Nan Songzi was in a state of extreme agitation.
This emotion had been persisting, accumulating, like a towering mountain. Its shadow was about to engulf him completely, and the mountain itself seemed ready to crumble at any moment.
His physical body was gone, shattered to pieces! If there was anything worse than his current situation, it was this:
He understood better than ever that he was on the brink of ruin!
The damned "A Dream to Return" could actually attach itself to his Divine Soul and persist! Not only that, it had ignited the Heart Demon's Evil Energy in his Divine Soul that he used to nurture his Life-defining Yin Demon, causing a proliferation of inner demons in recent days. His Divine Soul had been tainted, and his strength was likely less than forty percent of what it had been at its peak.
Now, without a physical body, he could only exist in the form of a Yin Spirit. He hid on the path that Yu Ci had to take to reach the small valley for cultivation. His faint shadow still bore the appearance of his physical body, but it was covered with patches of black spots, which were the out-of-control Heart Demon's Evil Energy, causing the most noticeable damage to his Divine Soul.
Behind him, there was a cluster of blood shadows similar to his Yin Spirit but more faint. It was enveloped in a deep red smoke that burned the air with a sizzling sound. But to Nan Songzi, it sounded more like the growling of a hungry beast, filled with murderous intent and greed.
This was the "Five Aggregates Yin Demon" he had cultivated through his evil practices. This creature was directly nurtured by his Divine Soul, hence it was also called Life-defining Yin Demon.
Under the temptation of "A Dream to Return", this bastard's instinct to devour its master had been fully aroused. But when it approached to a certain distance, a wisp of pure purple smoke emerged from Nan Songzi's shadowy figure, dense and rolling, pushing it away.
Nan Songzi ignored it. With the True Purple Smoke Warm Jade he obtained from the foolish woman Tao Rong, he could hold on for a while longer. However, the key point was that his target, the young man who had blasted him with Five-Thunder Talismans on Nanfrost Lake, had actually stopped!
Even at his peak, Nan Songzi's Soul Sensing could not extend beyond four miles. But through the Illusion array he had set up early on, he could gain some control. His original plan was to subtly influence Yu Ci's consciousness through the "Ten-Mile Illusion Kill" and lure him into the trap. He had made arrangements in the small valley where Yu Ci cultivated. When the time came, the Illusion technique would suddenly strike, and he was confident that he could obliterate the young man's Divine Soul in an instant and successfully possess him.
But now... he had been exposed!
Without bothering to think about why he had failed, the agitation in his heart was like a raging wildfire, instantly consuming his remaining patience. He issued a sharp command:
"Kill him!"
The life-defining Yin Demon transformed into a smoke arrow, breaking through the air and flying out, while Nan Songzi's Yin Spirit flickered in and out of sight, following suit.
Even if it was a direct attack, he could catch the youngster off guard!
Indeed, Yu Ci was caught off guard.
The surrounding mist instantly gathered from all directions, with sinister shadows darting within, clearly a well-prepared Illusion array. Although it held no killing power, a powerful response surged from four miles away, swift as a flying soul.
When was the last time he was ambushed like this?
This thought flashed through Yu Ci's mind. He was always vigilant, responsive, and had an excellent sense of smell, often able to foresee danger in advance. Not to mention after obtaining the secret of the Divine Map, he had complete control over a radius of fifty miles. To some extent, it had become a luxury for an enemy to attempt to ambush him.
But at this moment, perhaps due to his long-term cultivation in the Still Heart Temple, he had become complacent; or perhaps the enemy was too strong and moved too quickly. Despite the four-mile distance, the reaction time left for him was minimal.
In such a short span of time, Yu Ci could only perform two actions.
He summoned the Heart-Tugging Horn and condensed the Palm Thunder!
As the mist gathered and the sinister shadows dispersed, a thunderclap echoed from the ground, and dazzling deep-blue lightning danced wildly, bursting forth.
This was the first time Yu Ci had used a talisman to fight an enemy since he had opened his "Knowledge Aperture". However, due to the urgency of the situation, he was unable to use the most powerful Five-Thunder Talismans and had to fall back on the Palm Thunder.
