On the deserted island, six large banners fluttered in the wind. Rolling black qi surged from their surfaces, thoroughly shrouding the entire island. At some point, dark clouds had gathered in the sky, completely blotting out the bright moon. Not a sliver of moonlight could pierce through, plunging the island's surroundings into pitch-black darkness.
A yin wind howled. Faint blue light mingled within the billowing black qi, where countless ghostly shadows flickered and ghastly wails rose in full force—a display vastly more formidable than when he had dealt with Gu Tiannan in Guyuan Country.
Fortunately, this was deep within the Yuncang Great Marsh, an uninhabited region with no other cultivators around. Otherwise, anyone seeing this scene would have assumed some demonic fiend had come here to run rampant.
To the naked eye, there appeared only thick layers of black mist, but a cultivator could discern countless black threads intertwined within, forming clusters and layers like tangled strands of hair. Faint blue yin flames flickered along the threads, exuding an eerie, ghostly aura that made one's scalp prickle.
These threads were the Yin soul silk formed from the yin soul qi of the Ten Directions Yanluo Banners. If a cultivator were trapped by the silk, the yin fire would invade their body, followed by vicious ghosts forcing their way in. Without methods to protect their divine soul, soul damage would be inevitable.
If their strength was even slightly lacking, their origin soul could even be torn to shreds by the Yin soul silk and devoured by the vicious ghosts within the banners—an exceptionally sinister fate.
This was the true might of the Ten Directions Yanluo Array. Relatively speaking, trapping opponents was merely secondary; the techniques targeting a person's divine soul were its true lethal strike.
During his Qi Refinement stage, Qin Sang had lacked the strength to unleash the grand array's full power. He had been unable to manipulate the yin fire on the Yin soul silk and could only clumsily command the vicious ghosts to engage in direct physical melee. Only now could he wield these six ghost banners as he pleased.
Suddenly, a furious beastly roar erupted from within the array, echoing like thunder and shaking the surroundings.
The ghost qi fluctuated violently, its outer edges even beginning to scatter. Immediately after, a massive wave surged toward the sky from the center of the array, crashing heavily against the dense layers of Yin soul silk.
*Crash!*
The massive wave came crashing down with a roar.
The deserted island trembled. The cloths of the six Ten Directions Yanluo Banners billowed as though battered by a hurricane, stretched taut to their limits and snapping loudly.
Where the wave struck, the Yin soul silk shattered into countless fragments, drifting down toward the ground. Yet in the very next instant, they merged together again, reforming into new Yin soul silk that linked up with the intact threads and reintegrated into the array, sweeping into its depths like billowing snowdrifts.
The aftershocks of the massive wave rushed toward Qin Sang, but their force had already diminished. The moment they hit him, light shimmered across his body, conjuring a protective light barrier that held back the surge—it was the power of the Heavenly Star Tear, which he had secretly activated.
Unexpectedly, just as the wave's remnants dispersed, several water arrows burst forth without warning from within the water.
*Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh...*
Qin Sang did not dare rely solely on the Heavenly Star Tear to take the hits directly. Moving swiftly, he dodged the water arrows one after another.
*To think this demon beast even knows how to feign one move while striking with another,* Qin Sang mused internally. He focused his gaze toward the center of the array.
He saw the white rhinoceros demon beast enveloped in a layer of water film, which surprisingly defended against both the Yin soul silk and the soul-devouring vicious ghosts.
Whenever the Yin soul silk coiled around it, the water film blocked the threads, allowing only a small fraction to penetrate and invade the beast's body. Though this caused the rhinoceros agonizing soul pain and made it fly into a frenzy, it was difficult to inflict severe injuries upon it.
Even the main souls of several ghost banners, which repeatedly attempted to barge into the rhinoceros demon beast's body, returned empty-handed each time.
If the Ten Directions Yanluo Banners had devoured enough living souls and blood food, their power elevated to the peak, unleashing the grand array would summon countless vicious ghosts at once to swallow souls and devour flesh, and the white rhinoceros demon beast's fate would surely have been far more miserable.
