64: Chapter 64 What?! Pure Yang True Flame?!

Duan Gujin was filled with deep suspicion.

The behavior of Chen Jiao's Clone was far too strange.

The System didn't respond, so he could only look for clues himself.

“It's very likely a blood sacrifice. But what is the offering? And why is the timing so coincidental?” He thought rapidly.

Letting Senior Brother Yang and Yun Xiangrong go alone was too dangerous; they would likely be captured again.

Furthermore, they were clues that had come into contact with the Clone. By bringing them along, he might be able to find Chen Jiao's true body or even lure him out.

“Separating means certain death.”

Duan Gujin decided to take the two with him while remaining vigilant.

He chose a hidden path to head deeper into the cold mist zone.

The cold was bone-chilling.

Duan Gujin circulated his true essence to protect his body and retracted his Aura.

Suddenly, he stopped and signaled for those behind him to stop as well.

He crouched down and picked up a bit of black-red ice shards with his fingertips—it was the blood of Chen Jiao's Clone!

The bloodstains pointed deep into the cold mist, in the same direction they were heading.

“The Clone went to the core area!”

“Is it returning to the main body or continuing the mission?”

At that moment, Senior Brother Yang, who had been suppressing his rage, snapped his eyes open, a cold light bursting from them.

He stared fixedly at the direction of the bloodstains, his voice full of hatred: “Good! I was just worrying about not being able to find that bastard who ambushed us! We'll settle all the old and new scores together!”

Duan Gujin glanced at him and didn't stop him, but his expression was solemn.

This hatred could be useful, but it could also ruin things.

Suddenly!

“Buzz—!”

A low, grand hum filled with evil and hunger echoed from the depths of the Ice Abyss!

The entire canyon shook, ice shards fell, and the cold mist churned!

Duan Gujin's heart jolted: “The demonic artifact... has completely awakened!”

This meant that Chen Jiao's actions had reached the most critical and dangerous moment!

Time was of the essence!

He looked back and saw Yun Xiangrong, whose face was even paler under the influence of the demonic artifact, and the weakened Senior Brother Yang.

As the offerings, they seemed to have an even stronger reaction of unease when the demonic artifact awakened.

“No more time! Follow me! At full speed!” Duan Gujin's voice was decisive.

He no longer took detours, following the bloodstains and the evil fluctuations coming from the core, increasing his speed to the limit as he charged toward the core area!

Senior Brother Yang roared: “Chen Jiao! Give me your life!”

Enduring the pressure of the demonic artifact, he followed closely behind Duan Gujin into the cold mist.

The moment they rushed into the core area, Duan Gujin's heart suddenly sank.

The blood mosquitoes he had attached to the blood of Chen Jiao's Clone for tracking were instantly crushed by a domineering power!

The connection was severed!

“It failed?”

Duan Gujin's pupils constricted.

His final trump card was neutralized as soon as he entered!

Chen Jiao's power far exceeded his estimates!

A strong sense of losing control and a feeling of crisis surged in his heart.

“Be careful!” he immediately barked.

Senior Brother Yang also felt the pressure; he suppressed his anger, his expression turning grave.

The scene in the core area was eerie.

Dense cold mist churned about.

In the center of a giant ice crystal formation on the ground, Chen Jiao was suspended!

But at this moment, Chen Jiao's Aura was completely different.

His right hand tightly gripped a twisted, pitch-black broken blade, which was greedily absorbing the cold Evil Qi gushing out from the Ice Abyss.

And above his left hand hovered a palm-sized, ancient treasure mirror with a pink glow flowing around its edges.

This treasure mirror emitted a sensual, illusory Aura, and its soft light dyed the surrounding cold mist with a bizarre layer of pink.

An ancient demonic artifact—the wind and moon divine mirror!

Everything suddenly became clear in Duan Gujin's mind!

The demonic blade required life essence, while the wind and moon divine mirror required intense emotions!

Yun Xiangrong's deep affection and Senior Brother Yang's bone-deep hatred were the perfect nourishment to activate the divine mirror!

“Wielding two artifacts at once! This is his true objective!”

Duan Gujin instantly understood Chen Jiao's scheme.

Luring them here was to use Senior Brother Yang and Yun Xiangrong's intense emotions to activate the divine mirror or strengthen the blood sacrifice!

The moment Duan Gujin figured it out, Chen Jiao opened both eyes.

His left eye was pitch black like an abyss, cold and lifeless.

His right eye flickered with the same illusory pink light as the wind and moon divine mirror, filled with an eerie charm.

The corners of his mouth curled into a cruel yet seductive smile as his gaze swept over Duan Gujin and Senior Brother Yang: “You've come at just the right time. The final offerings are all here.”

Before his voice finished echoing, the wind and moon divine mirror in his left hand suddenly erupted with an intense pink light!

Like a physical tide, it surged toward Duan Gujin's trio!

A deluge of illusions and desires instantly submerged them!

At that moment, another change occurred!

The unremarkable storage ring on Chen Jiao's left hand flashed with a faint light!

Densely packed figures whistled out, carrying thick Death Qi and freezing cold, crashing heavily around the ice crystal formation, instantly forming a perimeter!

Corpse Puppets! And in great numbers!

Most of these corpses wore Sect uniforms similar to Senior Brother Yang and Yun Xiangrong's, which were already tattered and covered in frost and bloodstains.

Their bodies were twisted and stiff, their skin a pale grayish-blue, with some even exposing white bone.

