Ye Jingzhou looked even more decrepit than before, a candle flickering in the wind. The robes that once fit him perfectly now hung on his frame like a massive shroud.

He sat at the front of the square, eyes shut, utterly motionless.

One had to wait a long time just to perceive his faint, weak heartbeat.

He was so old!

Anyone who saw Ye Jingzhou couldn’t help but have this thought. Perhaps it was because of the battle a few days ago, which had exhausted the very last shred of True Essence in his body, that he now appeared in such a state.

"Master, I’ve brought the Longevity Pills!"

Lu Yi trotted over and presented the Pill, saying:

"Hurry, take one..."

Out of the corner of his eye, Chen Che saw Ye Jingzhou sitting there, his mouth closed, his eyelids drooping.

Lu Yi wanted to force it into his mouth but didn’t have the nerve.

"Master, I beg you to open your mouth."

"No. My life is at its end, my vitality severed. Longevity Pills are useless for me now. From this day forward, you are the Valley Master..."

Ye Jingzhou slowly shook his head, his voice weak. He slightly raised a hand, and a Jade Token slowly flew up, landing before Hu Yao.

"You will be the Vice Valley Master."

WHOOSH!

Instantly, all eyes fell upon Hu Yao.

Chen Che looked over as well. Hu Yao was holding the Jade Token, his face a picture of astonishment; he clearly hadn’t expected this either. ’To me, though, it seems like a logical choice,’ Chen Che thought. ’After all, Hu Yao has a clean background and was raised by Lu Yi himself. His loyalty is beyond question.’

"Master, please, take the Pill first..."

Lu Yi’s hands trembled as he tried to feed him the Longevity Pill.

At this moment, Chen Che suddenly narrowed his eyes, as if he sensed something.

Then, he saw Ye Jingzhou ignore the Pill at his lips. Instead, he looked into the distance and, as if mustering his last breath, his voice suddenly deepened:

"Since you’ve come, there’s no need to hide. Lü Hong, you’ve coveted Jinyun Valley for a hundred years, yet you don’t dare enter now that I am on my deathbed. Must you wait until I’ve breathed my last before you dare to step foot inside?"

"Huh?"

Lu Yi was completely baffled.

From outside Jinyun Valley, a cold laugh suddenly rang out:

"Old Monster Ye, don’t try to goad me. You couldn’t kill me when you were at your peak. What makes you think you can now, when you’re so decrepit?"

With that said, before the shocked eyes of Lu Yi, Hu Yao, and the countless disciples within the valley, six Foundation Establishment Cultivators appeared in the sky above Jinyun Valley. Leading them was a Foundation Establishment Cultivator with snow-white hair and an aura of unmatched dominance.

Rong Zhongxuan stood at the rear, a dejected look on his face. He had been ordered to investigate the Major Cultivator who had raided Jinyun Valley by night, but had failed, been captured, and was now being coerced into attacking the valley.

When he caught sight of Chen Che, a flicker of joy appeared in his eyes.

Chen Che looked up as well.

Aside from Lü Hong and Rong Zhongxuan, the other four were all Foundation Establishment Cultivators who had been lurking around Jinyun Valley recently!

"Zhao Quxin, Leng Shaoyu, Rong Zhongxuan, He Yuanzhang, Shang Yongzheng!"

Ye Jingzhou was incredibly shrewd. With just a single glance at the sky, he pieced together the entire plot.

"It seems you’ve already subdued them."

"That’s right!"

Lü Hong made no attempt to hide it. With his hands clasped behind his back, he stood in mid-air and declared arrogantly, "Ye Jingzhou, I respect you for guarding Jinyun Valley for two hundred years with your own strength. You can be considered a formidable figure. I’ll allow you to take your own life, and I can even leave you an intact corpse!"

"Insolence!"

Lu Yi was furious, gripping his Giant Blade.

SHIING!

SHIING!

SHIING!

In an instant, the sound of countless weapons being drawn echoed across the square.

However, Lü Hong merely glanced at him, and Lu Yi felt a tremendous force slam down on his shoulders. With a loud THUD, the force slammed him to his knees, sending cracks spiderwebbing across the ground around them.

