Chapter 659: Chapter 659
Seeing the bone claw lunge fiercely at the ebony sword, its glow flickering with something unusual, Qin Sang made a swift decision. He quickly formed a hand seal, and the ebony sword hesitated slightly before suddenly splitting into two identical streams of sword light.
Both rays of sword light looked equally real. There was no way to distinguish the genuine sword from the illusory image.
"Sword Light Division!"
Du Han’s scalp tingled with shock.
He had never imagined that two supernatural abilities so fervently sought after by sword cultivators could be displayed before him by the same person. And that person had only just entered the Core Formation Realm.
The two sword lights advanced side by side, evading the bone claw.
Even with Du Han’s sharp eyesight, he could not tell which was real and which was fake.
He had no time to hesitate. Forced to take a gamble, he sent the bone claw to seize one of the sword lights while quickly slapping his Mustard Seed Pouch to retrieve a round mirror.
The mirror, made of some unknown material, was pitch-black. Both its surface and frame gleamed like obsidian, forming a seamless whole.
This was the astra Du Han had received from Black Witch Palace after reaching the Core Formation Realm. It was called the Blackwater Mirror.
Originally, the Blackwater Mirror had only been a fine-quality low-grade astra. But after Du Han happened upon a top-grade ore and had it fused into the mirror, it still failed to ascend to a middle-grade astra, though its power had reached the very peak of low grade.
The bone claw successfully seized one of the sword lights.
It struggled for a brief moment before shattering. It had only been a projection.
The other light was the true spiritual sword.
The ebony sword was already a few cun away from Du Han.
The bone claw could not make it back in time. Fortunately, Du Han had prepared for this moment. Ignoring the bone claw, he hurriedly activated the Blackwater Mirror with full force, placing it in front of himself.
On the mirror's surface, a flow of black liquid surged into motion, rippling and churning. Then it transformed into a dark ribbon that shot out toward the ebony sword in an attempt to entangle it.
Just then, Du Han suddenly let out a cry of shock. He stomped the ground and dodged to the side in a blur.
A moment later, a black ghost claw pierced through his chest.
Behind him, the flying yaksha had taken advantage of the chaos to approach stealthily and finally found an opportunity to strike.
Qin Sang had originally hidden the flying yaksha in ambush to assassinate Du Han’s life-bound insect gu. But after discovering Du Han didn’t have one, he changed his plan and directed it to attack Du Han directly.
The strike seemed successful.
But there was no trace of blood on the flying yaksha’s hand, and Du Han’s body began to fade until it revealed a small straw figure, no larger than a palm, with a face identical to Du Han’s. It was lifelike and vivid.
The doll’s expression twisted in agony before it shattered into dust.
At the same time, Du Han’s true form reappeared a short distance away. His chest heaved, but he was completely unharmed. His face showed visible alarm; even he had been frightened by the yaksha’s ambush, and cold sweat streamed down his back.
"Some kind of death-substitute puppet technique?"
Qin Sang’s pupils shrank. He thought to himself how truly difficult this man was to deal with. One strange trick after another kept appearing, and even a certain-death trap had been broken through.
However, Qin Sang felt no frustration at the missed strike. He gently pointed at the ebony sword.
The blade was instantly coated in a deep crimson hue, and a flash of blood-red light surged toward the Blackwater Mirror.
Qin Sang had kept the Blood Defilement Divine Light in reserve precisely for this mirror.
Although the bone claw was Du Han’s life-bound astra, its quality was inferior to the Blackwater Mirror. That mirror was Du Han’s strongest astra, and Qin Sang had identified it as the greatest threat.
He had waited until now, just to destroy it.
Losing the Blackwater Mirror would strip Du Han of his greatest advantage. No matter how high his cultivation, he would not escape Qin Sang’s grasp.
Du Han’s mind was rattled. He could only watch helplessly as the eerie blood light engulfed the Blackwater Mirror. In that instant, he felt his connection to the mirror grow sluggish.
