Nan Songzi was extremely agitated.
This feeling had been lingering and accumulating, like towering mountains whose shadows had completely engulfed him. The mountains themselves seemed ready to collapse at any moment.
His physical body was gone—shattered into pieces! If there was anything worse than that, it was undoubtedly his current situation:
More than ever, he realized that he was doomed!
That d*mned “Fleeting Dream” had actually attached itself to his divine soul and continued to exist! Not only that, but it had also triggered the heart demon’s innate Qi that he had been using to nourish his life-bound Yin Demon. As a result, heart demons had been running rampant in his soul for days, polluting it. Compared to his peak state, his strength was now likely less than forty percent of what it used to be.
Without a physical body, he could only exist in the form of a Yin Spirit. Now, he was lurking along the path that Yu Ci had to take to reach his cultivation valley. His dim, shadowy figure vaguely retained the appearance of his former body, but it was riddled with black spots—marks left by the now-uncontrolled heart demon’s innate Qi, the most evident damage to his divine soul.
Behind him, a mass of blood-colored shadow, similar in shape to his Yin Spirit but even more indistinct, crept closer. Dark red smoke billowed from it, scorching the air with a sizzle. To Nan Songzi, it was like the guttural growl of a starving beast, filled with killing intent and insatiable hunger.
This was the “Five Aggregates Yin Demon” he had cultivated through demonic arts. It was directly nourished by his divine soul and was thus also called his life-bound Yin Demon.
Under the temptation of “Fleeting Dream,” this wretched creature’s desire to devour its master had been completely aroused. However, the moment it got too close, a wisp of pure violet smoke rose from Nan Songzi’s Yin Spirit, swirling and pushing it away.
Nan Songzi ignored it. With the True Void Violet Mist Jade he had obtained from that foolish woman Tao Rong, he could hold on for a while longer. The real problem was his target—the boy on Southern Frost Lake who had blasted him with a Five Thunder Talisman. That brat had actually stopped moving!
Even at his peak, Nan Songzi’s divine soul perception couldn’t extend beyond four miles. However, thanks to the illusion array he had set up in advance, he could still monitor the situation to some extent. His original plan had been to use the “Ten-Mile Phantom Kill” technique to silently influence Yu Ci’s mind and lure him into a trap. Meanwhile, within Yu Ci’s cultivation valley, he had already made preparations. Once the illusion and killing array were triggered, he was confident he could obliterate the boy’s divine soul in an instant and successfully seize his body.
But now… he had been discovered!
There was no time to consider why his plan had failed. The frustration in his heart flared up like a wildfire, instantly consuming what little patience he had left. He let out a sharp command: “Kill him!”
The life-bound Yin Demon transformed into an arrow of smoke, piercing through the air. Nan Songzi’s Yin Spirit flickered and vanished, closely following behind.
Even in a direct assault, he could still catch that brat off guard!
*****
Yu Ci was indeed caught off guard.
In an instant, mist surged in from all directions, and within it, sinister shadows flickered—it was clearly a well-prepared illusion array. The array itself wasn’t lethal, but a tremendous force was already hurtling toward him from four miles away, swift as a flying specter.
When was the last time he had been ambushed like this?
The thought flashed through Yu Ci’s mind. He had always been cautious, highly perceptive, and exceptionally keen-sensed. He could often foresee danger before it struck. Ever since obtaining the secret of the Divine Map, he could perceive everything within a fifty-mile radius. In a way, any attempt to launch a sneak attack on him had become nothing more than a fool’s dream.
Yet at this moment—perhaps due to his prolonged cultivation at Heart Prohibition Temple, which had dulled his vigilance, or perhaps because the enemy was simply too powerful and too fast—despite being four miles away, the opponent had left him with almost no time to react.
In this fleeting instant, Yu Ci managed only two actions.
He clenched the Heart-Binding Horn and channeled Lightning Palm!
As the mist closed in and the sinister shadows spread, a thunderous boom split the air. A blinding deep-blue lightning arc crackled fiercely, erupting with explosive force.
