After Zhang Yan reached the surface, he was just about to remove the prohibition when he suddenly felt a "clang" sound of sword ringing from the Qi Acupoint between his eyebrows. Unconsciously, his eyes flashed; this was a warning from the sword ball, indicating that someone with hostile intent was lurking nearby, which resulted in this. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

His thoughts turned, but his face showed no awareness as he arrived at Heaven, his expression unchanged. First, he cast several spells down, then with a wave of his hand, he summoned back the Banners set up on various mountain peaks.

The old man in black below was watching carefully, noticing Zhang Yan was also a Nascent Soul cultivator, with three Gang Clouds above his head, two solid and one virtual, only one step away from entering the Nascent Soul Second Realm, causing him to feel a bit hesitant.

He had insisted on taking action earlier because the Corpse Formation was still missing a refined corpse for the main array. However, this corpse must not have the slightest flaw, or its power would be greatly reduced. But Zhang Yan’s Daoist cultivation was slightly higher than his, so if a fight erupted later, if he held back, he wouldn’t suppress this person, and if he struck too hard, he might cause damage, turning joy into futility.

However, upon reconsideration, his opponent seemed to be alone, but he had fellow sect members who knew each other intimately. As long as the timing was right, there was still a chance for success.

At that moment, he suddenly noticed the surrounding spiritual mechanism fading, capturing a Qi Mechanism, judging that the Forbidden Array had been removed, realizing the opportunity had arrived, he secretly gave a scholar beside him a glance, then leaped into the air.

Although he appeared, he did not attack but rather greeted from afar, saying: "Greetings, fellow Daoist."

His intention was to draw Zhang Yan’s Heart and Spirit, so his junior brother could seize the opportunity to deploy the Corpse Formation, surrounding the various positions. At that time, the opponent would find it not so easy to rely on the Flying Sword to escape.

Zhang Yan smiled and returned the gesture, saying: "Fellow Daoist, why have you stopped this poor Daoist?"

The old man dryly laughed, saying: "This poor Daoist is Duan Xiangzhou, an overseas Loose Cultivator. Just passing through here, I was stopped by fellow Daoist’s prohibition. Because this place is desolate and remote, with few traces of people, I was curious to see which fellow cultivator was discreetly hiding here..."

While speaking, he secretly kept one hand behind his back, made a gesture, but after waiting a while, there was no movement, feeling puzzled and slightly annoyed, he thought to himself: "Why hasn’t my junior brother taken action? Has he changed his mind again?"

He was unaware that the scholar, upon seeing him ascend to Heaven, was ready to use the sect’s Secret Technique but at that moment, the surrounding spiritual mechanism solidified, and the previously retreating Forbidden Array surged back, not only blocking but occupying a wider area than before, causing him to retreat in embarrassment until he finally stabilized.

This sudden change caught the scholar unprepared. After retreating to a distance, he looked inside again, and saw a misty scene where nothing could be seen clearly, evidently isolated by someone’s Mana from inside and out, causing his heart to skip a beat.

Zhang Yan actually only recalled the Banners and did not remove the Forbidden Array; he merely opened a portal at the location of the two, and Duan Xiangzhou was unaware that his calculation had long been detected, rushing directly inside.

Seeing his senior brother alone inside, the scholar was also worried, his expression changing several times. Finally, he gritted his teeth and took out a small black coffin from the Sleeve Bag, holding it in his palm, chanting spells under his breath. After a while, the coffin was lifted by a gray-black cloud mist up to the sky, transforming into three Zhang in size.

This object was once a heavy treasure of the Corpse Pride Sect’s Mountain Gate; it was originally a True Slaughter Device. If illuminated by the light emanating from the coffin, one would immediately become mentally disoriented, muddle-headed, and if without a Dharma technique to restrain it, one’s Divine Soul would be taken in about a dozen breaths, becoming a puppet.

Especially as the coffin also contained the "Five Yin Poisonous Phosphorus Fire," this fire was refined by the ancestor master of the Corpse Pride Sect from a Qi Acupoint of a millennial heavenly corpse, any Treasure Light prohibition stained by it would gradually erode the True Nature Spiritual Energy.

But because of its notorious reputation, when the Zhongtai Sect and the Fengxiang Sword Sect broke the Mountain Gate of the Corpse Pride Sect, they called the sect’s treasure to attack, only then they managed to destroy the True Spirit of this treasure. Although it later fell into Duan Xiangzhou’s branch, its power was not a tenth of its original, but even so, it was much more formidable than ordinary Mystical Artifacts, breaking this Forbidden Array should be easy.

The scholar activated the True Technique, shouted loudly, and moved the coffin lid. Suddenly, there was a muffled sound, as a mist-like grey dust flew out from within. Only upon closer inspection, it could be seen to be clusters of flame-like rice grains, appearing without light or color, cold, gray, and dim, filled with Death Qi.