Heng Jiuyin took a step back.
It was actually Shen Liuxiang… impossible! Absolutely impossible!! How could a mortal body survive inside the God-Destroying Cauldron!
But in his vision, that young man was continuously approaching, making it impossible for him not to believe.
Still a handsome face, only his complexion was exceptionally pale, his brows revealing a long-accumulated gloom, the corners of his lips slightly curved, but the smile did not reach his pair of crimson phoenix eyes.
Heng Jiuyin felt a suffocating pressure from him, not from cultivation, but from an innate fear, that was the demon race’s… bloodline suppression!
Heng Jiuyin’s gaze wandered, falling on the eyes that seemed dyed with blood, paused, and suddenly the fog in his mind cleared, his eyes widening: “Qiongqi—!”
“It’s Qiongqi! You’ve refined the demon beast!!!”
Heng Jiuyin was violently shaken mentally, refusing to believe the scene before him.
Firstly, the Demon Refining Technique was an evil technique; he had gone to great lengths to piece it together and learn it, and there should only be one person in the world who knew it—how did Shen Liuxiang learn it? Secondly, he had confined Qiongqi in the cauldron to torture it, keeping it constantly in a severely injured, half-dead state.
Shen Liuxiang entered the God-Destroying Cauldron and encountered the same fate as Qiongqi, but he didn’t have the robust body of a demon beast. With just a human body as fragile as thin paper, how could he possibly endure ten years without dying in the cauldron, and even refine the demon beast?!!!
Heng Jiuyin was furious but still retained his rationality. Facing Shen Liuxiang who was slowly approaching, he unhesitatingly turned to flee.
Refining ordinary demon beasts was already very difficult; refining magical beasts like Qiongqi was even harder, like climbing to heaven.
Although he didn’t know how Shen Liuxiang had successfully refined it, no matter how powerful he was, the mind prison couldn’t contain Qiongqi for long. He just needed to wait for a while, and Shen Liuxiang would suffer Qiongqi’s backlash and die by body explosion.
Heng Jiuyin knew he couldn’t fight head-on now; he could only delay, wait for Shen Liuxiang to bring about his own destruction, and then make plans.
But he hadn’t expected that just as he darted into the air, the light before him would darken, followed by a “bang,” as a figure fell, creating a large crater on the ground, with spider web-like cracks spreading around.
Heng Jiuyin’s mouth continuously spilled fresh blood, a boot stepping on his chest, leisurely grinding.
“Where are you fleeing to.”
Outside the barrier.
People judged from the mixed spiritual power penetrating the barrier that there were people fighting inside, and not just two, making them anxious and worried.
“Emperor Di has left, who is still in the Demon Capital?”
“Is the demon beast dead or not? That wailing earlier, was it Qiongqi’s voice!”
“There’s movement inside the barrier again, look!”
Xu Xingchen, alone to one side, frowned deeply, his attention not on what was happening inside the barrier.
He lowered his head, staring at the Nascent Soul lying in the crook of his arm, mouth open, gasping for air, his face full of worry.
Shen Liuxiang’s Nascent Soul had shown abnormalities earlier, suddenly sweating profusely, with a faint blood mist enveloping his body. At the same time, there seemed to be an aura emanating from him that Xu Xingchen couldn’t perceive, attracting shocked gazes from the surrounding demon cultivators.
Xu Xingchen quickly held him in his arms, using his sleeve to cover the small figure, and found a quiet place with no people.
Di Yunyu had ascended and left; Xu Xingchen was extremely sad, but thinking that not leaving would have meant perishing, his heart was only filled with relief—someday, he and Xu Xinglian and Shen Liuxiang could go find Father Emperor and see him again.
But now, seeing Shen Liuxiang’s Nascent Soul having problems, occasionally showing signs of being on the verge of death, Xu Xingchen’s blood ran cold.
He protected the Nascent Soul with gentle spiritual energy. Seeing its life force nearly extinguished, his voice involuntarily trembled: “What are you doing inside the barrier? You mustn’t have something happen to you! Father Emperor is gone; I only have you and Xinglian left…”
Fortunately, after a while, the Nascent Soul’s paper-white face returned to normal, and its appearance changed a lot.
