Chapter 41
Chapter 41
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: Fierce Battle
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"You devil, do you really think you can act so fearlessly just because you have a seventh-grade grand array?"
Ouyang Haoze looked at Lu Yang through the array's light screen and sneered, "An array is ultimately an inanimate object. For cultivators like us, cultivation realm is what matters most!"
"In the end, it all comes down to a true test of strength."
Alarms blared in Lu Yang's mind, but his expression remained unchanged. "Fellow Daoist, if you are so confident, you are welcome to enter the array and fight. Otherwise, you should obediently retreat."
"You're courting death!"
Ouyang Haoze gave a sinister smile and actually took a step forward. He then exhaled, and with a thunderous clap, a powerful sound burst from his throat.
This was a superior divine ability from the Divine Martial Gate called the "Thousand-Mile Void-Shattering Divine Sound." It involved using a secret art to absorb and release the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, empowering it with the Divine Martial Gate's unique third-grade true qi, the "Divine Martial True Astral," and then roaring it out in a single breath. Wherever the sound wave passed, everything within a thousand miles, friend or foe, would be pulverized.
In an instant, the intensely powerful divine sound rushed into the array.
Array patterns shattered one after another, revealing skeletal soldiers of various shapes. The massive array had been forcefully blasted open, creating a gap!
Immediately after, Ouyang Haoze took out a round mirror.
"I request the aid of Lord Taixiao."
He formed a hand seal and pointed, sending the round mirror into the air. A magnificent beam of light shot down from it, freezing the void and forcefully holding the gap in the array in place!
In that instant, the market square trembled violently!
A large number of cultivators scrambled backward, not daring to approach the edge of the array, their faces filled with panic.
Fairy Feixia's face was pale. The next second, she whirled to look at Lu Yuanchun, who had a strange expression, and snapped, "Stay here! You are not to go anywhere!"
Having been tricked before, Fairy Feixia naturally no longer trusted Lu Yuanchun. At this moment, her beautiful face was even twisted with a hint of ferocity. "If it weren't for Junior Brother Lu, you would already be dead outside the market square! If you dare try to escape in the chaos again, I will kill you first, no matter the cost!"
"Junior Sister Feixia, you misunderstand..."
Lu Yuanchun gave an awkward smile. Seeing Fairy Feixia's murderous expression, he felt a bit intimidated and had to suppress the many sinister thoughts that had just surfaced.
With the two late-stage Qi Refining cultivators remaining calm, the chaos within the market square quickly subsided.
Of course, everyone knew this was only temporary.
The outcome of the battle between Lu Yang and Ouyang Haoze was the final straw that would break the camel's back. Therefore, Fairy Feixia could only place her trust in Lu Yang now.
Trusting that he could create a miracle.
"Is this... a spirit treasure?"
Lu Yang's expression changed drastically as he looked at the round mirror in the sky. "And it's a supreme yang spirit treasure that suppresses earthly baleful yin qi, specifically designed to counter the 'Hundred Skeletons Return to True Grand Array'!?"
Ouyang Haoze threw his head back and laughed, filled with smug satisfaction:
"The Hundred Skeletons Return to True Grand Array has stood on Skull Mountain for many years. Since my Divine Martial Gate dared to plot against it, how could we not prepare a way to break the array in advance?"
"With the 'Supreme Empyrean Mirror' here, your death today is certain!"
This spirit treasure was not his own; it had been specially refined by a Foundation Establishment Perfected Being of the Divine Martial Gate to deal with the Hundred Skeletons Return to True Grand Array. Its power was self-evident.
Above the market square, Lu Yang's expression turned ugly. Without another word, he turned and fled.
"Hmph! Trying to run?"
Ouyang Haoze didn't hesitate, leaping up and unleashing his divine sound again, instantly pulverizing the surrounding skeletal soldiers before chasing after Lu Yang.
However, just at that moment, a sudden change occurred!
The moment Ouyang Haoze stepped into the array, his expression changed. He subconsciously tried to retreat, but when he turned around, he saw only a sea of scarlet array patterns.
"I didn't expect you to actually dare to come in."
Lu Yang stopped fleeing and turned to look at Ouyang Haoze. The panicked expression from before was gone as if it had never existed, replaced by a sinister smile.
"This is impossible!"
Ouyang Haoze's eye twitched, his expression a mixture of shock and suspicion. "The Hundred Skeletons Return to True Grand Array was clearly immobilized by my Supreme Empyrean Mirror! Why is another array appearing? Is there a second array in the market square? Where did it come from? Why didn't I detect any traces of it being set up beforehand?"
"Because I don't need to set up an array at all."
Lu Yang sneered inwardly. His Blood-Washing Celestial River Sword Array Diagram relied entirely on the Blood Sun Sword Pellet, an array treasure. The array formed with a single thought, so naturally, there would be no traces!
The next second, a banner appeared in Lu Yang's hand, fluttering in the wind.
The Innate Primal Qi Ten Thousand Spirits Banner!
As the banner waved, streams of banner spirits flew out, landing on the various nodes of the Blood-Washing Celestial River Sword Array Diagram and beginning to move involuntarily.