HISS!

This scene made the faces of everyone in the valley drain of color in horror.

Lu Yi was at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer, yet he couldn’t even withstand a single glance. At the same time, the others felt as if Tai Mountain was pressing down on them, rendering them completely immobile.

In a single moment, all the disciples in the square were suppressed.

"And if I am not willing?"

Ye Jingzhou seemed not to have seen any of this, his expression remaining as placid as ever.

"Then you will die without a grave!"

Lü Hong’s gaze swept over everyone in the valley, pausing for a fraction of a second on Chen Che before he declared with finality, "And it’s not just you. Your disciples, too. If they do not submit to me, I will grant them no quarter!"

He was already a figure of unmatched dominance, but his words now dripped with raw killing intent.

In that instant, the entire valley fell deathly silent. The Qi Refining Cultivators felt their bodies go numb, completely suppressed by his aura, as if they had lost all control.

"So you’re saying, you want to kill me?" Ye Jingzhou’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"Hmph!"

Lü Hong snorted lightly, not bothering to reply.

A stir went through the crowd.

Lu Yi’s eyes were red-rimmed. How glorious Ye Jingzhou had been at his peak, and now in his decline, he was being forced to commit suicide just to keep an intact corpse. And they, his disciples, were being forced to serve another master.

What a bitter irony!

Chen Che’s brow furrowed. He certainly wasn’t going to be the one to stick his neck out. Besides, he could sense that Ye Jingzhou seemed to have anticipated all of this; there wasn’t a trace of panic in him.

’Could it be he still has a trump card?’

Just as he was thinking, a black-clothed cultivator with a Long Spear on his back stepped out into the air.

Chen Che’s eyes flashed. This was Zhao Quxin, the very same Foundation Establishment Cultivator from the Memory Bead, the first one captured by Lü Hong’s Ice Dragon.

"Since you are stubbornly refusing to see reason, don’t blame me for being ruthless."

"You want to fight me? Here?"

Ye Jingzhou glanced at him.

"Kill him!"

Lü Hong waved his hand dismissively, suddenly losing interest and not wanting to speak further.

At the wave of Lü Hong’s hand, Zhao Quxin gripped his Long Spear. With a SWOOSH, he dove from the sky, thrusting the spear directly toward Ye Jingzhou.

He may not have been able to withstand three of Lü Hong’s attacks, but he was a Foundation Establishment Cultivator nonetheless. The spear was incredibly fast, like a flash of lightning, or a black python charging down from the sky to tear Ye Jingzhou apart.

The power of this strike alone made everyone in the square turn pale.

"Master!"

Lu Yi cried out miserably.

But Ye Jingzhou remained seated, completely unmoved. He simply raised his right hand slightly, released a burst of True Essence, and with a sealing motion, easily blocked the attack.

"Oh?"

Zhao Quxin was astonished but not overly concerned. After living for nearly three hundred years, Ye Jingzhou was like a centipede that remains standing even in death.

One strike failed, and another followed.

The sky filled with spear afterimages, like a million Flood Dragon Snakes pouncing and tearing. Finally, the Long Spear in his hand transformed into an eighty-foot-long black python that completely enveloped Ye Jingzhou, coiling around him, seeking to crush him.

Wherever the black python passed, Strong Qi erupted, shattering the stone beneath.

The power unleashed by the clash of two Foundation Establishment Cultivators was terrifying. The surrounding disciples were sent flying by the shockwaves of Strong Qi. In a battle of this caliber, ordinary Qi Refining Cultivators had no right to even interfere. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

They could only watch helplessly as Ye Jingzhou was trapped within the giant python.

However, to everyone’s relief, Ye Jingzhou’s calm voice drifted out from within the coils of the giant python:

"You think you’re enough to kill me?"

"Die!"

Before the sound of his voice faded, Zhao Quxin’s face twisted into a snarl. He couldn’t believe he couldn’t even finish off a dying man, and was being mocked for it. How could he tolerate that?

His gaze turned cold, and he gripped the Long Spear with one hand.

BOOM!

