Stealthily cultivating in the chaotic world of demons and martial artists
Chapter 263 - 262: Life-Death Seal (Congratulations to the Silver Alliance)_1

Chapter 263: Chapter 262: Life-Death Seal (Congratulations to the Silver Alliance)_1

Roar! Roar!

The last Fire Dragon, its body enveloped in raging flames, had eyes full of resentment and poison, seemingly carrying You Kun’s Divine Consciousness, and directly targeting Fang Xi beneath the Monster Tree!

"Truly worthy of a Core Formation Elder, even after being restrained and weakened by two third-tier arrays... to still possess such mighty power!"

Fang Xi looked up, his face brimming with a trace of a smile, as he cast out a talisman.

—Killing Immortal Treasure Symbol!

Another flash of Sword Qi, fleeting and swift, slaying the last Fire Dragon!

"A third-tier talisman?!"

You Kun’s complexion turned utterly dark.

As the highest combat power of Yiling Valley, he was surprisingly at a loss against a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Even feeling an impending disaster looming over him.

This sense of impending death, which he hadn’t felt for how many years since he took over as the Supreme Elder and inherited the "Nine Dragon Balls"?

At this moment, You Kun also realized that he was somewhat overexerted.

Although he had the magic power of the Core Formation stage, thirty percent was tied up in the external Sealing Spirit Stakes, another thirty percent contending with the Sky Wolf Howling Moon Array, and the remaining magic power was, within this array, fighting against a Foundation Establishment cultivator wielding a third-tier magical artifact and possessing a third-tier talisman, he was actually at a slight disadvantage!

"We cannot go on like this!"

You Kun’s expression turned fierce as his hands furiously formed a sign.

The three Flood Dragons entangled with the Sky Wolf Phantom gave a sorrowful cry, and from their inverse scales, a dazzling red light emerged, growing increasingly bright.

"Not good!"

Fang Xi, seeing this, had his pupils contract, his figure flashed, and he hid behind the Monster Tree.

Boom!

The next moment, the three Flood Dragons enwrapping the Sky Wolf, suddenly began to self-destruct!

Terrifying flames mixed with crimson light swept across this expanse of the void!

The fierce wave of fire surged one after another, annihilating themselves with a massive amount of black fog...

After the flames and crimson light subsided, You Kun was gasping for breath, his Three Yang True Fire Cover showing crack after crack, and he himself was pale, clearly having overexerted his magic power.

The ground where the Sky Wolf Phantom had stood was now completely devastated.

The Sky Wolf Phantom had vanished without a trace, numerous Puppet remains lay on the ground, their surfaces marked with scorching traces.

Song Qing and several other human Puppets turned to ash, while Old Ling had lost half of his body...

After all, a cultivator’s body is generally weaker than that of monster beasts, and in this explosion, they were no help at all, their injuries generally more severe than those of the beast puppets.

Scattered across the ground were parts of the Sky Wolf Battle Array’s Array Flags and Array Disks, looking already damaged, incapable of being used again...

Not far from the Sky Wolf Battle Array, countless tendrils and Qi Roots had joined together to form a vast yet broken shield.

Rustle! Rustle!

Combusted Qi Roots and tendrils coiled back, revealing the Monster Tree’s body, unharmed.

"To actually employ self-destructing Fire Dragons... Those Fire Dragons were attached with your split spirits, weren’t they..."

Fang Xi stood under the tree, his clothing not even slightly wrinkled: "After this, you have sustained a heavy loss to your Primordial Energy, and although I’ve lost the ’Sky Wolf Battle Array,’ I still have the ’Nine Nether Profound Wood Array,’ how else do you plan to contend with me?"

"Huff... Huff..."

You Kun panted heavily: "I must admit, I was careless... I never thought that outside of Mysterious Heaven Sect and Green Wood Sect, there would be cultivators within the three nations capable of threatening Golden Cores!"

His eyes bloodshot, he stared at Fang Xi: "All the more so, today I cannot let you go... Even if it costs me dearly in Primordial Energy, or even my lifespan, I must eliminate the hidden danger for Yiling Valley!"