This was the first time Yu Ci had used talismanic arts in battle since achieving the “Know the Apertures, Connect the Apertures” stage. Given the urgency of the situation, he couldn’t use his strongest Five Thunder Talisman and had to settle for the next best thing—Lightning Palm.
“Qi Infusion Technique” and similar techniques worked entirely on instinct. Yu Ci felt his strike hit its mark—the clash of thunder and fire against the sinister force produced a natural suppression effect. However, in the next moment, he saw a crimson shadow swirling within the mist. A fluid-like glow seemed to absorb the lightning, neutralizing its power.
Then came a piercing screech, followed by a surge of scorching red smoke rushing toward him. The scent was thick, cloying, and strangely intoxicating, making his mind waver.
“Is this… the Peach Blossom Canopy?”
Hadn’t that sinister artifact already been destroyed? Yu Ci had seen its shattered remnants with his own eyes!
What he didn’t know was that this was not the Peach Blossom Canopy at all. This was Nan Songzi’s true trump card—the Five Yin Bewildering Barrier!
The “Five Yin Bewildering Barrier” was crafted from a piece of delicate silk cut from the Peach Blossom Canopy. It had absorbed the essence of the sinister artifact and perfectly complemented Nan Songzi’s cultivation of the Five Aggregates Yin Demon Scripture. Normally, his life-bound Yin Demon resided within it, constantly refined with heart demon’s innate Qi. Having undergone over fifty cycles of the “Heavenly Celestials and Earthly Fiends” refinement method, it was an extraordinary treasure.
This was Nan Songzi’s true vessel for anchoring his soul.
Five days ago, the spectacle of turning to ashes alongside the demon was orchestrated by Nan Songzi. He manipulated the wandering demon nearby, using illusions to lead it by the nose, ultimately setting up a deception that fooled everyone. Xie Liang and the others fell for it, believing that he and the demon had been obliterated by thunder and fire. In reality, Nan Songzi had merely lost a useless Peach Blossom Canopy and a Five Aggregates Yin Demon that was not connected to his soul.
Nan Songzi had set his sights on Yu Ci.
He had been watching Yu Ci for a long time. This was not a random choice; to him, finding a suitable physical body was more important than anything else. If the target was too powerful, the chances of a successful soul takeover were too low, given his current weakened Yin Spirit state. If the target was too weak, their body wouldn’t be able to withstand the impact of possession. After careful selection, among the outer disciples of Heart Prohibition Temple within a thousand-mile radius, only a few were qualified, and among them, Yu Ci—who often ventured out to train—was the best choice.
He had attempted before but found it extremely difficult to evade the soul-searching techniques of Hai Yang within the temple. Furthermore, that boy was unusually well-protected. Many times, the old daoist overseer had been watching over him from behind, preventing Nan Songzi from making a move.
Under normal circumstances, he could have simply chosen a different target. However, repeated failures had caused his frustration to override his rationality. Driven by obsession, he was determined to claim Yu Ci—this junior who had once struck him with Five Thunder Destruction—ensuring not only his soul’s annihilation but also taking his very body for himself!
“Break for me!”
Nan Songzi was highly confident in his soul-attacking techniques. However, the outcome left him stunned. The boy staggered, but it wasn’t due to an impact on his soul—it was merely the disruption caused by Nan Songzi’s Life-bound Yin Demon. When Nan Songzi focused his will like a blade and slashed forward, an invisible barrier suddenly emerged around the boy’s soul, blocking the attack.
Yu Ci stumbled back under the corrosive assault of the Life-bound Yin Demon’s crimson mist, too occupied to even register the impact on his soul. That was something the Heart-Binding Horn naturally defended against.
At this moment, he was nearly powerless to retaliate.
The Life-bound Yin Demon was intangible and formless, and the Five Yin Bewildering Barrier it controlled was like smoke and mist, impossible to grasp. Although Yu Ci possessed the sword intent of Half-Mountain Mirage, he had yet to fully refine it to perfection. His sword Qi mostly struck empty air—at least sixty to seventy percent of the time. The rest was dissipated by the formidable Five Yin Bewildering Barrier.
