Across the desolate, boundless desert, ridges rose and fell.
Beneath the mantle of night, those winding, crisscrossing ridges formed a line that encircled a vast basin.
Only as dawn approached and gentle morning light gradually spilled down was the scenery within revealed.
Ridges intersected and stretched for hundreds of li, truly enclosing a deep valley.
From the outside, almost nothing seemed amiss.
Yet only from high above, looking down, could one perceive the sheer scale of the demonic beast army stationed within.
At this hour, they should have been resting in slumber, yet myriad demons were startled awake.
From the void came rolling explosions, drawing nearer and nearer to them.
Leading them was a great demon clad in a silver-threaded black robe, with a long face and a hooked, eagle-like nose, whose reactions were exceptionally swift.
The instant the explosive booms echoed, he snapped awake.
Shock and fury twisted his face. “We gathered our forces in Sinking Sand Valley to stage a surprise attack on Wutai Temple—could our plans have leaked?”
He shot into the sky and cast his divine sense outward, only for his face to drain of color in an instant.
A far more overbearing divine sense, vast as a boundless ocean, swept forward, bearing an overwhelming killing intent that chilled him to the bone.
“A Soul Formation grandmaster?”
The black-robed demon shuddered and fled without the slightest hesitation.
Down in Sinking Sand Valley, a hundred thousand demonic beasts stared blankly at this sight, unable to fathom why Lord Lian Yinpeng had suddenly departed.
Their gazes instinctively turned toward the opposite direction.
Before long, a disheveled figure appeared in the sky above Sinking Sand Valley.
As their gazes met, the demons realized in an instant.
A human?
The next moment!
*Whoosh!*
A shrill, piercing whistle tore through the air. The bare-chested man, his hair disheveled, casually swept his hand, and the blood-colored sword shot forth.
Tearing through the sky, the crimson blade turned into a sweeping streak of bloody light, reaping countless lives in an eyeblink.
*Roar!*
*Howl!*
Chaos erupted across the valley.
Demonic beasts attempted to take to the air one after another, desperate to flee this cage.
The disheveled man had only one arm, and only after loosing the long sword did he seem to free his hand.
Forming a hand seal with his single hand, he pointed toward the heavens.
Above the desert, which should have been cloudless for myriad li as day and night met, a hazy white cloud abruptly gathered.
The demonic horde watched in bewilderment.
Then, deep within that boundless white cloud, a colossal eye suddenly opened.
Veined with crimson, radiant with golden light.
It was none other than the Scarlet Eyes, Golden Pupils!
As the cloud-eye opened, it cast a hazy radiance. Wherever the light shone, the demonic beasts that had been running amok in panicked frenzy suddenly fell dead still.
Yet while they grew still, the blood-colored long sword did not.
A ring of sword light expanded continuously, swelling to ten li, twenty li, over a hundred li...
Wherever it passed, plumes of blood mist billowed.
Amidst it all, the crimson blade frantically devoured the endless blood mist, growing increasingly sinister, its blade resembling translucent carnelian glass.
Though lengthy to describe, this unfolded in merely a few breaths.
Having done all this, the disheveled man's aura was withered to the extreme.
Across his entire body, the fluctuations of magic power were barely perceptible.
From eyes that should have shone crystalline, two trails of bloody tears trickled uncontrollably.
He slowly looked back along the path he had come.
“Qingshuang, can you withstand this sword?”
*Skreeee!*
A shrill cry pierced through the clouds and mist.
A majestic azure bird crossed space itself to arrive. Just as she was about to strike, the terrifying state of Luo Chen and the hellish Asura purgatory behind him made her heart tremble.
Yet the furious killing intent filling her mind could not be quelled in the slightest.
“Even if it destroys my cultivation, I will kill you!”
Amid a piercing screech, hazy azure light poured from her entire body.
A crescent-like, pitch-black rift spanning a hundred zhang slowly surfaced before her.
It was that same strike from before!
Sub-spatial Slash!
