Scarlet Black Death Armor

Rumble! Rumble! Rumble... Listening to the rolling detonations echoing one after another, Xu Yuan had nearly forgotten how long he had been running. He was not in good shape. Humans had their limits. If he were still in a mortal body, even with Transcendent Realm cultivation, he would have died countless times under the Barbarian King's relentless pursuit. Fortunately, he was no longer human. Even though not an inch of him remained intact apart from his face and the Blood Jade Glazed Robe, it did not hinder his escape in the slightest. An aberrant ghost's body grew more convenient the more one used it. The Silent Crypt was as intricate as an ant nest, and the traits of a Transcendent aberrant ghost allowed Xu Yuan to sense the terrain within a radius of over twenty li through the black death creep, projecting it directly into his mind. Moreover, a human body was frail—especially its meridians. Forcing a cultivation method beyond capacity tore them apart, and abruptly aborting a technique damaged them just as badly. If attacked or disrupted in the process, one would suffer internal injuries from Source Qi backlash at best, or succumb to qi deviation and explode at worst. Aberrant ghosts were different. Source Qi could surge recklessly through the meridians without consequence. Arts could be used and halted at whim, and overloading a technique to swell the meridians by a full circle posed no problem at all. As long as one could endure the agonizing pain of meridians fracturing inch by inch, the tearing damage caused during one heavenly cycle of Source Qi would completely heal by the next. Buzz—! Amid his thoughts, the Barbarian King's ten-foot-tall figure abruptly materialized behind Xu Yuan in the somewhat cramped corridor. One towering, one slender—they looked like a giant beside a child. A fist struck downward from above, its savage gale screaming outward toward both walls. In the nick of time, Xu Yuan angled his sword against the ground to leverage himself away, narrowly dodging a blow that would have pulverized him entirely. Yet he managed only to evade the brunt of it. The bone spikes bristling from Chi Feng's sinewy arm still sliced through the tough black death armor at Xu Yuan's neck, leaving an inch-deep gash. Before Chi Feng could follow up, Xu Yuan had already vanished from the spot. Chi Feng was long accustomed to such slippery, fly-like sword arts. Muscles corded along his legs as he slammed a foot down, continuing his pursuit deep into the passage. "Haaah... hah... hah..." Having narrowly escaped death once more, Xu Yuan sprinted forward while panting heavily. Stabbing pain surged into his brain, not from the wound on his neck, but from his meridians fracturing as he forced Void-Stepping Slash into motion. Thankfully, an aberrant ghost's regenerative power was staggering; within a split second, the cracks lining the inner walls of his meridians had already knit shut. Without slowing down, Xu Yuan produced a handful of high-grade Source Qi restoration pills from his Sumeru ring, crushed them indiscriminately without a second glance, and swallowed them down. Just as he had discussed with Li Qingyan earlier, an aberrant ghost's self-healing also followed the conservation of energy. His self-destructive method of flight inflicted severe damage on his meridians, demanding Source Qi as fuel to mend them. Each execution of Void-Stepping Slash likewise devoured a colossal amount of Source Qi. Had he not squandered money like water by constantly swallowing high-grade pills brimming with Source Qi, even an aberrant ghost body would have been captured alive by the fiendlike Barbarian King by now. Of course, all of this came at a price. Pain. It hurt like hell! Xu Yuan ground his teeth, his expression twisting into a savage grimace. It was true that an aberrant ghost's body could regenerate as long as Source Qi remained, but that hardly meant he felt no pain. Under the guidance of the Blood Yuan Heart Calamity Art, the wild Source Qi surging from the pills swiftly replenished Xu Yuan's nearly depleted dantian. Yet with it came the bone-shattering agony of meridians snapping inch by inch. Had he not endured the ordeal of reshaping his body within the caverns of Tianmen Mountain, the sheer torment would have rendered him incapable of facing an enemy by now. As the agony subsided, Xu Yuan took a deep breath, cast a backward glance at the ghostly blue streak of light trailing behind him, and cursed under his breath: "Damn it. If I'd known