Above the sea of clouds, Liu Xin took the initiative to soften his stance.
"If my two junior brothers are willing to turn hostility into friendship with me, I am willing to gift you a superior Dao Scripture."
"At this point? You must be joking."
Upon hearing this, Lu Yang laughed.
"Senior Brother Liu, we are all disciples of the Saint Sect, why put on an act? It's already a fight to the death between us." ...
Liu Xin did not answer, his face just suddenly darkened. Because Lu Yang was right. At this very moment, the ones who were truly unwilling to reconcile were no longer Lu Yang and Xiao Shiye, but rather Liu Xin and Fairy Qingchen.
The reason was also very simple: the Saint Sect's rules.
"Although as long as one is not discovered, the Saint Sect's rules are merely for show. But to put it another way, once discovered, the Saint Sect's rules become very real indeed."
Lu Yang sneered, "This is surely not the first time you people have set up a private ambush to rob your fellow disciples, it's just that no one found out before.
However, now, as long as I go to the Law Enforcement Hall and file a complaint after I leave, when the truth comes out, Senior Brother Liu, you will be facing certain death."
"Junior brother jests."
Liu Xin's face twitched slightly.
"We can sign a magical contract, agreeing to keep today's matter between us. That way, I can naturally rest easy."
"Really?"
Lu Yang retorted. Of course, it was a lie. Only the dead can truly make one feel at ease!
"Qingchen!"
Liu Xin let out a low shout, and Fairy Qingchen, who had remained silent by his side, finally spoke. Her vermilion lips parted slightly, and she slowly uttered a single syllable: "Open!" Before her voice faded, the surrounding sea of clouds changed again.
In an instant, towering mountain peaks manifested, trapping Lu Yang and Xiao Shiye right in the center. Clearly, it was another formation!
"Do you really think I'm afraid of your Heavenly Demon Transforming Blood Divine Light?"
Liu Xin, who actually recognized Lu Yang's divine ability, sneered. A flag banner appeared in his hand, fluttering in the wind.
"It just so happens that my Innate Primordial Qi Myriad Spirits Banner still lacks a main soul to command it. Today, I'll use you to consecrate my flag."
"Go!"
Before Liu Xin could finish speaking, Lu Yang had already merged with his sword pellet and flew over to attack. The overwhelming stench of blood instantly made Liu Xin swallow the rest of his taunt.
"Souls, come to me!"
Liu Xin formed a hand seal and vigorously shook the Myriad Spirits Banner in his hand. Instantly, two streams of misty white Qi were released, and amidst the rising vapor, human figures gradually manifested. Lu Yang didn't stop, slashing down with his sword.
Under Liu Xin's command, the two human figures also circulated their True Qi and fearlessly met the attack. Then, with a loud boom, both were shattered by the sword qi. Liu Xin was just about to go out and join forces with the two banner spirits he had summoned, but upon seeing this, he immediately shrank back.
"Qingchen, act quickly!"
Hearing this, Fairy Qingchen's pretty face grew solemn. She plucked a phoenix-tail hairpin from her hair and threw it. The hairpin instantly transformed into a streak of golden light, stabbing towards the spot between Lu Yang's eyebrows.
However, before the phoenix-tail hairpin could get close to Lu Yang, another treasured light appeared out of thin air and intercepted it. It was none other than Xiao Shiye, that boy with countless treasures. Not only that, but with a flick of his sleeve, Xiao Shiye threw out more than ten magical artifacts at once.
Although their quality was uneven, they all radiated a strong treasured light. Yet, after he brought them out, they unexpectedly exploded with a loud bang in mid-air!
"Boom!"
The exploding treasured light was like a series of small suns, directly blocking the killing formation laid by Fairy Qingchen and even nearly blasting it apart from within! Such an extravagant display made the corners of the other three's eyes twitch. Xiao Shiye was certainly different from Lu Yang; he didn't possess any powerful magical arts or divine abilities.
But when he fought, he clearly had no need for such flashy things. All he had to do was throw out magical artifacts and make them self-detonate. That was enough.
