Chapter 164: Facing the Challenge Head-On

The surging quicksand offered no foothold whatsoever. With every step forward, Ye Dong slid back two steps. As the quicksand accelerated rapidly, Ye Dong, Guang Qi, and Huang Wuchang inevitably collided at last!

"Step through iron shoes with no place found, yet easily acquired without a single ounce of effort!"

Holding his ancient coin sword, Huang Wuchang burst into wild laughter. "Guang Qi, He Wentian, even the heavens have brought you to my side. This is your inescapable destiny; you are destined to serve me for all eternity!"

Who was Huang Wuchang? The grandmaster of the Soul Stealing Sect, and the bastard could actually fly!

With a sudden glide of his body, he lunged fiercely forward with the ancient coin sword directly at the injured Guang Qi!

"Ah!!!"

Poor Guang Qi had a broken leg, his body almost entirely immobilized by the restraint of the quicksand. Before he could even manage to resist, Huang Wuchang's sword pierced straight through his left shoulder, fresh blood dripping down continuously!

"How is it? Does it hurt especially much when your master delivers the stabbing blow?"

Huang Wuchang chuckled with a sinister smile. "Soon you will share the exact same fate as He Wei and the others. Don't rush; once I subdue He Wentian, I'll tear your souls right out and devour them!"

"Huang Wuchang, if you have any guts, kill me right now!"

Guang Qi roared, gripping the blade embedded in his left shoulder tightly with one hand, while pulling out a pistol with the other to press against his own temple as a threat. "You beast, even if I die, I will never be used by you again!"

Huang Wuchang shook his head with a smile, cursing softly, "You want to commit suicide? Or perhaps shoot me? I'm afraid you won't even have the chance!"

Before his voice had even faded, Huang Wuchang pointed a finger through the air at Guang Qi. "Body-Fixation Curse!"

Guang Qi, who had been shouting curses just a moment before, froze with his mouth wide open, lying motionless in the quicksand. His eyes stared wide as he watched Huang Wuchang fly toward Ye Dong!

"Hey, Huang Wuchang, don't come over! Stay away!"

Seeing that despite the bloodstains on his arms and body, Huang Wuchang seemed to have recovered a considerable amount of his stamina, a jolt went through Ye Dong's heart. "He's recovered so fast—is it because he absorbed Lixing's soul, causing his vital energy to surge so dramatically?"

"Has Lixing already been murdered by you?!"

Facing Ye Dong's stern interrogation, Huang Wuchang replied with a cheeky, grinning smile, "What do you mean I murdered him? He brought this entirely upon himself. After drinking the second bottle of Black Wolf blood, even the King of Hell wouldn't spare him if he wanted to live!"

His expression twisted menacingly. "Besides, he even struck and wounded me before he died. Naturally, as for cleaning up such a traitor who betrayed his master and destroyed his ancestors, I was more than eager to execute him swiftly!"

"A traitor? You are the absolute, ultimate traitor! You've murdered so many innocent people—have you even kept count of how many lives you've ruined along this entire path?!"

Ye Dong gnashed his teeth in hatred. "How many more people do you intend to destroy before you're finally satisfied?!"

"Harm people?! When have I ever harmed anyone?"

Huang Wuchang grinned broadly. "They are being utilized by me, acting as the stepping stones laid out for me to reach the peak of madness. This is their supreme honor!"

With those words finished, he thrust his ancient coin sword directly at Ye Dong as well!

"Damn it, I'll fight you to the death!!"

Hearing such shameless and arrogant, megalomaniacal ranting from Huang Wuchang, Ye Dong finally reached the absolute limit of his tolerance. A jet of his own vital essence blood shot forth fiercely. Igniting spontaneously without any fire, the blood transformed into more than a dozen fierce fire kirins, lunging viciously toward Huang Wuchang!

"Goodness me, to think he can actually push the Maoshan Exorcism Curse to such a level?!" Facing the menacingly murderous fire kirins, Huang Wuchang did not dare to show the slightest negligence. His low-flying body executed a sharp turn, his toe grazing the sandy surface before he raised his sword to lunge once more!

Seeing that Ye Dong had made such immense progress, Guang Qi, whose body remained paralyzed by the spell, was also utterly astonished. "We haven't seen each other for merely two days—why has his Daoist sorcery advanced at such a terrifyingly rapid pace?!"

As the saying goes, true righteous paths generate endless techniques; techniques arise from the heart, and the cycle continues unbroken. Naturally, a treacherous villain like you could never comprehend the profound mysteries and truths behind it.

