Amidst the horde of savage beasts, Du Yunsong dared not relax even for a moment, his focus honed to an unprecedented degree as he utilized the Soul Chain to scour every surrounding area via the six affiliated Heavenly Soldiers of the Du family. (This book is reprinted from Literature Website .6.)

When he arrived, six or seven Heavenly Soldiers had accompanied him; before they had even exited the Mutiantian Forest, eleven of them had already been slain. Although the Du family did not particularly care about the lives of these affiliated Heavenly Soldiers, the deaths of eleven men signified a massive flaw in his command capability.

Within the Du family, internal strife was common. Such a heavy loss this time meant that if he could not produce a satisfactory explanation, his competence within the Du family would be questioned, severely impacting his standing.

Therefore, no matter what, he had to unmask the person who struck from the shadows before leaving the Mutiantian Forest.

Even if he could not kill the perpetrator, he at least needed to identify them. Once the target was confirmed, the Du family could exact a bitter lesson upon their enemy. Should he leave the Mutiantian Forest without knowing who the culprit was, the authority he held would be stripped away, and he might even face severe punishment from the family elders!

Standing in the center of the beast swarm, Du Yunsong’s face was grim as he warily scanned his surroundings, hoping the hidden assailant would make a move soon.

......

Carefully bypassing two of the Du family's affiliated Heavenly Soldiers, Ji Changkong moved beneath the shadows of the great trees, resembling a flickering, elusive phantom.

Under the state of 'Having Me,' as long as he refrained from using the power of the Divine Soul and employed the method outlined in the Taixu Secret Record to conceal the entire body's aura, ordinary Divine Souls could not detect his presence. The Du family's so-called Soul Chain was utterly useless against him; so long as they could not see him with their eyes, they could not perceive him through the sense of the Divine Soul.

His pupils gradually shifted to silver, and the temperature near him slowly turned frigid, growing even colder where his gaze settled. Yet, no piercing silver light emanated from his eyes, nor did the objects he stared at instantly freeze into solid ice.

Following this period of deep study, his control over the extreme cold energy within his Silver Eyes had become far more practiced. With the advancement of his own cultivation realm and the formation of his Divine Soul, he realized he could now gradually master the potent chilling power contained within the Silver Eyes.

Now, even when his eyes turned silver, he could release the silver light at will, rather than having it shoot out instantly the moment his pupils manifested the change.

Furthermore, he discovered he could modulate the intensity of the chilling energy in the silver light. A beam of silver light shot out, and according to the manipulation of his Divine Soul, the cold energy projected by the light could be either amplified or weakened. It was no longer like when he dealt with Du Shaofeng previously, where he instantly froze him into an ice sculpture, unable to gauge the strength of the cold force.

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Hiding his body within the shade of a massive tree, he gradually closed in on the beast swarm where Du Yunsong stood. In the distance, the low growls of the savage beasts had already reached his ears, urging him to be even more cautious, daring not to be careless in the slightest.

He possessed only the cultivation of the Four Symbols Heaven, whereas Du Yunsong was established in the Six Harmonies Heaven realm—a gap of two whole levels. Conventionally, no matter how he launched a sneak attack, he stood no chance of success.

However, possessing the complete concealment of his aura and the extreme cold energy of his Silver Eyes as his two primary trump cards, he dared to brazenly target a Six Harmonies Heavenly Soldier. Even if success was unlikely, he was confident he could retreat unharmed within the Mutiantian Forest.

Circling three towering old trees directly facing Du Yunsong, he slowly approached from a patch of thick grass. With every step he took, he was exceedingly delicate, his soles barely pressing down the weeds, terrified of making the slightest sound that might alert Du Yunsong, who stood with his back to him.

A distance he could have crossed in one or two breaths took him nearly half an hour—advancing at a snail's pace.

Finally, Du Yunsong's silhouette filled his sight, only ten zhang away.

This ten-zhang stretch offered no weeds for cover, nor a single large tree to conceal him. The moment he emerged from the grass, Du Yunsong would immediately discover him.

Taking a deep breath, his entire being became as clear as a mirror, entering a state of absolute calm.

Suddenly, like an arrow loosed from a bowstring, in a flash of lightning and flint, he surged towards Du Yunsong at full speed. The dagger in his hand emitted a brilliant silver radiance, shooting out streaks of silver threads that draped over Du Yunsong like a massive net.

Woo-woo-woo!

Ten Black Ghost Worms suddenly flew out, emitting excited, bloodthirsty chirps, charging towards Du Yunsong from ten impossibly tricky angles.

Hush-hush-hush! Rumble!

The sound of crashing waves and heavenly thunder striking a mountaintop erupted simultaneously. Within the immense roar of thunder, a wave of pure Yuan Force, visible to the naked eye, surged violently toward Du Yunsong.

In that instant, the dagger, the Black Ghost Worms, and the triple wave of crashing torrents struck together—every offensive method unleashed in a single burst, without any reservation!

Du Yunsong, with his back turned, perceived the disturbance behind him almost immediately. He spun around sharply, gazing at the newcomer with a cold sneer. "You finally decided to show yourself!"

Five Meteor Hammers suddenly flew out from within his body. One of them shot forward violently. Before Ji Changkong’s small dagger could even approach him, that single hammer swung out, colliding directly with and batting his dagger away.

