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Chapter 573 Schemes (Next chapter: Blood Rain Record ends)

Master Chongxu's brows furrowed sharply.

"What do you mean?"

Zhou You shifted his position to make himself more comfortable, and then laughed.

"Actually, I was mainly clearing obstacles for myself. There were just too many people, and as a backup plan, I couldn't possibly take care of so many people. It would be easy for you, Master, to escape in the chaos."

Although he was in dire straits and had played all his cards, Zhou You remained nonchalant, as if he, not his opponent, held the advantage.

Is this just a pretense?

This was the first thought that popped into Master Chongxu's mind.

This is a very correct idea. Now that someone is exhausted and has completely depleted their magical power, they should not have any ability to resist.

just
Out of respect for that 'chosen one,' Master Chongxu still had all the rotten souls surround him to prevent any possible sneak attacks.

After a long time.

Zhou You remained motionless.

He even leisurely took out the Wine Immortal Gourd, first swiped a piece of beef jerky from the table next to him, popped it into his mouth and chewed it a couple of times, then uncorked the wine and gulped it down.

Then, wiping his mouth, he laughed heartily.

"What a pity, that bit of Drunken Immortal Wine went to that giant for free, otherwise it would be perfect for the occasion now. Master, you must think I'm just being mysterious, right?"

Master Chongxu did not respond.

He also knew that the closer to the moment, the more cautious one needed to be, as many heroes had failed at the last moment.
He didn't want to make such an idiotic mistake, so the more arrogant Zhou You acted, the more he would proceed cautiously.

Zhou You watched his actions, his laughter stopped abruptly, and then he shook his head.

"Master, as I just said, caution is your strength, but it's also your biggest weakness. You should have killed me cleanly and decisively, then there wouldn't have been so much trouble. What a pity."

Master Chongxu's expression remained unchanged. He simply flicked his fingers and sent out two rotten soul corpses to approach Zhou You step by step.

Zhou You continued talking, but suddenly changed his tone midway through.

"Master, do you know who I studied under before you?"

At this point, Master Chongxu finally couldn't help but speak.

"At this point, what's the point of saying all this?"

Zhou You just smiled.

"It's really no use now, but we still need to make things clear. Before that, I was apprenticed to a lowly old man who was very sleazy, but his skill in living off women was unparalleled. Before that, I only had two other skills."

"One of them, whose Taoist name is Poison Heart, is a rather contradictory and awkward guy, but at least he can be called a good person. The other is named Xuan Yuan, a hero who sacrificed himself to save countless people."

What on earth does this guy mean?
Master Chongxu's expression grew increasingly somber, a sense of unease rising in his heart, even making him unable to resist breaking his original principles—however, in the end he still restrained himself.

—It's okay, as long as I take it slow, just like that voice said, he will never be able to turn the world upside down.
However, Zhou You continued to speak.

"My Uncle Xuan Yuan is a truly capable person, possessing unparalleled skills that are earth-shattering, even I can't compare to him now. However, when he lent me his head, he set up an array. Although I didn't manage to retrieve it, I still remember most of it because he set it up himself."

"Normally, that formation requires the flesh and blood of twelve great demons, thirty-six ghosts, and seventy-two cultivators as its core. Even the weakened version still needs the flesh and blood of many demons as filling material. Right now, we really don't have the materials, but..."

"—Coincidentally, there is now a substitute."

As the gentle voice spoke, the unease finally reached its peak, causing Master Chongxu to cry out involuntarily.

"kill him!"

pity.

It was too late.

Although Zhou You was spouting nonsense, there was one thing he didn't lie about.

Master Chongxu was too cautious, even excessively so!

Something he had taken out while picking up the wine jug fell lightly to the ground.

Nothing else.

It was the last bit of essence left behind by that Wood Star Lord!
As it touched the ground, the seemingly chaotic flow of blood instantly began to meander and flow—transforming into an extremely mysterious array in the blink of an eye!
Outside the Ancestral Hall.

