Great Zhou Martial Immortal

Chapter 72: When two armies clash, the general is the first to be slain.

At the exit of the ghost market, a chilling wind howled.

Unlike the dark cave and the River of Oblivion at the entrance, after passing through the "Gate of Rebirth," there is a winding, narrow path.

The withered trees on both sides were covered with faded talismans, which rustled in the wind.

The ground was paved with dark blue-green stone slabs, each engraved with twisted runes, from which a dark red liquid was faintly seeping out.

The cloaked figure strode quickly through the crowd, revealing a dark hand from the sleeve, its nails sharp as hooks, gleaming with an eerie green light in the moonlight.

Suddenly, he stopped.

"I was careless..."

The cloaked man grinned, and a crimson centipede crawled out from the tip of his tongue, hissing.

He turned his head and said coldly, "Since you've come here to die, I'll grant your wish!"

The cloaked man struck out with his palm, and the Five Poisons True Qi exploded outwards.

The five-colored poisonous fog surged like angry waves, with snake shadows, scorpion tails, spider silk, and centipedes constantly changing within it. Most terrifying of all were the toad sound waves mixed in with the poisonous fog, which made people's eardrums feel like they were about to burst.

Lin Hanyi snorted coldly and instantly activated the Ice Flower Step!
She touched the ground with her toes, causing ice crystals to bloom. Her figure moved like a phantom, and wherever she passed, the poisonous mist froze into ice crystals that fell down in a flurry.

The cloaked figure shattered the incoming ice spikes with a single palm strike, then retaliated with a Corrupting Heart Seal aimed straight for Lin Hanyi's chest.

Lin Hanyi sidestepped, lightly tapping his wrist with her fingertip—

—The Finger of Severed Pulses

—Fingers fall like frost, pulse breaks and marrow stiffens; ice arises from within, and man perishes.

“Crack.”

A faint cracking sound rang out, and the cloaked man's wrist was instantly covered with a layer of white frost.

He grinned maliciously as he shattered the ice, and his pitch-black hand suddenly grew three inches longer, his nails like knives slashing towards Lin Hanyi's throat.

"Zheng——"

A blazing white sword light suddenly struck!
The goddess made her move, using a withered branch as a sword, and unleashed the main sword technique of the "Heavenly Punishment Sword Song" - "Heavenly Punishment Piercing the Sun".

But then, the man and the sword merged, transforming into a blazing white sword rainbow, as fast as lightning, with unparalleled sword energy!
Forced to stop his attack, the cloaked figure's anger intensified. He unleashed a poisonous mist with a backhand, forcing the two back. Then, he leaped into the air, his palms overlapping, and the phantoms of the five poisons condensed into a giant black palm, which crashed down with the force of Mount Tai!
Wherever the poisonous palm passed, the stone slabs along the way melted away, and even the air made a "sizzling" sound of corrosion!
Lin Hanyi's expression was solemn. He tapped the ground repeatedly with his feet, and ice flowers formed a line under his feet. With each step, an ice lotus bloomed. After seven steps, a burst of cold air surged forth!
"Uh-huh!"

Countless ice spikes shot out from the ground, colliding violently with the poisonous palm. Ice and poison intertwined, exploding into a sky full of colorful mist. In the mist, Lin Hanyi passed through the poison, her finger flashing like lightning, directly striking the heart of the cloaked man!
The cloaked figure's pupils contracted sharply, and his body suddenly froze in mid-air.

"Shoot-"

His clothes were inexplicably torn at the chest, revealing a hideous golden-eyed toad hidden beneath his skin.

The toad's back was completely fused with flesh and blood, and the dense blood vessels twisted and writhed like a spider web, expanding and contracting with the toad's breathing, emitting a foul and pungent poisonous mist.

The Five Poisons Sect's secret technique: the Heavenly Toad Gu!
"Goooo!!!"

The toad's golden eyes bulged out, its bloody mouth opened wide, and a visible sound wave exploded out!

The air twisted violently, the bluestone on the ground cracked with a "crack", and even the talismans on the withered trees on both sides spontaneously combusted instantly.

Lin Hanyi's fingertips felt a sudden chill, her meridians felt as if struck by a thousand-pound hammer, and her body froze in mid-air for a moment—

"die!"

The cloaked figure roared, his right palm transforming into a pitch-black poisonous claw as the Five Poisons Bone-Melting Palm descended with a bloody storm!
Before the palm strike even arrived, Lin Hanyi's face had already turned slightly dark. He immediately covered his chest with both hands and unleashed his protective qi.

