Contention

Yet he keenly noticed something amiss—he was not entirely without a chance. The enemy had not originally come for him; their targets were the mysterious figures wielding lightning techniques. It was only midway that one of the black-robed men recognized his identity and abruptly changed targets, intending to eliminate him first. As a result, their formation was not yet steady, and the others had no time to reinforce him. In fact, just as Qin Sang guessed, they had merely stumbled across their junior brother’s killer by chance and decided to dispose of him on the way. In their eyes, Qin Sang had expended an immense amount of strength operating the Heavenly Cold Fierce Wind Array to hunt the demon beast, and had subsequently been struck by lightning. He was already grievously wounded and at the end of his rope; Fourth Senior Brother eliminating him would be as easy as flipping over a palm. Compared to Qin Sang, the Landou Sect outcasts, who were in a weakened state after just executing the lightning technique, were far more important, as they were the key objective of this mission. If pursuing a single man caused those Landou Sect outcasts to slip away and cost them this golden opportunity, they would regret it endlessly. Thus, the rest still charged directly toward the Landou Sect outcasts, merely waving their Beast King Banners to lend aid to Fourth Senior Brother. Having purged the astral fiend power, the Heavenly Eye Butterfly returned to normal. Under Qin Sang's command, it opened its heavenly eye. The black-robed man waved his bizarre banners. Beast souls roared, leaping out from the banner surfaces and surging forward in a fierce charge. Ahead lay a glittering golden expanse, like a wall of gold bearing down with immense momentum, echoing with the heart-shaking roars of furious beast souls. Qin Sang looked grave, yet mockery was concealed deep within his eyes. The momentum of this strange banner array seemed terrifying, but beneath the heavenly eye, nothing could stay hidden. The enemy's formation was incomplete, and the banner array was riddled with flaws from the start. Qin Sang easily pinpointed the breakthrough point. Without slowing down, his speed increased as he met the beast souls head-on. Seeing Qin Sang throw himself straight into the beast souls' mouths, a smile appeared on Fourth Senior Brother's face—only to instantly stiffen. The moment he was about to be swallowed by the golden light, Qin Sang, having anticipated it all along, came to an abrupt halt. He then shifted laterally several yards, effortlessly evading the pouncing beast souls and darting straight between two of them. Though trapped inside the Beast King Banner array, Qin Sang showed not the slightest trace of panic on his face. The beast souls lunged once more. Hidden within the golden light were strands of golden thread connected to the beast souls. These threads were razor-sharp; being snared by them would leave one trapped at best, or lose limbs at worst. Yet with the aid of the Heavenly Eye Butterfly, Qin Sang not only grasped every move of the beast souls like the back of his hand, but could also clearly distinguish where the threads were hidden. Were it a complete grand array, it would indeed be exceedingly troublesome. As it was now, it had no hope of entrapping Qin Sang. With flood dragon silhouettes coiling around him, he maneuvered up and down within the golden radiance, escaping several yards away in the blink of an eye. Not only did the pursuing beast souls snap at empty air, but the strangling golden threads also missed repeatedly, easily dodged. Qin Sang remained completely unscathed. The black-robed man finally realized something was amiss. His opponent seemed exceptionally well-versed in the way of formations, effortlessly picking out the flaws. In shock and fury, the black-robed man waved his Beast King Banner frantically, yet it was of no use. He could only watch helplessly as Qin Sang closed in on him. What enraged him even more was that Qin Sang took the initiative to unleash a spirit sword to attack him. The ebony sword cleaved through the golden radiance with startling speed. The black-robed man was furious, yet he still did not believe Qin Sang could escape his grasp. He sent a voice transmission to his fellow disciples, activating another, even more formidable variation of the array. The golden light grew even more dazzling. One beast soul after another detonated itself, transforming into golden energy that merged into the threads. The next instant, an even denser web of threads manifested, forming massive nets. The black-robed man