Alert! The Dragon Lord has emerged from seclusion!

"Yes, sir!" The two ice guards did not hesitate and protected Ye Qingcheng and the three members of the Chu family in the middle.

The two simultaneously unleashed the Ice Guardian Combined Attack Technique, unleashing a burst of icy energy that formed a constantly rotating storm of ice blades around them, temporarily blocking the onslaught of the skeleton soldiers.

However, the sheer number of ghost soldiers was too great, and the Ice Blade Storm was weakening at a visible rate.

With his back to Ye Qingcheng, Lin Chen growled, "Now! Quickly!"

Ye Qingcheng gritted her teeth, pressed her hands against Lin Chen's Mingmen acupoint on his back, and poured out the Frost Yin Qi that she had just cultivated without reservation!

The icy, bone-chilling Yin energy surged into his body, colliding violently with the blazing Nine Yang True Qi!

Lin Chen's body trembled violently, his skin instantly turning half crimson and half icy blue, his blood vessels bulging as if they were about to burst.

But he endured the excruciating pain and, with his powerful mental control, forcefully guided these two extreme forces to circulate in his meridians according to the "Yin-Yang Harmony" route recorded in the "Mysterious Yin Manual"!

Ice and fire, yin and yang, in the midst of devastating conflict, a subtle fusion began to emerge.

Lin Chen condensed a ball of golden flame in his left palm and a ball of icy blue cold air in his right.

He slowly brought his palms together.

The moment gold and blue came into contact, a blinding white light burst forth!

A terrifying aura, far exceeding the Qi Refining stage and even faintly touching the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, erupted from Lin Chen!

The pupils beneath the ghost mask constricted sharply: "Yin-Yang fusion?! That's impossible! Without the control of a Nascent Soul cultivator, forcibly fusing Yin and Yang power will only result in self-destruction..."

His words came to an abrupt end.

Because Lin Chen had already completed the final hand seal.

"Yin contains Yang, and Yang contains Yin; they generate and restrain each other, creating endless cycles of creation—"

Lin Chen's voice, like a resounding bell, echoed across the mass grave:

"Yin Yang True Thunder, dispel evil!"

He thrust out both palms with a sudden burst of energy!

The ball of light, interwoven with gold and blue, spinning continuously in his palm, transformed into a golden-blue lightning bolt as thick as a bucket, tearing through the air and shooting straight at Ghost Face!

Wherever the lightning struck, the skeletal soldiers crumbled like paper, turning into a shower of bone dust!

Ghost Face was horrified. He frantically waved his bone staff, and the seven soul banners on the altar flew out at the same time, forming a huge black shield in the air.

At the same time, he bit his tongue and spat a mouthful of blood onto the shield.

The shield shone with a dark light, and countless grotesque, distorted faces appeared on its surface.

boom--!!!

The golden-blue lightning bolt slammed into the black shield.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a crisp sound like glass shattering.

Click... Click...

Countless cracks appeared on the surface of the black shield, and the ghostly face on the shield let out an extremely mournful howl. Then, along with the shield itself, it shattered into countless black light spots and dissipated into the air.

All seven soul banners exploded simultaneously!

As if struck by a heavy blow, Ghost Face let out a miserable scream and flew backward from the altar. He spat out three mouthfuls of black blood in mid-air, his black robe torn, revealing his emaciated body.

He crashed heavily into a mass grave twenty feet away, his bone staff slipping from his hand and his mask splitting in half, revealing a face as pale as a dead man.

"You...you actually..."

Ghost Face struggled to get up, but a charred hole in his chest was widening, the residual power of Yin-Yang True Thunder continuously destroying his life force.

After delivering that attack, Lin Chen also knelt on the ground, his face as pale as paper, blood constantly spilling from the corner of his mouth.

Forcibly fusing the power of Yin and Yang to unleash the "Yin-Yang True Thunder" put a tremendous burden on his body, causing damage to many of his meridians, and the backlash from the Nine Yang Burning Heaven Body showed signs of resurgence.

