Chapter 10: The Misfortunated Qianhuo Palace

The twelve members of Qianhuo Palace—three at the Consolidation stage and nine at the Divided Mind stage—surrounded Master Fuyun and Master Hanjin of Yinyun Sect. Master Fuyun was only at the early stage of Consolidation, while Master Hanjin was at the late stage of Divided Mind. It was impossible for the two of them to withstand the attacks of those twelve. Yet, despite being surrounded, Master Fuyun and Master Hanjin showed no fear, smiling as if their opponents were just twelve white clouds in the sky that could be blown away with a breath.

“Fuyun, Hanjin, today will be the day your Yinyun Sect ends,” said Master Doujiang coldly and viciously.
Earlier, Qu Yi had killed Master Gouyun, Master Doulin, and five others at the late stage of Divided Mind, plus the former Master Douhuo. In short, Qu Yi had already slain half of Qianhuo Palace’s strong fighters. Thinking of this, Master Doujiang was filled with rage, wishing to destroy Yinyun Sect entirely.

“Is that so? You Qianhuo Palace could oppress us Yinyun Sect at will in the past, but times change. A new leader has come to our Yinyun Sect, and you Qianhuo Palace will no longer be able to survive,” shouted Master Hanjin excitedly.
He had long been looking forward to this battle, and the fighting spirit within him had fully awakened.

Master Doujiang remained silent. With a gesture of his green sword, Buhe, Master Buquan, and the nine elders at the Divided Mind stage immediately charged at Master Fuyun and Master Hanjin. Buhe and Master Buquan targeted Master Fuyun, who was at the same cultivation level. The nine elders at the middle and early stages of Divided Mind flew toward Master Hanjin, forming a sword formation based on their flight order and positions, aiming to kill him together. Meanwhile, Master Doujiang, at the middle stage of Consolidation, stood in the air, waiting for an opportunity to attack.

Seeing the nine elders approaching, Master Hanjin laughed first, then sheathed his Golden Thread Sword inside his body. His palms were wrapped in true energy, holding twenty Poison Soul Fruits. Yes—upon realizing the people from Qianhuo Palace were coming, Qu Yi immediately gave his Poison Soul Fruits to Master Hanjin. These fruits were extremely useful against cultivators below the Consolidation stage, as they attacked the soul. No cultivator would dare let their soul come into contact with even a trace of poison.

“Hanjin, dare you…”
Watching Master Hanjin’s sudden action, Master Doujiang immediately sensed danger and shouted in panic.

But Hanjin Zhenren, whose blood burned with passion, was now fearless. He spread his arms, and two clusters of Poison Soul Fruits were shot out, arriving in front of the nine elders of Qianhuo Palace who were gathered together. The Poison Soul Fruits exploded, and streams of black poison gas immediately touched the bodies of the nine elders at the Divination Stage. It then quickly entered their bodies, locating their original spirits and launching fierce attacks. Those at the Divination Stage generally did not delve deeply into soul techniques, so when the poison gas reached their original spirits, they suffered excruciating pain as if being sawed apart. Thus, the nine elders immediately sent their original spirits out and gathered their internal vital energy to strangle the poison gas that had entered their bodies. This was exactly the effect Hanjin Zhenren wanted. Suddenly, three spirit talismans appeared in his hands—these were talismans for the Divination Stage given to him by Qu Yi. On Tianfeng Star, Qu Yi and Qingwugui had obtained hundreds of spirit talismans in the Spirit Talisman Cave, many of which remained unused. This time, seeing that Yinyun Gate was about to face a powerful enemy, and with no other options besides himself, Fuyun Zhenren, and Hanjin Zhenren, Yinyun Gate could hardly resist without the help of these talismans. So Qu Yi handed over his own talismans. Hanjin Zhenren immediately activated the three “Nine Swords Returning to Void Talismans” in his hands and threw them all at the heads of the nine people in Qianhuo Palace, laughing maniacally. The Nine Swords Returning to Void Talismans were gold-colored talismans for the mid-Divination Stage. Once activated, nine golden swords would appear in the air, forming a Nine Swords Splitting the Sky formation that would strangle all objects in the surrounding space with its sword array. Now, twenty-seven golden swords appeared above the heads of the nine people in Qianhuo Palace, each fifty meters long and terrifyingly sharp. These twenty-seven golden swords formed three Nine Swords Splitting the Sky formations, simultaneously attacking the nine people. At that moment, the nine elders had their original spirits out and could not control their bodies to use vital energy for defense. Nor could they let their original spirits return to their bodies, as otherwise the poison gas would enter their souls, leading to immediate death. With no way out and no time for Doujiang Zhenren to arrive in time for rescue, the nine elders were killed by the three talismans reluctantly. Not a single drop of blood was seen in the air. ※※※ On the other side, Buhe Zhenren and Buquan Zhenren attacked Fuyun Zhenren together. Buhe Zhenren used gold-colored magic spells, while Buquan Zhenren used earth-colored magic spells. The two attacked simultaneously—one focusing on speed and sharpness, the other on heavy pressure—coordinating their attacks from left and right to assault Fuyun Zhenren.

