Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 249 The Death of Lu Xingzhou

Qu Heng arrived after Lu Xingzhou was shot with an arrow. He hid nearby, waiting for Lu Xingzhou and the Soul Fire figure to both be severely injured.

He was thinking to himself, "Could I pick up Lu Xingzhou and Demon Lord Wujiu together and turn them into zombies? That would be a huge profit."

But now it seems that we underestimated cultivators at the Dao Integration Realm. No matter how unlucky Lu Xingzhou is, it's impossible for Qu Heng to turn him into a zombie.

Now that Lu Xingzhou has seen through his disguise, Qu Heng has revealed himself openly.

Anyway, Lu Xingzhou doesn't dare to make any rash moves now. The Soulfire Little Man is already at its limit just maintaining its form. Qu Heng can also take advantage of this situation. Now it's just a matter of who offers the highest price.

Looking at Qu Heng's ambiguous smile, Lu Xingzhou sneered, "I've heard of your great name for a long time, but I never imagined we'd met before."

Qu Heng said in surprise, "Sect Leader Lu actually remembers me?"

Lu Xingzhou recalled briefly, then said, "More than four hundred years ago, in a small town, I was leading my disciples to hunt down the remnants of the Demonic Sect, and you were one of them. I remember your name was Qu Heng, right?"

Qu Heng shook his head and said, "I never expected that I was just an insignificant little devil back then, yet I could be remembered by the Great Master Lu."

Qu Heng was indeed very surprised. At that time, Lu Xingzhou was still the sect leader of the Incense Burning Sect and a great cultivator in the Dao Integration Realm, while Qu Heng had not even reached the Profound Realm yet, truly like an ant. Not only that, at that time he had just obtained the inheritance of the Crimson Serpent Demon Sect and was in hiding.

Lu Xingzhou said, "I still don't know how you escaped. Logically speaking, you shouldn't have been able to escape my pursuit."

A cultivator at the Dao Integration Realm has his eye on a little devil; how could he possibly let him escape?

But Qu Heng managed to escape with his life, which is why Lu Xingzhou had a deep impression of him.

Little did I expect that, centuries later, that insignificant little devil would become the key to my life and death.

"Haha, just luck, nothing more than luck."

Qu Heng, of course, did not explain. Instead, he urged, "Now is not the time for reminiscing. How long until Grand Master Lu and Demon Lord Wujiu completely break through the seal?"

Lu Xingzhou didn't hide anything and said frankly, "If this stalemate continues, there's at most half an hour left. Since Fellow Daoist Qu has asked about this, I suppose you don't want to see bloodshed. Please lend me a hand."

Qu Heng's words made the little soul fire anxious. Supporting his dissipating soul body, he said, "Fellow Daoist, since you are also a cultivator of the Demonic Sect, why are you siding with Lu Xingzhou? Help me out, and when my master is resurrected and the Demonic Sect unifies the world, we will both be great contributors, and you will not be shortchanged!"

Qu Heng shook his head and said, "We are both from the Demonic Sect, so let's not waste each other's time with this nonsense. If you can believe what a demon says, then even a sow can ascend to heaven."

From the very beginning, Qu Heng had no intention of negotiating with this little soulfire figure.

No matter how many promises the devil makes, he can go back on his word in the end.

Moreover, if the Demon Lord Wujiu were to be resurrected, it would certainly not be a good thing for the Yellow Springs Sect.

Qu Heng was more interested in getting benefits from Lu Xingzhou, since the righteous path was unlikely to go back on its promises.

The little soulfire figure became even more anxious. If Qu Heng really helped Lu Xingzhou possess the body of the Demon Lord Wujiu, then all his efforts would have been in vain.

"Fellow Daoist, please wait. We can discuss this. It's alright if you don't believe me. I can give you the benefits right now. As long as you force Lu Xingzhou to take action and force him to ascend immediately, I will give you the benefits right away."

Qu Heng asked curiously, "Oh, what good things can you give me? Don't lie to me, your soul is a bit strange, but you don't even have a single magic weapon on you, what can you possibly take out?"