It had grown a bit bigger again.
The childish naivety had faded, transforming into a handsome young man’s appearance.
But the body was still small, only palm-sized, curled up in Xu Xingchen’s arm, black eyelashes trembling constantly, two small hands clutching his clothes. One moment it would curl up, as if extremely cold, the next moment it would be as if someone had placed it over a fire, its body wet with sweat, fair cheeks covered in sweat drops, mouth open, gasping.
The only constant was the expression of pain on its face.
Xu Xingchen didn’t even need to think to know that something must have happened to Shen Liuxiang, but he was blocked outside the barrier. This barrier was set by Father Emperor and couldn’t be broken at all.
Xu Xingchen had no recourse. He walked to the barrier and kicked it in frustration.
Unexpectedly, the barrier flashed with light, making a crisp sound, shattering from the sky, accompanied by countless light points falling—the barrier broke!
At the same time, the Nascent Soul in his arm disappeared. Xu Xingchen’s face changed, and he quickly stepped inside.
Just now inside the barrier, Heng Jiuyin had let out a painful howl and lost his life force.
Shen Liuxiang’s phoenix eyes lowered, revealing a cold intent. Even after the person died, he wouldn’t let go, planning that if Heng Jiuyin revived again, he would kill him again.
Unfortunately, before long, his heart trembled.
Shen Liuxiang covered his mouth, bright red blood flowing between his slender fingers. His face grew paler, his vision, covered with a layer of blood mist, became blurry. He staggered back to the ground, intending to move Xu Xinglian away, but the demon beast inside his body had already begun to counterattack.
Shen Liuxiang’s forehead beaded with cold sweat, blue veins bulging under his fair skin.
His fingertips clenched, he raised his hand to shatter the barrier, recalled his Nascent Soul, and disappeared from the spot.
The barrier shattered, and the first group of people rushed in.
Xu Xingchen saw the slender figure on the ground, his face turned white, and he went to Xu Xinglian’s side. Ling Ye’s gaze lightly swept around until he saw the blood-stained spiritual sword Zhaoyao, only then did his expression change slightly.
The rest of the demon kings reached Heng Jiuyin’s side first, staring at his corpse with various expressions. Unexpectedly, Heng Jiuyin coughed and came back to life.
A large wave of people from behind, seeing no sign of the demon beast, immediately surged forward.
“Where is Qiongqi? Where is Qiongqi?!”
The surrounding ruins retained traces of Qiongqi’s rampage. Everyone was horrified as they found Heng Jiuyin, the only one present who knew what had happened.
“Great Demon King, is Qiongqi still alive? Did the demon beast injure you and escape?!”
“Why is the Imperial Princess here? Is she injured too!”
Heng Jiuyin, supported by his subordinates who had rushed over, sat up. Pale-faced, he coughed, meeting everyone’s gaze with cold eyes, and enunciated each word clearly: “It was Shen Liuxiang, young lord of the Imperial Palace, who practiced evil techniques, refined Qiongqi, injured me and the Imperial Princess—utterly vicious! Now I call upon…”
Before he could finish, a man in cyan clothes appeared before him, his slender hand reaching for Heng Jiuyin’s throat, the gentle smile gone from his lips, his tone ice-cold.
“I advise you to watch your words.”
Heng Jiuyin hurriedly grabbed a subordinate as a shield, rolled away to dodge, and was about to shout again when his face was struck with a “bang” by a punch.
“Nonsense! Complete fabrication! He wouldn’t do that! Shut up! You shut your mouth before this young lord!!”
Heng Jiuyin spat blood along with several broken teeth, feeling as if he’d encountered two madmen. But the more they tried to stop him from speaking, the more determined he was to speak, wanting to shout even louder so that everyone in the Three Realms would know!
“Shen Liuxiang has refined a demon beast to gain supreme power and has now lost control—no one can stop him, and there’s no cure! Now, I call upon righteous heroes from the Three Realms—to eliminate him together!!!”
At dawn, another piece of news that shook the Three Realms spread, causing a tremendous sensation throughout the world.
