470: Now it's your turn.

When Zhuge Mo was expelled from the Ghost Valley Sect for Cultivating evil arts and harming his fellow disciples, he stole the incomplete manuscript of the Master of Ghost Valley regarding the Nine-Turn Nether God-Locking Formation.

Over the years, while evading the pursuit of the Ghost Valley Sect, he plundered everywhere, collecting the Heaven And Earth Treasure needed to refine the Formation base—Millennium Nether Cold Iron, Stardust Sand, Myriad Grudge Soul Beads, Blood Spirit Crystals... Every single one was a rare treasure in this world, and many of these Materials even required the slaughter of an entire city's populace to gather.

After decades of painstaking research and refining, Zhuge Mo not only completed the missing parts of the manuscript but also successfully refined the base for the Nine-Turn Nether God-Locking Formation.

This Formation base was a jade pendant as black as ink, carved with eerie runes, known as the "God-Locking Pendant," and it was the core of the entire Formation.

For all these years, he had kept the God-Locking Pendant hidden in the deepest part of his Storage Pouch, never showing it to anyone, all for the sake of delivering a fatal blow to his enemies at a critical moment.

"Rise!"

As the last word fell from Zhuge Mo, he fiercely threw the God-Locking Pendant in his hand high into the air.

The God-Locking Pendant instantly expanded to several dozen zhang in size, its runes shining brilliantly, and black-red light spread in all directions like a spider web, instantly shrouding the entire sky above the imperial palace.

Above in the sky, stars faintly appeared; even in broad daylight, one could clearly see nine dim stars aligned in a row, emitting a cold, gloomy light.

Countless black-red chains emerged from the Void Realm, covered in barbs and wreathed in dense Nether Evil Qi, as they madly coiled toward Xiao Jingyan.

At the same time, the space within the range of the Formation became viscous, and a powerful binding force pressed in from all directions, causing Xiao Jingyan's movements to slow down significantly.

"Not good!" Xiao Jingyan's expression changed; he could clearly feel the terror of this Formation.

That Nether Evil Qi was not only highly corrosive but could also erode the Divine Soul, and those black-red chains carried an even more eerie power, locking his Nascent Soul in place.

He hurriedly controlled the giant ghost hand, grabbing fiercely toward those chains.

"Boom!" The Puppet Qi ghost hand collided with the black-red chains, emitting a deafening roar.

However, those chains were exceptionally tough; not only were they not broken, but they also acted like maggots on a bone, winding along the arm of the ghost hand toward Xiao Jingyan's physical body.

Wherever the chains passed, Xiao Jingyan's Puppet Qi was rapidly corroded, making a "hissing" sound, and the originally dense black Puppet Qi was actually being corroded until it gradually faded.

"Damn it!" Xiao Jingyan roared, the power of his Nascent Soul operating crazily within him, and the black Puppet Qi around his body surged, attempting to break free from the entanglement of the chains.

But the binding force of those chains was simply too strong, and combined with the spatial confinement brought by the Formation, his struggles were like a clay ox entering the sea, having absolutely no effect.

In just a few breaths, dozens of black-red chains had tightly bound Xiao Jingyan, from his limbs to his torso, and then to his neck, layer upon layer, like a giant silkworm cocoon.

The Nether Evil Qi on the chains constantly eroded his body and Divine Soul, causing him to feel a piercing pain, and his Nascent Soul began to tremble violently, on the verge of collapsing at any moment.

"Hahaha! Xiao Jingyan, how is it? This taste of the Nine-Turn Nether God-Locking Formation isn't pleasant, is it?"

Zhuge Mo hovered outside the Formation, watching the tightly trapped Xiao Jingyan, laughing loudly, his eyes filled with triumph and cruelty, "I said, so what if you broke through to the Nascent Soul Rank? In front of my ultimate Formation, you are still fish waiting to be slaughtered! Do you feel hopeless now?"

The intense pain and the erosion of his Divine Soul caused Xiao Jingyan's consciousness to begin to blur.

He saw the scene of himself killing his wife and children once again.

