Although he sensed his old friend weaken as the eclipse began, Uncle Bao and the two weaker yakshas still struggled to face his power by themselves. He concentrated all his life’s strength in his hands, continuously channeling spiritual power, mental power, and mana from his entire body into his palms, tightening the Binding Talisman more and more. Under his ribs, two cool forces of yin energy passed through his chest, supporting him so he wouldn’t fall.
Go, Ah Zhan! The nightmare that had been suppressed for many years, the final outcome of everything will be decided in a few minutes during the eclipse. Once the moon turned back to normal, if they failed to prevent Tian Yi from demonizing, then Tian Yi’s fate would be tragic and they themselves wouldn’t leave this place alive.
Uncle Bao silently thought while looking at his trapped old friend. He watched as he angrily tore at the net, damaging every thread he touched. He hurriedly used his spiritual power to mend the net, but felt the threads in his hand shaking violently. A piercing cold sensation traveled from the threads to his palm, then surged into his body, causing his internal energy to become chaotic. At the same time, the sound of the threads snapping reached his ears, and an immense pressure came crashing down on him.
“Release me, and I will spare your life!” Father Ruan roared.
Uncle Bao had no time to speak. He just focused all his strength on tightly restraining the opponent. Yet the impact was too strong and too sudden, causing Uncle Bao to stagger and almost collapse to the floor. He used all the strength in his legs and managed to stay upright, but both his feet were completely buried into the gravel ground. Behind him, the yakshas also grew faint, struggling to hold on.
Father Ruan struggled a few more times but still couldn’t break free. When he looked back, he saw Ruan Zhan standing quietly to the side, with a calm and serene expression, eyes lowered, as if he was regulating his breathing, or perhaps waiting. He couldn’t help but burn with anger and shouted: “What can a battle of attrition do to me? You want to die, I’ll make it happen for you!”
Before he finished speaking, his eyes shone with a red light, as if two demonic fires were about to ignite. At the same time, a black aura emanated from his body, forming a whirlwind around him, disheveling his clothes and hair. However, the black aura did not dissipate; instead, it gathered and quickly crawled along invisible threads towards Uncle Bao.
Uncle Bao could still protect himself from harm if he stopped now, but he was determined to buy time for Ruan Zhan and to deplete his old friend’s fighting strength as much as possible. So he didn’t back down. Seeing the black energy approaching, he recited: “Primordial Envoy pacifies and suppresses, propagating through the Ten Thousand Divinities. The true lords of mountains and valleys, the divinities of the Earth. God of Land to the left, God of Grain to the right, no need for wanton alarm. Return to the true Dao, all is illuminated. All shall stand in position, guarding the main altar. The Exalted commands, persecute the essence of evil, Lord of Protector Deities, guards those who chant the Sutras. Shelter under the Great Dao, live long and prosper.” Every sentence forced the evil aura back a step. Finally, he bit open the tip of his tongue and sprayed a mouthful of blood, dispersing the black aura fully.
“I’ve underestimated you.” Father Ruan was furious. The originally kind and elegant man had become ill-tempered due to the evil aura’s influence.
“Good will always triumph over evil. No matter how strong you are, it will only be temporary. Calm your mind and find yourself again.” Despite knowing it was useless, despite knowing any persuasion was foolish, he couldn’t bear to watch his good friend of many years harm his friends and family. He wouldn’t blame him even if he were to mistakenly die at his hand.
He got a cold snort in response, along with waves of attacks which grew increasingly fiercer. Uncle Bao continuously used various orthodox Daoist spells to counter. It wasn’t something achievable by just reciting words. Every word and every sentence required immense magical power and spiritual energy to have exorcistic effects. Therefore, in just a few minutes, Uncle Bao was already sweating profusely, his breath coming in gasps, his whole body trembling uncontrollably, and his face flushed as red as blood. If it weren’t for the orthodox spells having some deterrent effect on the opponent’s malevolent energy, he might not have been able to hold out any longer.
Feeling the strength in his body gradually draining away, Uncle Bao glanced at the sky. In mid-air, the moon was already half-eclipsed. He had done his best, and as long as there was a glimmer of hope, he would keep going.
