At that moment.
The sky turned pitch black, and the air grew chillingly cold.
In a sudden flash of insight, Gu Changhuai’s eyes darkened as he finally understood the Demon Venerable’s true scheme.
Whether in the Cultivation World or the mortal realm, everything that had happened from the start had never targeted Pei Tianyi.
Instead, it was—
Rong Ye.
No wonder such a massive amount of baleful energy from hundreds of thousands of white bones couldn’t be purified in just a day or two. How could the Yin Sha condensed from them vanish overnight?
What the Demon Venerable wanted was Rong Ye to fall to demonic possession.
Having figured it out, Gu Changhuai slapped away the Left Protector with one palm and slashed down with his blade, clearing the Kill Domain!
The surrounding black mist instantly dispersed. He lifted his gaze and saw Pei Tianyi, wrapped by the Painting Nightmares, speeding toward the trembling direction of the Battlefield!
Gu Changhuai turned into a shadow and chased after him. A fierce gust of wind assaulted him from the front—the Left Protector struck out with malevolent winds from his palm. “Who said you could leave?”
A flicker of annoyance crossed Gu Changhuai’s eyes. He retreated to dodge, pondering whether to just go all out and kill him. But that would definitely waste a lot of time. The Left Protector was second-in-command in the Demon Realm, after all; killing him wouldn’t be easy.
Gu Changhuai dodged while thinking.
Rong Ye was gathering the trapped heroic souls at the center of the Battlefield, where the baleful energy was already incredibly dense. Now, the Heart Pill seal in Pei Tianyi’s body had shattered. With the Painting Nightmares taking him to the center…
Beyond the backlash from the broken seal, the baleful energy released by Pei Tianyi’s demonic possession would likely affect Rong Ye.
Moreover, the Demon Venerable had gone to such lengths—there had to be more tricks up his sleeve.
Gu Changhuai caught the demonic energy pressing down from the Left Protector with one hand. His gaze met the Left Protector’s, a smile lingering on his lips, but his eyes gleamed with a thin, chilling frost.
Maybe he should just kill him.
But the Painting Nightmares had vanished from sight three breaths ago, and he didn’t know the situation yet. He couldn’t afford the delay.
As he pondered, an arrow suddenly shot from the side, dispelling the demonic energy pressing toward him. A black shadow charged forward with the Heaven-Breaking Bow, blocking the Left Protector’s successive blade strikes. Xue Lao Er said, “Gu Sanbai, this time you owe me big time!”
Gu Changhuai broke free and immediately sped toward the Battlefield center, tossing back, “If you can’t hold him, run. Don’t get yourself killed.”
Xue Lao Er scoffed. “Take care of yourself first.”
He still had the energy to retort, so he could hold out for a while. Gu Changhuai stopped worrying, merging entirely into the black mist and vanishing from the spot.
He wasn’t concerned that Xue Lao Er would be killed by the Left Protector. The Left Protector couldn’t manage it.
Besides, he knew Xue Lao Er wouldn’t be foolish enough to throw away his life. Xue Lao Er’s movement techniques were among the best in the Demon Realm; if he couldn’t hold, he’d escape, and the Left Protector wouldn’t catch him.
At the center of the Battlefield.
Centered on the highest Gobi peak, the massive Soul-Locking Array spread across the ground, extending ten zhang outward, with four pillars bound by chains standing at the four cardinal directions.
Over two hundred thousand heroic souls had been completely released, wrapped in thick baleful energy as they danced within the array. Transparent faces flickered in and out of the baleful energy, their expressions twisted in ferocity.
The resentment and unwillingness from centuries of entrapment had all transformed into eerie malice and fury, with shrill wails and howls echoing from all sides.
The moment one stepped into the array, it felt like millions of needles were being poured into one’s ears. Piercing baleful energy enveloped them instantly, as if intent on crushing any living being that dared approach.
Gu Changhuai was nearly caught off guard and invaded in his sea of consciousness. These heroic souls had long lost their awareness and attacked everyone indiscriminately.
He closed his eyes, circulated his qi, formed a hand seal, and swept his sleeve to block the heroic souls sneaking up from all sides. He also had to guard against the baleful energy’s corrosion at every moment. The overwhelming baleful energy was like dark clouds pressing down in the array, blurring all sights. If not for the glowing Soul-Locking Array underfoot, he wouldn’t see a thing.
Unlike the ease in the underground palace, Gu Changhuai felt a slight strain navigating through it.
He could only follow Rong Ye’s aura and fly as fast as possible, but he was always beaten back halfway by oncoming heroic souls.
How annoying.
He frowned, casually grabbing one heroic soul. His fingertip stung instantly. He quickly released it and looked down—black spots from the baleful energy had marred his five fingertips, soon extinguished by his own demonic qi.
Perhaps tasting a hint of sweetness, the heroic souls circling him sped up excitedly, seemingly eager to get closer.
“…” Gu Changhuai’s eyes darkened slightly.
