22: Chapter 22 A Series of Killing Formations: The Ultimate Assassination Strategy

Early the next morning, the thin mist had yet to disperse.

Su Qinghan was dressed in martial attire with a long sword hanging at her waist. With an ice-cold expression, she pushed open the door of the West Wing Room.

She glanced at Qi Yang, who was sweeping the courtyard, and said nothing, merely nodding slightly as a farewell.

Going on this trip, she had prepared herself for death.

Qi Yang hunched his back, his cloudy eyes watching Su Qinghan's departing figure as his gaze flickered.

Late last night, taking advantage of Su Qinghan entering meditation, he used a trace of weak Wood-attribute Spiritual Power to smear a powder called Thousand-Mile Fragrance on the bottom of her scabbard.

This stuff was colorless and odorless, difficult even for a Cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Stage to detect, but Qi Yang could precisely lock onto her location from a hundred miles away through a fragrance-seeking bee he had raised himself.

Confirming that Su Qinghan had already left the Sect, Qi Yang immediately returned to the secret chamber.

He took off his tattered linen robes, changed into a wide black robe, and put on a human skin mask with a sinister expression.

Afterwards, he slapped a first-grade lower-tier corpse qi talisman onto his body, and a faint smell of a rotting corpse permeated the air.

The Ghost Market evil Cultivator, Daoist Mu, made his appearance.

Qi Yang pulled out various sinister and poisonous powders refined over the past few months from his Storage Pouch.

blood-dissolving powder, tendon-softening powder, soul-bewitching incense... all of them were safely stowed close to his body.

Finally, he took out a specially-made jade box.

Inside it were a dozen plant seeds covered in barbs on the surface and entirely dark red in color.

Bursting thorn balls.

This was a dangerous spiritual plant. Once stimulated by violent spiritual power fluctuations, it would instantly explode, releasing a sky full of highly toxic sharp spikes.

"Three experts at the Qi Refining Stage, right? Today, this old man is going to set off a big fireworks display for you."

Qi Yang sneered, slapped a first-grade upper-tier divine mobility talisman onto his legs, and transformed into a blurry black shadow, silently slipping out of the Xuantian Sect from a hidden path behind the medicinal garden.

He did not follow behind Su Qinghan. Instead, relying on his understanding of the terrain on the outer periphery of the Myriad Yao Mountain Range, he took a shortcut half a day ahead of time to rush to a narrow pass that Su Qinghan had to pass through, Luohun Valley.

Luohun Valley was a long and narrow canyon with towering cliffs on both sides and only a muddy path passable, making it a natural ambush circle.

Qi Yang came to the middle section of the canyon and began to set up his ambush from all sides.

He did not use any Formation.

High-tier Cultivators were extremely sensitive to Spiritual Qi fluctuations, and Formations were very easily detected.

Seeing this, Qi Yang formed hand seals with both hands, evenly burying the dozen bursting thorn ball seeds into the soil on both sides of the path.

Afterwards, he took out a jade bottle and carefully dripped some diluted green liquid.

The soil rolled slightly, and the bursting thorn balls rapidly rooted and sprouted underground, growing into mature forms the size of a fist, hiding beneath the shallow soil and ready to strike.

To cover up the faint vegetation aura emitted when the thorn balls matured, Qi Yang took a bottle of low-grade Yao Beast blood from his Storage Pouch and casually sprinkled it in the surrounding grass, the bloody smell perfectly covering up everything.

After finishing all this, Qi Yang retreated into a leeward mire on the side of the canyon.

He took out a grayish turtle breathing pill and swallowed it in one gulp.

His heartbeat stopped abruptly, his blood coagulated, and his Spiritual Qi converged to the absolute extreme.

Qi Yang's entire body slowly sank into the stinky mire, leaving only a hollow reed tube exposed above the water to breathe.

He was like a venomous snake hidden in the darkness, perfectly merging with the surrounding aura of decay.

Three hours later.

At the entrance of Luohun Valley, a faint sound of footsteps came.

Su Qinghan held a long sword, walking into the canyon with a fully vigilant expression.

She could feel that the air was permeated with a vague killing intent.

In the dense forest less than a hundred feet behind her, three figures dressed in black were rapidly approaching like ghosts.

"Eldest Brother, that girl has entered Luohun Valley."

A Qi Condensation Seventh Layer assassin licked his blade, his eyes filled with a bloodthirsty light.

The leading Qi Condensation 8th Layer assassin sneered, killing intent flashing violently in his eyes.

"Luohun Valley has a narrow terrain, and she has nowhere to escape. Follow her, make a quick decision, and cut off her head to go back and report!"

The prey entered the net.

Deep in the mire, Qi Yang peered through the gaps in the reed, firmly locking onto those three men in black.

Killing intent was ready to trigger at any moment.

...

Inside Luohun Valley, gloomy winds howled, and the miasma that lingered year-round rendered this long and narrow canyon resembling the gates of hell.

Su Qinghan held a long sword. Her breathtakingly beautiful face had no trace of blood at this moment, and a dazzling crimson hung at the corner of her mouth.

She panted heavily, her right hand holding the sword trembling slightly and uncontrollably.

