Strife

In theory, with only a Flesh Fusion realm cultivation, Xu Yuan could not possibly breach Mu Nuo's defenses. No matter how weakened Mu Nuo was, the child was still a Saint. It was like how a massive, seven-foot-tall brute, even if drained of muscle until he was thin as a bamboo pole, was not someone a child of a few years could mess with. Yet there were always exceptions to everything. If that child were equipped with an exoskeleton, the situation would naturally be completely different. Perhaps his god-given talent had kicked in, because after his initial unease, Xu Yuan adapted to the markings on the back of his hand without any difficulty. Although this thing had been sealed onto him by Tianye using Dao charm, it felt like an organ that had grown right out of his body. Furthermore, unlike internal organs that could not be governed by conscious thought, as long as he wished it, he could wield it as effortlessly as an extension of his own limbs. Submerging his spiritual vision into it, Xu Yuan could clearly perceive everything happening across the city through the markings, just like that night when Lou Ji opened her sea of consciousness to share her vision with him. Moreover, compared to Lou Ji, because the life within the markings lacked conscious awareness, Xu Yuan could actively direct the focus of his observation and use it to lock onto those lofty Saints. In other words, Xu Yuan no longer had to endure that blinding light pollution. However, compared to his previous aberrant ghost body, the power of these markings had its pros and cons. It was far more powerful than the strength of a Transcendent Realm aberrant ghost body, but even though it shared his origin, it remained an external object after all. Though Xu Yuan could mobilize this power, he was still constrained by his cultivation—his body could not bear such immense might, so he could only operate with the markings as the primary vessel. For scouting and locating enemies, it worked well enough, but when it came to offensive arts meant to slay foes, he found himself somewhat stretched thin. Because these markings were essentially a hybrid of a dantian and a sea of consciousness, devoid of any meridians, Xu Yuan had no way to channel it to cast high-powered arts. If he wanted to join the battle of Saints above, at most he could mobilize some power from the markings to coat his body— and then charge up to trade blows with those Saints. "..." Having figured out the markings Tianye had given him, Xu Yuan still found the whole thing rather strange. Back when he possessed the willow ghost blade, though he could sense that they shared the same origin, the connection was actually very weak. If the willow ghost blade were compared to a nuclear-powered flashlight, then Xu Yuan, relying on that weak link, could at most flick the switch to shed some light without blowing it up. Yet now, after the Thousand-Thorns Ghost Willow's yin origin had taken a detour through Mu Nuo's body, he could directly draw out the nuclear energy from that flashlight for his own use. He couldn't make sense of it. Xu Yuan could not fathom where this change had come from. Perhaps Tianye, as the caster of the seal, knew some insider details, but the demonic woman obviously wasn't going to tell him. Regardless, those were questions to ponder in the future. At this stage, his objective was to help the Prime Minister's Manor keep Zhenxi Manor from being swallowed by the sects. As long as the markings could aid him in that endeavor, that was enough. As the power within the markings was channeled out, Xu Yuan's hand gripping Mu Nuo's head tightened gradually. The feel of gripping the brat's skull was bizarre. It was nothing like an ordinary human. When his fingertips pierced the scalp, they encountered no hard bone like a cranium, nor any brain matter protected within, and there were no organs whatsoever inside the body. The creature truly had no concept of flesh and blood. However, seeing what the creature looked like inside with his own eyes, Xu Yuan had a rough idea of why the little monster wanted to devour him. It was probably to patch up its own defects. Although it might sound like boasting, aside from the drawback of a limited lifespan, the human race truly was favored by Heaven. This was because the meridians within the human body aligned perfectly with the great Dao of origin qi between heaven and earth, which was precisely why the great demons of Guyuan did not hesitate to sacrifice part of their lifespan to take on human form. If Mu Nuo were to devour him, perhaps it could form human meridians inside its body... Thoughts branched through his mind. As his fingertips sank deeper into Mu Nuo's head, Xu Yuan's brow suddenly twitched; he had noticed something amiss. In just this split second, Mu Nuo's head was already attempting to level the indentations made by his five fingers, repelling the digits embedded within. Furthermore, this repulsion was not a physical squeezing—Xu Yuan's embedded fingers were disappearing bit by bit! No fluctuation of spells! No fluctuation of soul power! It was erasing the existence of his fingers as naturally as an unalterable law of the universe! Fuck! This abrupt discovery sent goosebumps erupting