Chapter 305: Peak of Spirit Spine Mountain

No one expected that after three days of silence, Wang Shu would break through to the Fourth Layer of the Dao Seed Realm at this very moment.

His cultivation base had taken a massive step forward.

For a heaven-gifted talent of the Inheritor level, it is extremely difficult to reverse-slay a martial cultivator at the Fourth Layer of the Dao Seed Realm while only at the Third Layer. The gap between having condensed a Dao Lotus and not is immense.

However, once an Inheritor also condenses a Dao Lotus, their combat power becomes that of a top-tier powerhouse among those at the Fourth Layer of the Dao Seed Realm. As their cultivation continues to improve, they may even be able to reverse-slay martial cultivators at the Fifth Layer in the future.

Just as the surrounding crowd felt that Yang Qingxi would have her Dao Heart manifestation shattered by Wang Shu and be directly suppressed,

"Whoosh!"

Thick black mist billowed out from Yang Qingxi's body, releasing bone-chilling icy Qi.

A formidable Yin Ghost Commander appeared within the black mist, clad in armor and holding a halberd, with the head of a ram and flaming eyes, standing forty zhang tall like a majestic, towering humanoid mountain.

It used the battle halberd in its hand like a pillar to block, colliding with Wang Shu's palm force.

"Boom!"

The violent impact force vented outward.

At this moment, the peak of Spirit Spine Mountain was shrouded in black mist, and the ground was covered in a thick layer of black frost.

Yang Qingxi retreated backward; beneath her veil, blood spilled from the corner of her mouth, an injury from Wang Shu's palm force. Yet, her eyes became bright and confident—the power of the Ghost Banner was even greater than she had estimated.

After the Ghost Banner appeared at the Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival, many of the older generation recognized its origins, seeing that the lingering spirit sealed within was by no means just a simple Ghost General.

The amount of combat power that could be unleashed depended entirely on the martial cultivator's magic power intensity.

With the magic power intensity of Yang Qingxi at the peak of the Second Layer of the Dao Seed Realm, the lingering spirit within the Ghost Banner transformed into a Yin Ghost Commander forty zhang tall, with strength reaching the level of the Fourth Layer of the Dao Seed Realm.

Of course, the Yin Ghost Commander's intelligence, combat techniques, and reaction speed were all inferior to a true Fourth Layer Dao Seed Realm martial cultivator; in a real fight, there was a gap in combat power.

After the clash, Wang Shu retreated and quickly steadied his figure: "Truly an extraordinary defensive battle treasure! If it were in my hands, I would immediately possess the combat power to enter the 'Jiazi Register'."

"Yang Qingxi, offer up this item, and you and I can join forces to deal with Li Youyi; I can let bygones be bygones. By then, the Blood Handprint Demon Armor will be yours!"

Yang Qingxi held a silver longsword, her figure flickering in and out of the black mist: "Facing you, who has stepped into the Fourth Layer of the Dao Seed Realm, I have no chance of winning. This is indeed a good idea!"

Wang Shu knew very well that there were no unbreakable allies in this world, only shared interests and the ability to assess the situation.

Thus, he laughed: "I knew you were a smart person. Li Youyi's ancestral field is already ruined, and his future potential is limited, while I am like the rising sun, improving every single day. Being my ally is the wise choice."

Yang Qingxi held the Ghost Banner and walked toward him.

Suddenly.

"Awoo!"

"Whoosh!"

The Yin Ghost Commander spat out Duling Cold Fire; the flames poured down like a waterfall. They had no heat, yet they burned the rocks until they melted, and the silver-leaf pines at the cliff's edge were instantly reduced to ashes.

Wang Shu had been alert in advance; he did not fully trust Yang Qingxi and used his movement technique to dodge by a hair's breadth.

The corner of his robe and a strand of hair caught fire, which he quickly extinguished.

"Yang Qingxi, I misjudged your relationship. It seems you and Li Youyi are truly in love; for his sake, you actually chose a dead end. Do you think this Yin Ghost Commander alone can stop me?"

