Chapter 00209: Death with Unclosed Eyes
# Death with Unclosed Eyes
Chapter 209
Novel: After the Myth
Chapter 209: Death with Unclosed Eyes
Ding Huan stood at a corner of the killing formation, holding the low-grade spirit artifact spear he had snatched from Can Ping.
His figure was concealed by the concealment formation.
Even if Hao Wudao were to casually glance over, he might not notice Ding Huan, let alone now when Hao Wudao was severely injured.
Hao Wudao was solely focused on killing Liu Yinzhu and taking away Gu Mo's corpse.
How could he have imagined that someone had been hiding here for days?
Although Liu Yinzhu was unharmed, she had no defense against Ding Huan's third-grade killing formation.
She plunged right into it without hesitation.
In just a moment, Hao Wudao also charged into the killing formation.
Almost simultaneously, the killing formation activated, unleashing endless killing intent toward Hao Wudao.
Despite being severely injured, Hao Wudao was still a Yuan Soul realm cultivator.
Startled, he immediately shifted his focus from Liu Yinzhu to the dense killing intent.
His long blade slashed out.
At that moment, Ding Huan rushed out, his spear sending a spear light crashing toward Hao Wudao from the side.
The spear light was similar in power to the blade light from the killing formation.
To Hao Wudao, it seemed like just another activation of the formation's killing intent from a different direction.
Hao Wudao had no time to think about who had set up this killing formation.
Four long blades whirled, and a dense curtain of blade light was unleashed.
No matter what, he had to block these killing lights before breaking the formation.
Liu Yinzhu also realized she had entered a killing formation.
Before she could react, she heard Ding Huan's voice:
"Sister Yinzhu, quickly attack this old man."
Liu Yinzhu immediately recognized Ding Huan's voice.
She knew him well—he always seized the right moment.
Just like when Ding Huan killed Can Ping, he had grasped that fleeting opportunity.
Without hesitation, she turned and charged at Hao Wudao, her sword trailing a sharp arc of light.
Seeing Liu Yinzhu dare to turn back, Hao Wudao was delighted.
Another long blade slashed toward her.
He wasn't afraid of Liu Yinzhu attacking him; he feared she might escape while he was trapped.
In his current state, if Liu Yinzhu tried to flee, he would be powerless to stop her.
As Hao Wudao attacked, the killing intent from Ding Huan's spear changed.
The spear light's killing aura suddenly surged.
At that moment, Hao Wudao felt his Yuan Soul tremble under the spear's pressure.
Hao Wudao knew his Yuan Soul was unstable due to his severe injuries.
Otherwise, even if the spear light were ten times stronger, it wouldn't have shaken his Yuan Soul.
He clearly understood that this spear light was the true danger within the formation's killing intent.
Hao Wudao even ignored Liu Yinzhu's sword light, desperately trying to change his attack.
But in his severely injured state, he couldn't make such a change in an instant.
"Pfft!" The spear pierced his side, and Hao Wudao felt his Yuan Soul shattering.
Not only was his Yuan Soul breaking, but his dantian, already crushed by Gu Mo, completely collapsed, and his sea of consciousness began to crack.
What a terrifying technique! At this moment, Hao Wudao ignored his injuries.
Even in death, he would make this ant pay.
And he was certain he had the ability to do so.
"Pfft!" Liu Yinzhu's sword light, like a rainbow, passed through Hao Wudao's body.
At this moment, Hao Wudao was almost like Gu Mo earlier, his body nearly torn in half.
Hao Wudao paid no heed.
He retracted all five long blades, and five deadly blade auras tightly enveloped Ding Huan's position.
He believed his opponent would seize the moment his Yuan Soul was damaged to strike.
Any rational cultivator wouldn't miss such an opportunity.
This was also Hao Wudao's chance, perhaps his only chance to kill his opponent.
If he didn't kill Ding Huan today, he would surely die.
As for Liu Yinzhu, even though she had just worsened his injuries, she posed no threat in his eyes.
Once he killed this sneak attacker, he could leave at any time.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The blade aura clashed with the third-grade protective formation, shattering it like a fragile wooden frame.
A trench dozens of feet long was cleaved by Hao Wudao, who then sighed in relief.
However, when Hao Wudao saw only a spear lying in the trench, his eyes widened in fury.
In a battle, even if one is about to die, severely damaging the opponent's Yuan Soul is crucial.
At that moment, channeling true essence to press the advantage would surely kill the opponent.
This was an iron rule of cultivator battles.
Any slight carelessness could lead to being counterattacked.
But Hao Wudao had never encountered such a cunning opponent.
After being ambushed by the spear and having his Yuan Soul damaged, the opponent didn't channel true essence to incapacitate him but instead dropped the spear and fled.
Whose disciple was this scoundrel? What a shameless villain.
Ding Huan was no fool.
Knowing Hao Wudao was a Yuan Soul realm expert, he realized he had been reckless.
Fortunately, Hao Wudao was on the verge of death.
Even so, Ding Huan dared not press his advantage after ambushing Hao Wudao.
As soon as his spear struck Hao Wudao, he dropped it and fled.
He didn't know how strong a Yuan Soul realm expert was, but he knew caution was always wise.
That was experience.
Even if he missed the best chance to kill Hao Wudao, he still had opportunities.
This was his killing formation.
He had set up over a dozen overlapping killing formations here.
Dizziness washed over Hao Wudao as he spat several mouthfuls of blood, along with chunks of internal organs.
He was utterly enraged.
