39: Chapter 39 Taking Off

The summer sky thunder drums sounded again, and the Profound Thunder headed straight for a mulberry forest on the mountainside where the spring mist was faint.

Zhou Boqi was hiding there; just as the spring-mirage pearl at his waist withdrew a wisp of white Qi, he heard the thunder above his head.

He raised his hand to dodge, but it was too late.

The Profound Thunder crashed down, and the mulberry forest exploded.

Zhou Boqi was blasted more than ten zhang away, his grey-white cloak charred on one side, and the spring-mirage pearl was covered in cracks.

When he landed, he coughed up blood, his face as pale as paper, and he quickly retreated to the side of the Zhou Family members.

Zhao Hengyue was also burning with rage at this moment.

As a dignified Foundation Establishment Middle Stage Cultivator, he had first been led astray by the illusion of Zhou Boqi, who had just stepped into the Early Stage, then injured by the reflection of the Mountain and River Map, and then had a wisp of his soul stripped away by a wooden tablet, losing all face in front of the Zhao Family members.

The Chilian Copper Furnace was slapped open by him.

The furnace mouth opened wide.

The red fire no longer suppressed the formation corner and spread across half the mountainside in an instant.

The Li Fire rolled, and the frontal battlefield was completely swallowed by the crimson.

The spring Qi lingering in various places was all refined, and even the protective spiritual light released by the Zhou Family's Qi-refining Cultivators grew thinner in the fire.

Several Cultivators in the rear with lower cultivation levels only needed to be illuminated by the firelight for their throats to become dry and smoky, and the circulation of their True Essence began to stagnate.

On the surface, it looked like Zhao Hengyue had been enraged and was forcibly attacking to save face.

However, Zhou Boyi understood his purpose.

Burning the mountain with red fire was to ruin the imagery.

The Mirage Spring Sea had just gained momentum by borrowing the spring Qi from the broken formation, the green light of the mountains and rivers, and the fear in people's hearts.

Now that the Profound Thunder had destroyed the hiding place and the Li Fire was burning the mountain, the Zhao Family members had suffered a loss once, and everyone was using talismans to protect their spirits, everyone was on guard.

The illusion would be difficult to form again.

Zhou Boqi forced himself to raise another mirage shadow.

Before the shadow could form, it was scattered by Zhao Wenxiao's thunder drums.

The cracks on the spring-mirage pearl grew deeper.

Although the Zhao Family had casualties, with six Foundation Establishment Cultivators and two Buddhist Cultivators whose strength was equivalent to Foundation Establishment assisting, they were still in the upper hand.

Zhou Boyi watched this scene, his hand already pressed against the Qingsang Jade Box at his waist.

Inside the box was the Zhou Family's ancestral Magical Artifact, the Qingsang Spring-Fixing Banner.

This banner could fix the spring Qi of a mountain and counter the thunder and fire's Evil Qi.

The Zhou Family had another ancestral ancient technique that required using this banner as a medium to burn the century-old spring vein of the Main Peak, which was enough to take down one or two Foundation Establishment Cultivators of the Zhao Family.

Just as Zhou Boyi was about to open the box, Zhou Boqi reached out and pressed his wrist.

"Elder Brother, you cannot use it."

Zhou Boyi looked down at him.

There was still blood at the corner of Zhou Boqi's mouth, but his eyes were very clear.

"The Zhao Family dares to attack the mountain like this; they must have a backup plan. The Qingsang Spring-Fixing Banner has too great a reputation. Since they came, they must have a countermeasure in mind."

Zhou Boyi's voice was very deep.

"You cannot hold on anymore."

"Therefore, you cannot reveal our trump card for me."

Zhou Boqi smiled and looked at the black clouds outside the mountain.

"In Go, there is a move called a 'ladder'. You escape one step, he chases one step. You reinforce one move, he blocks one move. It looks like there is still a way, but chasing to the end, the chessboard has edges, and human strength has its limits."

"To save one doomed piece, you have to sacrifice many good pieces along the way."

He said softly: "Elder Brother, this piece of mine is already useless."

Zhou Boyi's eyes moved slightly.

Zhou Boqi slowly let go of his hand.

Despite being seriously injured, his eyes became clear instead.

"Let us change our move."

Zhao Hengyue had been waiting for Zhou Boqi to die.

Fighting until now tonight, Zhou Boqi no longer posed much of a threat.

After the Zhao Family broke the formation, thunder and fire illuminated the mountain, the spring mist dissipated, and everything the Mirage Spring Sea was best at was suppressed.

Zhou Boqi had tried to force an illusion several times, but all were broken one by one.

The spring-mirage pearl cracked, and his hiding place was blasted out by Zhao Wenxiao.

He should have retreated long ago.

But he did not retreat.

He raised his hand again.

Zhao Hengyue saw this scene, and a sense of annoyance rose in his heart.

"Still coming?"

This sentence blurted out, carrying irrepressible mockery.

He was not careless.

The Soul-Calming Talisman on his chest was still shining, and the Chilian Copper Furnace was also protecting his heart.

Previously, he had been stripped of a wisp of his soul by Zhou Shuyan's black wooden tablet, and there was still a cold pain between his eyebrows.

But precisely because of this, he guarded against Zhou Boqi's illusions even more strictly.

If Zhou Boqi couldn't borrow momentum while alive, could he still turn the sky when he was seriously injured and dying?

