Chapter 212: Unwilling to Die with Eyes Open

Here came Ding Huan, gripping the inferior spiritual weapon spear he had taken from Canping, standing at one corner of the trapping and killing array.

His figure was concealed by the concealment array; even Hao Wudao, under normal circumstances, might not spot him with a casual glance, let alone now that he was severely wounded?

Hao Wudao's only thought was to kill Liu Yinzhu and seize Gu Mo's corpse—how could he possibly suspect someone had been hiding here for days?

Though Liu Yinzhu was unharmed, she had zero defense against Ding Huan's Level Three trapping and killing array, and plunged straight into it.

Only moments later, Hao Wudao charged into the trapping and killing array.

Almost simultaneously with Hao Wudao's entry, the trapping and killing array activated, unleashing endless killing blades toward him.

Though grievously wounded, Hao Wudao was still a Primordial Soul realm cultivator; his heart startled, and his focus instantly shifted from Liu Yinzhu to the dense killing blades.

His long knife slashed out in response.

At that very moment, Ding Huan surged forward, his spear unleashing a spear-momentum that slammed into Hao Wudao from the side.

The spear-momentum's killing force resembled that of the trapping array's blades—Hao Wudao assumed this was merely another direction of the array's killing pressure being triggered.

At this point, Hao Wudao had no interest in pondering who had set up the trapping array; four long knives spun, and a dense curtain of blades erupted from him.

Regardless, he had to block these killing blades before breaking the array.

Liu Yinzhu now realized she had entered the trapping array; her heart jolted, and before she could react, Ding Huan's voice rang out:

"Sister Yinzhu, strike quickly at this old bastard."

Liu Yinzhu immediately recognized Ding Huan's voice—she knew him too well; he always seized the moment.

Just as he had killed Canping, he had seized that single breath of opportunity.

Without a moment's hesitation, she turned and charged toward Hao Wudao, her long sword slicing out a sharp blade-rainbow.

Seeing Liu Yinzhu dare to turn back, Hao Wudao's heart rejoiced—he swung another long knife at her.

He wasn't afraid of her attacking him; he feared she wouldn't attack at all, and would flee while he was trapped.

He was severely wounded—if she fled now, he truly had no way to stop her.

As Hao Wudao moved, the killing momentum of Ding Huan's spear changed.

The spear-momentum's killing aura suddenly surged—Hao Wudao felt his Primordial Spirit trembling beneath this single thrust.

How could he not realize that, wounded as he was, his Primordial Spirit was unstable? Otherwise, even if this spear were ten times stronger, it wouldn't shake his Primordial Spirit.

He clearly understood: this spear thrust was the true danger within the array's killing blades.

Hao Wudao ignored Liu Yinzhu's blade-rainbow entirely, desperately trying to shift his attack.

But wounded as he was, he couldn't make such a change in an instant.

"Puff!" The spear pierced his side, and Hao Wudao felt his Primordial Spirit shattering.

Not only was his Primordial Spirit breaking—the dantian shattered by Gu Mo's grasp now fully collapsed, and his consciousness sea cracked apart.

What an terrifying technique! At this moment, Hao Wudao ignored his injuries entirely—even if he died, he would make this ant pay.

And he was certain he had the power to do it.

"Puff!" Liu Yinzhu's sword-rainbow pierced through Hao Wudao's body; now, Hao Wudao was nearly as torn apart as Gu Mo had been moments before.

Hao Wudao paid no attention to any of this—he retracted all five long knives, then unleashed five deathly knife-qi that completely enveloped Ding Huan's position.

He believed the opponent would surely launch a full assault while his Primordial Spirit was damaged—any cultivator with a functioning brain wouldn't let such an opportunity slip.

This was Hao Wudao's chance—his only chance to kill the attacker.

If he didn't kill Ding Huan today, he would die.

As for Liu Yinzhu—even though she had just worsened his injuries, she posed no threat in his eyes. Once he killed this sneaky bastard, he could leave whenever he wished.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The knife momentum slammed into the Level Three protective array, which shattered like a broken wooden frame.

A trench dozens of zhang long was carved open by Hao Wudao's blade—he exhaled in relief.

Yet when Hao Wudao saw only a single spear lying in the trench, his eyes bulged with rage.

In battle, even when facing death, if you inflict grave damage to the opponent's Primordial Spirit, you must immediately surge your true qi to press the advantage—only then can you kill them.

This was the iron law of cultivator combat: any slight lapse or overconfidence could lead to being devoured in return.

But Hao Wudao had never encountered such a treacherous scoundrel—when the opponent ambushed him with the spear and damaged his Primordial Spirit, he didn't even infuse true qi to paralyze him—he simply abandoned the spear and fled.

What kind of disciple is this? A shameless scumbag.

Ding Huan wasn't a Bai Chi—he knew the moment he realized Hao Wudao was a Primordial Soul powerhouse that he had acted rashly.

Fortunately, this bastard was nearly dead from his wounds.

Even so, Ding Huan dared not follow up with another strike after ambushing Hao Wudao. The instant his spear struck, he dropped it and retreated.

He didn't know how strong a Primordial Soul powerhouse truly was—he only knew caution never led to error; that was experience.

Even if he lost the best chance to slay Hao Wudao, he still had opportunities.

This was his trapping and killing array—he had layered at least a dozen such arrays here.

Waves of dizziness washed over Hao Wudao; he spat several jets of blood, mixed with chunks of internal organs.

He was utterly enraged—this shameless bastard had not only set up a chain of trapping arrays, but had even deployed lowly illusion arrays and poison arrays to target him, a wounded Primordial Soul cultivator.

Under normal circumstances, he could dispel such low-grade illusion arrays without even using the Clear Spirit Spell—but now he felt himself growing weaker by the moment.

