Divine Root Bone

"Heh—heh heh!!"

A hoarse, inhuman roar rolled from his throat, and the bluestone slab beneath Shi Wanshan's feet shattered. He transformed into a dark afterimage and pounced on the crowd. The internal organs of the rogue cultivator at the fifth level of Qi Refining had just been shattered by his palm strike. His warm corpse still lay on the stone steps, its blood not yet soaking the slabs. The gruesome scene shattered everyone's mental defenses.

"It's a Qi Refining Peak Evil Puppet!! The power of a peak ninth-level Perfected cultivator!"

"Once possessed by an evil spirit, one feels no pain and cannot be driven away!"

Several cultivators turned pale, their formation crumbled in panic, and despair filled their hearts. According to the rules of cultivation realms, a peak Qi Refining Ninth Level cultivator could draw spiritual energy from all directions to his physical body and split rocks with his bare hands. Ninety percent of the cultivators present could not withstand a single claw from him, let alone this monster, which was fearless and had no weaknesses whatsoever.

Just as everyone was at a loss, a tall and upright figure stepped out steadily and stood firmly in front of them. It was Zhang Yang.

A layer of pale golden Dao patterns appeared on his body. As soon as these Dao patterns spread out, all the Qi Refining cultivators around him felt their legs go weak, their blood and qi surged and became disordered. They subconsciously took several steps back, and even the circulation of their spiritual power became sluggish and blocked.

Others only thought he was a little stronger than an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator, his realm being only one major level higher than Qi Refining. But only Zhang Yang himself knew that with the blessing of his divine-grade root bone, the abundance of his spiritual energy and the foundation of his physical body were completely comparable to the fourth level of Foundation Establishment. He was already able to condense a small spiritual energy field, which was enough to directly block the flow of spiritual power of all Qi Refining cultivators.

"Everyone back off, do not come near here."

Zhang Yang's voice was calm, yet it carried a profound and reassuring power. Su Qingyao and Lin Wanqing immediately led the twelve inner disciples and the survivors to retreat to the corner of the courtyard, their eyes fixed on the two people in the room.

The next moment, Shi Wanshan had already rushed forward like a madman, his ten black claws carrying black energy that corroded the soul, tearing through the air and grabbing Zhang Yang's head!

Everyone instinctively held their breath, and many low-level cultivators closed their eyes in fear, waiting to hear the agonizing sound of bones shattering.

The foreseeable devastation did not occur.

Zhang Yang's body was enveloped in a burst of pale golden Daoist light. His divine-grade root bone and supreme Yang spiritual light spread out a thick barrier. His pitch-black claws slammed into the golden light, creating a deafening roar.

Sizzle—!

The instant they made contact, the Qi cultivation energy covering Shi Wanshan's arm was instantly dissolved by the supreme Yang golden light, leaving large areas of the skin and flesh charred and ulcerated, with black smoke rising continuously.

Any normal Qi Refining cultivator would have collapsed to the ground in agony from such a severe injury, but Shi Wanshan's pupils remained lifeless, showing no sign of retreat. In fact, the force of the impact made his attack even more ferocious. Black energy surged wildly from his arms as he relentlessly slammed and smashed with each claw, causing the courtyard beams and pillars to sway slightly with every impact.

Bang! Bang! Bang! A series of explosions echoed throughout the mansion.

Shi Wanshan's physical body was constantly burned and damaged by the golden light, and the black energy dissipated layer by layer. The evil power in his meridians was continuously devoured by the power of the ultimate yang. However, he still repeated the killing action like a mechanical puppet, without feeling pain or fatigue. The bizarre and terrifying scene made all the cultivators present feel their scalps tingle and their hair stand on end.

"He...he's attacking even with his flesh torn up like this, doesn't he feel the slightest pain?"

"This is no longer a cultivator; it's a murderous monster bred by evil spirits!"

Su Qingyao's delicate brows furrowed tightly, her jade-like fingers unconsciously gripping the spirit sword at her waist, her heart filled with lingering fear. Beside her, Lin Wanqing's breathing also faltered slightly, her beautiful eyes fixed on the crazed Shi Wanshan, a thin layer of sweat beading on her back. The same thought arose in both of their minds: if Zhang Yang hadn't stepped forward to lead the team today, this group of cultivators, with their uneven cultivation levels and flustered minds, would have had no chance of survival against this painless and tireless peak Qi Refining stage evil puppet; sooner or later, they would all be corrupted and assimilated by the black energy.

The situation on the field, however, was entirely one-sided, with the opponent dominating.