pointed toward the ebony sword, and the golden nets swept forward in succession. Bang! Bang! The ebony sword flashed repeatedly, shaking off the golden nets. Finally, a golden net enfolded the ebony sword. Unexpectedly, the ebony sword shattered inch by inch. The black-robed man focused his gaze and saw that it was merely a streak of sword light. "Sword light differentiation!" The black-robed man was taken aback. Furious, he continued his search and once again captured the true form of the ebony sword. Although the golden nets had missed repeatedly, this was inside the Beast King Banner array. The golden nets were countless, and no matter how nimble the ebony sword was, it was eventually ensnared. Just as the ebony sword was about to break through the array, a golden net wrapped around it, and even more nets pounced forward. "Once I take your life magic treasure, let's see how much longer you can struggle!" The black-robed man sneered maliciously and channeled the array to forcefully suppress the ebony sword. Right at that moment, an eerie, uncanny streak of blood-red light flashed before his eyes. Before he could react, it slammed onto one of the Beast King Banners. A single Beast King Banner was not an exceptionally high-grade treasure on its own. Upon being struck by the Foul Blood Divine Light, its spiritual radiance vanished in an instant, followed by a crisp crack as it snapped on the spot. The Beast King Banner was destroyed outright! The black-robed man stared dumbfounded, having not even realized what had just occurred. Within the grand array, the qi mechanisms of all the Beast King Banners were linked together. Any mishap with a single banner would affect the entire formation. From Qin Sang's perspective, the flaws in the array had become even larger. A vast expanse of golden nets vanished without a trace. With his path unimpeded, Qin Sang charged out of the array at top speed, rapidly closing the distance between him and the black-robed man. The black-robed man scrambled in a panic, trying to repair the array. Seeing this scene, he realized time had run out and decisively made his choice, preparing to summon his magic treasure to battle Qin Sang. Qin Sang, however, would not give him the chance. The moment his identity had been seen through, Qin Sang's mind had been working at lightning speed, pondering a way to escape. Even without employing the Foul Blood Divine Light, breaking through the array would not have been difficult. Yet once out, he would have been entangled by the black-robed man, potentially drawing the others into a siege against him. Thus, he had to eliminate this obstacle at the fastest possible speed and flee immediately. To this end, Qin Sang spared no expense. After employing the Foul Blood Divine Light, he unleashed the Star Conch without hesitation, an artifact he rarely used. A sharp whistle of parting air sounded in his ears. A nameless dread welled up within the black-robed man's heart. To his terror, he discovered a brilliant point of dazzling blue light appearing in his field of vision. With virtually no ability to resist, he was pierced clean through by the Star Conch. Thump! A gaping, see-through hole appeared in the black-robed man's chest, and only a moment later did blood violently erupt. His figure froze midair, eyes wide in disbelief. He had wielded the might of the grand array to execute a weakened man and avenge his junior brother. Yet before the vengeance was fulfilled, he had thrown his own life away. Splash! The black-robed man's corpse plunged into the sea. Having claimed the man's life, the Star Conch flew back and landed in Qin Sang's palm. Flitting out of the array, Qin Sang put away the Star Conch, extended a hand, and caught the black-robed man's corpse. Looking closely, he confirmed the man was indeed from the Witch Clan. After stripping the corpse of its belongings, Qin Sang was just about to seize the several Beast King Banners controlled by the man when furious roars came from the distance. The black-robed man's companions had already noticed. Qin Sang sneered. Without even glancing at them, he surged his true essence outward, wrapping it around the several Beast King Banners and hauling them back with force. Unexpectedly, a strong resisting force pushed back from the banners. "Hmm?" Qin Sang realized that those people were using the connection between the Beast King Banners to contest with him. Treasure already in hand was not something he would ever give up. After a brief thought, Qin Sang activated the Ten Directions Yanluo Banner and unleashed demonic fire, engulfing the Beast King Banners.