Chương 178: Chapter 67: Execution and Soul-Searching

Yang Dawei was a man who valued his own skin above all else. Had he not been so craven, he wouldn't have abandoned Li Zhupu the moment those Golden Core-level rotting corpses emerged. Now, staring into the abyss of Reyn's glacial killing intent, he threw every card he held onto the table, desperate to claw back a sliver of hope for survival. His primary weapon, the Crescent Moon Blade—a high-grade Dan Treasure—was a terrifying implement.

With a single strike, its power rivaled that of an Upper-grade Magic Treasure, a force so potent that even a true Golden Core Sovereign would be forced to evade. Yet, that was only the beginning. Behind it trailed seven or eight other artifacts, each humming with violent, unstable energy. Yang Dawei's face was a mask of madness; he intended to detonate every single one of them in a suicidal barrage. Even as he unleashed this storm, Yang Dawei's hand blurred, retrieving a disk-shaped artifact from his storage bag.

As he flooded it with essence, the device erupted in a halo of spiritual light, within which the phantom image of a teleportation array began to flicker into existence. Reyn's expression shifted instantly, his gaze darkening into a pit of gloom. He hadn't expected this cornered rat to possess such a ruthless edge.

At his current cultivation level, if he insisted on executing the man while weathering the collective self-destruction of those treasures, he would undoubtedly suffer grievous, perhaps permanent, injuries. In this treacherous, lightless subterranean world, courting such damage was the height of folly. Yet, the alternative was worse. If Yang Dawei escaped, he would become a festering wound.

Should he return to the Purple Mist Sect and weave his lies, the fallout for the Xuanxiao Sect and the Lei Clan would be catastrophic.

"This man must die. To let him walk is to invite ruin!" Reyn thought, his mind racing.

"I have the White Jade Dragon-Whiskers Rice; even if I am broken, I can mend quickly. With the Shura Secret Bone standing guard, I can afford the risk. He thinks this desperate gambit will force me to retreat? Impossible!" Killing intent flared in Reyn's eyes, but before he could strike, the Shura Secret Bone moved with preternatural speed. Crack! One of the entity's own ribs snapped cleanly from its chest.

The bone erupted in a blinding orange radiance, transforming into a streak of lethal light that whistled through the air, intercepting the Crescent Moon Blade with the force of a falling star. Upon release, the twin orange fires in the Shura Secret Bone's eye sockets dimmed significantly, its aura wilting as if the act had drained its very essence. The rib collided with the High-grade Dan Treasure in a cataclysmic explosion of mana. A thunderous roar shook the cavern.

In that singular heartbeat, the rib and the blade reached their limit. The bone disintegrated into fine grey powder, while the Crescent Moon Blade let out a mournful, metallic wail. Its physical form turned translucent before vanishing into nothingness. Reyn's eyes widened in brief astonishment. This technique—sacrificing a rib for a supreme strike—was a signature move of the white skeleton they had faced earlier. How had the Shura Secret Bone mastered it?

Could it be that by devouring the soul orb, it had inherited the creature's innate abilities? There was no time for contemplation. With the primary threat neutralized, Reyn's gaze turned cold as ice. He slapped his storage bag, summoning the Heaven-Turning Seal. It expanded instantly, swelling to its limit of thirty-two zhang. Shimmering with earthen-yellow divine light and exhaling a heavy, primordial scent of soil, it hung in the air like a miniature mountain range.

"Heaven-Turning Seal! One Seal to Overturn the Heavens! Suppress all that stands before me!" Reyn roared. He pointed a finger, and the seal blazed with golden-yellow brilliance. Like a divine mountain descending from the heavens, it crashed down upon the remaining seven or eight artifacts. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Boom! Boom! Boom!

The artifacts were pinned beneath the massive weight, but they throbbed with a volatile, frantic energy. Reyn's face paled slightly. He knew that if these treasures detonated simultaneously while pinned, the Heaven-Turning Seal would take the full brunt of the blast. Having refined this treasure using the secret methods of the mysterious elder from the ancient jade slip, Reyn had already linked it to his heart's blood and soul.

He intended for it to be his Life-Bound Magic Treasure upon reaching the Golden Core stage. If the seal was shattered, his Primordial Soul would be torn, leaving him crippled. In the face of this impending disaster, a strange, absolute calm washed over Reyn. True strength was found in the stillness before the storm.