True Master Floating Cloud held his magical artifact, the Cloud Flower, and channeled his vital energy. From the Cloud Flower, golden needles formed from his vital energy kept shooting out, attacking True Master Bu He and True Master Bu Quan simultaneously.
The task Qu Yi gave to True Master Floating Cloud was to buy time—the longer, the better.
True Master Floating Cloud did just that. Seeing the two of them attacking him together, he used the Cloud Flower to cast spells, using offense as defense to delay them.
True Master Bu He wielded a golden sword that was as fast as lightning, using its shimmering light to shatter the golden needles of vital energy. True Master Bu Quan took out a thin yellow sword; as it moved, it seemed covered in a layer of vital energy soil. Whenever the golden needles flew toward them, the sword would move, causing the needles to sink into the soil and disappear.
True Master Floating Cloud saw that the two could easily block his attacks but wasn’t bothered at all. Without the slightest sign of shame, he kept laughing and urged the Cloud Flower to emit more golden needles.
“Hmph! I want to see just how much vital energy you have, Floating Cloud!” True Master Bu He snapped angrily.
True Master Floating Cloud’s golden needles seemed endless, and True Master Bu He and Bu Quan couldn’t even block them, let alone attack. Thus, True Master Bu He became utterly enraged and decided to compete with True Master Floating Cloud in terms of vital energy.
“Really? Bu He, you also practice a gold-element cultivation method. I’ve wanted to compare our vital energy for a long time. If that’s the case, I’ll compete with you,” True Master Floating Cloud replied immediately upon hearing Bu He’s words.
Wasn’t this exactly True Master Floating Cloud’s plan? Either way, it was about buying time. Since Bu He had offered it himself and True Master Floating Cloud had agreed, the other elders of the Dry Fire Palace couldn’t back out.
Sure enough, True Master Bu Quan stepped aside.
True Master Floating Cloud kept firing golden needles with the Cloud Flower, while True Master Bu He kept blocking them with his golden sword.
※※※
True Master Dou Jiang watched helplessly as the nine elders of the Dry Fire Palace at the Divine Spirit stage died. With this, all the Divine Spirit stage members of the Dry Fire Palace were gone, completely destroying its future foundation.
“Han Jin, you actually killed all our elders of the Dry Fire Palace! Well done, really well done! I’ve decided now—I won’t kill you. Instead, I’ll capture you and cut you every day. Unless my life force runs out, you’ll suffer endless pain!” True Master Dou Jiang shouted in fury, flames seemingly bursting from his eyes.
True Master Han Jin smiled, already holding a golden wire sword in his hand. “Dou Jiang, are you really confident you can kill me?”

Dou Jiang was shocked upon hearing this. After hesitating for a moment, he realized that the appearance of those poisonous soul fruits earlier was rather strange. The Hidden Cloud Sect had long been in ruins, with no reserves at all—even the spiritual stones needed for cultivation were running out. Where could these powerful poisonous soul fruits come from? Undoubtedly, they must have been given by this newly arrived sect leader, which meant that this Han Jin Zhenren might possess other magical treasures as well.

With this thought, Dou Jiang calmed down completely and no longer dared to advance recklessly.

“Bu Quan, let’s attack Han Jin together. I don’t believe he can handle both of us at this late stage of Divided Mind,” said Dou Jiang Zhenren, seeing Bu Quan Zhenren flying over. An idea struck him, and he immediately called out.

Dou Jiang Zhenren had it all figured out. If Han Jin Zhenren truly had powerful magical treasures, he would use just one. Since either he or Bu Quan could kill Han Jin Zhenren with a single attack, he decided to join forces with Bu Quan to attack him.

“Good, let’s kill Han Jin first,” agreed Bu Quan Zhenren, who was unhappy after being driven away by Bu He Zhenren. Feeling frustrated, he readily agreed when Dou Jiang Zhenren invited him to join.

Just as Dou Jiang Zhenren was about to fly toward Han Jin Zhenren with his sword, a voice suddenly came from afar: “Dou Jiang, be careful!”

Gou Huo Zhenren, who was in the midst of the battle, shouted anxiously.

After devouring five Yuan Ying at the late stage of Divided Mind, Qu Yi’s true energy was restored, and he resumed fighting against Gou Huo Zhenren, the sect leader of Qian Huo Palace. Throughout the battle, Qu Yi’s spiritual awareness remained alert to his surroundings. Seeing that Dou Jiang Zhenren and Bu Quan Zhenren were about to attack Han Jin Zhenren together, knowing that Han Jin Zhenren couldn’t withstand them, he suddenly left Gou Huo Zhenren’s attack range and used his ultimate killing technique to attack Dou Jiang Zhenren.

The ultimate killing technique involved rapidly drawing on the metal element’s true energy in his body, combined with a speed technique related to metal, to launch a sudden attack. At the late stage of Divided Mind, Qu Yi’s speed when using the speed technique “Ten Thousand Miles in an Inch” was equivalent to that of someone at the late stage of Combined Body. Thus, when using his ultimate killing technique, he could kill someone at the mid-stage of Combined Body.

Dou Jiang Zhenren, too, became excited and neglected Qu Yi’s presence. When he suddenly heard Gou Huo Zhenren’s warning, he realized the danger but was too slow to react.

Qu Yi, wielding the Golden Spear, had already pierced Dou Jiang Zhenren’s back, and with his right hand, he had already extracted Dou Jiang Zhenren’s Yuan Ying—the water element Yuan Ying at the mid-stage of Combined Body. Qu Yi had obtained it once again.

The Fire-type Yuan Ying from Douhuo, the Wood-type Yuan Ying from Doulin, and the Water-type Yuan Ying from Doujiang—now Qu Yi already had three Yuan Yings in the middle stage of fusion. By combining them with the Metal-type and Earth-type Yuan Yings, he could advance to the early stage of fusion.
In the air, True Man Gouhuo was furious and filled with grief, while True Man Bu Quan was so terrified that he immediately flew to Gouhuo’s side, fearing that Qu Yi might attack him next and cost him his life.
Qu Yi stored the Yuan Yings in his space ring and smiled at True Man Gouhuo.