Chapter 379: The Saber Rises, the Saber Falls! The Mysterious Crimson Light! Breaking the Seal! The Divine Power of the Bitter Sea!

This was an exceptionally powerful Daoist formation, one that stirred the flames of the earth to suppress evil spirits.

To construct the Southern Vermilion Bird Fire Virtue Formation, one must harness the Earth’s core fire, and use a powerful fire-element artifact as the formation’s focal point. The requirements were exceedingly harsh.

However, to Li Yanchu, this place was nothing mysterious at all. Because... the demon sealed here had already broken free once. He had just slain the remaining members of the Bare Body Sect, earning thirteen thousand merit points!

His gaze landed on Song Ya’s corpse sprawled across the floor.

Then he turned toward the innkeeper and asked, “What’s up with her?”

The innkeeper replied casually, “Just a small fry. I killed her.”

Li Yanchu nodded slightly. He didn’t fully understand how the innkeeper possessed such cultivation, but he knew she wasn’t ordinary.

Through his Qi Sight, her fortune appeared resplendent and layered, yet her true strength remained unfathomable.

Still, judging by her calm demeanor, that dead woman clearly hadn’t been much of a threat. Probably just trash.

His gaze shifted back to the seal before them. He had already activated the five-times enhanced Spirit Officer Summoning Talisman, and had only managed to kill two minor members, which felt like a bit of a waste.

Not satisfying enough!

And behind that seal... wasn’t there a

much bigger fish

waiting?

Just now, that so-called Madam Bai had emerged from a sea of corpses and blood, her murderous aura soaring to the heavens. She was a full-fledged

final boss

! If he let a monster like that remain free, wouldn’t it lead to mass slaughter and chaos among the living?

The innkeeper frowned slightly. “You’re not actually thinking of breaking the seal and going in to kill that Madam Bai, are you?”

Li Yanchu chuckled lightly. “No need for that. The seal is still solid, and that Madam Bai is surely powerful. There’s no rush.”

The innkeeper nodded in agreement.

Inside the seal, Madam Bai, who had been listening all along, couldn’t help but let out a quiet sigh of relief.

But in the very next second, Li Yanchu’s next words made her want to swear out loud!

“The seal’s already loosened quite a bit. I’ll reinforce it, then stay here and wait. Maybe more Bare Body Sect remnants will come crawling in.”

He took out the Heaven-Illuminating Seal, the Five-Dragon Wheel, and the Ten Thousand Crows Urn, drawing upon the divine flames within these pseudo-mythical artifacts, and began strengthening the Southern Vermilion Bird Fire Virtue Formation once again!

Flames flared brightly from the formation’s core, faintly resonating with the three divine implements.

“Wait... could the other two genuine fire-element divine artifacts be serving as the formation’s core anchors?” Li Yanchu wondered, his eyes narrowing.

Madam Bai was furious. This young Daoist wasn’t just killing people, he was stabbing straight at her pride!

Boom!

A surge of immense spiritual power burst through the crack in the formation, and a young girl with rosy lips and jade-white skin materialized once again!

“Why must you drive me to extinction, fellow Daoist!?” Madam Bai shouted angrily.

Li Yanchu’s voice was cold as frost. “I exorcize demons and purge evil. Should I spare you so you can celebrate the New Year?”

“You go too far!” she roared. “Do you truly think I’ll fear you!?”

With a sweep of her hand, a torrent of blood-red energy erupted forth, surging like a sea of gore to swallow everything in its path.

An overwhelming wave of suffocating pressure rushed toward Li Yanchu, and in the blink of an eye, it was about to engulf him whole.

Clang!

Li Yanchu raised his saber and brought it down in one clean stroke. With a flash of steel, the sea of blood split cleanly in two.

A brilliant arc of saber qi erupted, sweeping forward with the unstoppable force of thunder and lightning, cleaving straight toward Madam Bai’s figure!

Boom, boom, boom!

Their battle shook the heavens; the cave quaked violently with rocks collapsing and dust filling the air. The dense, blazing vitality coursing through Li Yanchu’s body shone with radiant divine light, and his aura was overbearing and unmatched!

Clang!

Behind him, a vast phantom shadow emerged, perfectly mirroring his every move. As one, they swung the saber, and Madam Bai’s manifested avatar was shattered to pieces. It burst apart into a storm of fiery embers, scattering through the air.

Bound within the cave by the Southern Vermilion Bird Fire Virtue Formation, Madam Bai’s avatar was no match at all for Li Yanchu.

Just when it seemed everything had come to an end...

Bang!

