The Listening Nether Patriarch's aura was still rising, yet Lu Yang remained calm, for he knew very well that the other's condition was not much different from his own. He had lost his physical body, with only his soul remaining. His combat prowess relied entirely on the status bestowed by his Great Divine Ability.
It was invincible against weaker opponents, but it would show signs of decline once he encountered an opponent of equal status. The reason they were evenly matched now was purely because Lu Yang was in the same boat. In order to refine the Corpse-Shedding Immortal, his physical body was still in a state of "transformation after death."
His condition was only slightly better than that of the Listening Nether Patriarch. However, since he dared to come knocking on the door, he was naturally fully confident.
"Secret Demonic Yin Thunder of the Nine Heavens Capital Register!"
The Listening Nether Patriarch's expression was cold as he uttered the Daoist sound. With a pinch of a hand seal, thunder was born from the void in an instant, a bolt of lightning streaking down from the sky toward Lu Yang. This time, Lu Yang did not face it head-on.
Instead, he silently channeled his sword arts, forming a sword light beneath his feet. At the same time, he summoned the Blood Sun Sword Pellet and sent it flying a hundred li away.
Then, he split off another ray of sword light and, using the sword light teleportation art of the Divine Firmament Sword-Riding True Art, he vanished in a flash, reappearing a hundred li away.
Boom.
With a deafening roar, Lu Yang saw the bolt of thunder crash into the City of Wrongful Death below, instantly pulverizing several districts and stirring up a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. Yet, not a single soul flew out from the mountain of corpses and sea of blood. All of them had been utterly annihilated!
"A thunder art that specializes in destroying souls."
Lu Yang's eyes narrowed slightly. Thunder was fundamentally the most yang and unyielding element of heaven and earth, but when an extreme is reached, a reversal occurs. The most yin and gentle qi could also give birth to immense thunder.
This "Secret Demonic Yin Thunder of the Nine Heavens Capital Register" of the Listening Nether Patriarch was clearly a divine ability of this type. He figured the man had seen through his true state, which was why he was using this specific remedy, attempting to use this thunder art to defile his soul.
If he were to be struck by it, he would likely lose this battle. Thinking of this, Lu Yang once again split his sword light, scattering it in all directions.
"The art of sword evasion."
The Listening Nether Patriarch looked over and sneered, "The sword evasion of the Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion is indeed the fastest in the world, but as long as it is a divine ability, there is a way to break it."
"My Witch Ghost Sect has clashed with the Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion several times in the past. How could we not understand this art?"
"Besides, you don't seem to be proficient in sword arts. How dare you show off such petty tricks before this Seat."
With that said, he pointed a finger. Where his fingertip pointed, a torrent of profound light surged forth, covering the sky and earth. Upon closer inspection, it was a swarm of Witch Ghosts, their numbers no less than Lu Yang's rays of sword light!
Each Witch Ghost followed a ray of sword light closely. And when Lu Yang used his sword evasion to leave the battlefield once more, the Listening Nether Patriarch was seen forming a hand seal as well. With a sway of his body, he too disappeared from his spot.
The next second, as Lu Yang emerged from a ray of sword light, the Witch Ghost beside that very ray of light changed its form, revealing the figure of the Listening Nether Patriarch!
Boom!
In the next moment, another bolt of yin thunder struck down from above. At that critical juncture, Lu Yang waved the Myriad Spirits Banner in his hand, and from within it, hundreds, even thousands of Five Thunders Talismans flew out. Activating all at once, they merged into a brilliant yang thunderclap that collided violently with the yin thunder in mid-air.
"Talismans?"
Upon seeing this, the Listening Nether Patriarch's brow furrowed slightly, but it quickly smoothed out.
"Although it's a bit troublesome, how many of those do you have? It's still just a drop in the bucket...!?"
His voice stopped abruptly. Because in the next second, Lu Yang fully unfurled the Myriad Spirits Banner. One after another, talismans flew out from it, instantly filling most of the sky!
In his previous life, with the help of the Enlightenment Jade Slip, Lu Yang had already pushed his talisman arts and formation arts to the limits of the Qi Refining Realm, reaching the seventh grade. Coupled with the mass-production capabilities of the Myriad Spirits Banner, he used the talismans to lay out a formation directly.
With a series of shifts and changes, he instantly mobilized the mighty power of heaven and earth within a hundred-li radius. Not only that, but at this moment, streaks of formation patterns lit up all around the City of Wrongful Death.