***
The heavy rain had just stopped. In the silence, crystalline raindrops slid off leaf tips, hitting muddy puddles with a “drip” sound.
A thin chill rose from the ground, spreading through the forest with the rain mist.
Shen Liuxiang was curled up beneath a tree. Whether from cold or some other reason, his slender figure trembled constantly, his wet black hair clinging to his body.
As time passed, his fine, soft hair gradually became transparent, turning silver, as if covered by snowflakes.
Shen Liuxiang ignored this, his phoenix eyes tightly closed, consciousness focused on the mind prison.
The mind prison was in a hidden place within his sea of consciousness, a cage.
At this moment, behind the iron door built with demon-refining symbols, there was a silver-haired man with tattered clothes, also covered in blood.
He sensed Shen Liuxiang’s arrival, opened his eyes with a flash of blood-red light, then grinned, raised his hand, and pointed to the fine cracks in the symbols.
“You’re finished—”
Initially unable to kill Shen Liuxiang but instead being refined by him, Qiongqi was filled with hatred, frustration, and shock. His only consolation was finally escaping that accursed cauldron.
Next, the moment when the symbols completely collapsed would be when he would counterattack.
Soon, Shen Liuxiang wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer!
After checking the symbols, Shen Liuxiang supported himself against the tree to stand up, his fingertips embedding into the rough bark, unconsciously drawing blood.
This forest was the necessary path to the Eight Cardinal Realms.
Shen Liuxiang couldn’t control the demon beast inside him and could die from backlash at any moment. He couldn’t help but want to come to the Eight Cardinal Realms to see someone, or he would die with regrets. But he could barely hold on, as the overbearing demonic power in his meridians began to rampage, as if about to burst through and rush out.
Shen Liuxiang lost control and shattered the tree trunk with a palm strike.
After the rumbling sound, the forest returned to quiet. After a moment, rustling sounds came from not far away.
A figure in white moved through the forest, with a soft, beautiful appearance and a refined, otherworldly temperament. Though alone, they kept talking, and what they said was completely at odds with their pleasing appearance.
“Stop fucking pretending to be a good person! You led the Demon Bone Pill here just to make me look for Zhou Xuanlan, didn’t you!”
“Wrong! I misspoke! I’m not human! Really fucking ungrateful for your kindness.”
Su Baiche had unexpectedly spoken the truth, then quickly tried to appease Tong Xi with lies, while inwardly sneering. Once he seized the Demon Bone Pill to deal with Zhuyan, he would settle scores with this stupid system.
According to Tong Xi, the Demon Bone Pill was hidden not far ahead.
Su Baiche smiled, the corners of his lips curving upward. Just as he was speeding up, a figure in red clothes with silver hair descended from above. He retreated quickly but was still grabbed by his slender neck.
“You…?!!”
Upon seeing the other’s face, Su Baiche’s eyes widened, his face paling with fright.
It was actually Shen Liuxiang!
Su Baiche was stunned for a moment, facing a pair of cold, crimson phoenix eyes, then suddenly realized, as if discovering a shocking secret, “You’ve refined a demon beast!”
Shen Liuxiang had no intention of conversing with him. His jade-white hand suddenly tightened, and with a hoarse voice, he said, “You came looking for the Demon Bone Pill, didn’t you? Where is it? Tell me.”
Su Baiche saw the Demon Bone Pill as his lifeline and was unwilling to hand it over. Shaking his head wouldn’t convince the other, so he simply cast a spell to attack. Unexpectedly, Shen Liuxiang’s strength was now incomparable to before. He took the attack without any reaction and just looked at him.
In the next moment, a sense of suffocation enveloped Su Baiche.
“Last chance, where is the Demon Bone Pill?” Shen Liuxiang’s gaze was cold. “If you don’t answer, I’ll use soul-searching techniques.”
Su Baiche’s face changed instantly. He’d heard of soul-searching techniques—like blades scraping against the soul, making one wish for death. After soul-searching, one could easily become a fool with the slightest mistake.
Thank You for the new chapter ♥( ღ’ᴗ’ღ )