Chapter 114: The Soul-Piercing Blood Arrow

Boom!

The deck split open.

A smoke dragon burst through the planks.

It seemed almost corporeal, dark gray in color, with a stag’s antlers, horse’s hooves, dragon scales, and eagle’s claws. Its body stretched for hundreds of yards.

Dragons were creatures that summoned clouds and brought rain. The instant it appeared, clouds gathered and churned overhead, and rain came pouring down.

Though the smoke dragon was illusory, it seemed to have grasped a trace of the true essence of dragons. Its eyes were brimming with intelligence.

At the moment of its emergence, everyone’s minds shook involuntarily.

The two cultivators nearest to it were swallowed whole. Before they could even cry out, their souls had already been scattered.

“Dragon-Serpent True Aura! No, it’s the Grand Steward of the Smoke Grotto!” one of the cultivators cried out.

The instant he finished speaking, the smoke dragon swallowed him as well.

“Heh heh. Your opponent is me!” the God-Hater said with a sinister laugh.

A demonic intent swept into everyone’s hearts.

Wherever he went, everything withered and blackened. Fish and shrimp surfaced one after another in the river.

Roar!

The smoke dragon charged forward with an enraged howl, its tail crashing heavily toward the God-Hater.

The God-Hater remained unhurried. A booklet appeared in his hand.

Its pages were yellowed, while its scarlet cover looked as though it had been dyed in blood.

Whoosh!

A crimson arrow shot forth in an instant.

The arrow had no physical substance. It seemed to be formed entirely from red liquid.

It was only about three inches long.

Compared with the hundred-yard smoke dragon, it was like an ant on the body of a giant.

The instant the smoke dragon saw it, it recoiled in terror, retreating several hundred yards.

“Soul-Pinning Blood Arrow! Are you the God-Hater?” The aged voice carried a trace of apprehension.

No one knew the true extent of the God-Hater’s strength. His only distinguishing characteristic was his use of the Soul-Pinning Blood Arrow Jade Codex.

Once struck by the blood arrow, one’s yin spirit would be dragged onto the jade codex.

The scarlet arrow flew forward.

The hundred-yard smoke dragon exhaled a cloud of gray smoke.

It did not dare take the risk. It was not merely its physical body that might be pierced.

Even if its yin soul or divine will were merely grazed, they would be seized and drawn onto the codex.

While the two fought fiercely, the others were not idle either.

Buzz!

The sound of a bee’s wings rose through the air.

Lu Qian’s heart tightened with alarm. He hurriedly circulated his True Water, forming a shield of pitch-black water before him.

A three-inch black gleam pierced through the shield.

The shield exploded!

The black gleam was deflected slightly and flew past Lu Qian’s cheek by the narrowest margin.

“That was close. And so fast!” Lu Qian exclaimed twice in succession.

Had he not sensed it in time, he would almost certainly have been struck.

A figure in green robes leaped into view.

The man possessed a shadowy air, with ghostly entities swirling around him, yet there was no sense of ferocity about him.

“Soul-Slaying Thorn?”

As Lu Qian spoke, he lightly summoned the Form-Refining Banner. Paper effigy spirit soldiers swarmed around the green-robed Daoist, surrounding him from all sides.

When Lu Qian had previously faced Xuan Yin and his companions, he had used the Soul-Slaying Thorn, and one of them had called it by that name.

Now that he had encountered another Soul-Slaying Thorn, it seemed to be a distinctive art of their sect.

Much like the Yin Maiden True Water and the Three-Tree God of the Temple of Penetrating Netherworld.

Clearly, however, the green-robed man’s Soul-Slaying Thorn was somewhat stronger than his own.

“Hmph. You know of the Eternal Yin Mound, yet you still dare provoke us. What astonishing nerve.”

The green-robed man gave a disdainful laugh. He bent the middle finger of his left hand, pressed his thumb against his ring finger, and formed an awkward seal while muttering an incantation.

“Radiant Yin and Yang, Grand Yin Talisman Edict! By decree!”

Green light suddenly blazed forth. Complicated, winding sigils appeared in the void.

They resembled ghostly faces, yet also divine eyes—strange and sinister.

Beneath the green light, the paper effigy spirit soldiers seemed to freeze, moving as though in slow motion.

The Grand Yin Talisman Edict stirred up a cloud of ghostly mist.

One divine general after another emerged from within it. Each stood ten feet tall, clad in dark-green armor and wearing phoenix-winged helmets. Their faces were pale, their eyes crimson.

Compared with them, the paper effigy soldiers were as small and thin as three-year-old children.

Countless divine generals surrounded Lu Qian, poised to engulf him in the next instant.

The others saw Lu Qian’s predicament, yet not one of them thought to lend a hand.

