Chapter 648: The Might of the Black Dragon Shears — Zhao Zhenting Instantly Killed
Zhao Zhenting declared solemnly, "I vow loyalty to the Corpse Division. I will die without regret!"
Shi Lu nodded. "Activate the formation."
"Yes!" Zhao Zhenting nodded in reply.
Song Zhenfei's face was pale. "Everyone… this is where we die."
Liu Yuntian gave a bitter smile. "Had I known the grotto heaven would be like this, I'd never have gotten involved in this mess."
Zhang Changheng sighed. "Who could've guessed the Cangqing Grotto Heaven would be this dangerous?"
Even the normally quiet Wei Jincheng muttered, "It's fate. Can't be avoided."
"At this point, no one can save us." Song Zhenfei could only sigh.
Suddenly, a streak of black light descended from the heavens.
Roar!
A dragon's cry echoed across the sky!
Zhao Zhenting froze in place.
The disciples beside him looked at him in confusion.
The next moment, they saw a thin red line appear on Zhao Zhenting's forehead.
Blood began to trickle from it.
In the blink of an eye, blood gushed forth in streams.
His vitality and soul had already been shredded by the Black Dragon Shears.
Thud.
Zhao Zhenting's body collapsed to the ground.
Only then did the twenty-plus disciples of the Five Thunder Mountain Sect cry out in shock.
It had all happened too fast.
No one even had time to react.
Shi Lu suddenly turned his head toward the sky.
He immediately spotted a young man standing in mid-air.
With a majestic bearing and divine aura.
Shi Lu was not alarmed but delighted.
Instantly killing Zhao Zhenting—this level of strength was already comparable to the top prodigies of the Southern Region.
If he could capture this person, the vitality harvested would be equal to that of dozens of Nirvana Realm cultivators!
Inside the formation, the captured cultivators all turned their gazes upward.
Song Zhenfei and the others were utterly shaken.
They had, of course, recognized Shen Mo at a glance.
But Shen Mo's strength… had it really risen to the level of instantly killing Zhao Zhenting?
That was Zhao Zhenting, Sect Master of the Five Thunder Mountain Sect!
A powerhouse on the same tier as Ying Tianhao!
His Dao Patterns should number at least sixty!
But Shen Mo's Dao Patterns were supposed to be only twenty or thirty at most.
What in the world had happened to him during the time he entered the Cangqing Grotto Heaven ahead of them?
Liu Yuntian muttered, "Perhaps Fellow Daoist Shen obtained some treasure within the Cangqing Grotto Heaven—after all, he holds the golden page."
Zhang Changheng nodded. "That's quite likely."
But Wei Jincheng disagreed. "Even if there are treasures in the Cangqing Grotto Heaven, no treasure could let a cultivator with twenty Dao Patterns kill one with sixty."
"I believe Fellow Daoist Shen has possessed this level of strength all along—he simply never revealed it to us."
Hearing this, the other three fell momentarily silent.
It made sense.
No matter how powerful a treasure, it couldn't grant instant transcendence.
A treasure was still just a treasure—it required a cultivator to wield it.
Give a sacred artifact to a mortal, and at most it would be a lump of iron, completely unusable.
Let alone unleashing its full power.
"What worries me," Zhang Changheng said softly, "is whether Brother Shen can defeat that Corpse Division demon."
"Don't forget, Ying Tianhao thought himself powerful too, yet that demon killed him in just a few strikes—devoured both his body and soul."
Song Zhenfei and Liu Yuntian both grew uneasy.
Indeed.
Zhao Zhenting was strong, yes.
But if all the captured cultivators worked together, they might've stood a chance at defeating him.
The true terror… was that demon from the Corpse Division.
If it couldn't be repelled, none of them would leave alive.
Worst case—Shen Mo himself might not survive either.
And given how close they were to him, they couldn't bear to witness such an outcome.
"Hahaha! Another cultivator delivered right to me—excellent!"
Shi Lu let out a booming laugh as his abdomen opened wide.
