Chapter 41: Fierce Battle

“Demon, do you truly believe that relying on a mere Grade 7 Grand Formation grants you impunity?”

Separated by the formation’s shimmering light screen, Ouyang Haoze looked at Lu Yang with a cold sneer. “Formations are ultimately dead things. For us cultivators, our cultivation realm is more important!”

“In the end, the truth is only found under one’s hand.”

Although alarm bells rang loudly in Lu Yang’s heart, his expression remained composed. “If you are so confident, Fellow Daoist, feel free to enter the formation and fight. Otherwise, be obedient and retreat.”

“You seek death.”

Ouyang Haoze smiled grimly. He actually took a step forward, inhaled deeply, and then shouted. A thunderous sound exploded abruptly from his throat.

This was a superior Divine Ability of the Divine Martial Sect known as the Thousand-Li Space-Shattering Divine Sound. It involved using a secret technique to swallow the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth, empowering it with the Divine Martial Sect’s unique Third Grade True Qi, Divine Martial True Qi, and then roaring it out in a single breath. Wherever the sound waves passed, everything within a thousand li—friend or foe alike—would be vibrated into fine powder.

In an instant, the searing Divine Sound rushed into the formation.

One by one, formation patterns shattered, revealing skeletal soldiers of various shapes and sizes. The massive formation was forcibly blasted open, revealing a gaping breach!

Immediately after, Ouyang Haoze took out a round mirror.

“Please take action, Duke Taixiao.”

He formed a hand seal and pointed, sacrificing the round mirror into the air. A magnificent mirror light projected downward, solidifying the void and forcibly freezing the breach in the formation!

In that moment, the entire market shook violently!

A large number of cultivators scrambled backward, faces full of panic, daring not to approach the edge of the formation.

Fairy Feixia’s face turned pale. The next second, she glared fiercely at Lu Yuanchun, whose expression was odd, and shouted sternly, “Stay right here! You are not allowed to go anywhere!”

Having been pitied before, Fairy Feixia naturally would not trust Lu Yuanchun again. At this moment, her beautiful face even revealed a hint of ferocity. “If not for Junior Brother Lu, you would already be dead outside the market. If you dare try to escape in the chaos, I will ignore everything else and kill you first!”

“Junior Sister Feixia misunderstands…”

Lu Yuanchun laughed awkwardly. Seeing Fairy Feixia’s ravenous, man-eating look, he felt a twinge of fear and had no choice but to suppress the many sinister thoughts that had just arisen.

With the two Late Stage Qi Refining cultivators remaining steady, the chaos within the market quickly calmed down.

Of course, everyone knew this was only temporary.

The victory or defeat between Lu Yang and Ouyang Haoze would be the straw that broke the camel’s back. Thus, Fairy Feixia could only place her faith in Lu Yang now.

She believed he could create a miracle.

“Is that… a Spirit Treasure?”

Lu Yang looked at the round mirror in the sky, his expression changing drastically. “And it is an Extreme Yang Spirit Treasure specifically designed to restrain Earthly Fiend Yin Qi and counter the Hundred-Bones Restoration Grand Formation!?”

Ouyang Haoze laughed towards the sky, smug and satisfied.

“The Hundred-Bones Restoration Grand Formation has stood on Skull Mountain for many years. Since my [Divine Martial Sect] dared to make a move, how could we not prepare means to break the formation in advance?”

“With the [Supreme Sky Mirror] here, you will undoubtedly die today!”

This Spirit Treasure did not belong to him; it was specially refined by a Foundation Establishment Perfected One of the Divine Martial Sect to deal with the [Hundred-Bones Restoration Grand Formation]. Its power was self-evident.

Above the market, Lu Yang looked grim. Without a word, he turned and fled.

“Hmph! Trying to leave?”

Without a second thought, Ouyang Haoze leapt forward. He unleashed the Divine Sound again, instantly pulverizing the surrounding skeletal soldiers, and chased after Lu Yang.

However, just then, a sudden change occurred!

The moment Ouyang Haoze stepped into the formation, his expression shifted. He subconsciously tried to retreat, but when he turned his head, he saw only a vast expanse of crimson formation patterns.

“I didn’t expect you to actually dare come in…”

Lu Yang stopped his escape and turned back to look at Ouyang Haoze. The panic from earlier vanished as if it had never existed, replaced by a sinister smile.

“This is impossible!”

The corner of Ouyang Haoze’s eye twitched, his mind filled with shock and doubt. “The [Hundred-Bones Restoration Grand Formation] was clearly frozen by my [Supreme Sky Mirror]. Why have formation patterns appeared… is there a second formation within the market? Where did it come from? Why didn’t I detect any traces of a formation being laid beforehand?”

“Because I didn’t need to lay it down at all…”

Lu Yang sneered internally. His [Heavenly River Massacre Sword Formation Diagram] relied entirely on the formation treasure, the Sword Pellet named Blood Sun. The formation formed with a mere thought, so naturally, there were no traces!

In the next second, a fluttering banner appeared in Lu Yang’s hand.

The [Primordial One-Qi Myriad Spirits Banner]!

As the banner waved, banner spirits flew out one after another, landing on the various formation eyes of the [Heavenly River Massacre Sword Formation Diagram] and moving instinctively.