"Wanqing, Lingxi, and the children... I have failed you all!"

The immense pain and remorse gnawed at his heart like a poisonous snake, plunging him into extreme madness.

He hated Zhuge Mo for destroying the Xiao Family and causing his father's death;

he also hated himself, hated his own cruelty, hated his own madness, and hated himself for personally destroying all his familial bonds.

"It's all you! Zhuge Mo! It's all because of you!"

"I want revenge! I want to kill you!"

Xiao Jingyan howled toward the sky, his voice shrill and mad.

Stimulated by extreme emotions, the Nascent Soul within him began to spin crazily, and the originally dense black Puppet Qi became violent.

Those Puppet Qi tainted by the Nether Evil Qi, under the catalysis of extreme madness and remorse, actually began to undergo an eerie transformation.

Within the original black Puppet Qi, faint dark-red veins gradually emerged, and its aura became even more terrifying.

It was no longer purely cold, but possessed an additional destructive force, as if it could devour everything and destroy everything.

This was a higher Rank form of Puppet Qi—Puppet Fiend Qi!

Puppet Fiend Qi was formed by using one's own emotions as a catalyst, creating a Fusion of Puppet Qi with one's own Evil Qi, resentment, and hatred, and refining it through the extreme.

Its power far exceeded ordinary Puppet Qi; not only was its corrosiveness and destructiveness stronger, but it could also directly erode the Divine Soul, making it an extremely overbearing and eerie power.

Throughout history, there have been very few Cultivators capable of Cultivating Puppet Qi into Puppet Fiend Qi, because it requires experiencing extreme pain and madness; one slight misstep, and one would face Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering.

"Boom—!"

A destructive aura erupted from Xiao Jingyan's body, and the dark-red Puppet Fiend Qi, like a volcanic eruption, instantly broke through the black Puppet Qi on his body surface and spread in all directions.

The black-red chains wrapped around him, the moment they touched the Puppet Fiend Qi, quickly dissolved like ice and snow meeting a raging fire, emitting a "hissing" roar, and soon turned into wisps of black smoke.

Before the Puppet Fiend Qi, the Nether Evil Qi was like a toy, being rapidly devoured and assimilated.

"What?!" The smile on Zhuge Mo's face instantly froze, his eyes filled with disbelief and terror, "This... what kind of power is this? How is this possible? You actually devoured the Nether Evil Qi???"

"Crack!"

With a crisp sound, the God-Locking Pendant suspended in the sky, under the impact of the Puppet Fiend Qi, shattered with a bang, turning into countless fragments that scattered.

The Nine-Turn Nether God-Locking Formation was broken!

Xiao Jingyan slowly opened his eyes; at this moment, his pupils were no longer purely crimson, but had turned into an eerie dark red, like the burning fire of Hell.

Wreathed in dense dark-red Puppet Fiend Qi, his aura was violent and terrifying, several times stronger than when he had previously achieved his Nascent Soul Breakthrough.

He hovered in mid-air like an Asura from Hell, emitting a heart-palpitating aura of destruction.

"Zhuge Mo..." Xiao Jingyan's voice was hoarse and cold, carrying a hair-raising murderous intent, "Now it is your turn."

Zhuge Mo felt fear for the first time and hurriedly took out the Soul-Controlling Bell from his Storage Pouch.

This Soul-Controlling Bell was refined from the skeletons of a thousand infants, and countless resentful souls were sealed inside the bell.

When the bell was shaken, it would emit special sound waves capable of interfering with others' Divine Souls, and could even control others' wills to a certain extent.

Back then, when he planted the Puppet Heart Curse on Xiao Jingyan, it was by relying on this Soul-Controlling Bell that he managed to successfully implant the heart curse deep into Xiao Jingyan's Divine Soul.

Zhuge Mo shook it frantically.

"Ding-a-ling—Ding-a-ling—" The eerie ringing of the bell rang out instantly, the sound waves, like invisible blades carrying the dense power of resentful souls, fiercely impacted toward Xiao Jingyan's Divine Soul.