99: Dan Yuan manifested his power to slay the witch, and earth fire burned the nest to cleanse the filth.

Hemp Third Aunt stood on a giant rock by the deep pool, her body trembling violently. Her wrinkles twisted, and the flickering green fire in her eyes danced with a mixture of disbelief, horror, and malice. The "Ten Thousand Gu Corpse Fiend Formation," which she had spent decades of effort to arrange by combining the natural Yin Fiend of this place with her own Gu arts and corpse arts, had actually been so easily breached by her opponent finding its weakness and shattering it in one blow!

This was not just the breaking of a Formation, but a fatal blow to everything she had learned in her life and her authority in this place!

"You... how could you..." Hemp Third Aunt's voice was hoarse as she pointed at Li Muchen. Faint remnants of grayish-green evil light lingered at her fingertips, but they were no longer a threat.

Li Muchen did not answer. He stood with his sword raised, the qingxiao sword flowing with clear light, reflecting his calm and rippleless face. Breaking the Formation was only the first step; the goal was to eliminate the opponent's home-field advantage and the endless harassment from the sea of insects and forest of corpses. The true opponent was always this unfathomable Gu Raiser herself.

"Good, good, good!" Hemp Third Aunt said "good" three times, laughing out of extreme anger. The wrinkles on her face cracked like parched earth. "To break my Formation... you indeed have some skill! But do you think... this is the end?!"

She suddenly raised the pitch-Black Bone Staff inlaid with a pale skull high into the air, her mouth chanting a sharp, rapid, and strangely accented incantation! At the same time, she bit the tip of her tongue and spat a mouthful of black heart blood, mixed with her Life Essence and countless tiny insect eggs, onto the skull at the top of the staff!

"With blood as a sacrifice, awaken the slumbering guardian! Come forth—'Ten Thousand Venom Heavenly Centipede'!!"

Following her shrill roar, two clusters of blazing ghostly green fire suddenly erupted from the empty eye sockets of the skull! The entire bone staff trembled violently, emitting heart-palpitating evil fluctuations!

"Rumble..."

The ground beneath everyone's feet began to shake violently! The bottomless green pool water churned frantically as if boiling! In the center of the pool, a huge water bulge suddenly rose, as if some gargantuan creature was about to burst out of the water!

Immediately after, an indescribably terrifying giant creature tore through the surface of the pool and rose majestically!

It was a... centipede! A hundred-legged giant centipede so massive it was suffocating, over ten zhang long, its entire body covered in a metallic luster of interwoven dark gold and ink green. Hundreds of walking legs, like sharp curved blades, lined the sides of its torso. Its head was large and hideous, and corrosive venom dripped from its mandibles as they opened and closed!

Even more bizarre was that on the giant centipede's dorsal carapace, countless distorted and wailing human face phantoms were embedded and growing! These were living souls refined and imprisoned by Hemp Third Aunt using evil methods. Their existence not only enhanced the giant centipede's ferocity and resentment but also formed a natural evil domain targeting the Divine Soul!

Ten Thousand Venom Heavenly Centipede! This was Hemp Third Aunt's ultimate trump card, her "Guardian Gu King," which she had spent countless years nurturing and refining by combining her life Gu arts with countless poisonous creatures, living souls, and even subterranean Yin Fiend!

The giant centipede appeared and let out a silent screech that acted directly on the Divine Soul! The low-level Gu insects remaining in the valley exploded and died one after another, and even the Corpse Refinings trembled and lay prostrate on the ground. Terrifying pressure mixed with a poisonous, fishy wind swept toward Li Muchen like an overwhelming tide!

Hemp Third Aunt stood behind the raised head of the giant centipede, a crazed and triumphant sneer on her face: "Junior! To be able to die under my 'Ten Thousand Venom Heavenly Centipede' is your honor! Your essence blood and soul will become its best nourishment!"

Facing this terrifying existence that seemed like an ancient Vicious Beast descending, a trace of gravity finally flashed in Li Muchen's eyes. The aura of this "Ten Thousand Venom Heavenly Centipede" had already surpassed the scope of an ordinary Early Golden Core Stage, and even faintly touched the Mid Golden Core Stage! Especially the resentment attack targeting the Divine Soul and the terrifying physical toxicity, it was extremely troublesome.

But he felt no fear; instead, a strong Battle Intent rose within him. Having just formed his Golden Core, he needed a hearty battle to test his cultivation and temper his Divine Ability and sword techniques!

"Come!"

Li Muchen let out a long cry and advanced instead of retreating! The newborn Golden Core inside his body suddenly accelerated its rotation, and a massive amount of pure Core Essence erupted like a volcano, surging into his limbs and bones!

