Canyon Death Battle, Kill Nie Wuya

Chapter 45: Death Battle in the Canyon, Slaying Nie Wuya

That hoarse, cold laughter, like ice picks, pierced the thick fog and drilled into everyone's eardrums, making every Xuntian Guard member's heart clench! Deep within the fog, that chilling, deathly aura suddenly surged, sweeping in like a tide, pressing down until it was hard to breathe.

"Form ranks! Defend!" Zhao Kuang reacted with lightning speed, shouting a command like a thunderclap, instantly dispelling some of the mental disturbance caused by the eerie laughter.

The well-trained Xuntian Guard elites immediately sprang into action. The front-line shield-bearers quickly closed ranks, their heavy shields clanging together to form a solid defensive line. The rear-rank crossbowmen knelt on the ground, their poisoned bolts glinting with cold light, aimed in the direction of the sound. Everyone held their breath, their minds focused, standing ready.

Li Yifan stood beside Zhao Kuang, his Nine Yang True Qi circulating at full power, a faint golden-red halo surrounding him, shielding him from the invading chilling energy. His eyes shone with sharp light, locked onto the thick fog ahead. In his spiritual perception, the source of that evil aura was moving slowly, erratically, and was difficult to pinpoint.

"Nie Wuya! Hiding your head and showing your tail, what kind of skill is that! Get out here, damn it!" Zhao Kuang's broad saber was already unsheathed, crimson true qi flowing along the blade, emitting a scorching heat that contrasted sharply with the surrounding cold.

"Hehehehe... Zhao Kuang, you still have that fiery temper." In the fog, that hoarse voice sounded again, with a hint of mockery. "I was cultivating here peacefully, yet you disturbed my quiet, and even injured my spirit servants. You deserve death!"

Before the words even fell, the fog began to churn violently! Accompanied by a grating sound of bones rubbing together and low growls, several dark figures suddenly pounced from the mist!

They were several zombies of various forms! Some wore tattered hunter's clothes, their skin dark blue, their nails sharp; others wore decaying leather armor, like ancient soldiers, with eerie green ghost fire flickering in their eye sockets. They moved with incredible speed and immense strength, exuding a strong stench of decay and malevolent energy, charging straight for the Xuntian Guard's defense line!

"They're refined corpses! Be careful!" Li Yifan warned sharply.

"Fire!" Zhao Kuang ordered without hesitation.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Poisoned crossbow bolts rained down like a storm towards the charging zombies! However, these zombies' bodies were as hard as iron. Most of the bolts merely made "ding-ding-dang-dang" sounds upon impact before bouncing off. Only a few arrows that hit weak points like joints or eye sockets slowed their movements.

"Shield-bearers, hold the line! Spearmen, thrust! Others, form the Small Five Elements battle formation and annihilate these abominations!" Zhao Kuang commanded expertly. He knew they had to deal with these cannon fodder quickly to concentrate their strength on the main threat.

The front-line shield-bearers roared, using their shields to firmly block the zombies' impact, the immense force causing their shields to emit dull, heavy thuds. The rear-rank spearmen took the opportunity to thrust their spears through the gaps in the shields, targeting the zombies' joints and heads. Other members formed small battle formations in groups of three, their saber light flashing, cooperating seamlessly to cut off and surround any zombies that broke through the line.

For a time, the entrance of the canyon was filled with the roar of battle, the clash of metal on metal incessant. The zombies were fearless and immensely strong, but the Xuntian Guard members were well-trained, their battle formations exquisite, and their true qi had a restraining effect on evil entities. For a while, the battle was evenly matched.

Li Yifan did not join the encirclement of the zombies. His gaze remained fixed on the most powerful aura deep within the fog. He knew these refined corpses were merely Nie Wuya's pawns to wear them down and delay them; the real threat lay ahead. He had to find a way to force Nie Wuya to show himself!

"Lord Zhao, Nie Wuya's main body hasn't moved; he's trying to exhaust us!" Li Yifan said in a low voice, his words clearly reaching Zhao Kuang's ears.

Zhao Kuang's face was grim. While parrying a zombie that tried to get close, he transmitted back, "I know! That old ghost is cunning! But if I attack first, the formation will be disrupted, and he can take advantage! We must make him move first!"

As the two communicated, Nie Wuya's eerie laughter echoed from the fog again, with a hint of smugness, "Tsk tsk tsk... The Xuntian Guard indeed has some tricks up their sleeves, but how long can you hold out? My children, put in more effort!"

