Chapter 362: Cutting Melons and Vegetables

Inside the cave.

Under Taixuan's guidance, Xie Wanning channeled True Qi to her fingertips and, in one continuous motion, traced a complex and profound Array Diagram across the ground, walls, and ceiling.

Yang Simin helped Chen Che sit cross-legged against the wall, then sat down cross-legged herself, facing him.

"Good. Saintess, release the Heavenly Book now. Ning'er, channel your True Qi into the Array Diagram. Once the array begins to operate, you must absolutely not stop until the Heavenly Book enters Chen Che's body!"

After Taixuan finished his instructions, he looked at the two women one last time. "Girls, the rest is up to you."

Taixuan's smoke-like form drifted to the top of Chen Che's head, assumed a cross-legged meditative posture, and slowly descended, merging into one with Chen Che's body.

In an instant, heat began to rise from Chen Che's body; the puncture wound on his lower abdomen healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, and his complexion followed suit, becoming flushed.

Seeing this, Xie Wanning and Yang Simin both breathed a sigh of relief.

Yang Simin focused her mind and formed seals with her ten fingers; a crystal-clear lotus bloomed from within her body, and she appeared like a fairy sitting serenely upon a lotus throne, ethereal and transcendent.

The petals of the lotus radiated seven-colored light, and amidst these vibrant hues, a brilliant golden glow gradually emerged as golden characters drifted out from her body one by one.

Xie Wanning seized the moment and injected her True Qi into the Array Diagram, causing every line of the diagram to light up and shine brilliantly.

The golden characters drifted intangibly, suspended above Chen Che's head by the power of the array, and merged into him one by one.

By the time all the characters had been transferred, Yang Simin supported herself on the ground as if drained of all strength; sweat poured down like rain, washing over her slightly pale face and dripping onto the cold ground, drop by drop.

"It is done."

Yang Simin gasped for air; having the Heavenly Book leave her body was equivalent to stripping away a portion of her cultivation, and she was extremely weak at this moment. "The rest... is up to him."

As Yang Simin spoke, her vision went black and she collapsed to the ground. Xie Wanning hurried forward to check on her condition, only breathing a sigh of relief after confirming she was merely exhausted.

She glanced at Chen Che again; the heat rising from his body was increasing:

"The people of the Taiyi Sect are still holding on. You are the hope of us all now, Chen Che. Please, wake up."

"ROAR!!!"

A bone-chilling roar came from outside the cave, and the entire cavern began to tremble. The roars of the death servants grew more intense; these monsters seemed to have sensed the anomaly here and were frantically slamming against the stone wall.

Xie Wanning furrowed her brows, glanced at Chen Che and Yang Simin, stood up, faced the cave entrance, and prepared for a fight to the death.

………

Zanpu Dunzhu had used black energy to devour Taixuan's spiritual form, then searched the back mountain, but he never found any trace of Chen Che and the others.

"Let's see how long you can hide."

Zanpu Dunzhu let out a cold snort, black energy swirled around him, and his form dissipated; when he reappeared, he had already arrived at the Taiyi Sect plaza.

In the center of the plaza, the group of death servants was still frantically attacking the Taiyi Sect, while the four elders were working together to maintain the Binding Dragon Stabilizing Sea Array, which was proving highly effective.

Even though Lv Hong and the others already looked weary, the number of death servants had indeed been significantly depleted, and their offensive had weakened considerably compared to the beginning.

Yuan Ming and the other Taiyi Sect disciples had also recovered for the most part, and seeing this, they finally revealed rare smiles.

However, these smiles did not last long.

Zanpu Dunzhu appeared in the plaza like a ghost; no one had noticed his arrival.

Black energy condensed in his palm into a Black Rod with a metallic luster, which he fired out, piercing into the array.

The next second, a violent explosion swept across the entire plaza; Lv Hong and the other three elders suffered a backlash, all spitting out blood and tumbling over in a heap.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

Several more Black Rods shot over at high speed with a whistling sound, striking all four elders who had just managed to stand up.

Each of them was pierced by at least four Black Rods, which were embedded in their legs, arms, shoulders, and chests, perfectly restricting their movements.

"Master!"

"Elder!"

Yuan Ming and the other disciples were shocked and were about to rush forward to check the situation, but were stopped by Lv Hong and the others.

"Don't come over!"

"No one is allowed to touch these Black Rods!"

The four of them stared ferociously at Zanpu Dunzhu, who had appeared in the plaza; the cold energy radiating from the Black Rods froze their Acupoints, sealing their True Qi within them.