Though the injuries to its divine soul were not severe, the constant harassment by the Yin soul silk was unbearable. The white rhinoceros demon beast glared fixedly at Qin Sang with its massive eyes, its pupils burning with extreme fury. A blood-red tinge gradually spread over them until its entire eyes turned crimson, clearly showing that it had descended into a violent rage.
"Roar!"
*Bang!*
Furious to the extreme, the white rhinoceros demon beast let out a thunderous roar. Blue light flashed upon its horn, and a circular ripple of water immediately rippled outward. Though it seemed unassuming, the Yin soul silk wrapped around it snapped inch by inch under the shockwave.
Seizing the opportunity, the rhinoceros kicked up its forelegs and charged several zhang forward before the Yin soul silk could coil around it once again.
Seeing that the white rhinoceros demon beast had tasted success and was about to repeat the trick, Qin Sang frowned slightly. It seemed that relying on the Yin soul silk alone would not be enough to pin it down, so he decisively commanded the six main souls to merge into one, manifesting a colossal vicious ghost.
*Boom!*
The massive frame of the rhinoceros was like a small hill; before it, the vicious ghost appeared rather frail. Yet the ghost knew no fear of death. Faced with the terrifying impact, it neither dodged nor retreated, stubbornly tangling with the rhinoceros.
Seeing this, Qin Sang had a clear picture in mind. This white rhinoceros demon beast had probably only just broken through to the Demon Spirit stage not long ago. The water arrows from its horn were extremely powerful and its water-controlling abilities were superb, but its overall combat power was not overwhelmingly strong. It likely had not even found a suitable cave abode yet, which explained why it was so fixated on the spirit eye at the spirit stone mine.
Seeing that the situation had temporarily stabilized and the white rhinoceros demon beast was occupied by the vicious ghost, sword light flashed before Qin Sang's forehead. The ebony sword, nurtured within his origin soul, flew forth.
Qin Sang was well aware of his objective on this journey. Whether he could kill this white rhinoceros demon beast was unimportant; comprehending the killing Dao and cultivating his technique took top priority.
Moving according to Qin Sang's will, the ebony sword transformed into a blood-colored sword. Its sword qi surged like a rainbow, flashing and vanishing as it plunged into the array. In an instant, it appeared directly above the white rhinoceros demon beast's head, sword qi erupting violently.
Yet the beast was also alert. The moment the ebony sword appeared, it sensed the danger, violently jerking its head to ram the vicious ghost aside. Aiming its horn at the ebony sword, it fired several water arrows in rapid succession.
The ebony sword became a beam of light. Although it destroyed every one of the water arrows, the delay gave the white rhinoceros demon beast time to dodge. The sword struck empty air, failing to land a hit.
After this brief exchange, Qin Sang's expression remained utterly calm. He wondered to himself: *Why does this feel like it's doing nothing to help comprehend the killing Dao?*
After a moment's thought, Qin Sang chose to visualize the killing talisman directly in the midst of battle. Instantly, murderous intent filled his chest. His mind remained clear, but his eyes turned chillingly cold, gazing at the white rhinoceros demon beast as though looking upon a corpse.
The ebony sword let out a long, resonant cry. Its blood-colored sword qi surged exponentially as it pointed at the rhinoceros from afar with resolute killing intent.
A trace of terror flashed through the beast's eyes, but it violently shook its head to break free from the aura of killing intent. Glaring fiercely at the ebony sword, it roared toward the sky.
At the same time, the circular water ripple appeared once more on its horn. Unlike before, however, the ripple instantly condensed into a sharp blade, thrusting viciously toward the ebony sword.
In Qin Sang's eyes, only the white rhinoceros demon beast remained. He commanded the vicious ghost to block the rhinoceros and prevent it from escaping the Ten Directions Yanluo Array, then completely united his mind and spirit with the ebony sword.
At this moment, he seemed to become a sword himself—one that would slay every enemy under heaven!
Chapter 146