Corpse Retriever.

Chapter 500

The massive, broken skeleton wildly swung its arms, unleashing terrifying gales that shattered rocks and tore trees apart.

A headless woman dressed in a lady's robe with a graceful figure slowly walked out, holding a tattered oil-paper umbrella.

The sharp, piercing gale gathered and howled away, like countless blades, but it was all blocked by the headless woman's oil-paper umbrella. Not only did she not show any signs of fatigue or strain, but she also raised her hands upwards, holding the tattered umbrella even higher, and cleaved through the gale curtain.

A sparsely feathered, festering roc flew in, its claws slashing down and smashing into the chest of the massive skeleton. The bones, which should have been incredibly hard, shattered like snowflakes.

The massive skeleton fell backward, and the roc circled and swooped down, its claws, carved with eerie runes, aimed straight for its skull.

Below, the two bony hands of the giant skeleton are raised, one reaching out to grab, the other protecting.

Amidst the ear-piercing scraping sound of claws against bone, one bone arm shattered, and the second protective bone arm was instantly obliterated when the headless lady approached and the oil-paper umbrella touched it.

The roc charged straight in, its claws piercing the skull, a cracking sound rang out, and the blue crystalline object was caught by the roc, flung upwards, and swallowed whole.

The next moment, a sharp red light flashed in the Peng bird's turbid eyes, the festering sores all over its body stopped, and it turned into a dense mass of abscesses. Then it flew straight towards another evil spirit of the Chen family in front of it.

The headless lady hurried after it, but the roc ignored her. Furious, she flung her paper umbrella and went to the battle nearby.

Dressed in blue, his figure conjured up images of children as he traversed the battlefield of carnage. Just as he was about to reach the outer edge, the ground beneath his feet collapsed, and a large hand covered in red hair reached up to grab him.

The child tried to leave upwards, but endless ghostly wails assaulted him, shaking his soul and causing his body to freeze.

With its five fingers together, the large hand successfully grasped the child, then its abdomen bulged and split open, throwing the child into its own abdominal cavity.

A deep roar came from underground, and the red fur became even more vibrant. Its entire state entered a new frenzy. It no longer obeyed orders to stay behind, but instead got up and continued to grab forward.

The evil spirits in the Chen family's ancestral home were suppressed so thoroughly by the Dragon King's Domain that although they had been imprisoned together for a long time, they had no communication with each other.

The evil spirits in the Qin family's ancestral home are more familiar with each other because the Qin family does not impose traditional constraints on them, and their cooperation is closer when they fight together.

In terms of both quality and quantity, they were no match for the other side. Moreover, their own side was like a disorganized mob, while the other side seemed well-trained. From the very beginning, this fierce attack by evil spirits presented a one-sided situation.

In the past, these evil spirits of the Qin family would secretly hold betting games, first wagering among the Qin family's children who would become the next generation's "Lightbearer." After the first round, they would wager on whether that person would become the Dragon King of the martial world. Once the bet was won, when the Qin family's Dragon King suppressed the martial world, they would share in the glory whenever they brought back new evil spirits from outside, and would dutifully help suppress the newcomers. Over time, those newcomers would also become addicted to this game and become staunch defenders of this story.

However, he personally took action to capture evil spirits from outside and bring them back to replenish the treasury and increase the number of evil spirits...

This is the first time in history.

Aside from being coerced by the White Tiger's power, the main reason was that the Qin family had a young new head of the family. In the past, a young person like Li Zhuiyuan could have easily crushed the evil spirits in the ancestral home.

Only those on the verge of extinction and of impaired judgment will make the wrong bets; the rest will bet against each other.

It is precisely because this story can continue that the "expulsion" and the hunting and subsequent suppression of prisoners by other factions, as described by the White Tiger, can pose a real threat.

White Tiger delivered another punch, shattering a demonic figure from the Chen family.

When he tried to throw a second punch, he found there were no targets nearby. These guys seemed to be possessed by a gluttonous beast, frantically grabbing food.

The white tiger twisted its neck, producing a series of startling cracking sounds.

It's so wonderful that the outside world is free from the threat of Wei Zhengdao. I wish I could stay here forever.

Suddenly, Baihu frowned.

It was alarmed that even it was beginning to have such thoughts.

