Joe Di collapsed to the ground, surrounded by the towering Voidmount that had transformed into a colossal peak to shield him. The endless killing light of the Eighth-Rank Deathtrap Array struck relentlessly against the Voidmount, unable to harm Joe Di for the time being.
He swallowed several pills and took a few drops of Origin Dew, but did not sense Morris Zhou approaching. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.
His intuition was correct—right now, he truly could not escape. If he tried to force his way out, Morris Zhou could easily kill him.
But his strategy was sound: since he couldn't escape, he would simply stay put. Having killed two of the Morrison Clan's Prime Realm cultivators, he was, for the moment, relatively safe. Of course, this safety depended on Morris Zhou not attacking him directly. Joe Di guessed Morris Zhou would not come out—if he dared, he would have done so already, not waited until now.
He was also grateful that this was a Deathtrap Array and not a Divine Slaughter Array. If it had been the latter, the Voidmount would have been useless against the killing light, and he would have had to battle the Eighth-Rank Divine Slaughter Array head-on—leaving him no time to heal.
At this moment, Joe Di was covered in blood, a pitiful sight. But he knew these external wounds were nothing. His true injuries lay in his starry meridians, torn apart by Morris Zhou's killing intent, and his Sea of Consciousness, which was fractured and on the verge of collapse if not quickly repaired.
Fortunately, he had plenty of treasures on hand. Most importantly, in the small village of Gaia Falls, he had perfected the second step of his Path of Laws. This allowed his wounds to heal with astonishing speed.
Deep within the Morrison Clan, a gaunt man resembling a skeleton glared coldly in the direction of the White Sand Hall. He snorted. Joe Di had killed two of the clan's Prime Realm cultivators—did he really think he could recover here in peace? Wishful thinking.
He raised his hand and produced a black Dao Fruit, which he immediately swallowed. Then, his hands began weaving a series of Dao incantations.
He refused to believe that, as a former Third-Step powerhouse, his killing intent could not destroy a mere ant from the Post-Genesis Era. Even if using the Black Origin Dao Fruit meant tens of thousands of years of recovery, he was determined to crush this ant. Of course, the real reason was not for the Morrison Clan, but because this ant possessed the Voidmount.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Suddenly, the space around Joe Di erupted with a muffled, rending roar that tore through the void. The air trembled violently, distorting with each wave of force.
This was killing intent made manifest, seeking to tear apart his Sea of Consciousness and his physical body.
A Yin-Yang Taiji Diagram suddenly appeared around Joe Di, enveloping him completely. The terrifying killing intent, already made tangible, was blocked by the diagram.
Even with the protection of the Yin-Yang Taiji Diagram, Joe Di still spat out several arrows of blood, his entire body growing even weaker and more withered.
His Sea of Consciousness, already fractured, did not recover at all despite his healing efforts; instead, the cracks widened. If Joe Di had not endured countless agonizing ordeals before, this kind of tearing would have been unbearable.
Joe Di exhaled sharply, his gaze shaken as he looked toward where Morris Zhou was. He was certain that the killing intent Morris Zhou unleashed just now was nearly twice as strong as before. If Morris Zhou had used this power when fighting Martin Yun and Martin Jiao, Joe Di might not have been able to defeat them.
Even if he had managed to kill them, his injuries would be far worse than they were now.
"Yin-Yang Taiji Diagram?" Morris Zhou was even more shocked. He had already been envious of Joe Di's Voidmount, but now he saw the Yin-Yang Taiji Diagram as well.
Back then, Morris Zhou had not been weak. In his eyes, the reason he was defeated by a cultivator weaker than himself was because he lacked the highest-grade treasures. Yet now, on this seemingly insignificant ant, two top-tier treasures appeared at once.
He simply could not understand why Joe Di, possessing the Yin-Yang Taiji Diagram, hadn’t used it earlier against Martin Yun and Martin Jiao. If he had, wouldn’t it have given him an even greater advantage? The Voidmount couldn’t block Morris Zhou’s killing intent, but the Yin-Yang Taiji Diagram could.
In fact, when fighting Martin Yun and Martin Jiao, Joe Di had considered using the Taiji Diagram to shield himself from Morris Zhou’s killing intent, but quickly abandoned the idea.
