72: Your time of death has come!

Within the valley, a chilling wind howled, and the thick scent of blood and an ominous Aura were almost tangible.

Lin Yunzhi stood in the center of a Formation carved with strange runes, forming hand seals and muttering incantations.

His face was pale, but his eyes held a morbid fanaticism.

Seven fist-sized “potent demon attraction incense” emitting a faint purple glow were arranged according to the Big Dipper constellation. As he cast his spell, their light grew brighter, and a heart-pounding energy ripple spread outwards.

“Soon… it’ll be soon! Li Dong! I will make the entire Prefecture City be buried with you! Hahahaha!” Lin Yunzhi’s voice was distorted by excitement, filled with venom and madness.

In his eyes, Prefecture City was nothing more than his Family’s backyard. Now that this backyard was about to be uprooted, he might as well burn it all down!

Just as the Formation was about to be fully activated, and the demon-attracting incense on the verge of exploding—

“Lin Yunzhi, you insane bastard, trying to drag an entire city of people down with your Lin Family? Did you ask me first?”

A cold voice, like a chilling wind from Hell, suddenly echoed throughout the valley.

Lin Yunzhi shivered violently, his spell-casting motion abruptly stopping. He suddenly looked up, staring in the direction of the voice, his face filled with disbelief.

“Who?!”

A figure appeared like a ghost on a nearby mountain rock, stepping through the night.

The newcomer wore dark robes, holding an ancient, heavy black Mystic Iron Demon Suppressing Ruler, its surface faintly glowing with circulating runes. Moonlight shone on his face, revealing a countenance Lin Yunzhi would never forget!

“Li… Li Dong?! Impossible! You… weren’t you already dead?!” Lin Yunzhi shrieked as if he had seen a ghost, his eyes almost popping out, his voice so sharp it changed pitch.

Li Dong, who should have been reduced to ashes according to his plan, was actually standing alive before him!

Moreover, the Aura Li Dong emitted now was far stronger than when he was in the Lin Family’s warehouse! That tangible pressure, like a towering mountain, made it almost impossible for him to breathe.

“Foundation Establishment… Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment? No! It’s Peak! How could you…” Lin Yunzhi screamed in shock, his mind reeling.

Li Dong’s lips twitched, not in a smile, but with an extremely cold killing intent: “Thanks to you, I didn’t die. Instead, thanks to your Lin Family, I had a small Breakthrough. Surprised? Unexpected?”

The Mystic Iron Demon Suppressing Ruler in his hand vibrated slightly, and a terrifying wave of Qi exploded from him, causing the loose stones in the valley to rattle.

“Lin Yunzhi, open your dog eyes and see clearly, today is your, and your Lin Family’s, day of death!”

Before his voice faded, Li Dong’s figure moved!

Without a single wasted word, he pushed off the ground, and his entire being, like a tiger unleashed from its cage, charged directly at Lin Yunzhi, enveloped in towering flames of rage!

“Protect Second Master!”

Beside Lin Yunzhi, several Lin Family dead soldiers who had been lurking roared and sprang from the shadows. Their weapons gleamed with cold light as they fearlessly met Li Dong. These dead soldiers were all top-tier Qi Refining Cultivators, and there was even one Cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Stage - Early Phase, who was Lin Yunzhi’s last reliance.

“A bunch of weaklings, daring to block my path?” A cold glint flashed in Li Dong’s eyes.

“Boom!”

The Mystic Iron Demon Suppressing Ruler in his hand seemed to come alive, sweeping out with immense power!

Where the Ruler’s shadow passed, the air let out an unbearable explosive roar.

“Puff! Puff!”

The first two Qi Refinement Stage dead soldiers to charge forward didn’t even touch Li Dong’s clothes before being directly blasted away by the violent Ruler Qi, spitting blood, their chest bones caved in, instantly dying!

“What?!” Lin Yunzhi was terrified.

How could Li Dong’s strength be so powerful?! The intelligence was wrong! Terribly wrong!

“Kill him! Kill him for me!” Lin Yunzhi roared hoarsely, while quickly pulling out a jade talisman from his Pregnant, preparing to activate it.

The Foundation Establishment Stage - Early Phase dead soldier leader’s face was extremely grim. He shouted, and his long saber burst forth with dazzling saber light. With a “Mountain Splitting Chop,” he brought the blade down on Li Dong with a fierce gust of wind.

“Petty tricks!”

Li Dong neither dodged nor evaded. He formed a seal with his left hand, and an abstruse golden “Suppress” character appeared out of thin air.

“Spirit Transformation Demon Suppression Seal!”

As the golden Seal appeared, an invisible suppressive force instantly enveloped the dead soldier leader. He felt his spiritual energy circulation stall, and his saber momentum also slowed.

When masters clash, things change in an instant.

This momentary delay had already decided life and death!

“Clang!”

The Mystic Iron Demon Suppressing Ruler arrived first, striking the back of the opponent’s saber with pinpoint accuracy.

A mighty force surged, and the dead soldier leader felt a sharp pain in his tiger’s mouth, his long saber flying out of his hand. Immediately after, the Ruler’s shadow continued without pause, like a maggot on bone, striking his chest.

“No—”

“Bang!”

With a muffled thud, the Foundation Establishment Stage - Early Phase dead soldier leader was hit as if by a heavy hammer. He flew backward like a broken kite, crashing heavily against the distant mountain wall, his fate unknown.

In an instant, several dead soldiers were either dead or wounded!

