Chapter 445: Killing Trap, Purple Qi Divine Fire

Di Mingzi, however, said, “This is a rare opportunity. That Ghost Sorceress was constantly watching Ya She, forcing him to travel with us. Naturally, he would want to leave.”

The Foul Daoist agreed. “It’s only human nature. There seems to be another Nascent Soul cultivator in there.”

Upon hearing this, the Azure Water Demon Lord paused, then let out a fierce laugh. “Another one? Perfect, let’s see who’s so bold.”

As Yin Gui had actively retreated, the opening in the 'Li' position, which had been eroded earlier, was now fully exposed. Without a second thought, Azure Water was the first to step through it into the Immortal Official's Herb Repository.

Di Mingzi, however, remained motionless, shaking his head helplessly. “If something happens to him later, Brother Hui, you can rescue him.”

The Foul Daoist’s grotesque features twisted into a strange arc, as if he were smiling.

The hidden meaning in these words was not difficult to grasp. Since the other party dared to stay, they must have been confident. Rashly entering an unfamiliar place, even a Great Nascent Soul cultivator could suffer losses, or even face the risk of death.

“No matter. It’s good for that kid to suffer a bit, otherwise, he might really think that just because he recently broke through, he can be on equal footing with us.”

“Oh, you…”

As the two casually chatted, inside the Herb Repository.

When Wang Yu discovered that only one person had entered, his face showed unconcealed disappointment. The restrictive formations within the Herb Repository were an excellent opportunity for him to weaken the forces of Huangquan Temple. If he could eliminate all of them here, not only would it affect the subsequent scramble for opportunities in Dongjijing, but he could also push back the Yunlingzhou battlefield in one go. It was truly a pity.

However, the Azure Water Demon Lord was in a very bad mood. To break through to the late Nascent Soul stage, he had completely depleted his hundreds of years of accumulated resources. Now was the time to aggressively gather resources, relying on his strength. His proactive journey to the Yunlingzhou battlefield stemmed from this very thought. Who would have thought that the even larger Dongjijing ruins would fully emerge? It was truly a heaven-sent opportunity, perfect for filling his coffers.

When he saw Wang Yu standing perfectly still in the center, calmly meeting his gaze, the vigilance of a veteran Nascent Soul cultivator quietly arose within him. However, he maintained a tone of utter disdain. With a glance, he said, “You’ve got guts, daring to snatch food from a tiger’s mouth. How did you two get into the palace city? If you can explain yourselves, I might spare your lives.”

He had grasped the crux of the matter.

Wang Yu, hearing this, said nothing. Instead, he arrogantly drew a finger across his neck, signaling his intent to slay him right there.

“—Insolent!”

The Azure Water Demon Lord’s figure vanished instantly, reappearing in a flash directly behind Wang Yu, as emerald-green abyssal water surged from his palm. It seemed he intended to capture him alive.

Wang Yu had originally intended to use the Water Ancestor Token to activate the repository’s restrictions, but upon seeing this, he instantly changed his mind. Was his opponent perhaps a master of water arts? The Water Ancestor Token detached from the Feng Shui Compass. This special magic treasure, which shouldn't typically be effective in combat, displayed a quality that made all waters recoil.

The abyssal water could not coalesce into a water prison. Wang Yu twisted his body into a spinning kick, unleashing immense divine power combined with a variant of the Ten Directions Frozen Demon Fist, triggered as a kicking technique.

Netherworld Ghost Kick!

With complete divine abilities, various applications could naturally be extended. The Ten Directions Frozen Demon Fist could command ten divine abilities, transforming them into a punching technique. When both were complete, converting them into a kicking technique was certainly possible.

The Netherworld Turbid Current, enhanced by the Water Ancestor Token, pushed aside all the abyssal water. With a single kick, it sent the Azure Water Demon Lord flying backward, leaving a dark black footprint on the chest of his magic robe. It was particularly conspicuous.

This was the corrosive effect of the Netherworld Turbid Current. A single blow damaged his magic robe, causing his aura to become somewhat chaotic.