across Xu Yuan's skin. At this moment, he finally understood why Tianye had said: "It has no concept of death." Mu Nuo was like a stone—a stone that, even if smashed to pieces, would constantly gather itself back together, while anything obstructing its reconvergence would be directly annihilated, erased without a trace or warning. The unknown always bred dread, just as when humanity first encountered the undying aberrant ghosts ten thousand years ago. Xu Yuan instinctively wanted to pull his hand back, but rapidly racing thoughts made him freeze his movement. First, he had just made a ruthless threat, and Mu Xingyi and Madame Wan were watching. Second, he believed he ought to have a way to deal with this brat, just as Mu Nuo had been able to bypass the black qi to directly touch his body. Who wasn't a Great Calamity here? Acting on that thought, Xu Yuan no longer mobilized the power in the markings, but instead drew a wisp of black qi from his dantian to wrap around his hand. And sure enough, the unheralded annihilation of his fingertips immediately ground to a halt. Relaxing slightly, Xu Yuan looked toward the husband and wife outside the water curtain and said coldly: "Three breaths. If you two still do not make a move in three breaths, I will kill it." Aside from Mu Nuo, who was likewise a suspected Calamity, the situation across the prefectural city remained far from optimistic. Through the markings, Xu Yuan could clearly observe the other battlegrounds. The battle between Feng Jiuxuan and the White Emperor was still locked in stalemate, though to prevent their clash as supreme Saints from reducing the city to ruins, Feng Jiuxuan had actively pulled the battlefield beyond the collapsed canopy of the sky. From this perspective, his maternal uncle seemed to hold a certain upper hand. However, the battle on Linlang's side was rather unbearable to watch. The old adage that heavy fur made one weak to fire was vividly demonstrated on that foolish wolf. What had been a fine white wolf was now completely turned into a fiery beast, its fur entirely set ablaze, and beneath it, several mangled, gaping holes pierced straight through its torso. Linlang was simply no match for the hunchbacked elder. The only thing that gave Xu Yuan slight comfort was that the hunchbacked elder seemed to have infuriated Linlang. The pain stimulated the wolfish ferocity in Linlang's blood, so there was no immediate worry about the dumb beast throwing the fight. And with an ancient beast's vitality, if Linlang fought to the death without retreating, it should be able to hold out for a good while longer. The problem lay with Tianyuan, the Pavilion Master of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion. She had formally joined the fray, and the Tiga-esque Tianye's warning light was already flashing. He now needed Mu Xingyi and Madame Wan to balance the battlefield. "Three." "Two." As the countdown left his lips, watching Xu Yuan's grip continuously tighten, Madame Wan's eyes turned crimson. Having completely lost her sanity, she wanted to charge forward recklessly, but beside her, Mu Xingyi grabbed hold of her to hold her back. From his grotesque mouthparts, a raspy, low voice emerged: "Xu Changtian, earlier I offered you cooperation, yet you refused." Xu Yuan replied via voice transmission at the speed of a Saint, with no pretense of courtesy: "Face reality, Mu Xingyi. What I am speaking now is an order, not cooperation. Either you two turn around this instant and tear that old man apart, or you watch Mu Nuo die by my hand." Seeing this, Mu Xingyi likewise responded at the speed of a Saint: "We can attack Qin Ke, but you must first return Mu Nuo to me. I can swear on my life." Xu Yuan tightened his grip further: "If this were said by the Mu Xingyi who was human, I might believe it, but forget it now. Ghost knows whether you'll just take Mu Nuo and run once I hand it back to you." The physical state affected one's thinking. Though Mu Xingyi retained a portion of his human intellect, his instincts as an Insect Saint had already mutated that part of his mind, engraving the survival and continuation of his bloodline deep into his bones. "Xu Changtian, how can we trust that you won't devour Nuonuo?! You must give us proof of mutual trust!" Madame Wan suddenly shrieked shrilly, "If you do not hand Nuonuo over, at worst we will all perish together right here! I want to see if you and the slut beside you can withstand seven Saints at once!" Xu Yuan paid no mind to this already maddened yin ghost. Instead, he smiled at Mu Xingyi: "Mu Xingyi, you must have noticed by now. The fact that I can match the speed of your speech means that I, too, possess Saint Tier strength right now. Even if I can't win, fleeing behind my uncle and Tianye is well within my power. So your threats are utterly meaningless." With that, Xu Yuan said no more. Though Mu Xingyi and Madame Wan were an incompetent pair of parents who did not even know their offspring's unique nature, their morbid, obsessive love for Mu Nuo was undeniably genuine. Thus, Xu Yuan was not worried they would refuse. Weaknesses were meant to be exploited like this. The only flaw in his plan was probably Tianyuan. Amidst Madame Wan's piercing curses