Chapter 416: Want to Self-Detonate Again?

A sharp, pure sword will, as if capable of severing all illusions and bindings, erupted violently from Chen Mu.

Like an ultimate blade igniting in darkness, it instantly pierced and tore through the chilling field of the Devouring Heart Elder.

The twisted human faces formed from malice, upon contact with this fierce sword intent, screamed silently like phantoms in sunlight, rapidly fading and dissolving.

Immediately after, Chen Mu raised the Sunken Long Jian.

The Zhenwu Cleansing Demon Sword Art!

His internal true qi surged wildly along a mysterious, specific path, finally transforming entirely into the most refined and pure yang true fire, flooding into the blade.

The Sunken Long Jian blazed with unprecedented brilliance—its light not crimson, but nearly pure white, yet shimmering with five-colored radiance!

Chen Mu slashed forward; there was no earth-shattering roar, only a single white sword qi lotus, its diameter roughly one zhang, slowly blooming with swirling five-colored halos.

The lotus rotated, seeming slow, yet brimming with immense power capable of purifying all things.

Where the lotus passed—

The surging insect tide burned away like invisible flames, turning into piles of ash.

The dark red filth mist was cleansed and purified by the lotus's pure yang aura.

Even the thick, viscous sludge churning in the blood pool seemed affected, boiling more violently and emitting a charred, foul stench.

This sword strike contained not only the raw, yang physical force, but also Chen Mu's profound understanding of the Zhenwu Cleansing Demon Sword Art—making it a near-natural predator against the Shishen Sect's techniques, which relied on filth, evil, and negative energy.

"What?"

The Devouring Heart Elder's face finally changed color.

His famed Soul-Eroding Threads, malice shocks, and insect swarm control—all crumbled and melted before this seemingly beautiful sword qi lotus, as if encountering their ultimate antithesis.

The old man frantically swung his bone staff, erecting layer upon layer of defensive barriers woven from skeletal ghost shadows and ghastly green runes.

Boom—

The sword qi lotus slammed violently into the layered barriers.

Blinding white light and piercing ghostly wails erupted simultaneously.

Chaotic energy currents raged wildly through the cave, stripping away layer after layer of rock walls, and completely eradicating the remaining monstrous insects.

When the light dimmed slightly, the Devouring Heart Elder's layered barriers lay shattered; the pale skull atop his bone staff now bore several distinct cracks.

The old man himself staggered backward several steps, a strange flush rising on his withered face—he was clearly badly injured.

"The Zhenwu Cleansing Demon Sword Art?"

"You… you're not Sanhua Jiding! Who are you from the Zhenwu Sect?"

The Devouring Heart Elder, shocked and furious, stared fixedly at Chen Mu, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Such pure true qi. Such terrifying sword intent. So young…

When had such a figure emerged in the martial world?!

On the other side, Jin Ao unleashed his full power.

With Chen Mu distracting the Devouring Heart Elder's attention and most of his techniques, Jin Ao had no further restraint; his Black Flame Blade slashed wildly, and within a dozen strikes, he severed the emaciated man's bone blade and split him in two.

The fat woman, sensing disaster, tried to flee back to the blood pool, but Jin Ao's airborne blade slash caught up with her, cutting through her final venomous spit and her body alike, exploding them midair into a rain of foul, bloody mist.

Two Wuqi Chaoyuan cultists were slain!

【Corpse detected. Collect?】

"Yes!"

Chen Mu remotely collected the card.

…

Jin Ao finished his opponent and immediately turned, positioning himself and Chen Mu in front and behind, subtly surrounding the Devouring Heart Elder, whose breath was unsteady and whose face was a mix of shock and rage.

The Devouring Heart Elder looked left and right, seeing both enemies locking their qi upon him—especially Chen Mu's swordlight, which seemed capable of purifying all evil—his eyes finally flickered with fear.

He knew his plan today would surely fail.

Not only had his Holy Embryo been exposed, but he himself might die here!

"Good! Good! Good!"

The Devouring Heart Elder spat three "goods," his voice dripping with venom, "I never expected such a tiny place as Wu Long Prefecture would hide two such stubborn bones. But do you think you can keep me? It won't be that easy!"

His eyes flashed with madness as he drove the bone staff, now cracked, straight into his own chest.

"No good! He's going to self-detonate his soul and trigger the Holy Embryo!"

Jin Ao's face turned pale; he shouted fiercely, "Stop him!"

Chen Mu also realized the danger.

The massive fleshy tumor above the blood pool already contained an enormous, chaotic energy—if the Devouring Heart Elder used his own soul as a fuse to forcibly detonate it, the explosion could rival that of a Tiangong cultivator!

The entire Black Wind Ravine, even Wu Long Prefecture, might suffer catastrophic damage.

"Stop? Too late!"

The Devouring Heart Elder sneered; his bone staff had already pierced through his chest skin, and thick streams of dark red light—containing his life essence and soul origin—flooded furiously into the staff, then surged down into the blood pool and upward into the massive tumor!

The tumor's pulsing intensified abruptly.

Its volume began swelling!

Cracks split its surface, revealing its more nauseating, writhing inner tissues.

A violent, destructive, chaotic aura surged like the oppressive pressure before a volcanic eruption, climbing wildly!

The cave shook violently; rocks rained down.

Swoosh~!

Jin Ao surged forward, his black blade light engulfing the old man.

But mid-air, he was struck by a terrifying spiritual shockwave, his face turning pale as he staggered backward.

Shhh!

Seizing the opportunity, Chen Mu rushed to the old man's side.

The Crimson Water Dragon Slaying Dao—

"Blazing Dragon Claw!"

True Qi surged and transformed into an impossibly solid flame-shaped dragon claw, seizing the wrist of the Soul-Devouring Elder—the very hand clutching the bone staff, poised to plunge it fully into his own heart!

Simultaneously, his right hand thrust the Dragon-Subduing Sword—faster than lightning—straight at the Soul-Devouring Elder's forehead, now blazing unnaturally bright from the sacrifice!

This strike held no flourish, only extreme speed and precision!

At the tip of the blade, a tiny, almost imperceptible point of light flickered—a strange point that seemed capable of erasing all things, returning them to chaos.

The Soul-Devouring Elder had just repelled Jin Ao; his remaining spirit and strength were fully focused on the sacrifice and self-destruction. He never expected Chen Mu would dare such a reckless, close-range assault—much less that the attack would be so bizarre and lethal!

He tried to wrench free, but his wrist was locked fast by the "Flame Dragon Claw," its scorching energy ravaging his arm's meridians!

He tried to tilt his head away, but the light at the sword's tip seemed locked onto the core of his soul—there was no escape.

"No—"

Amid a desperate scream.

"Puff!"

A faint sound, like a water sack pierced.

The tip of the Dragon-Subduing Sword pierced the Soul-Devouring Elder's forehead with perfect accuracy!

The madness, hatred, and terror in his eyes froze instantly.

The swirling sacrificial bloodlight around him ceased abruptly—like a flame cut off at its source—rapidly dimming and extinguishing.

The hand gripping the bone staff went limp and released it.

The bone staff clattered to the ground, its skull-shaped top shattering completely.

The Soul-Devouring Elder's body collapsed like all his bones had been removed, falling backward with a "thud," landing face-up at the edge of the blood pool, splashing a few dark red droplets.

A clear, bloody fissure gaped at his forehead.

The sacrifice had been forcibly interrupted!

【Corpse detected. Retrieve?】

"Yes!"