Propping himself up against a medicine cabinet, Azure Water was utterly astonished. “Netherworld Divine Ability? Who exactly are you?!”

During combat, it’s most taboo to give the enemy an opportunity. Verbal disputes only occur among cultivators of comparable strength. Wang Yu’s cultivation was suppressed, making it difficult to overwhelm his opponent in a direct confrontation. At this moment, the continuity of the offense became crucial.

Before Azure Water could finish speaking, the Chains of Heaven, covered in black frost, quietly wrapped around his legs and feet. The extremely high-tier nature of spatial power made it very difficult for him to break free immediately. The Asura Dharma Intent suddenly appeared, and the Flesh Demon Sword was overlaid with the Blood Slaughter Heart Sword. This triple collision of mind, divine ability, and Dharma Intent plunged the combat into its most intense phase right from the start.

Now, Azure Water couldn't spare a moment to speak. Emerald abyssal water surged forth again, forming multiple miniature celestial river curtains. A dark, gleaming rhomboid sword-thorn suddenly pierced through the water curtain, thrusting towards Wang Yu’s glabella.

—Divine Sense Magic Treasure: Black Obscurity Needle!

The crimson sword light and the water curtain were in a stalemate, and the Asura Dharma Intent clashed with the Abyssal Water Dharma Intent. The hidden killing intent was extremely dangerous. Fortunately, Wang Yu’s divine sense had just advanced, and he was at an incredibly sensitive point. Immediately, a divine light flashed between his brows, and the God-Shattering Needle, obtained from Ancestor Feng, also shot out. The comparable divine sense power caused both of the relatively fragile esoteric magic treasures to shatter simultaneously. They had fought to a standstill.

“You’re also a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator? No… you only have late-stage divine sense. What a talent! I like…”

—Sizzle!

The Black Demon Lightning suddenly exploded, and a bolt of black lightning struck down. Wang Yu had no time to listen to his nonsense. In his eyes, Azure Water was merely a benchmark to measure his combat prowess. Regardless of whether he could win, there was no harm in trying. If he could lure another person into the depths of the Herb Repository, he would unhesitatingly activate the restrictions there. He himself, by virtue of the Water Ancestor Token, could then instantly enter the hidden underground waterways of Dongjijing.

He had discovered when taking the Heavenly Yin Water Pool that it constantly moved around Dongjijing, settling wherever Yin energy was strongest. This meant there were still unknown water formations hidden underground, all of which he could leverage.

Returning to the main topic. Directly struck by the Black Demon Lightning, Azure Water became quite disheveled, but he was also truly enraged. He immediately summoned his natal magic treasure—the Azure Underworld Treasure Vase!

This treasure was one of the auxiliary magic artifacts recorded in the 'Yellow Springs Azure Underworld Scripture'. Once refined, it could absorb the power of the Azure Underworld, transforming it into abyssal water to combat enemies. This abyssal water, similar to the Netherworld Turbid Current, possessed the miraculous effect of destroying magic treasures, but it was much weaker and focused more on another aspect… the devastating strike it inflicted upon divine sense and souls.

As soon as the long-necked, twin-handled Azure Underworld Treasure Vase appeared, it displayed extremely fierce power. The Flesh Demon Sword, also a high-grade magic treasure, was significantly weaker in comparison. This should be the difference brought by a natal artifact. After all, the Demon Sword possessed spatial blades, and its failure to cleave through the multiple layers of water curtains was already beyond Wang Yu’s expectation. The suppressive continuous attack had not yielded its intended effect. Naturally, he had to face his opponent’s counterattack.

An immense quantity of abyssal water gushed from the Treasure Vase, almost filling the entire Herb Repository. Wang Yu, at the center of the vortex, swept his hand across his Sea Heart Ring. The Blood Fiend Primordial Gourd appeared in his hand. From the mouth of the gourd, Heavenly Yin Divine Water continuously flowed, all pouring into the Water Ancestor Token. A pale blue spiritual barrier, shimmering with star-river ice points, meticulously protected him. As the Heavenly Yin Water Pool was inconvenient to carry, he had transferred all the divine water inside it into the gourd. Now, this was the best energy source to activate the Water Ancestor Token.