His footsteps moved in a mysterious rhythm, and his figure suddenly became elusive, like a butterfly flitting through flowers or willow catkins in the wind. In the blink of an eye, he avoided the giant centipede's first lightning-fast pounce, which carried a fishy wind and venom! The giant centipede's sharp legs brushed past the corner of his clothes, instantly slicing a giant rock behind him into pieces. Where the venom splashed, the rock hissed and emitted green smoke.

At the same time, Li Muchen's qingxiao sword moved!

"Returning to Origin Sword Qi!"

He gave a low shout and activated the sword formula. The Core Essence within his body, following the method recorded in the "Supreme Clarity Purple Mansion Returning to Origin True Scripture," was instantly transformed into streaks of extremely condensed and incomparably sharp pale golden Sword Qi, gushing out from the tip of the qingxiao sword!

These Sword Qi were different from ordinary sword light. Not only did they contain physical cutting power, but they also carried the "Core Essence" characteristics unique to Golden Core Cultivators: evil-breaking, law-breaking, and condensed! As Li Muchen's sword formula changed, the Sword Qi either pierced straight, detoured, dispersed, or gathered, moving with extreme agility to target the giant centipede's relatively weak spots such as carapace joints, compound eyes, and mandibles!

"Chichi chichi—!"

The pale golden Sword Qi fell like raindrops on the giant centipede's massive body, clashing with the dark gold and ink green carapace, producing ear-piercing sounds of friction and cutting! The carapace was extremely hard; most of the Sword Qi could only leave shallow white marks, but several streaks precisely hit the leg joints and the edges of the compound eyes, instantly shattering the carapace and sending fluids flying!

"Hiss—!!"

The giant centipede hissed in pain and became even more frenzied. Its massive body twisted wildly, hundreds of pairs of sharp legs flailed in chaos, and venom sprayed like a rainstorm, corroding the surrounding ground until it was riddled with holes. The human face phantoms on its dorsal carapace also let out even more shrill wails, forming waves of invisible Divine Soul shockwaves in an attempt to disturb Li Muchen's mind.

Li Muchen's figure was agile as he wove through the gaps between the sky-filling venom and sharp legs. The qingxiao sword either parried or blocked, skillfully deflecting attacks he couldn't avoid. Within his Sea of Consciousness, the Golden Light of Merit flowed, guarding his spiritual terrace and firmly resisting the annoying Divine Soul shocks.

"Core Essence Body Protection!" With a thought, a thin but exceptionally tough and solid pale golden light shield suddenly appeared on his body's surface, isolating and evaporating the occasionally splashing venom.

For a time, Sword Qi crisscrossed the valley, venom flew everywhere, and screeches shook the heavens! One man and one centipede were locked in an inseparable battle.

Hemp Third Aunt watched from behind, her heart racing. She hadn't expected Li Muchen not only to have exquisite sword techniques and eerie movement but also for his true essence to be so incredibly pure and condensed that he could actually confront her "Ten Thousand Venom Heavenly Centipede" head-on without falling into a disadvantage! Especially that pale golden "Sword Qi" seemed to have a special restraining effect against her Gu insects and evil arts!

"I can't let this drag on!" A fierce light flashed in Hemp Third Aunt's eyes. She could see that Li Muchen was using his movement and Sword Qi to constantly consume and weaken the giant centipede. In a prolonged battle, although the giant centipede was strong, it might not be able to outlast this young Daoist with a deep Foundation.

She gritted her teeth and spat another mouthful of essence blood onto the bone staff. Her hands quickly formed seals as she pointed at the giant centipede and shrieked: "Ten Thousand Souls Heart-Devouring! Venom Explosion of the Firmament!"

Receiving further evil power reinforcement and commands from its master, all the human face phantoms on the giant centipede's dorsal carapace let out silent screeches simultaneously, merging into a thick, inseparable torrent of black resentful souls that lunged at Li Muchen like a physical entity! At the same time, the giant centipede's body suddenly swelled, and thick ink-green venom mist seeped from the gaps in its carapace. Then, it actually opened its hideous mandibles and spat an ink-green venom sphere the size of a human head toward Li Muchen. The sphere was compressed to the limit, with countless poisonous insect phantoms seemingly churning inside!

The resentful soul shock attacked the Divine Soul, while the venom explosion attack destroyed the Physical Body! This was Hemp Third Aunt's strongest strike, produced by squeezing the potential of the "Ten Thousand Venom Heavenly Centipede," and its power was enough to heavily injure or even kill an ordinary Mid Golden Core Stage Cultivator!

Facing this unavoidable ultimate strike, a cold light burst from Li Muchen's eyes!

He no longer dodged but instead suddenly stopped and stood on a protruding rock.

His left hand held his fingers like a sword, held vertically before his chest, as he rapidly chanted profound mantras. His right hand tightly gripped the qingxiao sword, the tip pointing diagonally toward the heavens. The Golden Core inside his body rotated frantically, and all his Core Essence, spirit, and will were poured into this single sword strike!

