At present, regardless of whether he followed the wishes of the Mohist Society or Qi State, it would inevitably create a situation of widespread devastation. Qing Xia naturally could not let them flood Chu Li and Qin Zhiyan’s armies, nor could she let them destroy Zhu Yuanqing’s homeland. But surrounded by three powerful opponents, with that old man possessing exceptional strength, she dared not act rashly for the moment. She quietly retreated, hiding in a corner to observe the situation.
Seeing that he was still sowing discord at this moment, Ousi Lanya couldn’t help but feel furious. Seeing that Zhu Qinghe was indeed somewhat moved, she thought that if she couldn’t make a decisive move today, three years of hard work would be wasted. She immediately bit her lower lip with her shell-white teeth, her eyebrows like water. Raising an eyebrow, she laughed lightly: “Young Master Xi Lin is truly alarmist. Since that’s the case, Lanya has some little trinkets that she’d like the elder to evaluate!”
As soon as she finished speaking, a ray of rosy light suddenly flashed from her hand, shooting toward Xi Linyu like lightning!
Xi Linyu snorted coldly and raised his long sword, immediately bringing it down toward Ousi Lanya with tremendous momentum. Ousi Lanya’s form was agile, flexible as boneless, twisting in an absolutely impossible strange posture to dodge to one side. The sword shadow crashed down, striking the ground of the secret chamber. In an instant, dust accumulated over tens of thousands of years flew everywhere, making it impossible to see clearly within a foot.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Ousi Lanya retreated, her pale hands reaching into the pouch at her waist. A streak of green-black cold light immediately shot toward Zhu Qinghe like lightning. A sharp, miserable scream suddenly rang out from behind. Zhu Qinghe clutched his head with both hands and charged madly toward Xi Linyu, completely taking over Xi Linyu’s subsequent offensive.
Xi Linyu’s martial arts were extraordinary. He had already been unrivaled in Southern Chu, and after his family’s destruction, through some unknown encounter, he had joined Wucang Mountain and obtained Mohist sword techniques, practicing them tirelessly day and night. However, he never expected that Ousi Lanya could place witchcraft on Zhu Qinghe. One must know that Zhu Qinghe was once called the Poison Saint of his generation. Among the Seven Departments, he was even as famous as Shangqiu Chonggu, the number one poison woman of Nanjiang. If not for his early death, he would have been renowned throughout the world. His ability to control fierce beasts and poisonous insects was unmatched in the contemporary world. How could such a god of ten thousand beasts be bewitched by a small saintess of the Wuxian Tribe?
Actually, it wasn’t entirely Zhu Qinghe’s carelessness. After all, the old man’s reputation had been too prominent back then, with numerous legends. But as the saying goes, skill comes from diligent practice. The old man had been imprisoned for thirty years, his heart occupied by hatred day and night. As time passed, not only had his poison arts not improved, they had actually regressed. With this path neglected, it was no wonder he fell victim to Ousi Lanya’s witchcraft.
Xi Linyu’s moves were grand and sweeping, with countless white radiances shooting straight to the heavens. Years of bitter cultivation and hatred were suddenly unleashed. Blade after blade of energy slashed out with alarming power and brilliant light. In an instant, his momentum was as shocking as riding wind and waves, his presence moving the heavens. Thousands of blade lights and sword shadows surged forth vigorously. Countless white light pillars shot skyward, spreading madly through the air as if they had spirits, like dragons emerging from the sea, raising brilliant colors throughout the sky. Wave after wave of fierce power frantically pressed toward Zhu Qinghe and Ousi Lanya.
Qing Xia felt sweetness in her throat and difficulty breathing. For a moment, she felt as if she were in a massive whirlpool, tightly entangled and barely able to breathe.
Suddenly, with a “poof” sound, the old man’s upper arm was struck by Xi Linyu’s blade energy, and blood immediately gushed forth. Looking down, Qing Xia saw that among the blood covering the ground, some green tiny insect eggs were crawling, like small green snakes writhing and moving, making one feel nauseous.
Ousi Lanya’s face suddenly turned pale, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. The old man roared madly, as if feeling no pain, still charging frantically toward Xi Linyu.
Xi Linyu split apart the old man’s sword momentum with one strike, his body like a dragon. Suddenly, with an attack like thunderclap, he angrily slashed down at the old man’s head!
“Xi Linyu! If you kill him, no one in this world will be able to open the Heavenly Mechanism Lock. At worst, we’ll both be destroyed, but it will only benefit others!”
Ousi Lanya suddenly shrieked loudly. Hearing this, Xi Linyu’s hand trembled and he immediately held back. Ousi Lanya had been waiting for this moment. She silently chanted witchcraft incantations. Suddenly, the old man cried out loudly, his eyes blood-red, blood spurting rapidly from his wounds. The parasitic insects within immediately shot out like green waves, surging madly toward Xi Linyu.
“Witch, how dare you!”
Xi Linyu shouted sternly, sword momentum suddenly bursting forth from his hand, rushing toward the countless poisonous insects and witchcraft parasites.
Violent storms immediately arose in the air. A black hurricane over a zhang long, mixed with dust and dirt from everywhere, whirled and danced. Smoke and mist swirled around, wild winds rolled backward, making people’s eyes a blur of yellow. Xi Linyu roared angrily and suddenly drew a black long blade from his waist. The weapon was over a zhang long, black as charcoal, with flowing iron armor colors that reflected the brilliant radiance of the deep-sea whale oil lamps that had burned for ten thousand years without extinguishing in the wall corners.
