Daoist Competition

Yue Yuji saw this and how could he let him have his way? With a cold laugh, he said, "I knew your demonic nature hasn’t changed; you couldn’t resist!"

His shoulder shook slightly, and suddenly a scroll flew out from above him. With a rustling sound, it opened and closed, instantly enveloping the Nascent Soul Avatar emanating boundless demonic power.

He then pointed down with a finger, and the avatar uncontrollably plummeted to the ground, suppressed in the blink of an eye, unable to move.

Yue Yuji had just been shaken by the counter-force from the Sealing Array to the point he almost vomited blood. However, he endured the discomfort in his chest, flipped his wrist, and brought out a horsetail whisk. The killing intent in his eyes was evident as he raised the whisk to strike.

As long as he destroyed the Nascent Soul Avatar on the spot, it would be almost certain that he could take the Five Artifacts without further obstacles.

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As for Zhang Boyant’s true body, he was currently held off by Ying Chenglin and couldn’t make it here at all.

The Nascent Soul Avatar, unwilling to resign, though suppressed by the scroll, still had mobility in its limbs. Stretching out a hand, a gust of yin wind suddenly arose within the inner chamber, sweeping up two cultivators caught off guard and throwing them forward.

Yue Yuji assumed it was desperate struggling and sneered. With a light flick, he moved one person aside. When he tried to move the second, the terrified expression on that disciple’s face suddenly vanished, replaced by a sinister smile.

Realizing something was wrong, Yue Yuji attempted to act, but the two were already too close, and it was too late. That disciple’s body suddenly shook, and from the crown of his head leaped a Nascent Soul, jet-black as ink, fully formed.

That Nascent Soul extended a hand, manifesting a Dharma Talisman, and slapped it directly onto Yue Yuji’s forehead. His body trembled, and the Nascent Soul that had already emerged was forced back down.

Immediately after, the Nascent Soul embraced him and began crazily absorbing his Essence Blood.

Yue Yuji desperately ran his cultivation technique to resist, his face filled with shock and fury, his eyes full of disbelief. He exclaimed, "Zhang Boyant? How are you here? Aren’t you entangled with Ying Daoist?"

Zhang Boyant laughed while channeling his mana, replying, "You couldn’t possibly comprehend the mystery of my Three Yin Undying Body!"

The "Three Yin Undying Body" is a Demon Dao Divine Skill of extraordinary difficulty to cultivate. It requires capturing three Nascent Souls for sacrificial refinement before mastery.

Cultivators of this technique, when faced with life-and-death situations, can abandon their physical shell, transferring all their cultivation to a Soul-bound Avatar located miles away, thus avoiding tribulations—hence "undying."

Because this technique can only be used three times in a lifetime, avoiding three fatal disasters, it is named "Three Yin."

However, Zhang Boyant’s application of this divine skill here wasn’t for evading a tribulation but for the aim of killing Yue Yuji in one strike and claiming Taiheng Ancestor’s legacy of the Five Artifacts!

Earlier, his Soul-bound Avatar had mingled among the crowd of cultivators to scout the underlying situation here. He inadvertently discovered that Yue Yuji and Ying Chenglin’s outward alliance masked inner discord, sparking a plan to defeat them individually.

First, Zhang Boyant audaciously ascended the mountain, loudly proclaiming his intent to settle grievances with Ying Chenglin, ceremoniously showcasing four Dharma Treasures to create an imposing momentum.

His skill at manipulating hearts was superb. He leveraged Ying Chenglin’s cautious nature, knowing Ying’s hesitancy gave him no courage to fully commit to an all-out confrontation, especially now with Ying’s imminent rebirth. Zhang Boyant’s blatant showmanship deepened Ying’s cautiousness further.

As expected, Ying Chenglin didn’t dare act recklessly and focused only on defense.

Meanwhile, Yue Yuji, eager for the two to fight to mutual exhaustion, concealed himself inside, comfortably and fearlessly refining the Sealing Array.

Later, Zhang Boyant ordered his Soul-bound Avatar to incite other cultivators to break into the inner chamber, lurking quietly and biding his time. Before Yue Yuji completed refining the array, Zhang first drew Yue’s focus with a frontal attack using his Nascent Soul Avatar, then decisively activated the Three Yin Undying Divine Power to transfer his cultivation entirely into the Soul-bound Avatar, launching an unexpected and devastating attack. True to his plan, the maneuver succeeded perfectly!

His approach was undeniably daring. If discovered, it could provoke joint retaliation from the two True Masters.

Yet his deception had indeed succeeded perfectly. Ying Chenglin remained unaware, still believing he was engaged with Zhang’s real body, not realizing Zhang had left merely a phantom to confront him while putting all his efforts into the assault on Yue Yuji.

Though Zhang Boyant had subdued Yue Yuji momentarily, he couldn’t eliminate him immediately.

Sensing the surging power within Yue’s body and the Nascent Soul faintly struggling to emerge, Zhang regretted his greed, realizing that if he hadn’t aimed to absorb Yue’s Essence Blood, he could have already killed him outright. Now Yue still possessed strength to resist.