He turned around and looked at the enormous tiger shadow behind him.

On the tiger's belly, there were three orbs of light of different colors, which were the three evil spirits of the Chen family that it had just swallowed.

The white tiger opened its mouth, realizing that it seemed to have made a mistake. As evil spirits to begin with, if it swallowed other evil spirits, its unstable self-awareness, worn down by the years, would inevitably suffer further disturbance.

Once they begin to lose themselves, can they still remember the story and the threat?

The old man surveyed the entire battlefield with one eye. He had clearly noticed that the Qin family evil spirits that had not yet swallowed the Chen family's evil spirits were behaving more normally, while those that had already swallowed them were all out of control, no longer paying attention to cooperation, but instead charging and crashing mindlessly.

Although none of them retreated and they all fought and chased forward with all their might, the evil spirits of the Chen family had their fate. After they had devoured their prey, how could they be calmed down and then obediently brought the evil spirits in their bellies back to the Qin family's ancestral home?
The old man stuffed his one hand into his mouth, which was only half full, and bit his hand with his remaining half of his teeth.

He realized he had made a mistake. He should have ordered them to find a way to control or suppress the evil spirits of the Chen family and then seal them one by one when that person came.

Was he so afraid of being eaten that he instinctively ordered the food to be swallowed whole?
The old man took his hand out of his mouth and scratched his head.

He began to think about how to apologize to that person for the situation that was likely to turn out very badly.

I made a mistake without thinking. No, I mean I only have half a brain left.

The white tiger stopped fighting and instead occasionally bit my hand and scratched its head, its tiger eyes warily watching its surroundings to ensure that no one would completely lose control and leave the group. It led the gradually spiraling evil tide at a steady pace toward the Chen family's ancestral home in the very center, like a shepherd tiger.

Unbeknownst to the White Tiger, at this very moment, on an unremarkable mountaintop in the north, there was another person suffering the same torment of having only "half a brain."

After successfully discovering the faceless man's body, the command of the battle and the so-called temporary captain's identity naturally slipped from Chen Xiyuan to Tan Wenbin.

But Tan Wenbin also knew that in terms of command ability, he was far inferior to Xiao Yuan and Zhao Yi.

If the battlefield situation were larger, he could rely on his spirit beast talent to make relatively good arrangements. However, in this kind of one-sided group battle, when it is most necessary to find weaknesses and explosive points, his precision and timing control are not enough.

In response, he simply abandoned specific command, assigning Chen Xiyuan and Runsheng as the front row, Lin Shuyou and Chen Jing as the flank advancers, himself and Wang Lin to maintain control of the situation, and Xu Ming and the Liang sisters as the reserve team, responsible for temporary reinforcements and rescues.

The plan was conventional, minimizing the risk of casualties on our side. We took advantage of the fact that the faceless beings' bodies only had instincts and lacked intelligence, using time to wear down their bodies and transform quantity into quality.

Tan Wenbin also wanted to finish the battle quickly, but the power of that "immortal body" was truly terrifying. He dared not gamble, fearing that an overly aggressive approach would ruin his situation.

"Xiao Yuan will definitely be able to hold on. All I need to do is get a passing grade and keep putting pressure on him. That's the best way to help Xiao Yuan."

……

Outside the Chen Clan Ancestral Hall, Jiang Xiuzhi, leading the Chen family, felt a great relief when she realized that the faceless people had shifted their attention away from them and adopted a strategy of restraint. Instead of accepting this situation, Jiang Xiuzhi ordered her children to take the initiative to launch an attack and regain control of the situation.

Ah Li continuously formed hand seals, controlling the zombie to repeatedly charge into the faceless man's enormous face to harass him. The zombie's corpse energy and the flames formed by the faceless man were constantly being consumed.

All of these costs were borne by the girl alone. Without her continued efforts, the zombies would soon be scattered and return to the Blood Porcelain Bottle.

As for Li Zhuiyuan's side, the erection of one ghost gate after another encircled the Chen family ancestral hall, keeping it away from the fire. This burning of the ghost gates was the most obvious way to expend resources.

With the safe environment of the Chen Clan Ancestral Hall as a support, the disadvantage of boys and girls being unable to engage in close combat can be concealed, allowing them to fully display their advantage in magical combat.

