Qing Lan acted as if he hadn't seen He Lianying's anxious expression, and ignored the shouts.
With a sinister smile, he raised the gourd with its lid open.
Black mist, as dark as ink, spewed out, and countless resentful demons appeared in the air.
Twelve supreme resentful demons in red occupied the positions of the ten directions.
The remaining resentful demons sealed off Mount Wuliang layer by layer. Mingyue, upon seeing this, hastily activated the Golden Crown.
She dodged into it like lightning. She was already a frightened bird, easily startled.
With any slight disturbance, she would immediately hide in the Golden Crown like a turtle.
"Not good, the Ten Directions Resentful Demon Array!
He Lianying, you are utterly devoid of humanity.
So your disciples were all refined into resentful demons by you."
Golden Crow Immortal, with her vast knowledge, immediately recognized the most tyrannical demonic art, the Ten Directions Resentful Demon Array.
She then discovered that the ones occupying the array's foundation and leading the resentful demons were He Lianying's deceased disciples.
Suddenly, she understood why these people had died.
And such a large number of resentful demons must have been artificially refined.
Thus, she glared at He Lianying with fury and unleashed a Golden Crow Fire.
He Lianying and Yong Gaoya stood together. The Golden Crow Fire came swiftly and covered a wide area.
The two were engulfed within it and instantly turned to ash.
They were not like living immortals with two bodies.
Death was final; they could not be resurrected.
As the Golden Crow Immortal unleashed the Golden Crow Fire, Qing Lan also made his move.
He did not stop the Golden Crow Immortal or rescue He Lianying and Yong Gaoya.
Instead, he sent a palm strike through the air towards Mingyue.
Ji Shiyou thought he was going to harm Mingyue and quickly stood in front of the Golden Lotus to protect her.
Who would have thought that the mountain-sized hand formed by demonic energy was not targeting Mingyue at all?
It struck Zhu Ji and Cheng Zui, who were beside the Golden Lotus. One was severely injured, and the other, with his low cultivation,
had no power to resist and was instantly reduced to a bloody pulp.
"Zhu Ji!"
Mingyue, inside the Golden Lotus, cried out tragically upon seeing her friend die.
Her eyes turned blood red, and she retracted the Golden Lotus.
With fierce glares, she looked at Qing Lan like a beast eyeing its prey.
Zhu Ji was not only her only friend but also her kin.
Although she loved money and was timid, she would disregard everything for Zhu Ji, including her own life.
"You deserve to die!"
"Explode! Explode! Explode!"
Mingyue shouted at Qing Lan, and then, hundreds of magical artifacts appeared simultaneously.
In an instant, explosions erupted all over the summit of Mount Wuliang, a spectacle of vibrant colors.
It was like a fireworks display on New Year's Eve.
To avenge Zhu Ji, Mingyue instantly detonated hundreds of magical artifacts.
These were the fruits of her years of plundering, her accumulated wealth.
And what she had plundered from the Golden Crow Palace's treasury in the past few days.
Given her greedy nature, these were her lifeblood.
But with Zhu Ji killed by Qing Lan, she cared for nothing else.
Mingyue knew that with her cultivation, she could never kill Qing Lan to avenge Zhu Ji.
The only way was to spend money.
Therefore, she sacrificed her fortune and self-destructed all her magical artifacts.
She would rather lose all her savings than fail to kill Qing Lan.
Because, even if all the wealth in the world were combined,
in her heart, it was not as important as Zhu Ji.
The effect of paying with money was evident. The power of hundreds of exploding magical artifacts was astonishing.
The sonic waves generated by the explosions swept across the summit of Mount Wuliang like a tornado.
Thousands of resentful demons were blown about, their forms unstable.
Resentful demons had no physical bodies, only energy.
The lower-level resentful spirits were directly annihilated.
Qing Lan, holding the Zijing Gourd, bore the brunt of it.
However, he did not activate his defenses against the immense explosion.
He was directly blasted into the sky by the force of the explosion.
"Something seems wrong. Although the power of these magical artifacts exploding is immense,
Qing Lan is a Heavenly Demon, and the Ten Directions Resentful Demon Array is the most powerful killing formation.
Why is he so vulnerable? Why was he so easily repelled?"
