245: Shedding its skin like a cicada!

Lu Ming had no intention of answering Shen Yuan's terrified questioning.

Otherwise, what could he say?

"I don't like the look of you? Why don't you just stand there and let me hit you?"

That was clearly impossible!

Therefore, Lu Ming chose the silent treatment, his surging magic power making his Aura increasingly terrifying.

Subsequently, Lu Ming was seen slowly drawing the sunfall longbow, its body trembling and emitting a low hum.

The surrounding light seemed to be devoured, and only above the bowstring did a crimson flame arrow, constructed purely from True Sun Fire, condense.

Yet it was not over!

The instant the crimson flame arrow formed, the Three Yin Nether Fire around Lu Ming erupted suddenly, transforming into a sky-filling sea of ghostly green flames, which then rapidly collapsed, ultimately converging into three lifelike green fire Dragons that roared as they coiled around the crimson flame arrow.

The Three Yin Nether Fire, containing extreme Yin power, intertwined with the extremely rigid and Yang True Sun Fire; these two forces, which should have been mutually repulsive, were now entwined and merging.

Finally, a rotating Yin and Yang fish pattern formed at the arrowhead, with black and white Qi flowing unceasingly, emitting a heart-palpitating Aura of destruction.

Locked onto by the Yin and Yang arrow, Shen Yuan felt his entire body go cold, a sense of horror surging into his heart, as if he had been targeted by some great, terrifying entity.

His eyes were covered in bloodshot veins as he frantically urged the soul devouring banner, manipulating ten thousand ghosts to construct layers of defense before him.

Yet in the next moment!

Twang—the bowstring vibrated, yet it seemed silent.

The moment the arrow left the string, the entire ghost domain suddenly fell into an eerie silence.

The whistling of Yin winds, the wailing of ghosts, and even the sound of magic power flowing all vanished!

Only that arrow, entwined with the power of Yin and Yang, carved a brilliant radiance through the Void Realm.

Wherever it passed, space rippled, and the ghost domain shattered inch by inch like a mirror.

"No!"

Shen Yuan's eyes were splitting, and he poured his entire cultivation base into the soul devouring banner without reservation, eventually even burning his own Golden Core Origin and the spirit of his Magic Treasure.

Finally, a huge ghost face manifested on the surface of the banner. Its abyss-like giant mouth opened, resembling a black hole; just one glance made one feel as if their Divine Soul was about to leave their body.

This was Shen Yuan's all-out, desperate strike!

If he didn't succeed, he would be a dead man!

In the next second, the black and white arrow collided with the ghost face. There was no earth-shattering explosion upon contact, only a spread of black and white Qi.

Wherever the black and white Qi passed, all things returned to silence!

Yin spirits, ghost tides, and even the ghost domain were annihilated in an instant amidst the white light.

By the time the black and white Qi dissipated, the ghost domain had completely vanished.

A huge deep pit lay in the arena, with Shen Yuan standing quietly in place. The soul devouring banner in his hand had dim spiritual light, and a hideous crack had even appeared on its surface.

"He didn't get killed, did he?"

Lu Ming panted, suppressing the surging blood in his body.

He looked from afar at Shen Yuan, who stood motionless in the pit, feeling somewhat uneasy.

'He better not be dead!' After working so hard for so long, he didn't want to end up with just a corpse.

However, he did not rashly step forward to check, instead turning to signal Ji Ruge, who was nearby, to go and probe the situation.

Ji Ruge's face was blank, but his body stepped forward without the slightest hesitation.

Arriving beside Shen Yuan, he extended his Divine Sense to carefully sense the interior of his body, then shook his head at Lu Ming.

"Dead?"

Lu Ming's expression turned completely gloomy.

'Great, all this effort was for nothing!'

Although he had gained a lot from this battle, and this 'Dao Outside Incarnation' of Ji Ruge alone was worth the price, he hadn't obtained what he wanted most: the memories regarding the outer realms and the Nascent Soul Sect.

