The shadow of the Tianji Pavilion's warship enveloped the entire Qingyun Peak. The elderly man in purple robes stood at the bow, and from his sleeves flew three thousand golden-winged mayflies. These thumb-sized insects shimmered with a metallic sheen, their tails dragging fine bloodlines, weaving a web that blotted out the sun.

  "Spirit Locking Array!" Xiao Han slashed through several mayflies, but sparks flew from his sword. "They are absorbing the spiritual energy of the protective mountain formation!"

  Lin Mo trembled violently in Su Wan'er’s embrace. The blood pact totem on his right hand was devouring his meridians, and the residual savage aura from the Taotie bone wings rampaged through his organs. Tears from the girl dripped onto his forehead, crystallizing on his skin—an omen of a naturally cold marrow body.

  "Hold your breath!" The ethereal figure of Qing Zhu suddenly burst from the jade pendant, her fingertip pressing against Lin Mo’s zhongwan acupoint. A blue light coursed through his meridians, temporarily sealing the beastly energy surging within him. "The Tianji Pavilion wants a living vessel for Taotie; if you lose control, it will play right into their hands!"

  The ground suddenly cracked, spiderweb-like fissures spreading as seventy-two bronze pillars erupted from the earth. Each pillar was topped with the skull of a cultivator, and from their hollow eye sockets flickered ghostly blue soul flames. Lin Mo's pupils constricted—these skulls had azure cloud patterns on their foreheads, belonging to the past elders of the Qingyun Sect!

  "That bloodbath twelve years ago was not just to hunt your mother." The purple-robed elder raised his hand, forming seals, and the soul flames on the bronze pillars connected into a star map. "The blood of three hundred disciples of the Qingyun Sect serves as ink, and the skulls of seven elders are the array's focal points. The 'Soul Refining Rebirth Array' has finally come to fruition today!"

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  Xiao Han suddenly let out a beastly roar. He tore open his chest, revealing three soul-piercing nails embedded in his heart—these were the restrictions Qing Li had planted to save his life back then. At this moment, the nails spun wildly under the array's activation, threatening to turn him into the array spirit.

  "Master!" Su Wan'er pulled Lin Mo back, frost from her cold marrow body forming a barrier behind them. But those golden-winged mayflies were devouring spiritual energy, and the ice wall melted at a visible rate.

  Lin Mo suddenly grasped the girl's wrist. The blood pact totem in his palm glowed with a sinister red light, drawing Su Wan'er’s cold marrow spirit into his body. "Lend me three parts of your cold energy, leave seven for Uncle Xiao!"

  "You'll sever your meridians..."

  "Better than becoming a puppet!" Lin Mo leaped up, twelve beastly shadows manifesting around him. This time, they were no longer illusions; each spirit beast formed into reality: the fiery crow flapped its wings igniting the clouds, the white tiger’s vertical pupil pierced the bronze pillars, and most astonishing was the green-eyed golden-feathered sparrow—its tail feathers shed and transformed into thirty-six light swords, piercing the soul-piercing nails in Xiao Han's heart.

  "Clink!"

  Amidst the crisp sound of shattering, Xiao Han’s eyes regained clarity. He formed a sword with his fingers, cutting open his palm and using his blood as a guide to draw a teleportation array in the air. "Take Wan'er to the sword tomb on the back mountain! There’s something left by Senior Sister Qing Li..."

  Before he could finish, the purple-robed elder suddenly appeared behind him. His withered hand penetrated the chest, crushing a beating heart. "Did you think the soul-piercing nails were just seals? Your soul has long been a part of the focal point for twelve years."

  Lin Mo's eyes widened in despair. He saw Xiao Han's body disintegrating, but a wisp of blue light escaped from his brow, merging into the jade pendant at Su Wan’er’s waist—that was the ancient jade where Qing Zhu resided!

  "Run!" Qing Zhu's voice was more piercing than ever. The jade pendant erupted with blinding light, enveloping the two and rushing towards the back mountain. In the halo, Lin Mo looked back to see Qingyun Peak collapsing, the seventy-two bronze pillars transforming into a blood and flesh furnace, refining thousands of disciples into a crimson mist.