Translator: CinderTL
"The Jade Marrow Stone fell deep into the magma lake," Song Wen said calmly. "If Fellow Daoist Ye Yangshu wants it, he can go retrieve it himself."
Ye Yangshu naturally didn't believe him, glaring furiously at Song Wen.
"Gou Jun, hand over the Jade Marrow Stone! Otherwise, you won't leave here alive today!"
Song Wen's expression turned icy, his gaze toward Ye Yangshu becoming sinister and cold.
His eyes were bloodshot, crisscrossed with crimson veins like a tangled spiderweb, giving him a ferocious look.
This was a side effect of using the Divine Eye of Annihilation.
Chi Qi's cultivation was slightly higher than his own, and forcibly breaking through Chi Qi's three defensive techniques had caused minor damage to Song Wen's eyes and severely depleted his spiritual power.
"So, Fellow Daoist Ye Yangshu intends to discard the millstone after it's done grinding! I just eliminated Chi Qi for you, and now you want to turn on me? Well... you've chosen the wrong opponent!"
As he spoke, the Soul Cleaving Blade materialized before Song Wen, striking like a deadly lightning bolt straight at Ye Yangshu.
Caught completely off guard, Ye Yangshu panicked. He had clearly underestimated Song Wen's willingness to attack. He hastily summoned a shield, but before he could activate it, the short Soul Cleaving Blade was already upon him.
Clang!
A flying sword shot out from the side, striking the Soul Cleaving Blade with pinpoint accuracy.
The Soul Cleaving Blade veered off course, sent flying through the air.
"Fellow Daoist Gou Jun, surely a minor disagreement doesn't warrant such drastic measures?"
The speaker was Ye Gaozhuo.
Moments earlier, it had been his flying sword that saved Ye Yangshu's life.
Song Wen sneered. "I don't need anyone telling me how to conduct my affairs."
A tense stalemate settled between the two sides, neither willing to make another move.
"The three of you have no real quarrel," Ye Bing suddenly interjected. "Why not put an end to this now? Let's value harmony above all else!"
Ye Gaozhuo smiled faintly. "Ye Bing speaks wisely. Fellow Daoist Gou Jun, there's no need for us to fight to the death."
Song Wen recalled the Soul Cleaving Blade, his voice cold.
"For Ye Bing's sake, I'll let this matter drop. But if there's a next time, Ye Yangshu, the entire Ye Family will pay the price. Furthermore, you'd best keep what you've witnessed today to yourselves. Otherwise, you'll bring calamity upon your family."
He turned to Ye Bing, his tone softening.
"Ye Bing, let's go!"
Song Wen's figure blurred into an afterimage as he vanished into the yellow mist that shrouded the distance.
Ye Bing watched Song Wen's retreating figure before turning to Ye Gaozhuo and Ye Yangshu.
"Ancestors, I must take my leave."
"Ye Bing, wait!" Ye Yangshu called out, his voice sincere. "Ye Gaozhuo and I genuinely hope for your return to the Ye Family. My lifespan is dwindling, and the Ye Family needs a new Clan Elder. By returning, you would gain the family's full support, ensuring your safety and providing ample cultivation resources."
"I will consider it," Ye Bing replied, her voice drifting through the air as she vanished without a trace.
Watching their departing figures, Ye Yangshu spat out angrily, "That Gou Jun is utterly arrogant!"
Ye Gaozhuo cautioned, "You acted rashly just now. Offending him serves no benefit to the Ye Family. He killed Chi Qi, a mid-stage Void Refinement cultivator, despite being only at the early stage. Even if we joined forces, we couldn't guarantee victory against him."
Ye Yangshu gritted his teeth, falling silent.
"Is this truly Jiang Yushan's secluded cultivation site?" Ye Bing asked, gazing skeptically at the small pond, barely two zhang wide.
She and Song Wen now stood nestled between towering mountains.
The pool lay in a flat clearing nestled between two towering mountains.
Surrounded by sparse Spiritual Qi, the pool appeared utterly unremarkable, hardly resembling the entrance to an ancient ruin.
"According to Chi Qi's confession, this is the place," Song Wen replied, waving his hand lightly. A surge of potent spiritual power erupted from his fingertips.
The spiritual power plunged into the pool, swirling rapidly around its surface and generating a powerful vortex.
The water churned violently, forming a towering column that shot skyward.
The water column crashed against the adjacent mountain, its tremendous force shaking loose rocks that tumbled down in a cascade.
As the water level gradually receded, a muddy pool bottom emerged.
"This pool bottom doesn't look like it leads to any ruin," Ye Bing frowned.
Song Wen's brow furrowed as well. He detected no anomalies beneath the mud.
Suddenly, a slender tentacle extended from the index finger of his right hand, snaking down like a vine to probe the pool bottom.
The tentacle pierced through the foot-deep mud, probing back and forth. When it reached the western corner of the pool bottom, a violent surge of energy erupted.
A deafening roar shook the air.
The tentacle shattered instantly, dissolving into a crimson mist.
Simultaneously, the bedrock beneath the pool crumbled, the ground trembled violently, and countless fragments of rock rained down, filling the pool in an instant.
Song Wen and Ye Bing, far from being alarmed, were overjoyed.
The spot where the tentacle had struck must be the entrance to the ruins.
"Immortal Maiden, you break the barrier. I'll hold off Jiang Lanruo," Song Wen said.
"Agreed," Ye Bing replied, flipping her hand to summon her natal magic treasure—the plum blossom fan.
With a gentle wave of the fan, a torrent of frigid energy surged forth, striking the ground.
Instantly, a thick layer of solid ice formed across the surface.
The ice spread rapidly in all directions, engulfing the surrounding mountain peaks in a matter of moments.
At the Cold Pool, the epicenter of the frigid assault, the ice plunged deep into the earth.
Under the extreme cold, the ground began to crack and collapse, soon forming a massive chasm tens of miles deep.
Within the chasm, a three-foot-tall barrier materialized, hovering in mid-air. Its surface shimmered with iridescent light, covered in dense, intricate runes.
Ye Bing unleashed wave after wave of frigid energy, attacking the barrier relentlessly.
Demon Subduing City.
In a lavishly decorated palace, Jiang Lanruo's eyes snapped open.
A dark cloud settled over her beautiful face.
"Who dares tamper with my formation? Could someone have discovered the secret of the shadow void?"
With a swift movement, she left the palace and headed northeast.
Just three thousand miles outside the city, she spotted a faint figure standing on the horizon.
"Fellow Daoist Jiang, where are you headed?"
"Get out of my way!"
Jiang Lanruo didn't slow down. With a furious shout, a three-foot-long azure blade shot forth like lightning, aiming directly at the figure.
"Fellow Daoist Jiang, you possess the beauty of a celestial being, yet why such overwhelming malice?"
The speaker was none other than Song Wen. As he spoke, a crimson tide surged beneath his feet, coalescing into a hundred-zhang-tall blood wave that roared like a wrathful dragon as it crashed against the incoming flying sword.
The sword, trailing a blinding arc of light like a falling star, collided with the blood wave.
Sword light and blood wave intertwined, erupting in a dazzling radiance that seemed to dye heaven and earth crimson and white.
The flying sword cleaved the towering wave in two, sending its crests soaring before they crashed back into the churning blood sea below.
Meanwhile, though the sword had repelled the surging wave, its momentum was spent. It circled once in the air before returning to Jiang Lanruo's side.
(End of the Chapter)
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