Chapter 357

Chapter 357: Breaking the Formation, Black Qi Cocoon, Giant Hand

Lu Qing’s arrow was faster than all his previous magical arrows.

In an instant, it reached the disheveled figure.

The immense power contained within the arrow pierced the figure, who was in shock, and brought him back to his senses.

He didn’t even bother to consider how Lu Qing had revealed his origins in a single word.

His mind raced, and a black bone sword appeared before him. Simultaneously, the power of the formation behind him rapidly converged, meeting the arrow. A resounding boom

echoed .

Two forces, each exceeding the limits of the Innate Realm, collided, instantly blasting the air dozens of meters in a white mist.

The entire provincial capital’s gate shook.

Had it not been protected by the black formation’s light curtain, it would have collapsed.

“Something.”

After the white mist dissipated, Lu Qing looked at the unharmed disheveled figure with a hint of surprise.

In contrast, the disheveled figure, looking at the black bone sword before him, his face sullen.

The blood mist surrounding the bone sword had completely dissipated.

Furthermore, even the trace of his Heavenly Demonic Essence, previously nurtured and strengthened through blood sacrifice, had been largely consumed

. The disheveled figure, painstakingly cultivating and strengthening the Heavenly Demonic Essence for so long, now saw so much of it lost in a flash, was heartbreaking.

Even more shocking and infuriating was the power of Lu Qing’s arrow, which far exceeded his expectations.

It had only been so long, and yet Lu Qing had already reached this level of strength.

Even with the blessing of the formation and the Heavenly Demon Bone Sword in hand, a single arrow nearly overwhelmed him.

Add to that Lu Qing’s sudden revelation of his identity and origins.

For a moment, the disheveled figure’s fear of Lu Qing reached its peak.

He knew that this young man, blessed by heaven’s fortune, had reached a power unfathomable.

Even with the support of the formation, he would be unable to defeat him unless Lu Qing actively entered the formation.

“Heavenly Demon Bone Sword?”

At this moment, Lu Qing used his supernatural powers to investigate the origins of the black bone sword.

At the same time, he realized that the enemy’s purpose in setting up this magic array was to sacrifice the blood of tens of thousands of the people of the provincial capital to the bone sword.

He would cultivate and strengthen the demonic essence within the bone sword, then devour it himself to forge a demonic body.

“So the so-called core of the formation mentioned in the previous message is this bone sword.”

Lu Qing suddenly understood the disheveled figure’s intentions.

He acted decisively, drawing another magic arrow. After a moment’s deliberation, a stream of light flew towards the city gate.

However, the disheveled figure was prepared this time. Knowing the power of Lu Qing’s bow and arrow, there was no way they would engage him head-on.

They immediately dodged the magic arrow’s attack, avoiding contact.

However, when Lu Qing saw the disheveled figure avoid the magic arrow, his face showed no disappointment, but rather a hint of sarcasm.

The next moment, the power of his mind attached to the magic arrow was activated, and the arrow, which had been shot in the air, suddenly deflected in mid-air, its tip pointing downward, falling towards the city.

Boom!

A muffled sound echoed from the city, and the disheveled figure’s expression suddenly changed.

He sensed that Lu Qing had destroyed another node in the city’s formation.

“Demon brat, do you think I can’t do anything to you just because you’re hiding in the formation?

Let’s see how many nodes you can destroy!”

Lu Qing said, and with a slight movement of his hand, three magic arrows appeared. He bent his bow and drew his bow, and three streams of light shot straight into the sky.

He was once again unleashing the [Heavenly Falling] arrow technique, aiming to destroy another node in the city’s formation.

“Damn it!”

The disheveled figure’s expression darkened at the sight.

He knew he was caught in a dilemma.

Lu Qing’s arrows were incredibly powerful, and the defensive power of the formation’s light curtain alone was simply too great to resist.

He could only intercept them with the black bone sword.

Activating the black bone sword would inevitably deplete the Heavenly Demon Essence he had painstakingly cultivated.

But if he didn’t stop them, the arrows would soar into the city, destroying the nodes in the formation, something he couldn’t tolerate either.

The formation’s nodes were crucial to the operation of the Ten Directions Blood-Dissolving Soul-Refining Formation. Once more than half of the nodes were destroyed, the formation would crumble. Without the formation’s power, he would be no match for Lu Qing.

