Chapter 589: Once You're Here, Don't Even Think of Leaving

Boom—

Endless rumbling sounds exploded outward, and under the sweep of those rolling auras, even several Path-Integration cultivators turned deathly pale.

The entire massive Yin Manor was not a physical object, but formed from a concentration of death Qi so dense it was terrifying to the extreme!

One only needed a single glance, and it felt as though a soul-snatching force would swallow a person whole.

Sect Master Baohua was only watching from afar, yet merely being wrapped by a few wisps of death Qi shaken loose when the great manor pressed down, she sensed the connection between herself and her treasured land rapidly weakening.

One had to understand that a cultivator had used a Dao weapon personally refined by themselves to suppress the treasured land before that connection could be established.

This kind of connection was not to say it was as intimate as one's own flesh and blood, but it was still soul-linked, as easy to command as one's own arm.

But at this moment, she felt that this "arm" of hers was actually slipping from her control.

A Path-Integration cultivator without the augmentation of a treasured land... could it truly still be called Path-Integration?!

"What divine ability is this exactly?"

Sect Master Baohua raised her head to look, her eyes full of shock and dread. Given her relationship with the Seven Sons of Yu Nanhong, she had not failed to witness the divine abilities of Heaven-realm titans like Senior Ji and Senior Ye, yet compared to the massive Yin Manor before her eyes, they actually seemed somewhat lacking.

Fortunately, this Yin Manor was not aimed at her, and those few wisps of lingering death Qi gradually dispersed.

But the two dragon demons were not so lucky.

Roar!

Beneath such a terrifying great manor, their nearly thousand-zhang bodies appeared utterly insignificant. Their demon physiques, capable of casually shattering mountain ridges, thrashed about madly, like headless flies, slamming into the Yin Manor again and again, trying to break free.

How immensely powerful were Heaven-realm dragon demons, yet every time they shattered part of the Yin Manor, they were entangled by the scattered death Qi. As the death Qi coating their bodies grew thicker, their gazes seemed fierce, but in truth those crimson pupils were gradually growing hazy.

"Using these unorthodox tricks counts for what kind of skill!"

"Do you dare come down and fight this seat in a real, steel-against-steel battle!"

Qi Zhaoyi bared its fangs and brandished its claws, raising its head high, once again shattering the Yin Manor before it, and glared furiously at the seated figure in the sky.

It roared as it charged toward him. Its thousand-zhang dragon body was incomparably majestic, carrying the vast force of overturning mountains and overturning seas. With its jade horn as a blade, the entire dragon seemed to transform into a heaven-rending sword.

Let alone Path-Integration cultivators, even Heaven-realm titans facing such a terrifying strike would likely feel their hearts tremble.

Yet Shen Yi calmly gazed down at what was below, merely raised his palm slightly, then gently pressed it down.

Boom!

This silver-white greatsword formed from the long dragon was sent crashing down heavily, rolling pitifully among the broken mountain ridges, and was then once again completely enveloped by the Grand Supreme Yin Manor!

Qi Zhaoyi shook its head violently, baring its sharp fangs.

It stared fixedly at Shen Yi, its heavy dragon-breath echoing all around.

Obviously, this move was precisely the immortal technique that had forced the two of them out of the water before Shen Yi had appeared.

But Qi Zhaoyi had previously been able to resist it, even tearing through the shackles of the Azure Sky, yet now facing the same technique, it constantly felt unable to mobilize the demon power and blood Qi throughout its body, experiencing a sense of utter exhaustion.

"What exactly is going on..." it suddenly began to panic.

If the several Hall Masters could speak, they would actually be extremely familiar with this kind of situation.

The soul was not strong enough, therefore one could not grasp the Suppression Stone; replacing the Suppression Stone with a demon body followed the same principle.

Only Qi Zhaoyang had not yet reacted — within this Grand Supreme Yin Manor, its soul had unknowingly been partially devoured.

As for by whom it had been devoured—

Shen Yi slightly lowered his head, and within his pitch-black, deep eyes, a gleam of light seemed to surge. His aura remained as usual, without any obvious increase, but had become increasingly harmonious and rounded.

The Grand Supreme Yin Manor was certainly incomparably powerful, but it was not as bizarre as others imagined.

In the final analysis, it was still a technique targeting the soul.

Its function was only two.

After personally using it once, Shen Yi had also gradually come to understand it.

The so-called mastery of life and death, the contemplation of reincarnation, when stripped down, was simply dissolving the opponent's soul, then using it to replenish one's own.

The reason the two dragon demons, no matter how desperately they fought, could not destroy this Yin Manor, was because it was not a physical object to begin with. What truly held the two great demons inside and prevented their escape was the effect of Divine Mountain Suppressing the Azure Sky.

