Chapter 662: Guest Star Should Illuminate the Wen Shu North

The Azure Iron Armor was collapsing.

Countless wounds, torn and enlarged by the intense friction with the air, peeled away piece by piece, accompanied by a teeth-grinding metallic screech.

Myriad tiny spatial fragments, like hailstones, struck the mechanized armor, leaving dense pockmarks and scratches. The clanging sounds concealed deadly intent.

When larger spatial fragments struck or grazed Ning Zhuo, his body was severely jolted, his internal organs felt churned, and blood continuously seeped from the corners of his mouth and the cracks in his damaged armor, staining Qing Chi's collar crimson.

This was despite his internal organs having been reformed by the Spirit God Art, giving him extraordinary endurance. Otherwise, such extreme speed and maneuvers would have long since caused massive internal bleeding.

The spatial storm, like a primordial beast with an open maw, pursued Ning Zhuo relentlessly, its immense power capable of crushing mountains and twisting steel, greedily devouring every inch of remaining space.

It only ceased once they reached the very edge of the earth's turbid qi.

The Path of Silence had completely vanished.

The spatial storm seemed to begin devouring itself, completely erasing all turbulence within a few breaths, transforming into a deep, silent void.

Subsequently, this void was eroded and filled by an enormous volume of turbid qi from the earth's core, eventually becoming entirely submerged.

This area had once again become a formidable barrier of earth qi, but this time, Ning Zhuo had no second candle body to create another Path of Silence.

In fact, the light goose from the Primeval Scattering Ruler had also faded away after the first creation of the passage.

It had reverted to its original form as a ruler.

Ning Zhuo did not know the White Paper City Lord's spells and could not conjure the light goose on his own.

Even using this powerful artifact was arduous for him. After all, it was a Dharma Treasure, and Ning Zhuo's own spiritual power quality was too low, only at the Foundation Establishment level.

Ning Zhuo landed, holding Qing Chi.

The Azure Iron Armor emitted a piercing wail, then its backplate shattered and peeled away over a large area, and the disintegration quickly spread throughout its entire frame.

This brand-new mechanized armor was completely ruined after such a short period of use!

This showed just how thrilling and dangerous this life-or-death rescue mission had been.

Now, Ning Zhuo could still clearly feel the biting cold, soul-freezing touch of the chaotic void currents!

His heart pounded wildly, and his face was grim.

In this decisive battle, he had been completely pushed onto the defensive and was on the verge of defeat.

What brought this about was a single decision by the Netherworld Lord himself. The shadow of the Nether Dragon Scissors, aimed precisely at the Path of Silence, was incredibly sharp and accurate, achieving a devastating, almost fatal blow against Ning Zhuo and Luo Si's side!

Ning Zhuo's expression was extremely grave.

Holding Qing Chi, he turned to gaze back at the turbid qi barrier, as imposing as a mountain cliff, and silently gritted his teeth.

The situation was dire.

Now, he and the Qingjiao Army were on one side, and Luo Si was on the other.

The turbid qi barrier blocked the transfer of military power. Without military support, how long could Luo Si hold out?

"His previous hesitation was unwarranted and unwise!"

Ning Zhuo sighed inwardly, "I wonder if the spiritual message I sent to Luo Si during that perilous escape reached him?"

He needed Luo Si to continue holding on to buy time.

Time was critical!

He desperately needed time.

"Lord Qingyan!!!" A chorus of wails erupted from the Qingjiao Army.

"Qing Chi!!!" Other ghost cultivators anxiously flew towards Ning Zhuo.

Jiaomasheng's father also flew above the ritual army camp, repeatedly shouting to try and steady the agitated troops.

Ning Zhuo narrowed his eyes, immediately realizing that the Qingjiao Army was also extremely unstable, on the verge of collapse!

Even though this army was newly formed, it could provide crucial military support. Without this augmentation, Ning Zhuo, acting alone, would essentially have no right to be at the table for this decisive battle.

