Translator: CinderTL
Xu Sanyan's pitch-black pupils locked onto the ghost hand, and the Crimson Mist around him surged violently.
The moment the ghost hand touched the Crimson Mist, it hissed like cold water hitting a hot oil pan and began to rapidly dissolve.
Yuan Anping, far from being alarmed, was delighted. He paid no attention to the vanishing ghost hand. "Hahahaha! It truly is a heavenly earth treasure!"
Tu Wanshan, who had been standing nearby, waiting for an opportunity to strike, couldn't hide his astonishment. He actually possesses a heavenly earth treasure?!
Then realization dawned. No wonder Xu Sanyan emerged victorious in the Holy Son Competition. He had a heavenly earth treasure all along.
The brat's luck is truly extraordinary. I only managed to achieve Foundation Establishment with a heavenly earth treasure thanks to my father's connections. What right does he have to possess such a thing?
Fang Qingge finally understood why he couldn't defeat Xu Sanyan. The heavenly earth treasure's elemental counter was too overwhelming. Otherwise, the outcome of their battle might have been different.
Qi Liang lowered his gaze, his eyes flickering as he pondered something.
Xu Sanyan stared at Yuan Anping, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "You want it?" he asked.
Yuan Anping nodded honestly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Of course I want it."
"Then come and take it!"
Before the words had even left his lips, the great halberd was already upon him. Xu Sanyan's movements were so swift that Fang Qingge, who was observing the battle, couldn't even react in time.
Whoosh!
As the halberd slashed through the air, Yuan Anping's figure flickered, retreating rapidly. Xu Sanyan, unfazed by the missed strike, subtly manipulated his divine soul, instantly conjuring a sharp spike from the void and thrusting it fiercely toward Yuan Anping.
"You know divine soul mystical arts too?" Yuan Anping asked, his tone tinged with surprise but devoid of panic.
Both combatants were at the Soul Refining Realm, and Yuan Anping's cultivation level and divine soul cultivation were superior. He wasn't afraid of a direct confrontation.
"Ahhh!"
Just as this thought crossed his mind, Yuan Anping suddenly roared, his eyes bloodshot as he glared fiercely at Xu Sanyan. "You dare ambush me!"
Xu Sanyan had openly conjured one spike to draw Yuan Anping's attention, while secretly creating another, far smaller spike. As Yuan Anping's focus remained fixed on the visible threat, the hidden spike struck him viciously from behind.
Unfortunately for Xu Sanyan, the spike's diminutive size rendered it too weak to inflict serious damage, causing only a sharp sting.
Whoosh!
The invisible spike shot toward Yuan Anping with blinding speed. Prepared for this, Yuan Anping easily dodged the attack.
But right behind the spike came a great halberd!
"Die!" Xu Sanyan roared, his face twisted with savage fury as he charged forward. Yuan Anping neither dodged nor retreated, meeting the attack head-on.
The intensity of their clash stunned Tu Wanshan, who murmured to himself, "Xu Sanyan's strength has reached this level?"
Qi Liang's expression darkened. Though all five were holy sons, the gap between them had become vast. Xu Sanyan's cultivation level and combat prowess far surpassed the other four.
Looking at Jiang Qinqin and Fang Xiang, it was hard to believe they were holy sons of the demonic sect alongside Xu Sanyan.
Qi Liang's gaze shifted, accidentally meeting Tu Wanshan's eyes. Both quickly looked away, recognizing the unspoken agreement in each other's eyes:
Let them fight it out.
If Xu Sanyan was too strong, too jealous-inducing, too suffocating, then he had only himself to blame. With him around, they would never have a chance to rise.
As they watched the battlefield, the same thought surfaced in both their minds:
It would be best... if they both died.
Meanwhile,
Huan Xi'er remained oblivious to Qi Liang and Tu Wanshan's scheming. Watching Xu Sanyan and Yuan Anping fight to the death, his anxiety grew.
