Translator: CinderTL
Xi Ling's eyes flashed with delight as she felt the Spiritual Power Xue Mei had transmitted to her.
This Spiritual Power surprisingly possessed both life and death properties.
Xi Ling gazed at Xue Mei with a profound gaze.
She had witnessed Xue Mei's attacks before, but the Spiritual Power Xue Mei had previously displayed clearly carried only the aura of the Corpse Dao—a deathly aura of all things withering and decaying.
"This woman is truly cunning, hiding her true nature so deeply! After this matter is resolved, I must eliminate her to prevent future trouble," Xi Ling thought to herself.
If Xue Mei hadn't still served a purpose, Xi Ling would have killed her on the spot.
Xue Mei removed her hand from Xi Ling's right hand.
"Alright, you should now be able to enter the Corpse King Hall. I hope you'll keep your promise and that the Nine Palaces Sect will no longer trouble me in the future."
"I always keep my word. I never break my promises."
After speaking, Xi Ling dispelled the barrier and slowly flew toward the Corpse King Hall.
Initially, Gou Jun and the others paid no attention to Xi Ling's actions.
It wasn't until Xi Ling drew closer to the Corpse King Hall, nearing the ten-yard range, without any intention of stopping that Gou Jun finally spoke up to question her.
"Xi Ling, what are you trying to do?"
"Nothing much. I just suddenly thought of a way to enter the Corpse King Hall and wanted to give it a try," Xi Ling replied.
As Xi Ling entered within thirty feet of the Corpse King Hall, she suddenly triggered the Spiritual Power Xue Mei had left behind. A shield, half black and half white, instantly rose to protect her.
In truth, even at this moment, she wasn't entirely certain whether this shield would allow her to enter the Corpse King Hall safely.
That's why she wasn't moving quickly.
If the shield proved useless, she could retreat in time to avoid being harmed by the hall's forbidden techniques.
However, the terrifying black aura that had appeared earlier didn't materialize.
The entire Corpse King Hall was eerily silent.
Xi Ling's expression lit up with wild joy. She accelerated her escape technique to full speed, dashing toward the hall's entrance.
"Xi Ling, hand over the method to enter the Corpse King Hall! Otherwise, once we leave this Divine Blood Hall, I'll slaughter your entire Nine Palaces Sect!" Gou Jun roared, his face flushed with urgency.
"Heh... the Nine Palaces Sect? If I ever achieve Divine Transformation, I'll slaughter the Corpse Demon Sect to avenge them."
Thirty feet was but a hair's breadth for Xi Ling. In the blink of an eye, she reached the hall's entrance.
She pressed her hands against the massive doors and gave a gentle push.
The doors creaked open halfway.
Xi Ling slipped inside.
Gou Jun's fury surged. A vast wave of Corpse Qi erupted from his body, swirling like an enraged dragon as it hurtled toward the Corpse King Hall.
In an instant, the hall was shrouded in black mist, and the black tornado reappeared.
But the Corpse Qi was instantly shredded.
Gou Jun's face darkened like water as he watched the black tornado that pierced the heavens and earth.
"Damn it! How could this happen? Why can she enter the Corpse King Hall?" he roared in fury.
Then, a sudden thought struck him.
Xi Ling had arrived at the Corpse King Hall ten days earlier than everyone else.
If she had a way to enter the hall, she would have done so long ago. Why wait until everyone else arrived and then enter in front of them?
The only explanation, then, was this:
She hadn't entered the Corpse King Hall on her own. Someone else had helped her.
And that person was now obvious.
Xue Mei!
Xi Ling had entered the Corpse King Hall immediately after contacting Xue Mei.
Gou Jun's gaze shifted, searching for Xue Mei.
To his astonishment, Xue Mei had silently moved to the edge of the black tornado at some point.
She, too, was protected by a shield split black and white.
Xue Mei took a step forward and entered the black tornado.
The tornado surged around her like a raging tide, but her shield stood firm like a reef in the face of a tsunami. Though small, the reef remained unshaken by the waves.
