Chapter 488: You Don't Mean Me, Do You?

Chapter 488: You Don't Mean Me, Do You?

The Hongze waters stretch endlessly, filled with wondrous and bizarre sights.

Cuiyun Reef is but one of the mundane wonders within, only gaining attention from disciples because of its location in South Hongze and the lack of any perceived danger.

Su Yushang had witnessed countless landscapes more extraordinary than this, so it was hard for her to feel excited.

However, as she thought about it, even this place was memorable enough for her blood master, a spirit beast of the twelfth layer of Returning Void, to keep it in her heart. This realization made Su Yushang feel a tinge of sadness for her master.

The title "Blood Master" itself was quite ironic.

Although the sect disciples treated her with respect, in their eyes, she was just a demon that provided the sect with firebird essence blood.

She had simply lived a long life and achieved a high level of cultivation, and the sect elders had shown her some leniency in recognition of her years of hard work, allowing her to move freely within the sect. However, she was neither an elder nor an executive, and it was only out of sympathy for her circumstances that some disciples addressed her as "Master."

One could only wonder what had transpired for this Fenghong to be captured by the Celestial Sword Sect.

"Is it not as beautiful as you imagined?"

Su Yushang stood on the verdant reef, where the green light merged with the clear waters and sky, creating a breathtaking scene of emerald clouds and radiant mist.

"It's indeed different from what I imagined," Fenghong said, smoothing her wind-tousled hair and gazing up at the sky with a hint of distraction on her face.

"That's normal," Su Yushang said with a shy smile. "When I first heard about the outside world, I was so eager to explore that I diligently cultivated my skills. Finally, when I got the chance to leave the sect, I found that reality fell short of my expectations. In fact, most cultivators lead lives that are even more mundane and boring than those within the sect."

"Later, when I met Baohua Fairy, I could only make up stories about disguises, chivalry, and righteous deeds from the storybooks I had read, arousing her envy. But in truth, I had never experienced any of those things myself."

Fenghong, in the form of a beautiful woman, listened quietly to the Celestial Sword Immortal's ramblings, her eyes scanning the surroundings as if admiring the sights, but also searching for something beneath the calm waters.

Unfortunately, the vast ocean was unusually quiet.

She heaved a slight sigh.

These South Hongze dragons were clearly powerful, but they were also extremely cautious.

Their target was solely Su Hongxiu.

Only a true Daoist, one destined for greatness, was worth the risk in their eyes. In comparison, the Celestial Sword Immortal, despite her renowned reputation, seemed somewhat lacking.

Thus, they would not reveal their presence until they were certain that Su Hongxiu had truly appeared.

However, this was also understandable.

Who would believe that a future ruler of a united Daoist land would risk her life for the sake of her sister at her weakest, venturing out alone on such a dangerous mission?

It was sheer foolishness!

How could mundane emotions compare to the importance of a united Daoist realm? Once she ascended to become a giant in the united Dao, regardless of who was behind this scheme in South Hongze, she would have the power to exact revenge.

Even if she didn't want to wait that long, she could bring sect elders or even her united Dao master to deal with the culprits.

As for venturing out alone, that was almost impossible.

Only Fenghong, who had spent a lifetime with Su Yushang, truly understood how doting the Celestial Sword Immortal was towards the young woman before her.

Even if there was the slightest possibility that the demons would be intimidated by the might of the Celestial Sword Sect and reluctantly take her sister away, never to be seen again, the Immortal would never allow such a thing to happen.

Not only would she come, but she would also actively help cover up the news to prevent the sect from stopping her or making a fuss that might scare away the demons.

After living in the sect for a hundred thousand years, Fenghong knew these sisters too well.

This time, the timing was just too coincidental.

Su Yushang had coincidentally caused trouble during her sister's reincarnation cycle and, for the first time, had ventured out without any sect disciples by her side.

She had only brought one demon with her, and that demon happened to be Fenghong herself.

"...”

Fenghong retracted her gaze and fixed her eyes on Su Yushang's slender back.

In her palm appeared a dark talisman, intricate and incomprehensible lines etched in blood, sending a chill down one's spine just by looking at it.

Instead of attacking abruptly, she slowly and calmly approached Su Yushang and reached out to press the talisman into the young woman's back.

Even as Fenghong withdrew her hand, Su Yushang hadn't realized what had happened, her face still bearing a fading smile as she turned back with a puzzled look.

Only a bond forged since childhood could have such an effect.