A sharp

sonic boom

rang in Li Yanchu’s ears. Then, a streak of crimson light plummeted from the heavens, striking directly at the crack in the Vermilion Bird formation!

Crack! Crack!

The formation splintered apart bit by bit, its protective barrier echoing with sharp, brittle sounds.

“Who’s there!?” Li Yanchu shouted coldly, his eyes gleaming with divine light as he scanned the outside world.

But, the crimson light had come too fast, its power too overwhelming that he couldn’t even trace its source. Li Yanchu’s brows furrowed deeply. Before he could rush out to investigate, a solid stone wall deep inside the cavern exploded apart, and a surge of dense, chilling yin qi burst free from within the seal!

Boom

!

Madam Bai was briefly taken aback, but her expression soon turned wild with joy as she seized the moment and broke through the seal completely!

The Southern Vermilion Bird Fire Virtue Formation had been destroyed. That crimson light’s strike carried terrifying power indeed!

“Damn that Daoist bastard, I’m finally free!”

A young girl, with rosy lips and pale, flawless skin, soared out from the collapsing cave, her eyes blazing with unconcealed elation. Her cold gaze immediately locked onto Li Yanchu, murderous intent gleaming within.

Whoever had aided her just now, whether they sought to use her as a pawn or not, it didn’t matter.

This young Daoist before her must die today!

Boom

!

With a sweep of her hand, a torrent of spiritual force exploded outward, and the entire cavern was instantly buried beneath tumbling boulders.

Mountain Shifter!

The massive stones surged toward Li Yanchu, crushing everything in their path. Seeing this, Li Yanchu wrapped an arm around the innkeeper’s slender waist and soared out on a cloud of divine light!

From within his robes, he drew forth the Dragon-Tiger Scepter.

“Take her,” he commanded, his voice echoing through the air, “and hide somewhere safe!”

His words were transmitted telepathically to Lady Yun.

A stream of divine light shot forth, and the Dragon-Tiger Scepter immediately carried the innkeeper away from the battlefield.

Lady Yun, who had been cultivating quietly within the scepter all this time, had never before been summoned so abruptly. Her heart stirred with excitement, as she thought that it was finally time to prove herself.

With nothing left to hold him back, a glacial killing intent gleamed in Li Yanchu’s eyes as he turned his gaze toward the cavern ahead.

Bang

!

Madam Bai burst through the earth. In an instant, the winds howled and the heavens dimmed; the temperature plummeted as gales of yin qi swept through the air.

Behind her unfurled a vast sea of blood, within which countless tortured souls writhed and wailed.

Distorted faces surfaced one after another, their features unclear, yet the overwhelming resentment and anguish they radiated was enough to make the heart tremble.

The endless cries of the dead battered relentlessly against Li Yanchu’s mind, like waves crashing on the shore.

And then, within that blood sea, he saw familiar faces rising and sinking among the viscous crimson waves:the innkeeper, Fang Qinglan, Bai Hongtu, Ding Rou, Duanmu Xuan, Xu Xiuyun... Each of them were screaming in agony, struggling helplessly in the churning blood.

This was Madam Bai’s divine art: the Sea of Agony, a sorcery that clouded the mind and shattered the will.

At this time, Li Yanchu’s primordial spirit blazed with divine light.

The sacred aura of Spirit Officer Wang, the Clearheart Jade Pendant, the purple-gold radiance, and the Fire Official’s Sacred Edict all shone forth in unison, shielding his spirit from the influence of the Sea of Agony.

“Thirty years ago,” Madam Bai hissed coldly, “a Daoist from Wei City sealed me beneath this earth. And now, thirty years later, another petty young Daoist dares try to seal me again!?”

“Today, I’ll kill you first, then I’ll slaughter everyone in Wei City, and turn that wretched city into a ghost-infested purgatory!”

Her tone was sharp and venomous, each word dripping with murderous hatred.

The Daoist from Wei City...?

Li Yanchu’s brow furrowed slightly in surprise. So Madam Bai of the Bare Body Sect... was sealed by a Daoist from Wei City?

A bold suspicion flickered through his mind.

“Who was it that sealed you?” he demanded.

Madam Bai’s expression darkened, her face twisting with fury.

“Go to hell!”

Boom!

Three towering pillars of blood erupted from the ground, roaring toward Li Yanchu like rivers bursting through a shattered dam. It was an unstoppable, world-shaking deluge!

Behind him, a Martial Dao Manifestation appeared. His entire body was blazing with golden light, and his vitality was vast as the sea, his aura fierce and unyielding.

Without the slightest trace of fear, Li Yanchu charged straight into the storm.