Chapter 00224: What Use Are You
# What Use Are You?
Chapter 224
Novel: After the Myth
Chapter 224: What Use Are You?
As soon as Elder He made the decision to leave, he didn’t hesitate for even a moment.
He grabbed a formation flag and activated it immediately.
Ding Huan, seeing Elder He pull out the formation flag, knew that the old man was planning to escape.
Without delay, Ding Huan activated his Extreme Shadow Evasion technique and dashed out of the hidden formation.
Almost the instant Ding Huan left the hidden formation, Elder He activated the teleportation flag.
With a flash, Elder He vanished from his original spot.
But Ding Huan didn’t just stand by.
Using his Extreme Shadow Evasion, he rushed toward the small stream nearby.
As soon as Elder He landed in the teleportation formation by the stream, he activated the teleportation flag a second time.
At the same time, the Hell Vine seeds Ding Huan had planted at the heart of the stream’s teleportation formation erupted.
The fifth-grade Hell Vine seeds exploded, and in an instant, countless vines shot out, tightly wrapping around Elder He.
“Not good!” Elder He’s heart sank.
He had been ambushed.
He couldn’t understand how his opponent had discovered the natural teleportation formation in the stream and even planted Hell Vine seeds there to trap him.
After all, he had been in secluded cultivation on Purple Stream Peak for over a hundred years and had only stumbled upon this natural teleportation formation by chance.
But now wasn’t the time to think about that.
He had to escape immediately.
Elder He unleashed his true essence, but the vines binding him didn’t break immediately.
“Fifth-grade Hell Vine?” Elder He was terrified.
He knew that every second he spent here, his life was in grave danger.
He no longer cared about damaging his soul or destabilizing his cultivation realm.
He began burning his lifeblood frantically.
If he could just hold on for two more breaths, his Water-Fire Domain would break free from the Hell Vine’s restraints.
As long as he could escape the Hell Vine’s bindings, even if he wasn’t teleported away immediately, his life wouldn’t be in danger.
The horror of the Hell Vine wasn’t just in its binding power.
If one didn’t escape within a certain time, the Hell Vine’s roots would burrow into the body, absorbing flesh and blood essence.
At this moment, Elder He regretted underestimating the natural teleportation formation.
He had thought no one else knew about it.
A violent surge of true essence erupted around Elder He.
Just as he felt his true essence domain was about to break free from the Hell Vine seeds…
A terrifying vortex of killing intent tore through his defenses and rushed into his Water-Fire True Essence Domain, which was on the verge of erupting.
The true essence momentum that was about to explode was ripped apart by the vortex.
With his true essence momentum disrupted, Elder He panicked.
In his desperation, he unleashed his Water-Fire Twin Slashes, aiming to cut through the Hell Vine binding him.
If he could just hold on for one more breath…
But Ding Huan wasn’t about to give him that one breath.
He had prepared for this moment for so long, and this was his chance.
As the Yellow Flower Kill took effect, Ding Huan’s Farewell Spear swept out:
The overwhelming killing intent surged like an unstoppable army charging toward Elder He.
At this moment, the Water-Fire Twin Slashes and the Water-Fire Domain were nothing but trash, pushed aside.
That one breath of time was gone.
The aura of death had already seeped into Elder He’s soul.
He opened his eyes and saw a spear tearing through the sky, coming straight for him.
The spear carried an indomitable killing intent, locking down all his vitality.
All his efforts were futile.
Under the spear’s deathly suppression, everything seemed insignificant.
“When the eighth day of the ninth month comes next year, my spear will slay ten thousand souls!”
*Thud!*
Blood splattered as Elder He’s soul shattered.
The first of the Nine Great Divine Abilities—Soul Shatter.
“Why… why did you kill me?” These were Elder He’s last words.
“Because you’re a parasite, only sucking the lifeblood of the sect. When the sect was on the brink of destruction, you didn’t lift a finger. What use are you?”
Ding Huan’s mocking voice echoed as Elder He closed his eyes in unwillingness.
His soul couldn’t escape, pinned firmly by the Farewell Spear.
*Plop!* Elder He’s corpse fell into the stream, turning the water red in an instant.
The Hell Vine’s tendrils turned into countless branches, burrowing into Elder He’s body.
In the blink of an eye, his flesh and blood were gone.
Ding Huan slumped down in the stream, feeling nothing but relief.
He was relieved that he had collected the poisonous mist from Hidden Sword Mountain, relieved that Elder He had used his explosive technique too early, and relieved that he had spent a fortune to buy the Hell Vine seeds.
Without the Hell Vine, that Soul Shatter spear strike wouldn’t have killed Elder He.
It wasn’t that his Soul Shatter ability was weak—it was that his own strength wasn’t enough.
Ding Huan sat in the stream for half an incense stick’s worth of time before finally collecting his formation flags and dragging Elder He’s corpse to the shore.
All that remained of Elder He were some scraps of skin and clothing, which sent a chill down Ding Huan’s spine.
“These Hell Vine seeds are terrifying. I’ll have to be careful with them in the future.”
He took Elder He’s ring and collected the Water-Fire Twin Slashes.
Then, with a wave of his hand, a flame engulfed Elder He’s remains.
The flames not only reduced Elder He to nothing but also burned away the fully grown Hell Vine.
