CHAPTER 341: CHAPTER 317: SPIRIT OF NIGHT TRAVEL

One-third of his back had been obliterated. Wu Er trembled, spitting out mouthfuls of black blood.

But before he could recover from the excruciating pain, the dawn-like white light suddenly blazed again!

This time, Wu Er had no time to dodge.

In an instant!

SHLICK!

Like a hot knife through butter, most of Wu Er’s head was pierced. His agonized screams echoed between Heaven and Earth.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Empowered by the Command Talisman, the recovery speed of his Hunyuan Apertures reached an astonishing rate. Qi Xiu cupped his hands, unleashing a relentless barrage of Hunyuan Ultimate Cannons. An overwhelming torrent of white light surged toward Wu Er.

This Vine Demon, with half the power of the Dao Body Realm, was completely submerged in the endless, dazzling white light.

BOOM!

Amidst the deafening explosion, Wu Er’s enormous pupils gradually dimmed. His sky-supporting, earth-pervading Law of Heaven and Earth lost its color. Even the ceaseless flow of Earth Fiend Qi into his body seemed to halt as if a pause button had been pressed, stagnating and ceasing its movement.

After a moment of deathly stillness...

CRACKLE!

Wu Er’s enormous body suddenly swelled like an overinflated balloon. Countless fissures cracked open across his form, and tens of thousands of white lights erupted from within him.

The next instant!

The Vine Demon’s physical body exploded. Chunks of sticky, squirming flesh flew out. An endless, vast torrent of blood plasma surged forth, transforming into a steaming, turbulent Blood Sea.

He’d blown him up!

The brilliant light surrounding Qi Xiu gradually faded. His body, covered in cracks, trembled. His face was deathly pale, and he swayed, on the verge of collapse.

To reverse-slay a Dao Body Realm cultivator... even if it was merely a pseudo-Dao Body Realm, an empty shell, my (Qi’s) century of arduous cultivation has, after all, yielded some results.

A faint, weak smile touched his lips. Confirming Wu Er was dead, Qi Xiu staggered into a seated position. He began circulating his Dharma Gate to recover his depleted stamina and heal the grievous wounds inflicted by the backlash from Heaven and Earth.

「Outside Ten Thousand Caves Mountain」

The Sovereign of Myriad Vines, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly snapped them open. Shock and astonishment filled his gaze. He stood up abruptly, his trembling eyes fixed on the distant Ten Thousand Caves Mountain.

"What’s happened to Old Wu?"

Sensing something odd about the Sovereign of Myriad Vines, the Green Hill Ruler frowned slightly, feeling an uneasy premonition.

Turning his head stiffly, the Sovereign of Myriad Vines’ face was as dark as the bottom of a pot—frighteningly so.

"Something’s gone wrong."

"What’s gone wrong?" the Red Stream Sovereign scoffed, approaching with arms crossed and a grim gaze. "You swore to us before that there would be no accidents! If something did happen, you’d be the prime culprit!"

The matter of the Outer Realm Evil God concerned the entire situation.

If something truly went wrong, none of them, these so-called Demon Nation Kings, would escape the consequences.

After all, the loss of the Sacred Fruit’s origin had already been marked against them by the Demon Buddha.

If things went awry again this time, they would truly be cast into the Cold Water Prison to suffer endless torment.

"Just now, my last offspring died," the Sovereign of Myriad Vines said, his voice heavy. "Ten Thousand Caves Mountain... has slipped from our grasp."

"What?!"

Hearing this, all five Kings were shocked. The hot-tempered Red Stream Sovereign instantly appeared before the Sovereign of Myriad Vines. The scorching, tyrannical aura radiating from him nearly baked the Myriad Vine King into a dried husk.

"Didn’t you say your scion possessed half the power of the Dao Body Realm, was infallible, and absolutely could not lose? Damn it, you dared to deceive us!"

Furious, the Red Stream Sovereign’s eyes glinted with ferocity, about to strike.

"I didn’t!" the Sovereign of Myriad Vines exclaimed. "I can swear on my Dao Heart that there’s not a single shred of a lie in this. But, but I truly sensed just now that my last child has fallen. Could there be a Dao Expert in the mountain?"

The Sovereign of Myriad Vines knew very well the combat power of the Seven Vines Union. He frowned deeply, now suspecting that a Dao Expert from the Human Race was hidden within Ten Thousand Caves Mountain.

Otherwise, those juniors of the Blood-Stained Realm, even if they joined forces, would be no match for his child.

"Unlikely," the Green Hill Ruler mused, rubbing a corner of his robe, his expression thoughtful. "The Human Race values its reputation above all else. They wouldn’t do something that would cause them to lose face and be the first to violate the agreement. Besides, if one of their Dao Experts was truly in the mountains, that Dao Expert with the Nature Banner wouldn’t have been so agitated earlier. He genuinely intended to make a move."

Although Old Wu is usually somewhat lax, he would never lie about something this critical. To slay a Vine Demon with half the strength of the Dao Body Realm... only a Dao Expert could do that. If it wasn’t one of us, and it wasn’t one of the Human Race, then who could it be?

They had never considered that it could be someone like Qi Xiu, from the Blood-Stained Realm, who had slain Wu Er—one who possessed half the strength of a Dao Body.

After all, there was no precedent for this in this era.

Even if Wu Er’s Dao Body Realm power was merely an empty shell possessing only half the true might of a Dao Body.

「Within Ten Thousand Caves Mountain」

Qi Xiu sat cross-legged on a rock in a shattered, blood-soaked corner of the land. Most of his Daoist robe was dyed bright red.

The backlash from Heaven and Earth for using the Command Talisman this time far exceeded the previous two instances.

Much of his body resembled shattered porcelain, covered in shocking cracks. This backlash directly impacted his very essence.

He couldn’t transfer it using his Immortal Blood Body and could only rely on his physical constitution to heal slowly.

Yet, despite such severe injuries, a faint smile still graced Qi Xiu’s pale face.

This battle had left him grievously wounded.

It could even be said this was the gravest injury he had sustained since beginning his cultivation, pushing him to the brink of death.