliance: "Good!"

He suddenly tossed his Peach Wood Sword into the air, formed hand seals, and his spiritual power surged like a sea: "Heaven and Earth Without Limits, Yin and Yang Borrowed Power! Break!"

The Peach Wood Sword transformed into a golden rainbow. It didn't attack the black barrier, but instead acted like a drill, carrying an unstoppable pure yang energy and residual lightning power, fiercely stabbing towards the bottom of the blood pool indicated by Mo Yuan!

"No!!" The Holy Maiden let out a desperate scream, wanting to stop him but it was too late!

"Boom--!!!"

An extremely muffled, yet seemingly deep from the earth's core, roar echoed! The Peach Wood Sword accurately struck the formation's eye core.

The entire cave shook violently, its walls cracking, and the blood pool boiled and churned! The black barrier maintaining the formation shattered like glass, the bone jar let out a mournful cry, and its light dimmed as it flew back into the Holy Maiden's hand.

The seven elders suffered a terrifying backlash, screaming in unison as their bodies were flung like tattered sacks, crashing against the cave walls, their fates unknown.

The phantom image of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner let out a resentful shriek, twisted and fluctuated violently, and finally, with a "bang," completely dissipated into a sky full of black mist, slowly vanishing!

The evil formation was broken! The Ten Thousand Souls Banner was destroyed!

"Pfft!" The Holy Maiden spat out a large mouthful of blood due to the damage to her magic artifact and the formation's backlash. Her face turned deathly pale, her aura becoming extremely weak.

She glared at Uncle Nine and Mo Yuan with utter venom. Knowing the situation was lost, she unhesitatingly crushed a blood-red jade talisman inscribed with a complex skull pattern!

"Blood Shadow Escape!"

A dense stream of blood-red light enveloped her, instantly tearing through space and transforming into a blood-red line. She fled towards the outside of the mine with incredible speed! She didn't even bother with the three injured Golden Armored Corpses.

"Trying to run?" Uncle Nine snorted. Just as he was about to pursue, he saw the Blood Shadow Escape technique was bizarrely swift. In the blink of an eye, it reached the cave entrance. If he were to forcefully intercept, there might be residual energy that could injure Mo Yuan or cause a larger disturbance, so he could only let it go.

The three Golden Armored Corpses, having lost control, were casually turned into charcoal by a few lightning talismans from him.

The cave was a mess, and the evil energy began to slowly dissipate. Mo Yuan walked to Uncle Nine's side, looking at the spot where the Ten Thousand Souls Banner had vanished, and breathed a sigh of relief, "Master, we succeeded."

Uncle Nine nodded, but there wasn't much joy on his face. He gazed in the direction the Holy Maiden had fled and said gravely, "It's a shame we let that fiendess escape. The Blood Shadow Escape she used is a secret Demonic Dao technique with a great cost, but it's incredibly fast. It seems her status in the Black Fiend Sect is extraordinary. We have made a deep enemy this time, and she will surely be a major threat in the future."

He paused, looked at Mo Yuan's still-bleeding wound, and his tone turned concerned, "How is your injury?"

"The malevolent energy has been expelled by this disciple; my physical injuries are not serious." Mo Yuan circulated his spiritual energy, and the wounds began to heal.

"This time, I am greatly indebted to you for accurately locating the formation's core," Uncle Nine praised. "Without that, even if I could have won, it would have cost me dearly, and it might have even allowed the Ten Thousand Souls Banner to partially manifest its power."

The two quickly cleaned up the battlefield, using true fire to incinerate the bodies of the black-robed cultists and the remains of the golden-armored zombies, completely erasing any trace. As for the yin-sha energy pervading the depths of the cave, it could not be purified in a short time and would have to wait for later.

By the time they left the Profound Yin Mine, dawn was approaching. Although this fierce battle had successfully destroyed the Ten Thousand Souls Banner and severely wounded the Black Fiend Sect, the Holy Maiden's escape meant the turmoil was far from over. The undercurrents in the Provincial City and even the wider world might have only just begun to surge.

Mo Yuan followed Uncle Nine, treading through the morning dew as they returned to their residence in the Provincial City. This battle allowed him to personally experience a life-or-death struggle with a high-level cultivator, deepening his understanding of artifact usage and timing.

He touched the Soul Cleansing Banner he was nurturing in his embrace, feeling the merit power within it grow stronger. His path of future cultivation became clearer and more resolute.

Upon returning to the small courtyard, Uncle Nine set up a restriction and said to Mo Yuan with a grave expression, "This place is not suitable for staying long. The Black Fiend Sect has suffered a great loss and will surely retaliate fiercely.

We need to leave the Provincial City as soon as possible, partly to avoid their initial onslaught, and partly to inform the main sect of Mount Mao, so they can prepare defenses."