Chapter 460

"Qi Ming has come to the Northern Barbarians?!"

Upon sensing that monstrous resentment, Li Fei was startled, immediately sensing that something was wrong.

He did not know that this newly promoted "Demon" had a path to enlightenment that was the exact opposite of Yun Shu's, requiring the complete destruction of the Great Lan Dynasty.

Beforehand, he had wondered whether Qi Ming would follow the Killing Barbarian Army to the Northern Barbarians to sabotage their operation.

However, worrying about such things was useless; he could only leave it to the Imperial Court to fret over.

Now, sensing Qi Ming's strike, Li Fei reacted immediately:

When Bai Yan unleashed that Hun Tian Luo Pan at the start, it wasn't just to enhance himself, but also to deter Qi Ming!

Yun Shu's Dao principle is analysis; under the illumination of the Hun Tian Luo Pan's light, if Qi Ming dared to strike, he could be tracked by Yun Shu and thus completely locked down!

Qi Ming, this True Person of the Curse Dao, is most formidable—and his greatest deterrent power lies in the fact that he hides in the shadows.

Once he is locked on and his trail is mastered by the Imperial Court at any time, his deterrent power is immediately and significantly weakened, and he himself would be in danger.

Who knows when the "God of War" Wen Ren Zheng might lead the Sky Blue Iron Cavalry in pursuit to kill him!

Regarding the world's peak powerhouses, the Great Lan Dynasty is naturally wary, but it also maintains the necessary deterrent power.

Even someone as strong as the world's number one, Lin Lin Tianyi, may not give the Son of Heaven face, but on the surface, he still abides by the Imperial Court's systems; the fact that the Lin Tianyi Tower joined the Lan Xun Pavilion is evidence of this.

This is only because Lin Lin Tianyi also has people and things he cares about, things he must protect.

If both sides were to tear off the mask, Lin Lin Tianyi might be able to survive alone, but everything he cares about could be destroyed!

Of course, if it truly reached that point, the Great Lan Dynasty would naturally have to pay a heavy price!

Therefore, regarding Lin Lin Tianyi, Tai Yu, the head of the Hongchen Pavilion, and others, while the Imperial Court maintains deterrent power over them, it also treats them with courtesy; as long as it does not involve matters of principle regarding right and wrong, both sides try to keep the peace.

As for the "Three Demons" before Qi Ming—people who have no ties on the surface and whose actions severely violate Imperial law—the Imperial Court adopts a policy of strong deterrence.

The so-called "policy of strong deterrence" is: "If I go all out, I can definitely kill you, so you had better not do anything that crosses the line!"

For the "Three Demons" before Qi Ming, each person's path to enlightenment is a cruel and bloody history.

For example, the notorious Ancestor of the Styx, in order to break through to the "True One Realm," blood-sacrificed a city of over 200,000 people with his natal magic treasure!

Such a great demon is naturally wanted by the Imperial Court, but after so many years, the Ancestor of the Styx occasionally appears, yet the Imperial Court has never truly sent people to surround and kill him.

Of course, the Ancestor of the Styx has also been very low-key during the years he has been wanted; even when he kills, he mostly kills people from the Jianghu, and not many Imperial officials.

He has naturally never done anything like blood-sacrificing hundreds of thousands of people again.

This is a kind of tacit understanding between him and the Imperial Court.

Because he knows that if he acts too outrageously, he is forcing the Imperial Court to kill him at any cost.

The Imperial Court has never truly acted against the "Three Demons" for so many years because the price of killing a peak powerhouse is too great!

Unless necessary, no monarch is willing to pay a huge price to eliminate a peak powerhouse.

This is the "way of getting along" between the Great Lan Dynasty and the world's peak powerhouses.

Either treat them with courtesy, or use strong deterrence.

But now there is an additional person, the head of the Zhang Xintian Society, Qi Ming, and he clearly does not fit into either of the two ways of getting along mentioned above.

Regarding Qi Ming, after clarifying his path to enlightenment, the Great Lan Dynasty has only one attitude toward him—kill him at all costs!

