Young White Horse: I, Ye Dingzhi, offer sacrifice to the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Page 64

The words fell.

Qi Tianchen and Zhuo Qing both remained silent.

Even if they wanted to persuade Emperor Tai'an.

However, they were also very clear that what Emperor Tai'an said was the truth.

Emperor Tai'an, his body hunched over, walked step by step toward Qingyun Terrace.

...

Qingyuntai.

On a high platform at the outermost edge of the palace, Emperor Tai'an stood and gazed into the distance, saying, "It's still twenty li from the city gate to here. I wonder if those reclusive masters in the martial arts world can stop Ye Dingzhi?"

"The abbot of Hanshan Temple has already set up a great formation, and the Grand Tutor is also guarding the formation with his sword. There are also several top experts who are half-step into the Divine Travel Realm." Zhuo Qing replied, "Both of them are experts who have entered the Divine Travel Realm. Even if Ye Dingzhi is already in the Ghost Immortal Realm, I believe it will be difficult for him to break through."

"The two of you have traveled to the Mystic Realm... If it were half a year ago, this situation would probably not have occurred today," Emperor Tai'an said in a low voice.

"How are Consort Jing's arrangements going?" Emperor Tai'an asked again.

"Your Majesty, Consort Jing has entered the highest level of the Sword Pavilion and is properly arranged. If... if any unforeseen events occur, someone will take Consort Jing away," Zhuo Qing said in a deep voice.

"That's good, that's good." Emperor Tai'an seemed to be completely relieved at this moment. His expression was calm, his cloudy eyes looked towards the horizon, and his hunched figure remained motionless.

Zhuo Qing stood behind Emperor Tai'an and sighed silently in his heart.

It is truly unpredictable that such a great nation has fallen to such a state.

Even now, with numerous top experts holding off Ye Dingzhi, Emperor Tai'an cannot hold on for long; at most, he can only live a few more days.

The entire Xiao royal family had already been slaughtered by Ye Dingzhi half a year ago.

Fortunately, a new imperial concubine became pregnant within the past six months, but it remains to be seen whether Bei Li can hold on to her.

.......

At the city gate.

Master Wangyou, draped in a kasaya, gazed into the distance: "Coming all the way from such a far place, it must have been done in one go. All that energy must have been released here. Just thinking about it is terrifying."

"His moves are extremely strange, all of them top-tier demonic arts." Xie Zhize, whose figure was hidden under a black robe, stood beside Master Wangyou with a long sword in hand: "Your Prajna Heart Bell might have a restraining effect on him."

"I will do my best. Are you still confident that you can stop him this time?" Master Wangyou asked.

"I have little confidence. I heard that Ye Dingzhi has already stepped into the ninth level of the Void Thought Technique and officially advanced to the Divine Travel Profound Realm. He was already extremely troublesome when he was in the half-step Divine Travel Realm, especially that Soul Banner, which even I am wary of."

“I would be helpless on my own, but since Master Wangyou is here, I think there is still a chance,” Xie Zhi said in a deep voice.

"We two working together, yet we only have a few chances?" Master Wangyou asked in surprise.

"Yes, some opportunities are fleeting!" Xie Zhi knew better than anyone how terrifying Ye Dingzhi was.

He still feels lingering fear from that battle.

Although on paper, he completely overwhelmed Ye Dingzhi.

However, Ye Dingzhi's endless stream of strange moves, and his final Bloodlight Technique, forced even a divine being like him to retreat.

This is the first time in history that a battle has occurred in which someone at the half-step Divine Realm has forced someone at the Divine Realm to retreat; it is unprecedented in history.

After that battle, he recuperated for several months before fully recovering to his peak condition.

However, in the past six months, no matter how he deduced, he could only find two ways to deal with that move.

Firstly, unless the battle takes place outside the city, Ye Dingzhi will be unable to absorb the life force of others for his own use.

Alternatively, they could kill Ye Dingzhi instantly from the start, preventing him from having the chance to unleash this move.

These two conditions might have been achievable in the past.

However, Ye Dingzhi has now truly entered the realm of divine travel.

These two conditions are essentially meaningless.

In this world, no one can trap a powerful being who has reached the Divine Realm, not even in a two-on-one situation.

Xie Zhi couldn't even imagine how he would deal with Ye Dingzhi if he used that move again.

After hearing that neither of the two peerless masters had any confidence in fighting Ye Ding.