The mirror’s spiritual glow dimmed dramatically. Its supernatural ability had been crippled, and it now wavered weakly in the air.
Du Han’s expression changed drastically. He hurried to retrieve the Blackwater Mirror for inspection, but at that very moment, he caught a glimpse of a blood shadow from the corner of his eye. The flying yaksha, having missed its first strike, had slain Du Han’s disciple in passing and hurled the corpse toward him while also seizing the chance to close in again.
Knowing full well the danger of the flying yaksha, Du Han had no choice but to give up on the Blackwater Mirror. In a rush, he redirected the bone claw to intercept the yaksha.
With the loss of both his precious substitute puppet and the Blackwater Mirror, Du Han’s will to fight had completely collapsed. Any thought of killing Qin Sang had vanished. All he wanted now was to flee.
The series of treasures Qin Sang had unleashed gave Du Han the terrifying illusion that he was facing a veteran monster. Even those famous cultivators who had been in the Core Formation Realm for many years would rarely possess so many fearsome techniques.
Is this really someone who has just formed his Golden Core?
No wonder he didn’t refine a life-bound insect gu; he clearly has a life-bound astra instead.
Du Han was filled with deep regret. While desperately thinking of ways to escape, he cursed his disciples for being complete fools.
However, after spending so long preparing this ambush, how could Qin Sang possibly allow him to escape?
With the Blackwater Mirror disabled, Qin Sang did not pause for even a moment. He immediately recalled the ebony sword, flicked his wrist, and three small banners spun rapidly out from his palm, unfurling in mid-air to form an array.
The Yan Luo Banners of Ten Directions expanded to over a zhang in height. The surrounding temperature plummeted. Though the sun blazed high in the sky, a chilling yin qi filled the air. Thɪs chapter is updated by novelꞁire.net
Qin Sang poured all his strength into activating the Yan Luo Array of Ten Directions. Ever since forming his core, he had continued practicing Sword Light Division and familiarizing himself with the Yan Luo Banners. His grasp of Sword Light Division had already matured. At the very least, it was good enough to deceive enemies.
But the Yan Luo Array of Ten Directions still required some time to set up.
"What kind of evil artifact is this?"
The emergence of the Yan Luo Banners once again shattered Du Han’s understanding.
Being well-versed in arrays, he immediately recognized that this was a great array composed of three separate astras. Its power was certainly extraordinary.
A growing terror swelled in Du Han’s heart. He could already feel the approach of death. Desperately, he threw everything he had into breaking free from the flying yaksha, even preparing to abandon his own life-bound astra if necessary.
Talismans and Dao Techniques rained down together.
But the flying yaksha had thick skin and flesh, completely ignoring everything as it clung tightly to Du Han. With the strength of its body, it could withstand the bone claw's attacks just enough to buy Qin Sang the time he needed to complete the banner array.
Meanwhile, Qin Sang’s hand seals shifted rapidly. At last, the array was complete.
In an instant, a wave of yin wind swept out. The surroundings darkened sharply.
On the surface of the three ghost banners, it was as if black holes had appeared. From each one surged an extreme, icy black flame. The three streams of flame converged in the center, merging into something even darker and deeper.
Qin Sang pointed toward Du Han, his gaze cold and emotionless.
He had saved the Yan Luo Banner of Ten Directions for this very moment to ensure nothing went wrong and to capture this man alive.
The Devilish Flames of the Nine Hells took the form of a fire dragon and lunged toward Du Han. In a panic, Du Han summoned the bone claw to meet the combined assault of the fire dragon and the flying yaksha, struggling desperately to hold on.
At last, with a loud crack, the bone claw shattered, completely engulfed by the Devilish Flames of the Nine Hells.
Despair consumed Du Han.
Qin Sang didn’t even give him the chance to kill himself.
As the Devilish Flames swept over him, Du Han’s consciousness blurred. When he came to, he found a hand tightly gripping his neck.