Translator: CinderTL
Hong Zhe watched the nine Corpse Needles flutter down like fallen leaves, his eyes wide with shock and horror.
His natal magic treasure had completely lost control.
What secret art is this? How could it sever my connection to my mystic treasure?!
Hong Zhe had little time to ponder. The blood pillar was now only a few dozen feet away.
He hastily opened his mouth and spat out a miniature Corpse Coffin.
The coffin expanded rapidly upon contact with the air, transforming into a massive structure several dozen feet long.
Roar!
A corpse roar erupted, its thunderous sound waves shaking the very air.
The coffin lid burst open, and a Giant Corpse over thirty feet tall soared out.
The Giant Corpse's muscles were knotted like gnarled ancient trees, its arms thick as pythons hung limply at its sides. Its fingertips were razor-sharp claws, gleaming with a sinister cold light.
Its head was grotesque, its face twisted in a hideous grimace. Its mouth gaped wide, revealing rows of jagged fangs, black, foul-smelling mucus dripping from the corners of its mouth.
A dense layer of black corpse qi swirled around the Giant Corpse like viscous ink, churning and surging ceaselessly.
The Giant Corpse charged toward the blood pillar, raising its arms high. Its ten clawed fingers glowed with an eerie light, like unsheathed blades.
As it swung its arms, streaks of ghostly light shot forth.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The spectral light slashed into the blood pillar, unleashing a series of thunderous explosions.
The blood pillar shattered into segments, transforming into a crimson rain that cascaded downward.
An endless torrent of blood surged forth, yet the Giant Corpse stood firm like an unyielding boulder in mid-air, unshaken by the crimson tide. However, it could barely hold its ground, utterly unable to breach the blood sea looming high above.
Mid-air.
Above, the sky blazed with bloody crimson; below, a fathomless darkness stretched into the abyss.
The two forces clashed and intertwined, locked in a stalemate.
Hong Zhe exhaled slightly in relief, not because the Giant Corpse had temporarily blocked the blood pillar, but because his opponent had ceased wielding that eerie crimson beam.
It seems wielding that crimson beam comes at a price, he mused.
Otherwise, no matter how many tricks I had up my sleeve, I would have surely been defeated today.
Meanwhile, within the blood sea, Song Wen's eyes streamed with blood.
Hong Zhe's assessment was correct. Song Wen had activated the Divine Eye of Annihilation, forcibly severing Hong Zhe's connection to his natal magic treasure, at a considerable cost.
With a mental command, the Soul Cleaving Blade materialized, piercing through the thick blood sea and hurtling downward.
However, the blade wasn't aimed at Hong Zhe. Instead, it streaked toward the southwest.
There, Jiang Lanruo was channeling her flying sword, slashing at the towering Blood wall.
She had already attempted two strikes, neither of which had breached the barrier in a single blow.
With all her might, Jiang Lanruo unleashed a sword strike, its light arcing like a rainbow.
Boom!
The giant sword crashed into the Blood Wall.
Though the wall didn't shatter, a ten-zhang-long fissure tore through its surface.
Jiang Lanruo, dragging the unconscious Jiang Yushan, prepared to dash through the opening when a foot-long dagger suddenly hurtled toward them.
Forced to halt, she hastily redirected her flying sword to intercept the dagger.
Sword and dagger clashed mid-air, unleashing a torrent of Sword Qi and blade energy that scattered in all directions.
Jiang Lanruo waved her hand, conjuring a spiritual power shield before her.
She herself feared neither the Sword Qi nor the blade energy, but the unconscious Jiang Yushan was defenseless.
This delay allowed the fissure in the Blood Wall to seal shut.
Despite thwarting Jiang Lanruo's escape, Song Wen showed no joy.
At that moment, Hong Zhe had activated the Corpse Coffin, its boundless corpse qi surging skyward to collide with the blood sea.
Stretched thin by facing both Hong Zhe and Jiang Lanruo simultaneously, Song Wen struggled to maintain control.
His current cultivation level was insufficient to restrain both of them at once.
Lacking better options, he could only react to each move as it came.
His hands moved in rapid incantations, fingertips glowing with spiritual light as he conjured Thunderlight-infused runes.
Suddenly, Hong Zhe noticed dark clouds gathering overhead, beneath the blood sea, materializing from thin air.
