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

Chapter 409 Sealing the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts
Chen Ye once dreamed of flying on a sword to become an immortal, but in the end he became a ghostly figure accompanied by ghostly soldiers.

There was nothing he could do; he simply didn't have the talent for swordsmanship. Sheng Huai'an's sword manual was simple enough, but he still couldn't master the first move even after so long.

Now, he wanted to use his exquisite swordsmanship to remove the Soul Venerable's soul, but he found that he couldn't do it.

Flipping through a book on the spot won't help; if you don't know, you just don't know.

"Grandmaster, send him back to Fengdu City. Wait until my swordsmanship is fully mastered..."

Before Chen Ye could finish speaking, he suddenly sensed a violent tremor coming from underground.

Before Chen Ye could react, Qu Heng sneered, opened a spatial rift, and threw Chen Ye and Princess Hongyu inside.

When Chen Ye came to his senses, he found himself back in the Yellow Springs Palace.

Chen Ye hadn't expected Qu Heng to suddenly send him back; it was just a small commotion. He was being far too cautious.

However, Chen Ye had already planned to return to Fengdu City, so there was nothing wrong with returning sooner rather than later.

As for Qu Heng's safety, Chen Ye was not worried. Even if Zhou Lang and Yin Xiaoshuang joined forces, and all the demons attacked together, Qu Heng would still be able to escape unscathed.

Just as Chen Ye was about to settle Princess Hongyu in, he felt a sudden tug on his hand. He didn't know when, but Princess Hongyu had grabbed his hand.

No, it should be called Soul Master.

Just as he fell into the spatial rift, the old demon quietly approached Chen Ye and suddenly reached out with both hands, grabbing Chen Ye's right hand.

Chen Ye felt a stinging pain in his palm, and with a forceful flick, he sent the demon flying.

But it was too late.

A sharp aura pierced Chen Ye's palm. When Chen Ye looked down, he saw a Time Arrow slowly dissipating.

In an instant, Chen Ye felt as if he had aged ten years and had experienced a strange period of time.

Soul Master was thrown off balance by Chen Ye and fell. He got up in a sorry state, but then burst into laughter: "Youluozi was right after all. I still found this opportunity. How was the taste of the Time Arrow?"

Chen Ye said nonchalantly, "What's wrong with you? Ten years is nothing but a drop in the ocean for me. Do you think you can use this Time Arrow to make me die of old age? Or do you think this weak fragment of my soul can have any effect on me?"

He was no ordinary man. In a mere ten years, it was impossible for him to completely merge the demon's divided soul with his own. The Soul Master had previously chosen only mortals, the most powerful being Princess Hongyu at the Qi Sea Realm. However, because their cultivation levels were too high, they could not achieve a perfect fusion and would only waste their divided souls.

The Soul Master said smugly, "Of course I know that a mere soul separation is useless to you, but I haven't spent these ten years trying to erode your soul. Instead, I've planted a restriction on you. Try it and see if you can still use the Eight-Nine Arcane Technique."

Chen Ye frowned and tried to circulate the Eight-Nine Arcane Technique, but as soon as he started, he felt a sharp pain in his body. Green roots grew out of his arm, broke through his skin, and then sprouted.

Chen Ye immediately stopped circulating his spiritual energy and then painfully peeled off the branches and leaves.

The Soul Master said smugly, "No need to waste your time. This is a sealing technique created by the Incense Burning Sect specifically to counter the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts. Do you even know what grew from your flesh and blood?!"

Chen Ye frowned and said calmly, "This is the Soul Cleansing Flower."

Chen Ye recognized this kind of thing because he had emptied most of the treasure trove of the Incense Burning Sect, so he had naturally seen such treasures before.

The shape and color of the roots and stems of the Soul Cleansing Flower are very distinctive; you'll almost never forget it once you've seen it.

Soul Lord was somewhat surprised, seemingly not expecting Chen Ye to guess the truth so easily, but he still said sarcastically, "So clever, but it's meaningless. There is no way to break this sealing technique. Even Demon Lord Wujiu only managed to wear down the seal over countless years."

Chen Ye showed no panic as the Soul Master had anticipated. Instead, he calmly asked, "Was this all planned by you? No, in your current state, you couldn't have foreseen that Grandmaster would send us back. Someone must have told you beforehand. It was Youluozi, wasn't it?"

Soul Master is currently extremely weak. If he hadn't taken advantage of the spatial teleportation to launch a sneak attack on Chen Ye, he probably would have been able to react in time.

But how could he have known that there would be unusual activity underground? How could he have prepared in advance?

Undoubtedly, someone reminded him at a crucial moment, and the only one capable of doing so in front of Chen Ye and Qu Heng was You Luo Zi. This witch's voice could appear anywhere and could be directed to anyone.