Relying solely on his basic abilities for the "Operation Mechanism Transformation", Yu Ci felt that he had hit the target. The thunder and fire attacked the evil spirit, and the inherent restraining feeling emerged. However, the next moment, he saw the rolling red shadow behind the mist, seemingly shielded by a layer of flowing light that blocked the thunder and fire. Then came a piercing shriek and a wave of red smoke that scorched the air, carrying a rich fragrance with the wind that disturbed one's Divine Soul.
"Is it really the Peach Blossom Tent?"
Wasn't that evil artifact destroyed? Yu Ci had clearly seen the fragments!
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What he didn't know was that what he was seeing was not the Peach Blossom Tent, but Nan Songzi's real trump card, the Five Yin Bewildering Spirit Barrier!
This Five Yin Bewildering Spirit Barrier was made from a fine gauze cut from the Peach Blossom Tent, gathering the most potent power of the evil artifact. It complemented Nan Songzi's cultivation of the "Five Aggregates Yin Demon Sutra". Usually, the life-defining Yin Demon would reside on it, constantly refining it with the Heart Demon's Evil Energy. It had already reached more than fifty layers of the "Heavenly Gang and Earthly Sha" Refining Ritual, which was extraordinary.
This is the true Soul Vessel of Nan Songzi.
Five days ago, the spectacle of the Demons turning into ashes was orchestrated by Nan Songzi himself. He manipulated the Demons roaming around with the Illusionary Appearance, leading them by the nose, and ultimately set up a ruse that deceived everyone. Elder Jie Liang and the others were fooled, believing that he and the Demons were reduced to ashes by the thunderous fire. However, in reality, Nan Songzi only lost an insignificant Peach Blossom Tent and a "Five Aggregates Yin Demon" that had not yet connected with his Divine Soul.
Nan Songzi set his sights on Yu Ci.
He had been eyeing Yu Ci for a long time. This target was not chosen at random. For him, a suitable body is more important than anything else. If the strength is too high, with his current riddled Yin Spirit State, the likelihood of Possession is too low. If the strength is too low, the physical strength is not enough to withstand the impact of Possession. After careful consideration, only a few Outer Disciples in the Still Heart Temple within a radius of thousands of miles qualify. Yu Ci, who often goes out for cultivation, is the best choice.
He had tried to make a move before, but avoiding Hai Yang's Soul-searching Spell in the observatory was already difficult, and the boy was surprisingly the center of attention. Many times, the Old Daoist host followed him, making it difficult for him to make a move.
Under normal circumstances, changing targets would not be a problem, but after repeated failures, his impatience had already overwhelmed his reason. Driven by obsession, he fixated on Yu Ci, determined to scatter the Divine Soul of this junior who once hit him with a Five-Thunder Bombardment, and even demanded his body for his own use!
"Break for me!"
Nan Songzi was very confident in his method of attacking the Divine Soul, but the result shocked him: The junior stumbled, but it was not caused by the impact on the Divine Soul. It was just the chaos caused by the Life-defining Yin Demon. When he directed his focused intent like a knife, an invisible barrier outside the junior's Divine Soul blocked it.
Under the erosion of Yu Ci's Life-defining Yin Demon's pervasive red smoke, he stumbled back, not having the leisure to deal with the impact on the Divine Soul. The Heart-Tugging Horn was there to resist it.
At this moment, he had almost no strength to retaliate.
The life-defining Yin Demon, formless and intangible, drove the "Five Yin Bewildering Spirit Barrier" that was as elusive as smoke and fog, exerting no force. Yu Ci, despite possessing the Half-Mountain Mirage Sword Intent, had not yet fully mastered it. His Sword Energy missed its mark by at least sixty to seventy percent, and the remainder was dissolved by the exceptional "Five Yin Bewildering Spirit Barrier."
At this moment, a completely unrelated figure suddenly came to his mind.
It was Kuang Yan Qi, who had spoken eloquently in the Moral Hall.