Zhang Yang stood firmly in place from beginning to end without taking a single step back. The abundant spiritual energy, comparable to that of a fourth-level Foundation Establishment cultivator, continuously poured into the protective golden light. The small spiritual energy field, unique to a mid-third-level Foundation Establishment cultivator, quietly spread out, though it was not very stable. After all, he knew that his true realm had not yet reached the mid-third level.

at this time.

The spiritual energy was briefly suppressed by Zhang Yang's unstable small spiritual energy field. The spiritual energy gathered around Shi Wanshan at the peak of Qi Refining instantly dissipated by more than half. His physical strength, which he relied on, was directly reduced by 70%. His charging speed visibly slowed down. No matter how he urged the Qi vortex in his dantian, the turbid Qi in his body was as if it were imprisoned by an invisible cage, and he could not mobilize it even a little bit.

"If you feel no pain or itching, I will sever the source of your evil power."

Zhang Yang's eyes turned slightly cold. He stopped passively defending and his figure suddenly transformed into a golden afterimage, moving so fast that everyone could only catch a glimpse of it.

Before Shi Wanshan's stiff body could react, Zhang Yang, with a palm wrapped in extremely refined Yang spiritual energy, precisely imprinted it on the core of the evil spirit entrenched in his chest.

With a muffled boom, the domineering Dan Yuan surged into Shi Wanshan's body along with the palm force. The evil and turbid power that was originally locked by the spiritual energy field suddenly became chaotic, and it frantically crashed and backfired in his meridians and dantian.

Shi Wanshan's charge abruptly halted, his puppet-like body trembling violently. Even without pain, the severe damage to his very essence from the collapse of his evil power rendered him completely incapable of attacking. But the next second, a piercing roar erupted from his throat, the black aura around him suddenly expanding and exploding, his entire body surging forward with ferocious evil power!

Boom—!!

The violent collision stirred up a gale, and the walls on both sides of the courtyard cracked open with a deafening roar, sending shards of stone and wood flying everywhere! The human and the evil were locked in a fierce battle, their forces clashing with each impact stronger than the last, smashing through the wooden beams of the inner hall. The two figures, enveloped in contrasting golden and black spiritual light, broke through the broken window frame and crashed heavily from inside the enclosed house onto the bluestone slabs of the old alley outside!

The tranquility of the entire old alley in Dongcheng was completely shattered; the wooden doors of ordinary houses along the alley trembled, and tiles slid off in a rustling sound.

Shi Wanshan crashed onto the stone slab without stopping. His skin scraped against the bluestone, leaving large bloody marks, but he seemed not to feel any damage. He turned around and pounced again, his fists, shrouded in black energy, striking relentlessly. Each time they collided with the golden light, the ground would crack with fine spiderweb patterns.

Zhang Yang calmly stepped onto the bluestone slab, the pale gold Dao patterns on his body lingering for a long time, the power of the Foundation Establishment level firmly enveloping his body. Taking advantage of the moment when the opponent charged at him again, Zhang Yang dodged the sharp claws by the side, his five fingers gripping the festering flesh on Shi Wanshan's shoulder, and the purifying golden light in his palm was frantically poured in!

"town!"

As the word fell, the unique purifying spiritual light of a divine-grade root bone surged forth like a river, frantically washing away the long-standing evil essence from Shi Wanshan's seven orifices and meridians. Sizzling sounds of dissolving rose and fell, the black mist in the sky rapidly dissipated into white fog, and the turbid energy supporting Shi Wanshan's peak Qi Refining combat power receded layer by layer. His festering, loose body trembled violently before crashing heavily onto the bluestone slab, utterly powerless to struggle any longer.

In a short while, Zhang Yang, who was at the second level of Foundation Establishment, firmly suppressed an extremely ferocious and almost unbeatable Qi Refining Peak evil puppet on the road surface of the old alley.

All the cultivators inside and outside the house rushed out, surrounding the alley entrance in astonishment. The entire scene was deathly silent for a moment, then erupted into a chorus of suppressed gasps. Everyone looked at Zhang Yang with awe and reverence in their eyes.

"A mere Foundation Establishment Stage 2 cultivator easily crushed a Qi Refining Peak Evil Puppet, and even fought its way from inside the house to outside in the alley!"

"That invisible aura just now completely sealed off the monster's spiritual energy circulation; this is a skill that an ordinary Foundation Establishment Stage 2 cultivator could not possibly possess!"

"With him here, we have a glimmer of hope!"

Su Qingyao and Lin Wanqing stood side by side at the front of the crowd, exchanging a glance as they looked at the tall, golden figure in the alley. Their sense of relief deepened. If Zhang Yang hadn't possessed an innate divine-grade physique and combat strength far exceeding that of his peers, the moment the mansion gates locked, it would have been the end for all of them.