The crowd standing behind the two men all looked extremely grim.

"Is Ye Dingzhi really that strong? These are two experts at the Divine Realm!" Li Xinyue said, gripping her sword tightly.

“He is indeed very strong, terrifyingly strong. Perhaps only the former hall master could deal with him,” Ji Ruofeng said in a deep voice.

Several months ago, Emperor Tai'an offered a large sum of money to gather most of the top masters in the martial arts world.

Aside from those who voluntarily guard Beili and do not wish to see the world suffer.

Most people only came to resist the demonic cult's eastward expedition because of the incentive of this large sum of money.

Li Xinyue and Ji Ruofeng are among the best of these top masters.

"How do you know how strong he is? Have you fought him?" Li Xinyue asked.

“I was present at the battle six months ago.” Ji Ruofeng nodded solemnly. “I only watched that earth-shattering battle from afar in the city, but I was still affected by the aftermath and it took me several dozen days to recover.”

"That's exaggerated?" Li Xinyue raised an eyebrow and said, "Back then, he was only at the half-step Divine Realm, and you're not weak either! You're at the Great Free and Unfettered Realm, yet even the aftershocks could cause you such injuries."

Ji Ruofeng said in a deep voice, "That move was a truly peerless demonic art; the entire city was caught in his indiscriminate attack."

"You'd better pray that he doesn't use that move this time."

At this time.

Xie Zhize picked up the Heaven-Slaying Sword, stood up abruptly, and shouted hoarsely in a voice that could be heard throughout the entire city: "He's here!"

Three miles away, a dense, malevolent blood mist was surging toward Tian Qicheng.

The sky was shrouded in a thick blood mist. Just moments before, the sky was cloudless and clear, but in an instant, it turned pitch black.

Birds and beasts scattered along the way, and trees withered, creating a terrifying scene.

Within this blood mist, one can vaguely see a person walking on the blood mist.

It wasn't five people as reported in the military newspaper, but only one person.

"They came so fast." The Heart Sword in Li Xinyue's hand began to vibrate.

"The Heart Sword has a spirit, is it afraid?" Ji Ruofeng leaned down slightly, raising the long staff in his hand slightly.

"No, it's excitement." Li Xinyue instantly drew her sword, and a sword aura as long as a rainbow piercing the sun shot straight into the sky, attacking Ye Dingzhi, who was three miles away.

"How dare you!" Xie Zhi looked at Li Xinyue in surprise, not expecting that there was such a brave person!

And this person is a woman!

It's just a matter of seconds.

Ye Dingzhi was already within a mile when he punched away the sword energy without pausing for a moment.

"So powerful! Is this the legendary Divine Realm?" Li Xinyue glanced at Ji Ruofeng.

Ji Ruofeng adjusted his demon mask with his left hand and said in a deep voice, "No, this is neither the Divine Realm nor the Free and Unfettered Realm. In the true sense, this is the Ghost Immortal Realm."

"What kind of realm is that?" Li Xinyue asked, puzzled.

“This is the realm of entering the demonic path. I have never mentioned it before, simply because there are too few people who can reach this realm.” Ji Ruofeng gripped his long staff tightly, his expression solemn: “I suddenly have a premonition.”

"What premonition?"

"We really can't stop him!"

Ye Dingzhi stepped onto the city wall.

"Boom!"

Then half of the wall collapsed.

Li Xinyue leaped up and slashed down with her Heart Sword. She did not place any hope on being able to entangle with Ye Dingzhi, so she unleashed the strongest move of the Heart Sword – Myriad Heart Swords.

The sword energy surged like a tide, slashing down.

One sword can be transformed into a thousand swords.

"Stop!" Li Xinyue shouted.

Ji Ruofeng also swung his long staff, named Wuji, which was once the treasure of Huanglong Mountain.

Once the staff is unleashed, it has no bounds, no end, no limit!

The sword energy arrived very quickly, instantly transforming from a single sword strike into a thousand sword energies, one after another slashing towards Ye Dingzhi.

As for the stick, it came very quickly, but in the time it took to strike it once, it felt like several years had passed, slowly, gradually, as if it had fallen into a void.

This is the Sword Heart Technique of the Sword Heart Tomb.

It was originally a single sword, but it miraculously transformed into a thousand swords.

And then there's the Wuji Staff of Huanglong Mountain, whose original meaning is "chaos," a staff technique that is even more profound.

Under such combined attack

Even ordinary experts at the half-step Divine Realm need to take this seriously...