Chu Qiufeng continued to do the trivial work of patching up the formation. He was the most idle person there, so he was able to observe the whole situation. With his experience from when he walked the river, he quickly understood the boy's intentions.

Is the boy deliberately exhausting himself, wearing down the faceless man's power, while waiting for results to emerge from other directions?

Chu Qiufeng turned his head left and right, and finally, his gaze fell on the ground beneath him.

He got it.

Although the full picture is unknown, several key points can be deduced: the boy did not follow the faceless man's instructions to confine the evil spirits within the Chen family ancestral home, causing the faceless man's plan to fail...

So, in the Faceless Man's plan, it was capable of eliminating all the evil spirits in the Chen family on its own?

This means that the faceless man has the ability to take others down with him!
"You...you wretched ants."

The faceless man's roar continued.

It clearly possesses immense power, even enough to overwhelm this place, but because it lacks a physical body as a vessel, it has never been able to translate that power into results on the battlefield.

The Chen family's domain was like a series of cobbled-together turtle shells, difficult to break through; the boy and girl were even more like hiding inside a sturdy turtle shell, especially the boy, who was still constantly putting on the shell.

If my body were here, these guys wouldn't be able to stop me at all!
In fact, they both knew each other's intentions perfectly well.

Li Zhuiyuan was just wasting time here, and the Faceless Man knew what the boy's purpose was.

After the evil spirits of the Chen family were released, the faceless man extracted his merits and soul power from the four Dragon King-level remains, intending to cut his losses.

Li Zhuiyuan locked it up here in order to completely eliminate this hidden danger.

The faceless man, who harbors the dream of becoming an immortal, has already put himself in life-or-death crises multiple times. Having completely given up on the idea of ​​becoming an immortal, he will only bring himself even more terrible and extreme retribution in the future.

Faceless Man: "What's the point of you continuing to waste your time here with me? You know very well that if you push me too far, I can take you down with me!"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Then let's have a contest to see who's more afraid of death?"

Faceless Man: "I have lived for a very long time. Do you think death is terrible to me?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "I have only seen young people who like to talk about life and death lightly, while the elderly cherish life more."

Faceless Man: "Arrogant!"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Do you know why you failed this time? The more you wanted to win, the more afraid you were of losing. But I can afford to lose!"

One wants to earn a position through the Way of Heaven; the other wants to gain adulthood through the Way of Heaven.

Everyone wants to win.

But Li Zhuiyuan dared to bring out the evil spirits from his ancestral home to make a one-off deal, willing to fight Dragon King Chen to the death.

The boy wanted to grow up, to revive the Qin Liu family, and to experience the future with A Li; but on the other hand, his revenge began early, seizing every minute. This was to be prepared for his own downfall at any time, to take revenge on as many people as possible before he failed. Taking one down with him was not a loss, taking two down was a gain!
The faceless man, however, clearly lacked this awareness. It deceived so many people who longed to become immortals, using their obsessions to pave its own way, but it itself was actually the one most deeply poisoned by these obsessions.

In the midst of a tense battle, such verbal exchanges are not meaningless; they represent a clash of positions and wills between the two sides.

Li Zhuiyuan had to first show that he was not afraid of death in order to force the faceless man to increase his fear of losing, and then make it even less likely to make a decisive suicide.

At the very least, by consuming a little more oil, the flames on your body will weaken further. In this way, the oil that would have been enough to ignite four piles of firewood will only be able to ignite three, two... or even one.

If only one remains, I will have the opportunity to use the Black Book's secret technique to prevent you from igniting it, thus breaking the cycle of mutual destruction and turning death into life.

After all, no matter how mysterious and powerful the Black Book Secret Technique is, the Dragon King's remains are still too difficult for Li Zhuiyuan to control at his current level.

Controlling one is already a very low success rate, as for controlling two... it's bound to fail.

Inside the ancestral hall, three milky-white lamps were still burning peacefully.

The three dragon king spirits of the Chen family seemed to be outside the Chen family, and these three dragon kings did not seem to have the surname Chen in their previous lives. They simply watched as the situation continued to escalate.

However, when the boy shouted "I can afford to lose" to the faceless man, the ancestral hall suddenly became a little brighter. In the darkness, he received recognition and response from the spirits of the three dragon kings of the Chen family, although it was purely spiritual and had no substance.

