The field of battle in the dome of heaven had been separated into two parts by the freezing wall of blue light!

To the left of the blue light, Xu Qing and the Captain were unleashing devastating trump cards. The Captain transformed into innumerable blue worms that belched out frigid energy to freeze all things. With the blessing of the blue skeletal hand, it became a terrifying might that could smash through everything with astonishing killing intent. Xu Qing was like the emissary of death itself, with the Spirit-Devouring Dagger in his hand, backed by a will of death and a destructive wind as he launched his attack.

To the right of the blue light, Lan Yao was locked in place and facing innumerable ghost-face centipedes, all of which had been taken over by Little Shadow and were belching black flames that became a sky-obscuring, sun-blocking poisonous gas. Because of all that, Lan Yao had no way to interfere.

But what really struck fear into her heart was the gruish blue spine, which writhed in front of her like a gigantic blue centipede. In fact, it looked very similar to the host of smaller ghost-face centipedes, and pulsed with an incredibly terrifying aura. From a distance, it seemed like the Captain’s centipede was the king of all the other centipedes, leading the sea of bugs to shake heaven and earth.

The aura cast by that sea of centipedes was something Lan Yao had never encountered before, and left her filled with a sense of crisis. As of now, it was hard to tell whether she was actually trapped in place, or whether she was simply unwilling to risk trying to help Feng Lintao.

Next, Feng Lintao, whose fleshly body had been frozen in place by the Captain’s worms, was hit by the skeletal hand. It was like a hammer crushing an ice cube as his fleshly body was ripped to shreds. Then the hand grabbed his heart and squeezed down on it. His heart was clearly about to explode.

At the same time, the blade light of Xu Qing’s Spirit-Devouring Dagger sliced through the light of the holy lands and reached the skin of Feng Lintao’s throat. A swishing sound rang out, and a huge wound opened up, slashing all the way through Feng Lintao’s neck to the point where his head was nearly severed.

Lan Yao’s eyes flashed as she flew backward and defended herself against the blue spine.

He’s probably going to use his trump card now, right…?

At that critical moment, as death seemed to wrap up Feng Lintao, and a bitter cry escaped his lips, his eyes also gleamed with determination. Then, his five major worlds, three of which were empty and two of which were real, suddenly flashed brightly.

The terrifying power of a Smoldering God erupted, billowing out in all directions. The skeletal hand that had been crushing his heart could no longer exert any force at all. It was as if the heart, which had been about to crumble, was now a chunk of hardened iron.

Xu Qing’s dagger stopped in place and could inflict no further damage.

The facial expression of both Xu Qing and the Captain flickered as five-colored light rose up from Feng Lintao’s five worlds. At the same time, a feather emerged from each of them. Feathers even came from the sealed worlds, as if the sealing that affected the worlds couldn’t do anything to the feathers. Each feather was a different color, but all were roughly a foot long. The moment they emerged, they pulsed with a chaotic, primeval aura, something incredibly strong and intense.

In fact, that aura seemed very similar to the aura of a domain treasure. It seemingly contained the power of essence, which was something that could shake flesh and blood, all while causing the soul to shiver.

“Spirit of the True World!” the Captain blurted, his pupils constricting. He decisively disengaged from combat and flew backward, all while giving Xu Qing a meaningful look.

Looking shaken, Xu Qing unhesitatingly withdrew the Spirit-Devouring Dagger and flew backward several meters.

The moment the Captain recognized the feathers, and the two of them fell back, the aura of the feathers shot up into the sky, turning into a five-colored tempest that connected the dome of heaven to the lands below. The five colors shoved aside the clouds and caused terrifying might to whip violently everywhere. Ultimately, the five precious feathers fused together, turning into a five-colored feather fan that pulsed with such an explosive energy it could shake the world and rock the ancient past. 1

Feng Lintao grabbed it, whereupon his gaze turned icy cold. All of a sudden, his complexion did not look hale and ruddy. Apparently, using this precious treasure inflicted serious damage to his vital energy. Now wasn’t the time to worry about that, though. Gripping the five-colored feather fan, he waved it toward Xu Qing and the Captain.

The result was a massive wind that shook heaven and earth. It was a wind that could sweep aside anything as if it were a loose leaf. The air shattered, and blood sprayed out of the mouths of Xu Qing and the Captain.

The Captain’s body was ripped to shreds. The flesh and blood formed back, only to be ripped apart again. It happened several times, and whenever he formed anew, the same thing would happen.

Xu Qing had it a bit better off, as his fleshly body was incredibly tough. Whether it was because of his god body, his Grand Darkheaven Armor, or the blessing of the Undying Emperor’s Fist, his fleshly body was unusually durable. Though he still coughed up an enormous mouthful of blood as he tumbled backward, his body didn’t collapse. Unfortunately, the glow of the Grand Darkheaven Armor went dim, and pain filled him from head to toe.

At the same time, the blue wall blocking Lan Yao fell back, as did the blue spine and the countless possessed ghost-face centipedes.

However, it didn’t seem that Feng Lintao could sustain further use of the five-colored feather fan. The fan once again turned back into five feathers, which returned to his five major worlds. At that point, all of his worlds went blurry. It looked like their essence had been badly damaged.

Silver blood sprayed out of Feng Lintao’s mouth, and his face turned incomparably pale. He now looked profoundly weak. Staring grimly at Xu Qing and the Captain, he hoarsely said, “You actually forced me into the position of opening my essence…. I underestimated you two and had no choice. What a pity three of my worlds were sealed. If I’d been able to use five-world power, I could have slaughtered you in an instant.”

