Nether Abyss Ancestor hesitated for a moment, then immediately agreed:
"Alright! Let's go with your plan."
He noticed that as Zhang Yao spoke, his aura was surprisingly restoring quite rapidly.
Obviously, Zhang Yao had some kind of divine technique or secret skill for rapid healing, but he didn't inquire further, simply setting Zhang Yao down.
"Phew…"
Zhang Yao sat cross-legged on the ground and took several deep breaths, after which his complexion regained its rosiness, and his aura settled down as well.
With the strength of his true body dharma form today, the Essence Qi within him was vast as an abyss. Although not inexhaustible or infinite, it wasn't too far from it.
The 'Essence Qi Transformation', once only somewhat effective, now truly rivaled divine level Immortal Body capabilities. Although it couldn't regenerate from a single drop of blood, surviving decapitation wasn't an issue.
"Good heavens, who would have thought you were hiding that?"
Nether Abyss Ancestor marveled beside him.
"The injuries to the dharma body can heal, but the loss of seventy percent of my magical power is hard to replenish on my own."
Zhang Yao shook his head, retrieved a translucent purple Spirit Pill from his storage bag, swallowed it without hesitation, and immediately began refining the pill's power.
On his journey, he had killed countless Golden Core cultivators, plundering numerous treasures. This kind of third-grade Spirit Pill, which could rapidly restore Golden Core magical power within a short time, wasn't the only one he had.
However, when breaking through the Magnetic Barrier, the situation was not urgent, allowing the enemy time to gather their forces. Therefore, he slowly meditated, practicing Qi Refining to gradually restore magical power.
"Buzz…"
As the Spirit Pill's power continued to be refined, Zhang Yao's magical power mechanism steadily rose.
In just two quarter-hours, Zhang Yao's magical power was back at its tenfold peak. He opened his eyes, now vibrant with energy.
"Wait a moment."
Zhang Yao stood up and said:
"I'll go inside first, find an opportunity to destroy the array from the inside, then guide you in!"
"You just wait at the array's opening; maybe you can trap them like turtles in a jar, cutting off their escape routes!"
"Alright!"
Nether Abyss Ancestor nodded slightly, a hint of excitement and cruelty flashing in his eyes.
Quickly:
The two arrived closely adjacent to the Seven Sects Alliance Headquarters. The array was fully activated, transforming into a light screen that enveloped all around, making the interior scene unclear.
Fortunately, Zhang Yao's divine techniques didn't require locking onto any sight or divine thought to be executed.
"Let me see…"
Zhang Yao squinted his eyes and operated the magic skill of the 'Infinite Shadow Walking Technique', his body seemingly covered by an invisible veil, beginning to sense the shadows suitable for transit.
This sensing did not rely on any ordinary senses; it was inherently mysterious and unpredictable.
To describe it, it was as if through a nonexistent organ, one could directly perceive shadows' position, distance, size, and shape within a certain range.
"Huh?"
An odd expression suddenly appeared on Zhang Yao's face.
"What's wrong with these people's brains?!"
In his original expectation, after Chenxing Celestial King Murong Xiao's death, these Golden Core cultivators might scatter in all directions, taking core disciples and followers to flee Da Mo.
In which case, future tracking by him and Nether Abyss Ancestor would be troublesome, as they were only two people, unable to be in multiple places at once. So their plan was to strike quickly and finish the job.
However, his expectations were overturned; these people didn't run.
He initially thought they might have some hidden card up their sleeve, raising his vigilance and a bit of fear. But he never anticipated such a result—
Inside the Seven Sects Alliance Headquarters, places available for his transit were everywhere.
Specifically, everywhere covered by the array was one gigantic shadow, and within the detectable range, he could enter and traverse anywhere at will.
"Have these people truly lost their minds?!"
"Or have they fallen into some cognitive trap, fooling themselves?"
Upon pondering the situation briefly, Zhang Yao immediately guessed their thoughts.
Their idea was probably based on the premise that only with light can shadows exist, the logic of opposing light and shadow. Hence, they thought isolating all light sources to create a shadow-less darkness was the solution.
This approach was not entirely wrong, but the flaw was—they underestimated Zhang Yao's divine techniques!
The Infinite Shadow Walking Technique is based on earth attributes, separating from the five elements of darkness. Although capable of 'shadow walking,' its essence transcends light-shadow opposition, reaching a higher-level light-dark opposition.
For instance:
If opposing light and shadows, putting an iron pot on the ground to create absolute darkness could restrain; but with a higher-level light-dark opposition, even if the external world is brightly lit, the dark area under the pot is still "shadow" to some extent, a non-material projection of the pot itself.
The current array at the Seven Sects Alliance Headquarters is like a massive iron pot covering the entire headquarters.
Although the fourth-grade array is powerful, without leveraging a natural Spatial Secret Realm, it can't truly partition space independently.
Their actions effectively made the area under the array's cover Zhang Yao's playground, voluntarily bringing themselves to the Ghost Gate.
"In their panic, perhaps a big brains fell into a cognitive trap and suggested a seemingly feasible method."
"Then, they actually adopted it and put it into action."
"They wouldn't think this would completely sever my shadow transit ability, hoping to survive until reinforcements, right?"
Zhang Yao chuckled and shook his head:
"This saves me the trouble anyway."
He took a step forward, his form instantly distorting, dissolving into a shadow, disappearing thereafter.
Inside the Seven Sects Alliance Headquarters.
Zhang Yao maintained his shadow form, roaming within the entire Seven Sects Alliance, quickly completing a round of investigation.
The concealment ability of the Infinite Shadow Walking Technique is among the rarest in the world. Even Chenxing Celestial King Murong Xiao failed to detect Zhang Yao's presence during his lifetime, let alone the remaining people.