Just then, a golden streak of light pierced through the air and arrived!

Lu Chenyuan unleashed the final move of the "Dragon Soaring Mace Technique," the "Releasing Mace," as the mace blazed with dazzling golden light, transforming into a golden lightning bolt that spun and tore through the poisonous mist, striking directly at the cloaked man's chest where the Heavenly Toad Gu was located!
The cloaked man was completely focused on dealing with Lin Hanyi and paid no attention to the others. The fourth-level Divine Empress cultivation level was not a problem for him. Only Lin Hanyi was his mortal enemy. At this moment, he was giving it his all and delivering a heavy blow. He did not expect that someone would take advantage of the moment when his moves were exhausted and launch a surprise attack!
"boom!"

Amidst the clanging of metal, the cloaked figure let out a muffled groan, his body flying backward like a kite with a broken string, his black robe shattering in the air.

The Cloud-Piercing Mace flew back and was caught firmly in Lu Chenyuan's hand.

The poisonous mist within a three-zhang radius was completely dispersed by the power of this mace!
"puff!"

The cloaked man spat a mouthful of blood onto his mask.

The worms on his chest convulsed in pain, twisting his face in agony.

"Fifth Realm Cultivation, Five Poisons Bone-Melting Palm, [Heavenly Toad Gu]..."

Lin Hanyi landed on the ground, the poison on her face suppressed. Her eyes were like knives as she spoke slowly and deliberately: "The traitor of the Five Poisons Sect in Miao territory, the former Elder Mingchan, Wu Huagu... Junior Brother Qu Baichuan, the steward of the Prince of Wei's mansion. Am I right?"

The cloaked man's expression changed slightly.

Lu Chenyuan sneered: "It's really not surprising at all! The sacrificial artifacts were damaged, I will bear the blame, the princess will bear the blame, only the King of Wei will reap the benefits. And those money-grubbing fools you gathered, only those nobles who accept bribes on a grand scale can satisfy their appetites!"

The cloaked figure scanned the surroundings, searching for a way to survive.

He underestimated Lu Chenyuan's attack. The mace, imbued with immense force, shattered his protective aura, causing his sternum to cave in. He was already severely injured, and if he dragged this out any longer, defeat would be certain. He had no choice but to retreat. With his mind made up, he threw out a cloud of poisonous smoke to obscure his vision and flew backward. At the same time, he took out a cinnabar talisman from his pocket, which was none other than a fifth-grade [Divine Speed ​​Talisman].

—Borrowing the wind's momentum, one can travel without hindrance!
The talisman ignited with blue flames the moment it touched his fingertips, and wind and thunder patterns immediately appeared on his legs.

He turned to run away, but suddenly his whole body trembled. Only at this moment did he realize with horror that the blood in his body was as stagnant as lead and mercury, and the cold energy was rampant in his meridians. The finger force that had been shaken away earlier had somehow seeped into his heart meridian!
"You don't think the power of the 'Severing Meridian Finger' is so easy to dispel, do you...?" Lin Hanyi pointed her fingers like a sword, and three inches of ice light condensed at her fingertips. Her second finger pierced through the air and struck directly at the Tanzhong acupoint. Frost even condensed in the air where her finger passed. Wu Huagu hurriedly blocked, but Lu Chenyuan's Cloud-Piercing Mace came crashing down, and the Divine Empress's Dry Branch Sword blocked all escape routes.

"puff!"

Wu Huagu was hit by three deadly attacks in a row, and his black robe was instantly soaked in blood.

He staggered several steps, crashing into a dead tree, and suddenly let out a mournful laugh like an owl: "Good! Very good!"

"His-"

He suddenly tore open the tattered robe on his chest, revealing the strange patterns on his chest entangled with the Heavenly Toad Gu.

The blood-red Gu pattern suddenly began to writhe like a living thing, and the subcutaneous blood vessels bulged out like earthworms.

Lu Chenyuan's expression changed: "The Self-Sacrifice Gu!"

next moment--

Centered on Wu Huagu, a terrifying aura of bloodlust suddenly erupted!
His skin cracked inch by inch, and countless blood arrows shot out in all directions with a piercing sound! Each blood arrow was wrapped in the five poisonous evil energy, and its speed was so fast that it left a scarlet afterimage in the air.

"retreat!"