"Soul-Piercing Awl!" he hissed. His Divine Sense surged through the Golden Seal, condensing into an invisible, piercing shockwave of mental energy that swept across the battlefield. This technique, born from the Hunyuan True Scripture, had been his ultimate trump card in countless life-or-death struggles. Yang Dawei's eyes were bloodshot, driven to the brink of madness as he prepared to recklessly detonate his remaining treasures in a suicidal gambit.

A white protective barrier flickered into existence around him, but it lasted less than half a breath before shattering like fragile glass under an invisible, crushing weight.

"A Mid-Golden Core Divine Sense attack!" Yang Dawei gasped, his movements freezing as pure, unadulterated horror washed over him. The spark of defiance in his eyes was instantly extinguished by the cold shadow of despair. Puchi! His Primordial Soul screamed in agony, feeling as though a jagged blade had been thrust through his very essence. A guttural cry tore from his throat as he spat out a mouthful of visceral blood.

His aura withered instantly, and the burgeoning light of the teleportation array he had been desperately fueling flickered and vanished into nothingness.

"I held no grudge against your Purple Mist Sect, nor did I wish to entangle myself in your affairs," Reyn's voice rang out, cold and merciless.

"But you lot have pushed me far too often."

"Outside Tianli City, Mo Huahua saw my injuries and trailed me like a vulture, seeking to kill and plunder. I had no choice but to strike him down on the spot. During the challenge at the Mu Family's arena in Eastern City, Qing Huo intended to end my life in cold blood. Naturally, I could not allow him to draw another breath."

"And now, in this lightless abyss, you harbored murderous intent toward me. I, Reyn, am no lamb to be led to the slaughter. When you chose to strike, you should have prepared yourself to be the one who dies!" With a surge of the Demon Flash Escape, a streak of azure light cut through the gloom. Reyn materialized beside the fallen cultivator. Another Soul-Piercing Awl struck home, utterly devastating Yang Dawei's Primordial Soul and stripping him of any capacity for resistance.

Reyn planted a heavy boot upon the man's chest, his face twisted in a mocking sneer.

"Four disciples of the Purple Mist Sect came to the Mu Family, and three have now perished by my hand. You have only yourselves to blame for this fate."

"You may die in peace, Daoist. If Li Zhupu still draws breath, I shall not be stingy in sending her to join you shortly." Pinned beneath Reyn's foot, Yang Dawei's face turned a ghostly pallor.

"Don't kill me! Please, don't kill me!" he shrieked, his voice cracking with terror.

"I know the secrets of this place! If you kill me, you'll never find the way out alive!" Reyn's eyes narrowed slightly, but the flicker of hesitation was brief. A cold smirk played on his lips as he extended his hand, his fingers splaying over Yang Dawei's skull. The Soul-Searching Art erupted with ruthless efficiency.

"Whatever you know, I shall take for myself. You need not speak a word." With a Primordial Soul at the Golden Core stage, performing Soul-Searching on a weakened foe was trivial. Reyn's potent Divine Sense surged forth, breaching the man's mental defenses and forcibly unraveling his memories like a tattered scroll. Moments later, Reyn withdrew his hand. A look of profound shock crossed his features before he regained his composure, his expression turning pensive.

He reached down, snatched the storage bag from Yang Dawei's belt, and effortlessly broke the restriction. From within, he retrieved a fragment of a cracked Azure Jade Plate.

"An ancient powerhouse once sundered and bound this space, creating a small, self-contained world to serve as a tomb," Reyn whispered, the realization sinking in.

"The Yunluo Cemetery... divided into three layers, each concealing legendary treasures and lost techniques."

"Though this place is fraught with peril, it is a literal mountain of gold. If I can secure a way to enter this realm at will, the opportunities would be limitless!" His eyes gleamed with a predatory light before he calmed his racing thoughts.

"The jade plates required to navigate the Yunluo Cemetery are split into three pieces. The other two fragments are held by Zi Luanxing and Li Zhupu."

"I must have that jade plate in its entirety. It seems that today, regardless of the risk, I must have a reckoning with those two Corpse-Controlling Gu Kings."