“Boy, do you have to be so aggressive?”

the disheveled figure said, glaring at Lu Qing.

This time, Lu Qing remained silent, simply drawing three more magic arrows and nocking them onto his bow.

“Alright, boy, you forced me to do this!”

Seeing this, the disheveled figure knew it was impossible to play along with Lu Qing.

His eyes were cold, and suddenly, he formed a magic spell with his hands. His mind surged.

The black formation curtain of light that enveloped the provincial capital suddenly shifted.

The black snakes that had been wreaking havoc in the city, seeking to absorb the vital essence of the citizens, abandoned their targets and flew towards the black formation curtain in the sky, merging into it.

Simultaneously, the black formation curtain rapidly shrank, converging towards the black bone sword in front of the disheveled figure.

Everything happened incredibly quickly.

In just a dozen breaths, the massive black light curtain of the formation that had enveloped the provincial capital, making it unusually dark, vanished, completely absorbed into the black bone sword.

Wei Xinghe and the others, who had been clearing out the black energy snakes, were stunned when they saw the brilliant sunset glow in the sky.

“What happened? Why did that black light curtain disappear?”

While the Xiantian Realm cultivators were still bewildered, only Wei Xinghe suddenly realized what had happened.

He exclaimed joyfully, “It’s that master! He’s successfully broken the formation! Let’s get out of the city!”

Before he’d finished speaking, he had already launched himself out of the city.

The remaining Xiantian Realm cultivators exchanged glances before following Wei Xinghe towards the city gate.

“Boy, you’ve ruined my plans so many times. This time, I’ll make you pay!” As they

emerged from the city gate, a black bone sword hovered before a disheveled figure, emitting a terrifying aura.

Having absorbed the entire formation’s light curtain, it seemed to be about to undergo some terrifying transformation.

Seeing this, Lu Qing immediately shot an arrow.

He hadn’t stopped the disheveled figure because he’d sensed they were actively withdrawing their magic.

This is a good thing for the people in the city, and it can reduce a lot of casualties, so he chose to wait and see.

Now that the magic array has been withdrawn, and the black bone sword is obviously not right, Lu Qing will certainly not be polite anymore.

The magic arrow turned into a stream of light, and flew towards the black bone sword at a high speed. In the blink of an eye, it was about to be nailed on the bone sword.

The next moment, a hand grasped the black bone sword and swung it lightly. After a loud bang, the magic arrow shot by Lu Qing was knocked out.

“Boy, you forced me to do this. I will extract your soul and burn it with magic fire, so that you can neither live nor die, and live in torture forever!”

The figure with disheveled hair held the black bone sword, his face full of ferociousness.

Just as Lu Qing’s heart trembled, anticipating a powerful attack, he was on guard.

He was stunned to see the disheveled figure suddenly open its mouth and swallow the black bone sword whole!

Immediately afterwards, a powerful aura erupted from the disheveled figure, emanating countless black energies, making it appear like a demonic deity.

The black energy rapidly swirled, eventually transforming into a black cocoon over ten meters tall, hovering above the city gate.

“What aura!”

Wei Xinghe and the others, rushing toward the city gate, suddenly sensed this aura. Their hearts pounded violently, and they stared ahead in uncertainty.

They all sensed an extremely terrifying aura brewing beyond the city gate.

It was so sinister that the mere presence of it filled them with dread and a trembling of the heart.

“Young Master, be careful! He seems to be forcing a breakthrough and entering the Foundation Establishment Stage!”

“Yan” echoed in Lu Qing’s mind.

It, too, had been watching this battle.

Seeing the demon cultivator’s transformation, he immediately warned him.

“I know,” Lu Qing nodded.

In truth, he had already discerned what the other party was planning.

Devour the Heavenly Demon Bone Sword and forge a demonic body.

This had been the purpose of the disheveled figure’s siege of the provincial capital.

He hadn’t expected that, despite his intervention, the other party would still unleash this secret technique.

“But, did you ask me before you wanted to condense your demonic body?”

Lu Qing pulled a magic arrow from his Qiankun Qi bag and placed it on his bow.

After gathering spiritual energy,

he fired it at the black energy cocoon. The arrow shot like a rainbow piercing the sun, reaching the cocoon in a split second

. As if sensing the incoming attack, the cocoon suddenly sprouted countless black tentacles, wrapping around the arrow and blocking it.

