Eternal Life: I Can Control My Essence Qi-Chapter 174 - 153: The Death of Du Bu Daoist

"Die! All of you, die!"

Amidst the maniacal laughter of the Du Bu Daoist, the azure crystal hail became even more intense.

Zhang Yao struggled to fend off the attacks, the cracks on his armor growing increasingly numerous, even the golden halberd he wielded was becoming bent, and his arms were going numb.

Lord Haihe let out a wretched laugh, his voice hoarse as he said:

"I never thought I would die in my own abode, at the hands of such a person."

"Qingxu, this time I dragged you down with me, you were supposed to have a boundless future."

There was guilt in Lord Haihe's eyes, and his tone held a deeper pain:

"And Baihe, he, he..."

Zhang Yao gave no response, staring fixedly at the Du Bu Daoist, his expression dark as water.

Originally, he intended to hold on, after all, the Du Bu Daoist had been severely injured earlier, his handy spiritual artifacts destroyed, his strength greatly diminished, relying on forbidden techniques of burning life and essence blood to wield such power.

But looking at it now, if they couldn't hold out until the Du Bu Daoist burned out his own lamp oil and vitality, they would first fall under his Daoist technique.

"Seems we have no choice."

Zhang Yao sighed inwardly, finally making the decision to use his trump card.

"Boom!"

In an instant, an invisible ash-gray flame rose from Zhang Yao's entire body, his aura suddenly surging.

His originally unmatched magical power, surpassing Foundation Establishment Perfection, grew to an inconceivable level, even its purity increased a notch!

Under the blessing of such terrifying magical power:

The armor on his body and the golden halberd in his hands erupted with a dazzling golden brilliance, all damages and bends fully restored, the power even more astonishing!

"You?"

The Du Bu Daoist was stunned for a moment, seemingly in disbelief.

"Qingxu!! You..."

Lord Haihe was greatly shocked, his whole body trembling, a hint of desolation flashing in his eyes.

He never imagined Zhang Yao would also master the evil secret technique of burning lifespan and would use it at such a life-and-death juncture, rather than abandoning him and fleeing.

While warmth and immense gratitude surged in his heart, he also felt a growing sense of sorrow and desolation — what a heavy price must such a secret technique exact?

Perhaps, even if they won this battle, his future path of cultivation would be half ruined.

"Clang!" "Clang!" "Clang!"...

The dense azure crystals, pounding continuously on the golden armor like raindrops, were forcibly withstood.

"Haaah!"

Zhang Yao shouted violently, sweeping away the incessant azure crystal bombardments, waving the golden halberd in his hand towards the sky, darting straight ahead:

"Die!"

After activating the Heavenly Defect Secret Technique and bursting forth by burning lifespan, he finally had enough power to break through Du Bu Daoist's Daoist technique from the front, turning defense into offense.

"Swish!"

A golden rainbow streaked across the sky like a comet slamming into the palace, Zhang Yao thrusting the halberd in his hand directly at the Du Bu Daoist's head.

"You court death!!"

Raging fury surged in the Du Bu Daoist's eyes, completely consumed by extreme emotion, he roared madly:

"Heaven, Topple, West, South!!"

In an instant:

The terrifying azure brilliance surged, permeating in all directions, like an immensely thick 'sky curtain,' collapsing and pressing down.

Zhang Yao's vision went black, his sight and divine thought fully filled by the azure 'sky curtain,' truly experiencing a terrifying might akin to the sky collapsing.

"Hah!"

He roared, swinging the golden halberd in his hands with all his might, intending to cleave through this iron curtain descending from the heavens.

In the next moment, the formidable golden halberd forcefully collided from below with the overwhelming azure 'sky curtain' descending from above.

"..."

In this instant, the sound vanished, and the abode fell deadly silent.

The powers, terrifying to the extreme, annihilated all water flows and sound waves, blasting open a vacuum area dozens of meters in diameter, even throwing Lord Haihe far away.

"Rumble..."

In the distance came roaring, thunder-like sounds akin to a Tsunami overturning, the ruined abode finally unable to hold up, completely collapsed into ruins.

"Boom!"

Zhang Yao was blasted to the ground, creating a massive crater, the golden armor on him disintegrating and shattering, the golden halberd also breaking into two.

After the golden mist dissipated, at the bottom of the massive crater, there were only two remnants of Golden Armor Divine Talismans left.

Zhang Yao got up in a sorry state, retrieving the Taixu Heaven-Smashing Hammer, staring intently at the ruins in front of him, as if facing a great enemy, his expression extremely grave.

His strongest Yellow Talisman Armor had already been broken, if the Du Bu Daoist still had the strength to fight, he feared his only option would be to abandon Lord Haihe and flee alone.

"Cough, cough..."

From within the ruins came several weak coughs.

A hand reached out, sweeping away the shattered jade bricks and crystal shards, revealing the face of the Du Bu Daoist beneath the debris.

At this moment, his face was covered with dense wrinkles, like dry old tree bark, his hair all white and drooping, his eyes murky.

"...He's nearly dead."

