"Will Qingxu really come?"
"The Celestial King was so confident in his words... he should come, right?"
"I think it's highly unlikely that he'll come. Even teaming up with that old Nether Abyss dog couldn't defeat the Celestial King, his best divine techniques were easily countered. Coming here would be a death sentence, wouldn't it?"
"Indeed, I also feel it's unlikely, but since the Celestial King said so, maybe he will actually take the risk and give it a try?"
Under the faint glow of the array, a dozen Golden Core Cultivators secretly exchanged thoughts, holding magical treasures in their mouths and secretly preparing divine techniques, ready to strike at any moment.
A little while ago:
After issuing the imperial decree, Murong Xiao ordered seven people to guard the seven main key nodes, while the rest had to rely on the concealed power of the array to ambush Elder Qingxu alongside him.
This set of fourth-grade arrays was designed with the special situation of the Seven Sects Alliance in mind, so having seven Golden Core Cultivators stationed was sufficient to exert seventy percent of its power, making it the best arrangement.
But the subsequent instructions from Murong Xiao left the many Golden Core Cultivators puzzled.
They already knew that this array couldn't prevent Elder Qingxu's shadow traversal or spatial jumps, but Elder Qingxu wouldn't come here just to die, would he?
Yet when questioned, Murong Xiao was not angered and instead explained his reasoning:
"Early on when we took control of the Southwest, I made it a point to understand this person's past thoroughly, reviewing all the files related to him, just in case."
"His usual methods are extremely low-key, aiming for stability, but at critical moments, he never lacks the courage and decisiveness to take risks."
"Back when he was just a small Foundation Establishment Cultivator, he dared to contend with several Golden Core Ancestors and even managed to seize the largest victory."
"Given his current cultivation and power, how could he possibly sit back and watch the opportunity slip away, resigning to admit his own defeat?"
Murong Xiao's resounding words at that time still echoed in the minds of the numerous Golden Core Cultivators:
"Therefore, I am eighty percent confident that he will certainly come to assassinate me!"
"His divine techniques are incredibly mysterious, and I do not dare to be confident in timely detecting his movements, so you must remain hidden in the dark to prevent him from daring to come out."
"For this reason, dividing seven Golden Core Cultivators to guard key nodes and fully operate the array is also a necessary move!"
A dozen hidden Golden Core Cultivators all focused intently on the shadow of Murong Xiao sitting cross-legged.
They all understood:
If Elder Qingxu indeed decided to come for the assassination, he would definitely emerge from the shadows to launch a fatal strike.
The only risk of this plan was if Elder Qingxu dared not come to assassinate Murong Xiao but instead attacked the seven Golden Core Cultivators guarding the nodes, then this baiting plan would have to be scrapped for another strategy.
However, Murong Xiao said this possibility was small because unless he could kill all seven Golden Core Cultivators, the impact on the overall situation would be limited and would instead put him back into danger.
Time flowed by slowly.
Murong Xiao maintained his cross-legged posture, showing no sign of impatience or slack despite the considerable wait.
Until a certain moment:
"Whoosh!"
The shadow behind Murong Xiao suddenly solidified, transforming into Zhang Yao's True Body Dharma Form!
At the instant Zhang Yao appeared, black, white, green, blue, and purple lights rose behind him, instantly merging into one with an overwhelming aura surging skyward!!
"He's really here!"
Murong Xiao was well prepared, turning abruptly, his body bursting with lights of various colors!
"Kill!!"
A dozen Golden Core Cultivators, shielded and concealed by the array power, were hardly impacted by the terrifying aura of the Five Elements Divine Wheel. They simultaneously unleashed the divine techniques and magical treasures they had long prepared!
The three parties acted almost simultaneously, but the results were worlds apart.
Zhang Yao had the advantage of a first strike in surprise and acted the fastest, but it still took a moment to mobilize the five great divine techniques and condense the Five Elements Divine Wheel.