After unleashing this move, Qingshuang seemed unable to maintain her form any longer. Her colossal true body rapidly shrank, returning to her human state.
The Sub-spatial Slash drifted forward, swallowing everything in its wake.
It appeared exceedingly slow, as if one could easily sidestep it. But having suffered grievously from this move and lost an arm to it earlier, Luo Chen knew its uncanny profundity.
Unless one's flight speed exceeded Qingshuang's and one was thoroughly versed in the Dao of Space, no amount of dodging could evade this strike.
Yet he had never intended to run again!
Raising his single arm, he pointed with joined fingers.
“Go!”
*Swoosh!*
A beam of sword light rose from the valley behind him, soaring into the sky.
Endless blood qi transformed into a crimson rainbow trailing behind the Yuantu Sword, forming a long plume as it charged straight toward the hundred-zhang black line.
*With the blood of a hundred thousand beasts, slay the Qingluan!*
Closer!
Closer still!
In an instant, the two collided.
No world-shaking roar erupted, nor was there a dazzling display of kaleidoscopic light.
There was only a soundless, breathless obliteration.
The black rift devoured sword qi in massive gulps.
The crimson blade violently battered that eerie divine ability.
Luo Chen pursed his lips, his face cold as eternal ice, his vast soul pouring everything into controlling this sword strike.
This strike was something he had unleashed by using the Scarlet Eyes, Golden Pupils to cast Mirror Flower Water Moon, spreading it through the Cloud Chess Water Mirror art to briefly restrain a hundred thousand demonic beasts before driving the Yuantu Sword to slaughter them en masse and gather their power.
As for the move itself, it hailed from the killing technique Convergence of a Thousand Firmaments within the fifth-tier sword canon, the Thousand Heavens Myriad Transformations Sword Scripture.
It was a sword killing move that was not a divine ability, yet rivaled one in might, requiring the consumption of vast amounts of empyrean qi.
Luo Chen's empyrean qi had long been exhausted, so he could only substitute it with a sea of demonic beast blood qi.
Because of this, controlling it with his soul was extraordinarily taxing, and his already battered body swayed on the verge of collapse.
Yet he could not fall!
He could not fall here!
Huiniang, Caiyi, his son, his friends, disciples, old acquaintances... and that longevity that lay just one step away!
“Detonate for me!”
A roar like a wounded beast erupted in that instant.
Luo Chen shifted his sword fingers, abruptly altering the technique.
He directly detonated the subsequent variations of the move, using the residual power of a hundred thousand demonic beasts to violently assault the Sub-spatial Slash!
The previously deadlocked clash erupted instantly.
*Rumble!*
The hundred-zhang pitch-black rift shattered into nothingness.
A terrifying shockwave rippled out in all directions, centered on Luo Chen and Qingshuang.
White clouds scattered; the earth gave way.
Luo Chen's figure plummeted powerlessly into the vast, sinking sands of the valley.
A figure stumbled forward, covered in fine, dense lacerations.
Suddenly, a streak of bloody light tore through the air, stabbing straight toward her lower abdomen.
The sword strike came without warning.
The woman leaped.
*Squelch!*
Her right foot was severed clean off.
“Ugh...”
With a muffled grunt, she spun around and clawed outward, gripping the sword tightly in her hand.
Ignoring the blood gushing from her palm, she trembled all over.
After that clash of ultimate moves, both she and Luo Chen were practically at the end of their rope.
Never had she expected this sword to possess its own spirit and ambush her.
“Your master isn't dead yet!”
With a flick of her finger, the blood sword, already on the verge of exhaustion, instantly quieted.
Ignoring her surroundings, Qingshuang leaped down, diving into the deep valley where boundless sands were pouring endlessly downward.
***
A thousand li away.
Lian Yinpeng stared back toward the direction he had fled, his face pale.
“So powerful!”
As he muttered, his pale expression gradually turned hesitant.
“It seemed... not to be a Soul Formation grandmaster?”
