In the stone hall beneath the Yi King's Palace, the blood pool churned, wrapped in black evil qi.
Countless streams of spiritual qi poured from the foreheads of the young immortals and demons into Hua Yong, who slept in the pool. His body swelled slowly until it was three times its former size. The spiritual power inside him kept climbing, and he had already reached the peak of Upper Lord.
The Yi King could not hide his excitement. Only one step remained. Once Yong'er swallowed the spirit-souls of Bei Chen and the other three, he would become a god in a single stride.
Outside Yi City, the golden dragon formation suddenly blazed with light, and a black dragon shadow slowly took shape. Its tail stirred up whirlpools of heavenly gale that swept out in every direction. Everything the gale touched turned to dust, and Jin Yao and the others took the first blow.
"Damn it, the God-Slaying Formation is about to be completed!"
Jin Yao and the sect leaders of the immortals and demons quickly raised a barrier against the gale. But the dragon shadow only grew stronger, and the force of its forming slammed against the barrier again and again.
"We cannot let the God-Slaying dragon soul break through the barrier! If it does, countless living beings across the Wilds will be destroyed!"
"Immortal Seat, His Majesty Mu Guang's dragon soul is beyond anything we can hold back!" the Yunxiao sect leader shouted.
Mu Guang was the ancient Dragon God who had ruled the Three Realms for sixty thousand years. His dragon soul was several times stronger than the power of an ordinary god.
"It is a God-Slaying Formation, so there must be a god in Yi City. If that god can stop the formation from being completed, there is still a thread of hope!"
Jin Yao's roar was low and heavy. The dragon soul came howling toward them, and the faces of the crowd hardened. Together they poured every last bit of spiritual power into the barrier.
Behind them, Tian Yu spared none of his demonic power either, as though he too were giving everything he had. The immortals gathered around the formation did not notice that the Lord of Cold Spring Palace's eyes were empty, like a hollow shell.
On the far side of the barrier, a hundred meters up, Tian Yu stood on a cloud. Fu Ling frowned slightly at the sight of Jin Yao raising the barrier.
"Palace Lord, if Jin Yao breaks the God-Slaying Formation..."
"What is there to panic about? Mu Guang's dragon soul is beyond these immortals, and even if Jin Yao entered godhood this instant with his half-god body, he could not withstand one full strike from it." Mockery showed in Tian Yu's eyes. "Once the dragon soul truly awakens and the formation is complete, Fan Yue will die for certain."
Fu Ling fell silent and lowered their eyes, then looked down at Yi City below, pupils contracting.
Chong Zhao was still in the city. If the formation was completed, he would not survive either.
"In all the Three Realms, only Fan Yue is worthy to be my opponent. Today he falls here, and I will see him off myself."
Tian Yu raised a hand and swept it through the air. A water mirror appeared in front of the two of them, showing the scene in the stone hall.
In the hall, the Yi King lifted his stone sword and poured nearly all of his spiritual power into it. In an instant, the Yi King, who had looked to be in the prime of life, turned white-haired and aged. The sword split into four, all pointing straight at the four on the stone pillars.
Bei Chen and Chong Zhao changed color slightly. Mu Jiu shouted furiously, "Yi King, you wouldn't dare! The Fox Clan will never let you get away with this!"
"For the Yi race, I can slay heaven and destroy earth. Why would I fear one Fox Clan?"
The Yi King spoke coldly and swept out his hand. The four flying swords shot toward the foreheads of the four captives.
No one saw Nan Wan, who had been asleep on his pillar, suddenly open his eyes. A mass of black qi gathered in his palm, though his hands were bound behind him. A cold glint seemed to flash behind the Yi King. Just then:
"Stop!"
The furious shout came from the entrance of the stone hall. A staff flew through the air and blocked all four swords in midair. There was a flash of spiritual light, and Hua Hong stood shielding the four.
Nan Wan's expression changed. The black qi in his hand vanished, and he lowered his head again.
Hua Hong stared at the Yi King, aged and frail before her. "How did you end up like this?"
"Hong'er?!" The Yi King's face changed at the sight of her, and a flash of anger crossed it. "You would make an enemy of the Yi race for these people?"
"Hua Lin, you've been deceived! This is not a god-making formation!"
"God-making? What god?"