He had to stabilize the Qingjiao Army!

The Qingjiao Army was divided into two main parts: one part was the Jiao family, which was very stable. But the other part was the Qing family of ghost cultivators; with Qingyan dead and Qing Chi unconscious, these cultivators were disoriented, extremely flustered, and their morale had plummeted to rock bottom, pushing them to the brink of collapse.

The divine ability: A Life Hanging by a Thread!

At this critical moment, Ning Zhuo directly cast the divine ability upon Qing Chi in his arms.

He quickly cast spells, applying detection and healing methods alternately on Qing Chi.

"Qing Chi, wake up, quickly, wake up."

Qing Chi, being a ghost cultivator, had been rescued at great personal risk by Ning Zhuo, Luo Si, and Qingyan, and surprisingly, her injuries were not severe, healing quickly.

With the aid of the divine ability, she opened her eyes.

After a brief moment of confusion, her eyes reddened and quickly welled up with tears.

Ning Zhuo, however, gently set her upright on the ground, helping her stand, and grasped her shoulders with both hands: "Qing Chi, this is not the time for sadness. Do you want revenge?!"

Ning Zhuo's stern question made Qing Chi pause.

Ning Zhuo then demanded, "Your father is dead, and the culprit is the Netherworld Lord. He is the enemy who killed your father; do you want revenge?!"

The sorrow on Qing Chi's face was quickly replaced by anger and hatred.

Azure flames flickered deep within her pupils, and she gnashed her teeth, replying, "Yes! I must have revenge!!"

Ning Zhuo took a deep breath, looking directly into her eyes: "Now, the perfect opportunity for revenge is at hand."

"You need to compose yourself, then lead the Qingjiao Army to continue stationing. I need you to help me, to provide military power."

"The more military power, the better!"

"Can you do this, Qingqing!"

"Only by working together can we thwart the Netherworld Lord's century-long scheme, restore peace and tranquility to White Paper Immortal City, ensure your father's sacrifice was not in vain, and bring justice to all the innocent lives sacrificed in the blood ritual!"

Qing Chi took a deep breath and nodded fiercely: "Xiaoma, I'll listen to you! We'll get revenge together!!!"

As she spoke, hot tears streamed from her eyes.

Ning Zhuo licked his dry lips; he found it difficult to meet Qing Chi's clear, fervent gaze.

He turned his gaze to the sky: "I've cast a spell on you that will allow you to receive my spiritual messages in time, and even benefit from my spell enhancements."

He provided a cover for the divine ability 'A Life Hanging by a Thread'.

"Trust me!"

"We haven't lost yet."

"Next, as long as I find a flaw in this formation, I can influence the battle again and aid Luo Si!"

Netherworld Immortal City.

City Lord's Mansion.

"Heh, I'm in again." Zeng Jide, with Sun Lingtong, transformed into a puddle of shadow, flowing like water through the cracks, sneaking into the City Lord's Mansion once more.

Earlier, he had almost left the City Lord's Mansion far behind.

But at the last moment, Sun Lingtong's heartfelt words touched him, making him suddenly realize: he himself felt it was strange; why had he obtained the Netherworld Vortex Eye so easily?

It was clear that the Netherworld Lord had deliberately set up this trap, specifically arranged for Zeng Jide to steal!

"The Netherworld Lord possesses the innate talent of 'Flowing Drowning, No Return,' which allows him to extract others' cultivation memories from the River of Oblivion."

"Thus, even as a ghost cultivator, he is proficient in Confucian cultivation and, even more so, in formations. These latter two points are entirely evident from his grand maneuver this time."

"Yet, despite possessing such profound attainments in formation arts, he did not set up additional formations for the Netherworld Vortex Eye."

"This arrangement was clearly meant for me to steal, to get rid of me with it."

"Then, fearing I would continue stealing here and cause worse consequences, he activated a setup, launching golden tokens imbued with national power, forcing me to flee like a wolf and a fox."