Lu Yang had taken the Innate Primal Qi Ten Thousand Spirits Banner into account when designing this array. Now, the tens of thousands of souls within the banner arranged themselves, occupying the array nodes and manifesting its profound mysteries. In an instant, the world turned crimson, and a surging river of blood flowed from south to north, crashing down from the sky toward Ouyang Haoze! Ouyang Haoze let out a muffled groan, his body staggering.
Heavenly Demon Blood-Transforming Divine Light!
Trapped within the array, Ouyang Haoze had no way to dodge the divine light's power. He felt his once-abundant vital energy and blood gushing out of his body like a bursting dam.
The next second, he hurriedly shouted, "Lord Heavenly Light, save me!"
Golden scales of armor glinted in the light. Layers of treasure light enveloped Ouyang Haoze, and for a moment, it actually managed to stop the devouring effect of the Heavenly Demon Blood-Transforming Divine Light.
Spirit treasure, the Heavenly Light Helmet!
This treasure was refined from "Demon-Subduing Heavenly Light" and was fundamentally opposed to the Heavenly Demon Blood-Transforming Divine Light. The result of their clash was a mutual stalemate.
Only then did Ouyang Haoze manage to breathe a sigh of relief.
After all, he never expected that even with his cultivation, two spirit treasures—the Supreme Empyrean Mirror and the Heavenly Light Helmet—and such thorough preparations, he would still nearly suffer a disastrous defeat.
"At this point, I cannot run."
Ouyang Haoze's eyes were bloodshot. Not only did he not intend to flee, but he instead looked toward Lu Yang deep within the array, a suffocating killing intent appearing in his eyes.
"...I can only counterattack!"
As a true disciple of a major sect, his willpower was by no means weak. He understood the principle that "the brave will triumph when paths are narrow." He knew that if he focused only on escaping now, Lu Yang would toy with him until he was dead. To break the array, he had to seek life in death, find a way to kill Lu Yang. Once Lu Yang was dead, the array would dissolve on its own!
*Rumble!*
The next second, protected by the Heavenly Light Helmet, Ouyang Haoze charged toward Lu Yang, the peerless tip of his spear aimed directly at the Innate Primal Qi Ten Thousand Spirits Banner in Lu Yang's hand!
"That banner seems to be the core of this array. If I can't kill Lu Yang, destroying it might also be a way out."
"Good of you to come!"
Lu Yang waved his banner, and a figure appeared—it was Liu Xin. His face was filled with confusion, as if he hadn't fully regained his senses.
The next second—
"Explode!"
With a deafening boom, Liu Xin involuntarily opened his mouth and shouted the word "kill," unleashing a Life-Taking Incantation designed for mutual destruction!
In Lu Yang's view, Liu Xin's use of the Innate Primal Qi Ten Thousand Spirits Banner was far too shallow. After all, the banner spirits were immortal. Even if they were destroyed, as long as their true spirits didn't scatter, they could be resummoned by expending magical power. That being the case, why have them fight conventionally?
They should learn suicidal killing moves!
Since they could be revived, having them unleash divine abilities that killed a thousand enemies at the cost of eight hundred of their own, self-destructing to kill their foes—that was the proper way to use them!
In an instant, a spiritual tide swept over everything.
When the dust settled, Liu Xin was nowhere to be seen, while Ouyang Haoze had been forcefully stopped in mid-air, his expression incomparably grim.
Up to this point, he had used many methods.
Divine abilities, spirit treasures, and cultivation suppression—dealing with a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator should have been a simple matter, yet none of his efforts had succeeded.
Instead, his own magical power had been greatly depleted.
"If this continues, I'm afraid I'll really die here..."
At this thought, a ruthless look flashed across Ouyang Haoze's face. He formed a hand seal, and the Heavenly Light Helmet on his body suddenly let out a mournful cry.
"This is... Not good!"
Seeing this, Lu Yang's expression changed dramatically. He flickered and instantly teleported behind the Blood Sun Sword Pellet, then summoned its blood shadow to protect him.
*BOOM!!!*
The spirit treasure, the Heavenly Light Helmet, had self-destructed!
The exploding spiritual light was just like the scene Xiao Shiye had created in the past, sweeping in all directions and instantly shattering Lu Yang's sword array diagram, revealing the clear blue sky.
Although Lu Yang reacted extremely quickly and closed the array, Ouyang Haoze was even faster. He broke through the array diagram's encirclement in the nick of time. Lu Yang only had time to cast the Heavenly Demon Blood-Transforming Divine Light, stripping another thirty percent of his vital energy and blood, leaving him looking like a bag of bones.
"You destroyed my magic treasure! I will not be satisfied until I have torn you to pieces!"
Ouyang Haoze stood outside the market square, his expression savage. He poured his remaining magical power into his other spirit treasure, the Supreme Empyrean Mirror, causing it to also emit a mournful cry.
"At worst, I'll sacrifice all my spirit treasures today! Let's see if you can produce a third grand array!"
(End of this chapter)