Ye Dong had already pierced through these various profound mechanisms. Knowing precisely what he was fighting for and holding the technique within his heart, his power naturally flowed without end.

"Turns out I'm actually this powerful?!"

Seeing that the vital blood he had projected seemed even stronger by a tier than Senior Brother Wenxing's "Fire Horse," Ye Dong felt a mixture of shock and joy. Unfortunately, Huang Wuchang was pressing closer with every step, leaving no room for even the slightest carelessness!

Drawing his Yuyan blade, Ye Dong parried Huang Wuchang's ancient coin sword in quick succession. Merely displaying such skill amidst the quicksand was enough to make both Huang Wuchang and Guang Qi view him with newfound respect once again!

"If He Wentian is not eliminated, he will undoubtedly become a grave threat to my future!"

With his murderous intent firmly set, Huang Wuchang could no longer afford to worry that using advanced Daoist sorcery against Ye Dong might deplete the opponent's vital essence and spirit, thereby diminishing the potency of the soul slated for extraction. Thrusting his ancient coin sword forward with tremendous force, one blade split into two, two into four, four into eight—a torrential rain of swords materialized out of thin air. This technique was precisely his signature masterstroke: the Maoshan Sword Division Art!

Before employing this technique, he deliberately put some distance between himself and Ye Dong, utilizing the sword array to launch his attack. On one hand, this prevented Ye Dong from staging a close-range sneak attack; on the other hand, it maximized the flexible range of movement for the sword formation. One could hardly argue he lacked seasoned experience.

Facing the sword rain that closed in instantly, Ye Dong bit down firmly on the hilt of his blade, brought his fingers together in a seal before his chest, and roared at the top of his lungs:

"Azure Dragon and White Tiger, lead the formation in shifting array! Vermilion Bird and Dark Warrior, guard and protect this mortal frame! Swiftly, swiftly, obey this law!"

His body had already been covered by a pale blue divine dragon battle armor, but the moment the incantation was uttered, an additional layer of fiery red flames suddenly erupted across the armor, tightly wrapping and reinforcing the protective shell!

"Clang! Clang, clang!!"

Huang Wuchang's barrage of swords crashed violently against this enhanced version of the divine dragon armor on Ye Dong's body, producing crisp, ear-piercing strikes!

"To think he can actually infuse the magical power of the 'Body Cleansing Divine Incantation' directly onto his armor—you brat truly are blessed with extraordinary natural talent!"

Huang Wuchang let out a thunderous roar. "Let's just see how many of my swords you can possibly resist!!!"

Flicking his finger, the sword rain, whose momentum had momentarily slowed, swept around in a wide arc, altering its angle to target Ye Dong's vulnerable back!

"Damn it, taking these frontal impacts head-on puts me at a massive disadvantage!"

Ye Dong wailed bitterly in his mind. "The impact force of these swords is simply too immense. If I keep blocking like this, I'm bound to sustain internal injuries. I have to find a way to break his sword array!"

"I wonder if it's possible to fuse the Samadhi True Fire armor with the divine dragon armor?!" Inspiration flashed through Ye Dong's mind. "If water and fire can merge, my hand seals can be released so I can go all out against Huang Wuchang!"

"Screw it, whether it works or not, I have to try! Otherwise, the moment his swords slam into my back, all I'll be doing is taking a beating blindly!"

With that thought, Ye Dong closed his eyes tight, using his bodily senses to rapidly calculate the optimal fusion ratio between the Samadhi True Fire and the divine dragon armor!

At that exact second, Huang Wuchang's swords struck the center of his back with pinpoint accuracy!

"Puff!!"

Assailed by the torrential downpour of the ancient coin sword array right against his back, Ye Dong could not suppress a mouthful of vital essence blood from spewing forth!

"Hahahaha, He Wentian, just wait here to die!" Seeing that Ye Dong appeared to have lost his ability to resist, Huang Wuchang felt a wave of exhilarating satisfaction, continuing to drive his sword array to batter the armor on Ye Dong's body!

"It has to work!"

With blood seeping from the corners of his mouth, Ye Dong gritted his teeth and endured desperately. Suddenly, his eyes snapped wide open, and his pitch-black pupils actually transformed into two distinct colors: one red and one blue!

"It worked!"

Faced with Ye Dong, who had evolved yet again in the midst of battle, how would Huang Wuchang respond? What on earth would become of Guang Qi's fate? Could Ye Dong successfully thwart the evil scheme of these two villains?!

Please stay tuned for the next chapter!