Chapter 166: Fighting to the Death with All One's Might

As Guangqi’s eyes closed, a wordless tear slipped from the corner of Ye Dong’s eye, while Guangqi’s soul quickly poured into his body in the form of pure, radiant energy!

"Guangqi, a prodigal who returns is more precious than gold. You sowed the bitter seeds, and now you have tasted their bitter harvest. Consider this your liberation."

Enduring a myriad of emotions swirling in his heart, Ye Dong gripped the Prison Flame tightly, turned around, and roared at Huang Wuchang, "Huang Wuchang, you wretched dog! I'll fight you to the death!!!"

Hearing Ye Dong's furious curses, Huang Wuchang slowly turned his head. Seeing Guangqi lying lifeless on the ground, he understood instantly that Ye Dong had won their mortal duel.

"He Wentian, thank you for helping me kill Guangqi and sparing me the trouble of soiling my hands. Such a rebellious disciple—truly, every one killed is one less in the world!"

Huang Wuchang sneered coldly, stirring his inner sea of Qi as he continuously channeled his magic power into the stone door. The massive stone gate was eroded back and forth by black energy, emitting a crackling, sizzling sound. The chaotic environment around them seemed to shift in response to these energy fluctuations; sand and rock fragments swirled wildly, and the wind grew increasingly fierce.

It appeared that once this stone door opened, it would transform the very fabric of this realm, or at least alter everything before them beyond recognition.

"Ahahahahaha! He Wentian, today you have the fortune to witness this old man claiming Sikou Xuan’s body. Consider it your blessing!"

Amidst Huang Wuchang’s wild laughter, the gate he had dreamed of and which Ye Dong hated to the marrow finally swung open!

*Rumble—clang, clang, clang!*

The massive stone door stood wide open, and the braziers inside lit themselves automatically, instantly illuminating the stone chamber with a bright, glaring light.

Mysterious runes covered every visible inch of the stone walls. The Five Elements Banners stood on the left side of the chamber, while an array constructed from five-colored talismans stood on the right. Right in the center of the chamber was a lifelike statue of the Three Pure Ones, and beneath the statue lay an open stone coffin, striking and ominous!

"How could this be?! Why is the stone coffin open?"

A chill ran down Ye Dong's spine. Squinting inside, he saw to his shock that the massive stone coffin was completely empty!

"Where is Sikou Xuan's body?!"

Not only Ye Dong, but even Huang Wuchang was dumbfounded!

"No, it can't be! It can't be!!"

Disregarding the triggers beside the door, Huang Wuchang ran into the stone chamber in a state of sheer panic. In this very chamber, which he had entered once before, he remembered distinctly that Sikou Xuan’s corpse had rested inside that very stone coffin!

"Agh—blech!"

Yet now, the stone coffin was wide open, and the body of Sikou Xuan—the very object of his day-and-night yearning—was gone. Decades of painstaking effort had vanished into thin air. Even someone with Huang Wuchang’s hardened nerves could not help but spew a mouthful of bitter blood!

Truly, extreme joy always begets deep sorrow!

"How could this be?! Where is Sikou Xuan’s body?!"

Clutching his chest, Huang Wuchang scanned his surroundings, his lips trembling as he muttered to himself, "Back then, there was a sealed Seven-Star Sword here, a Taiji whisk, and a Heaven-Connecting Bagua Mirror. Who on earth took these divine artifacts away?!"

"Ah! Who?! Who was it?!"

Huang Wuchang was on the verge of madness, barking hysterically in the stone chamber, "I'll hack you into ten thousand pieces! Ten thousand pieces!"

Hearing Huang Wuchang's furious roar, Ye Dong was also struck with profound astonishment. "We were fighting for our lives here, yet the most important items in this place were cleaned out by someone else long ago?!"

"This is no time for guesswork. While Huang Wuchang is out of his mind with frenzy, rescuing the catalysts is paramount!"

With that thought, Ye Dong mustered his immense strength, stacked the three cages together, and prepared to hoist them away!

"He Wentian, you want to run?! Keep dreaming!"

Huang Wuchang spun around and glared fiercely at Ye Dong, his hands curling into eagle-like claws as he roared, "Get over here!"

A massive claw of dark energy lunged from behind Ye Dong, tightly gripping him as his movements slowed from holding the elevated cages high above his head!

"It doesn't matter if I, Ye Dong, die, but I cannot let these catalysts perish. They are still so young; they must not suffer this twisted fate!"

Summoning every ounce of strength into his retreating body, Ye Dong hurled the three cages outward and roared at the top of his lungs, "Listen well, those inside the cages! If you manage to escape alive, remember to tell my master that this old man's disciple did not disgrace him!"

"Want to run?! No way, they're staying here too!"

Driven completely insane, Huang Wuchang moved to grab the catalysts as well, only to be intercepted by the fire kirin summoned from Ye Dong’s Prison Flame!

"Huang Wuchang, with me here, you won't harm another soul!"

Dragged backward into the stone chamber, Ye Dong let out a wild laugh. Waving his left hand across a gush of his own vital essence, several blood-red fire kirins slammed fiercely into the stone door. With a suicidal resolve, Ye Dong had locked himself and the blood-crazed Huang Wuchang together!

"Are there still sealing talismans up there? That's wonderful!"

Looking closely, Ye Dong spotted several golden sealing talismans affixed to the inner side of the door!

"Go!! *Blech!*"

Enduring the agonizing pain of Huang Wuchang's giant claw crushing him, Ye Dong flicked his palm, slamming a mouthful of vital essence fiercely onto the talismans!

Upon contacting the blood, the talismans officially activated the sealing art!

*Hum—hum—hum—hum—hum!*

Five golden energy barriers tightly enveloped the stone chamber like a massive golden bell, bearing a striking resemblance to Chen Yao's "Golden Bell Shield" technique.