Around her, three assassins dressed in black were like maggots on tarsal bones, tightly blocking all her paths of retreat.

"Run! Genius of the Luoxia Sect, why aren't you running anymore?"

The leading man in black let out a ferocious sneer.

He carried a dripping ghost-head saber in his hand, and the rich pressure of the Qi Condensation 8th Layer was released, pressing down on Su Qinghan like a substance.

This black-clothed leader possessed a Three-element Profound Spiritual Root. Although he was only a Loose Cultivator, relying on his extraordinary talent and the ruthlessness of licking blood from the edge of a blade, his spiritual power was incomparably refined.

Just a moment ago, after only three rounds of exchanging blows, Su Qinghan's Qi Condensation Seventh Layer cultivation and the foundation of her Three-element Profound Spiritual Root were bluntly crushed by the opponent's absolute Realm gap!

The purity and reserves of spiritual power at the Qi Condensation 8th Layer were simply not something the Qi Condensation Seventh Layer could contend with, let alone with two other Qi Condensation Seventh Layer four-Spiritual Root assassins eyeing her covetously nearby!

"Your Black Blood Hall truly thinks you can kill me without anyone knowing?"

Su Qinghan bit her silver teeth, her phoenix-like eyes revealing a resolute will to die.

She knew that she had a ten-percent chance of dying and zero chance of survival today, but even if she died, she would drag someone down with her!

She abruptly bit the tip of her tongue, spitting a mouthful of vital blood onto the sword blade, preparing to reverse her Meridians and fight to the death.

"Want to risk your life? You don't have that qualification yet!"

The black-clothed leader snorted coldly, his legs suddenly exerting force as he rushed towards Su Qinghan. The ghost-head saber stirred up a wave of blade radiance, directly slashing towards the crown of her head!

At the very moment when Su Qinghan was about to meet her tragic end!

Deep inside the stinky mire on the side of the canyon, a pair of cold and merciless eyes suddenly snapped open.

With the reed tube in his mouth, Qi Yang's Wood-attribute Spiritual Power at the Qi Condensation 5th Layer erupted violently along the hidden lines he had arranged underground long ago!

"Explode for this old man!"

Qi Yang let out a silent roar in his heart.

Boom, boom, boom...

The soil beneath Su Qinghan and the three assassins suddenly rolled violently, and a dozen bursting thorn balls hidden under the shallow soil exploded fiercely!

Dark red sharp venomous spikes filled the sky, bursting out of the soil like a pear flower storm, carrying shrill piercing sounds as they indiscriminately covered a range of five zhang in radius!

"What the hell is this?!"

The Qi Condensation Seventh Layer assassin closest to the thorn balls had no time to react at all; his protective spiritual light was directly pierced through by a dozen poisonous spikes.

"Ah!!!"

The assassin let out a shrill scream, and his whole body was pierced into a hedgehog.

The seal-upon-seeing-blood poison attached to the bursting thorn balls took effect instantly. His body turned black and rotted at a speed visible to the naked eye, and in less than three breaths of time, he turned into a pool of stinking bloody water!

The sudden change startled the black-clothed leader and the other Qi Condensation Seventh Layer assassin. They forcibly stopped their steps rushing towards Su Qinghan, frantically urging their spiritual power to prop up protective shields to resist the poisonous spikes.

"There is an ambush! Retreat!"

The black-clothed leader roared angrily. The foundation of his Dual Spiritual Roots erupted, and a heavy earth-attribute armor rapidly covered his whole body, bouncing the poisonous spikes away one by one.

But since Qi Yang had set up a killing trap, how could he possibly let them retreat unscathed?

If he didn't make a move, fine; once he made a move, he would definitely cut weeds and eliminate roots!

Qi Yang still stubbornly hid in the mire, not even a single hair showing.

His hands quickly formed seals, and three first-grade lower-tier gale talismans were directly thrown into mid-air and detonated by him!

A gale suddenly rose, following the narrow and long terrain of the canyon to form a violent draft.

Amidst this gale, it was mixed with the blended toxic fog of the blood-dissolving powder and tendon-softening powder that Qi Yang had prepared long in advance!

Borrowing the momentum of the wind, the gray-white toxic powder completely enveloped the remaining two assassins in an instant!

"Hold your breath! It's poisonous!"

The black-clothed leader reacted extremely quickly, his earth-attribute armor tightly sealing all the pores of his body.

But that Qi Condensation Seventh Layer assassin was not so lucky.

His protective shield had already developed cracks when he was resisting the poisonous spikes earlier. At this moment, struck by the toxic fog, he only inhaled a tiny mouthful before his whole body became like an eel with its tendons pulled out, his spiritual power directly collapsing as he collapsed limply to the ground.

Although Su Qinghan was also stunned by the sudden change, she was after all a Genius of the Luoxia Sect, and her combat intuition was sharp.

Taking advantage of that assassin collapsing limply to the ground, she endured the excruciating pain of her severe injuries, thrusting out with a sword to accurately and flawlessly pierce through that assassin's heart!

In the blink of an eye, two Qi Condensation Seventh Layer assassins died!

Only the Qi Condensation 8th Layer black-clothed leader was left!