As long as Qi Ming's location is locked, the Imperial Court will target this person at any cost!

Qi Ming himself is also clearly aware of this, so after that one public strike, he has never made a move again.

Because he knows very well that if he makes a move in this world, he will inevitably leave traces, and the more traces he leaves, the greater the possibility of being locked down by Yun Shu, who possesses the Dao principle of analysis!

This time, with the Killing Barbarian Army deep in the wilderness, Qi Ming knew very well that Yun Shu must have left behind some means.

Sure enough, before the battle began, Bai Yan released that Hun Tian Luo Pan.

Besides accumulating victory for himself, it was also a clear warning to Qi Ming, who might be hiding in the shadows:

If you strike, you will definitely be locked down!

Regardless of whether Qi Ming truly followed the Killing Barbarian Army into the Northern Barbarians, as long as this Hun Tian Luo Pan is still there, it is the best protective talisman to eliminate hidden dangers.

Qi Ming did not want to be locked down, so he endured and did not strike until the Killing Barbarian Army gradually gained the upper hand.

But he also could not accept the Northern Barbarian King being killed, the Northern Barbarians being damaged as a result, and the Great Lan Dynasty seizing the opportunity to strengthen its national fortune.

Therefore, he secretly made contact with the Great Elder of the Fire Red Qilin Clan, Nuomu Han:

"You strike to temporarily interfere with the Hun Tian Luo Pan above, and I will strike to help you turn the situation around."

Nuomu Han naturally could not trust Qi Ming, an outsider.

If he wanted to interfere with the Hun Tian Luo Pan, he would inevitably leave behind obvious flaws and could be heavily damaged by Bai Yan.

And once he was heavily damaged, the Northern Barbarians would basically lose this round.

Entrusting the fate of the Northern Barbarians to an outsider to lead is something Nuomu Han could not accept.

Therefore, even though he received Qi Ming's hint as soon as the battle began, he had never done as Qi Ming said.

It was just that the subsequent development of the situation exceeded his expectations one after another.

The Killing Barbarian Army's trump cards were revealed one by one, and Li Fei, this "trump card," played an even greater role, ultimately causing the situation to tilt toward the Killing Barbarian Army.

If the battle continued, the Northern Barbarians would collapse within ten minutes!

Therefore, Nuomu Han ultimately chose to strike the Hun Tian Luo Pan above according to the method given by Qi Ming.

He is a powerhouse whose strength and realm can be ranked in the top three of the entire Northern Barbarians, a Great Perfection of the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend, a peak top-tier True Person, only one step away from the True One Realm.

But facing this power left behind by Yun Shu, even with Qi Ming's guidance, plus the Nine Dragons becoming one, he could only interfere with the Hun Tian Luo Pan for a very short time.

However, this little bit of time was enough for Qi Ming.

Monstrous curse power fell like a galaxy, striking the blood-colored giant!

On the surface of the blood-colored giant's body was an invisible armor transformed from the Martial Dao Domain, but when this armor encountered Qi Ming's curse power, it was like paper, shattered instantly.

Qi Ming's Dao principle is "curse," and its characteristic is that it can "curse until death"!

Whether it is abilities or the Martial Dao Domain, these can at most delay death, but cannot drive it away.

Even if a Grandmaster is only stained with a trace of curse power, it is like a drop of ink falling into the ocean.

But regardless of whether they use the 【Regeneration】 ability or other life-type or healing-type abilities, or related Martial Dao Domains, this Grandmaster still cannot avoid death; it is only a matter of time!

This is Qi Ming's Dao principle; one can only resist with Dao principles, otherwise, one will eventually be cursed to death.

To date, the only exception is Li Fei...

Monstrous curse power broke through the Martial Dao Domain on the surface of the blood-colored giant's body and invaded the Imperial Camp Army within his body.

Qi Ming did not strike directly at Bai Yan; his target was only those 3,000-plus Imperial Camp soldiers and the three Grandmasters.