Despite Lu Qing’s powerful arrow, the black tentacles were equally resilient. Their

sheer number ultimately stopped Lu Qing’s arrow.

“Hmm?”

Seeing the arrow’s ineffectiveness, Lu Qing’s expression finally grew more serious.

The arrow just now was already the most powerful he could fire.

It wasn’t that he lacked strength, but rather that the spiritual energy a magic arrow could hold was limited, and it could only muster this much might.

After all, the magic arrows in the Qiankun Yiqi Bag were merely forged from his thousand-refined precious steel, and their power was limited.

“If I had known, I would have forged a few magic arrows made from meteorite iron to see if you could withstand them.”

Lu Qing placed the precious bow into the Qiankun Yiqi Bag, and a sword appeared in his hand.

The sword was a pure white, its edge radiating an invisible edge that sliced through the air.

It was the sword he had reforged in the Lihuo Cauldron, crafted entirely from meteorite iron.

“Banfang, I haven’t used you since you were reforged.

Today, I will help you slay demons!”

Lu Qing stroked the sword he had named “Banfang.”

With a long roar, a yellow light flashed around Lu Qing, and the next moment, he stomped his foot, cracking the ground for dozens of meters.

After bursting out layers of white mist, he leaped high as if teleporting, appearing atop the city gate, before the black cocoon.

Facing the black tentacles that entwined him like a dragnet, he raised his sword and, like thunder, slashed down.

With this strike, a terrifying blade of energy, tens of meters long, materialized from thin air and slashed towards the black cocoon.

The vast black tentacles were rendered completely useless by this terrifying blade energy.

Before it even reached them, they were shattered into wisps of black mist.

Without the obstruction of the black tentacles, the blade energy effortlessly struck the black cocoon, visible to Wei Xinghe and the others who had just arrived at the city gate.

Boom!

The blade energy collided with the black cocoon, and under the immense power of the collision, the majestic provincial gate, tens of meters high, could no longer hold its ground and exploded.

Countless bricks and stones flew, raising clouds of dust.

Fortunately, no one was lingering near the city gate.

Otherwise, this collision alone would have resulted in countless casualties.

Midair, Lu Qing, a wisp of light wind wrapped around him, stood quietly in the air, observing the smoke and dust below.

He could sense that his blade hadn’t slashed the figure trapped in the black aura cocoon.

Within the smoke and dust, a powerful aura was still brewing.

Sure enough, before the dust had cleared, a sudden whirlwind arose.

A massive black shadow suddenly emerged from the smoke and dust, lunging towards Lu Qing.   Lu

Qing, alarmed, saw the shadow’s form, and his pupils constricted.

Without a second thought, he summoned his mind, causing the light wind around him to jolt, allowing him to deftly avoid the blow.   A sudden gust of wind blew past Lu Qing’s body.   Wei Xinghe and the others, not far away, witnessed a scene they would never forget.   They saw a massive black hand emerge from the smoke and dust, striking Lu Qing in midair.   The huge black palm missed the first strike, then turned and slapped Lu Qing again.   The palm wind was like a roaring gale, blowing Lu Qing in mid-air and making him a little unstable.

The massive black hand narrowly missed striking him, sending Wei Xinghe and the others into a state of panic.

Fortunately, Lu Qing’s talisman technique was exceptional, and he managed to steady himself in the nick of time, dodging the attack.

Simultaneously, he summoned a gust of wind within him, rapidly descending to the ground.

His cultivation level was still only at the Qi Refining stage, and his ability to remain airborne depended on the power of his talismans, hindering his ability to unleash his true strength.

Power emanated from the ground, and only by landing could he effectively fight.

However, just as Lu Qing dodged the massive black hand and was about to land,

another massive black hand emerged from the lingering smoke and dust, joining another above and below, closing in on Lu Qing in mid-air.

This sudden attack, coupled with the interfering wind, temporarily limited Lu Qing’s ability to summon the gust of wind.

Ultimately, Lu Qing was unable to dodge, and was caught between the massive black hands, slamming down hard!

“Young Master Lu!”

Wei Xinghe, standing not far away, saw this scene and cried out in horror.

It was this blow that caused a strong wind, which gradually blew away the huge cloud of dust that filled the city gate, revealing the true face of the huge shadow within.

When they saw what it was, everyone’s eyes widened and they trembled all over.

(End of this chapter)