Such a tactic made Liu Xin's already gloomy face turn even uglier. He simply waved the Myriad Spirits Banner in his hand and instantly summoned dozens of banner spirits. These were all the spoils from Liu Xin's recent ambushes and killings of his fellow disciples.
"All of you, go and reinforce the formation."
Upon receiving Liu Xin's command, the host of banner spirits immediately moved, landing at various points within Fairy Qingchen's formation to help her empower and enhance its might. Seeing this, Fairy Qingchen felt greatly reassured. A small flag appeared in her hand, and she shook it forcefully.
The towering mountain peaks manifested by the formation immediately moved in response, locking down heaven and earth and sealing the four directions. At the same time, they firmly protected her and Liu Xin, blocking Lu Yang's sword light. Only upon seeing this did Liu Xin smile with satisfaction, and he once again shook the Myriad Spirits Banner.
This strange treasure was something he had obtained along with the "Innate Dao Scripture" during a fortuitous encounter long ago. It was his greatest asset in battle since he began his cultivation. The banner was said to require one main soul, two guardians, and three corpse gods.
As the saying goes, the Dao gives birth to one, one to two, two to three, and three to all things. Only by filling these six positions and pairing them with ten thousand souls could this treasure be considered complete. It sounded simple, but Liu Xin had painstakingly tried to refine it for over ten years without success.
The tens of thousands of souls were the easy part; he could just take some time to go to the mortal realm and slaughter a city to solve that. However, the six most important positions remained unfilled. Forget the two guardians, he hadn't even managed to gather the three corpse gods.
Nevertheless, the power of this treasure was still considerable.
"Kill them!"
Liu Xin shook the flag banner, and tens of thousands of souls flew out one after another. Unlike the banner spirits that had cultivation bases, these souls were all vengeful ghosts formed from resentful mortals. Although their quality was very poor, they were extremely numerous.
Summoned by Liu Xin at this moment, they were truly like a monstrous wave, a dense, dark mass that swept down and instantly submerged Lu Yang's figure. More importantly, these were all fleshless vengeful ghosts, completely unafraid of Lu Yang's blood-transforming divine light! However, Lu Yang was completely unafraid upon seeing this.
The blood-transforming divine light was his most powerful technique, but it was not his only one. After refining the sword pellet, his Divine Firmament Sword-Riding True Art was also exceptionally powerful! With a single thought from Lu Yang, the sword pellet rapidly split into dozens, even hundreds of streaks of sword light.
His figure then began to teleport and weave among them. He did not engage the vengeful ghosts and banner spirits head-on. When the enemy advanced, he retreated; when the enemy tired, he struck.
He was actually fighting a guerrilla war against the host of banner spirits. This was the true advantage of a sword cultivator. Slashing out with one's sword before fleeing a thousand li, then attacking again from another direction, wearing the opponent down until they reveal an opening, and finally, taking their head with a single strike.
Before long, the tens of thousands of vengeful ghosts had been slaughtered by Lu Yang into complete disarray, utterly routed. On the other side, Xiao Shiye also got ruthless, throwing out several superior magical artifacts and fearlessly self-detonating them, once again blasting the grand formation that had just been stabilized into a state of turmoil.
Seeing the situation gradually turning against them, Fairy Qingchen couldn't help but look at Liu Xin.
"Senior Brother..."
"Don't worry. I'm not worried, so why should you be?"
Liu Xin, however, remained calm. Xiao Shiye was one thing, but he refused to believe that Lu Yang could go on a killing spree using his sword-riding art without consuming any True Qi or magical power. This was also his combat tactic.
First, he would release the unimportant banner spirits to wear down his opponent. Then, once their True Qi was nearly exhausted, he would play his trump card and secure victory in one move. In truth, if it wasn't a last resort, he didn't want to use his trump card.
After all, that particular banner spirit was far too precious, and its identity in its former life was incredibly sensitive. If anyone saw it, he absolutely could not leave them alive. Otherwise, if even the slightest rumor spread, he would be doomed beyond redemption.
"So be it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained."
After a moment's deliberation, Liu Xin finally raised the banner in his hand and bowed respectfully.
"A powerful enemy has come to kill. To resolve this predicament, I must ask Senior Brother to take action."
(End of Chapter)