Chapter 234: with translation of chapter title

What are you doing?!!

At this moment, the most bewildered one should be Han Yongzhuo.

Make sure to keep punctuation as we decided.

Let's craft each line.

We'll go line by line.

【1】 "What are you doing?!!"

【2】 At this moment, the most bewildered one should be Han Yongzhuo.

He was the initiator of this operation, inviting Yunhe and Mu Haitang, the two cultivators capable of breaking the formation.

He quickly reacted, and without his knowledge, the two completed communication and reached some kind of transaction or cooperation.

But the problem is.

If not for Yunhe's earlier question, he would have had no idea that the two had communicated.

How was it done?

As the only Late Jie Dan Stage cultivator among the three, he felt no divine sense interaction between the two.

But none of that matters now.

What matters is that both of them suddenly attacked him.

How absurd!

To be honest, he had long been prepared to deal with the two.

After all, if the restriction were lifted and there was only one treasure, it would inevitably become a three-way struggle, and as the sole Late Jie Dan Stage cultivator, he would surely be the target of a gang-up.

This is also why he chose the two, both being Middle Jie Dan Stage cultivators, as he was confident he could handle them.

But soon he realized his perception of Yunhe and Mu Haitang's strength had deviated.

Not mentioning Yunhe.

Just Mu Haitang alone displayed strength comparable to a Late Jie Dan Stage cultivator, especially her heavy sword, which Han Yongzhuo dared not block head-on.

You should know.

That is a magic treasure refined from the jiao bone of a Fourth Level Silver Jiao; even if it hasn't reached the rank of a Fourth Level magic treasure, it is at least a Third Level Supreme magic treasure.

Furthermore, with his identity and inheritance as a later-generation Woodcutter of the Hanging Mirror Lake, and the teachings of the Numinous Shade Old Ancestor, even core disciples of major sects do not receive such treatment.

Either of the two is not weaker than him, let alone when they join forces.

Of course.

The most important point is.

With the continuous use of magical power, Han Yongzhuo finally gradually sensed something wrong with his condition, discovering some bodily disharmony and confusion in his thought process.

Originally, with his cultivation base, if he had some similar secret techniques like Blood Escape Technique or Substitute Calamity Technique, escaping would still have a decent chance.

No matter what, he is a Late Jie Dan Stage cultivator, and moreover not an unaffiliated cultivator.

But the Blood-refining Insect Puppet became the final straw that broke the ox's back; when he was shocked that the escape secret technique could not be deployed, his life ended completely.

Pop!

As the ground beneath Yunhe, wrapped in five-colored light, shattered, he arrived before Mu Haitang and reached the corpse of Han Yongzhuo, whose eyes were wide open full of unwillingness; the five-elemental sword in his hand dissipated, and he casually snatched Han Yongzhuo's storage bag and spirit beast bag.

Especially the spirit beast bag.

Yunhe was practically salivating over his formation ear.

Seeing Yunhe act so swiftly, Mu Haitang also lost any intention to compete.

He simply took Han Yongzhuo's corpse, and under Yunhe's gaze, he pinched out a peculiar seal, detaching from the body a thumb-sized, bloody beetle.

This creature resembled a section of wood, even bearing wood grain patterns and countless wriggling fine rootlets.

These rootlets were completely drawn out from Han Yongzhuo's limbs, bones, meridians, and even muscle fibers.

Looking closely, one could see that beneath Han Yongzhuo's skin, part of his body had already become wood-like, revealing wooden grain; if given more time, he might silently become Bloodfiend Old Ancestor's human puppet.

The blood-refining worm puppet extracted by Mu Haitang with secret arts did not lose vitality; instead, it emitted a sharp "squeak-squeak" that sounded grating and teeth-aching.

She then patted her spirit beast bag and summoned a previously prepared, imprisoned, comatose ape-like demon beast from within.

She placed it on the demon beast's body; the countless rootlets, together with the creature itself, seemed to find a foothold and gradually burrowed in; as the comatose ape twitched unconsciously, the blood-refining worm puppet vanished once more from Yunhe and the others' sight.

Having done that, Mu Haitang did not stop; moving her lips, she chanted a spell, then pinched out a somewhat mysterious seal and slapped it onto the comatose ape's body.

After a burst of dim light faded, she finally let out a long sigh.

Throughout the process, the two exchanged no communication at all, not even a glance; they simply remained silent, one acting, the other watching.

Only now did Mu Haitang calmly glance at Yunhe and speak in an even tone:

"Destroying this puppet at a critical moment can deal a certain blow to Bloodfiend Old Ancestor; if a curse-type secret art is applied, it can cause even greater harm, for it bears a trace of his divided spirit."

Hearing this, Yunhe nodded thoughtfully.

It seems that Lingyin Old Ancestor made many preparations to deal with Bloodfiend Old Ancestor.

However, after witnessing Mu Haitang detach the blood-refining worm puppet from Han Yongzhuo's corpse, he became even more certain that he did not want to encounter Bloodfiend Old Ancestor again.

At the very least, he could not become that human puppet in his hands, a method even more cruel than refining a living corpse.

"Rest a bit; once you've recovered, we'll go to the Luotian Hall."

Having said that, Mu Haitang fell silent.

She silently walked to the side and began to close her eyes to cultivate.

Watching Mu Haitang sit cross-legged on the stone, Yunhe's eyes flickered slightly.

He was a bit unable to understand the relationship between Mu Haitang and Lingyin Old Ancestor.

Cooperation? Exploitation? Or mutual reliance and support?

He shook his head.

Yunhe also walked back to the previous hard stone.

He sat cross-legged upon it.

However, he did not meditate to restore his power; instead, he once again tried to sweep his divine sense over himself, and when it passed over the soul-devouring worm beside the corpse soul gu, he felt a sting in his divine sense.