it would hurt this much, I would've let that perverted woman Li Qingyan turn into the aberrant ghost instead." As he spoke, he instinctively pressed a hand against the wound on his neck, intending to urge his body into healing it. Even though an inch-deep cut on his neck was little more than a superficial graze to him now, it still felt revolting. After all, though his flesh belonged to an aberrant ghost, his mind remained human. Yet the moment his fingertips brushed his neck, a chill sank deep into Xu Yuan's heart. This time, he felt no liquid flowing from the wound. In its place were minute, viscous, intertwined... flesh tendrils. These myriad tiny tendrils seemed to possess a will of their own, knitting together without any urging from Xu Yuan, steadily stitching the gash on his neck closed. His aberrant ghost transformation had deepened. The Intent carried within Barbarian King Chi Feng's punch was already losing its power to suppress the ferocious regenerative capacity of the aberrant ghost within him. Yet at that exact instant, Xu Yuan suddenly found that his senses toward everything in the Silent Crypt had grown far clearer. It was as though he had stepped into a transparent, all-seeing realm. The wandering aberrant ghosts in the corridors, the rhythmic, rustling pulse of the black death creep, and the life origin contained within that creep—all of it laid bare. Even though Luo Xiran had completely severed the Silent Crypt from the Blood Nest, the very source of the life origin, the crypt was vast beyond measure. Boundless carpets of black death creep lined the ant-nest-like tunnels. Even with the source cut off, life origin still lingered within them. Every last trace was plainly visible. In a pocket of seemingly frozen space and time, Xu Yuan raised his fingertips. In the next instant, he felt the life origin within the black death creep along the ground flowing into his body through the fungal armor he wore. Unlike the agony of refining pills, this life origin unique to aberrant ghosts brought only waves of refreshing, soothing comfort as it entered his body. Moreover, the black death creep no longer required any infusion of Source Qi to refine. Like children returning to their father's embrace, they willingly adhered to the fungal armor encasing him. Absorbing continuously, his power swelled without end. Over ten thousand years, the aberrant ghost queen Luo Xiran had painstakingly accumulated that life origin bit by bit through the black death creep, yet Xu Yuan—a treacherous aberrant ghost of her own making—could actively devour and share it. And as he consumed more and more life origin, Xu Yuan realized he was instinctively mastering countless talents belonging to aberrant ghosts. Subconsciously, a bizarre ripple radiated outward with Xu Yuan at its center. "Hiss—!" "Roaaar!" "Awooo!" Within the pitch-black tunnels, countless wandering aberrant ghosts caught the ripple and erupted into earth-shattering howls. Amid tremors that shook the earth and stone, they surged frenziedly toward the corridor where Xu Yuan and Chi Feng ran. "..." Chi Feng, his barbarian runes fully unleashed, sensed the commotion almost immediately. His expression barely shifted. Apart from those at the Transcendent Realm, no number of low-grade aberrant ghosts could withstand a single blow from him; they could not even slow his pursuit. The chase pressed on. Soon, the first aberrant ghost appeared ahead of their sprint. It was an aberrant ghost transformed from a human, bearing an aura comparable to a Grandmaster and clad in a strange, brownish-red carapace. It charged headlong toward the two of them. A flicker of murderous intent crossed Chi Feng's eyes, but an unexpected sight unfolded before him. As the aberrant ghost brushed past the blood-robed youth, the youth lightly patted its shoulder. In an instant, the bizarre brownish-red armor was stripped clean from the creature along with flesh and bone, melting into a viscous fluid that snaked under the youth's wide sleeve. The aberrant ghost itself instantly lost all vitality and crashed to the stone floor, tumbling dozens of paces forward on sheer momentum. Witnessing this eerie scene, the Barbarian King's calm demeanor finally cracked, his brow furrowing slightly. Xu Yuan was naturally not foolish enough to think low-grade aberrant ghosts could impede the pursuit of the Barbarian King behind him. Every high-grade aberrant ghost in the Silent Crypt had already been summoned back to the depths of the Blood Nest by Luo Xiran. The