"Oh no, it's just an empty shell. The old demon has already escaped."
"As expected. This old thing has lived to such an old age and has been entrenched in the underworld for thousands of years. It must have a lot of life-saving supernatural abilities. It seemed to be fighting us to the death before, but this kind of old monster is not so easy to kill."
Just then, Yan Chixia's shouts came from behind them.
"Heaven and earth are boundless, and the universe borrows their laws."
Unlike Hongyu's Myriad Swords Technique, which was activated with spiritual power, Yan Chixia's Myriad Swords Technique consisted of a true myriad of swords. His sword box seemed to be some kind of spatial magic artifact, filled with hundreds of flying swords. With this move, hundreds of solid flying swords descended from the sky and planted themselves in the ground, forming a sword circle.
At the same time, Yan Chixia unleashed a barrage of his signature Palm Thunder strikes at the ground in the center of the sword circle.
Amidst the relentless bombardment, the ground suddenly surged upwards.
"You damned Taoist priest, are you really going to wipe us all out?"
A cloud of black mist surged from the ground, but it was immediately forced back by the countless sword energies shot out from the surrounding sword circles.
"Hmph, evil heretics should be killed by everyone. Prajnaparamita."
He muttered a mantra, the origin of which was unclear—whether Taoist or Buddhist. Yan Chixia then drew nine golden needles from his body and thrust them into the ground.
Black Mountain's screams echoed again from underground. At the same time, Yan Chixia retreated rapidly. Suddenly, a skeletal hand shot out from where he was fighting, nearly grabbing his right leg.
It appeared to be some kind of magical artifact; the sharp, skeletal claws gleamed with a black light. If caught, it would clearly not end well.
However, before the black ghost hand could make its next move, it was cleaved in two by a golden bolt of lightning that arrived shortly after. Hongyu flew over and, without hesitation, joined forces with Yan Chixia to gang up on the Black Mountain Demon.
"You don't know what's good for you, behold my Xuanming White Bone Banner."
Seven black and white command flags shot out from the ground, forming a gust of wind carrying an evil aura that enveloped Yan Chixia's sword formation.
However, at that moment, the purplish-blue light reappeared. The Yin-Yang Twin Lightning struck, directly hitting the floating bone banners in mid-air. The next second, four of the seven bone banners were destroyed by the Twin Lightning. This magical artifact was essentially ruined.
After a while, the Black Mountain Demon's voice came from within the sword formation.
"Young Taoist priest, I know you three are in charge. How about we make a deal?"
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Chapter 395 Deadly Kill
Lu Xuan was actually somewhat prepared. The Black Mountain Demon had never intended to fight him head-on from the start. Although he had initially suppressed the generals of the Underworld, seemingly having a significant advantage, those suppressions had actually consumed a large amount of his magical power.
If Lu Xuan and his companions hadn't been there, it might have engaged in a direct confrontation and repelled the Netherworld army. However, Lu Xuan had already reached the Golden Core realm. In this world, this was the pinnacle for human cultivators. Furthermore, Lu Xuan's forte was lightning magic, which was the most effective counter to it.
Therefore, as soon as Lu Xuan and his companions made their move, Black Mountain lost its confidence to fight head-on. Its subsequent various feints and sneaky escapes had already prepared Lu Xuan mentally. This creature was simply not the type to fight to the death. Generally, old monsters who have lived long lives are extremely afraid of death.
"Tell me, what do you want to trade?"
"Spare me. We'll share the laws of the underworld equally."
"Heh, you've spent over a thousand years trying to absorb it without success. What use is this to me?"
"Do you know that once you form the Golden Core, it means you've reached the end of your cultivation path? In the mortal realm, you can no longer advance further. Why would I seize power in the underworld? Don't I know I'll be punished one day? But I still have to do it. Because for the ghosts and monsters of the underworld, this is the only way to go further."
This world has long been jointly controlled by the Heavenly Court and the Underworld. We cultivators, if we don't enter their ranks, will never be able to take that first step. Even if you've formed your Golden Core, your lifespan is at most six hundred years. What cultivators seek is to live as long as heaven and earth. You've already embarked on the Golden Core path in less than a hundred years. Your innate talent and comprehension are truly extraordinary. Are you really content to be limited by your lifespan like this?
