Chapter 263: Life and Death Seal (For the Silver Alliance Leader)
Chapter 263: Life and Death Seal (For the Silver Alliance Leader)
Roar! Roar!
The last fire dragon was wreathed in blazing flames, its draconic eyes filled with venomous malice, seemingly carrying You Kun's Divine Consciousness as it charged straight for Fang Xi, who stood beneath the Demonic Tree of Primordial Beginning!
“As expected of a Core Formation ancestor, to still possess such might after being restrained and weakened by two third-tier formations. . . ! ”
Fang Xi looked up, a faint smile gracing his lips, and cast forth a talisman.
—The Immortal Execution Talisman!
Another streak of sword qi flashed and vanished, striking down the last fire dragon!
“A third-tier talisman? ! ”
You Kun’s expression turned utterly grim.
He even had a premonition of great disaster.
How many years had it been since he, as Grand Elder and inheritor of the Nine Dragons Pearl, had felt such a premonition of death?
At this moment, You Kun also realized he was somewhat out of his depth.
Though he possessed Core Formation-level magical power, thirty percent was tied up by the spirit-sealing stakes outside, another thirty percent contended with the Heavenly Wolf Howling at the Moon Formation, and the remaining portion of his magical power, used within this formation to battle a Foundation Establishment Perfected cultivator wielding a third-tier magical artifact and a third-tier talisman, was actually subtly being pushed into a disadvantage!
“This cannot continue! ”
You Kun’s expression turned ruthless, and he sharply formed a hand seal.
The three-headed flood dragon, currently locked in battle with the Heavenly Wolf phantom, let out a mournful cry. From its reverse scale, a vivid red light emerged, growing increasingly dazzling.
“This is bad! ”
Upon seeing this, Fang Xi’s pupils constricted slightly. His body flashed, and he took cover behind the Demonic Tree of Primordial Beginning.
Boom!
The next moment, the three-headed flood dragon, still entwined with the Heavenly Wolf, abruptly began to self-detonate!
Terrifying flames, mingled with crimson light, swept across this patch of void!
Scorching waves of fire, one after another, perished alongside the vast amounts of black mist. . .
After the blazing flames and crimson light dissipated, You Kun was panting heavily. Cracks had appeared all over his 'Three Yang True Fire Shield', and his face was utterly pale, revealing a state of extreme magical power depletion.
Where the Heavenly Wolf had once stood, only devastation remained.
The Heavenly Wolf phantom had vanished, and numerous puppet remnants lay scattered on the ground, bearing scorched marks.
Song Qing and several other human puppets had been reduced to ash, while Elder Ling had lost half his body. . .
After all, cultivators' bodies were generally weaker than those of demon beasts; in such a self-detonation, they were utterly futile, and their injuries were generally heavier than those of demon beast puppets.
Scattered across the ground were the array flags and array disks of the Heavenly Wolf Battle Array, clearly damaged beyond repair and unusable. . .
Not far from the Heavenly Wolf Battle Array, countless vines and aerial roots had collectively formed a massive and broken shield.
Rustle! Rustle!
One by one, the burned aerial roots and vines curled back, revealing the unharmed true body of the Demonic Tree of Primordial Beginning.
“To think you’d self-detonate your fire dragon. . . That fire dragon must have been an extension of your divided consciousness, attached to it, right. . . ? ”
Fang Xi stood beneath the tree, his clothes without a single crease. “After this, your vitality is severely depleted. And though I’ve lost the Heavenly Wolf Battle Array, I still have the Nine-Nethers Profound Wood Grand Array. How will you contend with me now? ”
“Huff. . . huff. . . ”
You Kun gasped for breath. “This old man admits, I was careless. . . I never expected that among these three kingdoms, besides the Black Heaven Sect and the Green Wood Sect, there would be a cultivator capable of threatening Core Formation! ”
His eyes bloodshot, he stared at Fang Xi. “The more this is the case, the less I can spare you today. . . Even if this old man has to suffer severe depletion of my vitality, or even shorten my lifespan, I will eliminate this hidden danger for the Ethereal Valley Sect! ”
This person had long since betrayed his heart demon oath; his cultivation realm could no longer advance, and even his daily cultivation posed a risk of proliferating heart demons and qi deviation.