Realizing this, Zhang Yao finally let out a sigh of relief.

Having infiltrated alone, breaking through the array to capture Lord Baihe, and battling Lord Haihe to the bitter end, now the Du Bu Daoist, with his severely injured body, had finally reached the end of his rope fighting Zhang Yao.

His life was now akin to a candle in the wind, ready to extinguish at any moment.

But even so, Zhang Yao still tightly gripped the golden hammer in his hand, not daring to relax even a bit, for at this level of Foundation Establishment master, who knew what unknown trump card he might have.

"Huff, huff..."

Du Bu Daoist struggled to breathe, his breath growing weaker, as if even moving was difficult.

"Qingxu!"

Lord Haihe forced himself to control the Escape Light and landed beside Zhang Yao, relieved to see him unharmed.

"You won! You saved my life!"

After ceremoniously bowing, he turned his gaze to Du Bu Daoist, buried under the ruins, his eyes filled with a deep-seated hatred, he cried out:

"Du Bu Daoist!!"

"You never thought you'd see this day, did you? After you're dead, I will certainly..."

Before he could finish speaking, Du Bu Daoist's eyelids twitched, and his cloudy eyes gradually cleared.

At first, he was stunned, then he realized his current situation, revealing profound sadness.

He looked at Lord Haihe, seemingly incapable of communicating through Divine Thought, and could only speak with a trembling, frail voice:

"Be careful... be careful of Yu Wen Tai..."

After finishing his sentence, Du Bu Daoist's eyes opened, but his pupils began to scatter, and his breath ceased.

A remarkable man, the Kang Continent overlord, thus perished.

"..."

Lord Haihe's voice abruptly stopped, staring blankly at Du Bu Daoist's corpse.

"...It seems the Association Leader was right, he truly became a puppet and pawn of Yu Wen Tai."

Zhang Yao slowly spoke, his tone somber:

"It seems, we weren't cautious enough!"

"It must have been Fairy Yuan Meng breaking the Magic Ban inside the Soul Thought Bead that alerted him, leading to Du Bu Daoist's madness."

"How laughable that this man, too, was a hero of his time, yet became a plaything of others, only waking up at the brink of death..."

Lord Haihe was silent for a moment before gritting his teeth and saying:

"Yu, Wen, Tai!!"

"He indulged himself, abused his power, wanted to kill to silence us because we disrupted his plans?"

"If he succeeded, I'd be dead because of it, but even if he didn't, it's the actions of Du Bu Daoist and the Du Bu Alliance, nothing to do with him, the Celestial Treasure Tower Master!"

"Well, what a brilliant scheme!"

He spoke with anger turning into a sarcastic laugh:

"Does he really think his little cunning can deceive everyone?"

"Since I survived today, it will be his downfall in the future!"

Beside him, Zhang Yao heard these words but remained silent, unsure of how to respond.

Clearly, after Du Bu Alliance's surprise attack, especially with Lord Baihe being killed, Lord Haihe utterly despised Celestial Treasure Tower Master Yu Wen Tai.

Next, he might abandon all dignity and pride, leveraging all connections to bring down Yu Wen Tai, or even take his life personally!

"Association Leader."

Eventually, Zhang Yao broke the silence, asking:

"What are you planning to do next?"

"Ah..."

Lord Haihe deeply sighed, looking at the corpse amidst the ruined ruins, a flash of sorrow in his eyes:

"You managed to come and support, indicating the previous battle favored us."

"Please go ahead and wrap things up, I want to first gather Lord Baihe's remains..."

"I understand."

Zhang Yao nodded slightly and respectfully bowed:

"Then I shall take my leave, Association Leader, my condolences."

With those words, he turned and rode the Escape Light away, leaving Lord Haihe alone in place.

......

Dozens of breaths later.

Zhang Yao arrived at the front of the ruined Water Mansion, where he met Peng Yue Xian, Fairy Yuan Meng, and others who had just returned.

"Fellow Daoist Qingxu!"

They saw Zhang Yao's Escape Light and immediately breathed a sigh of relief, their expressions relaxing.

"Fellow Daoist Qingxu, since you're here, the central battle at the Water Mansion must be won, right?"

Peng Yue Xian led the group forward, asking.

"Correct."

Zhang Yao nodded slightly, stating:

"Du Bu Daoist is dead."

"However... Lord Baihe fell in battle, and the Association Leader is gathering his remains, so I came ahead to check on this battlefield."

"Lord Baihe fell in battle?"

Upon hearing, Peng Yue Xian and others instantly fell silent, their faces darkened.

After a long silence, Master Cang'er was the first to break the somber atmosphere:

"We chased down the Du Bu Alliance invaders, killing most of them across a hundred miles."

"However, two of them escaped using bizarre Escape Techniques, and we didn't have time to pursue further, deciding instead to support you and the Association Leader..."

"I see."

Zhang Yao nodded, suggesting:

"Since the battle has concluded, let's regroup with the Association Leader."

"After this battle, the situation in Kang Continent and Fang Continent will undoubtedly change, we'll need to discuss what's next with the Association Leader..."