At that time, a rising star from the White Sun Mansion had raised a question to Elder Jie Liang: how could a cultivator of talismans break free from their limitations, and make them effective even in a face-to-face combat?
Back then, Elder Jie Liang had demonstrated his Five-Thunder Talismans, crafted using the Qi Leading Method, and explained the practical Talisman Plate. However, Yu Ci did not have either of these tools at his disposal now!
As the blood shadow lunged, Yu Ci unfolded his Half-Mountain Mirage Sword Intent, his body transforming into mist, dodging the attack. Here and now, he was forced to put talismans out of his mind. But besides talismans, what other means did he have to deal with the Yin Spirit of an advanced Golden Elixir Cultivator?
Before he could finish his thought, the second wave of assault targeting his Divine Soul thundered towards him. Yu Ci's heart chilled, realizing that this wave of attack was distinctly different from the previous one!
Nan Songzi, true to his reputation as a master of illusion techniques, had a myriad of ways to attack the Divine Soul and had quickly adjusted his offensive. In Yu Ci's mouth, the Heart-Tugging Horn was clearly trembling, the invisible barrier protecting his Divine Soul was shaken by the powerful impact.
In terms of intensity, the Heart-Tugging Horn could still hold up. However, Nan Songzi's methods of attacking the Divine Soul were far more inscrutable than Tu Du's. He had mastered the Ten Thousand Images Sect's method of "Forming Shapes by Taking Advantage of the Situation" to its extreme, and even had the Life-defining Yin Demon stirring up the Heart Demon's Evil Energy. His alternating light and dark attacks, changing in the blink of an eye, sought out weaknesses and struck at them, launching an onslaught.
Yu Ci was already feeling somewhat dizzy. Fortunately, he woke up in time, shouting loudly, and employed the "Tranquil Void" method from the Primordial Root Qi Method. In that moment, it was as if he had crashed into the 'Inner Void of the Heart', seeing the dark, vast space within, where undercurrents were surging. The "Tranquil Void" method was just right for this situation.
In the theory of the Primordial Root Qi Method, the Divine Soul is merely a part of the "Physical Image". He no longer dwelled on the particulars, but looked at the whole, starting from the "Inner Void of the Heart" reflected by the "Physical Image", finding an alternative path, and instantly calming the tremors of the Divine Soul.
Thoughts sprang from the "Inner Void of the Heart", but the situation Yu Ci faced did not improve in the slightest. The same problem remained:
How many methods did he have to deal with the Divine Soul? And how many could he use at this moment?
At this time, Nan Songzi let out a sharp scream, filled with extreme excitement.
After a series of shocks, his emotions surged, and the ecstasy of imminent success swept over his Divine Soul. The shadowy ghost was in turmoil: he had already figured out Yu Ci's bottom line, knowing that the boy's ability to resist the shock was nothing more than relying on external factors!
In the near-mad shriek, the attack on Yu Ci's Divine Soul changed, suddenly escalating to another level.
Yu Ci grunted, his figure, which was turning from Sword Energy into mist, flickered in and out of existence, and finally, unable to control the Sword Energy, he staggered backward.
"Give me your physical body!" In Nan Songzi's sharp laughter, his Yin Spirit transformed into a wisp of smoke and shot over. On the other side, influenced by his aura, the Life-defining Yin Demon also turned into a trail of red smoke halfway through, winding around Nan Songzi's Yin Spirit, intending to attack Yu Ci's Niwan organ with him, aiming for Soul-devouring Possession.
Just then, a "ding" sound rang out, shaking a radius of ten feet.
The sound was made by a pair of metal hooks at both ends of a grey-green rope, colliding with each other.
Nan Songzi's Yin Spirit smoke trembled abruptly.
It's rare to see Brother Fishbone being ambushed once, and I have to applaud and cheer. Please encourage with upvotes and bookmarks. By the way, has anyone guessed the final form of the Hook Rope and its origin yet?
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I have also posted the following more chapters [All free] on: https://www.readgates.com/article/74a39e