Because he was worried that Yun Shu had also left behind means within Bai Yan's body; once he used curse power to kill Bai Yan, he would also be locked down by Yun Shu.

But it was impossible for Yun Shu to leave his power within the bodies of 3,000-plus Imperial Camp soldiers, so Qi Ming set his target on those Imperial Camp soldiers.

Just as he struck, a star suddenly flew out from Bai Yan's body, from the heart of the blood-colored giant!

This star actively collided with the invading curse power and then instantly disintegrated, merging into it.

On a mountain peak a dozen miles away from this place, Qi Ming sat cross-legged, casting spells remotely.

When that star appeared within Bai Yan's body and merged into his curse power, his expression changed slightly, and he chose to cut off the output of curse power without hesitation!

Just as he had guessed, there were indeed means left behind by Yun Shu within Bai Yan's body, and they were also means that could be actively triggered.

Although he cut off the curse power output in time, Qi Ming still felt that there was a power searching toward him in the dark!

Qi Ming stood up decisively, exploding into hundreds of black shadows on the spot, each flying away in different directions...

Within the grand formation, the blood-colored giant collapsed completely!

When Qi Ming struck, Bai Yan used most of his power to attack Nuomu Han, and the defense of the military formation was at its most vulnerable.

Moreover, of the 3,600 Imperial Camp soldiers, more than 500 had already died in previous battles, and the power of the military formation was no longer at its peak.

Therefore, Qi Ming's strike instantly broke the defense of the military formation, and the curse power infected nearly 2,000 Imperial Camp soldiers, including the three Grandmasters—all of them were cursed!

If he hadn't cut off the curse power in time, the remaining 1,000-plus Imperial Camp soldiers would also have been hit.

Below the Dao Foundation Realm, more than 1,000 Imperial Camp soldiers were cursed to death the moment they were hit, and there were more than 1,000 others who could at most hold on for a few minutes before dying one after another!

The remaining 150-plus cursed Dao Foundation Realm warriors and the three Grandmasters could hold on a little longer, but death was only a matter of time.

The Martial Dao Domain and the military formation were forcibly broken, and Bai Yan also suffered a backlash, sustaining internal injuries.

The most fatal thing was that he had now lost his "Prince-level" combat power, while Bo Erhu was still in a beast-transformed state!

A black light flashed, and Bo Erhu had already arrived in front of Bai Yan, punching out.

At this moment, because Bai Yan had suffered the backlash of the military formation being broken, he was temporarily unable to activate his Martial Dao Domain.

A punch powerful enough to shatter a mountain peak instantly broke through the protective energy on Bai Yan's body, followed by breaking through a layer of clear, spiritual light—this was the defense that Zhang Zhang Chengbi had added to Bai Yan by controlling his natal magic treasure in time.

But the gap between the two was now huge, and the defense Zhang Zhang Chengbi activated with all his might still could not block Bo Erhu's fist.

Behind Bai Yan, a phantom image identical to himself shattered.

This was his ability—【Shadow Replacement】, which could block any fatal attack for him, or temporarily transform into his clone, possessing the same power as himself.

This is an ability that is both offensive and defensive and sufficient to save his life, but at this moment, under Bo Erhu's fist, it was suppressed by the highly condensed Martial Dao Domain and ultimately shattered completely after blocking only a portion of the power.

Bai Yan finally triggered the peace pendant on his body.

That's right, he had also been bestowed with a peace pendant identical to Li Fei's, which, when triggered, could block a Grandmaster's attack for a period of time!

The peace pendant transformed into a golden light ball, enveloping Bai Yan within it.

Bo Erhu's fist struck this light ball, causing it to cave inward.

After breaking through three layers of defense in succession, the Northern Barbarian King's fist was finally blocked.

Bai Yan bought himself a little time and immediately retreated backward.

At the same time, strands of invisible silk fell upon his body.

These silk strands came from Qi Zhou.

When Nuomu Han withdrew all the fire dragons and went all out to interfere with the Hun Tian Luo Pan, Qi Zhou and Ji Ji Yifan, who had been suppressed by him, were "liberated."