From the Dragon King's perspective, pursuing immortality is a disgrace. As a human being, living a full life and facing death with composure is not pride, but the bottom line.

The Dragon King's spirit sensed this bottom line within the boy.

Having developed to this point, all strategies, deductions, and plans have become meaningless; now, it's simply a game of sheer bravery.

The flames on the faceless man's body began to split.

"Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!"

The flames that were burning wildly gradually solidified, and three figures fell from its massive fiery surface.

It permanently split into three clones, shaping them with merit and soul, making them almost like beings with physical bodies, thus realizing the embodiment of combat power.

Three terrifying auras erupted together, bringing an extremely strong sense of oppression.

The originally enormous face rapidly shrank, becoming only a quarter of its original size when the faceless man first emerged from underground, intending to escape and return to his physical body in the north.

It preserved the bottom line of finally setting a fire and causing everyone to perish together.

Li Zhuiyuan's expression remained unchanged, but he breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

Now, all I need to do is hold off these three clones and prevent the Chen family ancestral hall from being destroyed by the enemy. If I can do that, I'll have a chance to survive and achieve a complete victory!
He left Zhao Yi here as a shield in order to maintain his best condition. The young man certainly knew that sending Zhao Yi over there to lead the team would have a chance to achieve rapid progress, while Tan Wenbin's ability could only be conservative and stable.
The Qin family's evil spirits on the periphery, led by the White Tiger, were enough to satisfy him as long as they prevented the Chen family's evil spirits from overflowing. As for anything else... the young man did not have too many expectations.

Driving evil spirits is a major taboo, inevitably accompanied by great risks and instability. If it were truly possible to operate it perfectly, then powerful forces would have done so long ago. After all, whoever succeeds will end the history of this struggle in the martial world.

Li Zhuiyuan made these arrangements because he had placed the final battle on his side. Since it was a gamble with his life, he had to personally reveal the outcome, regardless of winning or losing.

The faceless man, now only a quarter the size, hung high in the air, reaching the maximum extent allowed by the grand formation of the Chen family ancestral home, before escaping the battlefield.

Below, three clones belonging to it, under its control, become the key to breaking the stalemate.

These three clones did not rush towards the ancestral hall, but instead crashed into the array of Chen family members.

The broad pressure turned into a concrete breakthrough, and Jiang Xiuzhi's situation suddenly became extremely difficult, with her grandchildren being injured and thrown back one after another.

The old lady was ruthless, showing no sign of backing down. She pinched out a stack of talismans with her fingertips and stuck them down her shoulders and chest. The talismans dissolved into a blood mist, which then condensed onto her talisman sword.

With his life force unleashed, his sword energy surged forth, bursting forth from the domain where his children had provided him with protection. He single-handedly challenged an avatar, each move a desperate struggle, leaving no room for retreat.

Chen Yueying: "Secret technique reverses the flow, empowering one's own domain. As long as the domain exists, the person exists; if the domain perishes, the person perishes!"

The battle situation changed so quickly that there was no time for any temporary mobilization; it was simply a matter of moving from one desperate phase to another.

Red streaks of blood spread across Chen Yueying's domain, closely following her mother.

The rest of the Chen family followed suit, binding everything they owned to the domain to protect their mother (grandmother) and block the other two clones, hoping that the two leading figures could achieve victory.

Two clones launched a rescue operation. In the fierce battle, some people suffered chest cavities and broken arms or legs when their bodies were shaken.

No one backed down; everyone filled the gaps, all for the sake of achieving their goal. They didn't even have time to feel tragic. As members of the Dragon King's family, the stories they heard since childhood were full of tales of their ancestors' arduous struggles and life-or-death battles against evil spirits.

With the raging fire outside gone, the pressure on Li Zhuiyuan's side was instantly relieved. The young man put away the Ghost Gate and breathed a sigh of relief.

The zombie stopped and remained motionless. Ah Li closed her eyes and began to regulate her breathing as well.

Chu Qiufeng watched as the Chen family members outside were constantly losing arms and legs, some even being beaten to a pulp and sent flying, their fates unknown. Even though his own wife and children were among them, Chu Qiufeng's eyes only reddened, and he did not urge the two people in front of him to do anything.