At this moment:
Inside the Seven Sects Alliance Headquarters, it was completely dark. Numerous Foundation Establishment Cultivators and Qi Refining Practitioners had been given a death order to eliminate all light sources.
The Divine Thought of many Golden Core Cultivators constantly monitored these people, ready to kill without a hint of mercy if they showed any signs of taking out items or casting spells.
Apart from the seven Golden Core Cultivators seated at the hubs maintaining the array, the rest gathered together.
Although it was clear that the fearsome scourge could no longer traverse directly into the array with his divine techniques, this was slightly comforting.
"Damn Qingxu scum..."
Murong Hai's eyes were bloodshot, filled with bloodstains, looking as if he wanted to devour people, fierce and terrifying.
The aura on him had stabilized, clearly due to the effect of swallowing a Healing Spirit Pill, but his killing intent was almost unrestrained, causing the surrounding Golden Core Cultivators to keep a slight distance from him.
"You'll see!"
In Murong Hai's mind, his murderous intentions surged uncontrollably:
"You've killed my father; I'll annihilate your entire family and spare no one related to you!"
"When those four great Golden Core Limit Powerhouses arrive, I'll..."
Just as his thoughts were turning halfway:
A palm intertwined with azure-purple electric light suddenly emerged from the darkness, striking the back of his head!
"Boom!"
This time, no Secret Treasures or Magic Robes could help him. His head was shattered by the palm, with blood, flesh, and marrow turning into powder!
"What?"
In the sudden upheaval, the nearby Golden Core Cultivators hadn't reacted yet when their chest took a punch!
Under this punch, the power of the Wind and Thunder Two Great Divine Techniques erupted, creating a bowl-sized hole in his chest, turning his internal organs and Golden Core into charcoal, extinguishing his aura instantly and causing him to fall lifelessly.
If they used Magical Treasures and divine techniques remotely, these Golden Core Cultivators could tangle with him a bit, but in close combat, their Dharma Bodies were as fragile as strawmen.
"Die!"
Zhang Yao exhaled, his body transforming into a form of formless wind and thunder. Intense azure-purple brilliance surged as he charged into the group of Golden Core Cultivators like a tiger into a flock of sheep!
With his current strength, dealing with this group of cultivators, who are mostly at the Early Stage and Middle Stage of Golden Core, is like a tiger slaughtering lambs, as long as he doesn't fall into a trap or get surrounded!
"No!!"
"It's Qingxu! Qingxu is here to kill!"
"Ah..."
For a moment, screams of panic filled the air, and the bloodshed in the darkness amplified everyone's fear to the extreme.
How fast and ruthless were Zhang Yao's actions? In just one breath's time, he killed seven or eight people, slaughtering them like chickens and dogs, savagely and brutally!
Blame it on these Golden Core Cultivators for gathering too close, too close!!
Witnessing Chenxing Celestial King's death with their own eyes left them in such a lack of security that they stayed very close to each other, which made it extremely difficult to use their divine techniques and Magical Treasures, giving Zhang Yao the opportunity for a ruthless massacre!
"Go! Hurry up!!"
In an instant, boundless light poured down, sweeping away all darkness.
The headquarters array was directly opened from the inside, the light unfolding like lotus petals. The Golden Core Cultivators guarding the seven critical nodes had already fled, using Escape Light to rush madly towards the sky, fleeing for their lives.
This exit was initially meant to discharge the Black Tide and make way for it, but now it became the only path of survival for the despairing Golden Core Cultivators of the Seven Sects Alliance, an irony indeed.
"Escape! Hurry and escape!"
The remaining Golden Core Cultivators scattered immediately, desperately trying to escape from the place.
After the sudden assault and massacre just now, Murong Hai and Patriarch Xu of the Changluo Clan, two Late Stage Golden Core Cultivators, were killed. The remaining ones wouldn't pose a threat!
Continuing to stay would only mean certain slaughter, the disparity in strength an unalterable despair!
A big calamity is coming, and everyone must flee for themselves!!
"Run?!"
A cold glint flashed in Zhang Yao's eyes, as both his Magical Power and Divine Thought quaked, and five rays of light rose behind him!
"Boom!"
In an instant, the Five-Colored Divine Wheel turned into a five-colored line, streaking across the sky with incredible speed, flashing like it appeared out of thin air, leaving behind only afterimages that even Divine Thought could hardly catch!
"Puff!" "Puff!" "Puff!"...
In less than one-fifth of a second, the five-colored line darted back and forth, flickering seven times in total!
Every Golden Core Cultivator struck by the Five-Colored Divine Wheel, including the last Late Stage Golden Core Powerhouse, was without exception pulverized into dust, without even a scream.
A full eight Golden Core Cultivators died under this strike from the Five Elements Divine Wheel!
"Huff..."
Zhang Yao breathed heavily, visible fatigue showed in his expression, and his Magical Power Mechanism plummeted.
"It's not over yet!"
He lifted his head, seeing a dense black mist forming into clouds, trapping several violently flickering light masses tightly, from which the joyous laughter of the Nether Abyss Ancestor faintly emanated.
Just as the array's exit opened, the seven Golden Core Cultivators who fled immediately were caught by the waiting Nether Abyss Ancestor!
Those dispatched to guard the array were originally at the lowest cultivation level, the Early Stage of Golden Core. Even together, they might not rival the now Golden Core Perfection Nether Abyss Ancestor, especially when they had lost their courage and were only focusing on fleeing.
The seven Golden Core Cultivators, who scattered and fled, were mostly intercepted by the pre-prepared divine techniques of the Nether Abyss Ancestor.
"Eliminate the roots, eradicate all evil!"
Only this thought filled Zhang Yao's mind, a cold light flashed in his eyes as he directly rode his Escape Light skyward, flying into the black mist cloud...