The spring-mirage pearl flew up from Zhou Boqi's waist.

It was covered in cracks.

He chanted the ancient method incantation.

"The Spring Sea is boundless, the mirage tower has no shore. May life be the road, may obsession be the gate. Those who see me, see themselves. Those who enter the sea, enter the heart."

The chanting was light and clear.

The Soul-Calming Talisman on Zhao Hengyue's chest immediately shone with light gold.

The Chilian Copper Furnace sprayed out Li Fire, wrapping around it, burning those mind-confusing vapors clean.

Zhao Hengyue felt steady in his heart.

Now that the imagery was gone and he was seriously injured and dying, the power of the illusion was no longer enough.

The next instant, he saw Zhou Boyan attacking with the lamp.

The light of the Spring-Binding Bone-Illuminating Lantern's pale willow flames headed straight for his heart.

Zhao Hengyue raised his hand to tilt the Chilian Copper Furnace, but his fingers suddenly delayed for an instant.

An extremely short instant, short enough to be just one thought.

But this thought should not have appeared.

He looked down; the Soul-Calming Talisman was still there, and the Chilian Copper Furnace was still there, but the mountain terrain around him had changed.

Zhao Hengyue's heart sank suddenly.

Illusion.

He bit the tip of his tongue, the chilian heavenly fire's momentum surged, and the Soul-Calming Talisman also burned with a layer of golden light.

The excruciating pain forced his Divine Sense back by half, and a crack opened in the illusion before him.

In the gap, he saw Zhou Boqi.

Zhou Boqi stood in place, fragments of the spring-mirage pearl scattered everywhere.

The pearl shattered, the person died.

Zhao Hengyue's scalp went numb; Zhou Boqi had never intended to live from the beginning!

When a Foundation Establishment Cultivator dies, the Immortal Foundation disintegrates, pushing the phenomena cultivated in this life to the extreme in an extremely short instant.

When Zhou Boqi was alive, he couldn't borrow the mist, but when he died, he used his own Foundation Establishment as a sacrifice to forcibly open a Dead Mirage Spring Sea.

The Immortal Foundation imagery that disintegrates when a Foundation Establishment Cultivator dies significantly enhances the effect of the ancient method he cast.

Moreover, his soul had already been injured by that black wooden tablet.

The dead mirage entered his heart.

The illusion closed again.

Zhao Hengyue saw himself standing in the main hall of Black Stone Ridge, Zhao Xuansui patting his shoulder, saying he had made the first merit in this battle.

He also saw the Zhao Family occupying Shuangxi Ferry, the new law monk Anzhong, the Zhou Family's Main Peak bowing its head, and himself building a tower at the east entrance of Guli Circuit to collect taxes.

These images grew from the bottom of his heart.

Even knowing they were fake, he couldn't break through them.

The pale light of the lamp pierced into the illusion; it was Zhou Boyan who had arrived.

Zhao Hengyue sobered up for half a breath.

The lamp fire had already pressed to his chest.

Three willow flames drilled in along the broken protective spiritual light, straight into his heart along the soul injury.

He opened his mouth, and blood gushed out.

He couldn't finish his words.

The Chilian Copper Furnace made a sound first, then shattered.

Immediately after, the chilian heaven lost its owner and suddenly rolled back from the hole pierced by the lamp fire.

The Great Heat Li Fire exploded after reaching its peak.

The red color spread from the mountainside, first burning the formation curtain, then rolling into the night sky.

Sangyin Small Market, Beijian Mouth, Niubei Hollow, and even the refugee sheds outside Shuangxi Ferry saw the sky turn red at this moment.

Some thought the Qingsang Main Peak had been burned through.

Others knelt on the ground, shouting that an Immortal had fallen.

Zhao Hengyue could no longer hear it himself.

In his peripheral vision, he saw the monk Jingye also being surrounded.

Jingye had previously been torn by the mountain-protecting formation, replenished by the flesh and blood of the common people, and his Dharma body had never been stable.

At this moment, affected by the collapse of the Mirage Spring Sea, the Anxi light on the white banner flickered.

Zhou Shuyan sacrificed eleven black wooden tablets to suppress his Vow light.

Accountant Zhou Chengli cut off the several Vow lines between him and the believers at the foot of the mountain.

Zhou Boyi unfolded the Mountain and River Map, and the spring Qi of a mountain pressed down like a tide.

Jingye roared, the white banner cracked, and his body turned into countless white lights, wanting to escape back to the Buddhist Land.

Zhou Boyan had just killed Zhao Hengyue, and the lamp light turned, the Spring-Binding Bone-Illuminating Lantern sweeping across that white light.

Jingye decisively self-detonated the white banner, the light shaking off the techniques attacking him.

Jingye's body was shattered, and his Divine Sense retreated to a very distant place along the residual light of the white banner.

At the foot of the mountain, dozens of believer commoners fell again, their flesh and blood Vow light replenishing the last part of the return path for him.

He was beaten back to the Buddhist Land to reshape.

The last bit of unwillingness in Zhao Hengyue's heart also burned to ash in this look.

Under the influence of the Spring-Binding Bone-Illuminating Lantern, his life force was cut cleanly.

The flames that had not extinguished across the mountains and plains, and the large flags of the Zhao Family fluttering, all gradually dissipated.

The last thing Zhao Hengyue saw was the smiling corpse of Zhou Boqi.

The red fire on the mountainside was still burning.