Amidst the raging waves of water elemental power, an extraordinarily slender poisonous needle rose and fell with the surges. The needle itself gleamed with a shimmering jade-green light, but because it was so minuscule, it remained utterly inconspicuous beneath the cover of the vast water elemental power.
The violent water-attributed spiritual power threatened to tear apart everything in its path. With the Essence-Devouring Awl exploding right before Baiyun Shanren's eyes, its terrifying might made him feel the acute threat of death, forcing him in sheer panic to recall the Sky-Trapping Pouch that was holding back the baleful corpse.
At that exact moment, the baleful corpse lashed out with a claw, striking the Sky-Trapping Pouch.
*Riiip!*
Abruptly caught in a pincer attack between the Essence-Devouring Awl and the baleful corpse, the Sky-Trapping Pouch shuddered violently. A tear ripped across its fabric, and its spiritual light dispersed—just like that, the top-grade magic tool was destroyed.
Although the Sky-Trapping Pouch absorbed most of the blast, the remaining water elemental power still packed formidable force, engulfing Baiyun Shanren before he had any chance to dodge.
Baiyun Shanren let out a muffled groan as blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. Clearly suffering severe injuries, he hastily summoned several defensive magic tools to shield himself and retreated desperately backward.
Yet he failed to notice that the moment the Sky-Trapping Pouch was compromised, that poisonous needle flashed by and vanished, easily piercing his protective spiritual power to sink deep into his abdomen.
Baiyun Shanren felt only a faint twinge in his belly. Before he could see what had struck him, a numbing sensation surged through his entire body as violent snake venom erupted within him!
This poisonous needle had been added at Qin Sang's suggestion to Shopkeeper Wu, containing ninety percent of the toxins condensed from the snake demon's two fangs.
Adding the poisonous needle to the Essence-Devouring Awl was a delicate affair where pulling a single thread affected the whole tapestry. It was not merely a matter of adding one or two extra steps; the entire forging process had to be altered.
Shopkeeper Wu had initially felt the chances of success were slim, but Qin Sang had promised that even if the forging failed and the spiritual materials were ruined, he would not demand compensation. Furthermore, after observing the Chilong Sword, Shopkeeper Wu had gained numerous new insights, and his craftsmanship had vastly improved. Only then did he dare take on the task. After several days of painstaking research and effort, he had actually succeeded, leaving both of them overjoyed.
The explosion of the Essence-Devouring Awl was already formidable on its own, and the addition of this inconspicuous poisonous needle made it utterly insidious. As expected, Baiyun Shanren had fallen for the trap.
Seeing the poisonous needle hit its mark, Qin Sang looked delighted and secretly stowed away his Profound Yin Thunder.
The Profound Yin Thunder had originally been prepared in case Baiyun Shanren did not take the bait, but now it was no longer needed.
That snake demon had been a great demon of the Demon Spirit stage, and its venom was no trivial matter. Even if a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator did not perish instantly upon being poisoned, it would cause tremendous trouble.
Being poisoned by the snake venom was nothing short of adding insult to injury for Baiyun Shanren. To his horror, he found that not only had his body begun to grow numb, but even the remaining spiritual power within him was turning sluggish.
All of this had transpired in the span of a lightning flash.
At the same time Baiyun Shanren fell victim to Qin Sang's underhanded trick, the nearby baleful corpse chose not to pursue him. Sensing the destructive power of the Essence-Devouring Awl's explosion, it shrank from advancing in that direction and instead turned to charge toward Qin Sang.
Just then, with several swooshes, six Ten Directions Yanluo Banners flew from Qin Sang's palm and expanded into pitch-black banners that plunged straight into the ground. The Ten Directions Yanluo Array unfurled. As the banner fabrics fluttered, roiling black mist billowed forth, and threads of Yin soul silk drifted out, thoroughly encircling both Baiyun Shanren and the baleful corpse.
Back when he was luring Baiyun Shanren, Qin Sang had been pondering an escape plan without pause. Killing Baiyun Shanren did not mean the end—he would still have to face the baleful corpse alone. Only by eliminating the baleful corpse and unraveling the restrictions on the heavy darksteel doors could he truly escape danger.
Therefore, while misdirecting Baiyun Shanren, Qin Sang had been keeping part of his focus on preparing the Ten Directions Yanluo Array, harboring the intent to wipe out both Baiyun Shanren and the baleful corpse in one fell swoop.
