Chapter 248: 248. Chapter 245: A Thousand Piles of Snow

248. Chapter 245: A Thousand Piles of Snow

Qi Long could only spare part of his attention to deal with the killing rays within the Level Five Killing Array; fortunately, these rays weren't particularly powerful.

He believed that if he had half a stick of incense—no, even just a few dozen breaths—he could shatter the killing array.

If the killing array broke, what was the sealing array worth?

A mere Level Five array dared to trap him? He sneered inwardly.

As the Meteor Hammers transformed into two streaks of meteoric light and slammed into the killing array, Qi Long summoned another defensive shield.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Violent attacks erupted within the sealing-killing array, true qi exploding across this space.

Qi Long was deeply frustrated: during the time he was blocked by this sealing-killing array—even if only a few dozen breaths—Ding Huan could have escaped ten thousand times.

But what did it matter if he escaped today? Whoever Qi Long wanted dead would eventually be hunted down.

Didn't this Ding Huan establish some Blue Star Sect? He refused to believe the Blue Star Sect could escape too.

After a dozen breaths, Qi Long sensed something was wrong.

He hadn't broken through the sealing-killing array before him—in fact, the array was growing even more stable…

No, it wasn't just the sealing array becoming more stable; the killing array's power had risen by more than one tier.

At this moment, Qi Long finally realized Ding Huan hadn't fled—he was using array flags to upgrade the sealing-killing array.

He recalled how Ding Huan had seemed terrified earlier, dropping dozens of array flags onto the ground.

That wasn't fear at all—it was deliberate. Those flags had vanished, automatically sinking into the original sealing-killing array.

Clearly, Ding Huan had anticipated this very scenario: knowing Qi Long stood at the array's center and would find it hard to enter and plant flags, he'd simply dropped them first, then moved them into position later.

Once he understood this, Qi Long nearly spat blood from rage.

At the same time, he grew even more wary—this meant Ding Huan was a Level Six or higher array master.

That was terrifying. Even in the Ascension Realm, there were only a handful of Level Six or higher array experts.

How had this insignificant cultivator from the Dao Realm become an array master?

He could indeed ignore a Level Five sealing-killing array—but if a Level Six or higher array master was continuously reinforcing and upgrading it, that was an entirely different matter.

If this continued, it wasn't about killing Ding Huan anymore—it was about his own survival.

He no longer cared if he got hurt—he unleashed the Meteor Hammers in a mad frenzy.

Right now, Ding Huan had only upgraded the array to Level Six sealing and killing. What would he use to kill Ding Huan if it reached Level Seven?

No—it wasn't about killing Ding Huan anymore; he himself would be certain to die.

Ding Huan couldn't upgrade the sealing-killing array to Level Seven—he lacked the ability.

But he had a way to kill Qi Long: while perfecting the original sealing-killing array used to kill Qi Yushan, he began laying out a poison array.

The poisons he carried were all collected from the Sword-Hiding Mountain.

This poison could kill Ji Ji Xinting—what chance did a mere True God Realm cultivator have?

As soon as the poison mist entered the sealing-killing array, Qi Long sensed it.

To break through Ding Huan's array as quickly as possible, his true qi flowed at extreme speed, with explosive force.

Under these conditions, the poison mist rapidly saturated Qi Long's meridians and blood.

Qi Long felt his true qi plummeting, his blood beginning to thicken, his Zhou Tian circulation growing sluggish.

At this point, Qi Long was truly panicked—this condition, if prolonged for even half a stick of incense, could cost him his life today.

He regretted it—not because he shouldn't have pursued Ding Huan, but because he'd been so careless.

Qi Long frantically burned his essence blood, and the Meteor Hammers unleashed a violent aura that nearly tore the space apart as they slammed into the sealing-killing array.

If he didn't break the sealing-killing array, he would die.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Repeated hammer strikes slammed into Ding Huan's Level Six sealing-killing array; the sealing array groaned with cracking sounds, and a fissure appeared before Qi Long.

Qi Long rejoiced—he knew this was his only chance.

He summoned his treasure again and burned his essence blood without restraint.

He was certain that one or two more strikes would rip the array open.

But before his next attack could coalesce, a killing ray surged toward him, shaking his soul.

Then he saw Ding Huan seize the Parting Spear and dive down from above the sealing-killing array; the spear's killing aura locked onto the range of his life force.

Qi Long sneered, pouring even more true qi into the Meteor Hammers—his power surged another thirty percent. He'd been waiting for this moment.

He feared only that Ding Huan wouldn't appear. If Ding Huan showed himself, and Qi Long failed to kill this insect, then all his cultivation to True God Realm was worthless.

Boom! Before Qi Long could unleash his Meteor Hammers, he felt his killing aura being torn apart from within—ripped in a spiral fashion.

Worse, his technique collapsed instantly, as if its bones had been shattered.

Was this a soul-splitting technique?

When Qi Long realized this, his soul nearly fled his body.

Not even Ji Ji Xinting, the former leader of the Huangshen Sect Sect, possessed such a technique—it was too terrifying.

"Stop! I surrender! I'm from the Huangshen Sect Sect…"

Qi Long screamed desperately—he'd lost ninety percent of his strength to the poison mist; he was now no stronger than a Void God Realm cultivator.

Though he believed even a Void God Realm cultivator could easily kill Ding Huan, he refused to risk it.

After all, he was trapped inside Ding Huan's sealing-killing array.

Stop? Ding Huan acted as if he hadn't heard.

The Parting Spear's killing aura grew more violent; as it swept toward Qi Long, Ding Huan even felt the killing aura outside the array being drawn in.

At that moment, Ding Huan had a sensation—the killing aura he'd drawn in had gained sentience.

