Slender willows sway in the breeze

Chapter 108 Death
Du Wei then looked at a malevolent cultivator dressed in a black robe and wearing a bamboo hat: "Shadow Demon, you lead the second group to deal with Night Shadow. You are skilled in illusionary techniques, which can disrupt the opponent's senses. Although Night Shadow is fast, your magic is not inferior. First, set up an illusionary array on the route patrolled by the palace shadow guards to lure Night Shadow into the array. Once he enters, launch an attack, making sure to kill him in one blow."

Yingmei nodded slightly, her voice low and husky: "Understood."

Finally, Du Wei looked at the remaining evil cultivators and said, "I will personally lead the third group to deal with Gu Changzhou. Gu Changzhou has profound spiritual power and superb swordsmanship. We need to use an array to trap him and then attack him together."

"Does everyone understand?"

"Yes, Steward Du."

Du Xiuwei's face showed a hint of satisfaction: "We will try to deal with these three before the Hall Master comes out of seclusion, so that we can proceed to the next step smoothly."

After receiving their orders, the heretical practitioners quickly dispersed and began their operations.

Shadow Demon led the second group of evil cultivators, sneaking into the palace like ghosts.

They chose a secluded passage frequented by shadow guards, where high walls stood on both sides and the moonlight cast only dappled shadows, making it an ideal place to set up a maze.

Shadow Demon rapidly formed hand seals while chanting incantations.

A strange black mist surged from his palm and quickly spread out.

Other heretical cultivators joined in, each casting spells and infusing their own spiritual power into the mist.

As spiritual energy was injected, the mist gradually condensed and took shape, transforming into various bizarre scenes.

Countless distorted human faces appeared on the walls of the passage, their gaping maws emitting shrill screams; black vines sprouted from the ground, covered with sharp thorns, as if ready to entangle and strangle anyone who stepped in.

Meanwhile, Du Xiuwei led the third group of evil cultivators to quietly approach the Molin Marquis's residence.

Before entering, Du Wei took out a pill and swallowed it. Soon after, his face began to blur. In addition, his spiritual power concealed his face and voice, so even if he stood in front of Gu Changzhou, no one would recognize him.

With a wave of her hand, Du Xiuwei sent the evil cultivators into hiding in the shadows around the mansion, like demons waiting for their prey.

Du Xiuwei carefully observed the movements inside the mansion, silently calculating the opportune moment.

At the same time, the Blood Demon Old Monster led the first group of evil cultivators and secretly sneaked into the vicinity of Min Rui's residence.

This place also belongs to the imperial palace.

However, his residence was quite far from the Hall of Mental Cultivation, located on a mountain peak at the very back of the palace. Like the Hall of Mental Cultivation, it was heavily fortified with arrays, making it difficult to enter.

The Blood Demon Old Monster stuck out his tongue and licked his chapped lips, his eyes gleaming with bloodlust.

He took out a small black bottle from his pocket, opened the cap, and a drop of blood floated out.

This drop of blood was the aura of Min Rui that he had collected beforehand. Now, using the blood as a guide, he could not only attract Min Rui out of the formation, but also pinpoint his location precisely.

In this way, there's no need to make too much of a fuss, reducing the risk of Min Rui noticing.

Inside the palace, Nightshade led his Shadow Guards on patrol to the vicinity of the passage where Shadow Demon had set up a phantom maze.

Nightshade keenly sensed something amiss. He raised his hand to signal the Shadow Guards to stop, and said with a solemn expression, "Be careful, there are strange fluctuations of spiritual energy here."

The shadow guards immediately became alert, drawing their weapons and circulating spiritual energy around themselves.

Night Shadow slowly moved forward, trying to ascertain the situation.

As soon as I stepped into the passage, a chilling wind blew in, mixed with the sounds of ghosts wailing and wolves howling.

Nightshade's heart tightened: they'd fallen into a trap.

At that moment, the surrounding phantoms instantly came to life, black vines rapidly spreading towards him, and twisted human faces lunging at him as well. Night Shadow flashed, unleashing the Shadow Guard's unique "Shadow Flowing Light Step," moving with lightning speed, weaving between the phantoms and vines.

However, the illusionary maze was extremely strange. Just when he thought he had found the exit, a new illusion would appear to block his way.

Hidden in the shadows, Shadow Demon watched Night Shadow trapped in the formation, a sinister smile appearing on her lips.

With a wave of his hand, the other evil cultivators appeared one after another, ready to launch a fatal attack.

The evil cultivators each conjured a black orb of spiritual energy in their hands, which contained malevolent power, and shot it toward Night Shadow.

Nightshade sensed a powerful threat and quickly conjured a spiritual energy shield in front of him. The shield shimmered with silver light and collided with the black spiritual energy sphere.

In an instant, the passageway was filled with flashing light and overflowing spiritual energy.

Min Rui, who was meditating, opened his eyes and flashed away.

Just then, the Blood Demon used his blood as a catalyst to successfully pinpoint Min Rui's location as he flew out of the formation.

Min Rui sensed the approaching danger, quickly turned around, and twirled his longsword several times, unleashing a torrent of sword energy that shot towards the evil cultivators.

The Blood Demon chuckled and waved his hands, instantly unleashing a cloud of crimson mist, within which countless blood-red shadows churned.

These blood-red shadows lunged at Min Rui, baring their fangs and claws, attempting to devour him.

Min Rui snorted coldly and used the "Golden Spirit Illusionary Steps" to transform his figure into golden phantoms, moving freely through the blood shadows.

He seized the opportunity and stabbed the Blood Demon Old Monster with his sword.

The Blood Demon Old Monster hurriedly dodged to the side, but was still slashed on the arm by the sword energy, and blood flowed freely.

Enraged, the Blood Demon dripped blood from his arm onto the ground, instantly splitting it open, and a gigantic Blood Demon emerged from the crack.

The Blood Demon was several meters tall, exuding a strong bloody aura. It opened its blood-red maw and lunged at Min Rui.

Meanwhile, Du Wei saw that the time was ripe and whispered, "Make your move!" The third group of evil cultivators instantly sprang out from the shadows and rushed toward Gu Changzhou's courtyard.

Du Wei waved his hands, and black runes flew out from between his fingers, quickly arranging themselves in the air to form a huge black magic circle.

The magic array slowly rose into the air, enveloping the entire mansion.

This is the "Netherworld Dragon-Trapping Formation," which, once activated, can restrict the flow of spiritual energy within the formation.

"There are heretical cultivators!"

When Jiang Tai, who was on patrol outside, noticed the commotion, the black magic circle was about to form.

Fortunately, Gu Changzhou flew out of the house at this moment. With a fierce slash of his longsword, the magic array that was just a crack away from forming was instantly shattered into a dense spider web by Gu Changzhou's spiritual power.

However, the evil cultivators were too numerous, and they quickly channeled their spiritual power to complete the formation.

Du Xiuwei looked at Gu Changzhou, who was trapped in the formation, and sneered, "Gu Changzhou, today is your death day!"

After saying that, he led the evil cultivators to unleash their strongest attacks, with black spiritual energy beams, flames, and various evil spells pouring towards Gu Changzhou.

At the same time, fierce battles broke out in three places. In the dark city of Zhongzhou, how many people were unable to sleep all night? Some were unaware of the reason and were afraid of such a big commotion, while others just watched and waited.

(End of this chapter)