Countless blood-colored patterns surfaced in the air. Beneath the radiance of these spells, the sky full of starlight draped over the two seemed to freeze.
In that split second,
the woman surnamed Wen sensed eleven high-power spells, including the nameless black orb, yet she did not look at them.
She did not look at the sea of blood gathering above her head.
She did not look at the threads of blood pinning her in place.
Nor did she look at the nameless black orb drawing ever closer to her.
Her gaze remained fixed on the young man before her, whose body was already verging on complete collapse.
Then,
she softly uttered two words:
"A monster."
"..."
Hearing this, Xu Yuan smiled. He accepted the compliment with a smile, and smiling through the agonizing pain wracking his body, he drove the nameless black orb in his palm into her lower abdomen.
In an instant,
the spell Nameless was triggered.
When fighting the Barbarian King,
this nameless ink-jade had transformed into an enormous black curtain of a sphere with a radius of over ten zhang, halting the Barbarian King's escape with wide coverage and gravely wounding him.
But this time,
under Xu Yuan's microscopic control,
the pitch-blackness expanded outward only a single foot, halting abruptly the moment it swallowed half of the woman surnamed Wen's torso.
Looking down from the sky,
the ground held an eerie, tranquil beauty.
Blood-colored light fell like a waterfall. A gentle, breathtakingly beautiful woman stood serenely amid the ruins, half of her body ensnared by dense threads of blood, the other half engulfed by a black sphere.
Yet this tranquility was quickly shattered by a trickle of bright crimson blood slipping from the woman's delicate red lips.
The black sphere cloaking half her torso abruptly collapsed and vanished after a single breath, taking with it one side of her waist and hip, most of her lower abdomen, and her left breast...
*Splatter!*
Bright red blood gushed forth, instantly inundating the grayish-brown rubble beneath her feet.
Sensing her grievous injuries, the woman surnamed Wen lowered her eyes to glance at her mangled body. Her red lips parted slightly as though she wished to say something, but Xu Yuan gave her no chance.
Facing a true Saint, Xu Yuan's only hope of victory had been to gamble everything on the opening instant of battle, orchestrating a sudden, catching-her-off-guard first-strike kill.
All the more so when dealing with this woman surnamed Wen, whose lifespan exceeded the entire reign of Great Yan. The remaining nine high-power spells poured down without the slightest pause.
There was no such thing as emerging unscathed from the smoke—because beneath the absolute might of such spells, dust and smoke could not even exist.
Blinding light pollution bloomed in rolling succession across the ground.
When everything finally came to an end,
*Step.*
*Step.*
At the bottom of the colossal crater, Xu Yuan dragged his weakened body forward, walking slowly until he stood before the dying woman surnamed Wen.
Her end could hardly be called dignified. Her clothes were shredded to tatters, and her originally flawless, alluring figure was mangled beyond anything capable of evoking desire. Beyond the half of her torso swallowed by the nameless spell, her remaining limbs, long hair, and face had been utterly ruined by the barrage of spells.
Were it not for the clear, gentle eyes that remained unchanged, and the faint rise and fall of her chest, she would have resembled a withered corpse.
Conjuring a blood-essence longsword with a wave of his hand, Xu Yuan moved to end her life. To his surprise, the woman's parched lips suddenly moved. Realizing no sound came out, she forcefully raised her left arm, which had lost its forearm, gesturing for an instant toward the sky behind him.
"..." Xu Yuan.
After a moment of silence, Xu Yuan raised his sword and said softly,
"I know you won't die so easily. Before this, I've already seen two bodies of yours, so—"
Before he could finish,
Xu Yuan saw the woman surnamed Wen seem to offer a faint smile. With her broken body, she gave a weak shake of her head, a dry, raspy whisper slipping from between her pale lips:
"You are... wrong..."
With those words,
even before Xu Yuan's blade could fall, her breath ceased.
The Void Realm technique that had been suppressing the cohesion of his Dao domain dissolved in an instant.
Seeing this, Xu Yuan felt no relief whatsoever.
As long as he was given the time to execute the Stacked Inscription Secret Art and pool the spells within his body, he could shatter the shackles of a cultivator's meridians, unleashing a burst of combat prowess from a Transcendent body that could force even the paramount Saints to retreat.
He had used this method to slay this body of the woman surnamed Wen, but the price was exhausting three-quarters of the source qi within him.
The problem was,
the woman surnamed Wen still possessed another Saint vessel.
