Chapter 1041: Sneak Attack

Zhang Xingda's perception was extraordinary. When the soil and stones outside that small hill fell away, revealing a gigantic head, he just glanced at it and realized that something was amiss.

This head was incredibly massive. Once the outer layer of soil and stones was removed, the entire small hill seemed to consist almost entirely of this head.

Zhang Xingda was momentarily stunned, his face full of astonishment.

He recognized this as the divine body of a naturally born Ghost Deity, and he had a guess about its origin.

Being a prominent Ghost Deity in Yin Capital, he naturally knew about the matter concerning the pair of naturally born Ghost Deities.

At this moment, the shock in his heart was beyond words, nearly rendering him temporarily thoughtless.

Just as he was trying hard to see the details of this divine body before him, an unbearable pain suddenly radiated from his chest, interrupting his train of thought.

A fierce sword qi had pierced through the chest of his Ghost Deity body, which had been reformed in the Netherworld, leaving a hole the size of a bowl. Numerous cracks appeared around the hole on his body.

If it were a living person's body, even a Primordial Spirit True Monarch, receiving such a sudden and heavy blow to the physical body might lead to its complete collapse.

Fortunately, the Ghost Deity body was extremely resilient. Even the postnatal Ghost Deity's divine body was much stronger than the ordinary Cultivator's physique, which prevented his divine body from completely shattering.

The culprit behind this injury was none other than Sword Cultivator Ouyang Jian.

Ouyang Jian's face was filled with regret, as if he didn't want to witness this scene.

He and Zhang Xingda, old friends for over a thousand years, had a genuine life-and-death bond.

If Zhang Xingda hadn't coincidentally stumbled upon this scene, Ouyang Jian wouldn't have had a reason to turn against his old friend so soon.

Now that Zhang Xingda had discovered his target, Ouyang Jian had no choice but to set aside their friendship and eliminate him.

Zhang Xingda had been solely focused on guarding against Mo Qing True Monarch, and he had never anticipated that his longtime friend Ouyang Jian would suddenly launch a sneak attack.

Caught off guard, he was immediately struck by Ouyang Jian's sword qi, sustaining severe injuries that nearly left him powerless to fight.

Ouyang Jian didn't even summon his flying sword; he used only his sword qi, which was enough to send his old friend on his final journey.

With a single pointed finger, he unleashed several incredibly sharp sword qi, which shot towards Zhang Xingda like lightning.

Relying on the robustness of his Ghost Deity body, Zhang Xingda managed to evade the first wave of attacks.

His body rapidly retreated while he mustered all the divine power within him, desperately trying to defend himself.

At this moment, he had no strength left to question Ouyang Jian, nor did he care about the anger of being betrayed by an old friend. He cast everything aside and focused solely on squeezing out every ounce of strength from his body, striving to secure a way out for himself.

The divine power Zhang Xingda summoned was easily crushed by Ouyang Jian, leaving him with several deep wounds.

Facing a Sword Cultivator at the late stage of Primordial Spirit against a Ghost Deity at about the mid-stage of Primordial Spirit, and with the suddenness of the sneak attack, Zhang Xingda was at a disadvantage.

Even though he was a Ghost Deity and had the advantage of fighting in the Netherworld, his strength was quickly waning.

Ouyang Jian furrowed his brows. He had originally intended to let Zhang Xingda depart painlessly, considering it a final favor to his old friend.

However, Zhang Xingda refused to cooperate and insisted on resisting with the resilience of his Ghost Deity body, which posed some trouble for Ouyang Jian.

Ouyang Jian had limited experience in fighting against Ghost Deities, and he somewhat underestimated the formidable Ghost Deity body and vitality of Zhang Xingda.

Nevertheless, it didn't matter, for Zhang Xingda's downfall was imminent.

Amidst the upheaval in the scene, Ghost Deity Duan Ci and his companions, who were covertly observing, were equally shocked by Ouyang Jian's sneak attack on Zhang Xingda.Ghost Deity Duan Ci held a respectable position in Yin Capital and also recognized the origin of the naturally born Ghost Deity divine body. Furthermore, he knew that for many years, Yin Capital's most important task had been to locate this divine body.

One of the imperial ancestors of the Dali Dynasty had acquired one of the naturally born Ghost Deity bodies, reaping immense benefits, which gave them the ability to establish Yin Capital. If they could obtain the other divine body and merge the two, rectifying any flaws to achieve perfection, Yin Capital's power would undoubtedly undergo a fundamental enhancement. It was even possible that Yin Capital could gain the power to dominate the Netherworld.

Duan Ci was utterly taken aback to discover that Ouyang Jian and his group were scheming for this particular divine body.

If it were any other Ghost Deity body, he might not have reacted so strongly. However, this Ghost Deity body was exceptionally unique and irreplaceable. It could not fall into the hands of others.

Even though he was well aware that he was no match for Ouyang Jian, Duan Ci had to intervene to stop Ouyang Jian's plan.

Before taking action, he tried to use the secret communication technique among Ghost Deities to relay the situation back to Yin Capital and urge them to send reinforcements as soon as possible.

However, as Duan Ci attempted to employ the communication technique, a powerful interference suddenly arose, preventing him from contacting the Ghost Deities in Yin Capital.

Just as Duan Ci was about to continue his spellcasting, Mo Qing True Monarch, a Demonic Cultivator who had been conducting a ritual, revealed a cryptic smile in the direction where Duan Ci and his group were hiding.

Duan Ci had previously used a concealment technique, hiding himself and his companions within a spatial layer adjacent to the Netherworld. This allowed them to evade the vast majority of probing spells in the Cultivation World.

Mo Qing True Monarch made no physical movements, but suddenly Duan Ci and his companion felt violent tremors within the hidden spatial layer, as if it was about to collapse.

Unable to continue hiding within that space, the two of them had no choice but to reveal their forms, appearing in front of everyone.

Mo Qing True Monarch was highly perceptive and had long known about Ba Wudi's extreme suspicions.

Even though Lu Gangfeng's divination using the Heavenly Insight Technique hadn't foreseen any unexpected situations, Mo Qing True Monarch still remained vigilant.

Throughout the journey from the mortal realm to the Netherworld, Mo Qing True Monarch had been prepared for all sorts of contingencies.

Duan Ci's companion was a scout dispatched by Ba Wudi. He had followed Ouyang Jian and his group from the mortal realm to the Netherworld.

This Primordial Spirit cultivator had a background in the imperial army and was skilled at infiltrating and gathering intelligence. He was a highly capable scout and spy within the imperial army.

However, when he first entered the Netherworld with Ouyang Jian's group, Mo Qing True Monarch had already sensed his presence.

Once Mo Qing True Monarch had a hint of his presence, no matter how sophisticated his concealment techniques were, they couldn't escape Mo Qing True Monarch's detection.

As he was compromised, even Ghost Deity Duan Ci was exposed to Mo Qing True Monarch's scrutiny.

Mo Qing True Monarch hadn't acted earlier because he needed to harness the Earthly Qi using Zhang Xingda's power and didn't want Zhang Xingda to realize they were being covertly monitored by the Dali Dynasty's official forces.

Now that Zhang Xingda was nearing the completion of his task and had been ambushed by Ouyang Jian, Mo Qing True Monarch had no more reservations. He directly took action, forcing the two covert trackers to reveal themselves.

He simultaneously employed dark magic to disrupt the communication techniques between Ghost Deity Duan Ci and the other Ghost Deities in Yin Capital, temporarily severing their connection to Yin Capital.

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