Wang Shu had extremely high comprehension; not only had he successfully cultivated the Great Art "Golden Armor Mountain-Moving Technique," but his movement minor art "Suspended Thread Shadow-Roaming Technique" had also reached the first layer of perfection. His movement was unpredictable, and his speed was incredibly fast.

His figure swayed left and right, unpredictable, dodging the battle halberd swung by the Yin Ghost Commander and catching up to the rapidly retreating Yang Qingxi.

His arms turned golden, his skin like golden armor.

He swung his palm-blade downward, causing the air to vibrate and explode.

"Whoosh!"

Yang Qingxi had nowhere to dodge and used the Ten Absolutes Sword Technique to block, sword shadows layering before her.

A slender, graceful figure flashed out from behind her.

That graceful figure also held a Grade Five Hundred-Character Artifact silver longsword and was identical in figure and appearance to Yang Qingxi, but there was not a trace of color on her face, and her skin was terrifyingly white.

It was Yang Qingchan!

The two of them joined forces, one on the left and one on the right, with thousands of scriptures flying from their two silver swords, forcing Wang Shu back once again.

Yang Qingchan's body was thick with Yin energy, her long hair disheveled: "I think Wang Shu's proposal is actually quite good. The things on Li Youyi are more attractive and easier to deal with."

Yang Qingxi, facing Wang Shu with her Second Layer Dao Seed Realm cultivation, was fighting for her life with every clash, and the injuries on her body worsened: "If we offer the Ghost Banner to Wang Shu, the next moment, you and I will be planted with the Six Desires Talisman by him and become playthings on his bed. But relying on you, me, and the Yin Ghost Commander, we can absolutely fight him. We only need to wait for Li Youyi to arrive after saving the others; with numbers on our side, our chances of winning remain high."

"You seem to trust that Li Youyi very much?" Yang Qingchan said.

Yang Qingxi found it hard to describe that feeling.

When fighting fiercely against Hua Yuzi, Li Youyi had once said, "As long as you have a single breath left, I will definitely take you away." Given the critical situation at the time, for Li Youyi to say it and do it was truly not easy.

When she woke up at Evergreen Temple and the first person she saw was Li Youyi, she had deep, unusual emotions in her heart.

With such an experience, how could she not trust Li Youyi?

The battle erupted once again.

The lingering spirit within Yang Qingchan had extremely high cultivation, but it was limited by her fragile physical body, so the combat power she could unleash was extremely limited. Joining forces with Yang Qingxi, they could only barely hold Wang Shu at bay.

A group of young disciples fled down the mountain one after another.

Only Sikong Jingyuan and Sikong Yanlun stood on a distant cliff, their eyes revealing burning, excited light.

Sikong Jingyuan stared fixedly at the Ghost Banner in Yang Qingxi's hand: "The legendary Duling Cold Fire! This Ghost Banner definitely comes from that Ghost City deep within the Nether Realm of the Dead. Could the lingering spirit sealed inside be a Ghost Marquis or a Ghost Monarch?"

In the Nether Realm of the Dead, the strength of lingering spirits of the ghost type is divided into: Fierce Soul, Ghost General, Yin Ghost Commander, Ghost Marquis/Ghost Monarch, and Ghost King.

A Yin Ghost Commander is equivalent to a Dao Seed Realm martial cultivator and Spirit Intent Master among the human race.

A Ghost Marquis is equivalent to a Longevity Realm martial cultivator.

A Ghost Monarch is equivalent to a Great Longevity cultivator who has lived for hundreds of years.

Even within the Longevity Realm, the gap in strength is immense.

When Sikong Jingyuan and Sikong Yanlun were training in the Nether Realm of the Dead, they heard that deep within the Nether Realm, there was a boundless Ghost City named "Cave Ruin Ghost City," where an existence above a Ghost King ruled over everything there.

Its influence reached the Nether Realm world for a million li around, as well as the six Life Realms dotted within this Nether Realm world, including the Lingxiao Life Realm.

