Translator: CinderTL
"Aunt... is what he said true?"
Seeing Song Wen's unwavering conviction, Jiang Yushan's resolve began to waver. He turned to Jiang Lanruo for answers.
Jiang Lanruo's expression turned icy. "I've cared for you for centuries. Would you doubt me based on the provocations of an outsider?"
"I..." Jiang Yushan stammered, momentarily speechless.
"Hahahaha..." Song Wen roared with laughter from behind. "Jiang Yushan, you know in your heart that every word I speak is true. Yet you refuse to believe it. Are you afraid to face the truth? You can't hide forever. Sooner or later, you'll be devoured by that monster. Hahahaha..."
Song Wen's laughter echoed through the heavens, stirring the surrounding miasma into a violent frenzy.
"Silence your lies!"
Hong Zhe abruptly halted his escape light, summoning the nine corpse nails and firing them at Song Wen.
To his astonishment, Song Wen offered no resistance, allowing the nails to pierce his body and tear his flesh to shreds.
Yet Hong Zhe noticed something peculiar: not a single drop of blood stained the shattered remains.
A Substitute Puppet!
The realization flashed through Hong Zhe's mind, filling him with a sudden sense of dread. He whirled around to face Jiang Lanruo.
Jiang Lanruo didn't stop with Hong Zhe. Instead, she continued to flee with Jiang Yushan, clearly intending to use the opportunity created by Hong Zhe's distraction of Song Wen to shake off their pursuer.
By this point, Hong Zhe was already dozens of miles away from the pair.
To his astonishment, a figure suddenly materialized near Jiang Lanruo and Jiang Yushan.
The figure waved his hand, and a foot-long dagger shot out, hurtling straight toward Jiang Yushan's face.
Jiang Yushan's expression twisted in terror.
As the dagger closed to within a few dozen feet, Jiang Lanruo reacted. Her flying sword shot out, intercepting the dagger.
Clang!
The metallic clash echoed as the dagger struck the flying sword.
The dagger proved utterly fragile, easily deflected by the flying sword.
However, dozens of streams of Golden Sharp Qi erupted from the dagger, surging toward Jiang Yushan.
Jiang Lanruo tried to intervene, but it was too late. She could only watch helplessly as the Golden Sharp Qi tore through Jiang Yushan's body.
Her heart clenched with dread, fearing Jiang Yushan would perish from the attack.
To her relief, though the Golden Sharp Qi appeared devastatingly lethal, it only inflicted superficial wounds on Jiang Yushan.
Just as she exhaled in relief, she noticed the excruciating pain contorting Jiang Yushan's face.
Only then did she realize that Jiang Yushan's divine soul had been critically wounded.
As if suddenly recalling something terrifying, Jiang Lanruo's beautiful eyes widened in panic.
She abruptly shoved Jiang Yushan away and fled.
"Aaaahβ!"
Jiang Yushan's anguished scream tore through the air.
"Jiang Yushan, what are you waiting for? The only chance you have is to force the monster out of your Sea of Consciousness before it fully hatches! Hurry and make it reveal itself!" Song Wen shouted.
Whether it was Song Wen's words or the Soul Cleaving Blade's Golden Sharp Qi that threatened the shadow void, eight tentacles suddenly erupted from Jiang Yushan's skull.
The moment the tentacles emerged, they began to writhe violently, churning the surrounding air into chaotic vortices and emitting a deep, resonant hum.
The hum sounded like the wails of hell, filled with unspeakable despair and agony.
Jiang Lanruo had only fled a few miles when she froze mid-stride.
She felt as if countless needles were piercing her Sea of Consciousness, the unbearable pain threatening to shatter her divine soul.
The agonizing pain in her divine soul shattered Jiang Lanruo's consciousness, rendering her unable to control the flow of spiritual power within her body. She plummeted toward the ground, unable to even maintain flight.
Hong Zhe fared no better.
He had been channeling nine corpse nails to attack Song Wen when the sudden, piercing hum struck him with unbearable agony, causing him to stagger.
However, he was slightly better off than Jiang Lanruo, managing to barely maintain flight.
As for Song Wen, he had long since activated the Sea of Consciousness Black Hole, which devoured the invading sound waves, leaving him completely unaffected.
Jiang Yushan, on the other hand, had fainted the moment the shadow void manifested. It seemed the shadow void was protecting his Sea of Consciousness, as his face showed no signs of pain.
Seeing Jiang Lanruo and Hong Zhe writhing in agony, Song Wen's lips curled into a cold smile.
"Jiang Lanruo, Hong Zhe, your lives are mine!"
With those words, the Soul Cleaving Blade shot forth, aimed directly at Hong Zhe.
Killing Hong Zhe would leave Jiang Lanruo alone and easily dealt with.
Perhaps the shadow void's divine sense attack had crippled Hong Zhe too severely. He offered no resistance as the Soul Cleaving Blade shattered his skull.
Yet Song Wen's expression remained grim, showing no relief.
Hong Zhe's figure suddenly vanished, leaving behind only a shattered wooden sculpture.
Life-substitution art!
Song Wen's divine sense rapidly expanded, searching the surrounding area. He instinctively assumed Hong Zhe would seize this opportunity to flee.
To his astonishment, Hong Zhe reappeared nearby, right beside Jiang Yushan.
Clutching a jade bottle, Hong Zhe endured the mind-shattering pain and crushed the bottle with a sudden surge of force.
With a flick of his wrist, he scattered the shattered fragments mixed with a large quantity of dark green powder toward Jiang Yushan.
The dark green powder drifted down, settling on Jiang Yushan and his eight tentacles.
Jiang Yushan remained unharmed, showing no signs of any abnormality.
The tentacles, however, were struck as if by lightning.
All eight tentacles simultaneously snapped rigid, then abruptly went limp, hanging lifelessly without a trace of movement.
Without the tentacles' support, the unconscious Jiang Yushan lost his ability to levitate and plummeted downward.
Meanwhile, on the other side...
As soon as Hong Zhe appeared, Song Wen activated the Soul Cleaving Blade, but Hong Zhe blocked the attack with the Corpse Coffin.
Before Hong Zhe could even exhale in relief, a thunderous roar echoed from the heavens.
A golden lightning bolt struck down with blinding speed.
The Corpse Coffin's lid sprang open, and the Giant Corpse leaped out, lunging directly at Song Wen. Meanwhile, the Corpse Coffin itself rose to meet the descending lightning.
Simultaneously, Hong Zhe launched nine corpse nails at Song Wen.
Song Wen hastily summoned a black umbrella, suspending it above his head. The umbrella radiated waves of dark energy, forming a black protective shield around him.
Bang! Bang!
The Giant Corpse's razor-sharp claws slammed against the shield, producing deafening crashes.
The black shield trembled violently, flickering like a candle in a gale, on the verge of collapse.
At that moment, the nine corpse nails arrived.
The black shield finally buckled under the strain, emitting a mournful wail before shattering into fragments.
"No..."
Song Wen's face twisted in terror, but he seemed powerless to resist. He could only watch helplessly as the nine corpse nails pierced his body in multiple places.
Seeing this, Hong Zhe exhaled deeply.
Finally, I've killed him!
(End of the Chapter)
--------------------------------
Translator's Corner
πSorry for the delayed chapters. Had a technical issue. To read ahead please go to the site. It is always updated first.
ππ ππ¨π―ππ₯π¬ | π.ππ€ ππ‘ππ©πππ«π¬ | ππ.ππ ππ¨π«ππ¬ [ππ’π§πππ«ππ₯.ππ¨π¦]