Whether immortal or demon, these heroic souls wanted to devour him.
He was now very close to the array’s core. The towering Gobi peak amid the black baleful qi had been dyed inky, like a standing mountain. He could make out its rugged outline, the black flag fluttering atop in the yin wind, and a tall, jade-like figure, blurred and merged with the Gobi, standing motionless.
The Evil Sha hadn’t been cleared, the Soul-Guiding Banner hadn’t taken effect, and even Rong Ye’s actions were unknown. Gu Changhuai called out twice, but the figure atop showed no response.
He found it strange.
Earlier, from the Battlefield’s outskirts, he’d clearly seen Rong Ye destroying the Soul-Locking Array, clearing the baleful energy, and gathering souls. How, in the blink of an eye, had it become like this?
Not only was the Soul-Locking Array intact, but the baleful energy hadn’t been cleared at all. This was abnormal.
The auras of the Painting Nightmares and Pei Tianyi were mixed among the heroic souls; Gu Changhuai couldn’t distinguish their positions. More importantly, he wanted to know Rong Ye’s current state.
If Rong Ye was conscious, he wouldn’t ignore him.
Gu Changhuai swept away the incoming yin souls. Shattered Shadow formed at his fingertips. He tried again to break through the surrounding evil sha and flew toward the Gobi peak.
It was like ascending a mountaintop.
His gaze fixed straight on the figure at the Gobi’s peak. The bone-chilling aura of the Evil Sha rushed at him; even before being eroded, it pierced pain into his bones.
With a flick of his five fingers, Shattered Shadow’s cold light clashed with the thick black Evil Sha, which flowed over it like living water.
The silver armor on his fingertips, integrated with the bracelet and the silver along his hand bones, was invaded by the cracking black baleful energy.
The Evil Sha followed the Shattered Shadow, seeking to erode his body, but it halted at his hands. The rest was blocked by his demonic aura. Only his hand backs and forearms were dyed, lightning-like patterns soaking into his forearms.
Intense, bone-piercing pain made him barely feel his hands.
Gu Changhuai ignored it, his gaze still forward.
It seemed all the Evil Sha in the Soul-Locking Array had surged toward him, making it quite taxing to resist. The good news was he was slowly advancing.
Until he neared the peak and vaguely made out the hazy figure by the black flag.
A back view, seemingly fused with the Evil Sha. He sensed a terrifying oppressive force surrounding—or emanating from—Rong Ye.
This forceful spiritual power spread out, carrying a bone-scraping killing intent that completely enveloped the Gobi peak.
The Evil Sha, seeking advantage and avoiding harm, didn’t dare approach brazenly.
Yet within the spiritual power, Gu Changhuai sensed a trace of aura homologous to the Evil Sha, almost assimilating. His heart jolted. He raised his voice: “—Rong Ye!”
His voice echoed across the Battlefield.
Still no response.
“…”
Gu Changhuai suddenly erupted with power, tearing open the Evil Sha blocking him and forcing a path. He charged forward.
He finally stood atop the Gobi.
Protected by Rong Ye’s spiritual qi, the Evil Sha couldn’t approach, sparing him the immense pressure.
Gu Changhuai breathed a sigh of relief, thinking freeloading was still the way to go. Next time, he wouldn’t rush into this thankless task.
His expression unchanged, he shook his hand, flinging off the blood seeping from the Shattered Shadow. He casually wiped his forearm, where the invaded parts had cracked open and were bleeding.
He paid it no mind and circled to the other side of the black flag, facing Rong Ye.
“How did it turn out like this?”
Gu Changhuai was puzzled, his gaze falling on Rong Ye’s neck and one side of his face.
Due to the surrounding darkness, he leaned in close and specially took out a Night Luminous Pearl to illuminate. Naturally, he saw it clearly.
—Black baleful traces had spread upward there.
Rong Ye’s traces differed from his; they emanated from within, like scorched cracks of a flower blooming internally along the meridians, finally surfacing along the vein patterns.
Gu Changhuai’s expression turned odd for a moment. He thought the traces on Rong Ye’s face weren’t ugly—in fact, they lent a demonic beauty.
“Buzz—”
He lowered his eyes to the Qiankun Sword that suddenly glowed faintly.
Something must have happened here, prompting Rong Ye to summon the Qiankun Sword. His palm pressed against its hilt, his aura steady, the sword tip pointing to the ground. He stood like a diminutive statue.
Gu Changhuai’s gaze returned, scrutinizing the scorched marks on Rong Ye’s neck. If not for the impropriety, he’d want to strip Rong Ye’s clothes to see how he contained so much Evil Sha qi without his body exploding.
![Hundreds of Assassination Attempts on the Immortal Venerable [Transmigration Book]](https://i1.wp.com/dobynovels.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/tr.jpg?resize=151,215 "Hundreds of Assassination Attempts on the Immortal Venerable [Transmigration Book]")