Fang Qingge, Jingyi, and Luo Qingwei were all critically wounded. Luo Changtian was dead. If Xu Sanyan fell as well, no one would be left to stop Yuan Anping.
Huan Xi'er gritted his teeth and lunged forward, ready to join Xu Sanyan in the fight.
Mo Xianxian saw his intent and grabbed him, her voice cold. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
Huan Xi'er pressed his lips together. Though her tone was icy, he felt a flicker of long-lost warmth. He turned and patted her hand.
"If Xu Sanyan dies, we'll all end up dead anyway. Xu Sanyan might respect our Shangyin Mountain status, but that monster won't care."
Mo Xianxian fell silent.
She understood his point. If Xu Sanyan won, he would likely only take the two fruits overhead and spare them, unwilling to provoke the massive forces behind them—Shangyin Mountain, the Source Worship Sect, the Harmonious Mountain Praying Dao Sect, and Heaven's Will Demon Subduing Temple. Even if he could afford to antagonize them, he wouldn't want to invite unnecessary trouble.
But that monster wouldn't care about Shangyin Mountain or the Source Worship Sect. Look at Luo Changtian's death—even as the Harmonious Mountain Praying Dao Sect's eldest disciple, his heart had been crushed with a single palm strike.
"I'm going with you!"
Mo Xianxian's gaze remained fixed on the battlefield, her eyes as still as a frozen lake.
Hearing this, Huan Xi'er refused. "Absolutely not. You're not skilled in combat. Stay back and use the Five-Character Heaven-Concealing Art to disrupt him from a distance."
"Alright," Mo Xianxian replied, having no intention of rushing in and causing chaos.
Huan Xi'er glanced at Qi Liang and Tu Wanshan standing nearby and declared, "Holy sons, if you don't act now, when will you? If Brother Xu falls, what hope do we have for survival?"
Qi Liang sighed inwardly and nodded. "Brother Huan speaks wisely."
With that, he leaped into the fray. He couldn't stand by and watch Xu Sanyan die.
Tu Wanshan said nothing, charging forward alongside him.
As Huan Xi'er and the others joined the battle, Xu Sanyan felt the pressure ease slightly, finally catching his breath. He glanced down at the bloody scars crisscrossing his body, his muscles twitching as the wounds gradually began to heal.
Yuan Anping was overwhelmingly powerful. Even with Xu Sanyan's blood mist suppressing ghost energy, he struggled fiercely. Fortunately, Yuan Anping wasn't aiming to kill him outright; he wanted to capture Xu Sanyan alive to extract the heavenly earth treasure within him.
After a brief respite, Xu Sanyan plunged back into the battle.
Huan Xi'er and his two companions were clearly no match for Yuan Anping. From the moment they engaged, they found themselves in constant peril, forced to provide only auxiliary support while Xu Sanyan remained the primary combatant.
Meanwhile, on another part of the battlefield, the fighting was equally brutal.
Zuoqiu Yi cradled Zuoqiu Xin in her arms, hot tears streaming down her cheeks and dripping onto her fourth sister's chest. "Fourth sister, how are you?" she asked urgently.
Suddenly remembering something, Zuoqiu Yi frantically rummaged through her storage pouch, muttering, "Elixirs... yes, elixirs!"
"Don't... don't bother..."
Zuoqiu Xin struggled to raise her hand, gently wiping away the tears from her younger sister's eyes. Blood trickled from her lips as she coughed. "Fourth sister is going to find eldest sister now. Don't grieve for me. Live well..."
The fabric of Zuoqiu Xin's chest was torn, revealing skin mottled with an unnatural purplish-black hue, resembling a birthmark embedded deep within her flesh.
But the mark was writhing, each convulsion accompanied by the disappearance of a large chunk of her internal organs.
"I won't let you die! I won't let you die!" Zuoqiu Yi screamed, clutching her fourth sister tightly, her face a mask of panic and despair.
(End of the Chapter)
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