Fwoosh.
Tongues of purple flame ignited in Gu Li’s eyes, and the gaping wound in his chest stopped bleeding.
Nausea-inducing purple smog flooded out of the wound and quickly enveloped the entire Nine-tailed Fox Clan’s back mountain.
The smog continued spreading, and when the Nine-tailed Fox Clan members tidying up the battlefield or encircling the zombies inhaled it, their eyes turned completely black. Dark lines branched from their eye sockets as their blood vessels swelled and burst. They clutched their hands to their chests as if suffocating and fell to the ground in obvious distress.
“Oh…..”
Su Yan and Su Zhu were busy taking care of Fatty Yin and the still comatose Yuan Hong. When the two injured men inhaled the smog, their faces contorted as they began to writhe in agony, seemingly in dire condition.
“This is no ordinary demonic energy.”
Lady Nuwa waved her hand and created a vacuum in space. At the same time, she sent the others a transmission.
“Everyone, get in here.”
The Su sisters hurriedly carried the injured inside. Lady Nuwa took two medicinal pills and placed one each in Yuan Hong and Fatty Yin’s mouths.
“Lady Nuwa, this smog….”
Just as Su Liu’er began to speak, Lady Nuwa cut her off. She passed each of the three sisters a medicinal pill.
“Don’t talk, eat these.”
They nodded and tossed the pills into their mouths. Then, Su Liu’er returned her gaze to Lady Nuwa.
“This smog should be demonic energy from the Demon Realm,” said Nuwa. “Demonic energy actually isn’t particularly harmful to cultivators. At most they’ll feel irritated by it. However, the demonic energy emanating from that youth is poisonous.”
“Poisonous?”
Su Liu’er seized with terror, then dashed outside of the barrier.
“What are you thinking?” Nuwa pulled her back inside and bellowed, “Everything outside this space is already entirely contaminated; it’s safest in here.”
“My clansmen, my clansmen…..”
“Su Liu’er was deeply agitated. The demonic energy had already spread so far and so wide that her clansmen had definitely already inhaled it.
“What about them?” asked Lady Nuwa. Her tone left no room for argument. “You inhaled some of the demonic energy earlier. The only reason you’re able to stand there safely now is due to the medicinal pill’s support. Sit tight and focus on expelling the poison from your body. As for your clansmen…They’ll have to look after themselves.”
Nuwa’s expression was somewhat taciturn. If the Nine-tailed Fox clanspeople had sensed the poison in the demonic energy and placed a barrier in time, they’d be fine.
If they hadn’t, well, all you could say was that this was their fate.
“As their clan chief, I failed to protect them.”
Su Liu’er clenched her teeth and crumpled to the ground as if paralyzed. Su Zhu put her arms around her shoulders and began to softly comfort her.
They’d supported each other for so long that the two sisters knew each other better than anyone else. Su Liu’er was the head of her clan, and always presented as strong and unyielding on the outside, but sometimes, deep inside her heart, she was more fragile than anyone.
The Nine-tailed Fox Clan had always been her top priority. Everything that she did was for her clan.
But now…
“Lady Nuwa,” Su Yan approached anxiously, eyes fixed on Ye Zichen, who stood amongst the smog. “Then…Zichen…is he…is he…”
Lady Nuwa also turned her gaze to Ye Zichen, then sighed, “He… even if he sensed the poison, it was probably too late. All we can do now is have faith in him and trust that he’ll be able to handle all of this.”
“I truly never would’ve guessed your cultivation would reach this level in just a few months.”
Gu Li, who still grasped the Xuan-Yuan Sword firmly in his hands, stoop up. The purple flames in his eyes blazed fiercely, and black lines radiated out of his eye-sockets.
His skin darkened, and the wound in his chest knit together, now completely healed.
He looked just like the abyssal from back then, except that he was still rational and in control of himself.
Buzz……
The Xuan-Yuan Sword shook violently in an attempt to escape his grasp. Gu Li glanced at it coolly.
“You really are a loyal sword. It would be great if the Chiyou Sword were even half as loyal as you.”
He laughed indifferently and relaxed his grip. The moment he did so, the Xuan-Yuan Sword transformed into a beam of light and returned to Ye Zichen.
It circled him repeatedly, swaying back and forth as if inquiring about his condition
“Hmph.”
Ye Zichen stifled a groan as blood dripped from his nostrils and fell to the ground.
Drip
Drip.
Cough.
He hurriedly covered his mouth. When he removed his hands, he saw that they were covered in dull golden blood.
“Kid, how’re you doing?”
The sword spirit Xuan-Yuan Xiang called out nervously. For a full fifteen minutes Ye Zichen focused on stabilizing his condition. He reached out and grasped the hilt of the Xuan-Yuan sword, and used it to raise himself up.
Cough.
This time he coughed up another mouthful of golden blood without any attempts to hide it. His eyes reddened, and his body tottered as if on the verge of collapse.
But despite his current circumstances, he tossed the Xuan-yuan sword up into the air, and rapidly formed his hands into seals.
“Kid, have you gone mad?
Up in the air, the Xuan-Yuan sword bellowed angrily. Even in this condition, he’d started forming hand-seals.
The seals for the The Xuan-Yuan Dragon Slaying Technique.
“You really don’t know when to give up. Don’t you get it? If I wanted to take your life right now, a single finger would be enough to finish you off. Also, in your current state, do you really think you can accomplish anything?”
Rumble.
As Ye Zichen formed hand seals, his aura suddenly rose, and his shaking body straightened.
A flash of gold lit between his eyebrows, but upon seeing this…
“Ye Zichen, stop.”
Almost simultanously, two transmissions reverberated throughout his sea of consciousness.
One came from Xuan-Yuan Xiang, the other from Nuwa, who’d been watching the whole time.
How was it that Ye Zichen had miraculously recovered despite having been at the end of his rope just moments before? Where did that flame on his forehead come from?
He……
He was burning his own natal fire.
“Kid, you can’t do this. I waited a full ten-thousand years for you. Do you really want me to have no master again? Do you really want me to wait another ten thousand years for you? Don’t you know that a woman’s youth is priceless? Stop this at once!”
Floating above his head, she called out to him telepathically over and over again, but he only smiled gently.
“Big Sister Xiang, help just once more.”
“……”
She’d been shaking and shouting, but she suddenly came to a stop and dazedly took in Ye Zichen’s pleading expression.
Back then, it had been the same way.
“You’re the master, so it’s up to you to decide. In any event, I’ve waited for so long that my beauty’s already faded. Worst comes to worst, I’ll just wait another ten thousand years.
“Hah……”
The golden flames burning between his eyes spread over Ye Zichen’s entire body. At that moment, the golden flames were dazzlingly bright.
The surrounding purple smog was obliterated completely by the golden flames, and the illusion of an azure dragon flew into the body of the Xuan-Yuan Sword
“Xuan-Yuan….. Dragon Slaying Technique…..”
