“What?!” Xiang Liu exclaimed in shock, quickly turning around.

Unfortunately, the bronze coffin behind him was still resting in place quietly. When he realized he had been tricked, he immediately brandished a palm, and black and green energies surged outward to protect him.

In an instant, powerful dragon energy rushed forth as Zu An’s attack arrived. The moment it made contact, Xiang Liu felt his internal energies running amok chaotically. He thought, The power of this dragon vein really is formidable… But he’s already used up most of the remaining dragon energy, so what can he even do now?

Suddenly, however, he noticed a black glint being thrust toward him out of the corner of his eye. It was a strangely-shaped dagger. Normally, even if the dagger were several times larger, it still wouldn’t be able to do much against him; and yet, the weapon made him feel the true threat of death.

As such, he didn’t dare to receive it directly. His body dissipated as he teleported away from his original location. A moment later, he appeared several zhang away. He looked down and saw that the clothes had been cut. Just a bit more, and it would have cut through his skin.

He sighed in amazement, saying, “Little brother, even though your cultivation is nothing special, when you start fighting, you really are not bad at all. I almost ended up being done in! What is with that dagger of yours? It was enough to even make me feel fear.”

Zu An felt a bit depressed. Just a bit more…

The Poisonous Prick’s ability was indeed quite unique, but it was useless if it didn’t hit! There had already been several battles where the Poisonous Prick had failed to activate its effect.

In the past, when Zu An had watched TV, he hadn’t understood why Ultraman would only use his Shining Attack at the very end. Now, after fighting countless battles, he finally began to realize that only after wearing the enemy down and seizing an opening, when one was confident in one’s ability to deal a fatal blow, would using such skills be able to decide victory and defeat.

After all, if he played Doudezhu with his friends and used his Quad 2s and Joker right off the bat, wouldn’t he lose for sure?[1]

After working his way through those thoughts, Zu An felt much more relieved. In the future, he had to be even more careful when using the Poisonous Prick. Otherwise, not only would he fail, his trump card could end up being exposed.

He put away the Poisonous Prick and asked with a smile, “Do you want to know its name? You’ll know it even more intimately if you just let yourself have a taste.”

Xiang Liu smiled and said, “In a different situation, I might have decided to play around with you for a bit. However, for some reason, I have a bad premonition today, so it seems best to just deal with things as quickly as possible.”

He vanished as soon as he finished speaking. Zu An’s group quickly raised their weapons to protect themselves. Unfortunately, Xiang Liu was so fast that they could barely see him, and they were quickly sent flying.

However, after all of the life and death experiences they had gone through along the way, their coordination was outstanding, and they managed to survive. Still, they couldn’t do much more than that. With the difference in strength between them and their opponent, anyone else at the same level would likely have long since been defeated.

Even so, Zu An’s body was tough. He could recover from any injury with shocking speed, and was able to serve as a meat shield. Furthermore, with the Heaven Devouring Sutra, he could neutralize even an earth immortal’s attacks to some degree. With him shielding them, Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue’s profound skills had a chance to shine. Together with Yu Yanluo’s support and crowd-controlling methods, they really did complement each other’s strengths well.

As the battle reached its climax, Zu An suddenly looked behind Xiang Liu with an expression of shock and exclaimed, “Yu… Yu the Great?”

Xiang Liu sneered and retorted, “Do you think I would make the same mistake twice?”

He prepared to unleash an even more vicious attack. He knew that even though Zu An’s group had the numerical advantage and excellent teamwork, there was a huge difference in their cultivation. As time went on, he would have more and more chances to take them down one by one.

However, he suddenly felt his fine hairs stand on end, sensing that a powerful aura had appeared behind him. It was extremely familiar. He quickly turned into a clump of black and green energy, dodging to one side. He reappeared a second later in a corner of the room, and only then did he look in the direction of the aura.

Nearby, Zu An and the others watched the altar nervously.

The giant bronze coffin suddenly stood up on its own, and its cover automatically opened. A tall, heroic-looking man slowly walked out of it.

The Nine Cauldron that had been inserted into the mechanism in the corner shook all over and vibrated loudly, as if it were summoning something.

