Chapter 42: Profound Yin Form-Seizing, Nail the Head and Claim the Life

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Violent cries of agony accompanied increasingly intense fluctuations of spiritual energy surging down from the sky; Ouyang Haoze's eyes were bloodshot, clearly having gone berserk.

Seeing this scene, the other two Late Stage Qi Refining experts of Shenwu Sect, Wu Zhichong and Duanmu Yuan, could no longer sit still.

"Senior Brother Ouyang!"

Wu Zhichong stepped forward first; looking at Ouyang Haoze's current wretched state, he felt somewhat terrified and said in a low voice, "After all, the Tai Xiao Mirror concerns a matter of great importance."

"I understand."

Ouyang Haoze glanced back at Wu Zhichong, the fury in his bloodshot eyes quickly subsiding as he calmly stated, "But that demon within the formation is even more important! So young yet already proficient in arrays, with a cultivation base that is not weak; if he breaks through to Qi Refining Great Perfection in the future, he may very well attempt Foundation Establishment."

"If we can kill a Foundation Establishment seed from a Demonic Sect, then so be it if we lose one Tai Xiao Mirror!"

Buzz! Buzz!

High in the air, the Tai Xiao Mirror emitted violent tremors and humming, as if expressing disagreement.

However, Ouyang Haoze turned a deaf ear; it was merely a magic treasure, after all. When useful, he would address it as "Venerable Tai Xiao," but when useless, what did it amount to?

Seeing that Ouyang Haoze had made up his mind, Wu Zhichong could only sigh and cease his persuasion; after all, Ouyang Haoze, being at Qi Refining Great Perfection, was the person in charge of this Shenwu Sect expedition, so if he had made a decision, he naturally bore the consequences, and it was enough that he had offered his advice.

At the same time, within the market.

Lu Yang stored away the Blood Sun Sword Pellet, which had been mostly destroyed by the explosion, and holding the Innate One Qi Myriad Souls Banner, he gazed toward Ouyang Haoze outside the market with an inexplicable expression.

"Junior Brother Lu, you're not dead?"

Fairy Feixia and Lu Yuanchun approached; one's face was written with delight, while the other, amidst the relief of surviving a catastrophe, also felt deep apprehension toward Lu Yang.

"Brother Lu truly hides his talents!"

Lu Yuanchun praised loudly, "With Ouyang Haoze repelled this time, the market is safe and sound, enough to hold out until the Holy Sect receives news and dispatches reinforcements!"

"Repelled? It is far too early for that."

Lu Yang shook his head.

"Indeed, looking at Ouyang Haoze's condition, his vital energy is severely depleted; this is not merely being repelled, he is clearly heavily injured, serving as a profound lesson to him!"

Fairy Feixia clapped her hands and laughed.

Hearing this, Lu Yuanchun hastened to echo her sentiments.

However, seeing their reactions, Lu Yang merely sneered coldly and uttered words that shocked everyone: "Merely repelling him cannot ensure lasting peace; I have never liked leaving behind future troubles."

"It is better to kill him; straightforward and simple!"

"Kill who?"

Ouyang Haoze?

For a moment, Fairy Feixia and Lu Yuanchun stood stunned on the spot, for even in their most optimistic imaginings, no such scenario had ever appeared.

That was a Qi Refining Great Perfection expert, a true disciple of the Righteous Path!

Who could kill him?

How could he be killed?

The next second, Lu Yang took out the "Xuan Pin Tai Yin Precious Jade" that Lu Yuanchun had previously returned to him, formed a hand seal to cast a spell, and placed it in his palm to circulate and transform.

Immediately, under Lu Yang's control, this piece of precious jade gradually melted, finally transforming into a circle of light resembling a stark white, translucent precious mirror; under the illumination of this circular light, figures of people rapidly emerged in Lu Yang's eyes, each figure corresponding to a strand of lingering qi mechanism.

Judging by the reactions of others, it seemed only he could see them.

Fairy Feixia, Lu Yuanchun, Ouyang Haoze, Wu Zhichong, Duanmu Yuan... everyone who had fought here had left behind remnants of their qi mechanisms in this place.

"This is the Profound Yin Form-Seizing Great Art."

The second divine ability from the "Tai Yin Molting Corpse-Release True Method"; the only difficulty lay in external objects, so after obtaining the precious jade, Lu Yang mastered it in an instant!