Thus, at this point, he no longer hesitated, determined to eliminate Fang Xi, this hidden danger, for the You family of the Ethereal Valley Sect.
Cackle! Cackle!
As You Kun chanted a spell, a mass of black mist emerged around him, faintly accompanied by eerie cries.
Within the black mist, several ghostly figures with twin horns and greenish-black skin seemed to materialize.
You Kun abruptly bit through his tongue tip, spraying mouthfuls of essence blood into the black mist as if it were worthless, which were then devoured by the imps.
Following that, amid a hazy chant, the imps actively burrowed into his body, causing his complexion to eerily improve.
Roar! Roar!
Fire spiritual energy converged, transforming into a single-horned, four-clawed fire dragon!
One, two, three. . .
A full nine fire dragons coiled around You Kun’s body, as if not only suppressing his injuries but also restoring his magical power to its peak in a single breath.
“To force me to employ this secret art, sacrificing my lifespan to longevity ghosts in exchange for magical power recovery. . . you can die without regrets. For over a hundred years, I, You Kun, have never let the You family down. Today, I shall clear away the last obstacle for the You family in these three kingdoms. . . ”
You Kun looked at Fang Xi, his expression chilling to the extreme.
Although his magical power had recovered, wrinkles were faintly visible on his face, and his hair was steadily turning white. . .
Green and yellow flickered continuously in Fang Xi’s eyes, and his expression grew somewhat strange. “You really seem to be a Foundation Establishment cultivator, actually. . . Did you achieve Core Formation combat power by utilizing the Ethereal Valley Sect’s inherited treasure—the Nine Dragons Pearl? ”
“So what? Die! ”
You Kun wielded the ‘Nine Dragons Pearl’. The orb absorbed fire dragon after fire dragon, erupting with a terrifying spiritual light. Clearly, the next strike would be earth-shattering, possessing boundless might.
It was not impossible that a single strike could pierce through the Nine-Nethers Profound Wood Grand Array.
Fang Xi’s expression, however, shifted repeatedly. Finally, he made up his mind, striking incantations one after another onto the trunk of the Demonic Tree of Primordial Beginning.
Rip!
The trunk of the Demonic Tree of Primordial Beginning split open, revealing a jet-black wooden seal magical artifact within.
His hands continuously formed seals like a spinning wheel, green and yellow colors flickering in succession across his body as he violently injected a massive amount of magical power into the ‘Black Wood Seal’.
Upon the Black Wood Seal, a profound and mysterious light emerged, transmitted through the trunk of the Demonic Tree of Primordial Beginning, flashing from its canopy.
A streak of mystic light, initially alternating between green and yellow, then transforming into an invisible and colorless essence, shot forth from the Demonic Tree of Primordial Beginning, bypassed the Three Yang Divine Fire Shield, and struck You Kun within!
In an instant, You Kun felt his lifespan rapidly slipping away, his eyes widening. “You. . . ”
He pointed at Fang Xi, but before the Nine Dragons Pearl could even descend, he watched strands of white hair fall from his own head. His entire being withered at an unbelievable speed, finally transforming into a shriveled, white-haired corpse. . .
Ethereal Valley Sect Grand Elder, You Kun—dead!
Cause of death—lifespan exhausted!
After his death, the formerly resplendent Nine Dragons Pearl lost its magical power support, let out a mournful cry, and fell to the ground, bound by iron chains formed from black mist.
“If you were Foundation Establishment, you should have said so earlier. . . you made me fight so fiercely for so long. . . ”
Fang Xi gazed at You Kun’s corpse and sighed.
The divine ability he had used at the very end was, naturally, the secret art recorded within the ‘Withered Glory Chant’—the Withered Glory Mystic Light!
This mystic light could ignore all defenses and directly prune away a person’s lifespan!
Of course, while the Withered Glory Mystic Light was incomparably profound, it had many restrictions.
The biggest restriction was that it generally required a Core Formation ancestor who cultivated the ‘Withered Glory Chant’ to successfully master it!
Fang Xi himself possessed the ‘Wood Spirit Body’ and had solidified his magical power through the ‘Withered Glory Chant’ in his dantian, allowing him to barely function as half a Core Formation cultivator.