Chen Ye's calmness was beyond the Soul Master's expectations. How could he remain so calm when he was already in dire straits?

The Soul Master couldn't help but shout, "Don't think you can rest easy just because you're hiding in the Yellow Springs Sect! Do you know that my traitorous disciple is now in grave danger!"

Chen Ye thought for a moment and replied, "The Mirage Sect are traitors. I imagine Youluozi or Feilian will show themselves to attract our master's attention, and then Zhou Lang and Yin Xiaoshuang will try to launch a sneak attack. Four Void Returning Realm cultivators joining forces to deal with one is indeed a grand scheme."

Soul Master's expression truly changed this time. How did he even know about the Mirage Sect's betrayal? Where exactly did the news leak out?
The sky over the imperial city had completely changed color.

The thick, dark clouds, like solidified ink, rolled across the sky, with countless silver-snake-like bolts of lightning flashing and disappearing within them, as if a catastrophe was brewing in the heavens.

"Roar!"

A deep, muffled roar, unlike anything found in mortals, shattered the oppressive atmosphere.

A colossal azure beast materialized beneath the dark clouds. It had only one leg, a body as large as a mountain, no horns, and its entire body was crackling with purple arcs of electricity. The divine beast, the Kui Niu, appeared, and with its arrival, the thunder in the sky grew even more violent.

With a wave of his folding fan, Zhou Lang conjured a magical beast.

Without the slightest hesitation, Yin Xiaoshuang beside him traced mysterious lines with her slender fingers in front of her. Spiritual energy gathered, and a ball of crimson-gold flame ignited out of thin air, rapidly extending and transforming, eventually turning into a divine phoenix with magnificent tail feathers.

The two remained silent, their expressions extremely solemn, for the enemy they faced was no ordinary foe.

The man wore ferocious deer antlers, casually draped himself in an unknown animal skin, and leaned on a jet-black wooden staff. He was none other than the Flying Lord, who had mastered the supernatural power of making his words law.

Just moments before, the two top experts of the Mirage Sect emerged from the depths of the imperial city, followed closely by tens of thousands of ghosts formed from gray mist.

Ghostly figures filled the sky, turning half of it gray.

Even more fatally, Lord Feilian was mixed in with those treacherous ghosts, and taking advantage of Zhou Lang's unpreparedness, he lightly tapped him on the body with his wooden staff.

In that instant, half of Zhou Lang's body lost all the support of his bones and collapsed softly.

Fortunately, the cultivators of the Mirage Sect were not martial artists who relied on physical combat. Zhou Lang quickly swallowed a pill and forcibly activated his magic power to barely maintain his figure.

At this moment, the Kui Niu divine beast, like a moving mountain of lightning, crashed into the gray tide of ghosts. The purple arcs of electricity swirling around its body instantly erupted, transforming into countless tiny lightning snakes that shot out in all directions. The vengeful spirits composed of resentment and demonic energy were instantly electrocuted upon contact with the lightning, emitting shrill screams, their bodies torn into primordial mist.

The Changgui are said to be immortal, but the illusions of the Mirage Sect are equally bizarre.

Within this web of lightning, no one can distinguish which bolt is real and which is an illusion. The Mirage Sect possesses the ability to make the illusory appear real; as long as you cannot discern the truth, the damage caused by each bolt of lightning is real.

In this way, Zhou Lang barely expended any magic power to suppress the tens of thousands of vengeful spirits.

On the other side, Yin Xiaoshuang had a thought, and the crimson-gold phoenix flapped its wings, rushing straight at Lord Feilian with an aura that could burn everything.

The heavenly fire spread, distorting the air with intense heat, transforming it into a boundless sea of ​​fire, threatening to completely engulf Lord Feilian.

Faced with this world-destroying scene, Lord Feilian showed no sign of tension; in fact, he even smiled slightly. He raised his head, parted his lips, and uttered two words.

"Rain is coming."

In an instant, everything changed.

What were originally just gloomy dark clouds suddenly turned into a torrential downpour. The raindrops, as large as beans, were so dense that they formed a continuous line, as if the Milky Way had been poured down from above, pouring down with unparalleled force, almost extinguishing the raging flames around the phoenix.

Yin Xiaoshuang's expression changed, and her finger movements quickened. The phoenix, suppressed by the torrential rain, let out a mournful cry, its body spinning rapidly in the air, its fiery red feathers quickly fading into pure white. The raging flames, in the blink of an eye, transformed into biting frost.

The fire phoenix transformed into an ice phoenix.

In the midst of the torrential rain, the Ice Phoenix opened its beak and exhaled a breath of white, icy air that was visible to the naked eye. Wherever that icy air passed, whether it was the rain falling from the sky, the air below, or even Lord Feilian himself, everything was instantly frozen into a giant iceberg.

