I and countless versions of myself simultaneously travel through time.

Chapter 81, Section 80: Slaying

Ye Yan sensed several powerful auras rapidly approaching from the outer perimeter of the market, including some at the Foundation Establishment level. His expression changed slightly, and he grabbed Fairy Feixia's shoulder, pulling her into the market's barrier without further ado.

"Go in!" At the same time, a voice transmission entered Lü Yang's ears. Lü Yang immediately stopped his cultivation technique and flashed into the depths of the formation.

Feixia was taken aback, and then directly grabbed at the void?

Ye Yan formed hand seals and activated the Hundred Bones True Formation that had already been set up here.

A burst of spiritual light shot into the sky, and layers upon layers of array patterns enveloped the entire market town completely.

However, at that moment, a streak of light arrived in front of him. It was Wu Zhichong, the "Divine Fist" of the Divine Martial Sect, a cultivator in the early stage of Foundation Establishment, whose body was surrounded by fierce and domineering fist intent energy.

He was originally the vanguard of this surprise attack on the Demon Gate Market, full of confidence, but when he saw the figure standing with his hands behind his back in the formation, he froze instantly.

Wu Zhichong recognized Ye Yan.

Or rather, everyone in the entire Shenwu Sect's intelligence network recognizes this face: the son-in-law of Chen Taihe, the peak master of Butian Peak, a genius who created his own late-stage Foundation Establishment Tribulation Technique, and it is said that even Master Hongyun could not gain an advantage over him.

How could such a malevolent spirit be in a market town where only Qi Refining cultivators are present?

"Retreat!" Wu Zhichong's heart pounded wildly. His escape light came to an abrupt halt in mid-air, and he even began to change direction.

But before he could turn around, Ye Yan had already moved.

"burst."

Ye Yan uttered a single word softly, but it sounded like a thunderclap to Wu Zhichong's ears.

Those "talented disciples" who had been implanted with the Soul-Devouring Seed by Ye Yan beforehand were all members of the Holy Sect. They were of low, middle, and even a few at the sixth level of Qi Refining. They rushed out of the market and headed towards the direction where the Divine Martial Sect cultivators were most concentrated.

"Ah! Senior brother! Why did you have to kill me like this!"

"You beast! You beast!"

Fairy Feixia stared wide-eyed at the backs of her fellow disciples. Before she could react, the flames exploded.

It was not an ordinary flame, but a devastating explosion caused by the detonation of the soul and the collapse of spiritual power.

Blood-red mushroom clouds rose from the outskirts of Skull Mountain Market, leveling an area of ​​dozens of miles, with pieces of flesh and limbs falling like raindrops.

Feixia was stunned.

Those aren't enemies, they're our own disciples!

"Senior Brother Ye, you—" Feixia's voice caught in her throat.

Ye Yan remained expressionless, his gaze fixed on Wu Zhichong.

Wu Zhichong was the first to be hit, struck head-on by several shockwaves from the self-destruction. His protective aura shattered, and his body was covered in blood and gore. He screamed as he fell from the sky, with only one thought in his mind: "Beasts!"

A Foundation Establishment cultivator coming to the Qi Refining front to fight? Is this something a human would do?

He used his last bit of strength to try to steady himself, but Ye Yan had already raised his hand and summoned an array plate.

The Four Symbols Strangulation Formation.

The illusory images of the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise burst forth from the array plate, trapping Wu Zhichong firmly in the center. As the four symbols rotated, the killing power layered upon layer. Before Wu Zhichong could even scream, he was shredded into a cloud of blood mist, his soul annihilated along with him.

Lu Yang stood deep in the market, watching the aftershocks of the explosion that stretched for dozens of miles, his palms sweating profusely.

He recognized some of the disciples who confessed, and had even had tea with them.

He was at the sixth level of Qi Refining, and he exploded just like that.

Lu Yang took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the fear in his heart, and silently warned himself: In this wretched place, one wrong step will lead to eternal damnation.

His senior brother could protect him for a while, but not forever.

More practice, more caution—no, caution alone is not enough. You must be like Senior Brother Ye, treating everyone as pawns, in order to survive to the end.

Duanmu Yuan, the "Mountain Moving Taoist," stood in the distance, his mouth agape, unable to close it for a long time. Wu Zhichong, his esteemed fellow disciple of so many years, gone just like that?

His mind was shaken, and before he could recover from his shock, Ye Yan's sword was already drawn.

A flash of cold light, and a chilling killing intent.

The sword was entirely silver-white, with a cold, eerie light flowing across its blade, and faint starlight shimmering at its edge. Ye Yan named it the "Sword of Severing Thoughts."

The three characters are meant to cut off distracting thoughts and to break through all laws with a single sword.

The cultivation method he created is named "Tai Xu Gui Yuan Dian" (太虚归元典), which is based on the Great Void and uses the Return to Origin method, directly pointing to the Golden Elixir stage.

However, every Golden Core position in the five Immortal Realms is fraught with pitfalls.

Those seemingly glamorous Golden Core True Monarchs are actually mostly just pawns raised by powerful figures in the upper sects. Their positions are secretly restricted, and the higher their cultivation level, the more deeply they are restricted.

You thought it was your own path, but in the end you found that even the arising and ceasing of your thoughts were within the calculations of others.

Even more terrifying is that some positions are traps, waiting for cultivators to reach the peak of the Golden Core stage before reaping them and turning them into resources for others' advancement. For example, the True Monarchs under the World Honored One are all his incarnations.

