Chapter 41: Battle

"Demon Lord, do you truly believe a seventh-rank great array can make you invincible?"

Ouyang Haoze, gazing through the array's light barrier at Lu Yang with a cold sneer: "Arrays are lifeless tools; for us cultivators, cultivation realm is paramount!"

"In the end, it all comes down to proving it with force."

Lu Yang's inner alarm blared, yet his face remained expressionless: "If you have confidence, step into the array and fight. Otherwise, retreat quietly."

"Seek death!"

Ouyang Haoze grinned coldly, then took a step forward, exhaled sharply, and from his throat erupted a thunderous roar.

This was a supreme divine art of the Divine Martial Sect, called "Thousand-Li Shattering Sky Sound," a technique that swallowed and expelled celestial qi, reinforcing the sect's unique Zheng San Pin qi—Divine Martial True罡—and then unleashed it in a single roar; wherever the sound waves passed, friend or foe within a thousand li were shattered into dust.

Instantly, the ferocious divine sound surged into the array.

Array patterns shattered, revealing countless skeletons of varying forms; the vast array was violently torn open by brute force!

Immediately after, Ouyang Haoze pulled forth a round mirror.

"Summon Lord Tai Xiao."

He formed a hand seal and pointed, launching the mirror into the air; a majestic beam of mirror-light shot downward, freezing the void and rigidly holding the array's breach in place!

Instantly, the marketplace trembled violently!

Countless cultivators retreated en masse, daring not to approach the edge of the formation, their faces filled with panic.

Feixia Immortal's face turned ashen, then she suddenly turned to Lu Yuanchun, whose expression was strange, and shouted: "Stay here! Don't go anywhere!"

Having been betrayed before, Feixia Immortal would never trust Lu Yuanchun again; now, her beautiful face twisted with ferocity: "Without Brother Lu, you'd already be dead outside the marketplace. If you dare flee in the chaos, I'll kill you first, no matter what!"

"Sister Feixia misunderstands."

Lu Yuanchun chuckled awkwardly, wary of Feixia Immortal's predatory gaze, and suppressed the dark thoughts that had just arisen.

With the two late-stage Qi Condensation cultivators unmoved, the marketplace's chaos quickly settled.

Of course, everyone knew this was only temporary.

The outcome between Lu Yang and Ouyang Haoze was the final straw; thus, Feixia Immortal could only believe in Lu Yang now.

Believe he could create a miracle.

"Is this… a Spirit Treasure?"

Lu Yang stared at the floating mirror, his face darkening: "And it's a Yang Spirit Treasure specifically designed to suppress Earthly Yin Qi and counter the 'Hundred Bones Returning True Array'?!"

Ouyang Haoze laughed aloud, triumphant and smug:

"The Hundred Bones Returning True Array has stood for years on Skull Mountain; since the Divine Martial Sect dared move against it, how could we fail to prepare a method to break it?"

"With the Tai Xiao Mirror, today you are certain to die!"

This Spirit Treasure was not his own—it was specially forged by the Divine Martial Sect's Foundation Establishment True Person to counter the Hundred Bones Returning True Array; its power was self-evident.

Above the marketplace, Lu Yang's expression turned grim; without a word, he turned and fled.

"Hmph! Think you can run?"

Ouyang Haoze didn't hesitate—he leapt after him, unleashing another divine sound that instantly shattered the surrounding skeleton soldiers, then chased after Lu Yang.

But at that moment, an unexpected change occurred!

Ouyang Haoze had barely stepped into the array when his expression changed—he instinctively tried to retreat, but turned back only to see a sea of crimson array patterns.

"Didn't expect you'd actually come in…"

Lu Yang halted his flight, turned to face Ouyang Haoze, his earlier panic vanished as if it had never been; he revealed a chilling smile.

"This is impossible!"

Ouyang Haoze's eyelid twitched, his eyes filled with disbelief: "The Hundred Bones Returning True Array was clearly frozen by my Tai Xiao Mirror—how could another array appear? Where did it come from? Why didn't I detect even a trace of array formation beforehand?"

"Because I never needed to set up an array."

Lu Yang sneered inwardly—his Blood-Washed Heavenly River Array Diagram relied entirely on the Blood Sun Sword Core, a true array treasure; the array formed at will, leaving no trace!

The next instant, Lu Yang held in his hand a banner fluttering in the wind.

Primordial Qi Myriad Spirits Banner!

As the banner swayed, countless banner spirits shot forth, landing on the array's key points of the Blood-Washed Heavenly River Array Diagram, moving of their own accord.