This man had already betrayed his Heart Demon Oath, his realm unable to advance further, and even daily cultivation could potentially spur rampant Heart Demons, leading to deviating from his path.

Therefore, by this point, he no longer hesitated or showed doubt, determined to eliminate Fang Xi as a hidden threat for the Yu Family of Yiling Valley.

Heehee!

As You Kun chanted an incantation, a cloud of black fog emerged from around him, from which faint ghostly shrieks could be heard.

Within the black fog, one could vaguely see several ghostly figures with two horns on their heads and blue-black skin.

You Kun fiercely bit the tip of his tongue, blood spurting into the fog like it was free, consumed by the little ghosts.

Then, amidst the trance-like chanting, the little ghosts voluntarily burrowed into his body, making his ghastly complexion take a turn for the better.

Roar! Roar!

Spiritual Fire converged, forming a one-horned, four-clawed Fire Dragon!

One, two, three...

No less than nine Fire Dragons coiled around You Kun’s body, seemingly not only suppressing his injuries but recovering his magic power to its peak in one go.

"To force me to use Life Ghost Sacrifice, exchanging my lifespan for magic power recovery... You can die without regrets. I, You Kun, have been loyal to the Yu Family for more than a hundred years; today, I must clear the last hurdle in the three nations for Yiling Valley..."

You Kun looked at Fang Xi, his expression the epitome of chilling cold.

Although his magic power had recovered, wrinkles could now be faintly seen on his face, and his hair was continuously turning white...

Fang Xi’s eyes flashed with green and yellow light, but his expression was somewhat strange: "It seems you are indeed a Foundation Establishment cultivator... Did you achieve the combat power of Core Formation by using the Yiling Valley’s inherited treasure—the Nine Dragon Balls?"

"So what if I did? Just die!"

You Kun controlled the "Nine Dragon Balls," and as the orb absorbed one fire dragon after another, it burst forth with a terrifyingly brilliant spiritual light. It was evident that its next strike would shake heaven and earth with its boundless might.

Even piercing through the Nine Nether Profound Wood Formation seemed possible.

Fang Xi’s expression underwent several changes before he finally made up his mind, casting spell after spell onto the trunk of the Demon Tree.

Crack!

The trunk of the Demon Tree split open, revealing a pitch-black wooden seal treasure.

His hands moved ceaselessly like the wheels of the wind, casting spells, and blue and yellow lights flashed on his body in turn. He then ferociously channeled a great amount of magic power into the "Black Wood Seal."

Upon the Black Wood Seal, a light so mysterious and profound emerged, transmitted through the trunk of the Demon Tree, and flickered from the top of the canopy.

A light that initially alternated between blue and yellow and then transformed into an invisible and colorless mysterious light, emitted from the Demon Tree, swept past the Three Yang Divine Fire Cover, and struck You Kun directly!

In an instant, You Kun felt his lifespan quickly slipping away, his eyes widening in shock, "You..."

Pointing at Fang Xi. the Nine Dragon Balls had not yet fallen, but he saw strands of white hair fall, and his body aged at an inconceivable speed, eventually turning into a withered corpse with white hair...

The Supreme Elder of Yiling Valley, You Kun—dead!

Cause of death—exhaustion of lifespan!

After his death, the once brightly shining Nine Dragon Balls, no longer supported by magic power, whimpered and fell to the ground, bound by iron chains formed from trails of black mist.

"If it was just Foundation Establishment, you could have said so earlier... and saved me the trouble of such a fierce fight..."

Fang Xi looked at You Kun’s corpse and sighed.

The divine skill he had last used was naturally the secret skill recorded in the "Kuyong Skills"—Kuyong Mysterious Light!

This mysterious light could ignore all defenses and directly sap a person’s lifespan!

Of course, despite the extraordinary nature of the Kuyong Mysterious Light, it had many restrictions.

The greatest restriction was that it required cultivators who had practiced the "Kuyong Skills" at the Core Formation stage to master it!