In that instant, flying light and flowing fire, wind and thunder rolled across the sky, trapping the entire City of Wrongful Death and confining the Listening Nether Patriarch right in the center of the formation!
"Did you really think I came here rashly, having done nothing?"
When dealing with an old senior, Lu Yang had come prepared. Long before he had rushed to the City of Wrongful Death, he had already set up a grand formation around it. Now that the formation was active, it immediately erupted with heaven-shaking might.
In the past, by relying on the Bloodwash Heavenly River Sword Formation Diagram, Lu Yang could fight a cultivator at the Perfection of Qi Refining with his eighth-level Qi Refining cultivation. The boost formations provided to one's combat power was immense. The Listening Nether Patriarch naturally understood this as well.
His expression changed drastically, and he immediately formed a hand seal, preparing to escape the range of the formation.
"Hmph, trying to escape?"
Lu Yang flicked his wide sleeve, and the sword lights he had previously sent out suddenly swept back to attack. Previously, in order to track Lu Yang, the Listening Nether Patriarch had made each Witch Ghost follow a sword light. Now, he had lifted a rock only to drop it on his own foot.
In the blink of an eye, the sword lights swept away the Witch Ghosts that still lingered outside the formation. Without the Witch Ghosts as a medium, the Listening Nether Patriarch naturally could not teleport away. He could only watch with an ugly expression as he fell into the formation's encirclement.
Seeing this, Lu Yang gave a cold smile and immediately formed a hand seal. In an instant, the formation shifted, and countless talismans vibrated in unison. Wind, thunder, water, and fire poured out, drowning the figure of the Listening Nether Patriarch within.
If it were merely a simple formation, the Listening Nether Patriarch would not be afraid. However, the one controlling the formation was Lu Yang, who empowered it with his own status, turning it into a truly fatal weapon.
By the time the wind, thunder, water, and fire dissipated and the Listening Nether Patriarch's figure reappeared, the once-dazzling light of his soul had dimmed considerably.
"Good, what a good junior!"
The Listening Nether Patriarch's hair was disheveled, his eyes filled with a grim light. He said in a low voice, "I really didn't want to reveal this... but it seems I have no choice now." Before his voice had even faded, his aura changed abruptly!
He formed a hand seal, and the Mysterious Underworld Palace Lord Aspect behind him expanded once more. The Yama Demon Hall became even more real, and eight treasured thrones appeared one after another.
"Return to your positions!"
A deep and demonic sound spread in all directions. The next second, Lu Yang saw eight scarlet escaping lights that had just fled into the distance, now flying back. Within the escaping lights, the utterly terrified faces of the eight elders of the Listening Nether Cult were reflected.
Lu Yang immediately activated the formation to try and intercept them, but they seemed to exist in another space, ethereal and unstoppable. In the blink of an eye, they arrived beside the Listening Nether Patriarch.
"Black and White Impermanence, Civil and Martial Judges."
"Ox-Head and Horse-Face, Day and Night Patrol Gods."
With each name the Listening Nether Patriarch recited, an elder landed on one of the thrones manifested by the Yama Demon Hall. After all eight elders were seated— Boom! The Listening Nether Patriarch's body transformed into the Mysterious Underworld Palace Lord Aspect, landing directly on the main throne of the Yama Demon Hall.
The entire Yama Demon Hall seemed to be reborn. Ten thousand ghosts roared, each attending to their duties, as if the true underworld had descended upon the mortal realm, instantly breaking free from the talisman formation Lu Yang had set up! Almost simultaneously, a sword cry rang out from the sky above!
The sound of the sword cry rolled in, carrying with it an incomparably vast spiritual sense, causing an image to surface in the minds of all who heard it. It was a cliff that towered to the heavens. On the cliff, a heroic youth in a Daoist robe sat cross-legged, looking toward the north of the river.
A magical sword lay across his knees. He then made a slashing gesture with two fingers toward the north: "Lord of the Witch Ghost Dao, the arch-villain must be slain!"
Clang!
The next second, all the images vanished. Lu Yang saw only a sharp sword light. The Golden Core sword qi within the secret realm had been completely awakened!
At this moment, Lu Yang finally understood the identity of the Listening Nether Patriarch. The last Sect Master of the Witch Ghost Sect!
(End of this chapter)