He recalled the brief instant his divine sense had collided with that unfamiliar cultivator.
“It wasn't purely overbearing like Eldest Brother's consciousness, nor was it ever-shifting like the ancient red sand scorpion's divine sense. In essence, it felt like the soul of an ordinary Nascent Soul True Person—merely far more vast and profound.”
At this thought, his hesitation deepened.
Fleeing before battle and abandoning a hundred thousand troops meant that once Eldest Brother returned, there would be hell to pay.
Furthermore, that person had clearly arrived in haste, looking less like someone mounting a premeditated attack and more like someone driven here mid-battle.
“It must be a life-and-death battle between two late Nascent Soul Great Cultivators!”
“After such ultimate moves, both sides are bound to be crippled. If I can swoop in and reap the spoils...”
Lian Yinpeng licked his lips. The hesitation in his eyes gradually faded, replaced by burning greed.
Setting aside the legacies of two heavily injured Great Cultivators, their Nascent Souls alone would be an immense tonic for him!
If he could obtain them...
Lian Yinpeng took a deep breath, slapped several talismans onto himself, and quietly crept back toward Sinking Sand Valley.
***
Sinking Sand Valley had collapsed, vast torrents of shifting sand submerging the entire basin like tidal waves.
Two figures struggled within, unable to break free.
Yet neither intended to leave!
Tracking each other's aura, Qingshuang pursued relentlessly.
Suddenly!
Amidst the boundless sand, a fist smashed forward.
Caught off guard, a dent was punched into her body, which was otherwise as tough as a True Artifact.
Wincing in pain, she clawed back.
The hand tried to pull away, but as her knuckles locked around it, retreat became impossible.
“Found you!”
Her other hand struck out like a striking serpent.
*Bang!*
A kick swept upward from below, crashing violently into her left hand.
As they separated, blood burst from the leg, while Qingshuang's left hand hung limp and useless.
Sand choked the air, yet it could not hide their silhouettes, nor could it conceal those two pairs of eyes burning with murderous fury.
“Die!”
“Die!”
*Thud!*
*Crash!*
*Boom!*
The two figures sank continuously, disregarding the scouring sand around them, paying no heed to their maimed bodies. Even with only one hand and one foot left, each attacked the other's vitals.
Yet the once-supreme figure beneath the Soul Formation stage and the renowned Alchemy Grandmaster of the Eastern Desolation had both lost all elegance and bearing.
Their methods of attack were no longer an endless barrage of divine abilities, spells, magic treasures, and True Artifacts, but had degraded into the savage, primal brawl of mortals.
Punches, palms, kicks, headbutts, and elbows.
Driven to desperation, Qingshuang even sank her sharp, silver teeth into Luo Chen's shoulder, ripping away a mouthful of flesh.
Of course, given the toughness of Luo Chen's physique, the price for that bite was one of Qingshuang's teeth shattering.
Who knew how much time had passed.
The rush of sand around them slowed.
Deep underground, a massive cavern had long been filled with countless coarse and fine sands, forming a great dune.
Suddenly!
*Crash!*
Two figures broke through the earth, tangling together again in an instant.
Each struck with a palm, and each tumbled backward like rolling gourds.
Slamming into the cavern walls, they rebounded and clashed once more.
In the cramped space above the sand dune, kicks crossed like shadows.
Just as they were about to separate, Qingshuang whipped her long leg out like a lash, coiling it around Luo Chen's thigh.
Before Luo Chen could react, she lunged with her mouth open, biting straight into his neck.
“You lunatic!”
Unable to break free, Luo Chen thrust his hand backward, forcefully piercing through her extraordinarily tough flesh. He plunged his hand deep inside, gripping her heart.
Yet he did not crush it!
Because his own windpipe was clamped between her teeth.
“Go on, bite! Even if you snap my neck, I'll crush your heart!”
At this moment, the two were entwined: one “kissing” the neck, the other piercing the chest.
From afar, the posture looked almost intimate and tender.
Yet only the two of them knew the lethal peril hanging in the balance.
