"Magic... is no more." Faced with the swift attack of Yuan Ming and the others, the withered man struggled to utter this sentence.

The attacks of the three lost their power at the moment of approach, and their spirit light dispersed.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming didn't panic but instead smiled, because he knew that the withered man was already at the end of his rope.

A glint flashed in his eyes, and under the urging of his thoughts, Elder Pan Ji, who had been lying motionless on the ground, suddenly rolled over and thrust a black long sword towards the withered man.

This time, the man was completely unprepared, and his chest was directly pierced by the long sword.

In fact, Yuan Ming had realized a quarter of an hour ago that the connection between himself and Elder Pan Ji, this tree puppet, had been restored.

But he had held back all this time, just waiting for this opportunity.

As the long sword pierced the withered man's heart, a streak of blood light slashed across, instantly flashing past the withered man's neck.

There was a "crack" sound.

A dark head flew up, bringing down the Magic Cloud Tree behind it as well.

As the Magic Cloud Tree collapsed, the vines that had spread from it immediately retracted and disappeared completely.

Yuan Ming quickly stepped forward, grabbed the black head off the ground, and threw it into the Shura Blood Devouring Map to temporarily seal it.

After that, he then looked at the fallen tree trunk and the stump connected to the withered man's body.

After a brief moment of thought, Yuan Ming waved his hand and stored them in separate storage magic tools, planning to study them in detail after leaving this place. B%roug+ht# to you by MV.6+L&EM.P*Y6R.@

...

Chang Chun Temple.

The rain had stopped, and the clouds in the sky had all dispersed, but the sun had already set, leaving only a crescent moon and a few stars hanging high in the sky, casting a sprinkle of silver radiance.

Under the night sky, the Sect Protection Array of Chang Chun Temple was constantly emerging with azure spirit light, rippling like water waves, or surging like a tsunami, filling the valleys between the mountains as if the sea had flooded the land, turning the mountain ranges into a marshland.

After the battle at Yuhua City, the Wu Yue Sect's army did not pause for a moment and went straight to the gates of Chang Chun Temple, launching a fierce attack on the Sect Protection Array.

This time, their attack was without reservation. All Nascent Soul cultivators of Wu Yue Sect joined the battle, and Ni Mu and two others took action personally, employing strategies to try to breach the Array.

Naturally, the Cloud Desolation Alliance did not stand aside, and apart from Tian Jizi and several Nascent Soul cultivators who were responsible for controlling the Array, the rest chose their opponents and engaged them under the protection of the Array.

The battle became intense right from the start.

Both sides were almost blinded by rage; there were no calculations, no arrangements, no strategies—everyone had only the thought of killing their opponent in their minds.

Outside the Great Array, a huge golden puppet silently swung its fists, pounding heavily on the Array time and again. Each time its fist fell, the part of the Array that came in contact with the fist would quickly turn to metal, and even the intangible Spiritual Energy would instantly be converted into heavy gold and iron.

However, the Array was not an inanimate object; the azure spirit light flowed like river water, constantly moving and winding, and whenever a part turned metallic, the Array would quickly shift, moving the metallic part elsewhere to prevent the puppet from exploiting it.

But stalling was never a long-term strategy. Even with its thousand changes, facing a golden puppet that could assimilate everything, the Array seemed powerless.

Fortunately, this huge golden puppet was not without its consumptions; it constantly required a massive supply of spirit stones to provide Spiritual Power.

Not far away, a dazzling sword light streaked across the sky, slashing towards Ni Mu, who rapidly formed hand seals, and his body flashed with spiritual energy. It seemed like nothing had changed, but when the sword light passed, it only split a wooden puppet in half, which fell from mid-air.

"Hehe, Ni Mu, you've hidden your capabilities quite deep. Such strategies have never been exposed before. Now that you are going all out, it really surprises me. It's just too bad that such talent is subservient to the Wuyue God, content to be a puppet at his behest. It's truly unwise." Wan Tianren spoke while continuously unleashing three sword lights, slashing towards Ni Mu, who appeared on another side.

"At this point, Wan Tianren, why bother with such verbal disputes." Ni Mu shook his head, raised his hand, and blocked the sword light with a magic artifact.

"Ni Mu, think for yourself—the Wu Yue Sect takes Soul Cultivation as its foundation. Even if it seized the world in the future, as a Magic Practitioner, you might not be able to hold a high position for long. Besides, I can see that your puppet perhaps has even further potential. Tell me, if Chang Chun Temple is demolished, would the Wuyue God still keep an existence that might threaten his position?" Wan Tianren continued trying to disturb Ni Mu's state of mind with his words.

"Threaten him? Haha, Wan Tianren, the fact that you can say that shows that you still don't understand him well," Ni Mu's face, however, revealed a self-mocking smile.

Seeing this, Wan Tianren suddenly grew puzzled. He had dealt with Jin Chao many times, and compared to other cultivators, he had a deeper understanding of the power at the Returning to Void Stage. Although the divine skills of the Wu Yue god were strange, they hadn't reached a despairing level yet.

So what exactly was it that made Ni Mu so fearful?

No sooner had this thought crossed Wan Tianren's mind than he suddenly felt a strong palpitation, causing a brief moment of chaos in his spiritual power.

