Ambush! Great Perfection!
Pain!
An indescribable pain!
It wasn't just the excruciating pain of feeling as if one's body was being torn apart inch by inch.
It originates from the depths of the Dantian and Purple Mansion, from that Dao Path sense of collapse, like the collapse of the heavens and the earth!
Wu Yushan, enduring the weakness and pain that nearly made him faint, took a deep breath.
His face was as white as paper, without a trace of blood, and large beads of cold sweat rolled down his forehead, soaking his tattered clothes.
His teeth clenched so tightly that his gums even bled, mingling with the metallic taste in his mouth.
But at that moment, he was completely oblivious to the physical pain he was experiencing.
His mind and spirit were almost completely absorbed into the chaotic Purple Mansion.
The Qi Refining Great Perfection —a realm that countless cultivators dream of.
Its core purpose is no longer the accumulation of cultivation power, but rather to [forge the Dao Foundation].
Having found a suitable Foundation Establishment material, one uses their own Divine Soul True Essence as a furnace to refine it, thus initially forging a "foundation stone" that supports their own Great Dao.
Although this "Dao Foundation" is not yet fully stable and has not been able to truly support cultivators to step into the Foundation Establishment realm, it is already the prototype of the future ladder to heaven.
It represents the ultimate achievement that Qi Refining Stage cultivator can attain.
Wu Yushan spent a century of painstaking effort and overcame countless hardships to finally find four Yin-attribute Foundation Establishment items that matched his own Cultivation Method. He refined them initially, forming the outline of his Dao Foundation, and stepped into the Qi Refining Great Perfection.
Although there is still a long way to go before truly Foundation Establishment, hope is already in sight.
But just now—just now!
In order to suppress those ants, he had no choice but to forcibly activate the [Dao Foundation], which was not yet fully formed.
Pretending to possess the power of Foundation Establishment!
At that moment, he did indeed briefly possess power almost equivalent to that of Foundation Establishment cultivator.
A single word can determine life and death; he regards all living beings as ants.
But the cost--
The price was that the [Dao Foundation] within the Purple Mansion, which had already begun to take shape and emitted a deep, dark light, was now covered with countless terrifying cracks, like a spider web.
The entire "foundation" was teetering on the brink of collapse, its light dimmed to the extreme.
It looks like it will completely fall apart at any moment!
This unfinished Dao Foundation is like an incredibly complex and intricate jigsaw puzzle, barely pieced together and not yet secured with glue.
Forcibly "lifting" it up to fight the enemy resulted in the devastating destruction of the puzzle's structure.
The connections between the various parts became precarious, and they could fall apart completely at any moment.
"It's over—it's all over—"
A despair a thousand times stronger than the excruciating physical pain washed over Wu Yushan like ice water.
He could clearly feel that his level of cultivation was rapidly declining.
Although it hasn't dropped directly back to the Qi Refining Ninth Layer yet.
But that feeling of perfection has vanished.
Instead, there is a sense of weakness, as if the foundation is crumbling and the building is about to collapse.
More importantly, the damage to this Dao Foundation is almost irreversible.
Once this Dao Foundation completely collapses, he will not only immediately fall back to the Qi Refining Ninth Layer, but even his original foundation at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer will be severely damaged.
This means that his century of ascetic practice has been in vain.
In the future, not only will it be hopeless to reach the Foundation Establishment, but even returning to the Qi Refining Great Perfection will become extremely difficult, with the possibility being extremely slim.
The Dao Path —was almost completely severed!
Situ Huaji!!!
And that scoundrel who secretly plotted against me!!!
I, Wu Yushan, swear to Heaven that if I can survive this calamity...
"I will fight you to the death!!!"
Boundless resentment burned wildly in his heart like poisonous flames, almost threatening to devour his last shred of sanity.
He hated Situ Huaji for destroying his Law Artifact and severely damaging his foundation with a single punch.
I hate even more that treacherous villain who, whose whereabouts are unknown, leaked his information!
Otherwise, why would he have been forced to resort to this forbidden method that would ruin his future?
A strong sense of dizziness kept coming, and the cracks in his Purple Mansion seemed to be widening again. Wu Yushan gritted his teeth and steadied himself.
He must immediately find an absolutely safe place to go into seclusion and try to stabilize this crumbling Dao Foundation.
Even if only a sliver of the foundation can be preserved, it's still better than complete collapse.
Holding onto his nearly depleted vital energy, Wu Yushan recklessly burned his remaining essence Essence Blood, pushing his escape speed to its limit.
They fled desperately toward a more secluded, abandoned cave abode that even few people inside the Yellow Springs Netherworld knew of, a place they remembered.
His figure staggered, looking utterly disheveled.
Ahead, the dim gray light that Wu Yushan had transformed into resembled a flickering candle in the wind, crooked and twisting, yet its speed remained astonishing.
He no longer cared about concealing his whereabouts.
All I wanted was to find a corner to hide in as soon as possible and deal with the crumbling Dao Foundation within my body.
And far behind him.
A faint, ethereal aura, almost blending seamlessly with the air, colorless and formless, perfectly concealing even the slightest fluctuations of Dao intent, was relentlessly pursuing them.