Ji Shiyou grabbed Mingyue, whose eyes were red and who was about to fight Qing Lan to the death, and said with a face full of confusion.
The current situation seemed to favor Mingyue,
but a sense of unease flashed in his heart.
"This Ten Directions Resentful Demon Array is missing its core.
It's just an empty shell meant to intimidate. Now that Sister has broken through its foundation,
let's press our advantage and break the array, killing Qing Lan!"
After Mingyue's attack, the Ten Directions Resentful Demon Array
had been shattered and scattered by the force of the explosions.
Golden Crow Immortal saw the flaw at a glance: the Ten Directions Resentful Demon Array was missing its core.
And she herself unleashed a Golden Crow Fire towards Qing Lan.
Nong Qing and others, who had not had time to escape, were greatly encouraged by Golden Crow Immortal's words.
They immediately joined the attack, and all their attacks converged, whistling towards Qing Lan.
At this moment, Qing Lan's eyes widened.
He unleashed a piercing gaze and crushed the Zijing Gourd in his hand.
The resentful demons that had been blasted away by the explosion of magical artifacts rapidly returned.
The black mist in the sky churned, and the Ten Directions Resentful Demon Array reformed.
Compared to before, this time its pressure was immense, and its aura was menacing.
Everyone within the array seemed to face the pressure of heaven and earth,
feeling as small and insignificant as ants.
The attacks dissipated before they could even reach Qing Lan.
And Golden Crow Immortal and others who had launched the attacks were all repelled,
falling to the ground, listless and weak.
The damage they sustained was even more severe than when the Living Immortal had used the Immortal-Demon Pull.
"The Ten Directions Resentful Demon Array is complete, and the core has appeared.
Could it be that Cheng Zui or Zhu Ji is the core?"
Seeing the immense power of the Ten Directions Resentful Demon Array, which not only dissolved attacks invisibly
but also severely wounded Golden Crow Immortal and the others, Ji Shiyou shielded Mingyue behind him.
He raised the Moon-Reflecting Sword, his stance guarded yet filled with doubt.
The power of the reformed Ten Directions Resentful Demon Array was worlds apart from before.
Moreover, its imposing aura clearly indicated it was no longer an empty shell lacking a core.
The only explanation was that the core had been replenished.
Therefore, Ji Shiyou suspected that Qing Lan's earlier inaction in saving He Lianying and Yong Gaoya,
and his sudden attack to kill Cheng Zui and Zhu Ji, must have had a hidden purpose.
His guess was correct. Qing Lan, disregarding He Lianying's warning,
had opened the Zijing Gourd and used the Ten Directions Resentful Demon Array, which was missing its core.
In fact, he was full of confidence because he had a plan.
His earlier palm strike was intended solely to kill Cheng Zui.
Zhu Ji died only because she was too close.
This was because Cheng Zui was born with the Exquisite Physique, making him a more suitable core than Qing Jia.
His acceptance of Cheng Zui as a disciple under the guise of a Living Immortal was inherently suspect.
Years ago, after the resentful demon Qing Jia merged with the Tihun Bead and escaped,
the Living Immortal became fixated on the Exquisite Physique. Eventually, he found a male infant.
He was born with the Exquisite Physique, making him the best candidate for the array's core.
To prevent another incident like Qing Jia's, he did not hand the infant over to He Lianying.
Instead, under the identity of a Living Immortal, he personally raised the infant and trained him into a cultivator.
This male infant was Cheng Zui.
Therefore, when Cheng Zui arrived at the Golden Crow Palace and exposed his identity,
the Living Immortal became extremely nervous, fearing that Cheng Zui would discover his intentions and cause trouble.
He Lianying was unaware of this, which was why she anxiously warned Qing Lan when he used the Ten Directions Resentful Demon Array.
She did not know that Cheng Zui, present at the scene, was the core.
While Golden Crow Immortal and the others launched their attack, Qing Lan was reactivating the Ten Directions Resentful Demon Array using Cheng Zui's soul.
This was why Mingyue had been able to repel the resentful demons and Qing Lan earlier.
"You guessed correctly. Cheng Zui is the core.
Now that the Ten Directions Resentful Demon Array is complete, you shall die!"
Qing Lan soared into the air, his surging demonic energy
whipping his clothes and hair, and he let out an arrogant laugh.