The clear blue sky had vanished, replaced by a gloomy, overcast sky, as if something momentous was about to happen, weighing heavily on everyone's hearts.

Before those ruins, no one spoke anymore.

Zhou You, the disciple from the alchemy room, was indeed not killed, but after being severely tortured, he had long since turned into a pile of rotten flesh, so it wouldn't matter if he were just left there unattended.

Wang Chongming, on the other hand, paced back and forth.

Now, he is filled with unease and fear, but also excitement and anticipation.

Whether I can struggle out of this hell after enduring so many years depends on this one move!

—Mr. Zhou, you really have to give it your all!

Just as the atmosphere was becoming increasingly oppressive, suddenly, a ball of flame burst out from his shoulder.

The burning pain instantly shot into his brain, but Wang Chongming didn't frown at all; instead, his face was full of excitement.

—The fact that the paper figure that was supposed to be in contact exploded means that the most critical moment has finally arrived for Master Zhou!
He pulled and kicked his men to their feet, then grabbed their ears and shouted.

"Stop slacking off! Tell all the disciples from each sect to set up their formations as Master Zhou instructed—if this mission fails, we'll all die here, but if it succeeds, we'll all be free!!!"

Inside the Ancestral Hall.

Zhou You watched as the essence of the Wood Star Lord became the core of the formation, and then slowly turned into ashes.

Honestly, it's a real shame that he kept this until now and it's being used as a consumable item.

But he didn't feel much reluctance.

—Although he didn't know much about Cthulhu, he did know what the Seven Chapters of the Mysterious Monarch's Secret Scripture was. Unless someone was out of their mind, who would practice such a thing?
As for the other two, their names are quite normal, but being listed alongside the Seven Chapters of the Mysterious Monarch's Secret Scripture, they probably aren't anything special. So, let's just give them up. Use them as a price to boost our rating, and then we'll see what the rewards are at the end of the story!

As the source energy was depleted, everything around became ethereal and unreal, like a blurry dream.

The same goes for those rotting corpses.

Even though they had rushed right in front of Zhou You, the fists suddenly passed right through his body when they came down. Some of the smarter ones even tried to use magic, but as soon as they formed the hand seals, their hands turned into a cluster of flowers with a 'bang'.
Master Chongxu kept opening and closing his mouth, as if he wanted to give instructions—but the moment his voice left his mouth, it turned into countless colorful bubbles, which floated into the air with the wind.

Everything seemed so bizarre and fantastical—this was not actually the influence of the Wood Star Lord, but rather a dream that was ultimately formed from his original nature mixed with his wandering spirit.

However, it's still not enough.

To deal with someone of Chongxu Shangren's caliber, Zhou You naturally couldn't use a simplified version of the formation; he had to use the complete and flawless one—but the problem was that the essence of just one Wood Star Lord was still somewhat insufficient.

Master Chongxu also understood this situation.

Sensing the slightly sluggish array around him, he kept gesturing, seemingly wanting the rotting corpses to attack with all their might in order to break this fragile balance.

But luckily.

Zhou You does only have this one item, but there are always more than just this one material available on the field.

He beckoned with his finger, and then something floated up from Ming Xiangu's corpse.

At the same time, Master Chongxu's expression suddenly froze.

It's very simple, that was the reward he gave earlier, the hibiscus wood!
Faced with such a priceless object, Zhou You didn't even glance at it. Instead, he waved his hand and threw it into the array's core as well.

Then there was that fat, chubby Gu worm.
Next was Yun Zhongzi's Golden Elixir.
Before long, he had thrown all the congratulatory gifts into the formation in a way that was absolutely wasteful, even making those who knew their value beat their chests and wish they could strangle him.

And with these things as fuel, the power required for the formation to operate was finally accumulated.

However, at this moment.

On the other side, under the reckless and desperate attack of Master Chongxu, the obstructing dream broke open, and a skinned arm reached out from it, aiming straight for his throat!
Zhou You didn't even glance at it.