The three sacrifices on the pillars reacted in different ways. Mu Jiu cried out in horror, "Blacksmith, what is your lunatic father trying to do?! Quick, break this evil formation!"
"Quiet! If you want to live, shut up!" One shout from Hua Hong and Mu Jiu's noisy mouth snapped shut.
The Yi King looked at Hua Hong steadily, unable to hide his disappointment. "If you know what I am doing, you know that Yong'er becoming a god is the only hope of the Yi race. If we lose this chance, my people will never see the light of day again. Hong'er, everything that happened back then was my fault. Yong'er is innocent. Your resentment should not fall on him."
Hua Lin actually thought she was stopping Hua Yong's ascension over a personal grudge. Hua Hong was furious and could not be bothered to say more.
"Who told you to slaughter immortals and demons and sacrifice them to the Spirit-Forbidding Formation?!"
The Yi King's expression shifted, but he did not answer. "Go! Leave Yi City. I banished you from the Yi race long ago. Whatever the Yi race does today, whether it succeeds or fails, has nothing to do with you."
"You fool! Do you know that the spirit-souls of your entire race have been stolen by that evil thing? That person wants to use you to reverse the Formation's consciousness and turn a god-making formation into a killing formation. Once the dragon soul in the formation awakens, everyone will die!"
"Impossible!" The Yi King's hand, which had been guiding the four stone swords, halted. He shook his head slowly. "No one could steal the spirit-souls of an entire race in a single night!"
"You!" Hua Hong was furious that he would not believe her. Just then, the supply of spiritual breath to Hua Yong in the blood pool was cut off. He let out a cry of pain, blood seeped from all seven of his orifices, and the evil qi gathered around him seemed about to scatter.
"Yong'er!" The Yi King's face changed. He hesitated no longer and roared, "Wu Zhao, stop her!"
In the corner, Wu Zhao leaped into the air and cleaved Hua Hong's staff aside with one sword.
While Wu Zhao held Hua Hong off, the Yi King swept out his hand, and the four stone swords once again flew toward Bei Chen and the other three on the pillars.
"Hua Lin!" Hua Hong roared, but she could not stop them in time.
At the instant the swords were about to strike the four foreheads, silver light flashed. A silver chain slashed down across the air and knocked all four swords away again. In a flare of spiritual light, Fan Yue hung in the air, looking coldly at the Yi King.
The Yi King saw the silver chain in Fan Yue's hand, and his face changed. "You, you are..."
"Damn! Impressive!"
Mu Jiu gaped from the side. If his hands had not been tied, he could not have stopped himself from applauding. The Yi King was at the peak of Upper Lord, and Fan Yue had withstood his sword strike!
"Yi King, Hua Hong did not lie to you. The spirit-souls of your whole race have been stolen!" Bai Shuo appeared at the entrance of the hall, running in urgently. "They are right here in the stone hall!"
"Absurd!" The Yi King frowned.
"You wretched girl, you're finally back! Hurry, hurry, save me!" Mu Jiu shouted excitedly.
"Shut up! Why do you have so much to say!" Bai Shuo nearly spat in the noisy fox's face. Snapped at yet again, Mu Jiu closed his mouth, aggrieved.
"A-Shuo!" Chong Zhao's calm eyes finally stirred, worry in them.
But Bai Shuo had no time to reassure him. She shouted to Fan Yue, "Mumu, break the evil qi in the blood pool!"
Fan Yue did not hesitate. The silver chain flew and slashed toward the pool.
"You dare!" The Yi King's face changed slightly, and his sword left his hand to stop it.
"Yi King, can't you sense that Senior Rong Xian's golden core has already dissipated? I used it to save Auntie Xiaoqiugua's son!"
Bai Shuo's sudden shout made the Yi King pause. In that moment of distraction, the silver chain finally cut through the black qi swirling above the blood pool.
All at once, countless shrill wails rose from the pool and echoed through the whole stone hall.
Everyone in the hall started, then looked hard at the pool. Thousands upon thousands of Yi spirit-souls were churning inside it. The pool kept devouring them, turning them into wisps of black evil qi. The evil qi that had trapped everyone in the hall was made from the spirit-souls of the Yi people themselves.
Wu Zhao and Hua Hong, who had been fighting nearby, stopped too and stared at the pool in a daze.