The storm clouds churned, streaks of golden lightning flashing through their depths.
"Thunder magic!" Hong Zhe's eyes widened again. "Dual cultivation of righteous and demonic paths! Could he be practicing the Corpse King's Rebirth Art?!"
Crack!
A golden bolt of lightning tore through the thick dark clouds, carrying the awe-inspiring might of heaven as it struck downward.
The Thunderlight struck the Corpse Coffin, instantly erupting like a surging tide. Golden light surged violently, engulfing the coffin completely.
The dense corpse qi emanating from the coffin rapidly dissipated under the Thunderlight's radiance, vanishing into nothingness.
Watching the Corpse Coffin fall, struck by lightning, Hong Zhe felt a sudden sense of foreboding.
One wrong move, and he might meet his end here today!
With this realization, Hong Zhe's thoughts shifted. His initial desire to eliminate his opponent transformed into a desperate urge to escape.
Abandoning the fight, Hong Zhe recalled the Corpse Coffin and nine corpse nails. With a swift movement, he flew toward Jiang Lanruo.
"Jiang Lanruo, let's break through this blood sea together!"
Hearing this, Jiang Lanruo began maneuvering her flying sword, preparing to join forces with Hong Zhe to attack the blood sea.
But just then...
Jiang Yushan awoke.
"Aunt, you've come to save me!" Jiang Yushan's pale face lit up with surprise and joy.
Jiang Lanruo nodded slightly. Jiang Yushan's awakening was a relief; she no longer needed to divide her attention to support him.
Hong Zhe had already flown to the pair's side, manipulating nine corpse nails to join Jiang Lanruo's flying sword in slashing at the Blood Wall ahead.
Song Wen had no intention of letting the trio escape.
While reinforcing the Blood Wall at the points of attack with the blood sea, he activated the Soul Cleaving Blade, unleashing a crimson arc of energy toward the three.
Seeing the whistling blade of blood hurtling toward them, Hong Zhe swiftly summoned the massive Corpse Coffin, sending it spinning rapidly around the group.
The Soul Cleaving Blade struck the coffin, its attack nullified.
Simultaneously, the nine corpse nails and flying sword pierced the Blood Wall, tearing a rift tens of kilometers long.
As the trio prepared to flee through the breach, Song Wen's mind raced.
He had painstakingly lured Hong Zhe out—he couldn't let his efforts be in vain.
Suddenly, the image of six tentacles erupting from Jiang Yushan's head flashed through his mind, and his eyes lit up.
Jiang Lanruo had once mentioned that a fully matured shadow void possessed nine tentacles.
Over a century ago, when the shadow void had only six tentacles, its humming had rendered Ye Bing, a peak Divine Transformation Stage cultivator, utterly defenseless. Now, with an unknown number of tentacles, could the shadow void's humming pose a threat to Void Refinement Stage cultivators?
"Jiang Yushan, how could you believe Jiang Lanruo, that venomous viper? Her affection for you is a facade—she's been nurturing a monster within your Sea of Consciousness. On the day you advance to the Divine Transformation stage, that creature will devour your divine soul and complete its hatching."
Jiang Yushan's face paled slightly. He jerked his head up to stare at Jiang Lanruo.
Jiang Lanruo's expression remained serene, her gaze as calm as still water.
"Don't listen to his lies. Would your aunt ever harm you? Surely you can sense if there's anything amiss within your Sea of Consciousness?"
As she spoke, she tugged Jiang Yushan forward, urging him to quicken his pace.
Hong Zhe followed closely behind, his expression dark and brooding.
The trio soon passed through the breach in the Blood Wall and emerged outside the crimson cage.
Song Wen didn't attempt to stop them. He retracted the Blood Sea Seal and pursued them relentlessly.
"Jiang Yushan, think carefully. Haven't you noticed your soul has been inexplicably damaged since childhood? That's all the work of that monster. And why would Hong Zhe, a respected elder of the Divine Blood Gate, take a wastrel like you as his disciple? You're not even a member of the sect—isn't he violating the sect rules by accepting you? That creature is called the Shadow Void, and it originates from the Divine Blood Gate. Hong Zhe's success in assisting its hatching would be considered a monumental achievement."
(End of the Chapter)
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