In an instant, two treasure wheels shot out from Su Yushang's waist pouch, slicing through the air with a menacing aura aimed at Fenghong!

Even before her expression could change, the Celestial Sword Immortal's instinctive reaction surpassed that of most cultivators.

However, Fenghong merely sidestepped, and the treasure wheels slashed into the water, sending a hundred-foot-tall wave crashing down as if splitting the sea!

She pursed her lips and said, "Did you forget that I was the one who taught you how to use those treasure wheels?"

"...”

Su Yushang remained silent, her hands swiftly forming intricate seals as thick, pure energy surged from her body.

She was buying time to summon her Dao Palace.

Every move she made seemed to be anticipated by Fenghong, who had quietly watched over her countless nights of diligent cultivation and was intimately familiar with her most skilled and habitual techniques.

Powerful demonic energy gathered at Fenghong's fingertips, and with precise aim, she struck Su Yushang's body, causing the spiritual light in her palms to stagnate.

In theory, Su Yushang, at the eleventh layer of Returning Void and empowered by a high-quality Dao Palace and her mastery of spiritual laws, should have been able to subdue a twelfth-layer Returning Void demon with ease.

But setting aside other factors...

Fenghong gently exhaled, "In my youth, I was also known as a heaven-defying genius in my clan."

If it hadn't been for the Celestial Sword Sect deliberately drawing out her essence blood to suppress her, she would have ascended to the White Jade Capital long ago. Even so, she was far beyond the capabilities of ordinary Returning Void water demons.

Just at that moment, the dark talisman finally took effect.

Su Yushang suddenly lost connection with her Divine Soul Dao Palace.

Her face turned deathly pale, and a fierce look, like that of a wild beast, appeared in her eyes. She gathered the last of her spiritual energy and channeled it into her palm.

Another jade slip flew out of her storage bag.

There weren't many jade slips that could directly contact Tian Jian Dao Zi, and Su Yushang happened to have one. Perhaps it was her only hope of survival, but at this moment, without hesitation, she slapped it with her palm!

If Xuan Feng wanted to kill her, she could have done it more decisively. Instead, each of her moves seemed intended to control Su Yushang.

The reason for this became increasingly clear.

"You're not as foolish as I thought."

Xuan Feng smiled. Just as the violent spiritual energy was about to hit the jade slip, she reached out and took it into her palm.

Su Yushang's attack missed, and as she tried to gather her spiritual power again, her body swayed and she knelt on the ground, retching continuously until the bloodstain at the corner of her lips turned pitch-black.

The fierceness in her eyes gradually faded.

Shaking her hand, she wiped the corner of her mouth and finally raised her head to speak for the first time. "Can you give me a reason?"

There was no need for idle talk in a life-and-death battle.

By speaking, she acknowledged that she had already understood the situation.

"I don't want your compensation. I'd rather take it myself."

Xuan Feng slowly squatted down next to Su Yushang. In front of her, she started to activate the jade slip. "You shouldn't blame me. After all, this is what your Tian Jian Sect owes me. I want my revenge, and it's only natural."

"I'm curious... why were you captured by the Tian Jian Sect back then?" Su Yushang's arms trembled wildly, appearing even more powerless than the most withered old man, yet she persisted in holding up her body.

"It's all in the past, and it's not important."

Xuan Feng's smile was gentle, and she wasn't in a hurry. After all, there was plenty of time.

Revenge was about releasing the anger and resentment in one's heart, and it couldn't be rushed.

Su Yushang remained silent for a long time before finally squeezing out a complicated smile, her mouth filled with blood. Her voice was hoarse as she asked, "The Tian Jian Sect took your essence blood, and you want revenge, so you chose me, who treated you like a birth mother?"

There was actually such logic in this world.

"After all, I can't defeat the Tian Jian Sect, and you two sisters are the biggest blow I can deal them."

"In fact, there's one more person who must die, but he's lucky, and I might not have time now. I'll leave it for later when I return to my clan."

Finally, Xuan Feng broke the restrictions on the jade slip.

Su Yushang knew what would happen once this news reached her sister.

As she took in this scene, she finally closed her eyes in despair. During their conversation, she had been trying to use her spiritual energy to impact her Dao Infant's five viscera.

However, even this suicidal action was suppressed by the talisman.

The reason she could still remain conscious was due to the mysterious burning sensation on her knees, which was so painful that it felt like her soul was being torn apart.

Almost at the same time, a young man's murmur reached Xuan Feng's ears.

