"There it is," Ding Huan grabbed the spiritual weapon spear he had snatched from Can Ping and positioned himself at a corner of the Killing Trap Array.
His figure was hidden by the Concealing Array; even Hao Wudao under normal circumstances might have overlooked him at a glance, let alone now that Hao Wudao was severely injured.
Hao Wudao was solely focused on killing Liu Yinzhu and stealing Master Gu’s corpse. How could he suspect that someone had been hiding here for days?
Although Liu Yinzhu was not injured, she was completely unprepared for Ding Huan’s third-level Killing Trap Array and plunged headfirst into it.
In just a moment, Hao Wudao also charged into the Killing Trap Array.
Almost simultaneously as Hao Wudao entered, the Killing Trap Array activated, sending endless blades of killing light swirling toward Hao Wudao.
Despite being grievously injured, Hao Wudao was still a cultivator of the Primordial Soul Realm. Shock gripped him, and he immediately diverted his focus from Liu Yinzhu to the dense killing light.
With that, he also swung his long sword.
Just then, Ding Huan burst forth, his spear generating a gun light that blasted from the side towards Hao Wudao.
The spear light seemed similar in power to the blade light emitted by the Killing Trap Array; to Hao Wudao, this seemed like just another direction of the array’s killing force being triggered.
At this point, Hao Wudao had no interest in thinking about who had set up the Killing Trap Array; his four long swords swirled, unleashing a dense barrage of sword energy.
No matter what, he had to block these assaultive lights of the Killing Trap Array before breaking it.
At this moment, Liu Yinzhu also realized that she had entered the Killing Trap Array. Startled, she had barely reacted when she heard Ding Huan’s voice:
"Sister Yin Zhu, hurry and deal with this old fart!"
Liu Yinzhu immediately recognized Ding Huan’s voice; she knew him too well and understood the need to seize the moment.
Just like when Ding Huan had killed Can Ping, he had captured the only fleeting opportunity.
Without even thinking, she turned back and charged at Hao Wudao, her long sword trailing a fierce sword rainbow.
Seeing Liu Yinzhu daring to turn back filled Hao Wudao with joy; he swung another long sword at Liu Yinzhu.
He was not afraid of Liu Yinzhu attacking him. He feared that she might seize the chance to escape while he was trapped.
With his severe injuries, if Liu Yinzhu decided to flee, he really had no means to stop her.
As Hao Wudao attacked, the killing force of the spear Ding Huan hurled changed.
The spear’s murderous aura surged abruptly, making Hao Wudao feel as though his Primordial Spirit trembled under its strike.
How could Hao Wudao not know that his injury had destabilized his Primordial Spirit? Otherwise, even if the spear were ten times stronger, it wouldn’t have caused his Primordial Spirit to shudder.
He vividly realized that this spear strike was the real threat amidst all the killing lights.
Hao Wudao could even spare no attention for Liu Yinzhu’s sword rainbow, desperately wanting to change his tactics.
But his severe injuries left him completely unable to make such a change in the blink of an eye.
"Pfft!" As the spear pierced into his body, Hao Wudao felt his Primordial Spirit shattering.
Not just his Primordial Spirit but also the Dantian—which had been crushed by Gu Mo—were completely collapsing, and his Sea of Consciousness was fracturing.
What terrifying Divine Skills! At this moment, regardless of his own injuries, Hao Wudao was determined to make this lowlife pay with his life, and he was sure he could do it.
"Pfft!" The rainbow created by Liu Yinzhu’s sword passed through Hao Wudao’s body, almost tearing him in two, like what had happened to Master Gu.
Nevertheless, Hao Wudao didn’t care about these details; he gathered all five long swords, then wrapped Ding Huan’s position in five deadly waves of Sword Energy.
He was convinced his opponent would strike with full force while his Primordial Spirit was damaged. Any rational cultivator wouldn’t miss such an opportunity.
