Zhu Ziyan smiled faintly after a slight pause, "Am I unable to run now? You've been constantly killing people along the way, just to prevent me from escaping?"

I nodded, "You've only guessed half of it!"

"At the ancient tree, I suspected that your soul would be switching between those three people."

"I first forced Yi Lu's soul out to activate the witchcraft mechanism. However, her body is still intact, so you might not die."

"But you don't dare to appear in Yi Lu's form again, because you're afraid that I'll kill you first if you show yourself."

"Therefore, you would hide in the bodies of Lu Peng and Xiao Hong."

"When the Jiaolong (flood dragon) emerged from the water to sacrifice someone to the river, I threw Lu Peng first. You had no choice but to hide in Xiao Hong's body."

"When I threw Xiao Hong, you had nowhere to hide."

I said, looking towards the distant broken dragon stone, "After the second mechanism appears, that's when I set the trap for you."

"You know very well that we won't sacrifice Nie Xiaochun and Qin Xin to activate the mechanism. Moreover, we haven't been forced to our wit's end. At worst, we can throw a few more Tiger Blood Pills and run for our lives! Even if we can't beat the Jiaolong, can't we escape?"

"That's why I deliberately went to lure the water ghosts."

"As a sorcerer, you know that the Jiaolong only eats people, not souls."

"If you can't explain where Xiao Hong and Lu Peng's souls went, you can only think of a reasonable way to break the dragon-severing gate."

"I didn't expect you could even control the Jiaolong."

"Your trick really startled me!"

As I said this, I put my hands behind my back and shifted my position slightly, "The tomb is open, but unfortunately, no one is left to persuade us."

"You can only stand out again, acting as the one to persuade us."

"So, we meet again."

Zhu Ziyan clapped her hands lightly and said, "Not bad! No wonder elder sister said that if you want to win against you, you must seize the initiative. Otherwise, you will definitely find a flaw to escape the encirclement."

"It seems that I have underestimated you time and time again! But..."

Zhu Ziyan changed the subject, "You still have to open Ying Gou's coffin. Because it contains the Great Dream Stone. If you want to unify the world of術道 (shù dào, the esoteric arts), how can you do without the Great Dream Stone?"

Zhu Ziyan said, "You should know that besides the Tong Yang Carriage and Horses, there is another mechanism in the world of 術道 (shù dào, the esoteric arts) called the Underworld River Ferry, right?"

"This Underworld Sea contains the Underworld River Ferry, but that ship needs human lives to fill it, real living people."

"Who among you and Ye Yang is willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good of the world of術道 (shù dào, the esoteric arts)?"

Before I could speak, Zhu Ziyan preemptively said, "Don't think about going back to find people, because you don't have that time anymore."

"Your subordinates are attacking the mountain. As long as the people here feel threatened, they will definitely sink Ying Gou completely into the Underworld Sea. What will you use to save the world of術道 (shù dào, the esoteric arts) then?"

I put my hands behind my back and said, "Rather than saving the world of 術道 (shù dào, the esoteric arts), I'd rather kill you. Attack!"

After I said "Attack!", Nie Xiaochun and Qin Xin simultaneously activated the formation. The formation formed under our four feet firmly trapped Zhu Ziyan within it.

Ye Yang and I attacked with our blades, heading straight for Zhu Ziyan.

As the blades approached, a strange light burst out from Zhu Ziyan's body, blocking our two blades and one sword.

Zhu Ziyan struggled a few times but couldn't break free from the formation formed by the four of us. She screamed in fright, "How could you possibly trap me?"

I sneered, "After letting you escape so many times, wouldn't we think of some way to kill you?"

The formation formed by the four of us was a soul-restricting witchcraft array created by Hei Ye Xiao, Lao Liu, and the others after several days of research, specifically designed to target Zhu Ziyan's sisters. This formation hadn't even been named yet when Ye Yang and I used it.

Left with no other choice, Zhu Ziyan could only scream, "Don't you want Ying Gou's corpse anymore?"

I laughed, "What does Ying Gou's corpse have to do with me?"

"He was the Emperor's subordinate, not one of my people."

Zhu Ziyan didn't know what to say for a moment.

"Kill!" Amidst my roar, I began to repeatedly slash with my dual blades. The light around Zhu Ziyan blocked our blades time and time again.

Forced to do so, Zhu Ziyan gritted her teeth and reached towards the source of the light – something hidden in her chest.

In the next instant, Zhu Ziyan's feet mysteriously merged together, transforming into a snake tail. Black snake scales also began to spread rapidly upwards from Zhu Ziyan's waist.

As Zhu Ziyan tilted her head back, black scales covered her face.

In an instant, Zhu Ziyan's head split into nine, transforming into nine snake heads that attacked us in different directions.

As Nie Xiaochun and Qin Xin opened their blood umbrellas to block the snake heads, Ye Yang's and my blades erupted with terrifying power at this moment, slashing wildly towards Zhu Ziyan.

The moment the snake heads rushing towards us shattered in response, a burst of green gas suddenly spewed out from the severed snake bodies. As Ye Yang and I instinctively dodged backward, we felt a wave of dizziness.

By the time I used my inner strength to suppress the poison, Zhu Ziyan had disappeared without a trace.