Chapter 857: Easily Handled!

Zou Feng guessed correctly; Gongyang Hechuan was indeed hiding in the shadows, stirring up trouble. In fact, when Zou Feng fought Gongyang Jin, Gongyang Hechuan had been hiding in a nearby Alternate Space all along, closely observing Zou Feng’s every move. At this moment, a man who looked exactly like Zou Feng—save for his dull, lifeless eyes—appeared in front of Gongyang Hechuan.

This was the Skill derived from Gongyang Hechuan’s Small Thousand World: the Soul-Breaking Curse Killing Technique. By observing Zou Feng from a close distance, he could create Zou Feng’s Substitute within his own Small Thousand World. Of course, if Zou Feng had fallen into Gongyang Hechuan’s Small Thousand World, the Substitute created would have been even more lifelike, thereby enhancing the effects of the Curse Kill. Unfortunately, given Zou Feng’s current strength, Gongyang Hechuan couldn’t guarantee that his Small Thousand World would be able to trap him. Therefore, he had to settle for the next best thing: having Gongyang Jin attack head-on to stall Zou Feng as much as possible, while he stayed in the shadows, gathering all sorts of information about Zou Feng from up close. This way, he could still create a decent Substitute.

Once the Substitute was complete, he could unleash an extremely powerful Curse Kill based on Cause and Effect. Though the attack would seem to land on the Substitute, it would actually strike directly at the target’s Divine Soul. However, even though Gongyang Hechuan was fully prepared, he stared at Gongyang Jin dancing with such wild abandon and froze for a long while. He simply couldn’t hold it in any longer and nearly burst out laughing.

It couldn’t be helped. To see a powerful entity—who had remained stern, unfailingly calm, and stoic over thousands of years—now completely high and dancing with absolute abandon… anyone would crack at such an extreme contrast. As a result, Gongyang Hechuan almost forgot that the most important thing right now was to quickly execute the Curse Kill on Zou Feng. A Curse Kill struck the Divine Soul directly. Once hit, it was absolutely impossible to escape with just minor injuries. A stricken Zou Feng would definitely be unable to maintain the Xuanwu Paradise, inevitably freeing Gongyang Jin from the abyss of art.

Meanwhile, Gongyang Jin, who was still dancing in the Xuanwu Paradise, appeared completely exhilarated on the surface. However, his remaining sanity was cursing Gongyang Hechuan nonstop. He wondered why the bastard hadn’t made a move yet, considering it had been so long. He should have crafted a usable Substitute by now. If he didn’t launch the attack soon, Gongyang Jin would sink deeper and deeper until he couldn’t extricate himself.

Fortunately, after admiring Gongyang Jin’s humiliating display and having a good laugh, Gongyang Hechuan quickly realized the gravity of the situation. After all, if Zou Feng’s Small Thousand World could force Gongyang Jin to make such a fool of himself, its power was unimaginable… Thinking of this, Gongyang Hechuan didn’t dare to delay any longer and hastily channeled all his power into casting the Skill.

Using all his strength, he condensed a long Silver Needle, then spat a mouthful of blood onto it. The blood was quickly absorbed by the Silver Needle. Such a powerful Skill naturally didn’t come without a price. After spitting out this mouthful of Essence Blood, Gongyang Hechuan’s complexion visibly worsened, and his overall state became quite sluggish.

But it wasn’t over yet. Next, Gongyang Hechuan gritted his teeth and repeated the process, condensing a second needle, then a third… By the time the third Silver Needle was completed, Gongyang Hechuan grew even weaker. His previously energetic and youthful appearance was now like that of a sickly patient.

However, it was all worth it. The next moment, Gongyang Hechuan silently chanted a Technique and viciously stabbed a Silver Needle into the center of the Substitute’s forehead. The second Silver Needle was pierced right into its Dantian. As for the final Silver Needle… Gongyang Hechuan took a deep breath, stepped around to the back of the Substitute, and ruthlessly plunged it right into the Substitute’s butt crack!

This was the most formidable and vicious application of the Soul-Breaking Curse Killing Technique: the Three-Gate Household Extermination Technique! No matter how powerful Zou Feng was, his Realm was still only at the Nascent Soul Middle Stage. This meant that once the Three-Gate Household Extermination Technique was formed, Zou Feng would have absolutely no way to defend himself. He could only take it all!

Retracting his right hand, a ferocious sneer surfaced on Gongyang Hechuan’s lips. The words “Victory is assured” were practically written all over his face.

In truth, Gongyang Hechuan’s deduction was correct. Currently, Zou Feng really had no way to defend against this move. However, in his current state, he could transfer the effects of this attack elsewhere. It had to be known that in the Xuanwu Paradise, Zou Feng, as the lead dancer, was undoubtedly in a state of continuous dancing. Dancing equated to honing his Dancing Skill, which was also a form of Cultivation. During the Cultivation process, this kind of impact on the Divine Soul level would be classified by the List of Gods under the category of side effects. After all, dancing madly and becoming too engrossed in art could inherently cause mental issues.

And in order to make Gongyang Jin join the Jingwu Dance Troupe sooner, Gongyang Jin was currently exclusively occupying the position of the top supporter on the ranking.

As a result, Gongyang Jin took the full brunt of the effects of the Three-Gate Household Extermination Technique! At that moment, the trauma to the Divine Soul affected the physical body. First, Gongyang Jin felt an intense, piercing pain in his forehead, then in his Dantian. Finally, the place that should least suffer such pain felt as though a red-hot branding iron had been shoved into it.

“HOOOOHHH—”

Amidst a bizarre, unintelligible shriek, Gongyang Jin, who had been immersed in the art of dance, revealed a shattered expression he had never shown before. From afar, it looked as if an invisible person had backstabbed him with a strange weapon.

Suffering such a severe blow, Gongyang Jin could no longer resist the mental corruption of the Xuanwu Paradise. His eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he completely succumbed. Of course, he continued dancing. The difference was that he had now become akin to a marionette. Although he was still dancing, he had clearly lost his self-awareness.