"Zanpu Dunzhu!"

Second Elder Shi Ning shouted through gritted teeth.

Yuan Ming and the other disciples immediately grabbed their weapons and stood in front of the four elders.

"Everyone, long time no see."

Zanpu Dunzhu said in a flat tone, while the frenzied death servants now displayed incomparable obedience, retreating behind Zanpu Dunzhu one after another.

"Zanpu Dunzhu, you really did come back!"

Lv Hong glared viciously at Zanpu Dunzhu. "But times have changed. You lost last time, and this time the Taiyi Sect is no longer leaderless; you will lose again!"

Zanpu Dunzhu sneered: "First, let me correct you on one point: I successfully took away half of the Heavenly Book last time, so strictly speaking, it was not a defeat.

Secondly, even if you have a new Sect Master, so what? He is already dying; don't you know?"

"What?!"

Hearing this, everyone present was stunned.

"Impossible!"

Lv Hong shouted: "Everyone listen, it is impossible for the Sect Master to be in trouble! Zanpu Dunzhu's goal is to obtain the Heavenly Book, and his appearance here proves he hasn't obtained it yet. The Sect Master is currently with the Saintess guarding the Heavenly Book, so the Sect Master will be fine! And he has not succeeded!"

"That's right! The Sect Master's abilities are plain for all to see; nothing will happen to him!"

"The enemy is malicious and is attempting to shake our morale!"

"Everyone listen, keep your minds steady; don't be deceived by him!"

The other three elders also echoed these sentiments.

These words were effective; the expressions of Yuan Ming and the other disciples turned sharp again as they watched Zanpu Dunzhu vigilantly.

Zanpu Dunzhu looked indifferent and said: "Fine, since you trust your Sect Master so much, then let's see if he comes to save you."

Lv Hong's expression changed abruptly, and he shouted, "Everyone, get out of the way!"

"Whoosh!"

"Puchi!"

A Black Rod shot over explosively; a Disciple flew backward, his chest pierced through, and he was pinned to the wall.

Before the Disciples could react, the figure of Zanpu Dunzhu had already appeared in the crowd.

"Ah!!!"

"Urgh!!!"

For a time, the Disciples let out one painful scream after another.

Zanpu Dunzhu held the Black Rod, waving his arms wildly, as if chopping melons and vegetables; he moved as if in an empty land, weaving through the Disciples circle after circle.

Countless limbs and heads flew into the sky, and blood splashed onto the plaza like pearls from a broken string.

"Stop!"

"If you have the guts, come at us! You are not allowed to hurt my Disciples!"

"Come on! Kill us!"

"Zanpu Dunzhu, you animal, are you too afraid?! Come on!"

Seeing the miserable state of their beloved Disciples, the four Elders each wore expressions of grief and indignation, letting out hysterical roars.

Zanpu Dunzhu gripped Ji Rong's neck with one hand, lifting her off the ground, while his other hand held the Black Rod, pressing it against the chest of this Master Senior Sister under the Fourth Elder.

He turned his head to look at the four people, who were filled with anger and grief, and gave a contemptuous smile.

"Puchi!"

"No!!!"

The Fourth Elder widened his blood-red eyes and shouted in agonizing grief.

The Black Rod pierced through Ji Rong's heart; she painfully coughed up a mouthful of blood, her eyes rolled back, and she ceased to breathe.

Zanpu Dunzhu discarded Ji Rong as casually as if throwing away trash, and he swept his gaze over the other surviving Disciples.

Any Disciple who met his gaze, even the outstanding talents of the younger generation, the survivors Yuan Ming and Tang Yue, were all startled into a shiver, cold sweat streaming down.

Finally, Zanpu Dunzhu fixed his gaze on the four Elders.

All four of them had bloodshot eyes and ferocious expressions; they wanted to resist the pain brought by the Black Rod and step forward, but they had only taken one step before they collapsed heavily to the ground.

Zanpu Dunzhu gave a playful smile, his brows filled with disdain and contempt: "Didn't you say that your Sect Master is not dead? Then why doesn't he come to save you?"

For a moment, everyone's heart sank to the bottom.

"However, that Saintess of yours is truly good at hiding."

Zanpu Dunzhu was very satisfied with the desperate expressions of the people from the Taiyi Sect; the black Qi on his body grew stronger, and he spread his arms, saying loudly: "Children, help me find her!"

"Roar!!!"

The death servants roared wildly at the sky, once again completing the transformation from docile kittens into brutal monsters, rushing toward the back mountain like a surging tide.

………