Xu Qing’s expression was cold and grim. Saying nothing, he looked at the wound on Feng Lintao’s neck, which was already healing up. The sight caused his heart to sink. This fight had really impressed upon him what kind of reserve powers a Smoldering God could have. Although he still had a few moves left… it wasn’t lost on him that this opponent still had an ally with similarly terrifying battle prowess.

In contrast, the Captain simply chuckled derisively. “Any chance you could refrain from talking such rubbish, Chicken Wing? What, you really think that using five-world Smoldering God power to kill two Void Returning cultivators is something to write home about? You’re from the holy lands. You have the light of the holy lands, and you cultivate the Spirit of the True World, a signature ability of the Devilbird species!”

After revealing who this opponent was, the Captain licked his lips.

Xu Qing said nothing. He had already come up with various speculations when the Captain mentioned the ‘light of the holy lands,’ so he wasn’t very surprised.

Feng Lintao said nothing for a few breaths of time. Looking hard at the Captain, he then said something that filled the two of them with even deeper anxiety. “You’re right. It’s nothing worth writing home about. I wasn’t thinking straight. But going forward, I will be.”

Feng Lintao had nearly died twice. He had lost a lot of face, and had also damaged his vital energy and essence. As the words left his mouth, he seemed incredibly calm, and his expression turned even darker. He now looked very cold and apathetic. Few people in his position could do something like that, and it just went to show how terrifying this Feng Lintao was.

Next, Feng Lintao turned to Lan Yao, clasped hands, and bowed. “Fellow Daoist Lan, I’m aware that you were holding back on purpose, all with the goal of getting a glimpse of my trump card. Well, now you’ve seen it.

“In the final analysis, the two of us made a deal to work with each other. I admit that if I want to kill these two, I either have to undo my seals, or I have to use more of my essence power. If I undo my seals, then I’ll immediately face expulsion by the heavenly daos. After all, the holy ancestors haven’t yet come, so the heavenly daos don’t approve of us….

“What’s more, if I use more of my essence, it’ll affect the deal we have in place. And therefore, I hereby request your assistance, Fellow Daoist Lan!”

Feng Lintao was being very sincere, to the point where he waved his hand, sending the blood pendant that was the result of the blood sacrifice directly over to Lan Yao.

“That item relates to our efforts. I’ll hand it over to you for safe keeping, Fellow Daoist Lan. Consider it an expression of my sincerity.”

Feng Lintao could have transmitted all of his words, but instead he spoke them out loud. That was how confident he was.

As a result, Xu Qing and the Captain could hear everything very clearly.

Xu Qing cleared his thoughts. He hadn’t used any god magic. He still had The Emperor’s Sword, plus the emperor’s corpse. And yet, that was when the Captain blinked a few times and projected a message.

“Don’t do anything impulsive, Little Junior Brother. These two Chicken Wings aren’t simpletons, and we’re actually not a match for them. We need to get out of here and back to the sect. Once we’re with Master and the prime elders, we’ll be safe.”

The Captain spun, collected all of his items, and then raced off into the distance. In fact, he apparently spat out a few mouthfuls of blood to initiate a blood escape art and gain some speed. Xu Qing didn’t hesitate at all to collect the ghost-face centipedes and then race away at top speed. In the blink of an eye, the two of them became prismatic beams of light that disappeared over the horizon.

Feng Lintao didn’t stop them from leaving. Instead, he looked calmly at Lan Yao.

Lan Yao laughed softly. Grasping the blood pendant with her delicate hand, she hefted it a few times and sighed inwardly. The truth was that she had been holding back, for the exact reason Feng Lintao had mentioned. She’d wanted to get a glimpse of his trump card. Now that she’d seen his five-colored fan, she was convinced that he actually had even bigger assets that he hadn’t revealed. Based on what she knew of him, there seemed to be a very high likelihood that he had even deadlier tools at his disposal.

That said, it didn’t seem like a very smart strategy to continue holding back in the hopes of learning about them.

What’s more, those two humans are definitely chosen. They’re not simpletons…. Just now they were projecting messages to each other in which they mentioned a Master and some prime elders. Whether or not that was a trick, it’s something we should take into consideration. If it’s not a trick… then it means they’re backed by a terrifying organization. And that seems very plausible. After all, it’s not as though some random group could groom even one top chosen like that, let alone two.

If I keep forcing Feng Lintao to act on his own, it’ll cause too much of a delay. Furthermore, if we make too much of a scene, it could lead to unintended consequences, and could affect the larger mission. Another thing to consider is that if I piss off this Feng fellow too much, then given his personality, he might start guessing at the truth. After all, a bit of probing makes sense, but if I push it too far…. Well, as the saying goes, too far is as bad as not enough, right?

Having reached this point in her train of thought, Lan Yao nodded. “How can I help?”

Feng Lintao’s eyes glittered. “Ideally,” he replied coolly, “you could have personally taken action, Fellow Daoist Lan. Presumably, once you saw what they were capable of, you didn’t want to take that risk.”

Lan Yao didn’t respond.

“In that case, Feng Lintao continued, “I would like to request that you let me borrow a drop of Nobleplexus good fortune serum. With that, I can unleash my Nobleplexus Holy Hex, and thus assimilate those two humans.”

“Nobleplexus Holy Hex?” Lan Yao first looked surprised, then she chuckled. “You really are taking them seriously. Using the Nobleplexus Holy Hex is a bit over the top, isn’t it? Besides, given your current level of strength, even using some Nobleplexus good fortune serum will only allow you to unleash a small portion of the true might of the Nobleplexus Holy Hex. And even that will be terrifying. That said… I guess it might be worth it to assimilate the two of them with that hex.”

Lan Yao nodded and waved her hand, sending a jade bottle flying out.

1. Traditional Chinese feather fans are how you would probably imagine them. A fan made of feathers. That said, they do have a sort of typical look and feel. Here are a few pictures. ☜