"My lord!" Two ice guards quickly helped him up.

Ye Qingcheng was also weak. She had almost exhausted the Frost Yin Qi she had just cultivated, and was now swaying precariously.

But the outcome of the battle was already decided.

Without the control of the ghost mask and the blessing of the soul banner, the remaining skeleton soldiers became sluggish and chaotic, and some even began to attack each other.

The light from the array on the altar quickly dimmed.

"Quickly... save people... get out of here..." Lin Chen said, barely managing to stay awake.

"Miss Ye, are you able to walk by yourself?"

Ye Qingcheng nodded and stood up straight, gritting her teeth.

The group quickly evacuated the altar area.

As he passed Ghostface, Ghostface suddenly grinned maliciously, hissing with his last breath, "You...can't escape...The Sect Master has emerged from seclusion...The 'Sun Hunting Plan' is fully underway..."

"Soon...soon you will all become the sect leader's alchemy materials..."

Lin Chen gave him a cold look and said to the Ice Guard, "Cripple his cultivation, spare his life, and he might still be useful."

Bingwei understood and sent a stream of icy true energy into Guimian's dantian, completely destroying his cultivation.

Ghost Face screamed and fainted.

No one dared to delay and returned to the parking area as quickly as possible.

As soon as he got into the car, Lin Chen received an urgent message from Shen Qingqiu!

"Lin Chen, return immediately! Something's happened at the Chu residence! Chu Ling'er's Soul-Chasing Mark between her eyebrows has erupted, and Ghost Mask may be remotely controlling her through the mark! She's in grave danger!"

Lin Chen's expression changed: "Return to the Chu residence at full speed!"

The main hall of the third courtyard of the Chu family's old residence.

The atmosphere was as heavy as if it were frozen.

Chu Ling'er huddled beside the long table, her hands covering her head, her body trembling violently.

The faint black mark between her eyebrows now wriggled as if alive, emitting a dense black aura.

The black energy spread along her meridians, and wherever it passed, black blood vessels appeared under her skin, looking ferocious and terrifying.

Shen Qingqiu was quickly setting up a medicinal array around her—seven different colored medicinal powders were sprinkled into a seven-star pattern, and a specially made tranquilizing incense stick was lit on each "star".

Wisps of smoke curled upwards, carrying a strange medicinal fragrance, attempting to suppress the dark energy between Chu Ling'er's brows.

However, the effect was limited.

"It's no use... He... He's controlling me through the mark..." Chu Ling'er squeezed out the words through clenched teeth, her pupils sometimes clear and sometimes unfocused.

"I saw him... in the mass grave... defeated by you... but before he died... he activated the backup plan within the mark..."

She suddenly screamed, and her hands involuntarily rose up to strangle herself!

"Ling'er!" Shen Qingqiu's expression changed, and he was about to step forward.

"Don't come any closer!" Chu Ling'er hissed, a sliver of clarity returning to her eyes. "He's forcing me...forcing me to hurt you...or...or forcing me to end my own life..."

The veins on her forehead bulged, clearly indicating that she was using all her willpower to resist that controlling force.

Uncle Fu and his two old servants paced anxiously to the side, but dared not approach—they were just ordinary people, and rushing forward would only cause more trouble.

The few ice guards who remained behind held their swords and stood guard, but they were helpless in the face of this situation—although their icy true energy could suppress evil, Chu Ling'er was a hostage, and forcibly attacking her might hurt her.

"Miss Shen, what should we do now?" an ice guard asked urgently.

Shen Qingqiu forced himself to calm down, his mind racing: "The Soul-Chasing Seal is a secret technique of the Netherworld Sect for controlling puppets, and its core lies in the word 'soul.' To remove it, either the caster must actively remove it or die, or the seal must be forcibly broken down with stronger soul power."