"Good treasure, good treasure!" Zheng Jianlian laughed heartily.
Even though he had already overestimated it, after the actual battle, he realized that he had still greatly underestimated the combat power of the Mechanical Black Snake.
"Come back," Zheng Jianlian commanded secretly.
But the next moment, his expression slightly changed.
The Mechanical Black Snake did not respond immediately; it delayed for three whole breaths before it swam back under Zheng Jianlian's control.
The other Golden Core cultivators did not pursue immediately either—they were all shocked by the power of the Mechanical Black Snake.
The True Disciple from Taiqing Palace held his severed arm, still shaken in his heart: "This is absolutely not an ordinary Night Rain Devil Weapon!"
The True Disciple from the Purple Heaven Pavilion also stared fixedly at the Mechanical Black Snake, deeply astonished: "I didn’t expect that in a small family like the Zhengs in Huoshi Immortal City, they would possess such a sharp mechanical weapon."
"Hahaha, I’m back!" Zheng Shuanggou returned to the family grounds.
Zheng Shuanggou, fighting within the formation, would undoubtedly have a huge geographical advantage.
"Uh!" Zheng Shuanggou's laughter abruptly stopped.
His eyes bulged as he looked at his own hands.
The demonic manual he had been holding quickly disintegrated, like ashes flying away after paper had burned.
Soon, Zheng Shuanggou was left empty-handed.
"W-what’s going on?!" Zheng Shuanggou was dumbfounded.
"Hand over the manual!" Luo Shang, who hadn’t seen this scene, once again commanded his ghost generals to attack.
Zheng Shuanggou hurriedly shouted, "Wait! There’s something wrong with this manual!"
"What's wrong with it?! The manual is the manual!" The True Disciple from Taiqing Palace sneered.
He had personally experienced the profound meaning of the manual being transmitted into his mind, so he was certain this was the real thing.
Even though Zheng Shuanggou had retreated into the family formation, the Taiqing Palace disciple still crazily attacked the light shield of the formation, trying to reclaim the demonic manual.
"Evil demons, how dare you continue attacking my family’s formation!" Seeing his family grounds being affected, Zheng Jianlian snorted coldly and rushed over at full speed.
The Mechanical Black Snake followed closely beside him.
Zheng Jianlian quickly faced the True Disciple from Taiqing Palace.
With a wave of his hand, the Mechanical Black Snake flew forward, transforming in mid-air.
By the time it landed in Zheng Jianlian's hand, it had already turned into a long-handled scythe.
The scythe was entirely pitch black, without a hint of any other color. Its aura was extremely restrained, to the point of almost appearing like the most ordinary of objects. 𝑅ãℕоꞖƐᶊ
Zheng Jianlian wielded the scythe and slashed fiercely at the True Disciple from Taiqing Palace.
The True Disciple from Taiqing Palace stood frozen in place.
In an instant, it was as if he was standing in a cold, rainy night, overwhelmed with boundless sorrow, pain, and despair!
His eyes became vacant.
He was sliced into countless pieces, his blood, mana, and everything else bursting out.
This was merely a single slash from the scythe.
All the Golden Core cultivators present, including the members of the alliance, gasped in shock, genuinely believing the scythe’s power to be utterly terrifying!
Zheng Jianlian himself was also stunned.
The next moment, his palm loosened, and the scythe reverted back into the Mechanical Black Snake.
The Black Snake swiftly slithered forward, crushing the scattered pieces of the Taiqing Palace disciple’s flesh, then opened its mouth and swallowed his Golden Core whole.
Zheng Jianlian felt a deep chill in his heart!
This was because the entire series of actions by the Mechanical Black Snake had not been under his control; the snake had acted entirely on its own.
"This… this demonic weapon is still unruly and bloodthirsty. Our previous refining plan... has failed!"
Everyone was shocked.
The battlefield suddenly fell into a dead silence.
All along, even though the Golden Core cultivators had fought, they had exercised restraint, not wantonly slaughtering civilians or destroying the city.
This was because they all knew that Meng Kui, the Nascent Soul-level City Lord, was on the mountain peak above them.
No one had expected the Black Scythe to directly kill a Golden Core cultivator.
And it did so with such ease!
All the Golden Core cultivators present, including Zhu Xuanji and Zheng Jianlian, felt a chill run down their spines.
Putting themselves in the shoes of the shadow demon cultivator or the Taiqing Sect True Disciple, could they withstand the fierce power of this demonic scythe?
No one had that confidence.
The artifacts of the Night Rain Dynasty were fundamentally different from the cultivation principles of the present day, making them difficult to defend against.
Looking at Zheng Jianlian, who was holding the Black Scythe, the fighting spirit of everyone present felt as though it had been doused by an icy snowstorm.
The first to leave was the shadow demon cultivator, the True Disciple of the Purple Heaven Pavilion.
As for Sun Lingtong and Yang Chanyu, they had already left halfway through the chaotic battle.