Countless green parasitic insects shot out from the old man’s body. Ousi Lanya took out a light green bamboo flute from her bosom, placed it to her lips, and suddenly began playing a strange, high-pitched tune. Hearing the sound, those parasitic insects seemed to go mad, arranging themselves in formation in the air to attack Xi Linyu from all sides.
Xi Linyu was also quite capable, green radiance bursting from his hands, his sword momentum alarming. Qing Xia watched in great shock, secretly calculating what her chances of victory would be if she faced him, but after comparing secretly, she found she wouldn’t even have a single layer of success. She couldn’t help but break out in cold sweat.
The world was vast, with countless capable people and extraordinary individuals. Her previous self had truly been narrow-sighted.
Green radiances floated around, with heavy black shadows. Ousi Lanya’s pretty face was pale, her bamboo flute increasingly sharp and piercing. The countless green parasitic insects actually grew wings in this short time, buzzing and calling as they surrounded and attacked Xi Linyu. The old man’s eyes were blood-red, his entire body covered in wounds, with countless poisonous insects coiling around him. Gripping a rust-stained long sword still bearing Penglai characters, he thrust and chopped, like a dragon entering the sea, soaring through nine heavens, smashing down toward Xi Linyu’s head.
Red light surged, bloody wind splattered everywhere. The ancient “Heavenly Mechanism Lock” suddenly emitted intense red radiance. In an instant, the entire stone chamber was filled with brilliant red light. Countless crimson light pillars rose thunderously, fluorescence flickering, motionlessly moving positions, projecting onto the walls, ground, and everyone’s clothing. The dark red was thick, looking like fresh blood, filled with violent and fierce murderous aura, constantly glimmering in this narrow stone chamber, as if ancient divine beasts had opened their eyes. Those red lights seemed to have spirits, reflecting everything around in red.
“Roar!” A massive howling sound immediately filled the sky, nearly bursting everyone’s eardrums in that single cry. Xi Linyu and the others immediately swayed unsteadily, unable to maintain their footing, blood vessels swelling, involuntarily stopping their hands to stare blankly at the ancient divine relic that had been silent for unknown years.
“Ah!” A shrill, miserable scream echoed throughout the stone chamber. The old man clutched his blood-soaked head with both hands, the entire person kneeling on the ground, howling toward the sky in apparent madness. His disheveled hair danced without wind, and in an instant, even his eyebrows turned completely white like snow. His face was fierce and terrifying, full of insane expression.
This young talent who had been brilliant and outstanding thirty years ago had actually been imprisoned by his own master and fellow disciples for thirty years in these lonely years, enduring enormous endless solitude and hatred while bearing endless infamy. In darkness without sun, with a ruined reputation, those painful hatreds hidden within his body had accumulated layer by layer in his heart, finally gradually piling up into a magnificent towering mountain peak, enough to destroy heaven and earth, enough to fill seven seas, enough to overturn billions of living beings in the world!
The shrill howling continued echoing. Zhu Qinghe’s eyes were blood-red, muscles throughout his body knotted and swollen, snow-white long hair dancing in the wind. He no longer had his original handsome appearance, completely transformed into a peerless mad demon born for revenge.
Qing Xia frowned tightly, closely watching the changes in the situation on the field. She saw Ousi Lanya nervously clenching her fists, but her eyes were full of excitement as she laughed loudly and suddenly shouted: “Kill him!”
Zhu Qinghe suddenly roared angrily, radiance flashing from his hands, a trace of sinister intent flashing in his eyes. Suddenly turning his head, he stared fiercely at Ousi Lanya and said coldly: “You said, kill whom?”
His voice was low and hoarse, filled with gloomy ghostly coldness, like vengeful souls walking out of hell, carrying intense murderous aura.
Ousi Lanya’s expression changed drastically. She quickly lowered her eyebrows and bowed her head, her lips opening and closing as she silently chanted incantations.
“Whom are you summoning?” the old man suddenly asked in a low voice. His right fist slowly raised level with Ousi Lanya’s face, slowly opening as he said in a deep voice: “Is it this?”
When Ousi Lanya looked up, she was immediately frightened into screaming. She saw a piece of blurred flesh properly placed in the old man’s palm. Within the flesh, a small parasitic insect with red and black patterns crawled up and down, constantly raising its head and flicking its tongue—particularly horrifying.
Ousi Lanya opened her mouth wide, looking incredulously at Zhu Qinghe, who was radiating deathly aura all over his body. She heard him say heavily: “Heaven and earth show me no benevolence, so why should I show them righteousness? This towering ravine, endless Penglai, vast Seven Departments—let them all be buried with me!”
Having said this, he immediately roared loudly, energy surging from his hands as he struck Ousi Lanya with one palm, instantly changing her beautiful appearance, blood flowing from her eye sockets before she rolled her eyes back and fainted.
Xi Linyu laughed loudly from the side: “Penglai’s false benevolence and righteousness harmed the senior. Now that senior has broken free from encirclement, he must surely stir up heaven and earth to calm the hatred in his heart!”
The old man laughed with a hissing sound, suddenly stepped forward, rapidly waving both hands, continuously striking the wheel axles to activate that complex, chaotic, earth-shaking massive mechanism. His five senses and seven orifices immediately bled continuously, bones shattered, black radiance flourishing greatly. With an explosive sound like the creation of heaven and earth, the mechanical device that had slept for too many years was gradually slowly awakened by him.