“Who is Hongjun?” After Yang Tian uttered these four words, his Wild Willow Domain erupted abruptly.
In an instant, the space around Mo Wuji transformed into a massive net, constructed from countless willow branches, yet this was merely the binding effect of the Wild Willow Domain.
Beneath the domain, a wave of Dao sounds surged, not with a beautiful intent but with a bloodthirsty aura rolling in like a torrential flood.
Ten thousand willows in the void, weaving heartbreak!
A suffocating bloody aura descended, and Mo Wuji felt a shiver run through him. Despite his preparations, he was still startled by the intent. In the crimson void, endless corpses were torn apart, their broken entrails pierced by willow needles, swiftly woven into a colossal net of billions of severed intestines.
Under this net, vitality dissipated, Dao rules shattered, and everything was suppressed.
It was clearly an intent, yet it carried only terrifying bloodlust.
Mo Wuji let out a long roar, his Mortal Halberd unleashing bursts of mortal halberd light. As the light blocked the bloody Dao rules, his body broke free from the net of woven entrails, sending wave after wave of halberd shadows toward Yang Tian.
Initially, because Yang Tian was the Dao Ancestor of the Great Desolation World, Mo Wuji had intended to show mercy. But seeing this domain technique, he realised countless innocent souls must have perished under Yang Tian’s hands to produce such a bloodthirsty killing technique.
“How is this possible?” Yang Tian stared at Mo Wuji in shock. How had Mo Wuji escaped his Willow Needle Heartbreak technique? He hadn’t just bound Mo Wuji with the Heartbreak technique but also with the Wild Willow Domain.
Since mastering this technique, it had never failed. No one had ever survived it. Knowing Mo Wuji’s strength, Yang Tian had deliberately used words to stall him before acting. He was certain his domain’s expansion would go unnoticed by Mo Wuji, so why had Mo Wuji still broken free and immediately unleashed his treasure and technique?
When Yang Tian saw a puppet figure in his heartbreak net, he understood. Mo Wuji had not only detected his domain’s activation but had also prepared an escape.
But there was no time to ponder how Mo Wuji had discovered his domain, as Mo Wuji’s Mortal Halberd seemed to stir a vast, boundless desert, with endless yellow sand sweeping toward him.
Yang Tian had seen this technique before, when Mo Wuji used it against Lin Jie. It was also an intent-based technique, but Yang Tian hadn’t thought much of it. Compared to his Heartbreak technique, it was far inferior, lacking the oppressive life-and-death weight. Otherwise, how could Lin Jie have easily broken it?
Yang Tian summoned a massive willow root, which appeared like a planet spanning the void. In his view, no matter how Mo Wuji’s desert surged, it couldn’t breach his root.
But the desert was only the first of Mo Wuji’s killing techniques. As the root blocked the desert, the Mortal Halberd slashed down, splitting the void as if carving a vast river through the desert. Above the river, a setting sun slowly fell.
Desert smoke, river sunset!
All vitality in the space seemed to fade rapidly with the sun’s descent. Yang Tian’s Wild Willow Domain existed in this void, and as the sun’s dissipating vitality affected his domain, his own vitality began to wane.
Yang Tian’s expression changed. He couldn’t fathom why Mo Wuji hadn’t used this technique fully against Lin Jie. Why had he only unleashed the desert without the river sunset, instead defeating Lin Jie with a single finger?
Crack! His Wild Willow Domain, protecting his space, collapsed under the sunset. Yang Tian roared, his willow root surging upward, its killing Dao rules exploding abruptly, shattering the life-reaping sunset and tearing the river apart.
Yang Tian retreated, standing in the void. In that exchange, he’d suffered a slight loss. He glared at Mo Wuji, “You’re at the seventh step of the Great Dao. How could you withstand my domain?”
Among peers, he, Yang Tian, was invincible. Why hadn’t he dominated now, failing to gain the upper hand against Mo Wuji? He knew Mo Wuji wasn’t at the eighth step. Did this mean that once Mo Wuji reached the eighth step, he’d be crushed? Without resolving this, what use was advancing his Great Dao?
