[Myriad Coexistence] Still Offered Too Many Tricks

The black wind in the black-robed elder's palm spun faster and faster, and a miniature pavilion gradually took shape.

A dragon coiled atop the pavilion—a mirage dragon wreathed in black mist, with deer antlers, a red mane, reverse scales, and the body of a flood dragon.

Gazing at the hideous, terrifying mirage dragon, Zhang Yuan frowned. He secretly used the Dao status of six-turn qi refinement to sense and deduce the origins and effects of this divine ability.

The divine ability was called [Mirage Wind]. Composed of three earthly baleful forces—[Mirage Tower Baleful Force], [Wind Calamity Baleful Force], and [Heavenly Tribulation Baleful Force]—it could bewilder the mind and soul and destroy the physical body.

It was immensely powerful. An ordinary practitioner of six-turn qi refinement could only dodge it, but for Zhang Yuan, contact did not necessarily mean death.

The black dragon's eyes were ferocious. He soared from the pavilion beneath him, whipping up black mist and raging winds that enveloped the mountain forest in an instant. His palm-sized body expanded to several dozen feet, and he swam through the mist, waiting for an opening, murderous intent radiating from him.

Zhang Yuan stood motionless.

The black-robed elder could not quite gauge Zhang Yuan's strength. He stopped hesitating and immediately sent the mirage dragon concealed in the mist to kill him.

The mirage dragon was not truly corporeal; his essence was swirling black wind. Yet wherever he passed, every tree in the forest snapped apart. His sharpness rivaled any divine weapon or treasured blade.

Boom!

The mirage dragon slammed into Zhang Yuan.

"He didn't dodge?"

The black-robed elder froze briefly, then delight flashed in his eyes.

He had great confidence in the power of his divine ability. Even if his opponent was a mighty nine-turn divine ability wielder with three divine abilities, a direct hit would leave him gravely wounded, if not dead!

That would give him ample opportunity to flee or kill his opponent!

Black mist filled the air, obscuring the forest.

Just then, Chen Qinkuai, who had fainted from lack of air, perhaps heard the commotion and climbed to his feet, clutching his head.

Seeing Chen Qinkuai, the black-robed elder frowned in bewilderment.

[Mirage Wind] was incomparably sharp, capable of easily severing a massive tree three meters thick. Even if he was not its target, his mortal flesh should have been torn to pieces long ago. How was he still alive?

No!

The black-robed elder's pupils trembled as he realized something was wrong.

The next moment, a stream of clear qi dispersed the black mist filling the mountain forest, revealing Zhang Yuan where the mirage dragon had struck him.

Zhang Yuan stood firm and utterly unscathed. A cool, pleasant breeze now circled his body.

[Ninefold Harmonizing Qi]!

The divine ability Xiao Yuanjun had mounted for him was [Severing Past and Present, Leaving No Trace]. Even though [Myriad Coexistence] was his life-bound divine ability, he could not switch it at will. To mount a different divine ability, he had to let Xiao Yuanjun know.

He had no idea where Xiao Yuanjun was, so telling her face-to-face was certainly out of the question.

But aside from speaking in person, there was another way.

While the black-robed elder was forming the mirage dragon, Zhang Yuan had secretly tugged twice on the connection through [Myriad Coexistence], testing the tacit understanding between master and disciple.

Judging by the result.

Their tacit understanding had passed the test. The divine ability mounted through [Myriad Coexistence] had successfully switched to another of Xiao Yuanjun's divine abilities, [Ninefold Harmonizing Qi].

[Ninefold Harmonizing Qi] provided both defense and healing, and its gentle breeze could calm the mind as well. It countered the black-robed elder's [Mirage Wind] on every front.

The black-robed elder stood frozen.

Zhang Yuan had blocked [Mirage Wind] with a divine ability, rendering it ineffective.

In a clash of divine abilities, there had to be a winner and a loser. Failing to overcome his opponent was within his expectations.

But... why did his opponent have four divine abilities?!

That was what the black-robed elder could not understand. He had clearly already seen all of his opponent's divine abilities.