The little soulfire figure quickly said, "Devouring Demon Hand, this is a secret technique of my Wujiu sect. I can teach you this spell!"

Qu Heng glanced at the Soulfire figure with disdain, then said, "Are you trying to fob me off? Do you think I need your secret technique? What's so great about the Devouring Demon Hand? It's not like I haven't seen it before."

Lu Xingzhou then asked, "Fellow Daoist Qu, are you a member of the Yellow Springs Sect?"

"Sect Leader Lu guessed it?"

Lu Xingzhou said somewhat anxiously, "I have heard of the methods of your Huangquan Sect Master. The Huangquan Sect was able to rise suddenly in the Northern Frontier, which must be due to your efforts, Fellow Daoist. The Qinghe Sword Sect considers the Huangquan Sect to be a friend of the righteous path, and I trust my old friend's judgment. Fellow Daoist Qu, please lend me a hand. Whatever you want, as long as I can provide it, I can give it to you."

Qu Heng laughed, "That's exactly what I was waiting for. Since you intend to possess this body, I suppose your magic weapons are no longer of use. So, why don't you..."

Without a second thought, Lu Xingzhou tossed the feather fan in his hand away.

Qu Heng quickly took it; this was Lu Xingzhou's natal magic weapon, far superior to the broken thing he had.

"Good, the leader of the Incense Burning Sect is truly magnanimous."

Qu Heng stroked the feather fan that emitted a soft glow, looked at the little figure of soul fire, and asked, "If you still don't offer a price, I will agree to help the Burning Incense Sect."

The little soulfire figure gritted its teeth and said, "If you want something, you might as well just say it directly!"

Upon hearing this, Qu Heng's expression changed, and he said very seriously, "The Eight-Nine Arcane Arts, I want your Eight-Nine Arcane Arts. Not only that, I want you to be shackled by me. I guarantee that your Eight-Nine Arcane Arts is genuine and has not been altered in the slightest. Otherwise, my torture will make you suffer unbearable pain."

"Don't even think about it!"

The Soulfire Little Man refused outright.

The Eight-Nine Arcane Arts is nothing like the Devouring Demon Hand. The Devouring Demon Hand is at most a powerful spell. The Eight-Nine Arcane Arts is a complete set of cultivation techniques, and a fully-fledged one at that, capable of reaching the level of the Demon Lord Wujiu. This is a fundamental and fundamental technique; let alone passing it on to Qu Heng, even his own personal disciples might not be able to learn it.

Qu Heng was quite straightforward, turning to Lu Xingzhou and saying, "Sect Leader Lu, let's begin. How can I help you?"

Lu Xingzhou seemed to have great confidence in Qu Heng and didn't care at all about him bargaining with the Soulfire Man. When he heard Qu Heng speak, he said to him, "I need you to strengthen the seal first, fellow Daoist. It will take at least two more hours."

Qu Heng laughed and said, "That's easy!"

The Crimson Dragon Buddha behind him let out a deep dragon roar, then transformed into countless streams of light, directly piercing into the surrounding flesh walls.

This is deep within the brain of the Demon Lord Wujiu. Originally, when the Demon Lord Wujiu was resurrected, those fleshy walls were constantly writhing and growing. However, after the Crimson Dragon Buddha merged into it, those slowly writhing fleshy walls actually stopped moving, as if they had frozen the Demon Lord Wujiu in place.

Lu Xingzhou looked at it and exclaimed in surprise, "Fellow Daoist, you have skillful methods."

Lu Xingzhou couldn't understand how Qu Heng had suppressed the life force of the Demon Lord Wujiu. It didn't seem like possession or sealing, but rather a special method that Lu Xingzhou had never seen before.

Qu Heng humbly replied, "It's just a trivial spell. Now that I've suppressed the life force of Demon Lord Wujiu, what's the next step?"

"Please take out my soul, fellow Daoist. I cannot use the spiritual energy in my body now, otherwise I will be forced to ascend. I will close my five senses and seal my soul as well. Please take out my soul and integrate it into this body. Once I merge with the flesh and blood, I will naturally be able to possess it."