"Purple Mansion Divine Light, cleanse the demonic atmosphere! Returning to Origin Sword, Strike!"

The great offensive technique recorded in the Golden Core volume of the "Supreme Clarity Purple Mansion Returning to Origin True Scripture"—"Purple Mansion Returning to Origin Slash"!

In an instant, a purple-gold light faintly flashed at Li Muchen's brow, and an extremely condensed light of pale purple Divine Sense erupted first, like an invisible sharp sword, colliding head-on with the black torrent of resentful souls!

"Chila—!"

Like a hot knife through butter, wherever the pale purple Divine Sense light passed, the torrent of resentful souls melted like snow, letting out shrill wails and quickly dissipating! The Purple Mansion Divine Light specifically countered Yin souls and evil spirits!

At the same time, the qingxiao sword in his hand moved!

There was no magnificent sword light, no deafening roar.

There was only an extremely condensed pure white sword trace that seemed to suck in all the surrounding light!

The sword trace was as thin as a hair, yet it contained all the essence of Li Muchen's newly formed Golden Core cultivation, the peerless sharpness of the qingxiao sword, and a trace of the majestic Heavenly Tribulation's power!

The sword trace arrived later but struck first. At the moment the ink-green venom explosion sphere was about to hit him, it struck the exact center of the sphere with incomparable precision and silence!

Time seemed to stand still at this moment.

The next second—

"Weng..."

A strange low hum, like the vibration of space, sounded.

Starting from the center point struck by the sword trace, the ink-green venom explosion sphere, which contained destructive energy, quickly became grayish-white and transparent. Then, like a sand sculpture blown apart by the wind, it silently disintegrated and annihilated, turning into the most basic Origin Qi and dissipating without a trace.

And that pure white sword trace, after piercing the venom explosion sphere, did not slow down at all. As if penetrating a thin sheet of paper, it easily pierced through the "Ten Thousand Venom Heavenly Centipede's" incredibly hard dark gold and ink green carapace and disappeared deep into its head!

The giant centipede's massive body suddenly froze. All movement and all hissing came to an abrupt halt. The human face phantoms on its dorsal carapace also completely dissipated under the impact of the Purple Mansion Divine Light.

In its lantern-like compound eyes, the ferocious, frenzied, and malicious glint quickly faded, replaced by a vacant emptiness.

Immediately after, starting from the point where the sword trace had entered its head, fine pure white cracks quickly spread across the giant centipede's entire body like a spiderweb!

"Kacha... kachacha..."

The sound of shattering was continuous.

Under Hemp Third Aunt's despairing gaze, her "Ten Thousand Venom Heavenly Centipede," which she had spent countless efforts refining and valued as her own life, collapsed with a bang like a shattered glass sculpture! It turned into countless grayish-white fragments that fell rustlingly, and before they even hit the ground, they had completely weathered and dissipated, without leaving even a trace of residue.

With her Life Gu King destroyed, Hemp Third Aunt, whose mind was connected to it, was struck as if by lightning. She suddenly spat out a large mouthful of black blood mixed with fragments of internal organs. Her entire body went limp as if all her strength had been drained, and she collapsed to the ground. Her aura instantly withered to the extreme, leaving only boundless fear and despair in her eyes.

Li Muchen slowly withdrew his sword, his face slightly pale and his aura fluctuating slightly. That "Purple Mansion Returning to Origin Slash" just now had almost exhausted more than half of his Core Essence and Divine Sense power. Its power was indeed terrifying, but the consumption was also extremely staggering.

But he did not stop. Evil must be completely eradicated.

Holding the qingxiao sword, he walked step by step toward Hemp Third Aunt, who was slumped on the ground and had already lost the ability to resist.

Hemp Third Aunt looked at the approaching green figure and the cold sword edge, her eyes filled with despair and pleading. Her lips trembled as if she wanted to say something, but she couldn't make a sound.

Li Muchen gave her no chance.

A flash of sword light.

Hemp Third Aunt's body jolted, a red mark quietly appeared between her brows, the light in her eyes completely dimmed, and her breath was cut off.

The Western Hunan Gu Raiser, Hemp Third Aunt, was executed!

Li Muchen didn't even look at her corpse. He turned and walked toward the deep pool. The pool water was still dark green, but the previous evil fluctuations were gone. He took out several Blazing Fire Talismans, injected Core Essence, and threw them toward the bamboo buildings, caves, and piles of evil Materials.

The talisman fire ignited and spread quickly, swallowing and burning this filthy place that had been maintained for who knows how many years, along with Hemp Third Aunt's corpse and the remaining Gu insects and Corpse Refinings.

The blazing firelight illuminated the gradually clearing valley and also seemed to be purifying the accumulated sins of this place.

Li Muchen stood quietly by the pool, watching the flames while adjusting his breathing to recover.

The Western Hunan Karma was finally settled.