"Sigh~" He sighed. Even though he was extremely unwilling, things had reached this point, and he could do nothing but accept reality.

However, just as Lu Ming was preparing to clean up the battlefield and count his gains, his subconscious movement of looking up paused.

His gaze fixed straight ahead at the Void Realm, where he saw a golden book slowly opening.

Rustle, rustle—the pages turned. When it reached the page belonging to the Golden Core stage, a name entered his eyes!

【Shen Yuan】!

This name that should have disappeared was actually listed there!

Although it looked extremely dim, it indeed still existed!

This meant...

"He's still alive!"

Lu Ming's eyes lit up, and he immediately looked toward Shen Yuan's 'corpse,' but his brows furrowed deeply again.

"With Ji Ruge's Mid-stage Golden Core cultivation, he shouldn't be mistaken, so..."

He took a step, instantly arriving in front of Shen Yuan; he wanted to check personally!

Lu Ming stretched out his hand to touch Shen Yuan's crown, then circulated the Blood Demon Soul Refining Scripture to begin an inch-by-inch investigation.

The Blood Demon Soul Refining Scripture, this Soul-searching Cultivation Technique, actually had flaws; every time one searched a Soul, it was like using a millstone to crush the Cultivator's Divine Soul, and the spiritual essence squeezed out in the end was the crystal of the Cultivator's memories.

Usually, Lu Ming wouldn't even glance at this technique, but now it was exactly what was needed!

Grinding through inch by inch like this, as long as a trace of a remnant Soul remained in Shen Yuan's body, it couldn't escape his eyes!

However, the result remained unchanged!

There was no Soul, and even the Aura had completely dissipated!

"It seems he has likely escaped!" Lu Ming stroked his chin, pondering. "I just don't know what method Shen Yuan used to deceive everyone in this situation, a golden cicada shedding its shell!"

If not for Lu Ming possessing the golden book, he would have truly thought this person was completely finished.

As for where this person had run off to?

With a thought from Lu Ming, Ji Ruge transmitted a Divine Thought, relaying all the intelligence regarding Shen Yuan.

"Someone from the outer realms, occupying the magpie's nest... So that's how it is!"

After receiving the Divine Thought, Lu Ming realized.

It turned out Shen Yuan was not alone; he had a companion at the Late Golden Core Stage, whom he called Senior Brother Mu.

Both came from the Cloud Mist Mountain Range; why exactly they came here, Ji Ruge did not know.

But when the two descended upon the Imperial City, Ji Ruge had exchanged blows with that Late Golden Core Stage Cultivator.

Although he failed after not lasting a few moves, he noticed that the person was severely injured, and Ji Ruge guessed that they had fled here from the outer realms to save their lives.

Later, Shen Yuan and his Senior Brother used the Immortal Dynasty as a threat, then promised many benefits, such as teaching Nascent Soul Dao techniques.

This method of giving a stick and then a carrot made Ji Ruge half-reluctantly yield the Immortal Dynasty's third-rank Spiritual Vein, leaving it for that Late Golden Core Stage individual to heal.

Shen Yuan planned to take advantage of his Senior Brother's healing period to eradicate the other Golden Core powers in the Southern Wilderness Region one by one.

He was extremely confident in his own strength and, deep down, looked down on the Cultivators of the Southern Wilderness Region, feeling they were all a group of uncivilized barbarians.

However, Shen Yuan was not a reckless person. The first one he chose was naturally the one with the shallowest foundation among the four Golden Core powers of the Southern Wilderness Region: Heavenly Star Immortal City!

Eliminating True Person Tianxing became their primary goal.

Thus, they secretly guided the Mountain-Shaking Demonic Ape to target Heavenly Star Immortal City, planning to launch a sneak attack when True Person Tianxing left the city to engage in battle.

The first half of the entire plan could be said to have been very smooth; if not for Lu Ming's rash interference, they would have truly succeeded.