More crucially, he had already refined the accompanying magical artifact—the ‘Black Wood Seal’—and unleashed it through the Demonic Tree of Primordial Beginning, finally securing victory in one fell swoop and successfully killing his opponent!
‘If it were any other Withered Glory Chant cultivator, they would likely only be able to barely succeed in cultivating this mystic light after reaching Core Formation. ’
‘After all, the ‘Wood Spirit Body’ normally requires a thousand years to achieve; even Nascent Soul old monsters can’t afford to wait. . . Only I am an exception! ’
‘Furthermore, this ‘Withered Glory Mystic Light’ also has many limitations. This time, to kill the opponent, I sacrificed at least several decades of my lifespan, yet only a few years of his. . . and this was only because, in essence, he was a Foundation Establishment cultivator whose lifespan was already nearing its end! ’
The Withered Glory Mystic Light had many restrictions. Firstly, even if one cultivated the technique to grand completion, at most one could exchange lifespan one for one with a cultivator of the same realm.
Fang Xi, currently, could only be considered to have reached the introductory level of minor completion. Naturally, he had to expend several decades of his own lifespan to consume just a few years of You Kun’s.
Fortunately, this person was already very old, and had even cast a lifespan-shortening secret art, so he had only a few years of life left anyway. . .
Moreover, if this person had already genuinely achieved Core Formation, Fang Xi wouldn't have dared to use the Withered Glory Mystic Light!
Because if the Withered Glory Mystic Light was used across major realms, the backlash would intensify thousands of times.
If You Kun had truly entered the Core Formation stage, perhaps pruning away a few years of his lifespan would have required Fang Xi, still in Foundation Establishment, to expend hundreds or even thousands of years of his own lifespan!
Unless he was forced into a desperate situation, even Fang Xi wouldn't want to lose so much lifespan in one go.
“Well, no matter what. . . I ultimately won. ”
Fang Xi walked up to You Kun’s corpse and said faintly, “I’ll remember you. . . my first Core Formation kill. . . no, wait, I was still Foundation Establishment killing Foundation Establishment after all. . . ”
He was immediately speechless. Casually, he tossed down a Demonic Tree seed.
This person’s memories were, surprisingly, more valuable than You Chong’s.
Moreover, as the Grand Elder of the Ethereal Valley Sect, his personal storage would undoubtedly be extremely rich!
After soul-searching, Fang Xi learned a great deal of top-secret information.
“So, Ancestor Yan is currently attacking the Green Wood Sect and won’t be able to get away anytime soon. . . And the Ethereal Valley Sect has no strong ties with the Hunyuan Sect. . . ”
“Not only that, traveling from the Three Kingdoms cultivation world to the Yuan Kingdom requires passing through many perilous areas; going back and forth is quite troublesome. . . ”
“Given this, it seems I’ve bought Dragon Fish Island quite a bit of time and peace after this battle. . . ”
“Perhaps. . . I should seize this opportune moment to form my Core. . . ”
Fang Xi let out a long breath, first looking at the ‘Black Wood Seal’ in his hand.
Since this magical artifact had been used, the ‘Treasure Planting Art’ was naturally interrupted.
Fortunately, it had already been buried within the Demonic Tree of Primordial Beginning for several decades, which was comparable to planting a treasure for hundreds or even thousands of years in the outside world.
According to Fang Xi’s estimation, it should already surpass the life-bound magical artifacts of many other Core Formation ancestors by quite a bit. . .
“‘Black Wood Seal’ sounds a bit unappealing. . . Should I call it ‘Green Wood Seal’? Or ‘Withered Glory Seal’? ”
“One seal unleashed, immediately separates life and death. . . Forget it, I’ll call you the ‘Life and Death Seal’! ”
Fang Xi opened his mouth and inhaled, drawing the ‘Life and Death Seal’ into his dantian’s sea of qi, as if it were his life-bound magical artifact.
In fact, this treasure was deeply connected to his mind and spirit, and had been nurtured and refined by the clone-like Demonic Tree of Primordial Beginning for many years. It was already his life-bound magical artifact; in terms of intimacy, it even surpassed the ‘Green Reaping Sword’!
After dealing with the magical artifact, Fang Xi waved his hand, and two items appeared before him.
One was a crimson spiritual pearl, with runes flickering on its surface and nine dragons swimming within.
The other, meanwhile, was You Kun’s storage bag!
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