Translator: CinderTL
Xi Ling was stunned to discover that Song Wen and Xue Mei, whom she had just slain, had dissolved into two wisps of green smoke and vanished.
Even more chillingly, the grand hall door where Song Wen and Xue Mei had stood also crumbled and collapsed, leaving only a stone wall protected by a forbidden barrier standing solitary in its place.
"An Illusion Technique!"
Xi Ling's face turned ashen.
The Primordial Qi within the hall was so dense that her Divine Sense could only perceive a radius of two or three yards.
Realizing she couldn't resist the Primordial Qi, her first instinct had been to retreat from the Corpse King Hall.
She had been advancing toward the door based on her memory of its location.
But upon hearing the commotion of Song Wen and Xue Mei entering the hall, she instinctively assumed her memory was flawed and turned toward the source of the sound.
Little did she know she had fallen into their Illusion Technique.
Xi Ling didn't dare hesitate. She followed the wall, heading toward the door she remembered.
Suddenly, the sound of surging waves erupted ahead.
Xi Ling focused her gaze and saw a crimson ocean crashing toward her.
She immediately activated her Mother-Child Blades. The ten blades, like a long serpent, fiercely slashed into the bloody torrent.
The crimson flood instantly shattered, transforming into a sky-filling Blood Mist.
Xi Ling's expression brightened. The door had reappeared just three yards ahead.
Xi Ling frantically unleashed two streams of Spiritual Power, attempting to push open the hall doors.
However, as her Spiritual Power struck the doors, they vanished once more, replaced by a stone wall.
"Xue Mei! Yin Shuo! Come out and face me!" Xi Ling roared, her teeth grinding in fury.
"Hehehe..."
Xue Mei's figure drifted out of the black mist, emitting a series of eerie chuckles.
"Xi Ling, if you blow up your Nascent Soul. I'll give you a chance at reincarnation. How does that sound?"
Xi Ling glared, her eyes blazing. "You dare speak such arrogant nonsense!"
Before her words faded, a Child Blade shot out, piercing through Xue Mei's body.
Xue Mei's form dissolved once more.
"Xi Ling, when you were outside the hall, weren't you asking about Tai He's whereabouts? I'm not afraid to tell you—he's already dead, killed by Yin Shuo and me. You'll soon follow in his footsteps, hehehehe..."
Xi Ling's rage surged at these words.
She poured all her power into the Mother-Child Blades, unleashing countless streams of blade qi that shot out in all directions, hoping to pinpoint Xue Mei and 'Yin Shuo's' location.
But instead of finding her enemies, the blades sliced through the stone wall beside her, reducing it to nothing but smoke.
That stone wall was also an Illusion Technique!
Only then did Xi Ling realize why she'd been unable to find the hall doors. She'd been completely manipulated by their Illusion Techniques all along.
Another question arose in Xi Ling's mind: Why could Xue Mei and "Yin Shuo" pinpoint her location with such precision and set up an Illusion Technique, while she couldn't detect their presence at all?
Her mind filled with confusion, but Xi Ling had no time to dwell on it. Her protective shield had turned black in several places and was on the verge of collapse.
She urgently followed her memory, flying towards the hall's entrance.
Suddenly, a dozen green-faced, fanged demonic creatures lunged at her.
She activated the Mother-Child Blades, sending ten blades swirling towards the horde.
The demonic creatures vanished one after another, all illusions.
In an instant, the hall's entrance appeared before Xi Ling.
She unleashed two streams of Spiritual Power, intending to push the door open.
This time, the door was real.
Under the force of her Spiritual Power, the door slowly creaked open.
Just then, a piercing whistling sound sliced through the air from behind.
Without turning her head, Xi Ling summoned the Mother-Child Blades to meet the attack while continuing to dash towards the door.
However, the expected clash between the Mother-Child Blades and the enemy's Mystic Treasure never came.
The Mother-Child Blades had failed to strike their target.
Xi Ling realized then that the attack from behind consisted of nine transparent, razor-sharp blades.
"Spiritual Sense Attack!"
The thought flashed through Xi Ling's mind, but it was too late to react. The transparent blades pierced her Sea of Consciousness one after another.
"Aaaah..."
Xi Ling let out a pained, anguished cry.
The transparent blade churned her Sea of Consciousness into chaos, leaving her consciousness blurred.
Her body immediately lost control, crashing heavily to the ground like a rolling gourd, tumbling toward the open doors of the Great Hall.
A blood-colored tentacle emerged from the black mist, piercing Xi Ling's chest and pinning her to the doorway.
Then, the tentacle coiled around Xi Ling's physical form, dragging her deep into the hall, leaving a long trail of blood on the ground.
Watching Xi Ling clutching a palm-sized azure jade token, Song Wen smiled faintly.
It was a High-Grade Soul Defense Magical Item.
However, under the relentless interference of Xue Mei's Illusion Techniques, Xi Ling hadn't even had a chance to activate it before being struck by the Focused Spirit Stab.
"Yin Shuo, Xue Mei, spare my Nascent Soul. I'll surrender all the treasures from the Nine Palaces Sect's treasury to you."
Xi Ling's consciousness gradually returned.
But her protective shield had shattered, and Primordial Qi was already invading her physical form.
She knew all too well that this body was ruined.
However, she dared not abandon her physical body so easily and allow her Nascent Soul to break free from her dantian. Doing so would expose her Nascent Soul to the direct erosion of Primordial Qi.
"Heh, do you really think that's possible?"
Xue Mei's mocking voice rang out as a black Soul Breaking Awl shot forth, piercing toward Xi Ling's dantian.
But Song Wen's reaction was even faster.
A Blood Sea surged forth, instantly engulfing Xi Ling.
When the Blood Sea dissipated, Xi Ling had vanished without a trace, leaving only her Storage Ring and the Azure Jade Token behind.
Xue Mei pointed at the Azure Jade Token and asked, "Ji Yin, how about you let me have this Mystic Treasure?"
"Fine," Song Wen nodded.
The two of them divided Xi Ling's belongings.
Xue Mei claimed the Azure Jade Token, while Song Wen took the Paired Blades and the two Minor Teleportation Talismans found in the Storage Ring.
Notably, Xi Ling's Storage Ring contained no treasures related to the Divine Blood Hall, indicating she had obtained nothing of value within the Corpse King Hall.
"Fellow Daoist Xue Mei, do you know where the Corpse King Rebirth Art is kept within the hall?" Song Wen asked.
Xue Mei replied, "Follow me."
Under Xue Mei's guidance, Song Wen reached the depths of the Great Hall, where a corridor a yard wide appeared before them.
Without hesitation, Xue Mei led the way into the corridor.
After walking a hundred yards, they reached the end of the corridor.
There, a stone altar, roughly ten feet tall, stood before them.
Xue Mei stood beneath the altar, muttering to herself.
"Back then, I risked life and limb for the Divine Blood Gate, earning countless merits, all to become a core disciple. Yet, as a Nascent Soul cultivator in the middle stage, I was never recognized. I begged the sect repeatedly to teach me the Corpse King Rebirth Art, but my requests were always denied."
"Tens of thousands of years have passed. The Divine Blood Gate has vanished into the river of time, while I, Xue Mei, stand before the inheritance altar of the Corpse King Hall."
"Hahaha..."
Xue Mei burst into unrestrained laughter, her laughter bordering on madness, as if finally releasing the shadows that had been pressing down on her heart for countless years.
(End of the Chapter)
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