Just then, an unrelated figure flashed through his mind.
It was Kuang Yanqi, speaking eloquently in the Prominent Virtue Hall.
Back then, the rising talent of the Sun Light Sect had posed a question to Xie Liang: How could practitioners of talisman arts overcome their inherent limitations so they could still be effective in close combat?
At the time, Xie Liang had demonstrated the Five Thunder Talismans he had refined using the Qi Infusion Method and had also explained the highly practical talisman disc. However, Yu Ci had neither of those things at the moment!
A blood-red shadow lunged at him, forcing Yu Ci to manifest the sword intent of Half-Mountain Mirage. His figure dissolved into mist, narrowly evading the strike. In this dire situation, he was forced to abandon talisman techniques altogether. But aside from talismans, what other means did he have to fight against the Yin Spirit of a Core Refinement upper-stage cultivator?
Before he could reach a conclusion, the second wave of soul-targeting attacks came crashing down. Yu Ci’s heart clenched as he realized that this assault was clearly different from the last!
Nan Songzi was indeed a master of illusion techniques, possessing numerous methods for attacking the soul. He swiftly adjusted his approach. Yu Ci felt the Heart-Binding Horn tremble within him—the invisible barrier protecting his soul wavered under the forceful assault.
In terms of sheer strength, the Heart-Binding Horn could still hold, but Nan Songzi’s methods were far more elusive and sinister than those of Tu Duyuan. He had pushed the Myriad Cosmos Sectt’s “Forming from Circumstance” technique to its limits, while his Life-bound Yin Demon simultaneously stirred up inner demons and innate Qi, creating an ever-shifting assault of a hundred variations within a single instant. The attacks constantly probed for weak spots, relentlessly striking at vulnerabilities.
Yu Ci was beginning to feel dizzy. Fortunately, he recovered in time and let out a loud shout, invoking the “Tranquil Void” technique from the Primordial Origin Qi Technique. In that instant, he felt as if he had plunged into the “Void Within the Mind,” seeing a vast, dim space where dark currents surged. The “Tranquil Void” technique worked precisely for this kind of situation.
According to the principles of the Primordial Origin Qi Technique, the soul was merely a part of “material manifestation.” Instead of fixating on individual aspects, Yu Ci focused on the whole, targeting the “Void Within the Mind” that reflected these material manifestations. By taking an unconventional approach, he swiftly stabilized his soul from its chaotic state.
When his mind emerged from the “Void Within the Mind,” his external situation had not improved in the slightest. He still faced the same problem:
What means did he have to combat a Yin Spirit? And which of them could he actually use at this moment?
Just then, Nan Songzi let out a sharp, piercing scream, filled with intense excitement.
After a series of relentless attacks, his emotions surged, and an overwhelming sense of triumph swept over him. His Yin Spirit trembled with anticipation—he had seen through Yu Ci’s defenses! He now understood that the boy’s ability to withstand soul attacks relied solely on external objects!
With a near-maniacal shriek, Nan Songzi escalated the intensity of his soul attacks to yet another level.
Yu Ci let out a muffled groan. His form, once shrouded in sword Qi and mist, flickered between solidity and illusion before finally losing control. Staggering backward, he faltered.
“Hand over your body!”
Nan Songzi cackled sharply as his Yin Spirit transformed into a wisp of smoke and shot forward. Meanwhile, his Life-bound Yin Demon, influenced by his aura, also dissolved into a crimson mist, entwining around his Yin Spirit mid-flight. The two forces merged as they rushed toward Yu Ci’s Niwan Palace, intent on possessing him and devouring his soul.
At that moment, a crisp “ding” sound rang out, resonating within a ten-zhang radius.
The sound came from a pair of metallic hooks at the ends of a gray-blue rope, colliding in midair.
Nan Songzi’s Yin Spirit quivered violently.
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