Eerie green soul-fires burned within their hollow eye sockets, locking onto the living people in the area, emitting a decaying Aura and cold killing intent.

“This...?!” Duan Gujin's mind was profoundly shaken.

“Junior Brother Wang?! Junior Sister Li?! Junior Martial Uncle Zhang?!” Senior Brother Yang's eyes nearly split from their sockets, his voice trembling with rage and disbelief.

He recognized several familiar yet distorted faces—they were all his fellow disciples!

Now they had become Chen Jiao's tools for slaughter!

“Chen Jiao—!!!” Senior Brother Yang roared like a wounded beast, filled with heart-wrenching pain and celestial hatred.

“You beast! How dare you slaughter your fellow disciples! Refining them into evil things! You're worse than an animal!!!”

Yun Xiangrong's face was deathly pale as she swayed, her hand covering her mouth tightly.

She saw a Senior Sister who used to take care of her; the terrified expression on that stiff face made her feel as if she had fallen into an ice cellar.

Immense sorrow and fear instantly overwhelmed her.

Chen Jiao hovered in mid-air, the smile on his face growing wider.

The appearance of the Corpse Puppets was not just to block attacks, but also to completely ignite the emotional flames of the offerings!

Senior Brother Yang's violent rage and hatred, and Yun Xiangrong's grief and fear, were the best nutrients to nourish the wind and moon divine mirror!

“Hehehe! It's just a matter of making use of waste.” Chen Jiao's voice carried a sense of pleasure.

“Their flesh and souls contribute to the reforging of the demonic blade; their resentment and fear help the divine mirror bloom with splendor.”

“To be able to become my stepping stones is their honor!”

“Now, you join them too!”

The Corpse Puppets moved!

Stiff yet swift, carrying Death Qi and coldness, they lunged toward Duan Gujin's trio like a tide!

Bone claws, decaying weapons, and freezing corpse Qi wove into a web of death!

Simultaneously, the pink light erupted completely, and a viscous pink liquid fully submerged the three!

The power of the wind and moon divine mirror began to corrode their minds.

They were surrounded by Corpse Puppets in the front and mental corrosion from the illusions in the back!

Senior Brother Yang was blinded by hatred, recklessly trying to charge at Chen Jiao, almost completely abandoning his defense.

Yun Xiangrong was seized by fear and sorrow, her mental defenses crumbling under the stimulation of the illusory light and the Corpse Puppets.

“Guard your minds! That's all fake! I'll deal with the Corpse Puppets!” Duan Gujin shouted.

His longsword left its scabbard as he met the swarm of corpses.

But there were too many Corpse Puppets; they didn't fear death and would keep lunging even with severed limbs.

Senior Brother Yang's reckless charging disrupted Duan Gujin's rhythm, forcing him to divide his attention to protect them.

The surrounding pink illusory light grew denser, the scenery distorted, and his ears were filled with temptations and screams.

Senior Brother Yang's eyes were both furious and crazed; Yun Xiangrong's gaze was dazed as she fell into a sorrowful illusion, completely defenseless.

“Damn it!” Duan Gujin cleaved through a Corpse Puppet reaching for Yun Xiangrong.

He had to break this deadlock quickly!

Chen Jiao floated in mid-air, watching the three struggling below. Seeing the intense emotions erupting from Senior Brother Yang and Yun Xiangrong being absorbed by the divine mirror, he wore a satisfied, sinister grin.

Right then!

A sharp light flashed in Duan Gujin's eyes, and his Aura surged!

An extremely scorching, pure Aura that seemed capable of incinerating all filth suddenly erupted from his body!

“Pure Yang True Flame—Incinerate!”

Boom—!!!

Gold-red flames appeared out of thin air—this was no ordinary fire!

The flames were like a wild dragon, with Duan Gujin as the center, instantly sweeping out in all directions!

Those lunging Corpse Puppets, regardless of their strength, couldn't even make a sound upon touching this gold-red flame; like snow meeting a blazing sun, they were instantly reduced to ashes!

Bones, weapons, cold Qi, Death Qi...

Before the Pure Yang True Flame, they were powerless!

In just the blink of an eye!

The army of Corpse Puppets that had been so densely packed and brought such immense pressure just a moment ago, along with that disgusting Death Qi, was burned clean!

Only some sparks and the glowing, scorched ground remained, and the air was filled with the scorching heat of purification.

Total silence!

This sudden change caused the altar to fall silent instantly!

Senior Brother Yang's charge came to a sudden halt, the madness in his eyes turning into shock.

He gaped at the empty battlefield and at Duan Gujin amidst the firelight, as if he were seeing him for the first time.

Yun Xiangrong was jolted by this scorching, pure power, breaking free from her sorrowful illusion.

She stared blankly at the instantly cleared battlefield and the majestic Duan Gujin, her fear turning into awe.

In mid-air, the sinister grin on Chen Jiao's face completely froze!

The expression of being in total control was gone!

All that remained was shock, horror, and even...

A trace of fear!

His evil eyes stared fixedly at the residual Aura of the Pure Yang True Flame on Duan Gujin, then suddenly locked onto Duan Gujin's cold, majestic face.

A name, carrying a massive impact, instantly surged into his mind!

“Pure Yang True Flame... incinerating all evil... Impossible! How could it be you?!”

Chen Jiao's voice became sharp and distorted due to extreme shock.

He pointed at Duan Gujin, his finger trembling, “You... You are Duan Gujin!!!”