Xue Mei's steps were steady as she advanced deeper into the tornado.
Not far behind her, another figure was also venturing into the vortex.
Yin Shuo!
Gou Jun, Yang Yu, and Mi Hai watched in stunned disbelief, their eyes burning with fury.
After all their scheming and effort, Yin Shuo and Xue Mei, the two cultivators with the lowest cultivation levels, ended up benefiting the most.
As for Xi Ling, it was obvious she had entered the Corpse King Hall with Xue Mei's help.
They couldn't understand why Yin Shuo and Xue Mei would help Xi Ling.
With Xi Ling's cultivation level, even together, Yin Shuo and Xue Mei wouldn't stand a chance against her. Why would they deliberately cause trouble for themselves?
Mo Yexue's gaze was equally cold as she watched Song Wen and Xue Mei's retreating figures.
Unlike the others, Lan Chen stared at the Corpse King Hall, idly rubbing a jade slip in her hand, a thoughtful expression on her face.
"Why did you help Xi Ling enter the Corpse King Hall?" Song Wen asked as he pushed open the hall doors.
Xue Mei replied, "At the time, I wasn't certain that the Corpse King's Rebirth Art would truly protect her from the hall's restrictions. Xi Ling threatened me, demanding I hand over the method to enter the hall. So, I simply played along, letting her test the waters herself. Besides, Xi Ling posed a great threat to me. This was the perfect opportunity to eliminate her."
"Xi Ling is a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. How could you be confident you could kill her?" Song Wen asked.
Xue Mei said, "The Ghost Mist in the Corpse King Hall is incredibly dense. With this advantage, if you and I work together, she won't stand a chance of escaping."
As they spoke, they entered the Great Hall.
Just as Xue Mei had said, the hall was filled with incredibly dense Primordial Qi, a dark, oppressive mass like storm clouds before a downpour.
The moment they stepped inside, they noticed a three-zhang-tall blood-red monolith on their right. This was the passage leading out of the Divine Blood Hall.
Song Wen patted the Spirit Beast Pouch at his waist.
The Nether Fox suddenly materialized.
"There's another living person in this hall. Help me find her," Song Wen instructed.
The Nether Fox twitched its nose a few times, then raised its front paw, pointing toward a corner deep within the hall.
"In that direction... she's coming."
The Nether Fox hastily hid behind Song Wen.
Song Wen's mind stirred, and the Void Breaking Blade shot out, slicing toward the direction the Nether Fox had indicated.
Clang!
A sound like metal striking metal echoed through the hall.
The Void Breaking Blade had been blocked.
Moments later, Xi Ling's figure burst through the black Primordial Qi, her Paired Blades Mystic Treasure appearing just before her.
"Get out of my way!"
Xi Ling's face was etched with urgency as she roared.
She possessed no method to resist the corrosive effects of the Primordial Qi. When she first entered the Corpse King Hall, she had relied on a shield formed from Xue Mei's residual Spiritual Power to temporarily ward off the corruption.
But this power was like water without a source, and the Primordial Qi within the hall was incredibly dense. The shield couldn't hold for long, and it was quickly eroded.
Xi Ling had been forced to use her own Spiritual Power to create a new shield.
However, though her own Spiritual Power flowed endlessly, it was utterly inadequate against the Primordial Qi.
Even when she channeled all her Spiritual Power into the shield, it still turned black at a visible rate, teetering on the brink of collapse.
This was why she was so desperate to escape the Corpse King Hall.
"Trying to leave? It won't be that easy," Xue Mei's mocking voice rang out. "Xi Ling, this Great Hall will be your tomb."
As the words fell, two black Soul Breaking Awls shot forth, aimed at Xi Ling.
Xi Ling swiftly activated her two Paired Blades, easily deflecting the awls.
The mother blade and the other paired blades continued their assault on Song Wen and Xue Mei.
Faced with the desperate, all-out attack of a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, neither Song Wen nor Xue Mei could offer any resistance. They were decapitated in an instant.
(End of the Chapter)
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