He was facing two Prime Realm cultivators alone, while also controlling the Voidmount. Even with his powerful divine sense, it was almost too much to handle.
If he had summoned the Yin-Yang Taiji Diagram then, he might have been less injured—at least not gravely wounded by Morris Zhou’s Third-Step killing intent.
But what would have been the point? If he had done that, he certainly wouldn’t have been able to kill Martin Yun. He would have switched from attacker to defender.
The Deathtrap Array outside White Sand Hall belonged to the Morrison Clan. Earlier, he had temporarily sealed Martin Yun with a law restriction, trapping him for a short time.
If he couldn’t kill Martin Yun quickly, Morris Zhou could easily help him escape.
He dared to remain within the array for two reasons: both Prime Realm cultivators were trapped with him, and Morris Zhou didn’t dare face him directly. If Martin Yun escaped, his plan would have failed.
No matter how strong he was, he was still only at the early Post-Genesis Realm. If Martin Yun, a mid-Prime Realm cultivator, left White Sand Hall and joined forces with Morris Zhou against Joe Di, trapped in the Eighth-Rank Deathtrap Array, even Joe Di wouldn’t believe he could win.
Once Martin Yun was killed, the Taiji Diagram naturally protected Joe Di’s body. Morris Zhou’s killing intent was terrifying, and Joe Di didn’t want to risk being ambushed while healing. As soon as Morris Zhou attacked, the Yin-Yang Taiji Diagram instinctively manifested.
The only thing Joe Di hadn’t expected was that Morris Zhou’s latest attack was even stronger than before—almost twice as powerful. Even with the Yin-Yang Taiji Diagram shielding his meridians and Sea of Consciousness, the wounds only grew worse.
Knowing Morris Zhou still hadn’t given his all, Joe Di frantically circulated his cultivation technique to heal, swallowing Dao Pills as if they cost nothing.
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Upon seeing that Joe Di possessed the Yin-Yang Taiji Diagram, Morris Zhou’s heart sank to rock bottom.
Joe Di not only had the Yin-Yang Taiji Diagram, but also a stash of healing Dao Pills. Morris Zhou knew that, with just himself and a few Post-Genesis cultivators, he could never kill Joe Di now.
At this moment, regret gnawed at him. He should have consumed the Black Origin Dao Fruit sooner, but he couldn’t bear to part with it. If he had waited just a thousand more years before consuming it, he’d have a sixty percent chance of entering the Prime Realm. Once he crossed that threshold, his recovery would be twice as fast.
But now, the explosive power from the Black Origin Dao Fruit had been largely neutralized by the Yin-Yang Taiji Diagram, letting this insignificant ant escape disaster once again.
Morris Zhou’s gaze darkened and shifted for a long while, then he suddenly stood up, knowing he had to leave.
He couldn’t kill this ant now. If he waited any longer, it would be the ant killing him. In his view, Joe Di’s array mastery wasn’t much inferior to his own.
The reason Joe Di hadn’t come out yet was because he had the Voidmount and Yin-Yang Taiji Diagram for protection, making White Sand Hall the best place to heal. Once his injuries were mostly healed, it would be Morris Zhou’s turn to face death.
Morris Zhou drew out a flying sword and tossed it away, then activated a talisman. In the next instant, the talisman whisked him away, vanishing without a trace.
As soon as Morris Zhou left, Joe Di sensed it. Even if he hadn’t been gravely wounded, he doubted he could have caught Morris Zhou.
With Morris Zhou gone, Joe Di finally breathed a sigh of relief. Though he hadn’t managed to kill Morris Zhou, at least he was safe for now.
The most dangerous place is often the safest—there’s truth in that saying. If he had tried to escape the Eighth-Rank Deathtrap Array after killing Martin Yun, he’d likely be a corpse by now.
With Morris Zhou gone and two Prime Realm cultivators of the Morrison Clan fallen, the news spread quickly. Morrison Clan experts fled in droves, leaving the foreign cultivators in the clan’s plaza baffled by their hurried retreat.
Joe Di stopped healing for the moment. Though seriously injured, with Morris Zhou and the Prime Realm cultivators gone, he was safe enough here. Besides, with Morris Zhou gone, the Deathtrap Array was no longer a threat to him.
He had to catch a high-level Morrison Clan cultivator before they all escaped, to ask about Charlotte Ling’s whereabouts.