Without the element of surprise for a first-strike kill, and without the source qi to unleash high-power spells, if Xu Yuan wished to win the brutal battle ahead, he had only one choice left.
To devour the soul imprint from this body using his Dao charm of death, and then fight the ensuing battle with an absolute advantage in intelligence.
If possible, Xu Yuan did not want to do this.
His Dao charm had only just formed; much of it remained unfamiliar to him. Swallowing the soul imprint of a Saint carried a high risk that his own mind would be corrupted by hers.
Yet now, he had no choice.
Under the influence of his Dao charm, Xu Yuan's blood-colored pupils instantly shifted into black and white. He slowly raised a hand toward the lifeless corpse of the woman surnamed Wen.
Yet what he saw next left him momentarily stunned.
There was no soul imprint within the corpse.
This went completely beyond Xu Yuan's understanding.
The Dao charm of life and death could not lie. He was certain that the corpse before him was definitely not an avatar or similar technique, but an independent, living person.
A soul imprint could not simply vanish...
The only explanation was that the woman's other body had preemptively swallowed it away.
After a brief daze, Xu Yuan snapped his eyes up, looking in the direction the woman had pointed toward just before her death.
And it was that very glance that caused Xu Yuan's mind to freeze entirely.
Beneath the starlit dome of heaven,
stood three gentle, elegant women identical in appearance.
Every single one was a Saint.
His scalp went numb, his breathing hitched, and he instinctively took a step back.
Xu Yuan parted his lips to say something, but quickly closed them again.
After holding it in for a long time, he managed to blurt out a single sentence:
"Wait... how can you even play like that?"
Even as he spoke,
from the corner of his eye, he caught two streaks of light streaking over from the direction of East City, coalescing in midair into two women in flowing immortal skirts.
One held Mu Nuo's severed head.
The other held Mu Nuo's headless corpse.
Together with the three gentle women from before, all five looked down upon Xu Yuan below with soft, smiling eyes.
Watching the finely dressed young man backing away repeatedly, one of the women smiled softly and said,
"You appear quite surprised. What I said earlier was no joke. If one intends to rebel against Heaven, one must naturally possess the strength to match, must one not?"
The corner of Xu Yuan's mouth twitched, a sense of powerlessness washing over his heart.
"What kind of technique is this?"
The moment he asked,
Xu Yuan saw one of the figures above drift slowly toward the ground.
"An external avatar technique I created for the purpose of striking down Heaven."
Descending, she said with a faint smile,
"That 'Heaven' is truly petty. The moment the strength of any living creature exceeds a certain limit, It will personally descend into the world in some form to destroy them. Thus, I could only resort to this to conceal myself."
"..."
Xu Yuan clicked his tongue, stalling for time with a powerless whisper:
"In that case, the Heavenly Gate Sword Immortal's death..."
"Most likely, yes."
The woman surnamed Wen gave a slight nod, a flicker of somber complexity passing through her gentle eyes.
"Although I was not present to witness his passing, he was already invincible across the world at that time. Aside from that 'Heaven' above, I can think of no one capable of slaying him."
At this point,
she let out a gentle sigh.
"Then again, that man brought such an end upon himself. All his life he was too proud—so proud that he held all under heaven in contempt. Dying at the hands of that 'Heaven' was likely his destined end."
"..."
In the depths of despair,
even the most earth-shattering secrets went in one ear and out the other.
Xu Yuan had no mind to ponder the hidden truths behind the Heavenly Gate Sword Immortal; his thoughts churned frantically, seeking a way out.
Every woman surnamed Wen above was merely an ordinary Saint, Saints who had not even grasped a Dao charm.
Yet it was still an impossible dilemma.
Even without a Dao charm, every single one of them was still a powerhouse among Saints.
Countless thoughts raced through his mind, only to converge on a single word.
Death.
There was no saving this.
Xu Yuan attempted to summon his Dao domain to resist, but the woman descending before him shattered it with a Void Realm burst.
Amidst the ruins beneath the stars, everything seemed utterly quiet.
With a heavy sigh, Xu Yuan stood where he was, moving no further.
The woman surnamed Wen took measured steps forward.
The distance between the two shrank steadily,
until
a furious roar shattered the stillness of the night, echoing throughout the entire city.
"White Emperor, save me—!"
"..." Xu Yuan.
Make no mistake, he was not the one shouting.
Though he feared death, he had not degraded himself to the point of grasping at straws so desperately.