Three life-bound divine abilities: an escape art divine ability, a concealment divine ability, and that iron-chain divine ability.

Where had this fourth divine ability come from!

The black-robed elder could puzzle over it a hundred times and still find no answer.

Zhang Yuan could not be bothered to explain. He tugged once on [Myriad Coexistence].

[Ninefold Harmonizing Qi] switched to [Fivefold Body-Rending Qi].

Imitating the way Xiao Yuanjun wielded her divine ability, Zhang Yuan flicked his bright red sleeve.

A foul wind laden with filthy qi blew past, and the black-robed elder's flesh immediately dissolved, leaving only a skeleton.

The mounted offensive divine ability is still weaker than when its true owner uses it. If Xiao Yuanjun had cast it, there probably wouldn't even be bones left, Zhang Yuan thought.

[Fivefold Body-Rending Qi] had five depredations: flesh, the five viscera, the mind, the seven corporeal souls, and the three ethereal souls.

When he had cast it just now, only the depredations of flesh and the five viscera had taken effect. He could not unleash the remaining depredations of the mind, the seven corporeal souls, and the three ethereal souls.

The offensive divine ability's diminished power was not due to [Myriad Coexistence], but to Zhang Yuan's own insufficient Daoist attainment. Even with the divine ability in hand, he could not bring out its full power.

To unleash its complete might, he would have to understand the fundamental imago of [Fivefold Body-Rending Qi], then comprehend the three imagos of heavenly dipper and earthly baleful forces that composed it. The process was extremely cumbersome.

By contrast, although [Severing Past and Present, Leaving No Trace] and [Ninefold Harmonizing Qi] are also weaker than when Xiao Yuanjun casts them herself, that's because of my six-turn qi refinement realm, not a difference in Daoist attainment.

Once his realm rose, Zhang Yuan would be able to reproduce those two divine abilities perfectly, no different from Xiao Yuanjun casting them herself.

While Zhang Yuan was pondering this.

Nearby, the newly awakened Chen Qinkuai stared at Zhang Yuan's crimson wedding robe, vivid as blood, and terror all but spilled from his heart.

He had been unable to speak while the black-robed elder was choking him, but he had still been able to hear Zhang Yuan.

Clad in blood-red robes, ruthless and vicious, treating other people's lives as worthless grass.

He was even more terrifying than the black-robed elder.

This man had to be an evil fiend of the outer dao among the Immortal Masters!

Gulp.

Chen Qinkuai swallowed. Trembling with fear, he crawled before Zhang Yuan, dropped to his knees, and kowtowed.

"This lowly one was only passing through! Have mercy, great Immortal Master! Have mercy, great Immortal Master!"

Hearing the commotion, Zhang Yuan came back to himself and looked at Chen Qinkuai kowtowing before him, feeling somewhat speechless.

He did not consider himself a particularly good person.

He had saved Chen Qinkuai only because he happened to be able to, lending a hand in passing.

If saving someone posed a risk of death, never mind rescuing them—he would seize the opportunity to run instead.

Even so, Chen Qinkuai begging him for mercy as soon as he woke up showed a real lack of discernment.

Was he really more frightening than the black-robed elder?

"I'm not a bad person. I've already killed the real villain. You're safe now. Get up," Zhang Yuan said, gentle as a warm breeze.

The bad person was already dead?

Chen Qinkuai raised his head and, sure enough, saw that the black-robed elder who had tried to strangle him was now a skeleton standing in the wind.

He'd killed someone...

Shaking all over, Chen Qinkuai hastily lowered his eyes and kept kowtowing. "Immortal Master, this lowly one saw nothing! I absolutely won't report this to the authorities..."

Zhang Yuan: ...

Knowing Chen Qinkuai was not listening, Zhang Yuan could not be bothered to keep patiently explaining. He prepared to communicate another way.

"Get up and answer a few questions. If your answers satisfy me, I'll let you leave. Otherwise, you can stay here with this man," Zhang Yuan said coldly.

His voice was indifferent and level, as though stating an indisputable fact, fully displaying the manner of a wicked cultivator of the demonic dao.