Following his words, the zombies seemed to be stimulated. Their attacks became even more frenzied, willing to trade injuries. One zombie even lunged forward, grabbed a Xuntian Guard member, and self-destructed! Foul-smelling corpse parts and poisonous blood splattered everywhere, immediately creating a gap in the defense line!

"Not good!" Zhao Kuang's eyes widened in fury, about to rush forward to reinforce.

At this critical moment, Li Yifan's eyes flashed! He caught it! The instant Nie Wuya spoke to command the zombies, his focus momentarily wavered, and a subtle fluctuation occurred in the aura of his hiding place!

The opportunity was fleeting!

Li Yifan moved! Without the slightest hesitation, his Netherworld Ghost Shadow Steps reached their peak. His figure vanished from the spot like a phantom. The next instant, he had already appeared several feet away on the flank, cutting into the fog at a tricky angle! Simultaneously, he brought his right index and middle fingers together. The vast Nine Yang True Qi within him compressed and condensed to a high degree. Crimson light erupted from his fingertips, emitting a scorching and sharp aura!

"Scorching Sun Finger! Evil Banishing!"

With a low shout, a finger-wind, refined like a crimson crystal thread and imbued with the essence of supreme yang and evil banishment, tore through the fog at a speed exceeding sound, accurately striking the source of the aura fluctuation!

This strike was fast! Accurate! Ruthless! It condensed Li Yifan's entire understanding of the perfected Scorching Sun Finger and even integrated a trace of the intent of the perfected Nine Yang Burning Heaven Technique. Although he hadn't used the origin of Nine Yang True Fire, its power had already reached the peak of what he could unleash!

"You dare, junior!" Nie Wuya's startled and enraged roar came from the fog! He never expected this late-stage Muscle Refining youth to have such sharp perception, grasp the timing so precisely, and wield such a fierce finger technique!

The finger-wind arrived in an instant. Nie Wuya could no longer remain completely hidden. A blurry dark figure was forced to reveal itself from the mist. In a hasty move, he unleashed a palm strike, his chilling palm wind meeting the finger-wind!

"Bang!"

The energies collided. The Scorching Sun Finger wind was dispersed, but the pure supreme yang energy caused Nie Wuya's palm to go slightly numb, his figure swaying, his hidden state completely broken!

"There he is! Old ghost, die!" Zhao Kuang's long-awaited opportunity had finally arrived! He roared, his voice shaking the surroundings. Crimson true qi erupted from his body like a volcano. His broad saber blazed with dazzling light. He moved with his saber, transforming into a crimson rainbow that tore through the heavens, striking Nie Wuya, who had just revealed himself, with the force of a thunderbolt!

"Mad Saber -- Soul Sever!"

With this saber strike, Zhao Kuang held nothing back, pushing his early-stage Blood Refining cultivation to the extreme. The saber's momentum enveloped the area, locking down all of Nie Wuya's escape routes, filled with a determination to kill!

Nie Wuya, just forced to reveal himself by Li Yifan's finger strike, his aura momentarily stagnant, and seeing Zhao Kuang's desperate saber strike, his expression finally changed! He felt a fatal threat!

"Netherworld Ghost Shadow!" At the critical moment, Nie Wuya let out a fierce cry. His body swayed rapidly as if weightless, instantly splitting into three indistinguishable real and fake afterimages, fleeing in different directions! This was his life-saving ultimate skill!

However, Zhao Kuang's saber momentum was already formed; how could he escape so easily? The crimson saber aura, as if possessing sentience, suddenly split into three, each striking one of the afterimages!

"Pfft! Pfft!" With two light sounds, two afterimages were annihilated by the saber aura, while the last afterimage was struck fiercely by the lingering force of the saber aura!

"Screech!"

Nie Wuya's true body was forcibly chopped out of its afterimage state. His protective Yin Sha energy fluctuated violently, his black robe torn by the sharp saber energy, and a wound deep enough to see bone appeared on his left shoulder, black blood spraying out!

"Ah!" Nie Wuya let out a pained scream, his eyes filled with disbelief and rage! He had actually been wounded by a junior at the early stage of Blood Refining and a late-stage Muscle Refining!

"You... all of you will die!" Nie Wuya went completely mad. The terrifying aura of the mid-stage Blood Refining realm erupted without reservation. Dense Yin Sha death energy spread outwards like a tangible substance, frost forming on the ground! His hands moved rapidly, chanting incantations, clearly about to unleash some extremely powerful evil technique!

"We can't let him succeed!" Li Yifan's heart pounded with alarm! He knew that if Nie Wuya unleashed his trump card, the consequences would be unthinkable!

At this critical juncture, Li Yifan made his decision! The Nine Yang True Fire, his trump card, had to be used!