He knew how important it was to keep up with the situation on the battlefield. He shouldn't act impulsively just because his comrades were in danger of bleeding; that would only make their blood shed in vain.

As for whether the young man would sit idly by and watch the Chen family deliberately die and wear them down, Chu Qiufeng didn't consider that. If the young man really wanted to do that, there was no point in him considering it any further.

After a brief pause, Li Zhuiyuan spoke:

"Ali."

The girl understood and opened her eyes. In an instant, the emotional temperature in the courtyard of the ancestral hall plummeted. Chu Qiufeng seemed to see countless evil shadows lurking in front of him.

He glanced back and, through the haze, seemed to see a bungalow. Inside the main room of the bungalow was a large, decaying altar.

Ah Li formed hand seals again, her gaze fixed on the zombie.

Blood trickled from the girl's eyes, and the zombie's aura instantly intensified.

After letting out a roar, the zombie charged into the fray, smashing through a clone.

Li Zhuiyuan raised his right hand, palm down, and the evil dragon appeared, spinning rapidly.

Above the outer battle circle, a huge shadowy figure appeared, with black chains hanging down from above, binding another clone.

The battlefield was successfully divided.

Under the conditions created by her own people constantly blocking with their domains and risking their lives, Chen Yueying was able to successfully approach the clone and trap it with her own domain.

The clone struggled and trembled, Chen Yueying's domain cracked continuously, and bloody holes exploded all over her body, but she still gritted her teeth and held on. Her three children followed closely behind, placing their own domains on top of their mother to provide support. Then, the three young people coughed up blood and flew backward like kites with broken strings.

Jiang Xiuzhi seized the opportunity and entered her daughter's domain. This was a condition created by her children for her to draw her sword. She aimed the talisman sword at the clone's forehead and pierced it!
The moment the needle pierced her, Jiang Xiuzhi's half-black hair turned white, and her pampered skin lost its moisture, becoming dry and withered.

"boom!"

The clone exploded, forming a terrifying cyclone.

The remaining members of the Chen family who were still able to move all stepped forward to help the matriarch and Chen Yueying with their own domains.

Jiang Xiuzhi wanted to curse, "Why bother saving this old woman who's already exhausted her life force? She still has the strength to open her domain and deal with the other two clones!"

But she no longer had the energy to curse.

As for Chen Yueying, she only had time to glance at her husband in the ancestral hall one last time. It felt as if a burden had been lifted from her heart. "You've been useless for so many years. Look, now I'm useless too."

The cyclone swept across, and the entire Chen family was swept away, landing far away in various places, their fate unknown.

But their results were astonishing; they fought desperately from the very beginning and destroyed one of the Faceless Man's clones.

The outcome cannot be calculated using a simple one-third figure. It should be noted that when one body was destroyed, there were three clones present that could support each other and act as a protective barrier.

Therefore, the effect of this destruction was not just one-third, but at least half, which secured a very favorable situation for Li Zhuiyuan's side.

Throughout their time as teammates, the Chen family's performance was not only impeccable in Li Zhuiyuan's eyes, but also a constant source of surprises.

The faceless figure hanging high above remained completely still. Once these clones were separated from it, they could not be taken back. It didn't care about any losses, as long as it could produce results quickly.

The clones unleashed a barrage of punches, striking the zombie and forcing it to retreat repeatedly. Although the blood porcelain was incredibly hard, the zombie's body continued to dent, leaving behind burn marks.

Ah Li's body trembled continuously. After taking several steps back, she could no longer support herself and had to kneel down on one knee.

Li Zhuiyuan immediately abandoned his efforts to distract the other clone and instead focused all the chains on the clone that was fighting the zombie.

At this moment, the freed-up clone did not rush over to help, but instead pushed off the ground with one leg and crashed into the Chen family ancestral hall.

The attack was swift and powerful. Given the current state of the Chen family ancestral hall, this collision would inevitably break the formation. Once the formation was no longer protected, Li Zhuiyuan and A Li would be forced into close combat, and the situation would be completely reversed.

All of this was caused by the boy's "rush" to help the girl.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Don't tell me you don't know how to use blood poison."

Chu Qiufeng smiled.