His fury reached its peak, yet he had not the slightest thought of reclaiming his dignity—he only wanted to escape now.

He knew he couldn't escape yet—this chained trapping array was beyond his ability to break.

"Puff! Puff! Puff!" The killing blades of the trapping array kept carving bloody wounds into him; the one who ambushed him vanished as if gone.

Hao Wudao dared not wait any longer—he spotted the exit direction and slashed downward.

A flash of light appeared; Hao Wudao didn't dare hesitate a moment—he shot forward.

His speed was less than one percent of his peak—this filled him with bitter humiliation.

"Puff!" Searing pain sent Hao Wudao crashing from the air—he watched as another spear pierced his chest, pinning him to the array, his eyes filled with unbearable resentment.

The light he had cleaved open before his eyes vanished, and he now understood this was still an illusion formation.

He had never broken through the other's killing-trap formation; the other had merely let him feel he had, then lured him into the illusion formation and delivered him straight onto the spear point.

That a mere low-grade illusion formation could affect him filled Hao Wudao with humiliation.

"Who exactly are you? I, Hao, want to die knowing the truth." Hao Wudao did not struggle; he slumped to the ground, his whole body drenched in blood, staring ahead.

"Puh!" A wind blade cleaved into his brow. Feeling his skull split open, Hao Wudao died with eyes unclosed.

Only now did he see Ding Huan step out from a concealed formation at the side:

"Old-timer, when this young master was roaming the jianghu, you still didn't know where you were. Just now, weren't you trying to make this young master come out and self-detonate? You thought too much."

Hearing these words, his Primordial Spirit shattered completely, and his whole body collapsed into the blood.

He truly died with eyes unclosed — self-detonate your granny.

His soul had already been torn apart by that spear strike, and with his severely injured body, where would he find the strength to self-detonate?

Ding Huan's divine sense swept over Hao Wudao's body. Confirming the man was dead beyond any doubt, he waved a hand, swept Hao Wudao's ring away, and at the same time tossed a ball of flame onto the corpse.

Having finally killed this old-timer, Ding Huan let out a breath of relief.

What he'd done today was dangerous; next time he must raise his formation-path cultivation.

If this old-timer hadn't been severely injured, his grade-three killing-trap formation would have been utterly useless.

After pocketing the things, Ding Huan raised a hand and recalled the formation flags.

"Ding Huan, you killed Hao Wudao?" Liu Yinzhu stared in disbelief at Hao Wudao, still burning on the ground.

She, a True Pill realm cultivator, had only been able to flee all the way here, yet Ding Huan had killed Hao Wudao right here.

"Just luck. How is Gumo Sect Master?" Ding Huan glanced at Gumo lying on the ground, his body nearly split apart, and asked casually.

He truly didn't care whether Gumo lived or died; the man was unfit to be a sect master.

Liu Yinzhu finally remembered Gumo. She rushed to his side, took out a pill, and fed it into his mouth:

"Sect Master, what's wrong with you…"

Gumo finally opened his eyes:

"Yinzhu, run…"

Liu Yinzhu said through tears:

"No need to run. Ding Huan saved us. He just killed Hao Wudao."

Hearing that Ding Huan had killed Hao Wudao, something like a thread of strength seemed to flow into Gumo; he actually struggled a moment, and then he saw Hao Wudao's corpse still burning.

"Good, good…"

Gumo managed two "good"s, then could say no more.

"Ding Huan, please save the Sect Master, I'm begging you…"

Liu Yinzhu was on the verge of kneeling to Ding Huan.

Ding Huan said, speechless:

"Sister Yinzhu, I'm not some immortal. Sect Master Gumo is beyond saving — no one can save him."

As if in a final flare of life, Gumo opened his eyes once more:

"Ding Huan, I beg you to become the true Sect Master of Purple Cloud Valley, and let Yinzhu assist you…"

Ding Huan could even kill Hao Wudao — even if Hao Wudao was injured, he was still a Primordial Soul powerhouse.

This also made Gumo see a truth clearly: if he had let Liu Yinzhu be sect master, and Ding Huan chose to turn on them, Liu Yinzhu could only wait for death.

"Heh, forget it. Purple Cloud Valley has been wiped out, and if I'm not mistaken, there isn't a single person left there now." Ding Huan was completely indifferent to Gumo's feelings.

In the distance, Old Six and Yan Mei also walked over. The two greeted Liu Yinzhu, and both looked with sympathy at Sect Master Gumo, who was about to die.

Yan Mei sighed inwardly. Thank goodness Brother Huan had brought them out — now even the Sect Master's life couldn't be kept safe in Purple Cloud Valley. If they had stayed, they would have died even faster.

"You can rebuild Purple Cloud Valley…" Hearing Ding Huan's words, Gumo didn't dare to stop breathing; he didn't want Purple Cloud Valley to end on his watch.

Ding Huan said flatly:

"Even if I wanted to establish a sect, I wouldn't rebuild Purple Cloud Valley. Purple Cloud Valley is gone now, but this place is fine. Wouldn't it be just as good if I established some other sect here?"

Hearing this, not only Gumo but even Liu Yinzhu fell silent.

Ding Huan was right — he wasn't from Purple Cloud Valley, nor had he received any benefit from it.

Being able to live at Chaoxia Peak had only been earned by saving the Sect Master's life.

"Cough, cough…" Gumo coughed twice: "Fine, then. In the beginning, Purple Cloud Valley was also built by seizing someone else's territory. As it came… so it goes…

Yinzhu, after I die, bury me at Zi Yuan is critical… take my ring."

? ￠o

After saying these words, Gumo vomited a great mouthful of fresh blood. In barely a dozen breaths, he drew his last.