"You're not talking about me, are you?"

Unbeknownst to them, the peaceful green clouds in the air had already been covered by a scarlet color, and a monstrous demonic aura was spreading from the edge of their vision.

The temperature around them rose rapidly, as if invisible flames enveloped the reef.

Su Yushang's body stiffened slightly, feeling that this scene was somehow familiar, as if she had seen it somewhere before.

Xuan Feng didn't have the opportunity to respond to the young man's question.

Because, just before the voice sounded, a vicious knee strike had already slammed into her temple.

In Xuan Feng's upward-facing line of sight, a pale face appeared, looking down at her. Although the pair of pitch-black eyes were occupied by violet-golden light, the greedy gaze was the same as the last time, perhaps even more brazenly intense.

However, this time, she didn't have the chance to pull her collar tighter to cover her plump and delicate neck.

Boom—

Under this indescribably terrifying force, Xuan Feng's body was viciously sent flying!

Shen Yi slowly took a step forward.

With the augmentation of the vast purple qi, the dragon spear he held diagonally instantly came to life.

Roar!

The furious dragon's roar nearly shook the severely injured Su Yushang to death, almost granting her wish to end her own life.

"Roar!"

As Xuan Feng flew backward, she immediately understood the strength of the newcomer.

To be able to approach quietly and send a powerful demon like herself, with pure blood lineage, flying uncontrollably with just one strike, this person was at least on the same level.

However, the last time she saw him in Nanyang Fucai, he was only a fifth-layer Returning Void cultivator.

How could he have reached perfection so soon?

She didn't have much time to wonder, as she vigorously flapped her arms, transforming them into a pair of wings spanning several dozen feet. Black and crimson flames intertwined, stirring up layers of fiery waves, allowing her to stabilize her body.

In an instant, a red-eyed Xuan Feng revealed her true form in the water, casting a gigantic shadow over the surface.

Her eyes, redder than blood, blazed with fury as she glared forward.

An aura comparable to the twelfth layer of Returning Void enveloped the area, and with the boost of her bloodline, she was far more powerful than the previous few golden-patterned turtle demons.

The golden flames blazed, and the rolling heat waves seemed to turn the place into a blazing inferno.

With their innate abilities, demons and monsters could easily overpower most cultivators who had spent their entire lives studying esoteric techniques.

However, the scorching flames were suddenly suppressed.

Hiss! Hiss!

Under the illumination of the dense purple qi, two golden flames burst forth with unparalleled momentum!

Like a surging ocean or a pair of purple-golden wings, they gathered behind the ink-clad figure.

In front of such a massive phoenix demon, Shen Yi's figure seemed minuscule. However, as he strode across the sky, he oppressively pushed down the red-eyed Xuan Feng with an extremely domineering posture!

The long spear in his hand gathered a cyan light, forming a coiling dragon shadow.

His stature was even more massive than that of the Red-eyed Xuanfeng.

The purple-golden phoenix wings spread out angrily, and the green dragon roared forth!

The dragon's roar and the phoenix's cry echoed in unison!

Shen Yi abruptly swung his arm, the spear in his hand forming a round moon as he slashed horizontally at the Xuanfeng!

Green Dragon Smashes the Stars!

The raging flame waves collided violently, intertwining like the turbulent waves of the ocean.

Ziiiiip!

The green dragon pressed down on the Red-eyed Xuanfeng, pushing it towards the waters. With its ferocious claws, it tore through the demon's body!

"Roar..."

Indeed, most cultivator techniques were inferior to those of demons and devils.

But this was a spirit technique, a culmination of the heart and soul of those elite geniuses among cultivators, and each move had left behind a legendary tale.

And Shen Yi had mastered three of these, and had perfected them all!

Boom!

The Red-eyed Xuanfeng crashed into the water, its body now bearing a gaping wound as if a mountain gorge had split it open.

Nearly splitting its entire body in half.

Its once gorgeous form was now drenched in blood, and as the turbulent currents washed over it, its broken flesh was exposed.

It let out a mournful cry.

And as it looked at the young man before it, he was no longer the mediocre Sect Master, but instead, resembled Su Hongxiu or Wei Yuanzhou in their prime.

With demon blood, he paved his path to becoming a peerless genius.

And it, the demon, was like the countless white bones he had trampled on his journey to the heavens.

"You deceive me too! Everyone in South Hongze deceives me!"