By the time the Five Elements Divine Wheel emerged amidst infinite five-colored radiance, Murong Xiao also activated divine techniques, revealing his trump cards, with as many as seven lights radiating from his body!
The actions of a dozen Golden Core Cultivators were the slowest, only now did they collectively unleash their magical treasures and divine techniques. Obviously, they were a beat slower, but still posed a substantial threat as lethal strikes.
"So this is his trump card, the basis for breaking through the Magnetic Barrier? Its power is indeed extraordinarily terrifying..."
Murong Xiao's mind flickered, yet he showed no trace of fear or worry.
Among the seven lights emanating from his body, some were from his magical treasures, secret treasures, and divine techniques, but two were particularly strong, deep as ink, with an aura almost equal to, if not surpassing, the Five Elements Divine Wheel!
These two lights, of course, were his two Nascent Soul level secret treasures!
Murong Xiao's journey to the Golden Core limit was undoubtedly due to his extraordinary talent and many amazing encounters, but also because of his unusual background.
The Chentian Sect wasn't a small sect but a major sect with thousands of years of heritage in the Donglang Prefecture. Through ups and downs, it had once had Lord Nascent Soul anchored, dominating the region, leaving a few secret treasures, consumed over time, leaving only two.
These two secret treasures, one was for protection, and the other for attack.
Murong Xiao knew very well the value of risking all to catch prey. With such a major sect's bottom-line secret treasures, he used both at once without any illusions, determined to eliminate this unparalleled enemy!
"Boom!"
The Five Elements Divine Wheel transformed into a stream of five-colored meteor, striking with unbelievable speed under Zhang Yao's mental direction!
The five lights Murong Xiao utilized, no matter if magical treasures, divine techniques, or secret treasures, upon contact with the Five Elements Divine Wheel, shattered instantly like egg shells crushed under stone, without delaying it even for a moment.
"This..."
Even though he was mentally prepared, Murong Xiao still felt a jolt in his heart, a trace of wavering thoughts arising.
But when he saw the faint black light shield before him, and the black fist mark breaking through the surrounding array power to meet the five-colored meteor, his heart immediately settled.
He had already detected that the secret technique unleashed by Zhang Yao was still a line away from the threshold of Nascent Soul level in terms of upper power limit.
And he had two Nascent Soul level secret treasures at his disposal for attack and protection, how could he possibly fail?!
"Boom!"
The five-colored divine light radiated brightly, and the black fist mark couldn't withstand or resist even for a moment before being crushed and disintegrating into scattered five-colored remnants!
"Bang!"
The Five Elements Divine Wheel, transformed into flowing light, effortlessly tore through the faint black light shield, shimmering with five-colored remnants, and struck directly on Murong Xiao.
At that moment, Murong Xiao was already dazed, his mind blank, not even sensing pain.
Even though only a small portion of the terrifying power of the Five Elements Divine Wheel remained, it still instantly obliterated all his life force, including completely dissolving the second-grade Golden Core within his dantian.
"How could this be?!"
Until his final moment of life, Murong Xiao's mind was filled with shock and incredulity.
He witnessed the unbelievable scene — how could two dominant secret treasures, supposedly superior in power, one defending and one attacking, fail to block this secret technique from the opponent?!"
What was this logic? What was the reason?! Why on earth was it so?!
"Could it be that the secret treasures left by the ancestors were fake..."
In his dying moments, an absurd thought surfaced in Murong Xiao's mind.
And it was his last thought in this life.
Accompanied by the dazzling five-colored brilliance, his consciousness forever submerged into darkness.
"Bang!"
Murong Xiao's body turned to dust, further shattered by the residual power of the Five Elements Divine Wheel into particles too small for even divine thought to grasp, dispersing directly into the air.
A prominent genius of his generation, the 'Chenxing Celestial King' famed across the Celestial Continent, died so straightforwardly within the headquarters of the Seven Sects Alliance he personally established.
Killed by Zhang Yao!