When immortal techniques and divine abilities were combined, they actually complemented each other so perfectly.

"I understand now."

The Crown Prince of the Ke family, being a Yellow Fiend Poison Dragon of extremely pure bloodline, simply did not need to use too many techniques. Relying only on its innate divine abilities, this overwhelming toxic fiend would wound anyone it touched and kill anyone it grazed.

But at this moment, it actually coiled its dragon body, drew all that yellow mist back into itself, and even cleanly shifted its gaze away from Shen Yi.

It had already felt itself gradually losing its sanity, becoming somewhat muddled.

So it simply stopped looking at this Yin Manor, and wholeheartedly began resisting that invisible suppressive force.

Losing part of its demon soul was still better than losing its life.

"This King has experienced the strength of Sect Master Nanyang, but that's all there is to it. We can't get up, and you probably haven't thought of coming down to face us head-on either. To hold both of us here at once, you alone are not enough."

"Please rest assured, Shen Zongzhu, this King will certainly report everything that has happened here truthfully to the Western Long Wang."

The Crown Prince of the Ke family took one deep look at that figure in the sky, then lowered its head, slowly closed its eyes, and began adjusting its energy. It no longer paid attention to the death Qi on its body, simply transforming into human form to avoid excessive contact, then let them gnaw at it, focusing entirely on preparing to break out.

Seeing this, Huang Wenfa could not help but feel his eyelid twitch.

Obviously, Shen Zongzhu's strength had taken another unimaginably huge leap compared to when they had last met.

So young in years, yet he had already become a powerful existence who needed to be looked up to throughout all of Hongze.

By his strength alone, he forcibly suppressed two terrifying Heaven-realm mid-stage dragon demons, forcing them to only dare flee far away, with no thought of resistance.

But the Crown Prince of the Ke family's words were indeed not false.

If Shen Zongzhu steadied his mind and operated this divine ability with full effort, forcefully keeping one should not be a problem. If he was too greedy, when the time came not only would he fail to keep a single one, but losing the advantage of the Yin Manor, there might even be danger to his life.

However, if even one was let go, what the Seven Sons of Yu Nanhong would have to face then might be two enraged Dragon Kings.

Either kill them both together... or it should end here. As long as their lives were not taken, there was still room for maneuver.

After all, Qi Zhaoyi only wanted to return to the palace, and at least on the surface had not provoked the Seven Sons. If he died at the edge of Western Hong, no one would have any reason to stop the Western Long Wang from retaliating against Yu Nanhong.

"The matter cannot be done; we can only blame our own uselessness."

Thinking of this, Huang Wenfa grit his teeth in some unwillingness; with the strength of the few of them, no matter what, they could not take part in the magical duel of Heavenly realm experts.

Even if they threw in their lives, they probably could not hold back that Ke family Crown Prince for half an incense stick's worth of time.

The next moment.

Facing the threat of the Ke family Crown Prince, Shen Yi raised his hand once more, and the entire You Mansion pressed down with full force onto the Jade-Horned Silver Dragon that was writhing madly on the ground.

"Roar!"

Qi Zhaoyi appeared to have no wounds on his body, but within his mind it was as if ten thousand needles had viciously stabbed in, as though they would tear his very soul apart.

From the jade horn burst forth thousands upon thousands of sharp, radiant beams, yet they smashed out chaotically in all directions; though the spectacle looked grand, churning heaven and earth, in truth, apart from venting fury, they had no use whatsoever.

Anyone with eyes could notice that this Jade-Horned Silver Dragon had long since fallen into a state of clouded consciousness.

"Still planning to leave one behind?"

Cheng Xiaoyuan let out a slight sigh.

The other party was indeed decisive enough, quickly making their decision, but this did not seem to be a good thing.

But he was not familiar with this Shen Zongzhu, so it was not appropriate to speak up and offer counsel.

"Enough."

Although Cheng Xiaoyuan felt that slaying Qi Zhaoyi held no benefit whatsoever for the overall situation, and would instead invite an even fiercer counterattack.

But after all, he was merely an outsider who had come to aid Yu Nanhong; he should simply follow the arrangements.

"……"

Baohua Sect Master furrowed her brow and looked up toward the horizon. Based on the rumors about Shen Zongzhu she had heard from Xuan Qing, the other party appeared incomparably bold, but was in truth far more meticulous than ordinary people, and absolutely would not allow the situation to slip from his grasp.

"Please, Shen Zongzhu, do as you wish." The Ke family Crown Prince had also heard Qi Zhaoyi's wails, but he still kept his eyes closed, and a trace of derision even rose on his face.

