Huikong roared lowly, his muscles bulging impressively. From his body, hidden golden dragon patterns erupted, soaring into the sky above Misty Manor. Their resonant cries shook the heavens and earth, creating a formidable aura.
The tens of thousands of ghosts that surged from the black flag hadn't even approached Huikong before they were torn apart by these golden dragon patterns. The weaker ghosts couldn't even withstand the radiance emitted by the dragon patterns and were instantly reduced to ashes.
A torrent of golden light showered down, completely enveloping Misty Manor. Li Xuanming, Liu Zhenxiong, and Wu Teng immediately felt their circulation of blood and Spiritual Qi obstructed, as if the golden light was suffocating them.
Chu Xuan, lying on the rooftop, also felt his cultivation of the Blood Evil Demon Refining Scripture significantly slowed. Wu Teng was both shocked and enraged, unaware of the nature of this technique.
Li Xuanming, having had previous encounters with the Golden Dragon Temple, recognized the technique instantly. "Suppression Evil Rune? You've actually cultivated this move!" he exclaimed in disbelief.
Upon hearing these words, Liu Zhenxiong and Wu Teng's expressions drastically changed as well. The cultivation techniques and spells practiced by the Golden Dragon Temple were almost all designed to suppress evil spirits. Demonic cultivators always suffered when facing the temple's monks.
The Suppression Evil Rune was a technique from the secret scripture of the temple, the Secret Pattern Scripture, known for its difficulty to master but immense power once perfected. It could even combat enemies across one or two higher cultivation levels. Even within the Golden Dragon Temple, the number of monks who had mastered this pattern could be counted on one hand.
And Huikong had managed to master it! No wonder he was bold enough to face three opponents alone and confidently proclaim that none would escape. He had such a formidable technique to rely on!
Buzz!
The golden light blasted against the black flag. The flag cried out in distress, its light dimming, showing cracks on its surface. Li Xuanming spat out a mouthful of fresh blood and had no choice but to retract the flag. He was profoundly shocked.
This flag, his life-bound magical tool, the Black Wind Flag, contained tens of thousands of ghosts. Yet, it couldn't withstand a single strike. Now, even his life-bound magical tool was severely damaged.
What else could possibly contend with Huikong?
Huikong laughed wildly, confident of his victory. "Use all your life-bound magical tools and your various methods!"
Li Xuanming gritted his teeth, "Both of you, we must go all out now. It's our only chance!"
Liu Zhenxiong and Wu Teng nodded solemnly. Liu Zhenxiong took out the Corpse Nurturing Tower, pointed at it, and a beam of black light shot out, releasing one of the corpse puppets he had been meticulously cultivating for years.
Huikong glanced at it and scoffed, "I thought it was something formidable. If it were a third-level Corpse General, I might have taken a longer look, but it's just second-level!"
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Wu Teng slapped his shoulder fiercely, and a large, fat insect burrowed out. Its rear end faced outward and suddenly began firing. The thumb-sized eggs it shot out hatched rapidly before hitting the ground, forming thousands of small, transparent insects that swarmed around Wu Teng in the blink of an eye.
Huikong swept his gaze over them and laughed again, "Brain-eating insects? Is this your trump card?"
Li Xuanming growled, "And mine!" He violently threw a black pearl into the air. It exploded mid-air, releasing a surge of black light that quickly enveloped Misty Manor. A wave of Yin Evil Qi spread rapidly, battling against the golden light.
The intermingling of the black and golden lights wrested back some space, relieving Li Xuanming and his companions from the oppressive golden light that slowed their cultivation techniques.
"Yin Evil Black Pearl? Not bad, bringing out such treasures!" Huikong laughed heartily. "But do you really think that's all there is to my Suppression Evil Rune?"
At that, the expressions of Li Xuanming and his companions changed. In the next instant, the golden dragon patterns in the air burst into even more intense golden light. The environment barely held together by the Yin Evil Black Pearl was shredded instantly.
Liu Zhenxiong's second-level corpse general, just as it charged forward, started howling in pain under the intense golden light, smoke billowing from its body.
The three Divine Star Sect cultivators, now somewhat recovered, immediately moved in, encircling the corpse puppet. Despite its toughness, the corpse puppet could only withstand so much against three Foundation Establishment stage cultivators.
As for the brain-eating insects, although unaffected by the Suppression Evil Rune's golden light, they couldn't get close to Huikong.
The ground began to pile up with their corpses, yet no wounds appeared on Huikong.
"Weak, so weak!" Huikong continued to laugh derisively, swinging his khakkhara to bisect swarms of the brain-eating insects in mid-air.
In the next moment, he suddenly controlled his khakkhara to slash towards Wu Teng. Caught off guard, Wu Teng barely managed to dodge his head but his right arm was severed cleanly at the shoulder by the blade of light!
As Wu Teng's right arm fell, so too did the mother brain-eating insect atop it, severed into two pieces, its fluids splashing everywhere. This mother insect was Wu Teng's life-bound Gu.
With its death, Wu Teng immediately suffered a backlash, his mind feeling as though it had been smashed by a hammer, leaving him in a dazed state. He collapsed to the ground, eyes wide open, unable to utter a word.
"Die!" Huikong bellowed as he raised his khakkhara for another strike. Li Xuanming and Liu Zhenxiong were too engaged to come to Wu Teng's aid, and could only watch helplessly as the blade descended.
However, just at that moment, a surge of Yin Evil Qi flashed, and a chain whipped fiercely towards Huikong's back.
Huikong sensed the threat of death and his face paled. Abandoning the downward stroke of his khakkhara, he conjured a golden bowl in front of him.
The Evil Soul Chain struck the bowl, leaving deep cracks on the bowl's surface before sending it flying. The chain's momentum unabated, it struck Huikong directly in the chest.
A crack sounded as a long, narrow wound opened from his left shoulder to his right waist, blood flowing freely. Even more critically, the golden dragon patterns on Huikong's body, which had been protecting him, were disrupted by the strike. The golden light enveloping Misty Manor weakened significantly.
Huikong, his face a mask of shock, quickly retreated, casting his gaze toward the attacker. Li Xuanming and Liu Zhenxiong also turned, startled, and saw that it was Chu Xuan.
"Chu Xuan?!" Liu Zhenxiong exclaimed in surprise. He had thought Chu Xuan was only watching from afar. Given the sudden appearance of Huikong and the dire situation, Liu had assumed that Chu Xuan might have fled.
Instead, Chu Xuan had not only appeared but had also landed a precise strike on Huikong, reducing the power of the Suppression Evil Rune!
A flicker of realization passed through Li Xuanming's eyes. The Suppression Evil Rune was indeed powerful, but because it was inscribed on the body, it was vulnerable to close combat. Any damage to the skin could obscure or break the rune patterns, significantly diminishing their power.
Li Xuanming had known this weakness but had been unable to get close enough to Huikong once the rune was activated. Chu Xuan, who presumably had never encountered the Suppression Evil Rune, seemed unexpectedly aware of this vulnerability. How had he known?