Chapter 35

Ning Yue, though not afraid, could not help but be slightly surprised, muttering to himself, "A monstrous insect of such enormity, I have never heard of in the dark world. It must be highly venomous; I must be extra cautious."

The monstrous insect hissed and lunged at Ning Yue. Although Ning Yue had only recovered about seventy to eighty percent of his martial arts skills and had not yet opened his life soul, he was not flustered. Relying on his immense strength and agile body, his footwork was like smoke. With just one step backward, he retreated seven or eight feet.

Ning Yue was most proud of his lightness skills in his life. His self-created Qingyu Chengfeng Technique was hailed as the best lightness skill in the world. In his mind, it even ranked above the Ten Directions Annihilation Technique, which he once used to sweep across the world. He had only used a fraction of his skills, but the combination of the Qingyu Chengfeng Technique and the mysterious footwork made the giant insect howl repeatedly, unable to close the distance with Ning Yue.

After leading the giant insect around for half a circle, Ning Yue maintained a distance of about thirty zhang from it, having roughly gauged its capabilities.

The giant insect seemed unable to spew toxic smoke or saliva, and even if it was venomous, its attack methods were somewhat monotonous.

He chuckled slightly, reached out, and summoned seven or eight fist-sized rocks. Under the impetus of the Ten Directions Annihilation Technique, they whizzed through the air and struck the giant insect's vital points with a series of thuds.

The Ten Directions Annihilation Technique, created by Yan Jifeng in his prime, had eighteen killing moves. This technique transcended all martial arts conventions. Even at the peak of his martial arts, Yan Jifeng had not perfected it, mastering only six of the moves. The remaining twelve were the result of his boundless imagination, but due to the limitations of his mental power, he could only sigh in frustration.

It was only after entering the dark world and using various secret techniques, combined with the methods of opening life souls and refining virtual forms, that Yan Jifeng revised and completed the technique, making it a unique martial art far superior to the Taiqing Heart Method passed down by his master.

The Taiqing Heart Method only cultivated soul power without opening life souls, while the Ten Directions Annihilation Technique required opening 108 life souls but did not require refining virtual forms. The Taiqing Heart Method, when cultivated to the 28th level, could match a 12th-stage virtual form, while the Ten Directions Annihilation Technique, when cultivated to its peak, could match a 15th-stage virtual form.

The most remarkable aspect of these two secret techniques was that the Taiqing Heart Method did not require opening life souls, and the Ten Directions Annihilation Technique did not require refining virtual forms, thus not hindering the cultivation of other life soul maps. When Ning Yue had perfected these two techniques, he had already ascended to the heavens and become a deity, so he did not use the Ten Directions Annihilation Technique to break through the totem.

The move "Shifting Stars" did not require physical contact and could move objects purely with mental power, making them disappear from one place and appear in another, with the wonder of spatial displacement and the peculiarity of the Five Ghosts' transportation.

Although Yan Jifeng had not yet formally cultivated the Void Dragon life soul map or opened any life souls, his Taiqing Heart Method was complete, and his mental power was extremely high. Even without any special abilities, he could use a fraction of the Ten Directions Annihilation Technique's power, using his mind to control matter and drive a few rocks with ease.

The giant insect's eyes were first shattered by the rocks, and six or seven of its fine legs were broken. However, the rocks Ning Yue intentionally aimed at its hard shell on its back were all deflected, unable to damage it in the slightest.

Ning Yue could not help but sigh. Without the power of the virtual form and the various soul powers, the rocks were only imbued with true qi. No matter how exquisite his technique, the force of the rocks thrown with the "Shifting Stars" technique was still too weak. They could not injure the giant insect unless they hit its vital points.

After trying the "Shifting Stars" technique, Ning Yue was about to use a new move when the flat giant insect suddenly emitted a dull yellow light and burrowed into the ground at lightning speed, disappearing without a trace.

Ning Yue had not expected the insect to have the ability to burrow. He hastily leaped onto a nearby wall to avoid being caught off guard by the insect's sudden attack from underground. At the same time, he activated the mental imprint from the Ten Directions Annihilation Technique, which was specifically used to search for enemies and lock onto their souls, to find the insect's trail.

Before entering the dark world, Yan Jifeng had mastered six moves of the Ten Directions Annihilation Technique: "Illusory Appearance," "Heavenly Freedom," "No Thing Outside the Mind," "Boundless Heaven," "Divine Control of the Three Realms," and "Mental Imprint." He was most familiar with these six techniques and preferred to use them in battle.

Among them, "Heavenly Freedom" and "Mental Imprint" were complementary, one positive and one negative. "Heavenly Freedom" erased all soul locks, making one as free as a great roc in the heavens, impossible to track. "Mental Imprint" was a soul-locking technique that left a mental imprint in the enemy's body, making it impossible for them to escape.

During the duel with the Gray Wolf Martial God Guo Kan, Yan Jifeng did not use this move because he knew that Guo Kan's blade skills had transcended the mind, capable of cutting through heaven and earth, making it impossible to lock onto his soul. However, the Red Sun Dharma King had fallen victim to this move and, if not for Guo Kan's guidance, would have been forced to stagnate in his martial arts for ten years.

The "Mental Imprint" technique locked onto the giant insect's soul within ten breaths. However, Ning Yue had to activate the mental imprint nine times before the insect's soul finally absorbed it, leaving his own imprint on the insect's soul.

Through the mental imprint, even if the insect could fly or burrow, it could not escape Ning Yue's perception, completely negating the advantage of its burrowing ability.

Even so, Ning Yue could not help but be slightly surprised, thinking to himself, "My mental imprint technique is unparalleled. Even the Red Sun Dharma King, who was the best in the world at the time, could not resist its erosion before I entered the dark world and practiced the secret techniques of the other world. Later, even low-level virtual form-level beasts could not resist it. This giant insect can continuously neutralize it nine times, its soul strength is truly inconceivable. If it were not for the fact that this insect only has innate instincts and does not know how to refine its soul, I would not have been able to lock onto its soul."

Most innate experts could touch the threshold of soul-locking techniques, but the effectiveness varied. Apart from the mysterious former imperial teacher of the Yuan Dynasty, Baishi, Yan Jifeng was almost the best in the Mongol-Yuan era in terms of mental cultivation. His soul-locking technique was unprecedented, and the mental imprint technique he created was extremely mysterious.

This technique not only locked onto the enemy's mental consciousness but also deeply influenced it. Even the greatest experts, once hit, would suffer a significant loss.

Although the giant insect's soul was as strong as that of a top expert, once hit, it collapsed completely, losing all control.

Under the influence of Ning Yue's Ten Directions Annihilation Technique, the giant insect was overwhelmed by illusions, its soul power surging. Within twenty breaths, the soul power burst through its body, turning it into a fountain of blood that spurted out from the ground.

Ning Yue stood on the high wall for a moment, closed his eyes, and after a long while, opened his palm, which now held a smoky substance.

This was a life soul he had extracted from the giant insect using the "Shifting Stars" technique.

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