The Diviner, it was clear, had gravely underestimated the power of Yu Beidou. He believed that Yu Beidou, so deeply entangled with the Blood Demon, his sole focus fixed on utterly eradicating the Emotionless and Desireless Blood Demon Art, would be utterly unable to spare any strength to deal with him.

Precisely. Yu Beidou could.

And Yu Beidou, in turn, had obviously underestimated the Blood Demon.

Or perhaps, he had no choice but to divert a portion of his power, seeking a swift resolution to the threat posed by the Diviner.

Yet, for so long had he been grinding down the Blood Demon, its very blood flowing from the cavern mouth, forming a small stream within the Chaos Stone Valley. He had delved too deeply into the Blood Demon’s source!

To dare to relax even for a moment at such a juncture, to turn his attention towards an external foe, was to immediately invite a devastating backlash.

That crimson serpent, the blood snake that had bored into the back of his skull, pulsed with the power of the Blood Demon’s life force. Even as it burrowed, it was eroding his very life soul, wrestling for dominion over his corporeal form.

The bleeding from his seven orifices was the stark manifestation of this struggle, the horrifying consequence of being turned guest into host.

Deprived of his stone altar by Yu Beidou, and then having it utterly destroyed by the Blood Demon, the Diviner, who had suffered so greatly, finally saw his opportunity.

As he withdrew his hand from where the stone altar had been, the five fingers of his left hand, already forcibly fractured, now snapped and fell away.

The five fingers, like five throwing daggers, plummeted straight down, piercing into the ground. They penetrated only a single knuckle before stopping, blocked by the forty-nine stone pillars that formed the Blood Sacrifice Lock Life Array.

But this was all that was needed.

Upon the Diviner’s face, no expression stirred. Compared to the torments he had previously endured, what he was now suffering was less than a ten-thousandth of the pain.

The agony of broken fingers? What was it?

“The north wind shall come,” he sighed, a quiet pronouncement.

His five fingers, now embedded in the earth, formed an array of flesh and blood.

With his own lifeblood, he would calculate the treachery in this person’s heart, the winds and clouds of heaven and earth.

Within the array, another array was formed!

His master had been a talent of unparalleled brilliance. In the already-declining art of fate divination, he had creatively birthed the blood divination technique, forging a new path unseen since ancient times.

One could say he had discovered a new future for the art of fate divination.

How hateful it was that Yu Beidou, consumed by jealousy of his master’s talent, had laid a trap and ended his life.

The world lost a top-tier Diviner, and he lost his only kin.

For countless years he had hidden, wandering east and west, yet he had never abandoned the research of the blood divination technique. He had even stooped to joining the No Return Valley for protection, all for this one day: to appear at Yu Beidou’s doorstep and, with the blood divination technique, bring an end to that old man’s life.

Today was precisely the right time.

His lineage, their art, designated the eight directions as eight prisons.

Due north was the Killing Prison, primarily governing matters of execution and extermination.

Thus, he summoned the north wind!

The wind howled, not like wind at all, but the ringing of blades and spears, stirring echoes within this dark cavern.

Those echoes, too, were mournful and plaintive, as if life itself was nearing its end.

This five-fingered blood array, connecting to the Blood Sacrifice Lock Life Array below, opened the Killing Prison above.

Locking and extinguishing the eight directions, severing life and paths, vowing to slay Yu Beidou this very day!

First to manifest within the Blood Sacrifice Lock Life Array was a ghost head knife, condensed from malevolent energy, its edge unmatched. Within the Killing Prison, the ghost head knife was the foremost punishment, aimed squarely at the head, its killing intent utterly ferocious!

But Yu Beidou, with blood streaming from his seven orifices, cast only a single glance towards Liu Huai.

Within his still-bleeding eyes, indistinct images flickered: carriages and horses, merchants and travelers, scene after scene turning, the myriad aspects of the world surging like flowing water…

What was “fate divination”?

It was the most ancient and inherited divination technique, the absolute pinnacle art for human cultivators to knock upon the river of fate and glimpse the future!

In the ancient eons, it had even once offered enlightenment to the Human Emperor!

As the highest living practitioner of fate divination, in some ways, he represented the fading silhouette of that glorious era.

And he… saw it!

His left hand formed a seal to overturn the sky, his right hand remained upright, a sword finger.

