Death

*Whoosh!* The Sky-Trapping Pouch swooped down overhead. A violent gale swept through, grinding the shattered stone pillars and rubble on the ground to powder. The baleful corpse had just broken free of the talismans and the vine magic tool, and before it could cast an evasion technique to flee, it plunged into the wind array. The Eight Trigrams wind array trapped the baleful corpse securely. The tangible wind suddenly contracted inward, turning into an icy-blue tornado that rose from the ground, swirling and crushing the baleful corpse. The wind array kicked up thick dust and smoke like a seamless, grayish-blue curtain, concealing any sign of the creature inside. The howling of the wind reverberated deafeningly through the great hall, mingled with the baleful corpse's incessant, bizarre roars. It appeared the creature had indeed been locked down by the Sky-Trapping Pouch. Seeing the Sky-Trapping Pouch prove effective, the expressions of the three eased slightly. Baiyun Shanren looked delighted and said, "I will suppress this beast. Fellow Daoists, focus all your attacks on the center of the wind array..." Before his words had even faded, a muffled crash suddenly rang out from within the wind array. The array shuddered violently as though struck by tremendous force, instantly splitting into several cracks as wisps of icy-blue wind dispersed. Hovering overhead, the Sky-Trapping Pouch also shook violently several times, swaying unsteadily. A series of muffled thuds followed in rapid succession. Densely packed cracks instantly spread across the wind array, showing signs that it could no longer hold. Baiyun Shanren looked horrified. He hastily channeled his spiritual power with all his might into the Sky-Trapping Pouch, yet he could only barely keep the wind array from collapsing. Gritting his teeth, he urged them, "This fiend's ferocity is too overwhelming! The Sky-Trapping Pouch cannot hold it for long! Fellow Daoists, strike with everything you have!" Seeing this, Qin Sang and Wu Yuesheng dared not hesitate, immediately unleashing their magic tools toward the center of the wind array. With the baleful corpse trapped in the wind array with nowhere to run, they had no need to divide their attention and only needed to attack with full force. The Five Elements Dharma-Breaking Sword and Wu Yuesheng's spirit sword unleashed their full might. Streaks of sword qi shot through the air one after another, dazzling and multicolored, like endless rainbows piercing deep into the wind array. Unexpectedly, their sword qi not only failed to quell the baleful corpse's arrogance, but drove it into an even greater frenzy. The muffled impacts fell like a torrential downpour, and the wind array fluctuated more and more violently. To maintain the Sky-Trapping Pouch, Baiyun Shanren was forced to overdraw the spiritual power in his body, his face turning increasingly pale. Baiyun Shanren was beside himself with anxiety and shouted frantically, "Fellow Daoists, hold nothing back! The Sky-Trapping Pouch consumes far too much; I can barely hold on! Even if you two do not wish to avenge Fellow Daoist Liu, think of yourselves! The earth fiend qi is about to catch up. If this beast breaks free, we will have no chance to break the restrictions on the heavy darksteel doors, and we will all be trapped to death here!" Provoked by Baiyun Shanren's words, Wu Yuesheng's expression darkened, and he snorted, "Fellow Daoist Baiyun, why utter such pointless words? Fellow Daoist Liu was brutally slaughtered by this corpse; the rage in Junior Brother Qin's and my hearts is not a whit less than yours! Moreover, Wu's life spirit sword was damaged by this evil corpse—how could I tolerate its existence? Calm yourself, Fellow Daoist Baiyun. I will activate the Thousand Mechanism Sword Array right now, and it will surely slay this evil corpse!" With that, Wu Yuesheng made a summoning gesture, causing the fiercely attacking spirit sword to pause. He then immersed his mind into the spirit sword, chanting incantations under his breath while his hand seals shifted rapidly. Baiyun Shanren was overjoyed at the sight. "It is wonderful that Fellow Daoist Wu can see the bigger picture!" A flicker of suspicion, however, surfaced in Qin Sang's eyes. They had been attacking for so long, and he and Wu Yuesheng had intentionally or unintentionally coordinated their strikes to focus on a single spot. Even if the baleful corpse possessed the Black-Yellow Armor, it should have