"Yi King, you used your entire race to forge a god for your son. You're insane!" Even Mu Jiu, who never stopped chattering, could not bear to look at the horror in the pool.
The Yi King stood stiffly beside the pool, his eyes full of disbelief.
"Impossible. How could this be..." He looked at the sword in his hand and shuddered all over. The king's sword fell to the ground.
"Your Majesty! He deceived you! This is not a god-making formation..." Wu Zhao, his face pale, murmured.
"Who? Who made you reverse the Spirit-Forbidding Formation's consciousness?" Hua Hong roared.
"It was..." Wu Zhao began. Suddenly a bolt of black spiritual power struck his chest. He coughed up blood and collapsed.
"Uncle Wu Zhao!" Hua Hong ran to him.
Then, without warning, a wisp of black evil qi turned into a dagger and stabbed straight at the Yi King's back.
On the pillar, Nan Wan, who had kept his head bowed all this time, smiled slightly.
Fools. How could a few young immortals and demons possibly be sacrifices for the God-Slaying Formation? The real sacrifices were the whole Yi race, and the Yi King, whose life was fused with the Spirit-Forbidding Formation's eye! Once the God-Slaying Formation was completed and the dragon soul awoke, and he had killed that person and earned a great achievement, he would surely be first among his master's followers!
The sound of a dagger passing through a chest rang out. On the pillar, Nan Wan's smile had gone only halfway up when it froze. He stared in disbelief at the iron staff through his chest and spat out a mouthful of blood. With one blow of the staff, he was knocked off the pillar and crashed heavily to the ground.
The bloody, mangled "Nan Wan" raised his head, showing a hideous face.
"So it was you." Bai Shuo blurted it out. She looked surprised, but she was not shocked.
Not far off, Fan Yue had appeared behind the Yi King at some point, holding the dagger of evil qi. With a light twist of his fingers, the dagger turned to ash.
Bai Shuo threw out her Qiankun pouch and shouted, "Mumu, Big Iron!"
Hundreds of talismans burst out of the pouch at once. Fan Yue and Hua Hong sent out countless streams of spiritual qi, guiding the talismans toward the unconscious young immortals and demons in the hall.
When the talismans landed on them, the flow of spiritual qi from their foreheads was cut off and no longer went into the blood pool. The Yi spirit-souls in the pool stopped wailing, and Hua Yong, who had been suspended above it, fell like a kite with a snapped string.
The Yi King leaped up and caught Hua Yong, landing with him on the ground.
Bai Shuo immediately took out a pill and pushed it into Hua Yong's mouth. The monstrous Hua Yong instantly returned to human form, the evil qi in his body suddenly gone, and he looked like an ordinary mortal.
"Yong'er!"
"Your Majesty, don't worry. What I fed Prince Yong was a Clear-Heart Pill. The evil qi in his body was only a decoy. He was poisoned with demon poison, which is why he turned out like this. The true sacrifice of this God-Slaying Formation is you."
The Yi King froze, then looked coldly at the bloody, mangled heap on the ground.
Outside Yi City, the dragon shadow that was about to take full form suddenly let out a howl, and the force of the gale against the barrier weakened. The crowd looked up and saw, to their astonishment, that the black dragon shadow was slowly dissipating.
Delighted, the Yunxiao sect leader could not help asking, "Immortal Seat, what happened?"
"Someone has stopped the dragon soul from awakening!"
In the stone hall, Hua Hong sent out a burst of spiritual power that cut apart the evil qi on the pillars. Bei Chen and the other two dropped to the ground. Mu Jiu jumped up and down hard on the floor a couple of times, looking like a man who had barely escaped death.
"Senior Brother Zhe Sang?" Chong Zhao swayed on his feet and was steadied by Bai Shuo. His face was pale, and he stared at the man on the ground in shock.
The evil thing that had taken the form of "Nan Wan" and slipped into Yi City was Piaomiao disciple Zhe Sang.
"Senior brother?" Mu Jiu's eyes went wide. "He's a Piaomiao disciple? I knew it! Not one of you immortals is any good!"
Chong Zhao's expression turned cold. "Zhe Sang colluded with evil forces. Uncle Sect Leader already shattered his spirit platform and expelled him from the sect." He looked at Zhe Sang. "Zhe Sang, how did you get out of the Frost Cave?"