"Very well—"

Zeng Jide secretly gritted his teeth.

The Netherworld Lord's perfunctory gesture, much like alms given to a beggar, greatly offended the pride of a master thief.

Especially since Zeng Jide had a junior disciple from his sect by his side.

Moreover, this junior was highly regarded and admired by Zeng Jide, who believed he had a promising future.

When this junior grew up and recalled today, he would surely laugh: 'Senior Zeng Jide was nothing special, easily dismissed by the Netherworld Lord.'

Where would Zeng Jide put his old face then?

Revenge, he must retaliate fiercely!

Therefore, Zeng Jide, with Sun Lingtong, turned around and returned to the City Lord's Mansion.

"I will give the Netherworld Lord a lesson he'll never forget!"

This time, Zeng Jide directly led Sun Lingtong to the most central part of the City Lord's Mansion.

As for the Painted Skin Rakshasa, Zeng Jide still had no intention of helping.

He still only wanted to teach the Netherworld Lord a lesson, not to offend him to the point of no return.

"? The defenses here are loose on the outside but tight on the inside, with a very grand formation. Yet it's completely out of place with the surrounding defensive layout, very strange, very strange."

Zeng Jide quickly noticed the anomaly and was drawn to it.

The old man and the young one penetrated the formation space, arriving at the core area, where they discovered a giant stone.

The stone was over ten zhang thick and nearly a hundred chi long, resembling the fossilized spine of some creature.

The surface of the fossilized spine was covered with a large amount of mud, lava, plant roots, and numerous spiraling, twisted holes.

The giant stone was deeply rooted in the earth, continuously drawing in the earth's core qi on a terrifying scale.

"What is this?" Sun Lingtong asked Zeng Jide via spiritual message.

Zeng Jide: "This must be an Earth-element treasure, using a formation to disperse its power outwards. Strange!"

"Such a grand arrangement must have a significant purpose."

At that moment, Sun Lingtong had a sudden flash of insight and almost clapped his hands: "This is great! Senior, since the Netherworld Lord bullies us so much, let's steal it and teach him a profound lesson!"

Zeng Jide, however, fell into hesitation: "This—won't this offend the Netherworld Lord a bit too much?"

He couldn't immediately discern the origin or true nature of the formation surrounding the giant stone.

Black Cloud Space.

Rumble—

After a series of explosions, Ning Zhuo, now wearing his third set of Azure Iron Armor, squeezed into a formation space as dark as ink.

All around was absolute silence and suffocating darkness.

"The spatial storm almost killed me, but it also created numerous flaws, allowing me to easily break in."

"Of course, there are two other reasons."

"Firstly, the turbid qi barrier from the earth's core cuts across the grand formation, obstructing its operation. Secondly, the Imperial Army was completely annihilated, leaving no one to manage the grand formation."

The intermittent sharp pains throughout his body, along with a bone-deep weariness, reminded Ning Zhuo of his recent perilous escape.

There was no time for Ning Zhuo to treat himself calmly.

He could only fight for every second, despite his injuries!

Panic and despair were fiercely suppressed deep within his heart; Ning Zhuo tried his best to remain calm and focused.

"Ghost tide surges, White Paper in peril; a lone swan bearing a candle rends the celestial canopy. The guest star should illuminate the Pivotal North, and as myriad lights blaze, the tribulation will undo itself."

"I managed to blast my way into the formation's inner space by chance, so I should follow the guidance of 'the guest star should illuminate the Pivotal North' to reach the crucial location and cause destruction!"

This was the method he had conceived to break the deadlock while still on the sacrificial altar battlefield.

Now, forced by the circumstances, he had no choice but to implement this plan.

Ning Zhuo's spiritual sense struggled to spread out in the viscous darkness.

Dense black clouds were everywhere, severely impeding the effectiveness of Ning Zhuo's spiritual sense.

He immediately threw out countless mechanical mirrors.