The man looked around the chamber. In the end, his gaze landed on Xiang Liu. As he looked at the man, the black and green energies surrounding Xiang Liu instantly dispersed.

“Yu the Great! So it was you after all!” Xiang Liu exclaimed, looking much like a cat with all of its hair standing on end. He clenched his teeth as he stared at the tall man. The two had fought before, so he couldn't be more familiar with the aura before him.

The tall, heroic man had a faint smile as he remarked, “Xiang Liu, long time no see.”

Zu An and his group exchanged looks, seeing the shock in each other’s eyes. This person really was the legendary Yu the Great! No wonder he had such a terrifying aura.

When he thought about Shun asking him to face Yu the Great, Zu An immediately set aside that thought. Considering the powerful pressure Yu the Great was giving off, even if he had the Sun Slaying Bow, his odds of success were poor.

“Impossible! That is impossible! How could you possibly have survived until now?!” Xiang Liu suddenly cried. He refused to believe that Yu the Great had willingly sealed himself for so long.

The heroic man replied, “Correct. There is no way I could have lived for this long. This is nothing more than a fragment of will that I left behind.”

“A fragment?” Xiang Liu repeated. He was surprised at first, but soon felt overjoyed. He exclaimed, “Haha, you have really gone too far with your gamble this time! Do you think a mere will fragment is enough to defeat us? We did lose to you in the past, but now, we will completely wash away this humiliation!”

His body split into nine as soon as he finished speaking, each body unleashing his ultimate attack at Yu the Great. The most terrifying thing was that every single copy was just as powerful as his original body.

Zu An was shocked. These were probably Xiang Liu’s nine heads, using an innate talent from his bloodline! The price of such a technique was undoubtedly high; otherwise, the group would have long since been defeated by it. It was clear that Xiang Liu viewed Yu the Great as his greatest enemy. Even when he was facing a mere soul fragment, he still used all of his strength.

Zu An immediately looked at Yu the Great to see how he would deal with the move.

Yu the Great slowly raised his hand, then suddenly pointed forward. The space in front of him rippled like a lake's surface, and brilliant light flickered all around him. The copies of Xiang Liu suddenly shattered, before gathering in one spot and turning back into the original Xiang Liu.

“Ugh!” Xiang Liu kneeled down and coughed out a mouthful of blood that sizzled when it hit the floor, quickly melting a large hole through it. He exclaimed with an ashen face, “How is this possible? Why is your cultivation even greater than before?”

Yu the Great gave him an indifferent look and didn’t answer the question.

In an instant, Xiang Liu suddenly realized what had happened. After Yu the Great defeated them, his cultivation had definitely made further breakthroughs, reaching even greater heights. He slowly asked, “Why did you not kill me?”

Yu the Great finally said, “Your blood is poisonous. If I killed you, everything within thousands of miles would become desolate. That would truly bring harm to the balance of the world. Furthermore, your nature is not bad, and you only follow Gonggong because of the faction you are part of. You have not done much evil, so you can leave.”

Xiang Liu was stunned. His gaze carried a hint of admiration as he looked back and said, “Forget it. Gonggong’s designs to rule the world will all be for naught now, anyway.” Soon afterward, he left dejectedly, disappearing into the distance.

A black mass of energy appeared in the chamber almost as soon as he left. The skeleton-headed Gonggong asked, “Where is Xiang Liu?”

He had been searching the entire tomb for the room, but due to the disruption of the various formations, it had been rather difficult. Only when Xiang Liu faced Yu the Great had he finally sensed it through a spatial distortion, allowing him to rush over. However, when he saw the poisonous blood on the ground, his expression darkened. It seemed Xiang Liu had already encountered trouble.

Yu the Great gave him a look, remarking in an emotionless voice, “I had not expected you to still be revived in the end.”

“Was that not your plan to begin with? You wanted to use me to absorb Emperor Yao’s remaining strength, no? That way, you would no longer have any karma on you,” Gonggong retorted with a sneer.

Zu An was shocked. What was this? Why did it sound as if Yu the Great was actually incredibly two-faced? Could it be that all of this was just a part of his plan? When he recalled Shun’s opinion of the man, his heart sank.