"Let us test its power."

Lu Yang lowered his eyelids and quickly locked onto a strand of lingering qi mechanism, precisely that of Ouyang Haoze, which he had seized using the Profound Yin Form-Seizing Great Art.

"Profound Yin Form-Seizing..."

Lu Yang circulated his divine ability; the next second, the circular light transformed from the Xuan Pin Tai Yin Precious Jade devoured Ouyang Haoze's qi mechanism, then projected his image.

"... ail the Head and Claim the Life!"

Immediately, Lu Yang joined his fingers and slashed downward.

With a mere "Crack!", the circular light split in two, and along with it, Ouyang Haoze's figure was cleaved from head to toe, split left and right into two halves.

To be on the safe side, Lu Yang had slashed vertically.

Almost simultaneously.

Outside the market, Ouyang Haoze had just finished his conversation with Wu Zhichong; turning his head to look at the market, he raised his hand and threw the Tai Xiao Mirror into the formation.

Although the Tai Xiao Mirror struggled violently, his mind was made up, and he was about to detonate it.

But the next second, Ouyang Haoze's movements came to an abrupt halt.

Immediately, a strange slash mark appeared out of thin air atop his head, then rapidly spread downward, finally erupting into a spray of blood.

He had split open.

His corpse fell from mid-air, with only half of his face retaining an expression of shock; his eyeballs rotated slightly, as if he had not yet realized what had happened.

"What is going on? I... died?"

His consciousness dissipated amidst confusion.

With Ouyang Haoze gone and no longer controlling it, the Tai Xiao Mirror that had fallen into the formation calmed down; Lu Yang reached out and beckoned, and it flew over of its own accord.

Northern Frontier, Shenwu Sect Main Hall.

Inside a brightly lit great hall.

This place was named the "Soul Lamp Hall"; as the name suggested, it housed the soul lamps of many high-ranking members of Shenwu Sect, including the Sect Master, Elders, and even true disciples.

As an old-established power in the Northern Frontier, Shenwu Sect had ruled the region for over a thousand years, its prestige deeply ingrained in the hearts of the people there, so instances of high-ranking members dying were rare; consequently, the disciples assigned to guard this place were mostly lax, viewing the post merely as a lucrative position for collecting sect subsidies.

Today was no different from usual; the guarding disciple performed his routine inspection of the soul lamps.

Entering the door, he swept his gaze across.

Lit, lit, lit, lit, extinguished, lit, lit...

Hm?

The guarding disciple blinked, subconsciously turning to look, then rubbed his eyes again; the expression on his face gradually shifted from casual to terrified.

"Extinguished, extinguished! Senior Brother Ouyang's soul lamp is extinguished!?"

The voice spread instantly.

The next second, a middle-aged Daoist Priest appeared out of thin air inside the great hall; his gaze fell upon the already extinguished soul lamp, his face a mixture of shock and rage.

How many years had it been? How many years since a true disciple of Shenwu Sect had perished?

"Ouyang... Skull Mountain!?"

The middle-aged Daoist Priest's face turned iron-green; suddenly reaching out, he seized Ouyang Haoze's soul lamp, circulated his magic power, and forcibly reignited the flame!

Of course, the dead could not be brought back to life.

This reignited flame could not save Ouyang Haoze's life; at most, it could re-manifest the last scene he had seen before death.

Soon, the lamp's fire projected a scene.

The middle-aged Daoist Priest recognized it at once as the market at Skull Mountain belonging to Chusheng Sect; within the market, a handsome and elegant young man was gazing into the distant sky.

Is it him? Did he kill Ouyang Haoze?

Profound, bone-deep hatred surfaced in the middle-aged Daoist Priest's eyes.

For Ouyang Haoze was not merely a true disciple of the sect, but also the most outstanding member of the younger generation of the Ouyang family, a junior in whom he had placed great hopes!

This hatred, this enmity, would only end with death!

"Hm?"

Inside the Skull Mountain market, Lu Yang, who had just stored away the voluntarily submitting Tai Xiao Mirror, suddenly frowned, looked up at the sky, and felt a chill rise in his heart.

This sensation was very familiar to him.

It was the feeling of one's own karma being manipulated by external forces; in his previous life, when the Peak Master of Senior Butian had calculated his karma, he had experienced a similar sensation.

Could it be that another Foundation Establishment True Person was plotting against him!?

(End of Chapter)