Therefore, the Azure Water Demon Lord was utterly aghast to discover how there could be such a divine artifact in the world that so utterly countered water-path cultivators. The effect of that token was simply too heaven-defying. His Azure Underworld Treasure Vase, one of his strongest tools, couldn't affect it in the slightest, which was truly unreasonable!

In reality, the Water Ancestor Token wasn't quite that heaven-defying. It was merely proclaimed as the Ancestor of All Waters in terms of its rank, but that was just an empty title. If it faced a fifth-tier water-path divine ability or divine water from the upper realms, it would be utterly useless. Ultimately, its effectiveness lay in the energy supply from the Heavenly Yin Divine Water and the secret art from the Earth Mother Scripture that could unleash the token's full power. The current situation was precisely what 'happening to be at the right place at the right time' described. Otherwise, Wang Yu wouldn't have even considered trying to fight. Without certainty, why would he act this way?

Following this, the Glazed Ice Heart Pagoda was summoned by Wang Yu. Its profound foundation, far surpassing others of its rank, gave it power no less than a fourth-tier mid-grade magic treasure. As the precious pearl at its apex rotated, a divine ice-soul light shot forth, forcibly carved out an ice path through the endless abyssal water vortex.

Amidst the flashing lightning, Wang Yu suddenly charged forward, five pairs of phantom-like arms appearing on his back—Asura Fist, Netherworld Fist, Blood Slaughter Fist, Ice Soul Fist, Soul Destroying Fist, Cursed Sword Fist, Ice Flame Fist, Black Demon Lightning Fist, Demonic Dragon Fist… and the most formidable, the Vast Cold Fist Aspect! For Wang Yu, the strongest divine ability technique of the Ten Directions Frozen Demon Path was the Ten Directions Frozen Demon Fist itself. Its ability to command the power of other divine abilities and transform them all into fist techniques was already the ultimate enhancement for close combat. And a fist technique that commanded ten fully perfected divine abilities was, to some extent, even more powerful than his natal divine ability, the Twelve Aspects of Vast Cold! This was a unique advantage granted to him by the slot system.

Ten fist divine abilities converged into a single strike. His demonic essence instantly depleted by 70%. A fist print, imbued with various powers, melded into one punch. All spiritual lights transformed into an absolute black, as if carrying the power to obliterate everything, and fiercely struck the Azure Water Demon Lord. This excessively powerful force finally triggered his terror. He desperately used all available means to resist.

The abyssal water curtain was effortlessly torn open by the Water Token, the Dragon Scale Treasure Shield was shattered by the fist, and his protective True Essence barrier crumbled like tofu on impact. The sound of his magic robe tearing coincided with his wail.

Outside the Immortal Official's Herb Repository, Di Mingzi and the Foul Daoist both froze. The latter, without a word, rushed in through the 'Li' position opening and witnessed a suffocating scene. The Azure Water Demon Lord, who had entered so arrogantly and domineeringly, now had his physical body completely destroyed, with only his Nascent Soul frantically darting around the Herb Repository, desperately dodging the black lightning pursuing him. At first glance, it was very similar to the black lightning that had escaped earlier. However, these were completely different powers. The Foul Daoist naturally wouldn’t misjudge, but he hadn't expected Azure Water to be defeated so miserably. He hadn’t heard any major commotions outside either. If this trend continued, in a one-on-one fight, Wang Yu truly could have slain him.

The Foul Daoist arrived in time, but Wang Yu's second objective had also been achieved. He no longer pursued the Azure Water Demon Lord, and the Chains of Heaven, hidden in the spatial crevices, were rapidly retracting. He then took out the Water Token again and gave them both a peculiar smile. His figure transformed into a blue streak and vanished instantly.

The Foul Daoist abruptly turned and rushed towards the 'Li' position opening, only to find that the gap, which had just been there, was now covered by a restriction, he knew not when. Both of them were trapped!