"A-Zhao, someone who can cause a mess this big is not going to be held by a little Frost Cave," Bai Shuo said lightly.
Hua Hong walked over and stepped on Zhe Sang's back. Bones cracked one by one with a crunching sound. Zhe Sang shrieked, and in an instant he had more breath going out than coming in.
Mu Jiu leaped far away, avoiding Hua Hong as if she were a demon of slaughter.
Holy mother, this Yi princess is way too vicious.
"You guessed right. He was the hidden pawn buried in Yi City all along." Hua Hong looked at Bai Shuo, and for the first time there was some sincere admiration in her eyes.
Half an incense stick earlier, just as Hua Hong had set foot in the passage to the stone hall, Fan Yue arrived with Bai Shuo.
"Wait!" Bai Shuo stopped her.
Hua Hong's face was full of killing intent. "What are you doing here? I told you to stay on the city wall!"
"That person has managed to deceive the Yi King all this time. Has he not thought that once the Yi King discovers his race's spirit-souls were stolen, and turns on him at the last moment, there would be no one to open the God-Slaying Formation for him?"
Hua Hong's reason returned somewhat. "You mean..."
"I don't know what that evil thing behind all this really is, but he must have someone inside the stone hall. I think I know who his hidden pawn is!"
"Who?"
Bai Shuo said a name in a low voice, and Hua Hong froze.
"There's more. I read in the Piaomiao classics that to reverse a divine formation's consciousness, you must first destroy the formation's eye. I suspect that helping Hua Yong become a god is only a cover to deceive the Yi King. You once entered the Spirit-Forbidding Formation, didn't you? Where exactly is its eye? If we can protect the eye, we can stop the Spirit-Forbidding Formation from turning into a God-Slaying Formation."
Hua Hong's face changed abruptly. She looked at Bai Shuo. "Every Yi King in every generation is the eye of the divine formation."
Back in the stone hall, Bai Shuo raised an eyebrow at Zhe Sang. "The Yi King is at the peak of Upper Lord. How many in the Three Realms could kill him? You certainly can't. So your only chance was to use the Yi King's heir as bait. The moment when the Yi King helps his heir become a god is when he is at his weakest."
Mu Jiu had been listening in a daze, and finally it dawned on him. His eyes bulged. "You mean all this time, we were just bait? And the Yi King is the sacrifice for this damned formation?"
"To be precise, it is not only the Yi King but the Yi race as well. Killing the Yi King only destroys the formation's eye and awakens the dragon soul. It is the spirit-souls of the Yi people, tainted by evil qi, that provide the divine power to drive the dragon soul."
The Yi were weak, but when the spirit-souls of an entire race were gathered together, they could match a half god. That was the half-god power Jin Yao had been unable to figure out.
High above the outskirts of Yi City, Tian Yu looked at the dying Zhe Sang in the water mirror and gave a soft snort. "Useless."
His gaze settled on Bai Shuo, and the corners of his mouth curled up.
"I never expected the immortal clan to have such a clever girl, one who could see through my scheme. She suits my tastes far better than that Chong Zhao you told me about."
Fu Ling saw that the last sacrifice of the God-Slaying Formation had been ruined and Chong Zhao's life was safe. Inwardly relieved, Fu Ling put on a show of anger. "Palace Lord, this Zhe Sang truly was not up to the task. He has spoiled Your Excellency's great plan."
"A discarded pawn. What right does he have to spoil my plans?" Tian Yu glanced at Fu Ling. "You don't really think I was counting on such a piece of trash to kill Fan Yue, do you?"
Fu Ling's expression changed, and Fu Ling quickly turned back to the water mirror.
Tian Yu seemed not to notice the worry on Fu Ling's face. A sly, meaningful gleam appeared in his eyes.
All this, the destruction of an entire race, only to open this evil formation?
When Bai Shuo finished speaking, a chill ran through everyone in the hall. Mu Jiu swallowed and pointed at Zhe Sang, smashed almost beyond recognition on the floor.
"This thing caused all this trouble?"
Zhe Sang, who had been silent, suddenly looked at Bai Shuo with a dark stare. "When did you know I was not the real Nan Wan?"
The completed God-Slaying Formation had been broken, and Bai Shuo let out a breath. She looked at Bei Chen. "For that, I have Upper Lord Bei Chen to thank."