"Don’t use that demonic weapon again," Zhu Xuanji said, leaving those words behind as he pursued the shadow demon cultivator from the Purple Heaven Pavilion.
Zheng Jianlian regained his senses, holding the long-handled Black Scythe, and shouted sternly, "I killed the shadow demon cultivator! Someone, collect his corpse! This is my contribution to Huoshi Immortal City!"
However, the next moment, a ghost general appeared beside the body of the Taiqing Palace True Disciple.
The ghost general clapped his hands with a mocking smile: "Oh no, oh no, this person is a True Disciple of Taiqing Palace!"
"You’re lying!" The two Golden Core cultivators from the Zheng family’s expressions instantly changed.
The other Golden Core cultivators also changed their expressions and all looked towards the corpse.
Realizing something was wrong, Zheng Shuanggou hurried to the corpse, intending to retrieve the body.
But at this moment, another ghost general appeared, blocking Zheng Shuanggou's path.
Just as the two sides were about to fight, Zheng Jianlian swung the black scythe in his hand.
In an instant, both a Golden Core-level and a Foundation Establishment-level ghost general were sliced into countless pieces.
But it was already too late.
Luo Shang’s voice came again: "Zheng family of Huoshi City, have you figured out how to explain this to Taiqing Palace? Hahaha."
His laughter was filled with glee at their misfortune.
"Zhu Xuanji, you can’t catch me, give up," the True Disciple of the Purple Heaven Pavilion said after leaving the immortal city, finally exerting his full strength.
His body moved like purple lightning, his speed skyrocketing to the limit as he quickly disappeared over the horizon.
"Purple Heaven Pavilion!" Zhu Xuanji recognized his background and also noticed that the other party indeed had a strong speed advantage.
After thinking it over, Zhu Xuanji turned back towards the city.
There was something more urgent to deal with.
In the Zheng family's council hall.
Zhu Xuanji and the Golden Core cultivators from the three families all wore grim expressions, and the atmosphere in the hall was extremely oppressive.
They discussed the black scythe and the unfortunate Taiqing Palace True Disciple for a while, but no one could come up with a reliable solution.
As for the demonic manual they had placed high hopes on, Zheng Shuanggou had only comprehended it to the fifth level of the Qi Refining stage.
After the meeting adjourned, Zhu Xuanji concealed his appearance and aura, walking alone down the street.
"Things have escalated," he muttered, furrowing his brows and letting out a deep sigh.
The fact that they had killed a Taiqing Palace True Disciple during the chaotic battle now put the Zheng family in mortal danger.
Should they protect the Zheng family?
Could they even protect them?
These were the questions Zhu Xuanji needed to carefully consider.
If he didn’t protect them, the three-family alliance he had painstakingly built would immediately fall apart.
But if he did, he would face retribution from the Taiqing Palace, a super sect.
This dilemma left Zhu Xuanji in a bind!
"How did things end up ?"
"This Night Rain demonic weapon is far more sinister than I had imagined."
"How exactly did the Zheng family acquire it?"
Zhu Xuanji knew that the Zheng family had obtained this opportunity from the Lava Immortal Palace, but he had never delved into the specifics.
Today’s battle had made Zhu Xuanji deeply realize just how fearsome this demonic weapon was!
This undoubtedly disrupted Zhu Xuanji’s original plans.
"The good news is that the shadow demon cultivators appeared."
"The bad news is that
more than one of them appeared, and I didn’t catch a single one."
A sense of strangeness lingered in Zhu Xuanji’s heart.
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t pinpoint what exactly was strange.
When he snapped out of his thoughts and returned to reality, Zhu Xuanji was surprised to find that he had somehow arrived in front of Ning Zhuo's residence again.
"No matter what, with the demonic manual now in Zheng Shuanggou’s hands, the danger for Ning Zhuo has significantly decreased..."
"..." Zhu Xuanji suddenly fell into an eerie silence.
He stood outside the courtyard gate, staring quietly at the house for a long while.
He entered the house and met Ning Zhuo once more.
Zhu Xuanji smiled, his eyes hiding specks of golden light: "Ning Zhuo, I previously used you as bait, making you bear a lot of risks."
"This time, I will reward you with a technique as thanks for your cooperation."
Ning Zhuo feigned great joy, his eyes gleaming, and he quickly asked for guidance: "Lord Zhu, may I ask what technique it is?"
Zhu Xuanji smiled faintly: "Demonic Blood Tendon Technique."
"Demonic Blood Tendon Technique?" Ning Zhuo mulled over the name, as if hearing it for the first time.
Zhu Xuanji, not detecting any flaw, continued, "Before you start cultivating, let me first assess your foundation, to see if you are suitable for this technique."
"Come, stretch out your hand. I’ll check your three dantians and then evaluate your overall aptitude."
Ning Zhuo’s heart skipped a beat, but he could only brace himself and say, "Thank you, Lord Zhu!"