Immortal-Exterminating Divine Venerable

'So this is the Talent Secret Pattern from Xiaodie's body? It gives off such an evil feeling.'

As the black Secret Patterns were drawn out bit by bit, Li Mubai noticed they exuded an aura of decay.

Even the slightest touch from his Heart Spirit felt as if his Divine Soul would be corroded away.

It was truly malevolent.

He was also quite astonished.

'How could Xiaodie have such a wicked Secret Pattern inside her?'

But then he thought of her pure, kind heart and felt a sense of relief.

For no matter how wicked this power was,

it could never erase her sincere and beautiful spirit.

At the same time, he felt a wave of relief.

He was relieved that he had chosen the second path.

'Otherwise, if this evil power had truly awakened within Xiaodie, what would have happened?'

'Would she have been corrupted?'

'Would she have been in pain?'

'But the one I should thank most is the Saint Prince. Without him, I could only have watched helplessly as Xiaodie was taken from me. I would have been powerless, let alone have been given a choice.'

With this thought, Li Mubai looked toward the solemn-faced Yang Xiao, his heart swelling with gratitude.

As for Yang Xiao,

he too wore a look of profound relief at this very moment.

Initially, when he had sensed the Secret Pattern in Yu Xiaodie, he hadn't taken it too seriously, despite its evil and decaying aura.

He had even been quite curious about this power.

In his three lifetimes, spanning millions of years, he had seen innumerable Secret Patterns, yet this one was unlike anything he had ever seen or heard of.

His curiosity was naturally piqued.

That was why he had offered them the first option.

It was simply because he wanted to see what profundities this power would reveal upon awakening.

But now, having extracted the Secret Patterns, Yang Xiao was shocked by his discovery.

Had he truly allowed Yu Xiaodie to choose the first path, he would have first needed to expend a massive amount of resources just to enable the girl to withstand its power.

Second, once this power awakened,

unforeseen and terrible things would likely occur—things that even he might not be able to control.

In that case,

it might have even unleashed a catastrophe upon the Profound Sun Continent.

That was an outcome he absolutely did not want.

'Thankfully, they chose the second path; otherwise, the outcome would have been hard to predict. It seems I can't afford to underestimate these strange Secret Patterns in the future. This time was a perfect example. Inside Yu Xiaodie's body, the power seemed weak, so I assumed it truly was. Only now, after extracting it, do I realize it's likely more terrifying—and far more destructive—than Ao Yuhua's Enchanting Demon Pattern. If I had actually let it awaken, I'm afraid Li Mubai would have ended up blaming me.'

A thought crossed Yang Xiao's mind.

His movements as he extracted the black Secret Patterns became even more cautious.

Fortunately, his cultivation had now stepped into the Small Divine Ability Realm. Moreover, his spiritual strength had been greatly augmented by the Emperor Dao Celestial Venerable Map, from which he had also comprehended several wondrous spiritual applications.

Otherwise, completely extracting these Secret Patterns would have been no easy feat.

He might even have been injured by them in the process.

Even if he had managed to protect himself, he might not have been able to save Li Mubai's young Daoist partner.

But now, with his greatly increased strength, Yang Xiao could just barely manage it.

Even so, it took him the better part of half a day to completely extract all the Secret Patterns from Yu Xiaodie's body.

He was drenched in sweat from the exertion.

"Alright, I've completely extracted these malevolent Secret Patterns. From now on, your young Daoist partner just needs to rest and recuperate, and her body will recover. Then she'll be able to cultivate just like you, strengthening her body. Who knows, it might not be long before you two can even... dual cultivate."

Despite his exhaustion, Yang Xiao couldn't resist teasing them.

His words made Yu Xiaodie's face flush crimson.

Li Mubai stammered for a moment, but he was a man, after all; he wasn't going to be rendered speechless by a single comment.

So after a moment of stunned silence, he quickly tried to change the subject.

His gaze fell upon the large, writhing mass of black Secret Patterns that showed no sign of dissipating, and a trace of worry appeared in his heart.

But before expressing his concern, his expression turned solemn. "Saint Prince," he said to Yang Xiao, "you saved Xiaodie. I, Mubai, will be indebted to you for the rest of my life. If you ever need anything in the future, just send word. I would face death ten thousand times for you!"

Yang Xiao just smiled and gestured for him not to worry about it.

Only then did Li Mubai voice his concern. "Saint Prince, these Secret Patterns seem incredibly malevolent. Do you have a way to neutralize or destroy them?"

"These Secret Patterns?"

Hearing this, Yang Xiao fell into deep thought.

He first communicated with the Bloodthirsty Sword Spirit, Xiaoxue, but she told him that while she could devour this power, it would be extremely difficult.

She might not even succeed.

It was completely impossible for her to directly absorb it like she had with the Enchanting Demon Pattern.

Yang Xiao immediately abandoned the idea.

He stared at the Secret Patterns, falling silent.

"If this is troubling you, Saint Prince, why not let me, Mubai, give it a try?" Li Mubai asked tentatively.

Yang Xiao glanced at him.

"You have a solution?" he asked.

"I believe it's best to destroy something so harmful," Mubai said. "So I want to annihilate it with my sword!"

Li Mubai was eager to try.

Yang Xiao couldn't help but smile.

'If it could be so easily destroyed,' he thought, 'I wouldn't be having such a headache over it.'

Still, seeing the younger man's eagerness, Yang Xiao didn't stop him. He was also curious to see how much Li Mubai had improved under the tutelage of Human Emperor Xuanyuan.

After all, Li Mubai was brimming with confidence.

"Very well, give it a try," Yang Xiao said mildly. "But don't push yourself. These Secret Patterns are not as simple as they appear."

Upon receiving his approval, Li Mubai nodded. Without another word, he formed a Sword Pointing gesture and slashed forward.

With this slash, several streams of Sword Qi instantly surged forth.

They unexpectedly coalesced in mid-air, forming a Sword Array that struck the black Secret Patterns.

A flash of inspiration struck Yang Xiao as he watched.

'A Sword Array!'

'An Array?'

But before he could fully grasp the thought, he saw the mass of black Secret Patterns suddenly stir.

His expression changed in an instant.

"Not good! Brother Li, get back!"

He roared.

In a flash of movement,

he appeared in front of Li Mubai.

Immediately after, the black Secret Patterns, like a giant black dragon, surged together with a WHOOSH and slammed into him.

The Secret Patterns surged into his body before he could even make a move.

In an instant,

an incomparably terrifying aura of decay emanated from his body.

Yang Xiao's expression changed drastically.

Because he discovered that the very instant the black Secret Patterns made contact with his flesh...

...it had become necrotic!

What was once vibrant, powerful, crimson flesh...

...had, in an instant, turned into chunks of grayish-black, putrid, rotten meat.

This power...

...chilled even someone like Yang Xiao.

Because after the Secret Patterns entered his body,

he was shocked to find that he felt completely unable to resist it!