His long hair stood on end like steel needles, and his sleeves billowed wildly. In that instant, his entire Qi Mechanism surged, multiplying in power. At the same time, the Long Spear in his hand let out a heaven-shaking roar.

The spearhead transformed into a dragon’s head, growing whiskers and horns, its great mouth full of sharp, jagged teeth.

The spear shaft became a dragon’s body, countless scales rapidly spreading and forming as True Essence was poured in.

And as Zhao Quxin lightly thrust forward.

This black dragon spanned the sky, lunging ferociously toward Ye Jingzhou.

RUMBLE!

Where the black dragon passed, the ground buckled and split, leaving a deep trench in its wake, as if a real dragon had just scraped the earth. The sight sent a chill down everyone’s spine.

"Master, dodge, quickly!"

Lu Yi shouted, his voice cracking.

However, Ye Jingzhou remained seated, neither blocking nor dodging. Only when the black dragon was upon him did he slowly raise his right hand and reach forward.

His hand moved without a sound, yet it struck first despite moving last.

With a soft SQUELCH,

The black dragon froze three inches from Ye Jingzhou. A giant, black, scaled claw had pierced through Zhao Quxin’s chest and emerged from his back. Clutched in the black talons was a still-beating heart.

"You are too weak. If you had cultivated for another thirty years, you might have been able to exchange a few moves with me."

With that, he flexed his fingers. With a soft SQUISH, the heart was crushed to a pulp. Ye Jingzhou then lifted his head, looked to the figures in the sky, and said coolly:

"Who else among you wants a lesson?"

THUD!

Zhao Quxin’s corpse fell powerlessly to the ground, his eyes wide, as if he never imagined he would die at the hands of the decrepit Ye Jingzhou.

"What?"

Seeing this, the faces of the Foundation Establishment Cultivators in the sky all changed at once.

The scene, though long in the telling, had happened in the blink of an eye!

Lü Hong’s expression was particularly grim.

The might of that claw was almost no different from Ye Jingzhou at his peak.

’He’s a dying man, just mustering his last bit of strength...’

A Foundation Establishment Cultivator named Shang Yongzheng stepped forward, clearly unconvinced.

SWOOSH!

But before he could finish his sentence, a ray of black light shot from Ye Jingzhou’s hand, streaking toward him with unparalleled force.

"Oh no!"

Shang Yongzheng’s pupils contracted. He raised his hand and waved, and an Eight Trigrams Mirror quickly flew from his hand. As soon as the mirror appeared, it began to emit light.

From its might, it was clear that this was also a Tier Two Protective Magical Artifact.

But in the end, the Eight Trigrams Mirror couldn’t even hold for half a second before it shattered under the assault of the black light. To the horror of the crowd, the black light continued on, its momentum undiminished, and pierced through his body. The immense force carried him backward, pinning him to a thousand-year-old tree within the valley.

With a loud CRACK, the ancient tree exploded, splitting in two where the black light had struck, sending splinters flying everywhere.

"This is bad! The old monster was playing possum! He’s not dying at all..."

Seeing this, one of the Major Cultivators, his face contorted in terror, turned to flee.

They had been coerced here by Lü Hong.

Although they were slightly unwilling, if Lü Hong could really become the master of Jinyun Valley, they wouldn’t mind bowing their heads in submission. But now that Ye Jingzhou’s strength was still terrifying, they were not willing to be cannon fodder sent to their deaths!

"Flee?"

However, Ye Jingzhou, who moments ago had seemed on death’s door, now threw his head back and laughed. He whipped his sleeve through the air.

"With me here, you think you can escape?"

Amidst the laughter, a black pillar of light suddenly shot out from within the valley. The pillar rose eight hundred zhang, then exploded with a BOOM. Countless specks of starlight rained down, forming a giant black bowl that sealed the entirety of Jinyun Valley!

"Phew!"

Seeing this, the disciples of Jinyun Valley broke into joyous cheers.

But Chen Che’s face darkened.

He stared at the shattered ancient tree. The Magical Artifact that had nailed and killed the Foundation Establishment Cultivator, after the black light dissipated, had revealed its true form:

A Soul-Calling Banner!