shattered by now. Yet the corpse showed no signs of injury or weakening; instead, it was the wind array that was coming apart ever more rapidly. Qin Sang glanced sideways at Wu Yuesheng and saw that he seemed completely oblivious, following Baiyun Shanren's bidding and devoting his full focus to controlling his spirit sword to prepare a formidable sword array. Baiyun Shanren, meanwhile, wore a look of strained endurance. Seeing this, Qin Sang frowned inwardly. After a moment's contemplation, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes. Under Baiyun Shanren's watchful gaze, Qin Sang nodded to him and, putting on a show, hurled all the attack talismans in his hand. Tossing dozens of talismans at once was no small feat; they turned into an overwhelming barrage of diverse attacks, surging into the wind array. Yet under the cover of these talismans, he quietly withdrew a portion of his spiritual sense in secret, drastically reducing the power of the Five Elements Dharma-Breaking Sword. To the side, Wu Yuesheng's hand seals grew faster and faster, a dazzling blur. Suspended in midair, the spirit sword suddenly let out a clear, resounding hum in response to Wu Yuesheng's gestures. Sword qi surged dramatically; the crimson sword qi blazed like fire, causing the temperature within the gloomy, chilled hall to abruptly rise several degrees. Immediately after, that streak of sword qi shook slightly and split into two. The divided sword qi then split again, and in the blink of an eye, midair was filled with dozens of identically sized streaks of sword qi. "Form array!" At Wu Yuesheng's command, dozens of streaks of sword qi moved in unison, forming a disc-shaped sword array that rotated ceaselessly around the wind array. Every streak of sword qi pointed directly at the core of the wind array, radiating an incomparably sharp, imposing aura. Wu Yuesheng glared with wide eyes and roared furiously, "Kill!" Qin Sang looked up. The Thousand Mechanism Sword Array spun rapidly like a millstone. He had not seen a jade slip for this sword array at Pagoda Peak, so Wu Yuesheng had likely acquired it elsewhere. The array looked quite formidable, though he wondered what its true power was like. Unexpectedly, right as the Thousand Mechanism Sword Array was about to erupt, Baiyun Shanren's figure swayed violently. His aura abruptly turned exceedingly faint, as if he had collapsed from exhaustion due to overdrawing his spiritual power. His legs gave out and he tumbled to the ground, crying out in sorrow. With no one to sustain it, the Sky-Trapping Pouch also plunged downward from midair. Almost at the exact same instant, Wu Yuesheng let out a bloodcurdling shriek. Qin Sang whipped his head around, only to see that the baleful corpse had escaped the Sky-Trapping Pouch at some point and appeared right where Wu Yuesheng was standing! Wu Yuesheng, having channeled all his power into driving the sword array, was caught completely off guard. The corpse struck his chest with a claw, hitting a vital spot, and hurled him violently into the stone wall of the hall. The sword array disintegrated. With a loud crash, Wu Yuesheng's body slid down the stone wall like a rag, a vast puddle of blood instantly soaking the ground in a shocking sight. Wu Yuesheng lay motionless in the pool of blood, devoid of any breath, clearly beyond saving. "Fellow Daoist Wu!" Baiyun Shanren cried out in grief, tears filling his eyes and his face covered in guilt and self-reproach. Seeing the baleful corpse move to suck Wu Yuesheng's blood, he hurriedly pulled out a handful of spirit pills and stuffed them into his mouth. He barely managed to activate the Sky-Trapping Pouch to trap the baleful corpse once again, shouting feebly, "Fellow Daoist Qin, I am at the end of my strength! I cannot trap it for long! Hurry, strike with all your might to slay this fiend and avenge our two fellow Daoists!" Qin Sang had been watching coldly all along. From Baiyun Shanren collapsing to Wu Yuesheng being hurled through the air by the baleful corpse, the expression on his face had not shifted in the slightest. Hearing Baiyun Shanren's urgings, Qin Sang cast him a glance and said flatly, "Is Fellow Daoist Baiyun truly exhausted? I do not believe it." "You..." Baiyun Shanren looked entirely dumbfounded. After staring at Qin Sang for a moment, he suddenly chuckled. His aura recovered in an instant, and his complexion regained its ruddy glow—without the slightest trace of overexertion remaining.