Qi Yun's Divine Sense was firmly locked onto the disheveled figure fleeing ahead, and he felt a chill in his heart.
"That's right—that unparalleled, all-encompassing pressure just now, which looked down on all living beings like ants, was definitely the power of Foundation Establishment True Person!"
Recalling the terrifying scene that had just covered ten miles and instantly killed all the cultivators, Qi Yun still felt a lingering fear.
"I never imagined that a cultivator at the Qi Refining Great Perfection could temporarily wield such power through some Secret Method— "
He secretly rejoiced that he had been cautious enough not to get involved himself.
Otherwise, even with numerous protective measures, one would likely be unable to escape the annihilation that directly affects the Divine Soul and is close to the Foundation Establishment level.
At this moment, he has long since become one of the corpses scattered on the ground.
"However, the price for using such a heaven-defying method must be extremely high." Qi Yun's eyes flashed as he stared at Wu Yushan's almost dissipated escape light.
Judging from his current state, he is at his last gasp, like a lamp running out of fuel.
Like the most patient hunter, he followed at a leisurely pace, trailing them for over a thousand miles.
Finally, on the edge of a desolate mountain range.
Like a bird with broken wings, Wu Yushan crashed headlong into the ruined outline of an abandoned city.
Qi Yun appeared outside the city, stopping behind a patch of withered yellow bushes.
Looking around, there was a county town of considerable size, but it had long since lost its inhabitants.
The tall city walls have collapsed in many places, revealing the dilapidated houses inside.
The streets were littered with rubble and overgrown weeds, and many houses were reduced to charred frames, as if they had endured the double ravages of war and the passage of time.
The cold wind howled through the empty doors and windows, adding to the eeriness of the place.
The entire city was permeated with an atmosphere of death and decay.
"You certainly know how to find a good spot." Qi Yun raised an eyebrow and waved his hand, sending dozens of pure white Thousand Cranes Talisman flying out and silently dispersing.
People poured into this lifeless, abandoned city from different directions and at different altitudes.
Through the shared perception of the Thousand Cranes Talisman, a detailed map of the ruined city gradually and rapidly took shape in Qi Yun's mind.
The street layout, the remaining buildings, and, of course, Wu Yushan, the stumbling, barely breathing target.
Wu Yushan staggered through the waist-high weeds of the street, his body occasionally bumping into broken walls and rubble, but he didn't react at all, stubbornly moving forward in one direction.
Finally, he turned into the southwest corner of the city and plunged into a small temple that was equally dilapidated, with even the plaque fallen and decaying, where he fell into complete silence.
It seems that Ping set up some kind of isolation barrier inside the temple.
"Southwest corner, small temple--" Qi Yun narrowed his eyes slightly.
It was confirmed that there wasn't a single living creature in the city.
Qi Yun's figure once again transformed into that imperceptible wisp of pure energy, drifting into the city like a ghost.
Following the safest path discovered by Thousand Cranes Talisman, avoiding the rubble area that might cause a disturbance, they silently approached the southwest corner.
Take advantage of your weakness and kill you!
If you want to ambush and kill a cultivator at the Qi Refining Great Perfection, even if the opponent is seriously injured and on the verge of death, you must not give him any chance to catch his breath or recover.
Soon, the small, solitary temple standing in the corner of the ruins came into view.
The temple walls are mottled, and most of the roof tiles are missing, revealing the rotten rafters inside.
Qi Yun did not force his way in.
He stood quietly in the shadow of the roof of a relatively intact house opposite the temple.
His gaze swept intently over the seemingly unguarded little temple.
Immediately, he flipped his hand and took out several array plates of different colors, engraved with intricate patterns, from his storage bracelet.
These were all spoils of war that he had accumulated or plundered from the enemy.
While not top-tier, their sheer quantity makes them a powerful asset, and when used in combination, they can produce remarkable effects.
His movements were as swift as lightning, and he moved rapidly around the temple.
While calculating the directions with his fingers, Qi Yun carefully buried the array plates in the ground at specific locations, and used his own True Essence to outline the connecting runes, so that their energy was connected and formed an invisible encirclement.
He set up the [Dragon-Trapping Boulder Formation] in the main direction of the temple gate, aiming to block the space and prevent escape.
A [Lost-Track Phantom Formation] was set up on the side to interfere with Divine Sense and vision.
Furthermore, at several key junctures, they planted a few attack array plates containing the power of thunder and fire as a final killing move.
The entire process was conducted quietly and with great care.
Half an hour later, everything was in place.
Qi Yun returned to the rooftop, his gaze fixed on the silent little temple opposite, as if trying to see through the mottled walls to see Wu Yushan struggling to suppress his injuries and repair his Dao Foundation.
He took a deep breath, slowly raised his hands, and began to form complex and ancient hand Method Formula in front of his chest.
The True Essence throughout his body began to circulate along a specific trajectory, creating a subtle resonance with the Formation Art arranged around him.
A hidden, chilling aura began to quietly spread through the corners of this abandoned city.
Ambush!
Let's begin!