This was his secret, a secret he had figured out after a long illness, a secret even his wife didn't know, yet it was discovered by the young man and placed on the scales of justice.

Chu Qiufeng stopped suppressing the blood poison and instead actively activated it. His body rapidly decayed, and he slapped his hands on the ground. Red lines quickly extended outward, covering the entire Chen Family Ancestral Hall formation and reinforcing its defense.

"boom!"

The clone's first impact failed to break through the ancestral hall.

A-Li, kneeling on one knee, looked up, revealing her delicate and pretty face.

Just then, another clone punched through the zombie's chest.

Ah Li's body trembled violently, but her expression remained completely unchanged.

The zombie was struck and shattered into countless pieces of porcelain.

Li Zhuiyuan ignited karmic fire in his left hand, and without hesitation or pity, placed his palm on the girl's forehead.

In an instant, the karmic fire scorched the girl's soul, and the ghostly shadows manifested by the girl all around her let out painful howls. The coldness deep in the girl's eyes was fully ignited.

At this moment, Ah Li was suffering from the pain of her soul being burned by karmic fire. Even more terrifying was the intensified wailing and howling of ghosts in her dream, which was stimulating her eardrums and tormenting her heart.

Outside the ancestral hall, the shattered pieces of blood-stained porcelain were quickly collected and applied to the clone, covering it completely.

The girl closed her eyes; the seal was broken!
The clone stopped in its tracks and was immobilized.

"Crash!"

The chains above all fell down, binding him.

"Official generals, evil spirits, only kill, never save!"

The two generals, one for increasing and one for decreasing, will appear and stand around the clone.

In the Prince of Hell's mansion, there is now an altar for them. The evil spirits of Buddhism have long been sacrificed by the ghost officials of the Zhao family, so the two generals of Zeng and Sun will no longer have to be reduced to cheerleaders.

But even in a battle of this intensity, they only have one chance to strike.

The two generals, Zeng and Sun, each thrust their weapons into the body encased in blood-stained porcelain.

Li Zhuiyuan activated the "Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Sutra," channeling Buddhist light into the bodies of the two generals, Zeng and Sun, and through them, powerfully infusing it into his clone.

Immediately afterwards, the evil dragon rushed out, triggering the feng shui and weather patterns that the boy had arranged beforehand, transforming them into a killing formation, and swooped down into the clone's body from above.

Within an extremely small area, too many different types of power surged in instantly, and after a brief silence, the clone exploded.

The Blood Porcelain completely shattered, and the talisman cards of the two generals were also scattered and flew around in disarray. The evil dragon had half of its body blown off, but luckily escaped back to the boy's side.

All the ghostly figures in the courtyard disappeared. Ah Li's face was pale, and blood kept gushing from her mouth. She knelt on the ground with difficulty, forcing herself not to faint with her own willpower. She reached behind her with one hand and found a pocket in her backpack, from which she took out a pair of silver needles.

In the South Passage, when Li Zhuiyuan was giving lessons to Runsheng and the others, A Li did not participate in the group lessons, but the two of them would have their own private lessons.

Just now, Ah Li sacrificed herself to forcibly seal off her second clone, creating the opportunity for Li Zhuiyuan to destroy it.

The pain involved goes without saying, but the girl carried it out without the slightest resentment, and the boy followed suit without any hesitation.

The two can sit together on the terrace at home, playing chess under the sunset, enjoying the peacefulness of life; yet they can also clearly see the dangers and cruelty on the river, showing no warmth in crucial moments.

Chu Qiufeng lay paralyzed on the ground, his body covered in blood and pus.

He had just barely managed to hold up the ancestral hall's formation and block the last clone's three attacks.

He's not dead yet, but it would be better if he were. The fully detonated blood poison will make every extra moment of his remaining life a living hell.

Li Zhuiyuan sat cross-legged, with the purple-gold compass placed on the boy's lap, and cast a series of instantaneous arrays to continuously reinforce the ancestral hall.

Going from three to two is the hardest; going from two to one is the most crucial.

When only one clone remained, Li Zhuiyuan looked up at the faceless figure in the sky, and spoke silently:
Let's see if you can break through the great formation that I personally oversee using only one clone!
The last clone kept crashing into the ancestral hall, causing the great formation to tremble and collapse each time, only to be stabilized each time by the boy's efforts.