Fang Xi, with his ’Yi Wood Magic Body’ and the ’Kuyong Skills’ solidifying magic power in his Dantian, could barely be considered as half a Core Formation practitioner.

Most crucially, he had already refined the matching magical artifact—"Black Wood Seal," and using the Demon Tree to release it, he finally secured the victory and successfully killed his opponent!

’If it was any other cultivator with Kuyong Skills, they probably couldn’t master this mysterious light until after reaching Core Formation.’

’After all, the ’Yi Wood Magic Body’ normally takes a thousand years to achieve, and even Nascent Soul elders can’t wait that long... only I am an exception!’

’Moreover, this ’Kuyong Mysterious Light’ has many limitations. Killing the opponent this time cost me decades of lifespan, but only shaved a few years off his... and that’s because he was essentially a Foundation Establishment cultivator whose lifespan was already nearing its end!’

There are many limitations to the Kuyong Mysterious Light. Firstly, even if the skill is cultivated to great accomplishment, it can only exchange lifespan on a one-for-one basis with cultivators in the same realm.

Currently, Fang Xi is only at the beginning level of small accomplishments, which means he had to spend decades of his own lifespan to reduce You Kun’s by a few years.

Luckily, this person was already very old and had used techniques that consumed lifespan, so there weren’t many years left...

Moreover, if this person had reached Core Formation, Fang Xi wouldn’t dare to use the Kuyong Mysterious Light!

Because using the Kuyong Mysterious Light across major cultivation realms would amplify the backlash by hundreds or thousands of times.

If You Kun had already entered the Core Formation stage, Fang Xi, at the Foundation Establishment stage, might have to use up hundreds to thousands of years of his lifespan to shave off a few years of his opponent’s!

Without being forced into a corner, Fang Xi would not want to lose so much of his lifespan all at once.

"Fortunately, no matter what... I finally won."

Fang Xi approached You Kun’s body and said indifferently, "I will remember you... my first Core Formation kill... no, it was still Foundation Establishment killing Foundation Establishment..."

He suddenly fell silent, casually planting a seed of the Demon Tree.

This person’s memories were indeed more valuable than You Chong’s.

Additionally, as the Supreme Elder of Yiling Valley, his storerooms must be incredibly rich!

After searching through the soul, Fang Xi learned of many top secret reports.

"So Master Yan is attacking the Green Wood Sect and can’t leave for the time being... And Yiling Valley doesn’t have much affiliation with the Mixed Origin Sect..."

"Not only that, traveling from the three countries in the Cultivation World to Yuan Country involves passing through many dangers, and the round trip is very troublesome..."

"It seems like, after this battle, I have indeed secured a significant amount of time and peace for Dragon Fish Island..."

"Perhaps... it’s time to seize this opportunity to reach Core Formation..."

Fang Xi took a deep breath and first looked at the "Black Wood Seal" in his hand.

Since he had used this treasure, the "Treasure Planting Jue" was naturally interrupted.

Luckily, he had embedded it within the Demon Tree for decades, which could be compared to centuries or even millennia of external treasure planting.

According to Fang Xi’s estimation, it should far surpass the life-bound magical artifacts of other Core Formation elders...

"Black Wood Seal sounds a bit unpleasant... How about Green Wood Seal? Or maybe Kuyong Seal?"

"With one seal, life and death are determined... Forget it, let’s call it the ’Life-Death Seal’!"

Fang Xi opened his mouth and drew the ’Life-Death Seal’ into his Dantian Qi Ocean, as if it were a life-bound magical artifact.

In fact, this treasure was linked to his heart and mind and had been refined by the Demon Tree, akin to a clone, for many years. It had already become his life-bound magical artifact, and in terms of intimacy, it was even superior to the ’Green Barley Sword’!

After sorting out the magical artifact, Fang Xi gestured, and two items appeared in front of him.

One was a red spirit pearl with runes moving on its surface and nine dragons swimming inside.

The other was You Kun’s Storage Bag!