Lin Hanyi's expression was solemn. With a clear shout, he suddenly raised his palm, and seven ice lotuses bloomed instantly, forming layers of ice walls. The blood arrows crashed into the ice walls, making a hissing sound that made one's teeth ache. The ice layers were corroded and melted at a speed visible to the naked eye. Even more terrifying was the poisonous wind brought up by the blood arrows as they cut through the air, which made people dizzy. The talismans on the withered trees around him spontaneously combusted without fire, turning into green poisonous flames.

"boom!"

A blood arrow pierced through the remnants of the ice wall. The goddess channeled her energy and used a withered branch to block it in time, but the branch was instantly corroded away. Lu Chenyuan wielded his Cloud-Piercing Mace into a wheel of light, shattering all the incoming blood arrows. The golden light on the mace also dimmed slightly.

When the blood mist dissipated, all that remained where Wu Huagu had stood was a pool of boiling blood.

The ground within a radius of more than ten feet was covered with honeycomb-like holes, each of which was bubbling with poisonous bubbles.

The dead trees on both sides were all withered, and the bark had peeled off to reveal the purplish-black wood, as if they had been dead for decades.

With a flick of her sleeve, Lin Hanyi sent a chill across the blood swamp in front of her. The pool of poisonous blood was still writhing and was beginning to condense into the shape of a toad. She pointed her finger and her frost power froze it completely.

"The Five Realms of Self-Sacrifice are extraordinary..."

Looking at the scene before him, Lin Hanyi sighed, "I didn't expect him to be willing to die and take all the secrets with him. He is indeed loyal. In that case, we can only start investigating from the few names we already know."

"Don't worry."

Lu Chenyuan sneered, "He thinks he can get away with it by dying? That's wishful thinking! Lingxi, tell Grandma what you just saw?"

The goddess immediately chanted: "[Yin-Yang Disc of Two Elements], [Lone Smoke in the Desert], [Crimson Beauty's Calamity], [Han Guang Sword], [Mysterious Iron Coiled Dragon Staff]..."

Lin Hanyi was taken aback.

She was, after all, an old servant of the princess's residence. Even though she hadn't been involved in intelligence gathering for a long time, she had still heard of some magical artifacts through her daily life.

The Yin-Yang Plate is a family heirloom of Sikong Hui, the "Ghost Eye" of the Yin-Yang School.

【Lone Smoke in the Desert】is the treasured sword of He Liancheng, the "Soul-Severing Blade" of the northern desert.

The [Han Guang Sword] is the treasure of the Shadowless Sect and is currently the sword of the "Shadow Assassin" Ye Wuzong.

"Little girl."

Lin Hanyi asked with some surprise, "In that one glance just now, you saw the magical artifacts on each of those twenty-four people? Not a single one was missed? Will you still be able to recognize them when you see them again?"

"sure."

The goddess said matter-of-factly, “Their aura is very special. Four of them don’t use weapons but have fifth-grade accessories, and six of them are wearing precious armor. I will definitely recognize them if they reappear.”

Lu Chenyuan patted her head and said with a faint smile, "When you're doing something that's 90% life-or-death, you naturally have to be fully armed, but that becomes your weakness, leaving you nowhere to hide in the eyes of the Empress! They think that if they're well-covered and break out in different directions, they can't be caught, but little do they know that they've already been exposed with just one glance! No matter what Wu Chengsi is planning, he's destined to fail and is not worth worrying about."

The reason he came to check was that, in case he couldn't catch them, he could still follow the clues and make a backup plan.

"..."

Lin Hanyi raised an eyebrow at Lu Chenyuan. Seeing his calm and confident demeanor, and the air of certainty he had won, she felt reassured and couldn't help but sigh inwardly: "The princess has truly struck gold."

This is the treasure...

The eager gazes of Chu Heng and Dongfang Mingyi flashed through her mind, and her brows furrowed almost imperceptibly—she had quite a few people on her mind too.

Lu Chenyuan slowly walked towards the solidified blood swamp, and with a gentle tap of the tip of his Cloud-Piercing Mace, the ice surface shattered.

A head slowly emerged from the blood-red ice shards.

Wu Huagu's mask had long since fallen off, revealing his distorted and deformed face.

His eyes were wide open, the whites of his eyes were bloodshot, but his pupils were strangely shrunken to the size of pinpoints. His mouth was torn to the roots of his ears, as if he was still laughing silently before he died.

"This is indeed a nice gift..."

Lu Chenyuan looked at the head and smiled slightly: "It can be given to our Prince Wei!"

(End of this chapter)