The voice came from Mu Nuo.
It shrieked frantically,
"White Emperor, take me back to Guyuan! Give me time, and I will accompany you in slaughtering the entire human race!"
"..."
The woman surnamed Wen halted her steps, raising her gaze to the Dragon Emperor who had remained silently suspended above the sky.
*A turn of events?*
Xu Yuan's brow twitched.
If the White Emperor joined the fray, it truly was hard to say how the situation would unfold.
Unfortunately, the White Emperor's reaction to Mu Nuo's words was indifferent. His calm, vertical dragon pupils betrayed no emotion as he silently met the gaze of the woman surnamed Wen.
In the quiet prefectural city, only Mu Nuo's desperate, dying screams echoed:
"White Emperor, strike! My current body can still hold this woman off for three breaths! Don't you want to lead the demon race into the Fourteen Provinces of the Central Lands? As long as you have me, you will possess an immortal army!!"
"..."
Neither the White Emperor nor the woman surnamed Wen spoke.
Neither side used voice transmission.
The Heavenly Yan divine soul picked up no sound whatsoever.
Mu Nuo seemed to sense that something was wrong, and its tone shifted, turning savage amidst its madness:
"White Emperor, don't you forget, my mind holds most of Guyuan's absolute confidential secrets! If you don't save me, I will—"
*Boom—!*
A dull explosion reverberated between heaven and earth, cutting the shouting short.
In an instant, the White Emperor arrived before the four women in the sky, a single punch blasting apart Mu Nuo's barking lower jaw.
Looking down at Mu Nuo's incredulous gaze, the White Emperor turned to the woman surnamed Wen holding the other half of the head:
"Miss Wen."
The woman surnamed Wen smiled faintly. Her hand exerted sudden, violent force, accompanied by a blast of astral wind that instantly sent soul blood spraying outward.
Under the combined might of two paramount Saints, Mu Nuo died without any room to resist.
It was dead.
From the moment Xu Yuan had poured the Dragon Transformation Essence into its body, Mu Nuo's death had already been arbitrarily decreed by this assembly of paramount Saints.
The White Emperor would never permit Mu Nuo to live.
Because Mu Nuo held Guyuan's absolute secrets.
Because once Mu Nuo grew in power, it would become uncontrollable, liable to turn on its master at any moment.
Even if they shared a common enemy, as the Lord of Guyuan, the White Emperor would never let such an existence live.
And the sects, naturally, would never permit this suspected calamity to defect to Guyuan.
Crushing Mu Nuo's skull, the woman surnamed Wen glanced at the fragments scattering into the world and murmured,
"It seems it was not the calamity."
With that,
she turned to the man before her.
"Now, can the Demon Emperor depart?"
The White Emperor did not answer immediately, glancing down at the two figures bolting madly toward the west of the city.
During the brief lull while the two Saints stared each other down, Xu Yuan had dragged the dazed Li Junwu along and sprinted in the direction of Feng Jiuxuan, fleeing at top speed without looking back.
This movement naturally did not escape the surveillance of the woman surnamed Wen, but with the Lord of Guyuan standing right before her, she did not immediately move to intercept them.
After a moment's contemplation, the White Emperor asked,
"Must Xu Changtian be killed?"
The woman surnamed Wen nodded gently.
"From Guyuan's standpoint, you would likely wish to see a second Xu Yinhe emerge from the Prime Minister's Manor. But from our standpoint, there is no need for a second Xu Yinhe."
"In that case, I will not insist."
The White Emperor's voice was low and calm. Glancing diagonally down at Linlang, he asked, "But does Your Ladyship intend to hand over this Linlang as agreed, or must I take it myself?"
The woman surnamed Wen gave no direct answer:
"It is already tainted with Xu Changtian's Dao charm of death. Should he wish it, Linlang could die at any moment.
"Furthermore,
"has not Your Excellency's true purpose in coming here already been achieved?
"The sects and the imperial court of Great Yan have now torn all pretense of cordiality asunder, just as you desired."
"..."
Offering no reply, the White Emperor glanced at the two figures that had already leaped onto the city wall.
*Like this, the lad should be able to escape.*
Giving a slight nod, the White Emperor's figure rose into the air, surrounded by coiling dragon phantoms. Looking down at the identical women below, he said slowly,
"Until we meet again, Miss Wen. The next time we cross paths, it may well be a matter of life and death between us."