This was also his, Hao Wudao’s, chance—perhaps his only chance to kill his opponent.
Without killing Ding Huan, he was doomed today.
As for Liu Yinzhu, even though she had just compounded his injuries, she posed no threat in his eyes. As long as he killed the man who ambushed him, he could leave anytime.
Boom boom boom!
The Sword Force collided with the third-level Protecting Array, which shattered like a dilapidated wooden frame.
A trench dozens of meters long was cleaved open by Hao Wudao, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
However, when Hao Wudao saw only a long spear lying in the trench, his rage knew no bounds.
In a duel, even if one is on the brink of collapse, crippling the opponent’s Primordial Spirit guarantees a victory if one can press forward with True Yuan immediately.
Such is an iron law of cultivator duels; any slight relaxation might end up being exploited by the opponent.
Yet he, Hao Wudao, had never seen such a cunning fighter. When his Primordial Spirit had been compromised by the covert spear attack, the adversary hadn’t infused True Yuan to incapacitate him. Instead, the opponent had abandoned the spear and fled.
Which worthless sect did this shameless disciple belong to?
Ding Huan was no fool; knowing Hao Wudao was a potent Primordial Soul, he realized he had been rash.
Luckily, his adversary was so badly injured that he was nearly dead.
Even so, Ding Huan didn’t dare to attack further after striking Hao Wudao. As soon as his spear hit, he promptly discarded it and fled.
He might not know the full extent of a Primordial Soul master’s strength, but he knew caution could never be wrong, a lesson from experience.
Even if it meant losing the prime opportunity to kill Hao Wudao, he still had a chance.
This was his Killing Trap Array; he had set up at least a dozen overlapping arrays here.
Waves of dizziness struck, and Hao Wudao spewed several Blood Arrows, along with chunks of his organs.
He was utterly enraged. Additional sequences of Illusion Arrays and even Poison Arrays were deployed against him—an injured Primordial Soul cultivator.
Normally, such low-level Illusion Arrays would pose no threat to him, not even requiring the use of Divine Art to resolve. Yet now, he felt increasingly weaker.
Furious to the extreme, Hao Wudao no longer thought of retaliating. He just wanted to leave.
He knew he couldn’t escape yet, the ongoing Killing Trap Array was something he couldn’t break through.
"Pupupu!" Sword Energy from the Killing Trap Array continuously brought out sprays of blood on his body as if the person plotting against him had disappeared altogether.
Hao Wudao dared not wait any longer, he identified the direction out of the array and slashed with his sword.
A bright light appeared, and where Hao Wudao dared not hesitate, he swiftly charged through it.
His speed wasn’t even one percent of what it was at his peak, which frustrated him deeply.
"Pu!" Severe pain caused Hao Wudao to fall from the sky; he saw another spear pierce through his chest, pinning him within the trapping array, his eyes filled with unwillingness.
The light he had cut through disappeared, and he realized it was still an illusion array.
He hadn’t broken the opponent’s Killing Trap Array; it was merely that the opponent made him feel he had broken it, then rushed into the illusion leading straight to the spear.
Just a low-level illusion array affected him, making Hao Wudao feel humiliated.
"Who exactly are you? I, Hao, wish to die with clarity."
Hao Wudao did not struggle but sat down on the ground, bloodied, looking ahead.
"Pu!" A Wind Blade split into his forehead, and feeling his head being cleaved, Hao Wudao died with his eyes wide open.
Only at this moment did he see Ding Huan stepping out from a Concealing Array on the side.
"Old man, when I was roaming the jianghu, you didn’t even know where you were. You wanted me to come out and self-detonate just now? You thought too much."
Hearing this, Hao Wudao’s Primordial Spirit completely collapsed, and he fell into the pool of his own blood.
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He truly died with his eyes wide open, self-detonate my ass.
His Primordial Soul was torn apart by that spear, and with his serious injuries, how could he have the capacity to self-detonate?
