But at this moment, the scholar was also unable to protect himself, how could he spare the time to take care of him? However, after a hundred breaths later, twelve Shadowless Corpse Lords let out a mournful cry, reverting to their original forms one by one, each being scattered by Thunder Radiance, not long after, a blinding purple light completely surrounded him, followed by a loud sound, leaving no trace of his bones.

After annihilating this person, Zhang Yan had enough time to attend to the situation here. He turned his head and saw that the scholar was still resisting there. However, looking at the current situation, it wouldn’t be long before he met the same fate as Duan Xiangzhou. At this moment, he had a sudden thought, used a spell with his fingers, and withdrew his Divine Skills, no longer unleashing them.

Seeing the Thunder Light from the sky suddenly disappear, the scholar’s Heart and Spirit slackened, and he felt his whole body’s Qi Power dissipate, unable to stand any longer, he collapsed weakly to the ground.

Without someone behind to drive it, the Lifeless Treasure Coffin swayed, returned to its size of one foot, and fell to the ground with a plop.

Zhang Yan stepped out from the Forbidden Array, approached this person, and slowly descended in front of him. He first glanced at the small black coffin, noticing that after all those strikes, there wasn’t a single mark visible, realizing it was a strange treasure, he waved his robe sleeve and wrapped it in Gang Wind.

He did not grasp it into his hand but stopped it mid-air, sending a strand of Spiritual Energy into it. He only probed down but felt the Mana didn’t flow smoothly, as if this treasure was repelling him. He surmised that this item likely required a unique Secret Technique to be activated, possibly not fated for him. After a moment of thought, he conjured a water light and collected it, then turned and asked, "What relation are you to Duan Xiangzhou?"

The scholar, his Mana exhausted, stared helplessly as his treasure was taken away, but was powerless to resist. Hearing these words, he forced himself to sit up, cupped his hands, and said, "I am Song Chuyuan, a fellow disciple with Duan Xiangzhou as my senior brother."

Zhang Yan nodded and said, "I observed that the Daoist Skill of you brothers seems to be from the former Great Sect, Corpse Pride Sect."

Song Chuyuan gave a bitter chuckle and said, "Your Excellency has keen eye power."

Zhang Yan’s eyes gleamed, he asked solemnly, "You’ve just attempted to take action against me, what exactly do you covet from me?" 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Song Chuyuan replied with a bitter voice, "To be honest, my senior brother was cultivating a corpse formation technique in the sect, but it lacked a refined corpse leader array, which could only be crafted from the body of a Nascent Soul cultivator. Yet, these people are all respected figures, not easily targeted. And this place is desolate, unafraid of the news leaking, thus we acted with intent." At this point, he glanced at Zhang Yan and couldn’t help but ask, "Do you know what happened to my senior brother?"

Zhang Yan replied indifferently, "Shattered body and bones, Divine Soul completely annihilated."

Song Chuyuan shivered, being an evil sect disciple, he feared Thunder Skill the most, not only does it counteract evil sect’s Mysterious Skill, but even the Primordial Spirit is obliterated under this law, leaving no chance for resurrection. He barely managed to compose himself and asked, "Then... how does Your Excellency plan to deal with me?"

Zhang Yan merely smiled without responding.

Song Chuyuan had already seen the outcome from his expression, sighed deeply, and said despondently, "We brothers intended harm to others, this outcome is brought by ourselves... But could Your Excellency lend me sixteen years of life?"

"Borrow life?" Zhang Yan turned sideways, appraising him up and down, he laughed, "If you can present a reason, I might allow it."

Song Chuyuan chuckled bitterly, "Though my Corpse Pride Sect is now scattered, the disciples constantly think of reviving the sect. When the Mountain Gate was broken, the Ancestor master hid the Daoist Book Talisman in a secret place, waiting for later disciples to retrieve it. Only my senior brother and I know its whereabouts, and now my senior brother is dead, if I die, our sect will have no hope of revival. Could Your Excellency allow the small person to deliver the Secret Volume to my fellow disciples, then return to face death?"

At this, he added, "As long as Your Excellency promises, I am willing to hand over all the wealth accumulated over the past hundred years."

"Sixteen years?" Zhang Yan raised an eyebrow, "Are you planning to attend the Dragon Pillar Meeting of the two sects?"

Song Chuyuan nodded repeatedly, saying, "So Your Excellency knows about this; sixteen years later, there will be the final fighting between Zhongtai Sect and Xuanyue Sect, this battle will determine the Dragon Pillar’s ownership. Zhongtai Sect is recruiting cultivators from all over, not caring about sect origin. I assume that the disciples scattered outside the sect will hear of this and will certainly show up, thus this plan."

Zhang Yan thought for a short while and said, "Although you are a junior brother of Duan Xiangzhou, in consideration that you did not take action against me just now, I can spare you. But you need to swear an oath that for the next sixteen years, you must obey my commands and, unless against enemies, refrain from harming lives arbitrarily."

Upon hearing this, Song Chuyuan’s face showed excitement. He immediately took out two pieces of talisman paper, swore an oath with his own Essence Blood, swallowed one, and handed the other to Zhang Yan.

Zhang Yan took the talisman paper and put it in his sleeve. At this moment, he seemed to detect something unusual, his eyes flashed, and a sword light flew out from his brow, with a clang, pinning an object onto a stone. Upon turning back to look, he saw it was a straw man, which appeared like a living being, struggling desperately and whimpering.

Song Chuyuan saw this and blurted out, "Joy and Sorrow Puppet?"

Zhang Yan asked, "Daoist Song recognizes this item?"

Song Chuyuan’s eyes showed a complicated look, he sighed, "This is my senior brother’s personal Dharma Treasure. Before our master passed away, he divided two items between us. One was the Lifeless Treasure Coffin taken by Your Excellency, and another is this ’Joy and Sorrow Puppet.’ This Dharma Treasure has the ability to substitute death. However, it has a flaw, it has dual natures, one good, one evil. If summoned when it’s the good nature, it can be fed with Essence Blood to safely take the ordeal on your behalf. But if it’s the evil nature, it will find all sorts of excuses and resistances to prevent you from achieving what you wish, always trying ways to thwart your Ruyi. It seems my senior brother used it in a panic just now but still failed to escape death, truly due to bad fortune."

...

...(To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for recommendations, monthly tickets at qidian.com. Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com to read.)