Without source power to aid him, a severed neck could not heal quickly; an injury that would normally be trivial would turn fatal.
The same held true for her. Once her heart was shattered, divine beast body or not, she would hardly fare any better.
“I'll count to three. We let go together, and then we fight to the death!”
Without waiting for Qingshuang to respond, Luo Chen slowly loosened his grip on her heart.
“One!”
“Two!”
“Three—”
“You crazy woman!”
Luo Chen squeezed hard once more, tightening his grip on the freshly beating heart.
Because sharp pain flared in his neck again.
She had no intention of calling a truce!
He tried to take a deep breath, but couldn't manage it. His gaze flicked upward.
Forcing down his killing intent, he rasped in a low voice, “If we keep fighting like this, neither of us will end up well. I... don't want to die!”
Without waiting for her reply, he forced out, “I know you aren't afraid of death, but can you afford to die? If you die, who will go to Soul Severing Cliff to save your sister?”
“With the Monarch's abilities, do you truly believe she's dead?”
“Fine, even if she is dead, I have thoroughly cultivated the Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture and understand the method of phoenix nirvana. Though I cannot use it, your sister certainly knows that art. Could she not still have a chance at rebirth?”
“You must live if you want any hope of finding Soul Severing Cliff and saving your sister!”
The sharp teeth clamped against his neck seemed to loosen slightly.
Luo Chen breathed a slight sigh of relief and eased his grip on her heart as well.
“Let's have a heart-to-heart... well, in any case, you and I bear no deep-seated enmity. What I did earlier was merely because I was coerced by the Tianyuan Dao Sect. You saw it with your own eyes—I originally wanted to leave Soul Severing Cliff and stay out of your fight.”
“In short, we let go now and leave. If there's a chance in the future, I can even help you search for Monarch Qixia. I possess the Nirvana Holy Fire; working with you, locating the drifting Soul Severing Cliff won't be difficult.”
“I'll count to three again. We let go together, alright?”
“One!”
“I don't trust you!”
“Two... hm?” Surprised, Luo Chen looked down at the fair face inches away, which even a coating of sand could not disguise.
After a moment of thought, he suddenly said, “I have something called the Life-and-Death Gu.”
“I trust your Gu insects even less!”
Luo Chen did not know how she produced the sound—she hadn't opened her mouth, nor used ventriloquism, nor sent a divine sense transmission. Yet as her body trembled, distinct words genuinely resonated.
Luo Chen pondered. “How about we each place a restriction on the other?”
“You managed to hide right under Grandmaster Chunyuan's nose for so long; your attainment in formations and restrictions must be extraordinarily high. I still don't trust you.”
Luo Chen gritted his teeth. “A Great Dao Oath!”
This time, Qingshuang fell silent.
Silence meant she was wavering.
Luo Chen truly did not want to die in this dark, sunless pit beneath the earth.
Throughout his life, he had known low points, tasted glory, and stood eminent for a time.
He refused to perish here, reduced to a ruin for future juniors to explore for lucky chances.
He laid down his final terms.
“We each plant a Life-and-Death Gu, then place restrictions threatening each other's vitals to prevent betrayal in the immediate aftermath, and finally swear a Great Dao Oath not to strike at one another before reaching the Soul Formation stage. Under this threefold binding, we turn foes into friends. How about it?”
As he spoke, he completely let go of the woman's heart.
Breath surged against his nostrils, a sign that she was opening her mouth only to bite down again.
Luo Chen growled in a low voice.
“Think of your sister!”
Qingshuang, whose reason had been clouded by fury, finally regained her clarity at that muffled roar.
She slowly opened her mouth, her sharp teeth pulling out from Luo Chen's neck bit by bit like withdrawing daggers.
Finally raising her head, with sand falling from her hair, she fixed a complex gaze on Luo Chen.
“Begin!”
Relieved of a crushing weight, Luo Chen glanced upward.
“It seems you've noticed that fellow's arrival as well.”
Chapter 981