Above, the faceless man began to press down. Since it was difficult to break through with brute force for the time being, it then used its raging fire to melt the ancestral hall's formation.

That's what it did before; no matter how sturdy the formation is, it will collapse once its durability is exhausted.

The evil dragon, now only half-dead, flew out again, circling the courtyard of the ancestral hall and disintegrating as it went. After circling once, the remaining half became completely transparent, as if it had been thoroughly drained. Finally, it simply crashed into the willow tree in the courtyard.

The sound of pages turning rang out.

The willow branches spread outwards, each branch wrapped with a piece of paper depicting a partial structure of an array. The branches precisely covered the surrounding area, making the entire courtyard lush and verdant.

Everyone in the Chen family knows that this willow tree is Old Master Chen's lifeblood. Except for Old Madam Chen, who would shout "Believe it or not, I'll chop this tree down for you with an axe" when she was arguing, no one dares to damage the willow tree in the slightest.

But Li Zhuiyuan had no such concerns. Since outsiders were eyeing his grandmother, he felt obligated to cut down the tree.

The excellent wood material, imbued with the feng shui energy of the Liu family and nourished by the domain of Master Chen, is the most suitable material for constructing mechanisms and formations, and also provides the best concealment.

Since he already knew that this ancestral hall would be a key location, how could Li Zhuiyuan not set up his own permanent formation here?

The last piece of paper drifted down in front of the boy. The ink on the paper was light, like a simple charcoal sketch. All that could be seen was the haggard figure of a woman lying there.

The faceless figure above stopped.

"You're ruthless."

He's been keeping this powerful strategy hidden, watching his comrades die or be crippled one by one since the start of the conflict, but he hasn't used it yet.

If the boy had used it earlier, the Chen family wouldn't have had to fight to the death outside, and everyone would have had someone to rely on, allowing them to hold out for longer.

At this moment, the faceless man could certainly continue to melt the formation with flames, but the chance of success was severely reduced. Moreover, if it were to consume any more of its remaining resources, it would not be enough to ignite the bonfire.

It faced north, and its body was almost beyond repair. The boy placed his main fighting force there, intending to eliminate it completely.

Then it looked around and saw that one after another, almost crazed evil spirits were rushing towards it. Some of them with strong spiritual power had already locked onto it and were eager to devour it.

Then, the faceless man "looked" at his only remaining clone:
"Once the formation is broken, go to my body immediately, help it leave, and hide it. After many years, a new will will be born in that body, and a new 'me' will return once again."

The clone has no connection to the faceless man anymore; it cannot merge with the body. If that body can escape Tan Wenbin and his group's pursuit, given time, it will only use the body's corruption and depravity to give birth to a new evil spirit.

Finally, the faceless man "looked" at Li Zhuiyuan:
"I didn't lose to you, but man's plans can never beat God's. This time, it's God's will to destroy me."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Don't try to save face for yourself, you just can't outsmart me."

Faceless Man: "If I promise you that you will open the ancestral home now so that I can leave, I will not seek revenge against you in the future, would you let me leave?"
In its eyes, we are all the same; there's no need for us to kill each other here, is there?

Li Zhuiyuan: "But you wanted to kill me in the past and just now, yet you never expressed this kind of sentiment?"

Faceless Man: "You win, I lose. Keeping me here will add more variables to your future challenges."

Li Zhuiyuan: "I don't like variables, nor do I like making enemies."

Faceless Man: "Then let's go together."

From underground, a body slowly emerged, adorned with bells and bound by invisible red ropes. This was Chen Yunhai.

Chen Yunhai floated above the ancestral hall, below the faceless man.

The faceless man rushed downwards, entered Chen Yunhai's body, turned into kerosene, and disappeared completely.

The red ropes binding Chen Yunhai broke apart, replaced by wisps of small flames. His body swelled continuously, with white, world-destroying magma rolling inside.

Under this oppressive force, any array or restriction, no matter how stubbornly it resists, will be as pale and fragile as a blank sheet of paper.

Li Zhuiyuan knew that once the magma poured out, death awaited him, with his soul and thoughts being completely incinerated without any doubt.

The boy already knew that the faceless man would choose Chen Yunhai, because the other three were the remains of the Dragon King, and their status was different. It would be easier to ignite Chen Yunhai.