This shameless villain had not only set up multiple killing formations but also used lowly illusion and poison formations against a severely injured Yuan Soul realm expert like him.
Under normal circumstances, such low-grade illusion formations wouldn't even require a clearing technique to dispel.
But now, he felt himself growing weaker.
Filled with rage, Hao Wudao had no thoughts of revenge.
He just wanted to leave.
But he knew he couldn't leave now.
He couldn't break this chain of killing formations.
"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!" The killing lights from the formation continuously drew blood from his body.
The sneak attacker seemed to have vanished.
Hao Wudao dared not wait.
Spotting the exit, he slashed down with his blade.
Light appeared, and without hesitation, Hao Wudao rushed toward it.
His speed was less than one percent of his peak, making him feel utterly humiliated.
"Pfft!" Intense pain caused Hao Wudao to fall from the air.
He saw another spear piercing through his chest, pinning him in the formation, his eyes filled with unwillingness.
The light he had cleaved disappeared.
He realized it was still an illusion formation.
He hadn't broken the killing formation.
The opponent had made him think he had, only to lead him into the illusion formation and onto the spear.
A mere low-grade illusion formation had affected him, bringing Hao Wudao shame.
"Who are you? I, Hao Wudao, want to die knowing who killed me," Hao Wudao didn't struggle but sat down, covered in blood, looking ahead.
"Pfft!" A wind blade split his forehead.
Feeling his head being cleaved, Hao Wudao died with unclosed eyes.
Only then did he see Ding Huan emerge from a concealment formation to the side:
"Old man, when I was roaming the martial world, you were still nowhere. Did you think I'd come out and self-destruct? Think again."
Hearing this, Hao Wudao's Yuan Soul completely collapsed, and he fell into the pool of blood.
He truly died with unclosed eyes.
Self-destruct? Nonsense.
His Yuan Soul had been torn by that spear, and with his severe injuries, he had no strength left to self-destruct.
Ding Huan's spiritual sense swept over Hao Wudao, confirming his death.
He then took Hao Wudao's ring and tossed a flame onto his body.
Finally, he had killed this old man.
Ding Huan breathed a sigh of relief.
Today's events were dangerous.
Next time, he must improve his formation skills.
If not for Hao Wudao's severe injuries, his third-grade killing formation would have been useless.
After collecting his things, Ding Huan retrieved the formation flags.
"Ding Huan, you killed Hao Wudao?" Liu Yinzhu couldn't believe her eyes, looking at Hao Wudao's burning body.
She, a True Dan realm cultivator, had only managed to flee here, yet Ding Huan had killed Hao Wudao.
"Just luck. How is Sect Leader Gu Mo?" Ding Huan glanced at Gu Mo, whose body was nearly split in two, casually asking.
He didn't really care about Gu Mo's life or death.
The man wasn't fit to be a sect leader.
Liu Yinzhu finally remembered Gu Mo and rushed to his side, feeding him a pill:
"Sect Leader, what's wrong..."
Gu Mo finally opened his eyes:
"Yinzhu, flee..."
Liu Yinzhu cried, "No need to flee. Ding Huan saved us. He just killed Hao Wudao."
Hearing that Ding Huan had killed Hao Wudao, Gu Mo seemed to gain a bit of strength.
He struggled slightly, then saw Hao Wudao's burning corpse.
"Good, good..."
Gu Mo managed two words before he could speak no more.
"Ding Huan, please save the sect leader. I beg you..."
Liu Yinzhu almost knelt before Ding Huan.
Ding Huan sighed, "Sister Yinzhu, I'm not a god. Sect Leader Gu is beyond saving. No one can save him."
As if in a final surge of vitality, Gu Mo opened his eyes again:
"Ding Huan, I beg you to become the true sect leader of Purple Mist Valley. Let Yinzhu assist you..."
Ding Huan had killed Hao Wudao, even if Hao Wudao was severely injured.
That was still a Yuan Soul realm expert.
This made Gu Mo realize a truth: if he made Liu Yinzhu sect leader and Ding Huan turned against them, Liu Yinzhu would only be waiting for death.
"Haha, forget it. Purple Mist Valley is destroyed. If I'm not mistaken, there's no one left in Purple Mist Valley," Ding Huan said, indifferent to Gu Mo's emotions.
From afar, Lao Liu and Yan Mei approached.
They greeted Liu Yinzhu, both looking sympathetically at the dying Sect Leader Gu Mo.
Yan Mei sighed inwardly.
Thankfully, Brother Huan had led them to escape.
Now, even the sect leader's life couldn't be saved.
Staying in Purple Mist Valley would have meant a quicker death.
"You can rebuild Purple Mist Valley..."
Gu Mo, hearing Ding Huan's words, refused to die.
He didn't want Purple Mist Valley to end with him.
Ding Huan said indifferently, "Even if I were to establish a sect, I wouldn't rebuild Purple Mist Valley. Purple Mist Valley is gone now. This place is good, but wouldn't it be better to establish a different sect?"
Hearing this, not only Gu Mo but even Liu Yinzhu fell silent.
Ding Huan was right.
He wasn't from Purple Mist Valley and hadn't gained any benefits from it.
Living on Dawn Mist Peak was only because he had saved the sect leader's life.
"Cough, cough..."
Gu Mo coughed twice.
"Fine. Purple Mist Valley was established by seizing someone else's land. What comes around goes around... Yinzhu, after I die, bury me in Purple Mist Mountain... Take my ring."
After saying this, Gu Mo vomited blood.
In just a few breaths, he was gone.
(End of Chapter)