In the distance, Liu Yinzhu and Sang Yuhe had been watching Purple Stream Peak anxiously.
If they hadn’t been completely useless in this situation, they would have rushed to help long ago.
“Elder Liu, it seems like the fighting over there has stopped,” Sang Yuhe said, her voice dry.
She knew that if Ding Huan died, she would almost certainly die as well.
So she had prepared herself—if Elder He emerged, she would end her own life.
Liu Yinzhu was equally tense.
If Ding Huan died, her fate wouldn’t be much better.
Even if Elder He didn’t kill her, she would likely end up as a puppet.
After an incense stick’s worth of time, Sang Yuhe looked at Liu Yinzhu in confusion. “Elder Liu, something doesn’t seem right.”
Liu Yinzhu didn’t need Sang Yuhe to tell her that.
If Elder He had killed Ding Huan, he would have come out immediately.
Conversely, if Ding Huan had killed Elder He, he would have also come out.
But now, Purple Stream Peak was completely silent.
It was strange—had they both perished?
“Let’s go take a look,” Liu Yinzhu said through gritted teeth.
No matter the outcome, if Elder He was still alive, her fate wouldn’t be good whether she went or not.
As soon as the two of them reached the foot of Purple Stream Peak, the hazy peak suddenly became clear, and they saw the formation gate open.
“Ding Huan, are you alright?” Liu Yinzhu’s voice trembled with excitement.
Sang Yuhe was equally thrilled.
If Ding Huan was fine, it meant he had killed Elder He.
“I’m fine. I’ve dealt with Elder He. Sister Yinzhu, Sister Yuhe, please help me prepare. In three days, we’ll establish a new sect. I need to tidy up here and heal my injuries.”
Ding Huan’s voice was exhausted.
He didn’t need to explain further.
Both Sang Yuhe and Liu Yinzhu could see that Ding Huan was severely injured.
He was covered in blood, looking like a blood-soaked figure.
But since he could stand, open the formation gate, and speak, it meant his condition was still within an acceptable range.
“Rest and recover. Leave the rest to me and Yuhe,” Liu Yinzhu said, her mindset shifting immediately.
Before, she had been constantly worried about Elder He, unable to focus on cultivation.
As a result, her cultivation hadn’t progressed—it had even regressed slightly.
Sang Yuhe, who had been hunted by Qi Yushan for years, could only barely maintain her True Core realm.
Now that the threat was gone, even without cultivating, Liu Yinzhu felt her aura grow stronger.
It was all psychological.
After Liu Yinzhu and Sang Yuhe left, Ding Huan confirmed that all the poisonous mist on Purple Stream Peak had been collected before he finally felt at ease and entered the peak’s summit.
This was where Elder He had been in secluded cultivation.
As soon as he arrived, Ding Huan saw a fierce two-headed lion lying on the ground.
It seemed to be Elder He’s contracted spirit beast.
After Elder He’s death, the lion had died as well.
The lion had been guarding a massive medicinal garden.
When Ding Huan opened the garden’s restrictions and saw the herbs inside, he finally understood why Elder He had been so reluctant to leave.
If one were an alchemist, this garden had every kind of medicinal herb one could want.
Well, except for the Three-Colored Purple Rain Flower.
Ding Huan tried circulating his Great Universe Technique, and an overwhelming amount of spiritual energy surged toward him.
He had guessed correctly—the spiritual energy on Purple Stream Peak was even denser than that on Morning Glow Peak.
Moreover, the quality of the spiritual energy here seemed higher.
If Morning Glow Peak had been planted with low or mid-grade spirit veins, then this place definitely had a high-grade spirit vein.
Ding Huan threw out a few formation flags and quickly sealed off the entire area.
This place was his now.
Secluded cultivation didn’t have to be on Morning Glow Peak—this place was far better.
Scanning Elder He’s secluded cultivation spot with his divine sense, Ding Huan didn’t find anything particularly special.
It seemed the old man had truly been focused on breaking through to the Void God realm here.
Ding Huan didn’t return to Morning Glow Peak.
Instead, he stayed here to heal his injuries while examining Elder He’s ring and Qi Yushan’s belt.
The restrictions on Qi Yushan’s belt were easily broken by Ding Huan.
The Immortal Demon Pills he had given Qi Yushan were still safely sealed inside the belt, along with the cauldron that Lou Buzhi had offered.
Ding Huan sighed. “What was the point?”
After traveling countless miles and making a small fortune, Qi Yushan had acted despicably and ended up with nothing.
People should know when to stop and not be too greedy.
After storing everything in his own ring, Ding Huan used his divine sense to break the restrictions on Elder He’s ring.
Although Elder He had been a peak Soul Formation expert, half a step into the Void God realm, his life had been taken by Ding Huan.
The restrictions on his ring were only fourth-grade, which posed no difficulty for Ding Huan.
Inside Elder He’s ring were four to five million high-grade spirit stones, along with a mid-grade spirit vein.
There were also countless jade slips and unknown pills, as well as a high-quality cauldron.
But Ding Huan had no interest in any of these things.
He had no interest in alchemy or alchemy-related jade slips.
He had forged his own path, taking the universe as his body, his meridians as galaxies, and a single speck of stardust as his origin.
As long as he existed within the universe, he could absorb and integrate the essence of all things in heaven and earth.
Thus, he had no need for pills in his cultivation.
(End of Chapter)