To them, the longer Lu Qian held one opponent at bay, the greater their own profits would be.

Some had already seized what they could and departed.

Others were too greedy and wanted to venture farther in, only to be surrounded and slain.

“Hahaha! Boy, do you need my help?”

At that moment, a black-robed cultivator flew past overhead with a loud laugh, heading straight toward the rear.

“Trying to take advantage of the chaos?” Lu Qian sneered.

A whistling sound came from behind him.

The sinister wind stabbed into his divine sense.

The Soul-Slaying Thorn had come again.

Lu Qian blocked it, but dozens of divine generals had already closed in around him.

Boom!

The Seven-Kill Yin Talisman Sword exploded.

Dozens of divine generals transformed into yellow talismans.

They were not true yin souls, but incarnations formed from talismans.

Then the winds and clouds changed color, and vast quantities of Yin Maiden True Water poured down.

The talisman generals successively lost their spiritual essence, becoming sheets of damp paper.

“Is it my turn now?” Lu Qian smiled faintly.

Splash!

His yin spirit flew forward, and the Soul-Slaying Thorn shot toward him.

At the same time, the green-robed man wore a cold smile as he gripped a sword talisman.

Dozens of weapons—blades, spears, swords, halberds, and more—shot in from every direction.

Close behind them, Lu Qian opened his mouth and exhaled.

The All-Heavens Darkgold Sword Sheath erupted with dark-golden energy.

Whoosh!

The golden aura surged like a dragon, golden rays scattering in every direction.

The dozens of weapons were destroyed in an instant, and the golden radiance continued on, piercing straight through the green-robed man.

“Impossible…”

The green-robed man’s face was filled with disbelief. He had never imagined that Lu Qian would use such a move. That was clearly an artifact of the Netherworld Sword Tower.

A moment later, the man turned to ash.

Lu Qian had killed the green-robed man cleanly and efficiently. The demonic bandit cultivators nearby could not help glancing over.

The woman who toyed with emerald smoke, the cultivator who refined his body through serpent transformation, and the other experts all took notice.

“Not at the early Spirit-Nourishing stage, yet possessing strength approaching the middle stage. Not bad,” the stallkeeper thought in surprise as he spat yin fire, melting the enemies before him.

At that moment, wild laughter came from the sky above—the God-Hater’s laughter—followed by the smoke dragon’s feeble wails.

Boom!

The hundred-yard smoke dragon dispersed with a thunderous explosion.

“He’s dead! He’s dead! Kill them all!”

With their leader slain, the tide of battle immediately turned.

This was no longer a matter of seizing the goods and fleeing. Now they intended to kill everyone and take everything.

Lu Qian flashed behind the black-robed cultivator from earlier.

Pfft!

The Blood-Transforming Demon Blade sank into the black-robed cultivator’s body. A surge of blood light instantly befouled his yin spirit.

“You!” The black-robed cultivator turned his head in disbelief.

“I was killing people in front while you stole things behind me. Did you enjoy yourself?” Lu Qian sneered.

The black-robed cultivator dissolved into a pool of pus and blood.

Lu Qian opened the sword sheath and drew in the medicinal herbs and ores beneath the deck, even box after box of ritual coins.

Suddenly, he turned his head. A trace of amusement gleamed in his eyes as he looked at the cultivator behind him who was trying to search the green-robed man’s corpse.

“Do you want to die as well?”

The cultivator froze.

He could not tell whether Lu Qian was merely putting on a show despite being weak, or whether he truly possessed such strength. Remembering that streak of golden energy, he could only retreat sheepishly.

Lu Qian stepped forward and collected the green-robed man’s artifacts and cloth pouch.

On the other side of the battlefield, half of the demonic bandit cultivators had been lost.

Clearly, the venture carried considerable risks.

The stallkeeper and the God-Hater were still alive. The people they called Smoke Woman and Old Serpent were chatting with them.

Several others stood nearby watching, while a few had already taken their shares and fled.

Lu Qian walked over, and the stallkeeper smiled.

“Friend, your harvest is growing richer by the moment. Will you come again next time?”

“I will.”

Lu Qian exchanged a smile with the stallkeeper.

Once one had boarded this ship and tasted its sweetness, how could one bear to leave?

“By the rules, we take thirty percent!” the God-Hater said with a sinister grin.

Rustle!

Lu Qian poured out the contents of his sword sheath. With a wave of his hand, the God-Hater spread black mist that blocked everyone’s view.

“Take your cut from everything except the cultivation manuals and the earth-fiend beasts. Oh, and I also want ten spirit cores.”

“Of course.”

The God-Hater smiled faintly and spat out ten beads glowing with a ghostly green light.

“You made quite a profit. These were formed from the yin spirits of late-stage Spirit-Nourishing cultivators.”