Cooperation

Though the remaining palm seals carried force, the core of the technique had already been broken. Hua Yichen needed only two lashes to shatter them.

"This is the Purple Poison Seal, a Devil Race technique. Everyone, be careful."

Hua Yichen warned the others as he gripped his whip and watched Liu Yong warily. The Purple Poison Seal was not an especially formidable technique among the Devil Race; every Devil Race member knew it.

It was easy to learn and practical, making it highly popular.

Yet it gave the Demon Race and humans a headache whenever they saw it. It was not terribly powerful, but the poison carried in those palm strikes was truly troublesome.

When someone used a weapon to break that palm seal, the poison would cling to their weapon. If it could attach itself to a weapon, then catching it with bare hands was out of the question.

Otherwise, once that stuff stuck to them, they would have to peel it off several times before it came clean.

The poison itself was not particularly potent, but it was tormenting. It caused vomiting and diarrhea, weakness throughout the body, and listlessness. Detoxification pills were useless; only pills refined from a special prescription could cure the poison of the Purple Poison Seal, and they had to be taken for seven consecutive days.

For cultivators, who could normally resolve poisoning with one detoxification pill and one Heart-Clearing Pill—and even special poisons with a single pill—needing seven straight days of medicine was exceedingly troublesome.

Moreover, the ingredients needed to cure the poison carried by the Purple Poison Seal were downright revolting. Cultivators felt that the Devil Race had created this technique purely to disgust them.

Feng Wuhen saw Liu Yong repeat his earlier motion, sending another palm strike their way. This palm was darker in color, and its aura was even denser.

Mo Qingran frowned at the sight. "This poison can be neutralized, but this palm strike is clearly much stronger than the last one. My Vine Guard will probably shatter before it can swallow the poison."

Xia Jingcheng was currently dealing with several other array discs Liu Yong had flung out and had no time to help block the Purple Poison Seal. Hua Yichen also knew exactly what would happen if someone was poisoned by it.

It would have been one thing under normal circumstances, but not today. If even one of them was poisoned, Liu Yong would absolutely target them afterward.

Just as Hua Yichen considered sacrificing his Scarlet Dragon Whip, a stream of azure Sword Qi cleaved into the massive purple palm seal at astonishing speed. Azure Sword Qi followed one after another, slashing at the purple palm seal until it turned transparent, before finally chopping it into scraps.

Seeing his younger brother's performance, Shen Ziheng praised him without reservation. "Ahen, you were amazing!"

Feng Wuhen's display also stirred Shen Ziheng and Meng Hongying's fighting spirit. Qin Leyan was not as fired up as those two, but the tune from the clay xun in her hands changed as well.

Shen Ziheng hardened his heart and glared at Liu Yong, who was continuously forming hand seals to activate his array discs. "You think you're the only one who knows arrays? Let me show you mine!"

Shen Ziheng looked toward Feng Wuhen, conveying his plan with his eyes. Feng Wuhen had some tacit understanding with him; once he understood what Shen Ziheng intended, he gave a slight nod.

He tightened his grip on his sword and began gathering power.

Shen Ziheng poured all his spiritual power into Wood Spirit, his bonded artifact. The pearl radiated a dazzling brilliance, and green light spread across every plant in the courtyard.

The plants bathed in green light seemed to have swallowed some miraculous elixir, growing enormously in an instant. Flowering branches of every kind danced through the air as Shen Ziheng, his face somewhat pale, controlled them and lashed them toward Liu Yong.

Liu Yong did not take those flowers and grasses seriously at all. Yet his carelessness swiftly made him suffer a hidden loss. Those branches, which he considered nothing more than wildly flailing limbs, not only struck with tremendous force, but also covered for one another and worked in concert.

Shen Ziheng watched as Liu Yong's face was whipped into a checkerboard by the vines, and instantly felt much better. "Hmph. How could trash like you possibly understand the power of plants?"

Liu Yong had not suffered such humiliation in hundreds of years. Worse, this humiliation had come from an obscure brat, instantly igniting every scrap of his fury.

His gaze at Shen Ziheng seemed ready to cut him into a thousand pieces. As he stared fixedly at Shen Ziheng, Feng Wuhen seized the chance and unleashed the fastest sword strike he could currently use.

"Gale Slash!"

A deep azure stream of Sword Qi raced toward Liu Yong at a terrifying speed. Before it even reached him, Liu Yong felt his grizzled hair flying wildly toward the sky.

Liu Yong felt somewhat nervous as he watched the Sword Qi, but it was only Sword Qi. Had it been Sword Intent, he might have feared it somewhat, but mere Sword Qi could simply be dispersed.

Just as he raised his hand to scatter it, he discovered that the Sword Qi was far too fast. The thoughts in his mind had lasted no more than an instant, yet within that brief moment, the Sword Qi had already arrived before his eyes.

It was too late to disperse it now, but he could still dodge. Just as he turned to evade to the right, a golden light pierced through his chest.

He saw only a flash of golden light and felt pain in his chest. When he lowered his head, he saw that his chest had been cleanly pierced through.

Through the hole, he could see his heart, missing a chunk yet still beating slowly. Feng Wuhen had never expected this strike to kill him; he was merely the feint in a scheme to make noise in the east and strike in the west.

Someone else had prepared the true killing move.

After joining the initial attack against the protective barrier, Qin Xiaoran had not appeared again.

Before Liu Yong removed the protective barrier himself, Qin Xiaoran had silently vanished from Liu Yong's sight while Bing Ling mocked him.

Bing Ling's taunts were partly meant to draw all of Liu Yong's hatred onto himself, making it easier for Qin Xiaoran to hide. Of course, more than that, he simply disliked Liu Yong and did it on purpose.

After Qin Xiaoran vanished before everyone's eyes, he had been continuously gathering power for his strongest killing move, intending to kill with a single strike using the opportunity Feng Wuhen created.

That golden light had been his strongest move thus far—"Golden Light Pierce."

This move could penetrate anything, even barriers. However, the amount of spiritual power required depended on what it was meant to pierce.

There was a considerable gap between Qin Xiaoran's strength and Liu Yong's. To pierce through Liu Yong's body, he had needed to expend more than half his spiritual power.

After unleashing Golden Light Pierce, Qin Xiaoran dragged his exhausted body over. Looking at Liu Yong, whose heart had been pierced yet who still had not died, he sighed. "A scourge lives for a thousand years. You still won't die after this?"

Feng Wuhen stood before Liu Yong with the Jade Bone Sword in hand. Hearing that, he raised his sword toward Liu Yong's neck. "Since he's still not dead, I'll send him on his way."

Liu Yong knew he was about to die, but if he could delay it even a little, he wanted to. Even if those few extra moments would be agony.

"No, don't kill me!"

Liu Yong looked at Feng Wuhen in fear and panic. Clutching the hole in his chest, he gazed at Feng Wuhen pleadingly. "Don't kill me. There are still many things you don't know. Whatever you want to know, I can tell you. So please, let me live a little longer."