His spiritual sense refracted between the mirrors, rapidly expanding the detection range.

But it was still black clouds, rolling black clouds.

"Time to use it."

Ning Zhuo took out a small storage pouch.

The white storage pouch was semi-transparent, containing a ball of literary qi, which emitted a snowy light that shone outwards through the pouch.

Literary Light Reflecting Snow Pouch!

This was a gift from Wen Ruanyu; the pouch contained much of his literary qi.

'Talent admires and competes with talent—literary qi attracts one another—' Ning Zhuo murmured to himself, carefully activating the Literary Light Reflecting Snow Pouch.

The snowy light suddenly flared, initially a spherical glow that pierced the darkness, enveloping Ning Zhuo.

Immediately, the pouch itself seemed to be pulled by an invisible force, slightly deforming. As for the spherical snowy light, its direction became extremely clear; it transformed into a cone, its tip stretching towards a certain direction.

Ning Zhuo no longer hesitated, immediately accelerating in the direction indicated by the Literary Light Reflecting Snow Pouch.

The closer he got to the target, the more concentrated and bright the snowy light on the pouch became, as if drawn by a magnet. Simultaneously, the cone-shaped snowy light body became less sharp, its tip blunter, transforming into an ellipse.

When Ning Zhuo truly arrived, the elliptical light body had almost reverted to a spherical shape, its glow stable and pure.

Ning Zhuo observed left and right, his spiritual sense enveloping the area, but found no anomalies.

"The energy flow here is unusually smooth. This must be a node where the main lines of the grand formation converge and pass through, yet it's cleverly hidden with no leakage whatsoever. Without the guidance of literary qi, it would be impossible to detect!"

He continuously cast detection spells, and only after a moment did his spirits lift.

"This must be a hub!"

"But I cannot be certain it's my target—"

Ning Zhuo fell into hesitation once more.

Formations cannot be tampered with casually; without finding the true target, one small move could affect the whole. It's very possible that if he tampered with this spot, other hubs would be completely altered.

After a few breaths of thought, Ning Zhuo decided to mark this spot first, and then search the surrounding area.

Sacrificial Altar Battlefield.

Puff—!

Luo Si was sent flying backward like a tattered sack, spewing blood all the way.

Severely wounded!

The Earth Fiend Turbid God pursued relentlessly, striking with a direct punch. Luo Si narrowly dodged at the last possible moment.

The Earth Fiend Turbid God then drew upon the earth's turbid qi, sweeping it down. Luo Si took out a talisman, gaining astonishing speed, and evaded once more.

He had no military power augmentation; one of his two trump card artifacts was destroyed, and the other was stuck to the Earth Fiend Turbid God, firmly absorbed by him.

The moment of his demise was imminent.

The Netherworld Lord, hidden in the tributary, no longer attacked, focusing all his efforts on eroding the ice coffin to retrieve the Nether Dragon Scissors.

The Earth Fiend Turbid God burst into laughter: "Luo Si, you traitor! What madness possessed you to defect to White Paper Immortal City?"

"Look at you now! The 'Young Master' you sided with has abandoned you, running away with his beloved!"

"You'd ally with someone like that?"

"How could Graybone Old Man deceive you to such an extent?!"

Luo Si remained silent, fleeing frantically under the Earth Fiend Turbid God's continuous assaults.

The Earth Fiend Turbid God lost his last shred of patience and attacked with a sinister grin: "You die first, and Graybone Old Man is doomed too!"

Luo Si was restrained by the turbid qi, watching helplessly as the fatal fist was about to smash his skull.

At this critical juncture, the Earth Fiend Turbid God suddenly deflated, his fist affected, veering off course to strike Luo Si's shoulder.

Luo Si suffered further injuries but ultimately survived.

The Earth Fiend Turbid God, a mix of shock and fury, swung another punch.

He deflated again, his divine body shrinking sharply like a punctured balloon.

"What's going on?!"

Netherworld Lord: ?!!!