Chapter 345: Three Drum Beats, the Dao Path Is Hard

"I don't believe it…" Yi Canzhen roared wildly, lunging at Ding Huan.

He believed this more than anyone else, but when he learned his Immortal-Fanqiao Dao rhythm was cultivated under another's Great Dao, it drove him half-mad.

Perhaps one could say his psyche had completely shattered.

"Wait!" Shangguan Yanzhong urgently called out to stop Yi Canzhen.

But Yi Canzhen had already launched his treasure, slamming it straight at Ding Huan.

"Attack together!" Shangguan Yanzhong knew Yi Canzhen wouldn't cooperate—they couldn't form the Three Talents Array—so he gave a glance to Elder Ku and simultaneously unleashed his own Annihilation Heaven Sword.

Boom!

A dull thud echoed as Elder Ku and Shangguan Yanzhong were just about to charge forward—Yi Canzhen was already flying back toward them.

They saw clearly: Ding Huan had kicked Yi Canzhen square in the chest; Yi Canzhen spat a jet of blood, utterly defenseless.

At this moment, both Shangguan Yanzhong and Elder Ku believed it: Yi Canzhen's Immortal-Fanqiao realm had truly been awakened under Ding Huan's Dao principles.

Ding Huan perceived Yi Canzhen's Dao rhythm with absolute clarity; the instant Yi Canzhen charged, he was bound by Ding Huan's Great Dao domain.

Yi Canzhen's domain could not budge Ding Huan's even slightly—he naturally couldn't block that kick.

Blood spewed from Yi Canzhen's mouth, his eyes filled with dead gray.

This Immortal-Fanqiao realm—he would rather have none of it.

Elder Ku's Fish-Head Staff whirled, and the space around him seemed to solidify; countless powerful Dao rhythms coalesced into monstrous great white sharks, surging toward Ding Huan.

Shangguan Yanzhong knew Ding Huan's strength; he had no time to care for Yi Canzhen now—his sword unleashed a curtain of blade veils.

The blade veils merged with Elder Ku's Fish-Scale Killing Rhythm, swirling together toward Ding Huan.

They both knew: to confront Ding Huan, they must not rush.

Space erupted again with cracking sounds; Ding Huan felt cracks forming in his Star River domain.

Ding Huan let out a long roar, his spiritual sense summoning a Yellow Flower Killing to strike Elder Ku.

"Boom!" One of the great white shark Dao killing patterns shattered without warning.

Yet the spiritual vortex of Ding Huan's Yellow Flower Killing was simultaneously shattered.

Indeed, there was some skill to it—Ding Huan now focused intently on the Fish-Head Staff; the great white shark attacks were generated by its synergy with the staff—this treasure was formidable.

But Ding Huan paid it no mind—he opened his palm, and a massive iron drum appeared in the void.

Almost the instant the iron drum appeared, Ding Huan's Wheel of Rebirth Spear erupted with billions of spear points.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Spear points clashed with blade veils and Fish-Scale Killing Rhythms; a flood of killing Dao rhythms surged outward, leveling every building around the square.

Seeing their combined domains block Ding Huan's spear, Shangguan Yanzhong's lost confidence returned.

His long sword transformed into rivers of sword qi, rolling waves of blade torrents surging toward Ding Huan.

The Immortal-Fanqiao domains had been pushed to their absolute limits.

Ding Huan's spiritual sense formed two drumsticks and slammed them onto the iron drum.

Boom! The drumbeat erupted, striking straight into the depths of Elder Ku and Shangguan Yanzhong's spiritual cores.

Elder Ku's Fish-Head Staff trembled slightly; the boundless Fish-Scale Killing Rhythms faltered for an instant.

Likewise, Shangguan Yanzhong's Jianhe waves instantly weakened.

That single drumbeat gave Ding Huan a sudden intuition: if he could just refine one more seal on this iron drum, he could fully control it.

If he continued to neglect refining its seals, this iron drum might no longer belong to him.

Ding Huan panicked—he realized he had forgotten to refine the iron drum's seals.

He had had the time; most of it had gone into cultivating and refining the iron pot—he'd simply paid little attention to this drum.

Ding Huan did not seize this prime opportunity to unleash the Wheel of Rebirth Spear—in his heart, he could not lose this drum.

So what if Shangguan Yanzhong and Elder Ku teamed up? At most, they'd grievously wound him—his Poison Dao rhythms were slowly exploding; even wounded, he could kill both.

Delaying worked to his advantage.

He even suspected whether their so-called Immortal-Fanqiao realms were fake.

But he'd never seen a real Immortal-Fanqiao—Wu Zhanxia's was beyond fake.

Ding Huan's spiritual sense did not summon the Wheel of Rebirth Spear again—it slammed into the iron drum.

The last time he refined this drum, he was at Star Bridge realm; now he was at Star River realm—his spiritual sense easily struck the second seal.

Dozens of sealing patterns were captured by Ding Huan; the intricate lines immediately began to unravel under his Great Cosmos Art.

After absorbing the drumbeat, Elder Ku and Shangguan Yanzhong's spiritual defenses cracked open—their techniques faltered—and instead of attacking, they immediately shifted to defense.

With their experience, they knew: after such an effect, the opponent's most brutal counterattack was coming.

What shocked them was—they never received Ding Huan's counterattack.

Instead, their half-collapsed sword waves and Fish-Scale Killing Rhythms slammed directly into Ding Huan's domain, tearing it open as well.