Li Zhuiyuan also hoped it would be Chen Yunhai, because Chen Yunhai was not the Dragon King, and the success rate of activating the Black Book Secret Technique would be slightly higher.

With great effort, Ah Li stood up behind the boy. After regaining her balance, the girl gripped the silver needles and pierced them one by one into the back of the boy's head.

Each piercing caused excruciating pain, as if his head were about to explode. The last time he had ever been this ruthless to himself was when the giant turtle came ashore.

Even though her body was swaying, the girl's hands were steady, and she inserted each needle accurately and quickly.

After doing all this, the girl lay on top of the boy, wrapped her arms around his back, and rested her chin on his shoulder.

Li Zhuiyuan closed his eyes.

Black Book Secret Technique, Full Power Activated!

Li Zhuiyuan's consciousness successfully entered Chen Yunhai's body and is frantically searching for any remaining spiritual thoughts within him.

The more powerful a being was in life, the more difficult it is for their remains to be controlled by the Black Book's secret techniques. Even if Chen Yunhai was not the Dragon King and did not have the rank of Dragon King, his strength back then was still at another extreme.

Logically speaking, in the past, Li Zhuiyuan would not have chosen to deal with a corpse of this level, as the cost was too high and the success rate was too low. Even this time, the young man did not fantasize about actually being able to control Chen Yunhai's corpse as a puppet. He only needed to successfully guide the body for a short moment to complete a self-sealing.

However, things often turn out in unexpected ways.

After the faceless man infused Chen Yunhai's body with immense merit and spiritual power, the little spiritual energy that should have remained in his body was nourished and gathered again, as if it had been deliberately placed there, waiting for Li Zhuiyuan to pick it.

This significantly reduced the difficulty level that the boy had anticipated.

Furthermore, due to the influx of faceless people, this body should contain a large number of fragments of faceless people's consciousness, which would make it extremely difficult for Li Zhuiyuan to activate his secret technique. However, Chen Yunhai's body was exceptionally clean, without a single trace of faceless people's debris.

Li Zhuiyuan knew why this was happening.

The boy couldn't help but let a slight smile tug at the corners of his mouth.

This time, I really couldn't resist.

Who would have thought that what should have been the final, life-or-death gamble of this wave would turn out to be the easiest and simplest part?

From a third-party perspective, it's as if the faceless man is contributing his merits and offering up his soul, sacrificing himself to help the boy complete this incredible feat of using the Black Book secret technique!
"Hehehehe..."

At this moment, the third clone laughed, and the faceless man, who should have disappeared, reappeared in the third clone.

"You wouldn't believe it, but when I realized that becoming an immortal was hopeless, I gave up that body that was only one step away from becoming an immortal."

Even if I lose almost everything, even if I become a wandering ghost, I can still continue to 'exist,' while you, with your favorite knife, will be completely broken.

You're quite impressive. At such a young age, you're willing to fight me to the bitter end.

But in the end, I still won this round!

Li Zhuiyuan opened his eyes and replied:

"Guess if I thought of that? Why don't you think about why I didn't choose this clone to destroy? Why are you so sure that when I sealed the second clone, the third clone would not come to the rescue, but would definitely rush towards the ancestral hall's formation?"

From the very beginning, that clone remained detached from the battle, seemingly afraid of being wiped out along with others; its fear of death was all too obvious.

The faceless clone said, "What difference does it make whether you know or not? All you need to know now is that you are going to die."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Come on, I'm waiting."

Above, Chen Yunhai floated motionless and unresponsive.

The faceless clone sensed something was wrong, raised its hand, and invisible red ropes flew upwards, wrapping around Chen Yunhai once again.

"boom!"

The red rope snapped the moment it touched Chen Yunhai's body.

Faceless clone:
"Why is this happening?"

The flames on Chen Yunhai's body gradually subsided, transforming into wisps of mist that spread outwards, releasing an immense pressure and terrifying aura.

"Boom!"

Amidst the sea of ​​clouds, the faint sound of thunder could be heard.

Amidst the thunder, a pair of eyes slowly opened, and that gaze, long since absent for a thousand years, returned once more.

Chen Yunhai, wake up!

(End of this chapter)