With those words,
*Hum—!*
The dragon phantoms dissipated on the spot, and a shooting star sliced across the distant expanse of the sky...
Watching the White Emperor depart, the woman surnamed Wen turned her gaze toward the two fleeing backs and said calmly,
"If you wish to abandon Zhenxi Prefectural City and withdraw, Tianyuan's current stance indeed means she will not stop you. But you seem to have forgotten someone, haven't you?"
As if in confirmation of her words,
*Whoosh—!*
Atop the western city wall, a sighing wall woven entirely from a flaming Dao domain erupted abruptly, barring the path of the two fleeing figures like a heavenly chasm...
"That old bastard!"
Enduring the searing burn against his skin, Xu Yuan cursed under his breath. Without the slightest hesitation, he pushed the Blood Yuan Heart Calamity Art to its limit, and the most penetrative Heavenly Sharpness Sword Art condensed between his index and middle fingers in an instant.
Yet just as he was about to breach the wall, a sudden ambush from the hunched old man lunged from within the flames, completely catching him off guard.
Xu Yuan's spiritual vision perceived it, yet he could not dodge.
Or rather,
if he dodged, Li Junwu in his embrace would take the blow.
*Get Li Junwu out first, then flee with the Void-Stepping Slash!*
The thought flashed across his mind.
Amidst the sparks spraying across the sky, Xu Yuan forcibly punched a hole through the flaming wall with the Heavenly Sharpness Sword Art, hurling his busty "brother" out of the city through the opening.
"Changtian—!"
Amidst Li Junwu's stunned shout, Xu Yuan took the Saint's full-powered strike head-on.
Xu Yuan's afterimage streaked through the air like a beam of light, crashing heavily into the ruined marketplace in the west of the city.
"Cough, cough..."
Hacking up a mouthful of blood, Xu Yuan forcibly knit his wounds using the Domain of Life, pushing himself to his feet with great effort before looking up.
As expected, the hunched old man pursued him like a shadow, bringing with him a sky full of blazing fire.
At a glance, the entire sky looked as though it were enveloped by the magnificent, sprawling sunset glow of burning clouds.
Bearing a body that Feng Jiuxuan had nearly reduced to a human torso, Qin Ke grinned chillingly:
"Brat, thanks to your kindness, Feng Jiuxuan tortured me quite thoroughly. Don't you think it's a bit late to run now?"
Spitting out another mouthful of bloody phlegm, Xu Yuan took a deep breath. Using the scant source qi remaining within him, he activated the Stacked Inscription Secret Art and retorted,
"If I were in my prime, slaying you would be like slaughtering a dog."
Hearing this, the hunched old man chuckled faintly, spreading his solitary arm with a sinister sneer:
"This old man is also severely wounded right now. Brat, if you have the ability, why don't you try?"
With that,
a fireball plummeted instantly, forming a cage that trapped Xu Yuan where he stood.
Before he could even feel the agony of the flames scorching his flesh, Xu Yuan sensed the White Emperor's aura vanish.
The White Emperor had left; that woman surnamed Wen would arrive in the blink of an eye.
He had to get out now!
His thoughts raced, but just as he prepared to activate the Void-Stepping Slash using the Stacked Inscription Secret Art, he suddenly discovered that the few wisps of source qi left within his body had turned to blazing fire at some unknown point.
*This old ghost's flames can burn the source qi inside him?!*
His heart sank heavily.
Before he could think further,
three graceful, skirt-clad figures had already descended from the sky.
Xu Yuan's breath caught, his fists clenching instinctively.
Seeing the woman surnamed Wen arrive, the hunched old man clasped his hand in a respectful bow:
"Miss Wen, I have not failed my mission."
With that, the old man turned back to Xu Yuan below, whose source qi was now completely spent, and said calmly,
"Brat, this is the price of looking down on a Saint. I may indeed be no match for the Sword Saint, but I still have a few tricks to deal with the likes of you. Still, to die at Miss Wen's hands can be considered—"
Before he could finish his sentence,
Qin Ke's head suddenly vanished.
It disappeared so abruptly, without the slightest warning.
And in the very next instant,
Xu Yuan saw a familiar woman clad in military armor.
She shielded him behind her back.
In one hand, she held Qin Ke's severed head; in the other, she gripped a cold-gleaming halberd.
Yet for reasons unknown,
her hair, originally cut short, now fell all the way to her waist.
And
it was whiter than snow.
Chapter 695