Unless a Golden Core True Monarch leaves the Five Domains and enters the "Heaven of Nothingness" to attain enlightenment, he will always be someone else's pawn. That's right, Ye Yan plans to help Ting You quickly reach the righteous path in the "Heaven of Nothingness." It will take sixty years, or even more, to allow him to break through to the Golden Core stage.

Ye Yan gripped his sword, his sword intent coalescing, infusing it with profound cultivation. This was not the sword intent a Qi Refining cultivator could possess; it was his natal sword energy, honed over decades after he had scattered his cultivation and begun anew.

He referenced the secret method of controlling the vital energy of living people in the Taiwei Laihe Treasure Book and implanted a wisp of "mark" into Duanmu Yuan's body.

The sword follows the seal, a fight to the death.

Duanmu Yuan's face turned pale, and he screamed hoarsely, "Senior Brother Ouyang, save me!"

A figure sped towards us from the horizon.

Ouyang Haoze, a genius from the Ouyang family behind the Shenwu Sect, has reached the Great Perfection of Qi Refining and is only half a step away from Foundation Establishment.

He had been calm and composed, standing with his hands behind his back, confident that this surprise attack was nothing more than a formality.

But when he sensed the almost tangible pressure emanating from Ye Yan, his composure shattered instantly.

Foundation Establishment True Person?

No, he's a Foundation Establishment cultivator reincarnated!

The physical body of a Qi Refining cultivator, but the cultivation and magical power of a Foundation Establishment cultivator!

Without saying a word, Ouyang Haoze turned and ran.

What is camaraderie among fellow disciples, what is the honor of the Divine Martial Sect? They are worthless in the face of life.

He, a Qi Refining Grand Perfection cultivator, is fighting a Foundation Establishment cultivator?!

Ye Yan burst into laughter, his voice dripping with sarcasm: "Why are you running? Aren't you a genius of the Divine Martial Sect? Aren't you the pride of the Ouyang family? How come you run faster than a rabbit when you see someone from the Demonic Path? The Righteous Path? Is this how the Righteous Path abandons its fellow disciples?"

His voice followed Ouyang Haoze's figure, each word piercing into the other's ears.

Ouyang Haoze ignored him and frantically increased his speed.

But he was fast, and Ye Yan was even faster.

Ye Yan made a hand seal, and spiritual light burst forth beneath his feet, causing his escape speed to surge. This was his self-created "Flowing Light and Shadow Escape Technique," a four-word technique that used the burning of magical power as a price to achieve near-instantaneous speed over short distances.

"Beasts! The entire Holy Sect is full of beasts!" Ouyang Haoze cursed inwardly. He glanced back and saw that Duanmu Yuan had been annihilated by the Four Symbols Formation, leaving not even a trace.

A formation master and a Foundation Establishment cultivator, who can even shatter the void—how can this be a Qi Refining disciple?

They're here to fry fish!

Ouyang Haoze gritted his teeth and took out an antique bronze mirror from his pocket.

The Taixiao Mirror, a low-grade spiritual treasure, can reflect spells and block sword energy. It is his most treasured life-saving item and a treasure given to him by the Foundation Establishment True Person of the Divine Martial Sect to break formations.

He turned around, holding the Taixiao Mirror in front of him, and shouted, "Die, demonic path! Taixiao Mirror? Use it to block!"

The Taixiao Mirror trembled, feeling that it could not withstand the sword energy. Spiritual treasures inherently possess sentience; how could they possibly resist this sword energy?

However, Ye Yan's sword energy was not aimed at him, but rather at the "mark".

The Taixiao Mirror could reflect tangible techniques, but it couldn't block intangible seals. The sword energy bypassed the mirror and pierced straight into Ouyang Haoze's body. Ouyang Haoze groaned, and before he could even feel relieved, a spatial fluctuation came from behind him.

Ye Yan shattered the void and stepped out of the crack, his hand piercing through Ouyang Haoze's chest.

The heart beat one last time in his palm before being crushed to pieces.

Ouyang Haoze stared wide-eyed, unable to believe even in his dying breath how this person had done it.

You're only at the Qi Refining stage!

Ye Yan withdrew his hand and pressed his other hand against Ouyang Haoze's crown, activating the Soul Searching Technique at full power.

Ouyang Haoze's soul was forcibly extracted and transformed into a beam of dark light that disappeared into the Primordial Qi Myriad Spirits Banner.

Another new generation of banner spirits has been added.

From Wu Zhichong to Duanmu Yuan, and then to Ouyang Haoze, these three Foundation Establishment level warriors were all defeated in less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea.

Ye Yan clapped his hands, sheathed his sword, turned around and walked back to the market. Behind him, the embers of the explosion were still burning, and the air was filled with a strong smell of blood. He took the Taixiao Mirror and put it into his treasure.

Fairy Feixia stood at the edge of the formation, watching Ye Yan's back, her legs going weak.

She finally understood why Lu Yang's eyes were filled with almost blind trust whenever he mentioned Senior Brother Ye.

This is not trust; it is surrender to power.

Who wouldn't want to be friends with such a reassuring senior?!

Lu Yang swallowed hard and silently shrank deeper into the formation.

He made up his mind that he would never go against Ye Yan in this lifetime.

The next life?

Let's talk about it in the next life.

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