I've found this flimsy solution: if we can steal a portion of the laws of Heaven or Hell, we can become a part of them, yet remain beyond their control, thus truly taking that step and roaming freely between heaven and earth. That is the ultimate fate for cultivators.
It has to be said that the Black Mountain Demon's explanation was remarkably in line with Lu Xuan's thoughts. It was as if he had guessed Lu Xuan's intentions. The values presented in the speech perfectly aligned with Lu Xuan's own. Unfortunately, he didn't understand one thing: this condition, while incredibly tempting to any cultivator, held no meaning for Lu Xuan. He knew he wouldn't stay in this world forever, nor would he ever enter its gates.
"It's a very tempting offer, but unfortunately, I refuse it."
"Why?" The Black Mountain Demon clearly could not accept Lu Xuan's choice.
"For a reason you'll never know."
"Alright, let's not talk about that. I'll give you another offer. All my life's learning, plus all my possessions. Those magic weapons I had before were just consumables. I also have all sorts of rare and precious materials and top-grade magic weapons that I've accumulated over thousands of years. Spare my life, and everything will be yours."
Lu Xuan could sense that the Black Mountain Demon was truly desperate. He had revealed all his trump cards in one swift move. But it was too late. Lu Xuan's actions this time were based on a pact with the Underworld. Cooperation with it was practically impossible.
Black Mountain seemed to sense something. Without uttering a word, the two attacked simultaneously two breaths later.
Lu Xuan unleashed the Yin-Yang Twin Lightning from his hand. At the same time, the Black Mountain Demon, trapped in the sword formation, finally launched his true desperate attack.
The sword formation set up by Yan Chixia silently turned into dust. Even Lu Xuan's Yin-Yang Twin Lightning was blocked by some subtle but extremely vicious force. Lu Xuan's expression changed slightly, and his body flashed back a hundred meters away.
At the same time, the underworld army that had just arrived was swept away by some invisible force. The three Yama Kings at the forefront, along with hundreds of elite underworld soldiers, were instantly annihilated.
"Breath of the Underworld." It had actually mastered this spell. It seemed to be some kind of advanced underworld magic.
A cloud of black mist broke free from the broken sword formation. As it flew towards Lu Xuan, it emitted a piercing, ghostly wail.
"Nine Netherworld Brahma Sound." The surrounding underworld zombies could barely stand. Only the two mid-level officials, Black and White Impermanence, showed their mettle. One wielded chains, the other a mourning staff, and they actually blocked the Black Mountain Demon's path. Although it was only for a brief moment, their magical power and quick thinking were top-notch. It's no wonder these two are the most famous among all the positions in the underworld.
The Nine Netherworld Brahma Sound was clearly an extremely high-level divine power. Lu Xuan felt his soul tremble, even feeling a sense of collapse. However, with a thought, he quickly stabilized the feeling. He possessed a calming talisman made from the core of the tree demon, which provided him with extremely high resistance to such soul attacks.
The Black Mountain Demon transformed into a cloud of black mist, arriving in an instant and enveloping Lu Xuan's entire body. At the same time, nine pitch-black coffin nails pierced towards Lu Xuan's vital points.
With a few soft clicks, the coffin nails were driven into his body. Lu Xuan let out a painful scream.
"How does my Black Fiend Soul-Suppressing Nail taste? Kid, don't think you can challenge me just because you've reached a certain level of cultivation. When I was dominating the Underworld, you weren't even born yet!"
"Really? Then tell me, what does it taste like?"
Lu Xuan's voice came from behind. Without a second thought, Black Mountain's black mist exploded, then reformed dozens of meters away. Its unique form offered virtually no vital points. Unless trapped by some special supernatural power, it was difficult to kill it with a single blow. Therefore, it wasn't particularly panicked. Even if that kid used some kind of illusion to dodge its attack, Black Mountain was confident it had more than one backup plan.