Strike while the enemy is down.
Taking advantage of Baiyun Shanren being unable to defend himself, Qin Sang unhesitatingly drove the Ten Directions Yanluo Array with full force. Amidst the pitch-black Yin qi where one could not see one's own fingers, countless threads of Yin soul silk surged in to strangle, seizing the opportunity to flood frenziedly into Baiyun Shanren's body.
Yin soul silk directly seared the divine soul, inflicting agony far beyond what ordinary people could endure.
"Ahhh!"
A heart-wrenching shriek echoed through the grand hall. Baiyun Shanren's origin soul was damaged, and his entire body was covered in wounds. With disheveled hair and a face contorted in agony, he shrieked madly, his voice raspy and barely human, utterly wretched.
Qin Sang watched coldly, his eyes showing not the slightest ripple of emotion. But right then, a look of surprise crossed his face, and he glanced sideways at the baleful corpse.
These threads of Yin soul silk could harm a cultivator's divine soul and should have had no effect on the baleful corpse.
Unexpectedly, when the baleful corpse came into contact with the Yin soul silk, it let out furious roar after roar as if enduring immense pain, charging violently toward the outside of the Ten Directions Yanluo Array, taking Qin Sang completely by surprise.
Qin Sang frowned slightly. Guiding with a finger, the Five Elements Dharma-Breaking Sword sped into the array and pierced straight through Baiyun Shanren's chest, executing him on the spot. Without sparing Baiyun Shanren's corpse a single glance, Qin Sang shifted the formation of the Ten Directions Yanluo Array. The black mist coalesced into a ghost beast, violently clashing against the baleful corpse.
Trapped within the array, the omnipresent Yin soul silk left the baleful corpse with nowhere to hide. Its elusive evasion techniques rendered useless, it had no choice but to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the ghost beast.
After sustaining attacks from Qin Sang and the others for so long, the Black-Yellow Armor on the baleful corpse was heavily fractured, yet it remained exceptionally ferocious, quickly overpowering the ghost beast.
The ghost beast fell into a disadvantage. Unable to wound the baleful corpse, it would not be able to hold it back for long.
Standing outside the array, Qin Sang directed the Five Elements Dharma-Breaking Sword in several rapid strikes, but achieved little success as well. Strangely enough, from beginning to end, he never once employed the ebony sword.
At this point, Qin Sang glanced back at the stone passageway behind him. The passageway was deep and murky, faintly carrying rumbling booms—a sign that the earth fiend qi was far from spent.
Meanwhile, they had first been entangled by the baleful corpse, followed by Baiyun Shanren harboring sinister designs and ambushing Wu Yuesheng, squandering no small amount of time. It was likely that the earth fiend qi would soon catch up.
Worry and anxiety surfaced on Qin Sang's face. He turned back around and stared at the baleful corpse in silence, lost in thought. After some deliberation, he suddenly retrieved that piece of lightning-struck spirit wood from his mustard seed bag and sat cross-legged on the ground.
The lightning-struck spirit wood contained the power of heavenly thunder, making it the natural bane of evil entities. Paired with the Gui Water Yin Thunder Incantation, its might would multiply several fold.
Holding the lightning-struck spirit wood and aiming it at the baleful corpse, Qin Sang chanted under his breath, appearing to concentrate fully on preparing the incantation.
Soon, the incantation was completed. The thunder power within the lightning-struck spirit wood was drawn out, and a ball of overwhelmingly masculine thunderous power gradually took shape before Qin Sang. Thunder rumbled, echoing in tandem with the baleful corpse's roars.
In the grand hall, white bones, an ancient corpse before the iron doors, evil ghosts, the baleful corpse, demonic banners, a ghostly array, and three fresh corpses formed a scene akin to a demonic realm. The blood murmuring beneath Wu Yuesheng seemed to shimmer with a bizarre sheen.
*Crack!*
With a clap of thunder, an arm-thick bolt of lightning struck the baleful corpse brutally, its dazzling flash instantly illuminating the dark hall as bright as day.
At the exact moment the lightning flashed, within the pool of blood beneath Wu Yuesheng's corpse, a petite spirit sword quietly surfaced—it was none other than Wu Yuesheng's life spirit sword!
The spirit sword silently aimed at Qin Sang's completely undefended back, transitioning from absolute stillness into motion, vanishing in a flash.
A world-shaking sword qi erupted!
Chapter 169