In fact, Lingyin Old Ancestor had overlooked one small thing.

Such a tiny bit of pain in his divine sense is utterly negligible to Yunhe; even Lingyin Old Ancestor could not imagine how much torment Yunhe, who cultivates the Thousand Gu Myriad Worms Art, endures each time.

After scanning back and forth several times, he stopped his movements, silently observing Mu Haitang. Seeing that she showed no movement at all, and after Ancestor Lingyin seemed to have completely sunk into silence, Yunhe's behavior gradually became bolder.

He first probed with his own magical power, then made contact using the Five Elements power.

When ordinary magical power brushed over the worm, it remained utterly still, but when Yunhe made contact with the Five Elements power, it gave a slight response, though the response was not large.

"It seems I can only try using the Heavenly Thunder power."

Although he could at any time transmit this worm to the Thus line: Yao Shou Shijie, and with preparation the Demon Beast Body would certainly not be affected.

But he cannot do that for now, for doing so would be tantamount to completely turning against Ancestor Lingyin, rendering the precious Nascent Soul Pill in his hand, upon which the "Soul-Splitting Technique" had been applied, useless.

Moreover, more importantly, however he goes about eliminating this worm will inevitably draw Ancestor Lingyin's attention; if Ancestor Lingyin discovers that Yunhe can at any time contact the Thus line: Yao Shou Shijie, the situation will truly become troublesome.

This is Yunhe's greatest secret to date, and the one he must keep hidden from everyone.

Even if there is only a one-in-ten-million chance of being discovered, Yunhe is unwilling to take such a "gamble" unless absolutely necessary.

Therefore, if another method can be devised, it is best to give himself an extra layer of insurance.

Earlier, Ancestor Lingyin also said that this worm was refined from a strand of his divine soul, and for dealing with such a soul flow, his "Corpse Soul Gu" and Five Elements Thunder Sword are the best counters.

Now the "Corpse Soul Gu" cannot be used against this worm because it has been targeted and attached, but the Heavenly Thunder power should still offer a chance.

With that thought.

Yunhe calmed his mind.

In his qi sea dantian, five flying swords hovered silently within.

He does not know thunder magic, but from when his Demon Beast Body transformed into a thunder beast bear, he still learned something about how to drive lightning power.

Zizz—

Within his body, fine golden arcs of light flickered.

"Mm!"

Yunhe let out a muffled groan, feeling the stabbing pain transmitted from within his body, that inner-to-outer burning pain.

Fortunately, his flesh is comparable to a third‑rank demon beast; otherwise, even if his control of the Heavenly Thunder power were exceedingly fine, he might not withstand it before even acting on the Soul‑Eating Worm.

As the extremely subtle Heavenly Thunder power flowed through his body, slowly approaching the positions of the Soul‑Eating Worm and the Corpse Soul Gu mother worm, Yunhe sensed the displeasure and even fear transmitted from the Corpse Soul Gu, and likewise from the Soul‑Eating Worm.

However.

Obviously the Soul‑Eating Worm fears the Heavenly Thunder power even more.

"There's hope."

Yunhe felt a surge of joy in his heart.

Indeed, no divine or ghostly power can directly confront the Heavenly Thunder power.

Even if the Soul‑Eating Worm had been refined by Ancestor Lingyin to exquisite perfection, its essence remains merely a strand of divine soul and cannot be denied.

But Yunhe, having witnessed the effect of the Heavenly Thunder power, did not directly obliterate the worm; instead, he carefully and bit by bit wove a net of Heavenly Thunder arcs around it, enveloping the worm and part of the Corpse Soul Gu mother worm.

When his Heavenly Thunder power net was completely woven, Yunhe's hanging heart finally returned to its place.

At this point, merely a thought from him will cause the net to contract at maximum speed, utterly annihilating the Soul‑Eating Worm.

Of course, doing so might inflict some damage on both the Corpse Soul Gu and Yunhe himself.

However, compared to the blade forever hanging over his head, held in another's hand, this is naturally trivial.

Yunhe's these small movements were not noticed by Ancestor Lingyin.

Perhaps it is because he is overconfident about the Soul‑Eating Worm, perhaps because he does not know that Yunhe can actually master the Heavenly Thunder power, or perhaps because he is gathering strength to deal with the Blood Kui, so his current state does not allow him to control the Soul‑Eating Worm with fine precision.

But this is undoubtedly a good thing for Yunhe.

In fact.

No matter the state of the Nascent Soul old monster, when facing a Golden Core cultivator, there is always an intentional or unintentional contempt.

That is the instinctive contempt of a "higher lifeform" toward a "lower lifeform".

In the air, swirling scarlet lightning like countless flood dragons, the heavy black chains spanning the horizon, the towering hall forged from tens of millions of catties of green copper, and above the hall, within the deep‑colored plaque, the three large characters woven from emerald vines—Luotian Hall!

Gazing upon this towering hall, Yunhe suddenly felt a sense of familiarity.

He quickly recalled where this feeling came from.

The Thus line: Yao Shou Shijie, the hall that bears the "Demon‑Washing Pool"!

These two halls cannot be said to be completely identical, yet they share many similarities.

"So does that mean the demon beasts that first descended into this realm truly came from the Thus line: Yao Shou Shijie where the Demon Beast Body resides?"

Although he had long suspected this, obtaining the answer still left him with a hint of regret.

Meanwhile, Mu Haitang, standing beside him, stared blankly at the plaque.

The two stood outside the hall for a while; after silence, Mu Haitang lifted her foot and stepped onto the stairs, heading toward Luotian Hall.

But they did not go toward the main gate; instead, under Mu Haitang's guidance, they went to a hidden door on the side.

"This is the secret passage of Luotian Hall; few people know of it."

(End of chapter)