He bit the tip of his tongue sharply. The intense pain stimulated him, and his focus became highly concentrated! The Nine Yang Burning Heaven Technique within his body circulated madly at an unprecedented speed. The small-scale Nine Yang True Fire in his Dantian's Qi Sea was completely ignited and stimulated!

"Heart like the blazing sun, burning all evil spirits!"

Li Yifan silently recited the true incantation, pouring all his mental will and Nine Yang True Qi into that wisp of true fire! He formed hand seals, and then, with his right hand's index and middle fingers pointed like a sword, his fingertips no longer emitted crimson light but a dazzling golden-red radiance! A terrifying will that could burn all directions and purify everything soared into the sky!

The chilling fog throughout the canyon, under the impact of this supreme yang will, dissolved and retreated rapidly like snow in boiling water! Even Nie Wuya's monstrous Yin Sha energy faltered!

"What?! This is...?! Impossible!" Nie Wuya felt the scorching and purifying power that made his soul tremble, and let out a scream of extreme terror! He cultivated the Corpse Ghost Secret Tome, and supreme yang, supreme rigid fire was precisely his greatest nemesis!

"Lord Zhao!" Li Yifan roared, his face pale from the immense exertion, but the speck of crimson-gold light on his fingertip shone like the most brilliant star in the world!

Zhao Kuang didn't know what secret technique Li Yifan was using, but the vast, surging pure Yang energy and Nie Wuya's terror made him instantly realize this was the key to victory! Without hesitation, he poured all his remaining true qi into his saber. The blade hummed, and the crimson saber aura surged once more!

"Kill!" Their hearts in sync, they launched their strongest attacks simultaneously!

Li Yifan pointed his finger! That wisp of crimson-gold Nine Yang True Fire, detached from his fingertip, transformed into a thread as fine as a hair, yet illuminating the entire canyon. It shot silently towards Nie Wuya! Where it passed, space itself seemed to be scorched through!

Zhao Kuang, one with his saber, followed closely. His broad-bladed saber, carrying the resolve to obliterate everything, cleaved down fiercely!

Nie Wuya's soul was in his boots. He poured all his strength into transforming the evil art he was brewing into a defense. Dense Yin Sha energy condensed before him into a thick, black bone shield covered in bizarre runes! At the same time, he retreated rapidly!

""Profound Yin Netherworld Bone Shield! Block it for me!"

However, before the Scorching Sun Finger containing Nine Yang True Fire, all Yin evil defenses appeared so pale and weak!

"Chh--!"

There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a faint sound like burning rotten wood. That wisp of crimson-gold true fire easily penetrated the seemingly solid Profound Yin Netherworld Bone Shield, like a hot knife through butter! The bone shield instantly turned red-hot, then dissolved into flying ash!

The true fire's momentum undiminished, under Nie Wuya's despairing gaze, it instantly plunged into his chest!

"Ah--!!!"

A scream, so piercing it was inhuman, erupted from Nie Wuya! His entire body ignited like a torch, crimson-gold flames erupting from within him, outwards! The Yin Sha energy, as if meeting its nemesis, evaporated and dissipated frantically!

"No!!!" Nie Wuya let out a final wail, his body convulsing violently in the pure flames. His skin blackened and cracked, and finally, under Zhao Kuang's relentless, ferocious saber aura that followed—

"Boom!!!"

He exploded completely! Turning into a sky full of swirling black ash! Not even a wisp of his soul escaped!

The mid-stage Blood Refining Corpse Demon Old Monster Nie Wuya, was thus utterly annihilated, body and soul!

The crimson-gold flames slowly dissipated, and Zhao Kuang's saber aura also weakened and dispersed. The canyon fell into a deathly silence. Only the heavy gasps of the Xuntian Guard members and the falling black ash remained.

Everyone stared at the scene before them, dumbfounded, especially at the crimson-gold light on Li Yifan's fingertip that hadn't fully vanished, and his pale yet determined face.

Zhao Kuang, leaning on his saber, gasped for air. He looked at Li Yifan, his gaze complex, filled with shock, relief, and immense admiration. He walked forward, patted Li Yifan's shoulder heavily, his voice hoarse but full of power: "Good kid! Well done... beautifully done!"

Li Yifan's body swayed. He endured the feeling of collapse, swallowed a few pills, and managed a weak smile: "I have fulfilled my mission."

Thus, the demon that had plagued Qing Province was finally brought to justice. Sunlight pierced through the dispersing mist, casting itself upon the canyon, as if drawing a period to this brutal battle against the demon.