“Still not letting go!” Father Ruan roared angrily, losing his patience due to being restricted. Since he couldn’t break through the net, he simply let it tighten around him. Then, risking injury, he thrust his hands through the gaps in the net and suddenly launched a full-force attack on Uncle Bao.
Under the onslaught, Uncle Bao felt as if his body was like a narrow harbor while the strength of his old friend was like a monstrous wave. With the squall of a raging storm, it came crashing down overwhelmingly and irresistibly. In an instant, endless icy water poured into the harbor, engulfing everything with unstoppable force. There was a tearing pain in his hands which were clutching the net. They split open, blood splattering over the floor. His organs also felt as if they were tearing apart. Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Uncle Bao toppled backwards.
The two yakshas were also impacted. The shadows scattered, but seeing Uncle Bao collapse, they ignored their own plight and rushed forward to support him. Having gotten free of the net, Father Ruan rushed over with murderous intent. “I gave you a chance to live, old man. You brought this upon yourself!” He raised his palm to strike.
Uncle Bao smiled, which momentarily stunned Father Ruan. He couldn’t understand why this old man laughed when facing death. “What are you laughing at?”
“I’m laughing because despite our years of brotherhood, you’ve never once guarded against my underhanded schemes. Oh, you’re just too honest, too stubborn. That son of yours is much more clever. If you truly do get annihilated today, haha, you won’t have any regrets.”
Father Ruan looked at him askance, not understanding what the old Daoist was saying. He saw Uncle Bao raise his arm with difficulty as his lips moved. His fingers curled slightly inwards, and before anyone present realized what was going on, a talisman shot out from the shattered rocks covered with blood behind Father Ruan. With lightning speed, it attached itself to Father Ruan’s right arm.
He was taken aback and instinctively wanted to remove the talisman, but he couldn’t.
“Aren’t bloodspells the most powerful?” Uncle Bao said, panting: “You hit me so hard that I coughed up blood. Can’t let that go to waste!” The moment he was seriously injured, he had swiftly tossed a talisman on the ground. After being soaked in blood, it became empowered. As his old friend stood in a daze, he suddenly ripped open his own shirt, revealing the scars from years of carving glyphs onto his own body. They glowed, flushed with blood from the battle.
The few seconds of distraction caused Father Ruan to ignore the changes to his right arm. When he suddenly snapped out of it, the talisman had already turned into a bloodblade. With a sanguine glow, it swam next to his shoulder and severed his entire right arm.
Father Ruan screamed towards the sky. Despite being a spirit body that doesn’t bleed, magic talismans could still harm his soul. He still felt pain like a human, and his arm could never be reattached. It greatly affected his strength. The arm dropped to the rubble and instantly vanished into dark smoke. The evil aura within corroded the rocks, turning them into black powder. Even the weeds growing within the cracks all withered.
Enraged by the excruciating pain, Father Ruan struck out with the intent of shattering the hateful old Daoist to pieces. A thick cloud of black mist instantly covered the upper half of Uncle Bao’s body. At this moment, a bright red light pierced through the fog, causing the black mist to halt. Then, a spinning wind blade forced the black mist back. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the two yakshas dragged Uncle Bao behind the boulder.
“Uncle Bao, how are you?” Wan Li asked anxiously, and Xiao Xia couldn’t even speak.
The old man presented himself as humorous and witty, appearing simple and honest on the outside, even a bit silly. Yet in reality, he was wise and profound, exuding the aura of a sage. He had also appeared healthy at all times, yet now, he was haggard as if a stray gust would blow him away. He seemed to have aged a decade, and appeared gravely ill.
“Despite looking like I have a foot in the grave, I’m actually fine.” Uncle Bao coughed a few times, “Quick, help me up. The rest will be up to Ah Zhan. I’ve done all I can to help.”
Wan Li helped him up as instructed. At this moment, only father and son were left facing each other in the formation.
“Dad, now it’s my turn.” Ruan Zhan said with a cold expression. Although his voice still trembled a bit, his tone was already very firm.
“As expected, a battle of attrition!” Father Ruan snorted disdainfully. Before he finished speaking, he had already shot a lightning palm over. It was absolutely a sneak attack.