Ding Huan’s Divine Will swept over Hao Wudao’s body, confirming he was beyond dead, then he swept away Hao Wudao’s ring with his hand, and simultaneously threw a flame onto Hao Wudao’s body.
At last, he had killed the old man. Ding Huan let out a sigh of relief.
Today’s task was risky; next time he would need to improve his Array Dao cultivation.
If it weren’t for the old guy being severely injured, his Third-level Killing Trap Array would have been useless.
Ding Huan collected his things and then retracted the Array Flag.
"Ding Huan, did you kill Hao Wudao?" Liu Yinzhu couldn’t believe it as she stared at the still-burning body of Hao Wudao on the ground.
She, in her True Pill Realm, could only flee here, yet Ding Huan managed to kill Hao Wudao here.
"Just by luck," Ding Huan said, glancing at Sect Master Gu Mo, who looked nearly split in two on the ground, and casually asked, "How is Sect Master Gu Mo doing?"
He truly didn’t care about Sect Master Gu Mo’s life or death; that guy was unfit to be Sect Master.
Finally remembering Gu Mo, Liu Yinzhu quickly rushed to his side and inserted a Medicine Pill into Gu Mo’s mouth.
"Sect Master, what happened to you..."
Gu Mo finally opened his eyes.
"Yin Zhu, run..."
Liu Yinzhu sobbed,
"There’s no need to run anymore, Ding Huan saved us, he just killed Hao Wudao."
Hearing that Ding Huan had killed Hao Wudao, Gu Mo seemed to gather a bit of strength, struggling briefly, then he saw Hao Wudao’s burning corpse.
"Good, good..."
Gu Mo managed to utter "good" twice more and could say no more.
"Ding Huan, please save Sect Master, I beg you..."
Liu Yinzhu was nearly kneeling before Ding Huan.
Ding Huan sighed and said,
"Sister Yin Zhu, I’m not a god. Sect Master is beyond saving; no one can save him."
As if catching a second wind, Gu Mo opened his eyes again:
"Ding Huan, please become the true Sect Master of Purple Mist Valley, let Yin Zhu assist you..."
Ding Huan could even kill Hao Wudao, despite the man’s severe injury, showing that even as a Primordial Soul practitioner, he maintained strength.
This made Gu Mo realize a truth, that if he let Liu Yinzhu be Sect Master and Ding Huan turned against them, all Liu Yinzhu could do was await death.
"Heh, come on, Purple Mist Valley is ruined, and if I’m not wrong, there’s no one left in Purple Mist Valley." Ding Huan completely disregarded Gu Mo’s emotions.
From a distance, Lao Liu and Yan Mei came over, both nodded sympathetically at Sect Master Gu Mo, who was about to pass away.
Yan Mei silently rejoiced that Brother Huan led them out; now even the Sect Master of Purple Mist Valley could not save himself, staying in Purple Mist Valley would have only hastened death.
"You could rebuild Purple Mist Valley..." Upon hearing Ding Huan’s words, Gu Mo dared not pass away, not willing to see Purple Mist Valley ruined during his tenure.
Ding Huan calmly said,
"Even if I were to establish a sect, I wouldn’t rebuild Purple Mist Valley. Purple Mist Valley is gone; this place, however, is quite nice. Why wouldn’t I establish another sect here?"
Hearing this, not only Gu Mo, but also Liu Yinzhu fell silent.
Ding Huan was right; after all, he wasn’t from Purple Mist Valley and hadn’t received any benefits from it.
Staying at Dawn Peak was merely in exchange for saving the Sect Master’s life.
"Cough, cough..." Gu Mo coughed twice, "That makes sense, originally Purple Mist Valley was also built by taking someone else’s territory, what goes around... comes around...
Yin Zhu, after my death, bury me in Purple Garden Mountain... take my ring."
After saying this, Gu Mo spewed out a mouthful of fresh blood, and within a few breaths, there was no longer any sign of life left in him.