Translator: CinderTL
Song Wen's towering corpse moved with lightning speed, closing the distance to Xue Cangqiong in an instant.
His hands curved like iron hooks, one clawing toward Xue Cangqiong's face, the other thrusting toward his abdomen.
Xue Cangqiong, facing the colossal corpse that seemed to blot out the sun, felt an overwhelming sense of oppression.
He swiftly retreated, creating distance between himself and Song Wen, while simultaneously activating his shield, conjuring a phantom barrier to protect himself.
"Boom, boom."
The giant corpse's sharp claws slammed into the shield, producing two deafening roars that echoed through the heavens.
The phantom shield wavered but held firm.
Instead, Xue Cangqiong used the momentum to further distance himself from Song Wen.
With a flick of his finger, Xue Cangqiong summoned his Scarlet Flying Sword, which shot toward Song Wen, aiming to cleave him from above.
A surge of Blood Qi erupted from Song Wen's body, coalescing into a massive hand of Blood Qi, which swatted at the flying sword.
The blood hand clashed with the sword.
The hand disintegrated.
The sword was deflected, grazing past Song Wen's body.
Just as Xue Cangqiong had escaped Song Wen, he sensed a cloud of blood mist forming behind him, from which a barrage of black needles shot forth.
Instinctively, he thought it was Xue Mei using the Blood Escape Technique to sneak up on him for a surprise attack.
He immediately turned his shield to protect his back.
However, the black needles struck the shield and instantly vanished without a trace.
"Illusion!"
Xue Cangqiong's pupils contracted as he detected faint sounds above him.
A sweep of his Divine Sense revealed a dense swarm of black needles.
These needles were now only a few meters away.
By the time Xue Cangqiong turned his shield, it was already too late; his Scarlet Flying Sword was a hundred meters away, unable to return in time to save him; the blood-colored evil spirit was even farther, dozens of miles away, completely out of reach. With his usual methods temporarily unavailable, he could only channel his Spiritual Power and send a palm strike upward.
The gust of wind from his palm howled, stirring the surrounding air into a frenzy.
The gale swept through, dissipating all the needles.
"Illusion! Again!"
Being repeatedly toyed with by Xue Mei's illusions, Xue Cangqiong's rage burned fiercely, and he felt an overwhelming urge to tear her to pieces.
Yet, another faint whistling sound came from below him.
The sound was subtle, like the buzzing of countless mosquitoes.
"Again!"
Xue Cangqiong's eyes turned red with fury.
He shot upward, ascending into the sky.
If he stayed any longer, he would inevitably be drained of his Spiritual Power by Xue Mei's illusions and meet his end.
This decision, however, led him into a dire predicament.
Above him, where his palm strike had swept through, there should have been nothing, but now, over a hundred black needles had materialized.
Xue Cangqiong was certain these needles were illusions, but he dared not gamble, as his life was at stake.
Thus, he had no choice but to send out two more palm strikes.
One downward, one upward.
However, these strikes were not at full power, merely meant to test the reality of the needles above and below.
As Xue Cangqiong had anticipated, both the needles above and below disintegrated upon contact with the palm wind.
Xue Cangqiong immediately confirmed that both were indeed illusions.
Feeling reassured, he continued his ascent.
But what Xue Cangqiong failed to notice was this:
There were over a hundred black needles both above and below him.
The black needles were spaced far apart, with a distance of nearly a hundred zhang between them.
The two tentative palm strikes he had unleashed only managed to shatter the foremost part of these black needles.
Some of the delayed black needles were still advancing against the palm wind.
The needles from the rear easily pierced through the palm wind, shooting toward Xue Cangqiong with the speed of a meteor.
Since Xue Cangqiong was fleeing upward at full speed, he was not far from the upward palm wind.
By the time he noticed this, it was already too late to activate a Mystic Treasure for defense. He could only channel all his Spiritual Power to form a protective shield, enveloping his entire body.
"Ding, ding, ding..."
The black needles from above arrived first, striking the shield and producing a series of crisp sounds.
These needles were bizarre. Although they failed to pierce the shield, they clung tightly to its surface, causing it to gradually become pitted and uneven.
It was as if the shield had been corroded by strong acid, losing its original solidity and exuding a sense of decay.
At that moment, the black needles from below struck.
The already tattered shield shattered abruptly, and dozens of black needles plunged into Xue Cangqiong's body from below.
Xue Cangqiong's legs instantly exploded into a mist of blood.
The black needles did not stop there, continuing to shoot toward his torso.
Xue Cangqiong acted decisively. His Nascent Soul immediately burst out from his dantian, attempting to flee.
However, the area he was in had unknowingly been enveloped by a spherical wave of blood, leaving him with no escape.
From within the blood wave, dozens of tiny tendrils emerged.
After several struggles, they tightly entangled the Nascent Soul.
"Gui Ni, save me!" Xue Cangqiong's Nascent Soul cried out loudly.
Hearing the call, Gui Ni moved swiftly, flying over and hovering beside a massive blood sphere with a diameter of ten li.
Not far in front of him stood Song Wen and Xue Mei.
Xue Mei had played a significant role in destroying Xue Cangqiong's physical body.
Her Spiritual Power was severely depleted, and she had already taken two recovery pills. She stood silently behind Song Wen, refining the pills.
Song Wen, with a vigilant expression, stared at Gui Ni and said, "Fellow Daoist Gui Ni, you promised not to interfere in the affairs between the three of us. As a revered elder of the Profound Yin Sect and a peak Nascent Soul cultivator, surely you wouldn't stoop to breaking your word, would you?"
Gui Ni replied, "Fellow Daoist Yin Shuo, one should show mercy when possible. Xue Cangqiong's physical body has already been destroyed, and he poses no threat to you or Fellow Daoist Xue Mei. Why not let him go and give him a chance to reincarnate and cultivate anew?"
Song Wen said, "The conflict was initiated by Xue Cangqiong. Now, you're asking me to spare him? Isn't that laughable?"
Gui Ni's voice turned slightly darker.
"What if I insist that you let Xue Cangqiong go?"
As these words fell, the surrounding air suddenly solidified, and an invisible pressure spread.
Song Wen stared at Gui Ni, pondering for a moment before slowly speaking.
"Today, Xue Cangqiong must die!"
Upon hearing this, a flash of anger appeared in Gui Ni's eyes.
However, Song Wen's next words immediately dissipated that anger.
"Everything in the world has its price! Fellow Daoist Gui Ni, name your price. What will it take for you to agree not to interfere in this matter?"
Song Wen did not believe for a moment that Gui Ni genuinely wanted to save Xue Cangqiong.
Gui Ni smiled faintly, and the cold aura around him suddenly vanished.
"I want his Storage Ring."
"Could you change your condition, Fellow Daoist? Xue Mei and I exhausted all our means to kill him. How can we walk away with nothing?" Song Wen said.
"What if I refuse to change it?"
Gui Ni stared at Song Wen with a faint, enigmatic smile.
(End of the Chapter)
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