and Mu Xingyi's silence, Xu Yuan turned his gaze toward this Pavilion Master. And as his gaze fell upon her, Tianyuan's cool voice transmission rang out in his ear: "You two, your child is special. It has no concept of death whatsoever. Xu Changtian cannot kill it right now." That damned Pavilion Master really did pass the eavesdropped information along to Mu Xingyi and Madame Wan. Fortunately, everyone possessed Heavenly Yan divine souls and could eavesdrop on one another; otherwise, had she been able to transmit privately without detection, she might truly have ruined his plan. Xu Yuan's expression did not change in the slightest. Amidst Mu Xingyi and Madame Wan's confusion, he cut into the conversation between the three with a smile: "Mu Nuo indeed cannot be killed, but what if I can eat it?" Saying so, Xu Yuan's figure abruptly vanished from where he stood. When he reappeared, he had already teleported behind Tianyuan, clutching Mu Nuo in his grip. Back to back, their robes fluttering in the swirling qi, his blood-tinged pupils glanced sideways at the side of her face: "Remember, I am the Great Calamity appointed by you. Isn't a bizarre existence like Mu Nuo that knows no death the perfect nourishment for a calamity to grow?" "..." Tianyuan stared straight ahead, her ethereal garments floating in the breeze, without looking back: "You seem to take pride in that, Xu Changtian?" "It was the tone personally set by Your Excellency the Pavilion Master's decree, so of course I should feel honored." With that, Xu Yuan glanced down at Mu Xingyi and his wife below and grinned. "A friendly reminder: time is almost up." "..." In the end, Mu Xingyi dragged Madame Wan away, streaking toward the battle where Linlang was. At the same time, the hunchbacked elder's grumbling voice also sounded in the ears of those who possessed Heavenly Yan divine souls: "Not to meddle, but while this old man can understand that Your Excellency and the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion have your own schemes, if this trip to Zhenxi Manor is ruined, the shifting balance of power might truly affect the overall situation." Hearing this, Xu Yuan's expression remained unchanged, but his heart sank slightly. Was the leeway in the old man's tone due to that scholar surnamed Wen who had yet to make a move...? Yet Tianyuan's reply remained tranquil: "For now, the situation is still within controllable bounds." "Suit yourself. This matter was arranged under Miss Wen's initiative in the first place, and this old man doesn't wish to go against her wishes." After sending that slightly dissatisfied transmission, when the hunchbacked elder spoke again, he no longer used voice transmission. His calm, grumbling tone vanished, replaced by an angry, low curse: "Tianyuan, too many unexpected changes have occurred by now! This old man can see that the Saintess's power cannot last, and I can tell that Xu Changtian is merely bluffing! I can hold off Linlang and the two Mus for the moment, but if you continue to waste time with the Saintess, do not blame this old man for breaking our agreement!" The moment these words were uttered, Xu Yuan immediately realized they were obviously an intentional display of discord between the two, intended to reassure the White Emperor. Although all three battles were intense, and the hunchbacked elder was about to face the siege of three Saints alone, the one bearing the greatest pressure was actually the White Emperor. Even though Feng Jiuxuan's sword arts did not appear to inflict much damage on him right now, that was only because both sides were testing each other. There was no telling if the Sword Saint might instantly unleash a lethal technique to strike him down in the very next moment. The shock of that sky-shattering sword strike from that night was still vivid in memory. As he was pondering, Tianyuan's ethereal voice softly drifted over: "Xu Changtian, you should have heard Qin Ke's words just now. If you still don't leave, you will truly have no chance." Hearing this, Xu Yuan casually tossed Mu Nuo over to Tianye, instructed her to keep an eye on the brat, and replied with a rather odd expression: "Why do you always assume you are going to win?" Tianyuan turned her fair face slightly, her pale golden pupils meeting Xu Yuan's gaze as she said calmly: "This is merely a rational judgment based on the situation on the field." Xu Yuan lowered his gaze and smiled faintly: "You still have that scholar surnamed Wen who hasn't stepped in, but how do you know I don't have other trump cards on my side?" "..." Hearing this, Tianyuan looked toward Tianye, an inquiring glint in her eyes. Holding Mu Nuo, Tianye simply averted her gaze, offering no response whatsoever. Seeing this, the chest beneath Tianyuan's white robes rose and fell slightly as she let out a gentle sigh: "Letting nature take its course, is it...? "Xu Changtian, I will no longer hold anything back from now on. I hope you can survive." The corners of Xu Yuan's lips curved into a smile, and he murmured: "Though you might not believe it, I just passed all the peculiarities of the White Emperor's arts to my uncle. So I believe our side should be able to hold out a little longer than the White Emperor."