When designing this formation, Lu Yang had taken the [Primordial One-Qi Myriad Spirits Banner] into account. Now, ten thousand souls from the banner lined up, occupying the formation eyes and manifesting the profound mysteries. In an instant, heaven and earth turned crimson. A surging river of blood cascaded from south to north, crashing down from the sky directly onto Ouyang Haoze!

Ouyang Haoze let out a muffled groan, his figure staggering.

[Heavenly Demon Blood-Dissolving Divine Light]!

Trapped within the array, Ouyang Haoze could not dodge the might of the Divine Light at all. He felt his originally majestic Qi and blood draining out of his body like a bursting dam.

The next second, he hurriedly shouted, “Lord Heavenly Light, save me!”

Armor light opened like golden scales facing the sun. Layer upon layer of precious light enveloped Ouyang Haoze. For a moment, it actually halted the devouring power of the [Heavenly Demon Blood-Dissolving Divine Light].

The Spirit Treasure, [Heavenly Light Helm]!

This treasure was refined from [Demon-Subduing Heavenly Light]. Its nature clashed with the [Heavenly Demon Blood-Dissolving Divine Light], resulting in a stalemate between the two.

Only then did Ouyang Haoze manage a sigh of relief.

After all, he hadn’t expected that with his cultivation base, combined with two Spirit Treasures—the [Supreme Sky Mirror] and the [Heavenly Light Helm]—and such complete preparations, he would still nearly capsize in the gutter.

“Things have come to this… I cannot flee…”

Ouyang Haoze’s eyes turned blood-red. Instead of planning to escape, he looked toward Lu Yang deep within the formation, his eyes filled with suffocating killing intent.

“…I can only counterattack!”

As a True Disciple of a sect, his willpower was certainly not weak. He understood the principle that “the brave win when enemies meet on a narrow path.” He knew that if he focused solely on escaping now, he would be played to death by Lu Yang. To break the formation, he had to seek life within death and find a way to kill Lu Yang. Once Lu Yang died, the formation would dissolve itself!

Boom!

In the next second, protected by the [Heavenly Light Helm], Ouyang Haoze charged at Lu Yang, his peerless spear tip pointing straight at the [Primordial One-Qi Myriad Spirits Banner] in Lu Yang’s hand!

“That banner seems to be the core of this formation. If I can’t kill Lu Yang, destroying it might also offer a path to survival…”

“Good timing!”

Lu Yang raised the banner, and a figure emerged. It was Liu Xin. His face was written with confusion, as if he hadn’t yet fully regained consciousness.

The next second—

“Explode!”

Boom! A loud explosion rang out! Liu Xin involuntarily opened his mouth and shouted the word “Kill”—it was the [Mantra of Killing Life], specifically used for mutual destruction!

In Lu Yang’s view, Liu Xin’s use of the [Primordial One-Qi Myriad Spirits Banner] had been far too shallow. After all, Banner Spirits were undying. Even if destroyed temporarily, as long as the true spirit didn’t scatter, they could be re-summoned by consuming spiritual power. Since that was the case, why make them fight methodically?

They should be taught suicide attacks!

Since they could revive anyway, having them unleash that kind of Divine Ability—killing one thousand enemies while losing eight hundred of one’s own—and self-destructing upon release was the correct usage!

In an instant, a tide of spiritual energy swept through everything.

When the dust settled, Liu Xin was nowhere to be seen, while Ouyang Haoze had been forcibly halted in mid-air, his expression dark to the extreme.

So far, he had used many means.

Divine Ability, Spirit Treasure, and cultivation suppression. Dealing with a Late Stage Qi Refining cultivator should have been as easy as reaching into a bag, yet none of his efforts had succeeded.

Instead, his spiritual power consumption was immense.

“If this goes on, I’m afraid I really will die here…”

At this thought, a ruthless look flashed across Ouyang Haoze’s face. He pinched a hand seal, and immediately, the [Heavenly Light Helm] on his body let out a mournful cry.

“This is… not good!”

Lu Yang’s expression changed abruptly. His figure flashed, instantly teleporting behind the Blood Sun, summoning the sword pellet’s blood shadow to protect his front.

Boom!!!

The Spirit Treasure [Heavenly Light Helm], self-destructed!

The exploding spiritual light was just like the scene Xiao Shiye had created in the past. It swept in all directions, instantly shattering Lu Yang’s sword formation diagram and revealing the clear blue sky.

Although Lu Yang reacted extremely quickly and rapidly closed the formation, Ouyang Haoze was faster. In that split second, he rushed out of the formation diagram’s encirclement. Lu Yang only managed to unleash the [Heavenly Demon Blood-Dissolving Divine Light], brushing away another thirty percent of his Qi and blood, leaving him looking like nothing more than a bag of bones.

“You destroyed my spiritual treasure! If I don’t tear your corpse into ten thousand pieces, this hatred will never be quelled!”

Standing outside the market with a ferocious expression, Ouyang Haoze actually poured his remaining spiritual power into his other Spirit Treasure, the [Supreme Sky Mirror], causing it to wail as well.

“At worst, this seat will sacrifice all my Spirit Treasures today just to see if you can bring out a third Grand Formation!”

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