Chapter 460

"Qiming has come to the Northern Barbarians?!"

Upon sensing that monstrous resentment, Li Fei felt a jolt in his heart and immediately sensed that something was wrong.

He did not know that the path to enlightenment for this newly promoted "Evil Demon" was the exact opposite of Xiang Yunshu's, requiring the complete destruction of the Great Lan Dynasty.

He had previously considered whether Qiming might 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 that he sensed Qiming's move, Li Fei reacted immediately:

When Bai Yan deployed that Hunyuan Luo Pan at the start, it was not just to enhance himself, but also to deter Qiming!

Xiang Yunshu's Dao rule is analysis; under the illumination of the Hunyuan Luo Pan's light, if Qiming dared to strike, he might be caught by Xiang Yunshu and thus completely locked down!

Qiming, this True Person of the Curse Dao, is most formidable—and his greatest deterrent—precisely because he hides in the shadows.

Once he is locked on and his tracks are mastered by the imperial court at any time, his deterrent power will immediately be greatly weakened, and he himself will be in danger.

Who knows when he might be chased and killed by the "God of War" Wen Ren Zheng leading the Heavenly Blue Iron Cavalry!

Toward 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 Tianyi, may not give the Son of Heaven face, but on the surface, he still observes the imperial court's system; the fact that the Tianyi Tower joined the Blue Patrol Pavilion is proof of this.

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

If both sides were to tear off the mask, 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, toward Lin Tianyi, Tuo Ba Shanhai, the Pavilion Master of the Red Dust Pavilion, and others, the imperial court maintains deterrent power while also treating 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 Evil Demons" before Qiming—people who have no ties on the surface and whose actions seriously 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 best not do anything that crosses the line"!

For the "Three Evil Demons" before Qiming, each person's path to enlightenment is a history of cruelty and bloodshed.

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

Such a great demon is naturally wanted by the imperial court, but so many years have passed, and while the Ancestor of the Styx occasionally appears, the imperial court has never been seen sending people to surround and kill him.

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

And he has certainly 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 moved against the "Three Evil Demons" for so many years because the cost of killing a peak powerhouse is too great!

Unless necessary, no monarch is willing to pay a huge price to kill 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 President of the New Heaven Society, Qiming, and he clearly does not fit into either of the two ways of getting along mentioned above.

Toward Qiming, after clarifying his path to enlightenment, the Great Lan Dynasty has only one attitude—must kill!

As long as Qiming's location is locked, the imperial court will target this person at any cost!

Qiming himself is also clearly aware of this, so after that one public strike, he has never made another move.

Because he knows very well that if he strikes in this world, he will inevitably leave traces, and the more traces he leaves, the greater the possibility of being locked down by Xiang Yunshu, who possesses the Dao rule of analysis!

This time, with the Killing Barbarian Army deep in the wilderness, Qiming knew very well that Xiang Yunshu must have left behind some means.

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

Besides continuously accumulating a winning momentum for himself, it was also an overt warning to Qiming, who might be hiding in the shadows:

If you strike, you will definitely be locked down!

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

Qiming 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 taking the opportunity to strengthen its national destiny.

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

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

Nuomu Han naturally could not trust an outsider like Qiming.

If he wanted to interfere with the Hunyuan Luo Pan, he would inevitably leave behind obvious flaws and might be severely injured by Bai Yan.

And once he was severely injured, the Northern Barbarians would basically lose this game.

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

So even though Nuomu Han received Qiming's hint right at the start of the battle, he had never done as Qiming 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 tilting the situation toward the Killing Barbarian Army.

If the fighting continued, the Northern Barbarian side would collapse within ten minutes!

So Nuomu Han ultimately chose to strike at the Hunyuan Luo Pan above according to the method Qiming gave.

He is one of the top three powerhouses in the entire Northern Barbarian realm, a Great Perfection of the Heavenly Gang and Earth Sha, a peak top-tier True Person, only one step away from the True One Realm.

But facing this power left behind by Xiang Yunshu, even with Qiming's guidance and the Nine Dragons merging into one, he could only interfere with the Hunyuan Luo Pan for a very short time.

But this amount of time was enough for Qiming.

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

The surface of the blood-colored giant had invisible armor transformed from the Martial Dao Domain, but when this armor encountered Qiming's curse power, it was like paper, instantly broken through.

Qiming's Dao rule is "curse," and its characteristic is that it can "curse until death"!

Divine abilities are fine, and the Martial Dao Domain is fine, but these can at most delay death, not 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】 divine ability or other life-type, healing-type divine abilities, or related Martial Dao Domains, this Grandmaster still cannot avoid death; it is only a matter of time!

This is Qiming's Dao rule; one can only resist it with a Dao rule, otherwise, one will eventually be cursed to death.

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

The monstrous curse power broke through the Martial Dao Domain on the surface of the blood-colored giant and invaded the Imperial Camp Army within its body.