As the seal formed, the Diviner suddenly crumpled, falling straight onto Liu Huai’s body.

The two lay upon the ground, one horizontal, one vertical, intertwined.

And that sword finger, as it fell, released a force so potent it made one tremble, surging forth in an instant like a rushing flood!

Whether Liu Huai or the Diviner, both were forced to summon every ounce of their power to resist, their bodies rooted to the spot.

One person, one person-demon, one blood demon – three life paths intersected within this Blood Sacrifice Lock Life Array, for a time each indistinguishable.

It was only then that the ghost head knife from the Killing Prison descended, striking the crown of Yu Beidou’s head. It sank in half an inch, yet could not penetrate further.

At this moment, Yu Beidou was truly in a sorry state.

A ghost head knife was embedded in his head, fresh blood trickling down his forehead. At the back of his skull, a pulsating blood sac, hidden by the blood snake, continued its relentless assault. Yet, he could not move, forced to endure these agonizing pains.

At this moment, Yu Beidou was also truly unparalleled in his power.

With fingers like swords, a single finger suppressed two.

Suppressing one person, and also suppressing one demon!

After a fierce exchange of offense and defense, Liu Huai and the Diviner were forcibly pinned together, both suppressed.

Still seated cross-legged in the void, his sword fingers held upright, Yu Beidou, were it not for the ghost head knife impaled upon his head and the blood sac at his back, appeared as though nothing had changed.

Only that into his profound entanglement with the Blood Demon, a Diviner had been added.

“You are courting death,” Liu Huai, unable to move, said, his voice cold. “Do you know how miserably you will die?”

Yu Beidou said faintly, “I only know that this time I will suppress you for at least a thousand years. Dreaming of returning to your ancestors? Go back to your dreams!”

“Jie jie jie jie,” Liu Huai cackled strangely. “Wait and see, wait and see…”

The Diviner, pressed horizontally upon Liu Huai’s body, glared at Yu Beidou with eyes full of hate. “Come! Kill me! Just as you killed your senior brother, like killing a dog, kill me!”

“You need not attempt to provoke me,” Yu Beidou said in his aged voice. “Wait until I suppress the Blood Demon and free my hands, I naturally will not let you go. I did not regret killing him back then; even if it were ten times, a hundred times, I would still do so. Killing you will be no exception.”

“Of course, how could you regret?” The hate and anger in the Diviner’s voice dissipated. Because of hatred, and also because of hatred, he had once again become calm. “But outside the Chaos Stone Valley, there are still four person-demons. How do you plan to deal with them? With you no longer controlling it, how long can the Innate Disorder Array trap them?”

“My friends will naturally resolve them,” Yu Beidou said faintly.

“Is that so? Jiang Wang of the Inner Mansion realm?”

“He is the world’s foremost Inner Mansion,” Yu Beidou corrected. “He will, one by one, slaughter you repulsive creatures.”

In the Chaos Stone Valley.

Jiang Wang raised his eyes, confusion swirling within them.

The strange stones were still there, the mountain valley still existed, yet he could not see a single person, nor could he discern any path.

His Red Heart Divine Ability allowed him to remain unassailed by heterodox intentions, yet it could not guide his steps. It was not his heart that was confused; it was this corner of heaven and earth that had fallen into utter disorder.

Jiang Wang calmed his heart, rendering it as still as water, preventing irritable emotions from eroding his resolve. Gripping his long sword, he walked slowly.

Just at that moment, the knife coin he had purchased from Yu Beidou for protection once again flew out from nowhere, hovering before him.

It fell directly onto the ground, its engraved words clear—

“You and the four person-demons are together in this array.”

Four person-demons? Jiang Wang hesitated slightly.

He had only encountered the Masked One and the Beheader; he hadn’t known there were two more within this array!

The knife coin again engraved words: “The Diviner has been suppressed by me. The rest have not yet reached Divine Arrival. I will lead you to them, one by one, and you shall slay them.”

So, none of them had reached Divine Arrival yet…

Presumably, they were all at the level of the Beheader person-demon?

“Now is the time to execute these person-demons, to rid the people of this great scourge!”

Jiang Wang, who had repelled two person-demons with a single sword, was filled with confidence.

His long sword vibrated, clanging resonantly. “Lead the way!”