low-grade ones left behind could be obliterated in a single strike even by that chest-bound princess, to say nothing of the current Barbarian King. Trying to slow Chi Feng with these creatures was like an ant trying to shake a tree. Yet as couriers delivering fungal armor and life origin to him, they could not have been more ideal. Driven by the bizarre ripple Xu Yuan emitted, countless aberrant ghosts surged frantically along the route he mapped out, only to be devoured and left collapsing in their tracks. One... Two... Ten... A hundred... A thousand! As life origin flooded in without pause and the black death armor grew denser and more solid, Xu Yuan clearly sensed the power coursing through him mounting steadily. The true recipient meant for the black death armor was never a human, but an aberrant ghost! As his power swelled, a manic craving stirred deep within his heart—a desire to turn and slaughter the Barbarian King right then and there, and then... No, it was not time yet! The instant the urge arose, thoughts as frigid as an icehouse snapped Xu Yuan back to his senses. If Chi Feng possessed only the combat strength he had shown so far, Xu Yuan could indeed face him in battle now. The trouble was that this damned Barbarian King had a third phase. Even though Chi Feng had not yet become a Saint, had not yet attained the complete form of that world boss from Cangyuan, Xu Yuan dared not gamble. A blue streak and a scarlet light tore madly through the pitch-black tunnels. Wherever they passed, howling winds surged and passages collapsed, burying countless aberrant ghosts alive beneath the rubble. As seconds slipped into minutes, Xu Yuan's reaction to Chi Feng's formidable power shifted from his initial panic to an easy, measured stride. Aided by the myriad aberrant ghosts scrambling to sacrifice themselves, Xu Yuan drew on the instincts of his monstrous shell, gradually sensing that the black death armor upon his body was approaching a qualitative leap toward its absolute peak. Thud! A boot came down, withering the creep and shattering the stone floor. As Xu Yuan accelerated, he instinctively cast a backward glance at the Barbarian King. And this time, the moment their gazes met, Chi Feng's calm, deep voice rang beside Xu Yuan's ear for the first time during the pursuit: "Are you still not ready?" Xu Yuan glanced back, his pupils glowing crimson as he grinned, his white teeth already edged with a hint of fangs. "What, can't wait to embrace your death?" Chi Feng's profound, eerie blue eyes remained devoid of ripple. "This King merely wished to inform you that there is nowhere left in this crypt for you to run." "..." Hearing this, Xu Yuan did not slow his flight, smacking his lips without replying at once. The Barbarian King was shrewd and calculating. From the very start of the chase, he had been bringing down every corridor they traversed, forcing Xu Yuan's path of escape strictly forward. Though the Blood Demon Cave was as vast and complex as an ant nest, its tunnels were not infinite. At the speed the two were moving, they had nearly circled the entire crypt in all this time. The outer reaches of the Blood Demon Cave had collapsed entirely. If he wished to flee further, his only remaining choice was to head toward the depths of the Blood Nest where countless high-grade aberrant ghosts lurked. Which was precisely the direction their flight was heading right now. At this thought, Xu Yuan hesitated slightly. He had avoided fleeing toward the depths of the Blood Nest earlier solely because his strength was insufficient, but now he seemed to have no other option. Besides, with his current power, he should be able to keep his life within the Blood Nest. Perhaps it would be better to just— Rumble—! Just as the thought crossed his mind, a violent tremor erupted from somewhere far ahead down the tunnel. Roughly a dozen breaths later, a tempest swept endless billowing dust toward them. "..." Xu Yuan went silent. The way into the Blood Nest had collapsed. With the colossal ruckus he and Chi Feng had raised in the crypt, Luo Xiran had naturally sensed them long ago. Seeing that the two intended to enter the Blood Nest, the aberrant ghost queen had made a swift and decisive choice: she had ordered her high-grade aberrant ghosts to bring down every path leading into the depths. Her message was unmistakably clear. Since Holy Son and your Dao Protector are having a little spat, settle your own family business yourselves—don't even think about dragging your troubles to