Qiming 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 Xiang Yunshu had also left behind means within Bai Yan's body, and once he used curse power to kill Bai Yan, he would likewise be locked down by Xiang Yunshu.

But it was impossible for Xiang Yunshu to leave his power within the bodies of 3,000-plus Imperial Camp soldiers, so Qiming set his target on those Imperial Camp soldiers.

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

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

On a mountain peak a dozen miles away from this place, Qiming sat cross-legged, casting a spell remotely.

When that star within Bai Yan's body appeared 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 Xiang Yunshu within Bai Yan's body, and they were likewise capable of being actively triggered.

Although he cut off the curse power output in time, Qiming still felt that there was a power in the dark searching toward his side!

Qiming 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 Qiming struck, Bai Yan was using most of his power to attack Nuomu Han, and the defense of the military formation was at its most vulnerable moment.

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

So when Qiming struck, he instantly broke through the defense of the military formation, and the curse power infected nearly 2,000 Imperial Camp soldiers, including the three Grandmasters; all 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 stage, over 1,000 Imperial Camp soldiers were cursed to death the moment they were hit, and the remaining 1,000-plus Imperial Camp soldiers would die one after another if they could not hold on for more than a few minutes!

The remaining 150-plus Dao Foundation stage warriors who were cursed and the three Grandmasters could hold on for a while longer, but death was only a matter of time.

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

The most fatal thing was that at this moment, he had lost his "Prince-level" combat strength, while Boerhu was still in a beast-transformation state!

A black light flashed, and Boerhu had already killed his way to Bai Yan's front, throwing a punch.

At this moment, because Bai Yan suffered the backlash of the military formation being broken, he could not temporarily mobilize his Martial Dao Domain.

A punch capable of shattering a mountain peak instantly broke through the protective Qi on Bai Yan's body, then broke through a layer of clear spiritual light; this was the defense that Zhang Chengbi had timely controlled his life-bound magic treasure to bestow upon Bai Yan.

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

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

This was his divine ability—【Shadow Replacement】, which could block any fatal attack for him, or temporarily transform into his clone, possessing power identical to his own.

This is a divine ability that is both offensive and defensive and sufficient to save one's life, but at this moment, under Boerhu's fist, it was suppressed by the highly condensed Martial Dao Domain, and ultimately only blocked a portion of the power before shattering completely.

Bai Yan finally triggered the peace token on his body.

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

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

Boerhu's fist struck this ball of light, 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 his fire dragons and went all out to interfere with the Hunyuan Luo Pan, Qi Zhou and Ji Yifan, who had been suppressed by him, were "liberated."

Ji Yifan immediately transformed into a cloud of white mist and rushed toward the direction where Bai Yan was, but he had no long-range divine ability to assist, so he could only pin his hopes on Bai Yan being able to survive this most dangerous moment.

Qi Zhou was different from Ji Yifan; he had a long-range divine ability named 【Thread Pulling】.

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

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

The maximum distance of 【Thread Pulling】 could reach 3,000 meters!

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

In fact, the actions Qi Zhou displayed were indeed like this; it looked like he was mobilizing 【Thread Pulling】 with all his might to pull Bai Yan toward his side, away from Boerhu.

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

Boerhu 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, Boerhu's two hands took the shape of claws and tore outward.

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

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

Bai Yan once again triggered the 【Shadow Replacement】 divine ability, 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 token bought him critical time; he firmly believed he would not die!

But just as he was forcibly condensing his Martial Dao Domain to transform 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, Boerhu tore Bai Yan into two halves!

"Commander Bai—"

Qi Zhou, who was deploying 【Thread Pulling】 remotely, shouted sorrowfully, spitting out a mouthful of blood; it seemed he had been affected by Boerhu's power.

Ji Yifan, who had transformed into a cloud of white mist and rushed toward Bai Yan, also lost his elegant posture, and a look of despair appeared in his eyes.

From Nuomu Han suddenly withdrawing the nine Burning Heaven Fire Dragons and launching an attack on the Hunyuan Luo Pan, to Qiming striking, and then to Bai Yan being killed by Boerhu 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 Qiming striking, then heard Qi Zhou's sorrowful shout, and finally saw the situation on the field clearly:

The 3,600 Imperial Camp soldiers, their military formation broken, had already died in large numbers.

The three Grandmasters controlling the military formation were severely injured and were falling from the air.

The commander of the Killing Barbarian Army, Bai Yan, was dead!

Now on the Northern Barbarian side, although Nuomu Han was severely injured, Wuri Tianji's beast-transformation state was still present.

Boerhu, this strongest combat strength, was also still present.

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!

Qiming struck once, and the situation was completely reversed.

Facing a Northern Barbarian King who possessed Prince-level combat strength and was unhindered.

Next... will be a desperate situation!

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

(End of chapter)