Chapter 00213: The Killing Realm of Nine Paths
# The Killing Realm of Nine Paths
Chapter 213
Novel: After the Myth
Chapter 213: The Killing Realm of Nine Paths
Ding Huan had even killed a Yuan Soul Realm cultivator before.
Now, as soon as he saw Qi Yushan, he knew this guy was just an early-stage True Core cultivator.
Since this guy was only at the early-stage True Core Realm, Ding Huan wasn’t afraid of him.
Back when he killed Can Ping, he had just stepped into the Nebula Realm, while Can Ping was at the late-stage True Core Realm.
When he killed Gong Hua, he was at the peak of the Nebula Realm, equivalent to the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm.
But what level was Gong Hua at? He was a True Core Perfection cultivator, half a step into the Yuan Soul Realm.
Now, Qi Yushan was just an early-stage True Core cultivator.
Ding Huan truly wasn’t afraid of him.
Thinking back to how he had almost died at the hands of Qi Yushan, Ding Huan felt that if he didn’t kill this guy, he wouldn’t be able to rest easy.
After walking through several streets, Qi Yushan entered the Daoquan Inn.
Ding Huan didn’t follow him inside.
He decided to wait outside for an hour.
If Qi Yushan didn’t come out within that time, he would check into the inn himself.
However, Ding Huan didn’t have to wait an hour.
In less than half an incense stick’s worth of time, Qi Yushan came out of the inn again and hurriedly headed out of Yanyue City.
It seemed like he had gone to the inn to retrieve something or meet someone.
Now that Qi Yushan was leaving the city, Ding Huan naturally followed without hesitation.
Although Ding Huan’s cultivation level was lower than Qi Yushan’s, his spiritual sense was much stronger.
He followed Qi Yushan without the latter noticing at all.
Half a day later, Qi Yushan entered a desolate mountain range and stopped at the foot of a slightly steep stone mountain.
Ding Huan didn’t even need to use his spiritual sense.
Just by looking, he could tell there was a hidden restriction at the foot of the mountain.
Inside the restriction was likely a cave dwelling.
Was this Qi Yushan’s cultivation cave? Ding Huan couldn’t believe Qi Yushan had fallen so low.
This place was indeed remote, but the spiritual energy here was thin.
Why would anyone think of building a cave here for secluded cultivation?
Ding Huan soon realized he was wrong.
Qi Yushan didn’t activate the restriction.
Instead, he took out several array disks and set them up around the area.
These array disks were all second and third-grade, and they were all trapping arrays.
Now Ding Huan understood.
This guy was planning to kill someone and steal their treasures.
Some poor soul must have been cultivating here in seclusion, and Qi Yushan had discovered them.
He must have gone to Yanyue City to buy these trapping arrays.
Ding Huan couldn’t help but curse in his heart.
This scoundrel really couldn’t change his nature.
The person here was already struggling to cultivate in such a spiritually barren place, and yet Qi Yushan still wanted to kill them and take their treasures.
How despicable could someone be?
Thinking this, Ding Huan also began setting up a trapping array.
He had a bunch of array disks on him, but since he was a fifth-grade array master, he didn’t need to use them to deal with Qi Yushan.
With ease, he set up a fourth-grade trapping and killing array.
The killing array was just a precaution, mainly to prevent Qi Yushan from escaping.
"Boom!" Just as Ding Huan finished setting up the array, Qi Yushan activated his magic treasure and blasted the hidden restriction of the cave dwelling.
"Crack!" The restriction shattered, and a figure rushed out.
Qi Yushan’s magic treasure struck the figure, tearing it apart.
Ding Huan chuckled inwardly.
Qi Yushan wasn’t as skilled as he thought.
That figure was clearly a decoy.
Sure enough, after Qi Yushan’s attack, another figure rushed out of the cave.
"Bang!" This figure crashed into the trapping array Qi Yushan had set up, revealing its true form.
When Ding Huan saw the cultivator’s appearance, he finally understood why Qi Yushan had pursued them so relentlessly.
It was Sang Yuhe.
Among the cultivators who had entered the Four Directions Star Continent from the Dao Cultivation World, Sang Yuhe was the one Ding Huan had the best impression of.
Unfortunately, Sang Yuhe’s cultivation technique wasn’t great.
Although she had barely managed to step into the True Core Realm, her strength was far inferior to Qi Yushan’s.
"Qi Yushan, what do you want? I haven’t revealed any information about the Immortal Demon Pill, nor have I reported you to the merchant guild. I’ve even hidden myself in this remote place. Why won’t you let me go?" Sang Yuhe’s voice was filled with grief and indignation.
She had endured so much just to survive.
"Haha, in my eyes, only the dead are truly safe. Kill yourself, and I’ll give you a proper burial," Qi Yushan said as he gripped his Starfire Halberd and walked toward her.
Sang Yuhe’s eyes filled with despair.
She had been on the run for years, and during that time, she hadn’t been able to cultivate properly.
Qi Yushan had been like a vengeful spirit, always following her.
"Eh, Senior Sang, what are you doing here?" Ding Huan, who had removed his mask, spoke as if he had just discovered something amazing, his tone filled with the joy of meeting an old friend in a foreign land.
"You’re Ding Huan?" Sang Yuhe was stunned when she saw Ding Huan.
Ding Huan was just an ordinary mortal.
Sure, he had cultivated for a few days, but to cultivators from the Dao Cultivation World, he was still a mortal.