The Xuanfeng let out a piercing, sorrowful cry. As the green dragon's illusion dissipated, its mountain-like massive claws viciously clawed at the thin, ink-clad figure within.

"..."

Shen Yi glanced at the phoenix demon's blood that was being diluted by the vast ocean.

Suddenly, he stopped thinking about dodging.

Holding the spear in his left hand, his ink-colored robe fluttered as he threw a fierce punch with his right arm, colliding head-on with the incoming massive shadow.

Rumbling echoed through the air.

This insane scene left Su Yushang stunned, even as the burning sensation on her knees threatened to make her faint.

A cultivator daring to clash bodily with a demon?!

After all, in front of the phoenix demon, even just one of its claws was like a massive stone pillar to Shen Yi.

The next moment, the shocked expression on Su Yushang's face shattered as a crisp crackling sound rang in her ears.

The enormous Xuanfeng was sent flying back hundreds of feet, its claws and legs shattered into pieces.

Shen Yi looked at the cracks that had formed on the Guixu Xianjia on his arm.

He leaped forward once more in pursuit.

Like a human body colliding with a mountain, he stomped heavily on the Xuanfeng's head, his fists raining down like a storm.

The Xuanfeng's head was harder than the most stubborn granite.

But in the face of his sharp Xianjia-clad fists, it seemed to truly turn into a mountain, its ridge shattered by the force of his punches.

"Save me... Save me..."

The Xuanfeng's body twitched as it looked down into the water. It knew that beneath the surface lurked countless powerful turtle demons.

As long as these great demons were willing, it would be easy for them to save its life. With this thought, its voice became even more shrill and desperate: "Su Hongxiu will definitely come; you have to believe me!"

"Believe me!!!"

As the shrill voice echoed, there was no response from the waters, only an eerie silence deeper than before.

Until a kick smashed the Xuanfeng's throat, silencing its pleas into weak gurgles.

[Killed a Returning Void Realm Red-eyed Xuanfeng, total lifespan of 287,000 years, remaining lifespan of 184,000 years, absorption complete.]



Shen Yi looked at the prompt on the panel and finally retracted his fists.

Storing the Xuanfeng's relatively intact corpse into his ring, he then glanced at the waters below.

Of course, he knew who was down there.

But after lingering in the skies earlier, he had also figured out the situation between this Xuanfeng and the Celestial Sword Sect.

Their target was that Celestial Sword Sect disciple.

The operation would undoubtedly be grand, and it was definitely not something he could handle at the moment.

But as long as that disciple didn't show up, they wouldn't dare to make a move either, lest they expose their identities and provoke a war between the South Hongze Seven and the Dragon Palace.

Assassinating a disciple was a much more serious matter than assassinating him, the incompetent Sect Master.

While Shen Yi was greedy, he wasn't driven by greed to the point of losing his sense of self-preservation.

This lifespan wasn't something he could take at the moment.

With that in mind, Shen Yi turned to leave, but just then, a pained cry from Su Yushang reached his ears.

Seven small swords appeared from Su Yushang's knees, falling to the ground and instantly forming a simple sword formation.

Soon, a familiar light screen appeared.

As the sword light faded...

A figure appeared, sitting cross-legged in the air.

Her snow-white hair reached her waist, looking dry and devoid of luster.

Her aged face still bore traces of her stunning beauty in her youth, but the passage of time had etched marks upon it.

She stared coldly ahead, her palms maintaining the posture of casting an incantation, blood trickling from the corners of her lips.

Her entire body exuded a feeble vitality.

If not for the blood bead at the corner of her mouth, she would have looked like a corpse.

Forcibly activating the teleportation sword formation had further weakened her already frail life force, like a flickering candle in the wind, about to be extinguished at any moment.

"Give me the Sword Fruit."

Her voice was hoarse to the extreme.

There was no rebuke or complaint.

Her arms trembled as she reached out towards Su Yushang.

"..."

Shen Yi remained silent, his gaze turning towards the waters.

Although he couldn't be completely certain of the old woman's identity, the change in the underwater aura was undeniable.

It seemed he wouldn't be able to leave so easily today.

"Sister..."

Su Yushang instinctively took out the Sword Fruit, her head lifting in a daze as she asked, "What are you going to do?"

She didn't even realize when her sister had imprinted the teleportation sword formation on her knees.

The old woman brought the Sword Fruit to her lips with trembling hands.

Her eyes were cold and terrifying, and her weak voice was calm: "Kill them all."

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end