This outcome filled them with regret—if they hadn't retreated to defend, they would have grievously wounded Ding Huan.

Their minds aligned—they simultaneously recombined their Immortal-Fanqiao domains.

Shangguan Yanzhong's Jianhe surged even fiercer than before; Elder Ku's Fish-Scale Killing Rhythm strengthened dramatically.

With their experience, they realized: when Ding Huan had held such advantage, he hadn't counterattacked—he must have a problem of his own.

Under the furious assault of Ding Huan's Great Cosmos Art Zhou Tian, the iron drum's second seal shattered.

The third seal appeared beneath Ding Huan's Great Cosmos Art Zhou Tian—he decided not to refine further; he was about to retreat—when Shangguan Yanzhong and Elder Ku's combined attack fully locked him down.

Ding Huan believed he could shatter their domains—perhaps only sustaining injury.

At that moment, Ding Huan's heart sank—a deathly threat surged from his back.

Someone had been hiding in this space, waiting for this moment to strike—and since arriving at Wu Bian City, he'd never sensed them.

Ding Huan's back chilled, his scalp prickled—he lunged desperately into the center of Shangguan Yanzhong and Elder Ku's combined killing technique vortex.

Watching the surging river of swords sweep Ding Huan into its flow, each fish-scale Dao rhythm's killing light slammed directly into his body.

Both Shangguan Yanzhong and Elder Ku were stunned.

Is Ding Huan seeking death?

Shouldn't he have summoned the Reincarnation Spear to resist them, then found a way to strike the iron drum again? Why would he so foolishly charge into their killing vortex?

Regardless, this unexpected turn delighted them; both redoubled their cultivation energy.

Puff! Puff! Puff!

Streams of blood mist erupted from Ding Huan's body—Shangguan Yanzhong's sword river nearly flayed him alive.

Elder Ku's fish-scale Dao rhythm killing light carved deep, repeated gashes into Ding Huan's body, severing bones one by one.

Had Ding Huan's recovery ability not been monstrous, and had he not swiftly swallowed a few drops of billion-year sea marrow, he would have been disintegrated long ago.

Yet these were not what terrified Ding Huan most; what struck him with dread was the ambush from behind.

The ambush targeted a single point, like a needle threading silk, aiming to pierce through Ding Huan's back, its deathly aura nearly uncontrollable.

Ding Huan lunged forward in time, rolling his domain, barely slowing that cold ambush.

It only delayed it for a moment—after Shangguan Yanzhong and Elder Ku's divine arts ravaged him, that death-laden aura still reached his body.

Boom! Ding Huan used the Great Cosmic Art to draw all these attacking Dao rhythms into the third seal of the iron drum.

Almost the instant that cold ambush pierced his body, Ding Huan assimilated the third seal of the iron drum.

The words "Evening Drum" suddenly carved themselves into Ding Huan's consciousness.

Ding Huan had no time to wonder what "Evening Drum" meant; his spiritual mind's drumstick hammered repeatedly against the Evening Drum.

Leaving no retreat, pouring every last shred of his spiritual mind.

This strike—either he dies, or the other dies.

Spiritual Mind Divine Art: Drum Kill!

Boom!

A drumbeat exploded, as if tearing apart a star continent.

At that moment, Biankui Star Continent seemed plunged into twilight, leaving only the final moments of a dying age.

The drumbeat crashed into the depths of his spiritual sea.

Shangguan Yanzhong spat a gout of blood; the Dao rhythms in his sword aura shattered like a breached dam.

A streak of black blood oozed from his mouth; he stared blankly at the distant wall of Boundless City, suddenly feeling he should charge toward it.

But he could not move his feet—he knew the drumbeat had shattered his spiritual sea and struck his Primordial Spirit, and that he was already deeply poisoned.

Faint lights beyond the city wall flickered dimly; Shangguan Yanzhong struggled to control his body.

Alas, the high wall fades, the lanterns are already at twilight!

Puff! He spat another jet of black blood. Before collapsing, he refused to close his eyes—he still had killing techniques left.

Boom!

The second drumbeat was like thunder in a silent night.

Elder Ku also halted his charge toward Ding Huan; he felt his five viscera and six bowels collapsing.

Beneath the drumbeat, his spiritual sea cracked, allowing the terrifying poison Dao laws to invade the depths of his Primordial Spirit.

He looked down at his fish-head staff, companion for countless years, and sighed.

The faint afterglow of sunset fell, carrying sorrow and grief.

Dusk over the blue mountains—the Dao path is arduous!

Boom!

The third drumbeat roared like a raging tide.

A figure suddenly appeared behind Ding Huan.

He sat in empty space, hand still outstretched, eyes filled with disbelief.

The poison in his body had been fully triggered by the three drumbeats; his Primordial Spirit was withering, his vitality slowly dissolving.

Yet he could not believe the empty expanse of Boundless City—the place he had once founded—now littered with corpses.

Including himself, he too would soon be one of them.

Only a few drumbeats had annihilated his Primordial Spirit and scattered his vitality.

Why?

One drum gives ten thousand sounds; void grows blades, all to sever the Primordial Spirit.

Black blood seeped from his seven orifices; he strained to turn his gaze toward Ding Huan, nearly flayed alive:

"Who are you?"

But after speaking those words, he looked up again at the sky; the dying sun, barely visible through the killing array, cast its light over the lifeless Boundless City.

"The Dao path is arduous."

With that, his head slumped, and all life vanished.