A single Golden Bell Shield could withstand a major attack from the Wolf Demon; now, with five golden doors combined, the effect was far beyond simple addition.

For reasons unknown, Huang Wuchang did not seem to care that Ye Dong had triggered the sealing art. At this moment, his hair was disheveled, his expression eerie, and his eyes hollow—he looked precisely like a walking corpse.

"Come here!"

Gritting his teeth, Huang Wuchang cursed, "It's all because of you so-called righteous factions! Always standing in the way of my grand design. Having Weizi wasn't enough, you had to sendrihui, and now there's you, this pernicious little bastard!"

"Heaven has opened its eyes! Your grand design has fallen through after all! Ahahaha! How does it feel? Being toyed with by fate doesn't taste very good, does it?"

Throwing all caution regarding life and death to the wind, Ye Dong laughed wildly. Instead of steadying his body being pulled by Huang Wuchang, he seized the momentum, raised the Prison Flame, and lunged straight at Huang Wuchang!

Faced with Ye Dong's counterattack, a despondent Huang Wuchang did not dodge or evade. Raising his ancient coin sword, he thrust it directly at Ye Dong!

The feeling of decades of painstaking effort instantly collapsing was something Huang Wuchang had truly experienced—the dramatic rise and fall of life in its purest form.

"Even if I die, I won't die under your sword!"

Twisting his body, Ye Dong evaded Huang Wuchang's longsword and counter-attacked toward his back, aiming straight for his heart!

"Go to hell!"

Huang Wuchang roared loudly. The wound on his back instantly split open, and a jet of vital essence shot out with a *thud* straight onto Ye Dong, instantly scorching his already-evolved divine dragon armor!

"Agh!"

The excruciating pain forced Ye Dong to the ground. Before he could even stand, Huang Wuchang's sword tip thrust toward him once more!

"Taste my sword! I will torture you to death, slowly and piece by piece!"

Hating Ye Dong to the core, Huang Wuchang believed that to truly satisfy his vengeance, he had to slaughter his enemy with the sword, piercing him inch by inch.

"Think it's that easy to kill me? Don't underestimate me! I have Guangqi's pure yang energy within me, Huang Wuchang!"

Hearing Ye Dong's shout, Huang Wuchang's gaze turned icy. "What?! Guangqi's pure yang energy!?"

Dodging the ancient coin sword, Ye Dong stood face-to-face with Huang Wuchang at a distance. "That's right! Before he died, Guangqi left all his soul power to me. Right now, I possess Guangqi's pure yang energy—something you never expected, didn't you? Hahaha!"

"Damn that traitor! Even at the end, he's still so devious!"

Huang Wuchang spat on the ground and cursed furiously, "How much must he have hated me, to contribute his very being to you just to take my life?!"

"You destroyed everything he had, and even stripped him of his right to live as a human being. How could he not hate you?!"

Ye Dong cursed aloud, "You heartless bastard, Huang Wuchang! You never treated people as human beings. You treated ordinary people that way, treated the catalysts that way, and treated Lord Wei and Lixing who followed you for over a decade that way! But heaven has been watching all along how we conduct ourselves in the mortal realm. Every single thing you've done, it sees clearly!"

"Ahahahahaha! You're only spouting nonsense now because you saw that I couldn't find Sikou Xuan's corpse!"

Hearing Ye Dong's scathing reprimand, Huang Wuchang felt a slight chill in his chest and snarled back, "It was all you people who delayed my entry into the tomb and ruined my grand plan! It's all because of you that decades of my hard work have vanished into thin air!"

Consumed by fury, Huang Wuchang pulled out his flute and began to play!

*Diri-li, diri-li—*

As the demonic flute notes pierced his ears, Ye Dong instantly felt his blood churn violently, bringing an extraordinary wave of nausea!

"Damn it, this stinking dog has endless tricks up his sleeve!"

Gritting his teeth tightly, Ye Dong silently recited the Heart-Cleansing Incantation to counter Huang Wuchang's demonic sound. Taking advantage of the moment, Huang Wuchang lunged forward fiercely with his sword!

"He Wentian, forfeit your life!!!"

"I can't afford to die right now!"

With a fierce shove, Ye Dong deflected Huang Wuchang's longsword, dropped into a rolling evasion, and crashed heavily into the pile of Five Elements Banners! Meanwhile, propelled by Ye Dong's counter-thrust, Huang Wuchang stumbled directly into the cluster of five-colored talismans!

*Crash—*

The five banners collapsed instantly under Ye Dong's impact. Though crushed beneath them, his life was spared, but his collision inadvertently triggered something extraordinary.

The statue of the Three Pure Ones, which had sat motionless in the center, suddenly emitted a strange movement. A bright light flashed from within the empty stone coffin, and a deafening, resonant voice echoed throughout the vast stone chamber:

*"The Dao that can be spoken of is not the eternal Dao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name. The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth. The named is the mother of all things. Therefore, constantly without desire, one observes its wondrous essence. Constantly with desire, one observes its outer manifestations. These two emerge together but differ in name; both are called profound. Profound and more profound, the gateway to all wonders."*

The unbidden voice caused the two mortal enemies locked in a life-and-death struggle to halt instantly.

"Aren't these the words from the Tao Te Ching?"

Ye Dong furrowed his brows deeply, only to see that Huang Wuchang was equally bewildered. "When I came here last time, none of these bizarre phenomena occurred!"

While they stood gripped by confusion, the voice rang out once more:

*"He who activates the 'Five Metals Array,' breaches the 'Five Elements Banners,' treads upon the 'Five Talismans,' and defies the 'Majesty of the Three Pure Ones'—possessing both supreme yin and supreme yang energy—please step inside the coffin for a gathering."*