Qu Heng exclaimed in surprise, "Sect Leader Lu, are you asking me to kill you?"

Lu Xingzhou nodded and said calmly, "That's right. Please rest assured, fellow Daoist. After I close my five senses, this physical body is no different from an ordinary person. Taking my life is not difficult."

After saying this, Lu Xingzhou closed his eyes, his breath slowly fading, like a corpse.

Qu Heng hadn't expected Lu Xingzhou to be so bold, truly disregarding life and death.

However, Qu Heng did not kill Lu Xingzhou. Instead, he turned to the little soul fire figure and said, "Alright, Lu Xingzhou probably can't hear us now. How about it? The Eight-Nine Arcane Arts told me that I'll kill Lu Xingzhou now and give his soul to you as a tonic. Is that enough sincerity?"

The little soulfire figure asked in surprise, "You're lying to him?"

Qu Heng laughed, "Nonsense! Can you believe what a demon says? I'm from the demonic sect too. Only a fool from the righteous path would believe me. Besides, if I really killed Lu Xingzhou, wouldn't the Burning Incense Sect come after me to the death? Would they listen to my explanation? Would the five major sects listen to my explanation?"
"Only if the Demon Lord Wujiu is resurrected, causing you and the five major sects to fight to the death, can my Huangquan Sect reap the benefits."

Upon hearing this, the Soulfire Little Man felt a surge of contempt.

This person truly has no sense of morality whatsoever; he truly deserves to be called a remnant of the Crimson Serpent Demon Sect.

However, this truly is the only chance.

If Lu Xingzhou were to ascend to heaven with the corpse of Demon Lord Wujiu, then he would truly have no hope in this life and would be forced to hide in the dark underground, never to see the light of day again.

The little soulfire figure hesitated for a long time before saying, "You really would hand over Lu Xingzhou's soul to me?"

Qu Heng said with certainty, "Otherwise, what use would it be to me? Our cultivation methods are different, and I can't suppress this soul that's about to ascend. But you can. I can sense that your body is very special; it grows stronger by devouring souls, right?"

The little soulfire figure did not refute. Just as Qu Heng said, not only did he cultivate the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts and have the ability to regenerate his physical body from a drop of blood, but his soul was also special. He could increase his cultivation by devouring other people's souls and could also seize other people's memories and techniques.

If it could devour Lu Xingzhou's soul, the Soulfire Little Man could not only make up for the losses, but also reach a higher level.

Such a temptation makes exchanging the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts seem like a worthwhile option.

"I can agree to make the exchange, but on the condition that you do not pass on the Eight-Nine Arcane Technique to anyone else. Not only that, you must also become my disciple! This technique can never be passed on to anyone else; you can only be my apprentice..."

Before the little soulfire figure could finish speaking, Qu Heng knelt down and said loudly, "Master, your disciple Qu Heng kowtows to you."

After three loud thuds, Qu Heng patted his long robe, stood up again, and said, "Master, it's time to pass on the skills."

Although the Soulfire Little Man was surprisingly decisive, he had no other choice at the moment.

Regardless of how sincere Qu Heng was, he had no choice but to take a gamble.

The little soulfire figure said to Qu Heng, "Alright, kill Lu Xingzhou first, and then I will teach you the technique."

Without a second thought, Qu Heng reached out and grabbed Lu Xingzhou's head, squeezing his brains until they splattered, and then grabbed the blazing soul in his hand.

The dignified sect leader of the Incense Burning Sect, a great cultivator at the Dao Integration Realm, was killed by Qu Heng so quietly, without any resistance.

Looking at the soul of the Dao Integration Realm before him, the Soulfire Little Man was so excited that he wanted to pounce on it.

But Qu Heng withdrew the spirit and warned, "Master, I have kowtowed and killed Lu Xingzhou. You should pass on the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts to me now."

The little soulfire figure sighed, "Alright, just listen..."

The little soulfire figure chanted incantations, reciting passages of profound techniques, which Qu Heng carefully memorized, not daring to miss a single word.

(End of this chapter)