"Bei Chen?" Mu Jiu muttered. "Impossible. This guy was an immortal to begin with, and even I couldn't see any evil qi on him. I don't believe Bei Chen's eyes are sharper than mine. Besides, Nan Wan is always like this! There was no flaw!"
The Kunlun sword cultivator looked at Zhe Sang on the ground, then seemed to think of something and spoke slowly. "The Huajian Stone?"
"Exactly. The Huajian Stone." Bai Shuo nodded. "It is the only forged artifact in the Three Realms that can break through time and space, and it is no less precious than the Wutong Heart Flame. A life-saving treasure that important, and usable only once, must be a treasure of Yunxiao. As the first disciple of Yunxiao, how could he possibly waste a whole day in Nanhai City over an unknown fortune-teller half-immortal, to the point of using up that Huajian Stone?"
Bai Shuo glanced at the young disciple beside her. "Unless you came to Nanhai City to trade that Huajian Stone for something more important."
"If you suspected me from the very beginning, why did you still follow me to Yi City?"
Zhe Sang roared, and everyone turned to look at Bai Shuo. It was not only Zhe Sang. They were curious too. Who walks into a pit knowing it is a pit?
Bai Shuo spread her hands, looking entirely innocent. "A-Zhao entered Yi City for the Wutong Martial Banquet. If I didn't follow you, how would I get in to help him?"
She said it as if it were obvious, and Zhe Sang nearly spat blood. He had thought himself the mantis stalking the cicada, never guessing that this shabby half-immortal had been the oriole waiting behind him from the very start.
"A-Shuo..." Chong Zhao was moved, but the youth standing behind Bai Shuo lowered his eyes, his gaze dimming.
"You!"
"What do you mean, 'you'? At first I only knew you had some other purpose. If I had guessed what you were up to, I would never have brought..." Bai Shuo's voice caught, and self-reproach showed in her eyes.
"You know what I was up to?" On the ground, Zhe Sang, who had been keeping his eyes lowered, suddenly spoke. His eyes, hidden in the filthy blood, had turned an eerie black, and as he looked at Bai Shuo they held curiosity and probing.
Fan Yue seemed to sense something and turned to look at Zhe Sang with a frown.
"I do." Bai Shuo did not notice anything strange about Zhe Sang. "This is a God-Slaying Formation, and even the Yi King is only at the peak of Upper Lord. Since you wanted to slay a god, I naturally guessed who you really wanted to kill."
Bai Shuo's usually carefree face took on a trace of coldness. "It was only when I learned there was a God-Slaying Formation about to awaken in this city that I understood why you came to Nanhai City, and why you were willing to give up the Huajian Stone for a lowly half-immortal. In this whole game, your most important task was to bring the person your master wants dead into this city!"
When Bai Shuo finished, everyone turned to look in her direction.
Mu Jiu looked as if lightning had struck him. He blurted out, "No way. He's after you? You're a god? Damn, I'm not blind, am I?"
The stone hall went quiet. Bai Shuo was speechless. Who was it that said the Fox Clan's young master was brilliant beyond compare? Rumors really could not be trusted.
Only after Mu Jiu finished shouting did he notice that everyone was looking not at Bai Shuo but at the youth behind her. He blinked, and his mouth fell open. "Fortune-teller, the one you mean... it can't be your disciple?"
"I have not met such a clever person in a very long time. No wonder the Lord of Haoyue Hall himself, a half god of the Demon Realm, would follow beside a half-immortal."
A low laugh suddenly came from behind them. Everyone spun around. Zhe Sang, whose spirit platform was shattered and whose limbs were all broken, was now hanging in midair, staring at Bai Shuo with eyes that were completely black.
"You are so clever that I almost hate to kill you." The "Zhe Sang" curled up the corners of his mouth and suddenly gave Bai Shuo an eerie smile.
"Why don't you guess again? The one I have truly buried to kill the Lord of Haoyue Hall, who is it?"
The moment the "Zhe Sang" finished speaking, his head snapped off in midair and rolled across the floor, his eyes wide open in death.
Bai Shuo's face changed. Just then, without warning, Hua Hong was struck by a palm and thrown aside like a kite with a snapped string. The iron staff she never let out of her hand was now in someone else's grip, and it was driven straight into the Yi King's chest.