In the battlefield of the Nascent Soul Stage, even a moment's mistake could be fatal. However, Ni Mu did not seize the opportunity to counterattack; instead, he abruptly turned his head to look behind him, his face mirroring Wan Tianren's shock and fear.

Meanwhile, from the black palace at the rear of the Wu Yue Sect's army, an extremely furious divine soul fluctuation suddenly erupted. The Wu Yue Sect cultivators who were stationed near the palace were swept by this fluctuation, and anger appeared on their faces.

But immediately after, the anger turned into pain. Blood swiftly poured from their eyes, ears, mouth, and nose, and with a collective scream of agony, they all collapsed to the ground.

Just then, the doors of the black palace burst open. Accompanied by a frenzied black wind, a tall figure enveloped by black smoke flew out and shot straight into the sky.

The battlefield instantly quieted down. At that moment, everyone felt an unprecedented sense of crisis. Instinctively, they turned their heads, looking towards the figure isolated high above, with eyes like the moon.

"Wu Yue God? Is he finally going to take action personally?" Inside Chang Chun Temple, Tian Jizi clenched his fists, his heart on high alert.

Unexpectedly, after the appearance of the Wu Yue God, he did not speak or launch an attack on the Great Array of Chang Chun Temple. Instead, he turned his back on everyone, staring intently into the distance with a fierce gaze.

"This is..." Ni Mu noticed that the Wu Yue God was looking towards the direction of Black Witch Mountain, and immediately, his heart skipped a beat.

And the next instant, everyone saw the Wu Yue God suddenly raise his hand, using his finger as a brush, he drew a horizontal line in the void.

In an instant, the sky changed color, and a black Abyss suddenly split open beneath the Wu Yue God's feet. The roaring wind sounded like the whisper of evil spirits, chaotic and noisy, causing headaches to those who heard it.

At the same time, the Wu Yue God also uttered a strange syllable, and anyone who heard this syllable felt their divine soul violently shake, as if impacted by some external force, and they experienced a moment of dizziness.

At this moment, everyone's divine sense was frantically warning them to stop looking further, yet they also felt an inexplicable attraction, making it nearly impossible for them to shift their gaze, and they could only stare blankly at the Wu Yue God's movements.

"No, don't look, block divine sense and all senses!" Ni Mu, using his willpower, forcibly shifted his gaze, sealed off his senses, and shouted aloud, his voice spreading across the battlefield.

Wan Tianren also broke free from watching the Wu Yue God's actions. Hearing Ni Mu's words, he didn't even have time to think and also sealed off his senses, shouting out the words again.

At that moment, on the battlefield, whether they were Wu Yue Sect cultivators or Yunhuang Alliance Cultivators, everyone desperately tried to resist the temptation and seal their divine sense, but except for those with great willpower, the rest not only failed to shift their gaze but even became more obsessed with watching the Wu Yue God's movements.

At this time, the Wu Yue God continued to write characters in midair, each stroke particularly forceful. And from his mouth, more strange syllables were uttered.

As more characters were written, many ferocious ghostly hands suddenly emerged from the black Abyss below him. They fiercely reached upward, clawing and scrabbling, and in no time, numerous malicious spirits and evil ghosts formed from malevolent spirits climbed out of the Abyss, racing towards the direction of the Wu Yue God.

These evil ghosts, eager not to be outdone by each other, began tearing at their comrades' bodies in midair, biting and scratching, only stopping once they had completely swallowed those stronger than themselves.

Consequently, these evil ghosts rapidly fell into an endless spree of mutual slaughter. And as the characters written by the Wu Yue God became clearer, and more syllables were uttered, even more evil ghosts appeared, with the scene growing increasingly intense.

And when the Wu Yue God completely wrote the character "Yuan," those cultivators who had neither shifted their gaze nor sealed their senses all screamed in agony. Instantly, their physical bodies exploded into a bloody mess, and their divine souls flew towards the black Abyss, continuously twisting in midair before also becoming evil ghosts, joining the relentless blood battle.

Among these dead cultivators were both Yunhuang Alliance Cultivators and Wu Yue Sect Cultivators, yet the Wu Yue God paid no heed to these insignificant lives and deaths. Instead, he began writing the second character.

Gradually, as the second character took shape, fewer evil ghosts crawled out of the black Abyss, and the fierce slaughter was nearing an end.

When the character "Ming" appeared in the void, above the black Abyss, only a four-armed evil ghost remained. Due to having swallowed all other evil ghosts, its body had grown three times larger, and countless lost souls orbited its form, their ethereal faces filled with bitterness and hatred.

At this moment, the Wu Yue God finally lowered his head, glancing at the remaining evil ghost, his eyes seemingly revealing a trace of dissatisfaction.

However, he did not hesitate; he directly pointed at the floating characters "Yuan Ming," and immediately, a cloud of black mist enveloped the name.

The four-armed evil ghost also seemed to notice this, and immediately it flew into the clouds. With a wide-open maw, it swallowed both the name and the black mist together.

Under the gaze of the Wu Yue God, the evil ghost that had swallowed the name patted its belly contently. Then, it turned its head to glance in the direction of Black Witch Mountain before exploding with a bang, transforming into pure malice which vanished into the void.