Chapter 741: The Demon is Exterminated

Well, so you're hiding here!

Li Yan didn’t know that the “peach wood” he saw in the Nine Gates Yin Xu and the “Taodou Mountain wood” discovered by Wang Daoxuan and others were the same kind of spirit wood.

He had no idea how Zhao Qingxu had concealed it.

But now that it was found, he could not let the opponent escape!

Li Yan suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze brimming with killing intent; without a word, he drew his flintlock pistol from his waist and fired at the distant wooden rack.

“What are you doing?!”

Tao Fengchun, upon seeing this, immediately his eyes turned bloodshot.

Boom!

Before he could stop it, the gunshot erupted.

But at the same time, the peach wood carving with auspicious clouds and taotie patterns on the rack also trembled, spewing forth a torrent of black mist.

The lead bullet came hurtling in, carrying immense force.

Normally, with the power of this new-style firearm, the entire wooden rack would have been shattered, let alone the “peach wood.”

Yet the bullet vanished into the black mist like a red-hot iron plunged into a cold spring, or boiling oil splashed with water—only a sharp hiss erupted.

The spirit wood remained unharmed, but the surrounding black mist exploded violently.

The foul, demonic energy hidden deep within could no longer be concealed.

This was the flaw of the “Northern Emperor’s Divine Method”: it could reveal hidden spirits and ghosts, but it also exposed the user to them—hence Li Yan acted without hesitation.

At this point, how could anyone still doubt something was wrong?

The craftsmen around them scrambled backward, fleeing far from the rack.

Master Huo Yin also growled, “Everyone, disperse!”

“Surround this area—do not let the demon escape!”

As he spoke, he vanished from his spot; with a rip of fabric through air, he suddenly appeared ten meters above the rack, roaring like thunder as he slammed down a fist.

As one of the top two among the Ten Masters in combat power, Huo Yin stood at the pinnacle of Shenzhou’s martial arts—his aura needed no explanation.

A crushing pressure instantly descended, as if mountains were pressing down from above.

His martial intent, fused with gang jin, obliterated ordinary spells outright; even the black mist emitted by the spirit wood shrank violently into a single ball.

Seeing this, Li Yan immediately pulled out his Warrant from his robe.

This was a luxurious opportunity: not only were there multiple restrictions within the academy, but Master Huo Yin was already acting—merely summoning yin soldiers would suffice.

Yet everyone still underestimated Zhao Qingxu’s power.

“Roar—!”

A voice, neither human nor beast, filled with endless malice and fury, erupted.

It did not come through the ears—it exploded directly within every heart.

The black mist surging from the peach wood instantly thickened into solidity, then fully detached from the spirit wood, rising into the air as if ready to clash head-on with Huo Yin.

“Hmph!”

Huo Yin grunted, channeling his gang jin without restraint.

Boom!

The black mist shattered, and a stench of bone-burning, marrow-corroding putridity exploded outward.

Four ink-black shadows, faster than ghosts, ignored all physical barriers and instantly surged into the bodies of the four closest young craftsmen!

“Hahaha…”

“Ugh!”

The four craftsmen convulsed violently as if struck by lightning, their eyes rolling back, pupils vanishing, replaced by swirling void-black.

Crack! Crack!

They twisted their necks, joints contorting grotesquely, then lunged forward.

Swish-swish-swish—like puppets controlled by invisible threads, the four smashed through windows or leapt over workbenches, fleeing madly in four entirely different directions.

Afterimages flickered, stirring gusts of chilling wind.

“Try to escape?!”

As Huo Yin landed, his toe tapped lightly—he left a phantom image behind and instantly appeared before the possessed craftsman who was about to smash through the north wall.

His palm, broad as a fan, required no fancy moves; five fingers hooked like claws, wreathed in overwhelming gang jin, clamped down on the major acupoint of the shoulder blade.

This grip could snap the sinews and bones of tigers and leopards.

Yet he applied it with effortless ease, pinning the man flat to the ground.

At the same time, several elite fighters from the Divine Fists Society, already poised in the shadows outside the door, sprang into action.

Two of them split like geese in flight, lunging at the craftsman fleeing west—one used “Tiger Subduing Hand” to strike the center, the other used “Eagle Claw” to seize the ankle, their coordination flawless.

Another let out a low roar, his blood and qi surging as his arm muscles knotted like ropes; he leapt like an old monkey climbing a branch and forcibly dragged the fleeing craftsman from midair.

Everything happened too fast.

The experts Huo Yin brought moved with perfect synergy—against ordinary men, they would have captured them effortlessly—but they faced demonic demonic energy.

Since ancient times, it had been immortal and indestructible, capable only of being sealed in the netherworld.

“Hmm?”

Huo Yin frowned, staring at the craftsman pinned beneath his fist.

His martial gang jin was pure and yang-heavy; most demons and monsters could not endure it—once forced out, he could crush them to ash with a single punch.

Yet the craftsman beneath merely roared like a beast, his black eyes flickering between white and bloodshot.

At the same time, a venomous malice relentlessly battered his soul.

Huo Yin himself was unshaken—but the others could not bear it.

“Puff!”

One Divine Fists Society fighter spat blood, staggering backward.

Another, skilled in occult arts and a follower of the Fa Sect, gritted his teeth against the noise and dizziness in his skull, snatched a handful of incense ash from his waist pouch, chanted a spell, and slammed it down.

“Demon, die!”

He roared, his palm’s force Guozhe incense ash exploding over the craftsman’s skull.

The unfortunate craftsman’s head was crushed.

In desperation, he had gone all out.

Yet before he could even breathe out, black mist surged again from the corpse, Guozhe the incense ash, pouring entirely into his nostrils.

The Divine Fists fighter trembled violently, his eyes darkening rapidly.

“Brother Three!”

His comrades nearby realized something was wrong and rushed to help.

But the possessed Divine Fists fighter only turned with a grotesque grin, pushed off the ground, and leapt into the air, continuing his escape.

Of the four black mists, only one remained trapped under Huo Yin’s suppression.

Of course, the assault had not ceased.

Outside the workshop, the elite musketeers of the Commandant’s Office reacted swiftly.

“Fire!”

Bang! Bang!

The squad leader barked the order; the pre-positioned snipers, relying on years of honed instinct, fired directly at the darting shadows.

Under these circumstances, no one cared whether the craftsmen lived or died.

The speed of the Divine Fire Guns was naturally faster.

Three figures in midair were blown apart into pieces, blood and flesh spraying.

But the demonic energy within them reformed into black mist and shot toward others.

“Everyone, if you don’t want to die—close your eyes!”

At that moment, Li Yan’s roar rang out, accompanied by his incantation: “Heaven has its order, Earth has its law; the Yin Bureaucracy binds souls, the living must turn away!”

Summoning the yin officers…

Huo Yin instantly understood what he was holding.

“Everyone, close your eyes!”

He barked, his voice rumbling like thunder through the entire academy.

Master Huo Yin’s prestige needed no explanation—and his voice carried the weight of a superior’s authority.

Those who had hesitated now all shut their eyes.

Hoo~

A gale howled, darkness spreading swiftly, swallowing everyone whole.

Many trembled in dread, hearing only the wind, armor clanks, and chains—clenching their teeth, they kept their eyes shut, not daring to move.