Ji Ji Yifan immediately transformed into a white cloud and rushed toward Bai Yan's location, but he had no long-range abilities to help, so he could only hope that Bai Yan could survive this most dangerous moment.

Qi Zhou was different from Ji Ji Yifan; he had a long-range ability called 【Silk Pulling】.

It could release invisible silk strands to pull others, thereby making them his marionettes!

Of course, if he encountered someone with strength equal to or stronger than his own, 【Silk Pulling】 could only interfere and could not exert absolute control.

The maximum distance of 【Silk Pulling】 can reach 3,000 meters!

Qi Zhou released 【Silk Pulling】 on Bai Yan at this time, and Bai Yan did not resist because he thought Qi Zhou wanted to use the 【Silk Pulling】 ability to pull him and help him retreat at a faster speed.

In fact, the actions Qi Zhou displayed were indeed like this; it looked like he was going all out to activate 【Silk Pulling】 to pull Bai Yan toward his side, away from Bo Erhu.

Bai Yan needed to survive the time of this backlash and re-condense his Martial Dao Domain. After all, he is a Grandmaster at the peak of the Standing Dao Realm; even without the military formation, he would not be completely without the power to fight back in front of Bo Erhu.

Bo Erhu also knew that this was the best moment to kill Bai Yan; his beast-transformed body suddenly cracked inch by inch, and what flowed inside was not blood, but black lava.

His aura suddenly soared, and the two huge wings behind his back flapped violently, instantly tearing through the air and rushing toward the retreating Bai Yan at a speed exceeding ten times the speed of sound!

After getting close, Bo Erhu's two hands turned into claws and tore outward.

The golden light ball formed by the peace pendant was torn open directly, and monstrous power surged in!

The ancient bronze mirror in the air once again shot out a clear, spiritual light to cover Bai Yan, but it was instantly torn to pieces by Bo Erhu's power!

Bai Yan triggered the 【Shadow Replacement】 ability again, and another shadow behind him shattered.

After such triple defense.

Bai Yan's expression was calm, and he began to forcibly condense his Martial Dao Domain.

His teammates plus the peace pendant bought him critical time, and he firmly believed that he would not die!

But just as he was forcibly condensing his Martial Dao Domain into "armor" to protect his body, his expression suddenly changed drastically, and he opened his eyes wide.

His eyes were filled with disbelief!

Boom—

In the air, Bo Erhu tore Bai Yan into two halves!

"Commander Bai—"

Qi Zhou, who was casting 【Silk Pulling】 remotely, shouted in grief, spitting out a mouthful of blood; it seemed he had been affected by Bo Erhu's power.

Ji Ji Yifan, who had transformed into a white cloud and rushed toward Bai Yan, also lost his carefree posture, despair appearing in his eyes.

From Nuomu Han suddenly withdrawing the nine Burning Heaven Fire Dragons and launching an attack on the Hun Tian Luo Pan, to Qi Ming striking, and then to Bai Yan being killed by Bo Erhu now.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye.

Until this moment, the dazzling firelight that exploded in the sky had not yet completely faded.

Li Fei first sensed Qi Ming striking, then immediately heard Qi Zhou's sorrowful shout, and finally saw the situation on the field:

3,600 Imperial Camp soldiers, the military formation broken, more than half already dead.

The three Grandmasters controlling the military formation were heavily damaged and were falling from the sky.

The Killing Barbarian Army's commander, Bai Yan, was dead!

Now, on the Northern Barbarian side, although Nuomu Han was heavily damaged, Wuri Wuri Tianji's beast-transformed state remained.

Bo Erhu, this strongest combat power, also remained.

Without the Imperial Camp Army and Bai Yan, there was no one left in the Killing Barbarian Army who could block this Northern Barbarian King!

Qi Ming's one strike had completely turned the situation around.

Facing a Northern Barbarian King with Prince-level combat power and no one to restrain him.

Next... it would be a desperate situation!

PS: During the New Year, updates might be fewer; everyone, please forgive me.

(End of chapter)