Li Dong moved as if in an uninhabited land. The Mystic Iron Demon Suppressing Ruler in his hand was sometimes wide and sweeping, unstoppable; at other times, agile and precise, unpredictable. Every strike carried the righteous Qi that suppressed evil demons, as well as his accumulated boundless rage towards the Lin Family.

Lin Yunzhi was completely panicked. He fumbled to activate a Family secret technique, a layer of blood-colored light emerging from his body, attempting to resist.

“The Lin Family’s Blood Escape secret technique? You think you can escape in front of me?” Li Dong sneered.

He had long understood some of the Lin Family’s hidden trump cards from the appendix of that core ledger.

The Spirit Transformation Demon Suppression Seal shone brightly. That suppressive force not only targeted Cultivators themselves but also had a natural restraining effect on such evil secret techniques.

Lin Yunzhi felt the blood light around him shake, and the speed of his secret technique activation suddenly slowed several times, as if he had fallen into a quagmire.

“How could this happen… my Blood Shadow Great Art…” Lin Yunzhi’s eyes were filled with despair.

His proud Family secret technique was so vulnerable in front of Li Dong!

Li Dong had no time to waste with him. While suppressing Lin Yunzhi, his sharp gaze swept towards the seven “potent demon attraction incense” that were already shining to their extreme.

Time was running out!

【Warning! The detonation Formation has entered its final activation stage! Remaining time: less than thirty breaths!】 The System’s urgent prompt sounded in Li Dong’s mind.

“Thirty breaths?” Li Dong’s eyes narrowed.

He had to stop this catastrophe within thirty breaths!

“Lin Yunzhi, prepare to die!”

Li Dong roared, and the Mystic Iron Demon Suppressing Ruler glowed even brighter. A condensed Ruler shadow, carrying an Aura of destroying everything, blasted towards Lin Yunzhi, who was still struggling desperately.

At the same time, his figure flickered, not retreating but advancing, rushing towards the closest “potent demon attraction incense” to him.

“Even if I die, I’ll drag you to Hell with me!” Seeing no hope of escape, a trace of insane ruthlessness flashed in Lin Yunzhi’s eyes. He recklessly urged the remaining spiritual energy in his body, wanting to forcibly detonate a demon-attracting incense.

“Wishful thinking!”

Li Dong had already anticipated this move.

“Bang!”

The Ruler shadow solidly struck Lin Yunzhi’s protective blood light. The blood light vibrated violently, emitting wails, and finally, with a “crack,” it completely shattered.

“Puff—” Lin Yunzhi was struck as if by lightning, spitting out a mouthful of blood, his Aura instantly wilting.

But a sinister smile appeared on his face: “Too late… the Formation core is already…”

Li Dong didn’t give him a chance to finish his sentence. The moment he shattered Lin Yunzhi’s defense, he used his keen perception of the “demon-attracting incense’s” unique energy fluctuations, and the Spirit Transformation Demon Suppression Seal’s insight into the Formation’s Aura, to lock onto an extremely hidden rune node beneath one of the “potent demon attraction incense” with lightning speed.

That was one of the core hubs of the entire detonation Formation!

“Break for me!”

Li Dong disregarded his own spiritual energy consumption, and the Mystic Iron Demon Suppressing Ruler, at an extremely tricky angle, slammed heavily into that rune node!

At the same time, he cleverly shifted his body, using the force of another surviving dead soldier’s lunge to redirect that dead soldier’s attack towards another “potent demon attraction incense” that was about to be fully activated.

“Boom!”

With a loud bang, the rune node struck by Li Dong shattered! The several “potent demon attraction incense” connected to it suddenly dimmed, and their energy fluctuations became chaotic.

On the other side, the dead soldier “borrowed” by Li Dong, his attack landed squarely on another “potent demon attraction incense.” Although it failed to detonate it, it also damaged its structure, making it equally impossible to detonate.

【Warning! Formation core node damaged! Some ‘potent demon attraction incense’ have failed! Detonation sequence interrupted!】

The System’s prompt made Li Dong breathe a slight sigh of relief.

But the crisis was not completely resolved; several demon-attracting incense were still on the verge of activation!

And just then, outside the valley, several powerful Auras were rapidly approaching from afar.

One of the Auras was somewhat familiar to Li Dong; it seemed to be… Inspector Zhou?

Several other Auras were filled with hostility and killing intent.

“Hmph, better late than never. Perfect, let you all see the Lin Family’s ‘masterpiece’!” Li Dong snorted inwardly.

In the Lin Family mansion far away in Prefecture City, Lin Xiaotian suddenly stood up from his grand chair, his face ashen. He had just received a secret report that Li Dong was not dead and had appeared in the southwest valley outside the city!

“Li Dong! It’s you again, you little beast!” Lin Xiaotian roared, his Aura erupting, “If Yunzhi suffers any misfortune, this old man will surely tear you to shreds!”

He flickered, also rushing towards the southwest direction outside the city.

Inside the valley, Li Dong did not pause for a moment, his gaze locked on Lin Yunzhi.

“The game, it’s over.”

Lin Yunzhi collapsed to the ground, watching Li Dong approach step by step, his eyes filled only with endless fear and regret.

He couldn’t understand how everything he had meticulously planned could have come to such a pass.

“You… who exactly are you…” Lin Yunzhi’s voice trembled.

Li Dong walked up to him, looking down at him, the tip of the Mystic Iron Demon Suppressing Ruler pressed against his glabella.

“Go ask the King of Hell.”

The cold voice pronounced his end.