Clearly, he already had the confidence to break out.

Crack! Crack!

The next moment, the long-accumuled surging demonic power erupted in an instant, shattering the formless pressure that filled the sky. The Ke family Crown Prince finally opened his eyes, his expression revealing neither joy nor anger.

"Ke shall take his leave first."

As his words fell, he stepped forward without looking back.

Under the tense gazes of the three Sect Masters of Banshan Sect and Baohua Sect, the figure upon the throne in the sky quietly drew his gaze back from the Jade-Horned Silver Dragon, then rose to his feet.

In an instant, Shen Yi once more merged into the azure sky.

"Hah!"

The Ke family Crown Prince seemed to have anticipated something; his blood-red eyes narrowed abruptly.

He began at once to sense the changes around him.

A dragon demon comparable to the mid-stage of the Heavenly realm — how keen must its senses be, let alone in a life-and-death struggle such as this.

Almost instantly, he detected the imperceptible ripple within the breath of heaven and earth.

Accompanying a low roar, the Ke family Crown Prince whirled his head sharply, his sharp claws slashing toward the void. Such keen, fluid response — yet a hint of panic surfaced in his eyes.

Though the wound his soul had previously suffered was not especially severe, in a clash at this level, a hair's breadth of error meant a thousand miles of deviation.

He first smelled it, then saw it, and then struck without the slightest hesitation, without a thought — all instinct honed from such life-and-death battles… and yet he was still too slow.

Before the Ke family Crown Prince could raise his hand, a sweep of dark robes had already risen within his line of sight; that long right leg, with the force of Lei Ting, slammed ruthlessly onto his shoulder.

Boom—

The entire expanse of heaven and earth surged along with the youth's movement!

Bolstered by Divine Mountain Suppresses the Azure Sky, the Ke family Crown Prince's towering form instantly flew backward, like a stone cast forth, stirring up surging waves across the water's surface!

He felt the searing pain shooting through his entire shoulder bone and looked up in disbelief.

That damned thing had actually abandoned the advantage of You Mansion and come here, of his own accord, before this dragon clan being?!

"……"

Shen Yi hung in the air, and as his five fingers loosely curled, the gold-veined profound blade quietly appeared within his palm.

He lowered his gaze slightly, looking toward the figure below that glared back in fury; within his pitch-black pupils, a faint blood-light flickered.

Bolstered by the Ten Thousand Tribulations Blood God Art, his slightly hoarse voice slowly rang out.

"Who said you could leave?"

After his body-tempering art gradually failed to keep pace with his realm, Shen Yi had rarely engaged in close-quarters combat with demons of the same tier. After all, among his five Dao weapons, the profound armor condensed through Wujun's Tribulation Crossing had become a genuine shortcoming; though Divine Mountain Suppresses the Azure Sky compensated for the lack of offensive means, the defense was far too thin, and the risk was truly a little too great.

Let alone that this Ke family Crown Prince was still a whole realm above him, and was, among demons, a top-tier Yellow Sha Venom Dragon!

But… not fighting close-quarters was because there was no need, not because he did not dare.

When the moment truly came to strike, Shen Yi actually rather missed those days of old when his life hung by a thread.

Perhaps it was the Blood God Art, perhaps Feng Yuan Burning Heart, and of course, one could not rule out simple excitement — Shen Yi suddenly felt his mouth go dry.

He pressed his lips together, and within the corners of his mouth, which had lifted slightly, a few hints of savagery gradually emerged.

"Hah… hah hah!" Watched by such a gaze, the Ke family Crown Prince quickly understood the other's meaning.

He slowly steadied his stance, and between his ferocious dragon features, a few hints of murderous ferocity likewise surfaced: "Looks like you truly wish me dead more than anything. Just don't know — which of us two will die first?"

This great demon, born of the South Long Gong, firmly seated upon the Crown Prince's throne, under such contempt and provocation upon provocation, finally could no longer hold back the killing intent in his heart.

"Roar!"

A bone-spike spear, wrapped thickly in baleful venom, fell into his palm, and he erupted toward the front with a deafening roar!

Dragon's roar crosses Dajiang, all things bow in submission!

The two figures stood thus, facing each other from afar, yet those watching nearby were struck dumb.

Shen Zongzhu — is he truly staking his life today to keep these two dragon demons here?!

The next moment, that sweep of dark robes that had shot forth answered, with action, the doubts in everyone's hearts.

Fists like a long rainbow piercing the sun, bolstered by immortal art, truly caused even the great sun hanging in the sky to dip three measures toward the earth.