Long before designing this array, Lu Yang had already incorporated the Primordial Qi Myriad Spirits Banner; now, ten thousand souls within the banner lined the array's key points, revealing profound mysteries—instantly, heaven and earth turned crimson, a torrential river of blood flowed from south to north, plummeting from the heavens upon Ouyang Haoze!

Ouyang Haoze let out a muffled groan, staggering backward.

Demon-Magic Blood-Transforming Divine Light!

Trapped within the array, Ouyang Haoze could not evade the divine light's power; he felt his once-mighty blood qi draining from his body like a dam bursting.

The next instant, he roared: "Lord Tian Guang, save me!"

Armor gleaming like golden scales catching the sun—a layer of radiant light enveloped Ouyang Haoze, momentarily halting the devouring power of the Demon-Magic Blood-Transforming Divine Light.

Spirit Treasure: Tian Guang Armor!

Forged from "Subduing Demon Heavenly Light," this treasure clashed directly with the Demon-Magic Blood-Transforming Divine Light; their collision resulted in mutual stalemate.

Only now did Ouyang Haoze manage to breathe a sigh of relief.

After all, he hadn't anticipated that even with his cultivation, the Tai Xiao Mirror, and the Tian Guang Armor—two Spirit Treasures—his preparations were so thorough, yet he nearly lost.

"At this point, I cannot flee…"

Ouyang Haoze's eyes turned bloodshot; not only did he abandon the thought of escape, he fixed his gaze deep into the array at Lu Yang, his eyes brimming with suffocating killing intent.

"Only by counterattacking!"

As a true heir of the sect, his will was unshakable; he understood the principle: "In narrow paths, the bold prevail." He knew that if he fled now, he'd be toyed with and killed by Lu Yang; to break the array, he must fight for survival—kill Lu Yang, and the array would collapse.

Boom—!

The next instant, protected by the Tian Guang Armor, Ouyang Haoze charged toward Lu Yang, his unstoppable spear tip aimed straight at the Primordial Qi Myriad Spirits Banner in Lu Yang's hand!

"That banner must be the array's core—if I can't kill Lu Yang, destroying it might still offer a way out…"

"Come then!"

Lu Yang waved his banner, and a figure emerged—none other than Liu Xin, his face filled with confusion, as if he had not yet awakened.

The next instant—

"Boom!"

With a thunderous crash, Liu Xin involuntarily opened his mouth and shouted a single word: "Kill!"—it was the Killing Curse, designed for mutual destruction!

To Lu Yang, Liu Xin's use of the Primordial Qi Ten Thousand Spirits Banner was far too shallow; after all, the banner spirit was immortal—even if destroyed briefly, as long as its true spirit remained, it could be re-summoned by consuming magic power. If so, why force them to fight conventionally?

They should be taught techniques of mutual destruction!

Since they could revive anyway, let them unleash their killing arts the moment they appear—self-explosions that kill a thousand but lose eight hundred—that is the correct use!

Instantly, a surge of spiritual energy swept over everything.

When the dust settled, Liu Xin was gone, while Ouyang Haoze was forcibly halted midair, his expression darkened to its utmost extreme.

Until now, he had used many methods.

Spells, spiritual treasures, and cultivation suppression—against a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator, it should have been effortless. Who could have imagined not a single tactic succeeded?

Instead, his magic power had been severely depleted.

"If this continues, I may truly die here."

As Ouyang Haoze thought this, a ruthless glint flashed across his face. He formed a spell, and immediately, his Heaven's Light Armor let out a mournful cry.

"This… is bad!"

Seeing this, Lu Yang's expression changed instantly. He flashed forward, teleporting behind the Blood Sun Sword Pearl, then summoned the Blood Shadow of the Sword Pearl to guard before him.

Boom!!

The spiritual treasure, Heaven's Light Armor, detonated!

The exploding spiritual light, just like the scene once created by Xiao Shiyeh, swept in all directions, instantly shattering Lu Yang's Sword Array Diagram and revealing the clear blue sky.

Although Lu Yang reacted swiftly and closed the array, Ouyang Haoze moved faster—barely in time, he broke free from the array's encirclement. Lu Yang could only activate the Devil's Blood Transformation Light, stripping another three-tenths of Ouyang Haoze's blood qi, leaving him looking like nothing but skin stretched over bones.

"You destroyed my spiritual treasure! Unless I tear you limb from limb, this hatred cannot be quenched!"

Standing outside the marketplace, Ouyang Haoze's face twisted with fury. He channeled his remaining magic power into another spiritual treasure—the Taixiao Mirror—causing it to emit a mournful wail.

"Fine! Today, I'll sacrifice all my spiritual treasures—see if you can still summon a third great array!"

(End of Chapter)