Another meteor hammer split apart, intercepting the first wave of the torrent. A deafening explosion followed, and the residual shockwave faded.

"Is that all you have?" Du Yunsong sneered, and the three remaining meteor hammers beside him suddenly flew out, hurtling toward Ji Changkong.

"Call out the rest of them. A Four Symbols Heavenly Soldier dares to come seek death!" In Du Yunsong's view, the deaths of those affiliated Du family members had little to do with Ji Changkong.

As the three meteor hammers struck, the second wave of the torrent formed precisely at that moment. The two forces clashed, and the second torrent wave was scattered. With a gap of two cultivation levels, even the formidable Triple Torrent, in such a direct confrontation, could not withstand the assault.

Woo-woo-woo!

The ten Black Ghost Worms finally managed to approach Du Yunsong at this juncture. Due to their tiny size, Du Yunsong only noticed the ten worms once they were near.

His expression shifted slightly. Du Yunsong seemed to recognize the Black Ghost Worms and hurriedly dodged, snatching back a returning meteor hammer. Sharp, needle-like rays suddenly shot out from the hammer towards the space in front of him.

The Black Ghost Worms appeared to fear the fine rays emanating from the meteor hammer. They let out frightened cries of "woo-woo" and scattered wildly, reselecting angles to sting Du Yunsong.

Just then, the third wave of the torrent reformed. Amidst the deafening thunderous roar, it managed to push the three meteor hammers slightly off course.

Ji Changkong swept forward, slipping between the gaps formed by the three hammers, rapidly closing the distance to Du Yunsong.

"Seeking death!" Du Yunsong grunted coldly, swinging the meteor hammer in his hand, intending to crush him.

The Silver Eyes blazed, and the extreme chilling energy instantly enveloped Du Yunsong. The distance between them was now only a few zhang; at such close range, the cold energy from the Silver Eyes rapidly encased Du Yunsong through the silver light.

Du Yunsong, whom he hadn't taken seriously until now, finally saw his expression change drastically the moment he sensed the incoming chill. Innumerable fine rays, thousands of them, each as long as a finger, erupted from his body, piercing his clothing and saturating his entire frame.

In that instant, Du Yunsong seemed to transform from a man into a living hedgehog!

The extreme chilling energy was set upon Du Yunsong, only to be immediately blocked by the sharp rays erupting from his body. For every inch the icy force advanced, it met enormous resistance; it could not instantly freeze Du Yunsong into a block of ice.

A Six Harmonies Heavenly Soldier, having fully formed his Divine Weapon, possessed boundless inner Yuan Force. Coupled with the Du family’s magical secret technique, the "Thorn Rain Splinter," Du Yunsong, though caught off guard, managed to withstand the assault of Ji Changkong's Silver Eyes.

Woo-woo-woo! Woo-woo-woo!

The ten Black Ghost Worms circled around, each finding an obscure angle, and lunged toward Du Yunsong to sting him again.

While using the "Thorn Rain Splinter" to defend against the chilling energy of Ji Changkong's Silver Eyes, Du Yunsong had poured all his Yuan Force into maintaining the technique. Sensing the arrival of the Black Ghost Worms, his face paled with alarm. He hurriedly used his Divine Soul to manipulate the five meteor hammers, forcibly diverting a portion of his strength to fend off the insect attack.

The Black Ghost Worms were indeed miraculous; not only were they swift, but they were also surprisingly intelligent, and their tiny size meant that the enormous meteor hammers were ill-suited to deal with bean-sized insects.

Du Yunsong was already struggling to cope with the pressure from the Silver Eye's chilling energy, leaving him stretched thin. After wielding the meteor hammers for a while, one Black Ghost Worm suddenly found an opening, maneuvering eerily to his ankle, slipping past the gaps in the sharp rays covering his body, and burrowing directly into Du Yunsong’s flesh.

With one Black Ghost Worm inside him, Du Yunsong fell into complete panic. Both the defense of the "Thorn Rain Splinter" and the meteor hammers became instantly chaotic.

At this moment, five more Black Ghost Worms seized the opportunity, drilling into Du Yunsong's body and wreaking havoc within him.

His internal Yuan Force suddenly became disordered. The "Thorn Rain Splinter" could no longer be maintained. The instant the chilling force was unimpeded by the shield, it flooded unimpeded into his body.

His eyes wide with terror, Du Yunsong’s body gradually froze. The circulation speed of his internal Yuan Force slowed drastically, and he immediately lost any chance to fight back.

Boom!

The Thunderous Might struck Du Yunsong squarely on the chest. He staggered, blood instantly gushing from the corner of his mouth, his expression rapidly weakening.

With no Yuan Force left to defend his body, under the fierce, explosive power of the Thunderous Might, Du Yunsong could hold on no longer, slumping limply onto the ground.

Hastily retrieving his small dagger from nearby, Ji Changkong darted to Du Yunsong’s side, holding the blade to his throat, and demanded in a rough voice, "How did Ji Haotian disappear? Is he still alive? Who was Ji Haotian’s wife, and is she still alive?"

Du Yunsong, filled with dread, screamed out, "Who are you? You, you are Li Hentian's man?"

Pfft!

The dagger plunged into the root of Du Yunsong's thigh. As the blade was withdrawn, blood gushed profusely from the wound.

"Speak! Are Ji Haotian and his wife truly dead or not?" Ji Changkong asked, his voice trembling slightly, his tone ferocious.