147: Banner of Ten Thousand Souls: Formless Tai Sui.

"Blood Scythe Mantis!"

In her terror, He Zhiyi activated a skill, summoning her Imperial Beast.

Twelve blood-red mantises, half a person's height, flew out as red light.

In an instant, they severed all the tentacles that had shot towards them.

He Zhiyi quickly gained altitude.

But before she could catch her breath...

Dozens more tentacles shot out from the lava pool.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The blood-red tentacles, like venomous snakes, coiled around the 12 Blood Scythe Mantises, dragging them into the lava pool in a blink of an eye.

At the same time, more tentacles flew out from the lava.

Their density was like strands of hair.

He Zhiyi had no escape and was entangled into a ball by a large number of tentacles.

Both were Tian Gu Spiritual Mediums.

She was only level 30.

And the Gu King was already level 121.

In a magical duel between the two, the victor would be decided in less than a single round.

"Hahahaha!"

A grotesque infant with a large head floated out from the lava pool, letting out a dry, eerie laugh.

"Qin Yang being dragged into the Secret Realm means he's already facing certain death!"

"Now, the Tian Gu Spiritual Medium is also in my hands!"

"Though I can't annihilate Lizhou this time, it will at least sate my hatred!"

"He Zhiyi! I'm going to refine you into a Gu Insect right now!"

The grotesque infant, formed by the Gu King, glared with hateful eyes and shrieked maniacally.

He was originally a prodigy, and once served as a Tian Gu Spiritual Medium, guarding the mountains and forests of Lizhou.

But now, he had fallen to a point where everyone wanted to kill him.

It didn't matter.

After refining He Zhiyi into a Gu Insect, he would flee to another country.

After that, he would spend his entire life as an enemy of Jiu Zhou, and an enemy of Lizhou!

Evil energy surged from the Gu King's body, flowing through the numerous tentacles towards He Zhiyi, who was entangled into a ball of flesh in the air.

Just as the evil power was about to reach the ball of flesh...

A series of sharp whistles echoed from the sky.

A silver thread-like light streaked across.

The tentacles, as dense as hair, were all severed at once, scattering chaotically.

It was as if a pair of scissors had cut them in half.

Hiss, hiss, hiss!

Crimson Zhen Gu power gushed from the tentacles, falling into the lava pool and emitting billows of black smoke with a pungent smell.

As the tentacles broke, He Zhiyi, who had been tangled into a ball of flesh, was also freed.

Unconscious, she fell towards the lava pool below, along with the severed tentacles.

Just as she was about to fall into the scorching lava, her body suddenly froze in mid-air.

A man in white robes appeared out of thin air beside her.

The man looked to be around sixty, with a dignified appearance, exuding authority without anger.

His silver-white hair was meticulously combed.

When he appeared, the entire wilderness let out a sharp hum.

That was the vibration of Sword Intent.

The entire wilderness was already covered by his Sword Intent.

The newcomer was none other than the Sword Emperor of Jiu Zhou, Lin Xuan.

"You... who are you again?!"

"One after another! Are you people never-ending?!"

The Gu King saw his thousands of tentacles severed.

He immediately realized that the newcomer was immensely powerful.

He yelled loudly at the sky, bluffing, while simultaneously...

He split off an even smaller infant body and submerged it deep into the lava, planning to escape using the Golden Cicada Shedding Its Shell technique.

However, his little tricks were seen clearly by the other person.

Lin Xuan glanced at the Gu King and poured his Sword Qi into the lava pool.

In an instant...

The sharp Sword Intent transformed into billions of nano-steel needles, filling the entire lava pool.

Let alone the Gu King's smaller split body, even something as tiny as a tardigrade would be riddled with holes.

This killing move was simple yet deadly, requiring no further description.

The Gu King didn't even have time to let out a grunt before his entire body was reduced to a bloody mist under the onslaught of Sword Intent.

As a level 121 Monarch Tier expert...

In this world...

He had already surpassed most people.

But the person he encountered today was the Sword Emperor of Jiu Zhou, who had one foot in the Transcendent Tier.

In the absolute Domain of Sword Intent, killing a low-tier Monarch was like crushing an insect.

"Freak."

