98: trap

Thirty miles outside Tianxing City, Rocky Thicket.

This is a maze composed of countless strangely shaped giant black rocks. Due to the coldness of the earth veins, there are constant gusts of Yin winds and thin Spiritual Qi; except for the occasional passing wild beast, there are few signs of human activity.

At this time, it was dusk, the setting sun like blood.

An inconspicuous dark shadow shuttled through the rocks like a ghost.

Zhou Wannian stopped in a narrow, leeward canyon. The terrain here was treacherous, with towering stone walls on both sides and only a narrow winding path in the middle; it was the inevitable path for escape using the Blood Escape Art.

Although the Blood Escape Art was fast, it had a traceable path, especially when heavily injured, one would instinctively choose a place with heavy Yin Qi like this to recover.

"This is the place."

Zhou Wannian looked around, his gaze cold.

Since he had already left the auction early and seized the initiative, he had to make the most of this advantage.

"The Blood Hand Butcher is at the Peak of the Late Foundation Establishment Stage. Even if he is at the end of his tether, he won't be easy to kill. I must kill him in one blow and never give him any chance to catch his breath."

He took out a set of black Formation Flags from his Storage Pouch.

These weren't ordinary Formation Flags; they were ones he had re-refined during his seclusion using "Innate Geng-Metal Qi" — [Second-Tier Peak Grade · Geng-Metal Five Poison Thunder Light Formation].

"Geng-Metal governs slaughter and armor-piercing; Five Poisons govern corrosion and soul-disruption; Thunder Light governs outbursts and soul-extinguishing."

"With all three attacking at once, even a Foundation Establishment Great Perfection cultivator will lose a layer of skin if they don't die."

Zhou Wannian's wrist flicked, and the Formation Flags turned into several streaks of light, silently sinking into the ground. He then took out several "Hidden Spirit Talismans" and stuck them at the Formation eyes, completely erasing all Spiritual Qi fluctuations.

After finishing all this, the ground still looked unremarkable, but within a radius of a hundred zhang, it had become a place of absolute killing.

But this was not enough.

"Even when a lion hunts a rabbit, it uses its full strength."

Zhou Wannian took out ten more "Heavy Water Yin Thunders".

He didn't bury the Yin Thunders in the center of the Formation, but rather at the... edge blind spots of the Formation.

"Once he enters the Formation, his first reaction will definitely be to break through and escape. These Yin Thunders are the 'surprise' prepared for him."

After setting the double trap, the sky had completely darkened.

From the direction of Tianxing City in the distance, a faint commotion could be heard. Several powerful escape lights soared into the sky and then quickly disappeared into the night.

"It seems the auction has ended."

"That unlucky Lin Family Ancestor should have already left the city with the purple sun flower."

Zhou Wannian found an open and hidden rock crevice, stuck that High-grade breath concealing talisman worth ten thousand Spirit Stones on himself, and swallowed a "Breath Masking Pill".

Holding his breath, he restrained all his life force.

At this moment, he was like a lifeless stone, completely blending into this Rocky Thicket.

Time passed bit by bit.

Half an hour.

One hour.

Suddenly.

From the sky far away, a deafening roar was heard.

"Boom—!!!"

Immediately after, there was a violent fluctuation of Spiritual Qi. Even from thirty miles away, one could feel that heart-palpitating pressure.

"The fight has started."

Zhou Wannian narrowed his eyes slightly. He didn't dare to extend his Divine Sense too far to avoid alerting the enemy.

The battle lasted for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

Just as the hexagram deduction had predicted, the commotion over there gradually subsided, and finally, a burst of dazzling blood-red light erupted.

That was the fluctuation of a self-detonation.

"Lin Family Ancestor... rest in peace."

Zhou Wannian muttered in his heart.

Afterward, he sensed an extremely weak but bloodthirsty and violent aura of an escape light stumbling toward this direction.

That escape light flickered, obviously using a secret technique that severely consumed essence blood.

"He's here."

The turtle spirit brush in Zhou Wannian's hand quietly slid into his palm, and the Cloud Seal Spiritual Qi within his body began to circulate silently, accumulating a fatal blow.

"Poof!"

A thousand zhang away, that blood-colored escape light finally couldn't hold on, falling from mid-air and crashing heavily at the entrance of the Rocky Thicket.

As the dust settled, a figure covered in blood with disheveled hair was revealed.

It was exactly that notoriously famous "Blood Hand Butcher".

At this moment, he no longer had his former arrogance. His left arm was severed at the root, and there was a shocking indentation in his chest, caused by the self-detonation of the Magic Treasure from the Lin Family Ancestor's dying counterattack.

"Cough, cough... old ghost... ruthless enough..."

The Blood Hand Butcher spat out a mouthful of black blood containing fragments of internal organs, struggled to climb up, his eyes sinister, "But... I still won!"

He touched the blood-stained Storage Pouch in his bosom, a greedy and hideous smile appearing on his face.

"purple sun flower... as long as I find a place to hide and heal my wounds, the Golden Core Great Dao... is just around the corner!"

He looked around, his gaze falling on the canyon where Zhou Wannian was hiding.

"The Yin Qi here is heavy, just right for healing."

The Blood Hand Butcher had no suspicions. Dragging his broken body, he stepped into the canyon one step at a time, into... Zhou Wannian's killing zone.

One step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

The moment he reached the center of the canyon.

Zhou Wannian, hiding in the shadows, had a cold flash in his eyes.

"Rise!"

Without any nonsense, he directly activated it!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Five thick Geng-Metal thunder pillars soared into the sky, instantly submerging the Blood Hand Butcher in a sea of thunder!

"Ah!!!"

A shrill scream echoed through the night sky.

The hunt had begun.