Ye Dingzhi simply grasped it casually.

An incredibly condensed blood aura emanated from Ye Dingzhi's hand, deflecting all the sword energy. Li Xinyue swung her sword to block it, and the sword energy landed far away on the other side of the city wall with a loud bang.

Ji Ruofeng's Wuji Staff crashed to the ground, and his body fell beside her.

"This is too strong! No weapons, no techniques, just pure internal energy to fight! Moreover, this internal energy is extremely strange and terrifying! It's actually blood-red."

The demon mask in front of Ji Ruofeng was split in two and fell to the ground, revealing a handsome face and a head of white hair, with blood flowing from the corner of his mouth.

Six months ago, he only watched the battle from afar. Now, facing it head-on, he truly realized how terrifying Ye Dingzhi was.

The sheer aura of blood-red fury was enough to send chills down one's spine.

Not to mention his unfathomable inner energy, as deep as the ocean.

Li Xinyue took a heavy breath, suppressing the metallic taste in her chest: "Emperor Tai'an should retreat immediately."

"It's unavoidable. In front of such a QQ group 85 expert, thousands of troops are nothing but decorations." Ji Ruofeng said in a deep voice, "With our strength, we may be among the top experts in the world, but here, we are just sandbags used to fill the numbers. We don't even have a chance to stop him one step at a time."

"Now that Mr. Li is no longer here, and the Grand Eunuch and the Imperial Preceptor were defeated half a year ago, all that remains is to guard the Swordsman and Master Wangyou."

Ye Dingzhi indifferently stepped over the two figures.

Ji Ruofeng shouldered the Wuji Staff, extended a finger from his left hand, bit it hard, and drew blood. He then lightly wiped the blood on the Wuji Staff before slamming it heavily on the ground and shouting, "Grand Preceptor, activate the formation!"

Inside the palace, the Imperial Preceptor Qi Tianchen flicked his whisk forcefully, then raised his left hand and made a sudden sweeping motion.

Gossip!

Above the Imperial Observatory, the six Celestial Masters stood together on the Star Gazing Platform, and like Qi Tianchen, they all made a strange gesture, and then the Great God shouted.

Gossip!

Li Xinyue and Ji Ruofeng took a step back and then disappeared like mist onto the city wall.

"What a magnificent formation." Ye Dingzhi looked at the scene with indifferent eyes.

This great formation is much stronger than it was six months ago.

Li Xinyue and Ji Ruofeng took a step back, actually they did, but when they looked up, Ye Dingzhi's gaze had already wandered away, and he couldn't see them at all.

"Is this the formation used by the Imperial Advisor and the Imperial Observatory?" Li Xinyue asked.

"Yes, and with Master Wangyou's help, Ye Dingzhi is now invulnerable to blades and spears, and nothing can get close to him. Although you and I have both entered the Great Freedom Realm, we are helpless against him. For such a person, the only option is to trap him with an array," Ji Ruofeng replied.

"What kind of formation is this?" Li Xinyue asked.

"The Ghost-Locking Array, also known as the Thunder Pool," Ji Ruofeng said softly. "This array cannot trap ordinary people; it is specifically designed to trap those who have entered the demonic path. The evil ghosts that enter the array will lose their minds within it and will be unable to escape their predicament no matter how they try. They will recall the most desperate things in their lives and repeat them over and over again in their hallucinations. In the end, they will all commit suicide because they cannot bear the endless cycle of despair."

Li Xinyue sighed softly, "Is this what they mean by not daring to cross the line?"

“That’s right, because beyond the Thunder Pool lies the righteous path. He has entered the demonic path, so he should be afraid of it. That’s why he can’t get out of this formation.” Ji Ruofeng looked in the direction of the palace and said in a deep voice, “My Wuji Staff and the Imperial Preceptor’s White Rain Brush are both Taoist treasures, as are Master Wangyou’s Buddhist treasures. No one can break the Ghost-Locking Formation we set up.”

Li Xinyue looked up at Ye Dingzhi, who had disappeared into a cloud of mist, and frowned slightly: "He seems to be looking at us?"

"What?" Ji Ruofeng looked up, his eyes filled with shock.

Ye Dingzhi walked forward step by step, stepping directly out of the clouds. He looked at Ji Ruofeng and said calmly, "It is indeed stronger than the formation from half a year ago."

He then gently waved his long sleeves, and the clouds and mist dissipated.