Chapter 726: A Big Fish Is Hooked

Chapter 726: Chapter 726: A Big Fish Is Hooked

The space around the entire White Bone Island rippled violently, like the surface of water after a stone is tossed in.

A terrifying Dao Rhyme that reversed life and death erupted, aimed directly at the Qiu Long.

The dormant Sea of Blood beneath the island suddenly began to boil. Countless pale, skeletal souls were forcibly ripped out, their wails transforming them into a pure torrent of Death Qi. It even momentarily breached the energy blockade of Xu Yunfan’s array, surging madly toward the White-haired True Daoist.

His shriveled body was like a bottomless pit, greedily devouring this power. His decaying aura began to recover at a visible rate.

Xu Yunfan couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at the sight. He felt the urge to act, but forcefully suppressed it.

’I seem to have underestimated the masters of this world.’

’Of course. How could a True Monarch who has reached the Golden Core Realm have only a few tricks up his sleeve?’

’Now isn’t the time to make a move.’

’That White-haired True Daoist is definitely waiting for me to make a move.’

"ROAR!"

The Qiu Long let out a world-shaking roar. Its massive skeletal body coiled tightly around the grotesque tree as the broken bone spurs all over its form stood on end, radiating a ghastly white light.

When the White-haired True Daoist momentarily shattered the restrictions and the Qiu Long felt the rush of abundant Spiritual Qi and Evil Qi, it finally realized its perception had been clouded.

It was both shocked and enraged, but facing the White-haired True Daoist’s attack, it had no time for further thought.

While it lacked a Golden Core True Monarch’s subtle application of Law, as a companion entity to the Dao Fruit, the essence of its power was vast and majestic.

Facing this life-and-death-reversing plunder, it instinctively activated its Origin. A terrifying, freezing qi—a power of Supreme Yin and Cold that felt as if it could freeze time and space itself—erupted from its core.

CRACK!

CRACK!

The surging waves of blood instantly solidified into a dark red glacier, and the sweeping torrent of Death Qi froze in mid-air.

Two powers of the Golden Core level collided with immense force.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, only annihilation and erosion on the plane of fundamental Law.

Where the freezing qi and gray-white runes intertwined, the very sky seemed to flake away like shattered glass. Shockwaves of turbid white qi radiated outward, revealing the even darker, more chaotic Origin of the Netherworld below.

"’Pressure on Array Core nodes three and seven has spiked. The backflow of Yin Evil Death Qi has been forcibly cut off.’"

Receiving the report through the senses of his clone, Han Shi, Xu Yunfan’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Within the Yin Nether Cloud Qi, Han Shi’s face was deathly pale, his breathing ragged.

’If this Yin Nether Cloud Qi is dispersed by the aftershocks,’ he thought, ’I guarantee the White-haired True Daoist will appear before me in the next instant, smiling with killing intent and saying, "Found you."’

The mere thought was terrifying.

The White-haired True Daoist’s secret technique—reversing life and death to plunder the power of souls from the Sea of Suffering—was directly interfering with the Profound Yin Absorption Array he was supposed to be managing.

Inside the Divine Sky Palace, Xu Yunfan didn’t hesitate for a second.

"Hold the line. Defend only, do not attack. Let them fight. You just need to drift further away."

Han Shi: "..."

’As a Great Daoist Master at the peak of Foundation Establishment Great Perfection, I’m practically invincible throughout the entire Taihua Spirit Ruins Realm—so long as a Golden Core True Monarch doesn’t show up,’ he thought. ’But all the enemies I keep running into are at the Golden Core Realm. It’s so damn frustrating.’

’The fact that the White-haired True Daoist is acting so recklessly proves he’s on his last legs, his lifespan all but exhausted.’

’The Qiu Long might look heavily injured, but as the overlord of the Sea of Suffering and a companion to a Dao Fruit, its true reserves must be profound.’

’If I enter the fray now, it doesn’t matter who I target. I’ll likely become the focus of both their attacks.’

’If that were to happen, it would prove True Monarch Pu Du right about my lack of composure.’

Xu Yunfan snorted lightly at the thought.

In the Sea of Suffering Reincarnation, upon hearing Xu Yunfan’s command, Han Shi gritted his teeth. He had no choice but to form the Hand Seals Xu Yunfan had taught him, manipulating the array with all his might to push the defensive and concealment capabilities of the Nine Nether Profound Evil Slaughter Immortal Thunder Array to their absolute limit.