A bad premonition brewed in his heart, and sure enough… a great fire erupted unexpectedly. Rumbling sounds continuously echoed.

Di Mingzi’s expression was slightly grim. Just after the Foul Daoist entered, the Immortal Official's Herb Repository, shaped like a pill furnace, suddenly transformed. It abruptly floated upwards, as if being lifted. The lid, fire exit, medicine entrance, and air vents were all sealed. Only the fire entrance remained wide open. As the building floated up, it revealed a deep, bottomless pit underground. In less than a single breath, a turbulent purple fire pillar soared into the sky, intelligently surging into the fire entrance, as if it could never be filled, unleashing maximum power!

Di Mingzi’s expression froze, and he murmured, “Purple Qi Divine Fire… The legendary fifth-tier divine fire exclusive to the ancient Immortal Dynasty, formed from imperial purple qi. It can ward off evil and burn myriad demons; only those with the Ziwei Heavenly Fate can control it.”

The concept of 'fate' or 'destiny' was even more profound, generally only referenced in Feng Shui studies. It was not a concept that cultivators could easily alter, not even Spirit Transformation Venerables. Therefore, this Purple Qi Divine Fire could only be a restriction of this place. As for whether the Foul Daoist would die, he wasn’t worried. The real problem lay with the Azure Water Demon Lord… That fellow commanded considerable influence within Huangquan Temple. That lineage had finally produced a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. If he were to die here under his watch, it would be hard to deny his tacit approval and indifference. Explaining it would be even harder. He was now in a truly compromising position, one where he'd be blamed no matter what.

This was not good for Huangquan Temple, and even worse for him. He suddenly felt a headache coming on. The struggle for power and profit revolved around resources. In the cultivation world, particularly in Chiryan, this was an unavoidable issue for any faction, unless there was an overwhelmingly powerful figure, far above all others, capable of absolute rule.

“Alas…”

About half an hour later, the pill furnace-shaped Herb Repository returned to the ground. A writhing, yellowish, muddy creature crawled out of it, gradually resuming the appearance of the Foul Daoist. But his face was extremely pale, and his lips were as white as a corpse’s.

He said, “Azure Water is dead. When I went in, only his Nascent Soul remained. I sensed a Dharma Intent filled with murderous aura, slightly stronger than Azure Water’s. The opponent must also be a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.”

“Alas… why bother? This person might have a deep-seated grudge against Huangquan Temple. Otherwise, if they had simply appeared and conversed with us, there might have been another way to resolve this.”

This was purely hindsight. He had been beaten so badly that he instantly gained clarity and began to think rationally. Even if Wang Yu was a Great Cultivator, there was a higher probability that he would have been coerced into handing over all his gains, then humiliatingly driven away. There was even a significant chance that they would have considered ganging up to kill him. That’s just how demonic cultivators are; it’s perfectly normal.

Now, it was too late for anything.

Di Mingzi asked, “Did you get a clear look at his face?”

The Foul Daoist nodded in response: “Although he used a disguise technique, it was quite ordinary.” As he spoke, spiritual light emanated from his hand, quickly forming an ethereal image of spiritual power.

After Di Mingzi saw it, his expression became even more bewildered. “It’s him… How is this possible? This person clearly only has early Nascent Soul cultivation, and he’s very young!”

“You know him?”

“He’s the Extreme Dharma Profound Pill Demon Lord of the Spirit Reversal Blood Sect, proclaimed as the top talent among the younger generation in Chiryan. He formed his Nascent Soul decades ago. I once caught a glimpse of him from afar at the Demon King’s Assembly. At that time, he was only at the first layer of Nascent Soul; it would have been absolutely impossible for him to kill Azure Water.”

The Foul Daoist suddenly realized. “Then he must have used other means, such as this Purple Qi Divine Fire. No wonder he insisted on killing Azure Water; it’s not surprising if he’s from the Spirit Reversal Blood Sect.”

Di Mingzi hesitated, clearly wanting to say something, but in the end, he chose to remain silent.

“Alas…”