my doorstep. Witnessing this, Chi Feng's deep voice took on a strange edge: "That other Transcendent aberrant ghost does not seem inclined to help you. She appears to have collapsed every path leading into the depths of the crypt." "..." Xu Yuan drew a deep breath. Damn it, that woman was ruthless. Just moments ago she had spoken of turning him into an equal, yet the moment trouble arrived, she severed his retreat without hesitation. Exhaling the breath in a long sigh, Xu Yuan smiled. "Chi Feng, you seem awfully certain you have victory in your grasp." "This King can see that your flight along the way was meant to absorb the armor from those aberrant ghosts and the creep within this cavern to strengthen your flesh," Chi Feng said, keeping pace right behind him, his voice as tranquil as still water. "And judging by the aura leaking from you, you should be nearly finished." "Heh." Xu Yuan chuckled softly, tossing his sleeve back to reveal the sinister armor gleaming with scarlet patterns underneath. "Since you're so clear on that, are you sure you still want to chase me? This young master can give you one more chance..." "Your bluff is pointless." Chi Feng's cold gaze remained fixed on Xu Yuan ahead, his tone calm as water. "Given the rate your aura was rising just now, you still needed to absorb the creep from that section in the depths of the crypt. But that area has already collapsed." With that, the barbarian runes across Chi Feng's body blazed with divine radiance. His speed abruptly surged, his hulking frame closing the distance to Xu Yuan in a single breath. A gale of a fist wrapped in blue Source Qi crashed downward. This time, Xu Yuan did not dodge. He swung his sword up to meet it, drawing a gorgeous arc through the air. The blade of Qingyu hummed violently as a scarlet arc of light tore through the dark. Chi Feng did not retreat in the slightest, his aura detonating in full force. Between Xu Yuan and Chi Feng, the first direct clash erupted! Boom—! Amid the colossal impact, a scarlet silhouette was hurled backward. The shadow moved too fast for the naked eye to track, slamming into the cavern wall with staggering force. Its momentum unbroken, it plowed dozens of yards deep into the solid rock before grinding to a halt! Amid the swirling dust, Xu Yuan calmly glanced down at his twisted, broken right arm. Staring at Chi Feng in the distance, he grinned. "Chi Feng, you're wrong. There's plenty of creep." With that, Xu Yuan's figure vanished straight from the crater. "..." When he reappeared, Xu Yuan had already crossed hundreds of paces of solid rock, arriving inside the spherical cavern where he had fought Luo Xiran earlier. After all those twists and turns, he had ended up right back where he started. Li Qingyan, who had been waiting quietly inside, spotted the blood-robed figure the moment he appeared. "Changtian?!" Xu Yuan said nothing. In a single flash, he appeared at the woman's side, pressing his left hand against her chest as he gave a hurried instruction: "The Barbarian King is right behind me. Don't resist." "..." Li Qingyan's phoenix eyes narrowed slightly. Spotting his mangled right arm, she instantly assessed the situation and obediently remained silent. As Xu Yuan's Source Qi surged outward, the red robes draping Li Qingyan fluttered wildly. Like silk peeled from a cocoon, countless strands of creep flowed along the palm pressed against her chest, disappearing beneath his sleeve. The crimson garments on the woman grew thinner and sheerer, until at last they were completely swallowed away... Sizzle... The air seemed to freeze, and something shifted in that very instant. Xu Yuan parted his fanged lips and slid his hand downward, wrapping an arm around the soft, supple waist of the woman in his embrace. Looking at him now, his aura entirely transformed, Li Qingyan clenched her fists with a hint of nervousness. Yet to her surprise, Xu Yuan merely leaned down gently toward her translucent earlobe, pressed his Sumeru ring into her palm, and whispered: "Qingyan, remember the Blood God Stone..." Before his voice could fade— Rumble—! The solid wall of the cavern shattered, and a ten-foot-tall figure burst through the dust, arriving before them in a heartbeat. Seeing this, Xu Yuan wasted no more words. The arm wrapped around Li Qingyan's slender, smooth waist shoved her firmly aside. "Go!" Immediately after, the murderous intent and sharp light in his eyes could no longer be contained. Grinning savagely, he raised his palm to meet Chi Feng's fist...