Seeing Han Shi’s somewhat clumsy efforts, Xu Yunfan naturally intervened, making a few subtle adjustments to ensure the array ran smoothly.

’Now isn’t the time to take full control of my clone, Han Shi.’

’The Fury Killing Sword Intent that has been spontaneously accumulating within Han Shi’s body would likely erupt the moment I take direct control.’

’It would be a terrible waste to squander a strike of such power.’

’I have to save it for a critical moment.’

"Is this all you’ve got?"

The White-haired True Daoist stood at the center of the storm of freezing qi, his black robes whipping about. His speed of devouring the Death Qi had not slowed in the slightest.

With a flick of his fingertip, a hazy gray blade of light materialized from thin air. It carried an aura of Nirvana, an intent that could sever the cycle of Reincarnation and extinguish all vitality. It easily tore through the barrier of freezing qi and struck one of the Qiu Long’s massive ribs.

SCREEECH!

A piercing shriek of scraping metal on bone echoed as a deep gash was carved into the skeleton, whose durability was comparable to a Magical Treasure.

Though it failed to sever the bone, a decaying gray aura clung to the wound, stubbornly eroding the bone and preventing it from healing.

"Old fiend! You’re courting death!"

Roaring in pain and fury, the Qiu Long moved its enormous tail. The frozen glacier shattered under its immense force, and it whipped up a colossal wave of blood, lashing toward the White-haired True Daoist with world-destroying power.

This attack was without finesse, simply the apex of the Qiu Long’s raw physical power.

The White-haired True Daoist’s figure flickered like a phantom, narrowly avoiding the tail, but the resulting Gang Wind still made his qi and blood churn.

’This Qiu Long’s brute force is truly terrifying,’ he thought, inwardly alarmed. ’If I weren’t proficient in the Secret Technique of Life and Death Reincarnation, which allows me to constantly absorb power from the souls in the Sea of Suffering to replenish myself and mitigate damage, I would have suffered a major blow from taking that last strike head-on.’

"Brute force is just brute force in the end!"

The White-haired True Daoist steadied himself, his voice laced with scorn.

"You sit on a mountain of treasure and don’t even know it. You’ve been a companion to this Dao Fruit for ten thousand years, yet have you ever truly grasped a single shred of the profound truth of Taiyin Reincarnation, of the interdependence of life and death? You’re nothing more than a beast guarding a piece of fruit."

He was trying to enrage the Qiu Long and force it to reveal a greater weakness.

The Qiu Long’s flame-like eye sockets locked onto the White-haired True Daoist. Its skeletal body groaned as if under immense strain; clearly, its last outburst had aggravated its old wounds.

It growled, "I am a Manifestation of the Dao Fruit, born sacred! How can a traitor like you, who steals from life and death just to cling to your pathetic existence, possibly compare to me? With your decaying body and dissipating Divine Soul, you think you’re worthy of coveting the Great Dao?"

It seemed to know something of the White-haired True Daoist’s origins.

The barb struck a nerve. The White-haired True Daoist was truly running out of time; if he had to reincarnate again, he doubted he could ever return to the Golden Core Realm. A ferocious glint flashed across his face, which was already heavy with the aura of impending death.

"If not for that hypocrite Pu Du severing my path to the Dao and stealing my fated opportunity, I would never have fallen to this state! Once I seize the Divine Sky and Taiyin Dao Fruits, I will slaughter my way back to the Primordial Sect and let Pu Du have a taste of eternal damnation in the Sea of Suffering!"

Ten thousand years of venomous resentment erupted in that instant. The gray-white light around him blazed, and the aura of reversed life and death grew even more berserk, faintly suppressing the Qiu Long’s freezing qi.

Just as tensions reached a breaking point, with both sides about to erupt into an even more brutal battle...

A sudden change occurred!

The massive bodies of the White-haired True Daoist and the Qiu Long froze simultaneously.

Even the terrifying, clashing auras of the two combatants came to a momentary standstill.

"Hm?!"

In the Divine Sky Palace, Xu Yunfan, who had been observing through Han Shi’s perspective all along, suddenly sat bolt upright.

Immediately following this, a consciousness—vast and compassionate, yet imbued with a sacred majesty—surged forth like an invisible tide. It originated from the deepest reaches of the Sea of Suffering, sweeping over with unstoppable force from the direction of the Netherworld, the place that symbolized the Wanderer’s Returning Ruins.