With a casual kick, Wan Ren was already in his hand. The evil energy that had been deliberately condensed into it gathered into a single point, and then burst forth as the sword blade slashed out!

When the swords clashed, it was Wan Ren's sword that shattered first—but Zhou You didn't care much about it, since it wasn't a weapon like Duan Xie, and could repair itself even if it broke.

In fact, taking advantage of the brief moment of shattering, he had already grabbed the falling short sword with his backhand and plunged it into the body of the rotten soul corpse!
Under the crushing force of the ten thousand ren, the corpse fell backward, and behind it, more skinned arms and demon-infected plants climbed out.

Despite facing such a desperate situation, Zhou You's smile remained unchanged.

The reason is simple: now, with the cooperation of everyone outside, the formation is complete.

But speaking of which, what did Uncle-Master Xuan Yuan call this formation back then?

Forget it, it doesn't matter.

The next instant, a dazzling beam of light fell from the sky, and...
They cleaved open the ancestral hall!

now.

Whether they were disciples of the sect, disciples who had been turned by Wang Chongming and were unwilling to rot in this hell, or even pilgrims who had not yet left, they all raised their heads at the same time and looked at the light that seemed to be the creation of the world.

It took three or four minutes for the light to slowly fade away.

Inside the Ancestral Hall.

The hall where the birthday celebration was held has now been reduced to charred remains.

Even the invisible great demon retreated in fear. The only two places that could be described in detail were the curtain that symbolized the sect leader's throne and the small area where a certain person was located.

After a long while, Zhou You slowly curled up the corners of his mouth, as if he wanted to put on his habitual smile—but the moment he opened his mouth, a mouthful of blood was spat out from his throat and evaporated in mid-air before it even hit the ground.

Admittedly, by piling on materials without regard to cost, he did activate the formation from his memory—but according to Uncle-Master Xuan Yuan, the complete version of this thing requires the entire sect to preside over it.

But now, with only him and at most his hundred or so disciples, it's still too much of a stretch to force him to use this thing.

Fortunately, he ultimately emerged victorious.
But then, suddenly, a charred corner stirred.

The smile froze on his face. Zhou You turned his head and looked in that direction in disbelief.

"No way, you actually survived after taking that?"

Unfortunately, as the saying goes, things rarely go as planned. What you don't want to happen often does. A hand covered in charred marks struggled out from the charred remains, followed by the body slowly emerging.
Before long, the broken body of Master Chongxu crawled out of the ruins and reappeared before him.

Compared to before, this man's appearance could even be described as miserable—half of his face was burned off, and one arm and one leg were charred. But in any case, he still survived.

A few breaths later, Zhou You also guessed why.

—Just as the light slashed down, Master Chongxu pulled up all the rotting corpses and plants, including even the most precious human-faced flower, and shielded them all with his own body without regard for the consequences.

Since those things were reduced to ashes, this barrier allowed Master Chongxu to escape from this seemingly certain death.

You're usually hesitant and deliberate in your actions, but when it comes to this life-or-death situation, you've been remarkably decisive.
Zhou You sighed.

At this point, all he could do was sigh.

To put it in simpler terms, he is now completely drained of energy. Both his magical power and physical strength have been squeezed out by the formation, and he can hardly even move a finger.

He could be called Master Chongxu.
No matter how badly this guy is injured, he still has the strength to pull out something and stab himself to death.

Master Chongxu also understood this principle.

He smiled coldly and walked step by step through the ashes towards Zhou You, until he looked down at Zhou You's still calm face. Then he opened his mouth, which was only half open, and spoke in a hoarse voice.

"Truly worthy of being the chosen one, even at this point you almost turned the tables. But in the end, I am the victor. That person was right after all; as long as I listen to Him, even if there are twists and turns along the way, I can obtain everything."

"—I'd like to ask, who exactly is this 'He' you're talking about?"

"That is, of course, supreme."

Halfway through his sentence, Master Chongxu suddenly sensed something was amiss.

Even though Zhou You didn't have the strength to open his mouth, this sound...
Where did it come from?
(End of this chapter)