Originally, this spear strike was the second technique among the Nine Techniques: Annihilation.

Now, before Ding Huan's spear strike had fully formed its Annihilation Killing Domain, he sensed the stage of the killing momentum.

It was as if…

Yes, as if this spear strike summoned wave after wave of killing spear veils rushing toward Elder Qi Long.

The space within a hundred zhang grew grim and lethal, the temperature plummeting instantly.

The space itself seemed half-frozen, the world transformed into extreme ice and snow.

Elder Qi Long, beneath this extreme ice and snow, felt icy cold all over; he clearly saw that Ding Huan's spear strike brought forth one after another killing spear veil.

This was unquestionably the power of a Primordial Spirit peak attack; Elder Qi Long no longer cared whether his foundation was sound or not.

He began burning his lifespan; his shattered Divine Domain, torn apart by the Yellow Flower Killing, reformed once more.

Crack! Crack! Crack! The ice-cold force nearly freezing Elder Qi Long shattered and collapsed under his surging aura.

Simultaneously, two meteors, like two dragons of slaughter, were whipped up by Elder Qi Long and hurtled toward Ding Huan's spear veils.

Boom! Boom!

Crack!

In despair, Elder Qi Long realized his two slaughter dragons had merely delayed the spear veils for an instant before being torn into fragments.

Yet these killing spear veils did not stop…

Boom!

The next instant, the killing spear veils slammed into Ding Huan's own trapping and killing array—like a colossal wave surging forth, it shattered Ding Huan's own trapping and killing array into flat ground.

The trapping and killing array vanished; yet Elder Qi Long showed no trace of relief.

He was frozen—not just in body, but in courage—by wave after wave of terrifying ice-cold, lethal spear veils.

"Puff!" The first spear veil struck Elder Qi Long; he clearly saw his own body torn apart.

Tragically, this was only the beginning—the second spear veil struck him, then the third, the fourth…

Elder Qi Long was shredded into fragments by Ding Huan's waves of ice-cold spear veils, yet Ding Huan did not look at him—he was stunned, feeling wave after wave of these spear veils.

He had finally unleashed his Ninth Dao's Third Spear.

Rocks pierce the sky, thunderous waves crash against the shore, rolling up a thousand piles of snow!

This third spear—was a thousand piles of snow.

Ding Huan still did not look at Elder Qi Long; he stared in awe at the parting spear in his hand.

At this moment, he finally understood what the Ninth Dao's Divine Art truly was.

The Ninth Dao's Divine Art he had first cultivated was merely its form.

Only when he comprehended the Third Spear—the Thousand Piles of Snow—did he truly grasp it.

From now on, his Ninth Dao's Divine Art would depart from its original form, slowly evolving into something uniquely his own—Ding Huan's.

Perhaps in the end, only the name "Ninth Dao's Divine Art" would remain the same?

Ding Huan exhaled slowly, retracted the parting spear, and gazed at Elder Qi Long—his body reduced to fragments, his Primordial Spirit like a tattered rag.

It must be said, the Primordial Spirit of a True God is remarkably resilient—even this had not been extinguished.

"Lord Ding, I apologize—please spare my Primordial Spirit. I am an Elder of the Huangshen Sect Sect; I am willing to…"

Ding Huan acted as if he had not heard; he was stunned to discover that his memory contained the Divine Art of Thousand Piles of Snow…

It seemed the scroll's former owner had once faced a powerful foe who described the killing scene of Thousand Piles of Snow in detail—but this version differed greatly from his own.

Ding Huan discarded all of it outright; his Thousand Piles of Snow was his own creation—he needed no borrowed Divine Art.

Ding Huan cut off Elder Qi Long's Primordial Spirit's plea and said coldly:

"Is the Huangshen Sect Sect so impressive? Even Ji Xinting, who once bowed to me as his master, was the Huangshen Sect Sect's leader."

"And you—a mere True God Elder—dare mention the Huangshen Sect Sect to me?"

Elder Qi Long's Primordial Spirit froze. Ji Xinting hadn't ascended? Wasn't dead? Then how could he have become Ding Huan's disciple?

Ding Huan ignored the stunned Elder Qi Long and raised his hand, hurling a fireball toward him.

A True God cultivator like Elder Qi Long never imagined he would die in the Daoist realm—struck down, his soul scattered, his body reduced to fragments.

Ding Huan seized Elder Qi Long's ring, his mood quite pleasant.

Today's greatest gain was not killing Elder Qi Long and acquiring a True God ring—it was his awakening to the true essence of the Ninth Dao, and his comprehension of the Third Spear: Thousand Piles of Snow.

As he departed, Ding Huan reflected that his strength was still insufficient.

Had he not relied on the trapping and killing array he had once set up to kill Qi Yushan for Sang Sang Yuhe, he wouldn't have killed Elder Qi Long—he'd have barely escaped with his life.

After returning, he would greet Liu Liu Yinyu and the others, then set up a teleportation array in the sect before heading to Zangjian Mountain to cultivate.

Only at the cosmic vortex mouth of Zangjian Mountain could his cultivation advance rapidly.

His killing of Elder Qi Long would not spread quickly—but Elder Qi Long had left the Yanyue Sect, so he was certainly hunting Ding Huan.

Thus, the Huangshen Sect Sect tracing him back would not be difficult.

No matter what, he must firmly deny that he killed Elder Qi Long.

Too bad he couldn't find Ji Xinting—the old rascal vanished after becoming his disciple.

If he could find this fellow and expose him to confront the Huangshen Sect Sect, perhaps he could buy himself enough time to stabilize things?

What he lacked was time—once he crossed into True God realm, he would no longer fear the Huangshen Sect Sect.