However, since Ruan Zhan knew the gap in strength was huge, how could he not be on guard? His left hand had already prepared a spell. Although Father Ruan attacked very quickly, forcing him to dodge awkwardly, the short-ranged teleport successfully brought him to the southwestern direction of the area.
Father Ruan stared for a moment. He wasn’t surprised at Ruan Zhan having evaded, but rather had remembered he also knew this stepping through space spell. He just didn’t need to use it due to his strong spirit body. The young man in front of him must have some connection with him. This kid kept claiming to be his son. Now, it seemed it might be true. Upon closer inspection, the spell truly came from his sect. Even the spirit power felt exactly the same. This puzzled him, and he felt something flicker in his mind.
But it was just a fleeting moment. The evil aura had fully fused with him, and his humanity swiftly faded. Evil thoughts surged, and he wanted to kill everything around him whether they were human or ghost. He sensed this area was surrounded by a barrier. Beyond it, things similar to the aura within him surged, but were all blocked. He wanted to get out while those things wanted to get in. In that case, he’ll be the one to open things up!
He instantly teleported in front of Ruan Zhan and slashed down with a wind blade.
Ruan Zhan did not dare to be negligent, and hurriedly performed another teleport, shifting to a prepared location. He knew that his father’s most powerful spell was the Wind Blade. Unlike the flaming handprint and lightning palm, which were visible attacks, the Wind Blade was a formless blade that merged into the air. It moved at an extremely fast speed, and by the time you felt it blowing towards you, it was too late to dodge. You had to preempt it.
His own Wind Blade was at an ordinary level, but could be used to strike from every direction. His father’s power, despite the eclipse, meant his wind blade could absolutely not be underestimated. Therefore, he repeatedly teleported while forming a barrier with his other hand to shield his body.
Xiao Xia watched from her hiding spot in torment. In the open space, two figures darted back and forth. One was the dearest figure in her heart, and the other was the one-armed, elusive ghost. She couldn’t see any weapons or spells, but she could hear the harsh sound of metal clashing, and occasionally sparks would burst out, each time so close to Ruan Zhan’s body that her heart was in her throat.
“How’s he doing? How’s he doing?” As she watched, her hands tugged Wan Li’s fiercely. Her palms were icy and her breathing uneven due to anxiety.
“He’s leading Tian Yi into the formation.” Uncle Bao answered on Wan Li’s behalf. His voice was very weak and he was obviously severely injured.
While Xiao Xia knew nothing about formations, Ruan Tian Yi did. While pursuing Ruan Zhan, he initially didn’t notice his surroundings. But after a few steps, he noticed the irregularities in the rocks beneath his feet. There were sharp stones mixed within the round rubble. They appeared to be the same texture as those of Ironhead Mountain, but seemed to have been sharpened artificially. They were even marked with red glyphs and strange symbols. The cinnabar used for drawing talismans is not an ordinary substance. Its smell unsettled his soul. Furthermore, the stones were clearly arranged in a pattern. Some were laid out in the shape of strange animals while others formed weird outlines.
But one thing was certain. The stones combined to form a spiral pattern. Every time he moved after Ruan Zhan, they drew closer to the center of the formation. If the dead locust tree in the middle of the area was a point, he had almost circled it once and was now a step closer.
Seeing his father pause, Ruan Zhan understood that he had noticed something, so he also stopped and said provocatively: “That’s right, this is a formation. Are you afraid to come in? However, it’s too late for you to hesitate now. Once someone enters this formation, it will automatically close. If you want to get out, you either have to force me to open it from the inside, or you have to enter the formation yourself and find the location of the exit.
“You’re still no match for me!” He said, suddenly striking out.
There was no sound of wind, but Ruan Zhan could sense a sharp blade cutting through the air. He set up a barrier at lightning speed, but this time his father was too fast. He only felt a sharp pain, and warm liquid immediately flowed down his entire right arm and right cheek from his temple to his chin.
“Now it’s fair. Neither of us can use our right arm.” Ruan Zhan’s expression remained unchanged. With his left hand, he drew the Bloodwood Sword from behind his waist. The sword enlarged according to his will, and before his father’s next attack, he stepped to a place where he could safely avoid the wind blades.
…….