At the same time, Zhou Lang seized the opportunity and ignored the remaining vengeful spirits. He urged the Kui Niu, and the huge divine beast suddenly raised its single leg and stomped heavily into the void.

boom!
A bolt of purple lightning, as thick as a bucket, detached from its body, carrying a pure aura of destruction, and struck straight toward the ice mountain that sealed the Flying Lord, seemingly intending to take advantage of his confinement and completely obliterate him with its supremely yang and powerful lightning.

The lightning bolt moved at extreme speed, and its friction with the air even ignited flames in the cold rain.

Faced with this deadly situation of being attacked from both sides by ice and lightning, the Flying Lord in the ice mountain seemed powerless to turn the tide.

But just as the purple lightning was about to touch the iceberg, a calm voice rang out again.

Time stands still here.

Despite the cacophony of torrential rain and the roar of thunder all around, these words reached everyone's ears with exceptional clarity, taking effect even faster than the thunder itself.

As soon as the words fell, the speeding purple lightning bolt seemed to have crashed into an invisible wall, its speed suddenly decreasing, and it moved like a snail in mid-air, with each moment of its advance being infinitely stretched.

The Flying Lord, who was sealed inside the iceberg, did not dodge, but spoke again.

"Melting ice".

Countless cracks quickly appeared on the seemingly indestructible ice, and then the entire iceberg collapsed and melted, turning into a sky full of water vapor.

At this moment, time seemed not to have resumed its flow.

Having escaped his confinement, Lord Feilian raised his black wooden staff, took a step forward, and appeared directly in front of the immobilized Yin Xiaoshuang, striking her on the head!

The effects of this wooden staff are extremely bizarre. If Yin Xiaoshuang were hit head-on, she would probably instantly turn into a pile of boneless rotten flesh.

At this critical moment, a tiny, almost imperceptible bolt of lightning appeared without warning above Lord Feilian's head, crackling as it struck precisely on the top of his head.

The lightning bolt seemed completely unaffected by the power of words, striking him and causing him to tremble violently. The "time freeze" effect vanished instantly.

The wooden staff continued to fall. Having regained her mobility, Yin Xiaoshuang desperately tried to retreat, narrowly avoiding fatal blows, but one of her arms was still grazed by the staff. An indescribable tingling sensation came over her; the two bones in her left arm had disappeared.

Yin Xiaoshuang's face turned ashen instantly, but she immediately commanded the Ice Phoenix to spew frost again, attempting to freeze the enemy once more.

Zhou Lang also activated the Kui Niu at the same time. The giant beast opened its mouth and let out an invisible roar, which was a sonic attack specifically designed to target the soul.

However, Lord Feilian merely watched the ice phoenix attack again with indifference and uttered four more words.

"Phoenix rising from the ashes".

Upon hearing this, the enormous ice phoenix let out an extremely mournful cry, its ice feathers scattered, and its entire body transformed back into a massive block of ice, helplessly plummeting towards the imperial city below.

As for the invisible soul attack of the Kui Niu, Lord Fei Lian did not even use his spiritual power to defend against it. He let the sound waves hit him, but it was like a gentle breeze, leaving him completely unharmed.

He not only skillfully deflected all the attacks, but also raised his wooden staff once again.

This time, his target was the enormous Kui Niu.

He simply extended the wooden staff forward and gently tapped the phantom beast.

"boom!"

Like porcelain shattering, the enormous Kui Niu mythical beast was smashed apart inch by inch, eventually disintegrating into a sky full of purple lightning and disappearing into the air.

With both divine beasts destroyed in succession, Zhou Lang and Yin Xiaoshuang, as the casters, both suffered severe backlash. At the same time, they felt their spiritual energy flow suddenly halt, and excruciating pain erupted from their meridians.

They forcibly suppressed their surging blood and qi, and bright red blood had already seeped from the corners of their mouths.

The situation took a sharp turn for the worse in an instant. Zhou Lang could no longer care about anything else. With his last bit of strength, he shouted towards the golden, radiant Crimson Dragon Buddha in the distance, "Fellow Daoist Qu, why are you standing by and watching?! Are you really going to let us die without offering any help?!"

From the start of the battle, Qu Heng stayed hidden to the side, only summoning the Crimson Dragon Buddha to protect himself, showing no intention of participating in the fight.

Hearing Zhou Lang's almost desperate cry, the giant dragon head finally moved. It slowly turned towards the two disheveled men, and Qu Heng's voice came: "You two, try a little harder. I'm looking for this demon's weakness. Once I find it, I can take his head in one move."

Zhou Lang's expression immediately changed.

At this point, Qu Heng still hasn't made a move. Is he still incorrigible due to his background in the Demonic Sect and has decided to reap the benefits without lifting a finger, or has he already sensed something is wrong?

(End of this chapter)