How had a mortal left the mortal world and come to the Dao Cultivation World? And how had he even reached the outskirts of Yanyue Sect? The Dao Cultivation World had extremely strict restrictions on mortals entering.
She couldn’t understand how Ding Huan had ended up here.
The sudden appearance of Ding Huan shocked her so much that she momentarily forgot her dire situation.
"It’s you?" Qi Yushan was also shocked, but then he burst into wild laughter and reached out to grab Ding Huan.
Back then, he had chased Ding Huan through several marketplaces just to kill him.
Hearing Qi Yushan’s words and seeing his actions, Sang Yuhe snapped back to reality.
No matter how Ding Huan had gotten here, he was now in the same boat as her—waiting for Qi Yushan to kill them.
Qi Yushan clearly didn’t take any precautions.
As he reached out to grab Ding Huan, a long spear suddenly appeared in Ding Huan’s hand.
This was the first time Ding Huan was facing a True Core cultivator head-on, but he wasn’t the least bit afraid.
Instead, he was filled with fighting spirit.
As soon as the spear was in his hand, a powerful killing aura filled the space around Ding Huan.
With a sweep of his spear, the overwhelming killing intent surged toward Qi Yushan.
Before Qi Yushan could even get close to Ding Huan, he was shocked by the ferocious killing intent.
Even though Ding Huan hadn’t yet unleashed his spear, Qi Yushan could already feel the oppressive weight of death.
How was this possible?
Qi Yushan desperately tried to retreat, but as soon as he took a step back, he realized he had made a foolish decision.
At that moment, Ding Huan’s spear shot out, and the overwhelming killing intent surged like a tidal wave, as if the ocean had been torn open.
Qi Yushan was caught in the midst of this terrifying wave of killing intent, and death loomed over him.
"No!" Qi Yushan roared, burning his life essence.
In that instant, he looked like a blood-soaked man.
To his surprise, he managed to break free from Ding Huan’s spear and escape the terrifying killing intent.
He no longer dared to attack Ding Huan or Sang Yuhe.
The moment Ding Huan had unleashed his spear, Qi Yushan had been terrified.
Now that he had escaped, he fled for his life.
However, Ding Huan stood still, as if rooted to the spot, still gripping his spear, his eyes filled with a blazing light.
That spear strike had been casual, yet it had stirred up an overwhelming killing aura, locking down the space with its killing intent.
This was the second spear technique of the Nine Paths Divine Ability.
Without even realizing it, he had unleashed this divine ability so naturally.
With that single spear strike, he had created a realm of killing intent.
Wherever the spear passed, everything within that realm crumbled into dust.
One spear, one world—this was roughly what it meant.
Where the spear passed, all turned to dust.
But there must have been a flaw in that spear strike.
Otherwise, how could Qi Yushan have escaped the killing realm? Ah, yes, when the spear was unleashed, there had been a gap in the killing intent space.
To fix this flaw, he needed to turn the killing realm into a trapping and killing formation.
Others might not be able to do this, but he could.
As a fifth-grade array master, he could easily use his spiritual sense to form a trapping and killing formation...
As Ding Huan thought this, a realization struck him.
Was this the embryonic form of array patterns? The more he thought about it, the more it made sense.
In the future, as long as he could touch upon the laws of space, he could use today’s insights to draw true spatial array patterns.
Sang Yuhe, who had been watching all this, was completely stunned.
Had she seen wrong? Wasn’t Ding Huan a mortal? How could a mortal nearly kill a True Core cultivator like Qi Yushan with a single spear strike?
Oh no, Qi Yushan was trying to escape.
"Bang!" Qi Yushan’s fleeing figure seemed to crash into an invisible barrier, and he was flung back, slamming into the cave dwelling he had just destroyed.
Truly, what goes around comes around.
Not long ago, he had done the same to Sang Yuhe, trapping her with his array.
Now, he was experiencing the same fate.
There was a trapping array here? Qi Yushan immediately realized he was trapped by a high-grade trapping array.
He saw that Ding Huan seemed to be lost in some kind of epiphany.
He knew this was his only chance to escape.
That spear strike from Ding Huan had terrified him, and he didn’t dare to attack Ding Huan now.
"Boom!" Qi Yushan’s Starfire Halberd struck the trapping array Ding Huan had set up.
Unfortunately for him, Ding Huan’s array was a fourth-grade trapping array.
No matter how strong Qi Yushan’s halberd strike was, it only caused the array to shake slightly.
He couldn’t break through.
Even though Qi Yushan was now covered in blood, he continued to desperately attack the array, not wanting to miss this only chance to escape.
Sang Yuhe finally snapped out of her daze and urgently called out, "Brother Ding, Qi Yushan is trying to escape!"
She knew she was no match for Qi Yushan.
Over the past few years, her strength had only declined.
Even though Qi Yushan had burned his life essence and his strength had greatly diminished, she still couldn’t defeat him.
"Haha!" Ding Huan laughed heartily and raised his spear.
"This is my second spear strike—the Killing Realm."
Seeing Ding Huan snap out of his epiphany, Qi Yushan’s body trembled.
He knew he couldn’t escape now.
"Brother Ding, there’s no grudge between us. I was the one who brought you to the Three Heavens Star Continent. Killing me would be ungrateful."
"Oh, ungrateful, huh? Then what was the meaning of chasing me through Jiucha Marketplace and Changqiu City? What was the meaning of planting so many spiritual sense marks on me?" Ding Huan sneered.
Qi Yushan’s lips quivered.
"How did you know?"
(End of Chapter)