Lin Xuan snorted disdainfully.

He showed a look of disgust, as if he had just crushed an insect.

Then, he pointed downwards again, muttering, "Condense."

In an instant, the temperature was drawn from the lava below, rapidly cooling into rock, forming a foothold.

After setting down the unconscious He Zhiyi...

Lin Xuan looked at the center of the lava pool and murmured to himself, "The rift is right there."

He gently raised his hand, summoning an ancient longsword.

After condensing his Sword Intent, he fiercely unleashed a burst of Sword Qi towards the center of the lava.

Boom!

Sword Intent erupted, space vibrated, and the surrounding light twisted.

However, the scene Lin Xuan imagined did not appear.

The space in front of him only twisted and vibrated for a moment before returning to normal.

"Can't open it?"

Lin Xuan frowned.

His Sword Intent could freely tear through space.

As long as two spaces were connected, he could freely travel between them.

Yet, the Wildfire Rift before him clearly had a spatial pathway, but his Sword Intent couldn't penetrate it.

With this unexpected turn, Lin Xuan couldn't help but feel a little anxious.

At his level...

Brute force was meaningless.

Something that couldn't be cut, just couldn't be cut.

Slicing it a hundred times, or ten thousand times, would be useless.

Lin Xuan didn't intend to waste any more Sword Intent.

He raised his hand and sent a stream of Sword Intent into He Zhiyi.

The Sword Intent transformed into energy, flowing into He Zhiyi's body, cleansing and nourishing her like a gentle breeze.

A second later, He Zhiyi woke up.

Before she could react, Lin Xuan spoke.

"Spiritual Medium girl, the Wildfire Rift seems to have a Restriction. Do you know how to open it?"

The groggy He Zhiyi blinked.

After clearly seeing Lin Xuan's face, she suddenly became alert.

She had already learned about Qin Yang's background from Huang Liang.

His mother was a level 149 Peak Monarch, his father a level 70 Grandmaster, and his maternal grandfather a level 180 Peak Emperor.

The old man's appearance before her was strikingly similar to Qin Yang's.

He Zhiyi thought for a moment.

And immediately knew the identity of the person before her.

The number one Sword in the world, one of the Four Emperors, Lin Xuan.

"Sword... Sword..."

It was her first time meeting such an important figure.

He Zhiyi could barely speak.

She cleared her throat before saying, "To Sword Emperor, the Wildfire Rift is sealed with Zhen Gu. To reactivate it, Zhen Gu must be used."

Upon hearing this, Lin Xuan's mouth twitched.

Not good.

He had acted too quickly.

If only he had known, he would have spared that insect's life... Where could he find someone who knew Zhen Gu in such short order?

Just as Lin Xuan was feeling a headache coming on...

He Zhiyi continued, "Sword Emperor, I can open the rift."

Lin Xuan was startled and looked at He Zhiyi.

He truly hadn't expected this beautiful girl to possess the evil Zhen Gu art.

However, He Zhiyi did not seem ashamed of it.

She looked at the Formless Tai Sui, which had become a mountain of flesh.

She said, "The Formless Tai Sui is the most powerful Gu Insect in Lizhou. It can be used as a conduit to enter the Wildfire Rift."

"Formless... Tai Sui."

Lin Xuan looked at the surrounding mountains of flesh and was slightly stunned.

He recalled a past event.

A hundred years ago, he was still a child.

At that time, the Wildfire Rift erupted.

Lava spewed, and foreign races descended.

The entire Lizhou was engulfed in a sea of fire.

Under Zhang Lingxiao's guidance...

The people of Lizhou learned that Gu Insects could restrain flames.

The Formless Tai Sui was a product of that time.

It was a Gu Insect created by Zhang Lingxiao using the Demonic Weapon, the ten thousand souls banner!

"Damn it..."

Looking at the Formless Tai Sui, which had formed a mountain, Lin Xuan couldn't help but curse.

A hundred years ago, Zhang Lingxiao was still a Hero Rank Professional.

At that time, he was actually able to refine such a terrifying thing?

That stinky Daoist... He wasn't great at fighting, but his methods were terrifyingly numerous!

...Retired Emperors: What is this ten thousand souls banner? How do you use it? I don't understand...