Sikong Yanlun's gaze, however, fell on Yang Qingxi and Yang Qingchan, and he laughed: "These two little 'Six Desires' are like fiery, unbridled horses; there is a kind of hateful energy about them that makes one want to conquer them, and their figures and beauty are top-notch. I like it."

Sikong Jingyuan said: "Then it's settled: the people go to you, the banner goes to me."

"What level the lingering spirit sealed in that banner is, is still hard to say! If you pick wrong, don't regret it," Sikong Yanlun laughed loudly.

"Boom!"

On the east side of the Fourth Divine Son's Mansion, thunder and lightning flashed, and the mountain trembled.

Li Youyi used a box of Thunder Law Profound Ice to break the protective array of the Divine Son's Mansion, held the Yellow Dragon Sword, and walked directly inside through a gap in the wall.

His speed was swift, and he soon found Brother Qi Xiao and Brother Tuoba Butuo locked to the stone wall inside Wang Shu's cultivation room.

The two had once been high-spirited, both possessing Pure Immortal Bodies.

One was the number one person of the younger generation of the Qi family, the other was a heaven-gifted talent of the Inheritor level from the Northern Region's Brother Tuoba clan.

Using dragon seeds to plant the Dao, they originally had a bright future.

But now, they had been tortured until they were no longer human; their blood was drunk and swallowed by Wang Shu daily, their bodies shriveled and withered like two hunched old men with disheveled hair.

Each was missing an arm, and their bodies were pierced by chains.

On the stone wall behind them, there was an array for each. Once they tried to break free and escape, or if someone came to rescue them, the arrays would activate.

Li Youyi was a Three-Star Spirit Intent Master, his intent power stronger than the array setter's, and he quickly found the array eyes of the two arrays.

"Shing!"

The Yellow Dragon Sword thrust out, breaking the array on the stone wall behind Brother Qi Xiao.

He then swung two swords, cutting the iron chains locked on Brother Qi Xiao, and held him, now reduced to skin and bones, weighing only sixty or seventy jin.

Li Youyi felt guilty and incredibly uncomfortable, blaming himself so much he wanted to punch himself twice.

If not for him, how could Brother Qi Xiao have fallen into the hands of the Twin Rice Sect and ended up in such a state?

"Be... careful..."

Brother Qi Xiao warned weakly.

He didn't need to warn him; Li Youyi had long since released his Heaven and Earth Divine Intent, his perception extremely sharp, and he had sensed the cold, Yin energy rapidly approaching from above, but he was just pretending not to know.

Wang Zhi dropped from the roof, his hands forming claw prints, revealing a mouthful of snow-white teeth, imagining the scene of a claw piercing Li Youyi's skull.

"Swish!"

Li Youyi calculated the time and angle with extreme precision; his body stood up abruptly, and the Yellow Dragon Sword thrust out, going upward.

The sword's edge was sharp, and the light it spat out transformed into a bright sword pillar.

"Not good! My Qi-restraining concealment actually didn't fool him."

Shock appeared in Wang Zhi's eyes; he felt as if he had actively collided with the tip of the sword.

With nowhere to dodge, he could only mobilize all his strength to gather in his palm, his five fingers grabbing toward the Yellow Dragon Sword.

His cultivation was countless times higher than Li Youyi's, and every strand of his magic power was like iron cloth and divine gauze. No scriptures appeared on the body of the Yellow Dragon Sword, clearly its grade was limited; in his view, he could snatch it with his bare hands.

The moment he touched it, Wang Zhi regretted it!

His formidable magic power, which he was so proud of, was instantly broken by the Yellow Dragon Sword like cutting paper; his five fingers were severed by the sword's edge, blood spraying everywhere, covering the ground.

The lingering spirit within Wang Zhi felt pain and let out a miserable cry, his toes touching the ground as he retreated rapidly into the distance.