The energies of heaven and earth instantly gathered between those five clearly defined fingers, the roar like a great bell, leaving bystanders nearly deaf.

Boom!

Shen Yi drove a fist into the Crown Prince of the Ke family's chest, shattering with irresistible force the resplendent Long Gong treasure armor he wore.

And the bone-spike spear in the Crown Prince's hand also, at nearly the same instant, thrust toward Shen Yi's face.

At that very moment, a fierce tiger of deep black burst forth; beneath its deep tiger's roar, its broad front paw slammed heavily onto the crown of this dragon demon's head.

"Get lost!"

The Ke family Crown Prince's soul had already been damaged; the instant that tiger's paw touched his skull, his eyes grew unfocused, and the bone-spike spear veered off by who knows how much. Vast demonic power surged straight out, tearing a huge gash even in the vault of heaven.

And the figure in black robes before him had long since vanished.

When he reappeared, he was already behind him.

Rolling black clouds roared and spread, taking advantage of the Ke family Crown Prince's daze to instantly block his sight and hearing.

Squelch!

Even without the protection of the Long Gong treasure armor, the scales of this dragon demon were themselves armor rare in all the world!

But that gold-patterned profound blade was likewise no ordinary object; aided by immortal art, it drove viciously three inches into his back.

"Aaargh—"

The Ke family Crown Prince let out an angry, pained cry. Though his sight and hearing were both blocked, he still whirled around and thrust his spear out. Terrifying baleful poison surged forth in the shape of a dragon, staining the entire stretch of water into a turbid murk.

"Block it!"

Huang Wenfa watched the baleful poison sweep toward them, suddenly slapped out both palms, and together with Cheng Xiaoyuan transformed themselves into two boundless mountains before the Lady Baohua Sect.

Yet in the span of a single breath, these two invisible barriers were wholly tainted by the baleful poison.

Both men's faces changed drastically; they fled back at speed, drenched in sweat after just that one encounter. Huang Wenfa, in particular, stared in astonishment at his palm — a mere wisp of baleful poison had stripped the flesh from his right hand, and even the bone was swiftly melting away.

For a cultivator of the Combined Dao realm, such an injury naturally amounted to nothing; yet he had been so far away, and this was only the aftershock — if even this was so, then Shen Zongzhu, who had faced that spear head-on…

Thinking of this, Huang Wenfa hurriedly raised his head to look into the distance.

But he saw only emptiness behind the dragon demon; only that gold-patterned profound blade embedded in his back proved that Shen Zongzhu had indeed been there moments before.

The next instant, Shen Yi materialized in the void, expression calm, and delivered another vicious whipping kick that slammed brutally into the blade's hilt.

Squelch—

The Ke family Crown Prince staggered forward several steps; that blade had already sunk halfway in.

The Black Tiger still surged within the black clouds, madly tearing at his soul.

Under agony beyond words, the bone-spike spear slipped from his hand, and both arms spasmed as he slapped backward.

"…"

Shen Yi tilted his head slightly; those sharp dragon claws swept past his temple, the entire evasion without a single superfluous movement.

The Supreme Nether Hall was cruelly devouring the Jade-Horned Silver Dragon's soul, and those things now rapidly fed Shen Yi, making him ever more lucid, his perception reaching a level he had never before attained.

Every movement of the Ke family Crown Prince seemed to him as if slowed countless times over.

This dragon demon, seemingly ferocious and imposing — any single claw could easily tear Shen Yi's body apart — yet at this moment, he didn't even have the thought to summon his profound armor.

The Ke family Crown Prince turned his head to look at that handsome, calm face, and a sudden glint of fear entered his eyes.

He suddenly felt that, in the other's eyes, he was nothing but a beast with no path to survival — the only difference being whether he died sooner or later.

Bang bang!

Shen Yi drove two more consecutive fists into the blade's hilt, finally forcing the blade to break through the Ke family Crown Prince's chest.

Under the other's terrified gaze, he quietly tightened both palms around the hilt; threads of blood, accompanied by invisible heart-flame, poured into the dragon demon's body.

Shen Yi transformed into a divine mountain to pin down the blue heavens, forcing this stretch of world to pour all its energy into the keen blade, causing those golden-lotus-like patterns to bloom between this Venerable Bihai's blue sky with a dazzling radiance never seen before.

Ssskkk!

In an instant.

The figure in black robes swept the long blade upward from below, and the dragon's head, split in two, leapt high into the air!

Crimson blood plasma soaked the hem of his robes.

Perhaps even the Ke family Crown Prince had never imagined that, in this entire magical duel, the first time he would "touch" Shen Yi would be in this manner.

(End of chapter)