Suddenly, he vomited several corpses onto the ground.
These corpses were all cultivators he had devoured just moments ago.
Among them was none other than Ying Tianhao, the chief island lord of Hidden Dragon Island.
Shen Mo cast a glance over and immediately noticed that each of these corpses had, in life, been at least Nirvana Realm cultivators with over fifty Dao Patterns.
Clearly, this Corpse Division demon was a master of corpse refinement.
Even after death, the strength of these corpses only declined slightly, not drastically.
"You're using me as nourishment?"
"Here's some advice—devouring everything will only be your downfall."
Shen Mo let out a light laugh.
This Shi Lu truly was delusional.
Suddenly, he hurled a small flag forward.
As the flag hit the ground, it landed like a mountain, shaking the earth violently.
Layer after layer of yellow light burst out from it, sweeping across the entire area.
All the cultivators bathed in the yellow glow felt their spirits lifted at once.
It was as if boundless strength erupted from the depths of their flesh.
Spiritual power and blood energy surged back at an unprecedented rate.
Even the power of their martial techniques seemed to increase by twenty to thirty percent!
"What kind of treasure is that?!"
Song Zhenfei was stunned.
The enhancement effect was far too terrifying!
Zhang Changheng said solemnly, "I think I've heard of it—it's one of the supreme treasures once wielded by Supreme Cangqing: the Xuanhuang Battle Dragon Banner!"
Liu Yuntian's expression lit up. "This must be the treasure Fellow Daoist Shen obtained through the golden page. Quickly—let's use this opportunity to break free and attack the formation from within!"
As the light of the Xuanhuang Battle Dragon Banner swept across the battlefield, Shen Mo too felt its immense amplification.
He once again threw out the Black Dragon Shears.
Two fierce and savage black dragons roared into the sky, jaws wide open as they swept toward the corpses.
In mere seconds, the corpses were torn in half—cleaved straight down the middle.
Their remaining life force was shredded on the spot!
Shi Lu's expression changed dramatically.
Those corpses were no weaklings—he had counted on them to cause significant trouble.
But they hadn't even lasted a single exchange.
"You're next."
Shen Mo raised his hand, and the Black Dragon Shears came in from behind, closing in on Shi Lu.
Shi Lu let out a low growl. The flesh of his back morphed into a massive blood shield to block the assault from behind.
At the same time, he condensed the flesh of his left arm into a giant spear and hurled it straight at Shen Mo.
That flesh spear swirled with thick demonic energy, surrounded by howling vengeful spirits and wailing ghosts.
Even before it struck, it was enough to disturb the minds of most cultivators, making it difficult to concentrate on defense.
But Shi Lu had clearly underestimated Shen Mo's unwavering will.
The cries of the vengeful spirits meant nothing to him.
With a low shout, Shen Mo summoned forth the manifestation of a giant scarlet figure.
It was—the Trueblood Saint King Body!
Boom!
The giant flesh spear struck him squarely.
But the Trueblood Saint King Body absorbed half of its power.
The remaining half was further diminished by forty percent thanks to the Gilded Dragon Might Armor on Shen Mo's body.
Only a mere ten percent of the original force truly struck Shen Mo.
And even that minuscule blow wasn't enough to make him take a single step back.
It was as feeble as a dying arrow.
"What?!"
Shi Lu's eyes widened in disbelief.
He had sacrificed his left arm for that powerful strike, and it couldn't even force the enemy to retreat a step?
The man's strength was far beyond what he had imagined.
Clang!
A tremendous force struck the flesh shield behind him.
In just ten seconds, it was already on the verge of collapse.
"Damn it—all right, I'm out of here!"
Shi Lu cursed bitterly, grabbed several of the Five Thunder Mountain Sect disciples who were trying to flee, and shoved them straight into his maw.
Massive quantities of blood and flesh were swallowed in an instant.
With a sudden rupture of blood and flesh from both legs, his speed exploded to the limit.
And he bolted southward at full force.
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