He glanced at his palm with five severed fingers, then looked at the Yellow Dragon Sword with extreme dread. He said: "This sword of yours is strange! With my magic power intensity, I could block a Grade Three Hundred-Character Artifact with my bare hands."

Li Youyi's sword strike just now was intended to pierce Wang Zhi's skull. But Wang Zhi's cultivation was too high, his reaction as fast as lightning; in such a perilous situation, he had only lost five fingers.

Such cultivation and speed made Li Youyi's heart sink to the bottom, and he felt immense pressure.

This was the strength of the Fourth Layer of the Dao Seed Realm!

How to fight?

There was no chance of winning.

Last time, facing Wang Zhi, it was by relying on the residual power of Tang Wanzhou in the Divine Snow Sword that he escaped with his life.

Li Youyi put Brother Qi Xiao into a pre-prepared insect bag and forced himself to calm down quickly.

The stronger the enemy, the calmer one must be.

He moved step by step toward Brother Tuoba Butuo and said: "I am very curious, when Wang Zhi was alive, he only had the cultivation of the First Layer of the Dao Seed Realm, and his physical body strength was limited. Now that you are fused with his body, why can you compare to a powerhouse of the Fourth Layer?"

"Because before I was refined into a soul seed by that Palace Master of the Heavenly Principle Palace, my cultivation was far higher than the Fourth Layer of the Dao Seed Realm; the physical body limited the exertion of my strength. Otherwise, I could press you to death with a single finger."

Wang Zhi's aura was extremely strong; he was secretly refining the Yellow Dragon Sword's sword Qi that had invaded his body, also stalling for time.

Li Youyi said again: "Then are you alive or dead now?"

"Neither alive nor dead! If Wang Shu lives, I live. If Wang Shu dies, I die immediately. The Twin Rice Sect knows very well that they cannot make us powerful lingering spirits truly submit, so they use this method, handing the soul seeds to Divine Sons, Divine Daughters, Elders, and Great True Disciples to cultivate. Using the souls of the twins to control our life and death," Wang Zhi said.

Li Youyi knew very well that Yang Qingxi was no match for Wang Shu and dared not delay any longer.

He arrived beside Brother Tuoba Butuo, seized the opportunity, and thrust his sword at the array node on the stone wall.

The array was broken!

Wang Zhi had long seen through Li Youyi's goal; he was waiting for this moment when he rescued the people.

"Swish!"

He struck out with a bone claw imprint from a distance.

Following that, Wang Zhi's figure moved as fast as a ghost, charging toward Li Youyi.

Li Youyi had long been prepared; spiritual light surged within his body, bright and scorching.

The light and shadow of the Fusang Divine Tree rose behind him, blocking the bone claw imprint. The branches and leaves of the divine tree's shadow crashed through the roof, casting golden-red radiance over the summit of Spirit Spine Mountain.

"Whoosh!"

Then, dense blood mist surged out from the Blood Handprint Magic Armor.

Over nine hundred scriptures were branded onto Li Youyi's entire body.

His mental state reached its peak; he stared fixedly at Wang Zhi, raised his sword, and charged into the fray.

He used his mental power to resist Wang Zhi's soul attacks and used the Huang Long Sword to clash head-on against the opponent's formidable magic power.

Li Youyi was knocked back several times, but he always kept Brother Tuoba Butuo behind him, not giving Wang Zhi any chance to close in.

In the blink of an eye, the two exchanged dozens of blows before suddenly separating.

Wang Zhi felt incredibly stifled; he clearly could have unleashed combat power at the fourth layer of the Dao Seed Realm, but he was restrained by the Huang Long Sword, suppressed by the Golden Crow flames within the Fusang Divine Tree's shadow, and his left hand had been severely injured in the very first exchange.

When he unleashed soul power attacks, Li Youyi just happened to have powerful mental strength, allowing him to resist.

Now, he could only exert five or six tenths of his full combat power.

"Why is your combat power not as strong as it should be?" Li Youyi questioned, feeling puzzled in his heart.

(End of chapter)