Mo Wuji was inwardly startled too. Yang Tian was far stronger than Lin Jie, and not by a small margin. With minimal cost, he had torn through his Desert River Sunset technique, something no ordinary eighth-step cultivator could do. This was a linked intent technique, and had Yang Tian been slightly slower, the following Ruin Cliff would have shredded his body.
“How I countered your domain is my business, but you haven’t answered my question. Where is Dao Ancestor Hongjun?” Mo Wuji stepped forward, extending his Mortal Domain again. If Yang Tian didn’t leave, he’d make him pay this time.
“Heh, fine, I’m leaving now. Let’s see what you can do about it,” Yang Tian said, turning to go.
Mo Wuji knew he couldn’t stop Yang Tian from leaving, but as Yang Tian turned, he suddenly said, “I assume you know of Ancestor Yangmei?”
Mo Wuji clearly sensed Yang Tian’s body stiffen slightly at the mention of Ancestor Yangmei. Then, Yang Tian stepped into the void…
Boom! A violent clash of Dao rules erupted in the void, shattering the rules. A blood arrow shot out, and Yang Tian, who had just entered the void, reappeared before Mo Wuji.
“Lan Xiaobu, you dare ambush me…” Yang Tian’s chest bled, clearly having been successfully attacked by Lan Xiaobu, who had been lying in wait.
Lan Xiaobu said lazily, “Yang Tian, you stole a ten-patterned Dao Fruit from me earlier. Why not call that an ambush? If you don’t hand over the ten-patterned fruit today, even if I’m gravely injured, I’ll take you down. Believe it or not.”
Without hesitation, Yang Tian tossed a Dao Fruit to Lan Xiaobu and rushed back into the void.
Lan Xiaobu caught the fruit, but Yang Tian had already vanished.
“He got away?” Mo Wuji rushed over.
“No matter. The monk may escape, but the temple stays. As long as he’s the Dao Ancestor of the Great Desolation World, we can deal with him,” Lan Xiaobu said, storing the reclaimed ten-patterned Cosmic Dao Fruit with a chuckle.
Mo Wuji nodded, “I asked about Dao Ancestor Hongjun, and he claimed ignorance. I suspect he’s lying, and I think he’s connected to Ancestor Yangmei.”
“No way,” Lan Xiaobu exclaimed, shocked.
Yangmei, a figure no less formidable than Ancestor Hongjun, had once passed down part of his legacy to Lan Xiaobu. Could Yang Tian truly be Yangmei’s descendant or heir?
“Whether or not, once this is over, we’ll visit the Great Desolation World. This guy’s too mysterious. Let’s head down. We’ve gained plenty, haven’t we?” Mo Wuji was certain Lan Xiaobu’s haul was substantial.
Lan Xiaobu nodded, “Fifteen nine-patterned fruits, three ten-patterned ones.”
“I got five ten-patterned fruits, twelve nine-patterned ones, didn’t count the rest. I reckon there aren’t more than twelve ten-patterned fruits here, and we’ve claimed most of them,” Mo Wuji laughed.
“Good, let’s keep an eye on Emperor Lan later. That bastard wants to refine the Cosmic Tree…” Lan Xiaobu trailed off, suddenly rushing downward.
By now, the frenzy for Cosmic Dao Fruits at the Eternal Life Gathering had ended. Though the tree held many fruits, the number of competitors was vast. In a short time, all the fruits on this massive Cosmic Tree branch had been claimed, and even the leaves were sparse. If the tree weren’t indestructible, the branch might have been cut and taken.
Qi Manwei, Tai Chuan, and others stood on a lotus. Fang Zhiqian bore bloodstains, his Dao rules chaotic, clearly heavily injured. Qi Manwei’s aura was also unsteady, indicating she’d fought. Shi Changxing stood nearby, with Seven Cosmos stars swirling at his feet, suggesting he’d also clashed.
“What, taking advantage of my absence to bully my people?” Lan Xiaobu sneered. Before landing, he threw a punch at Ling Zhuzhen.
He was certain Ling Zhuzhen had acted, as only Ling Zhuzhen’s aura was disordered, likely from fighting Shi Changxing.
Since Shi Changxing was his ally, it was clearly Ling Zhuzhen who had gravely injured Fang Zhiqian.
