For so ti, the practitioners had been emptying out several tals they deed valuable. Zhi Xuan found no further fragnts that appeared useful, so he only occasionally allowed Ao Sheng and Xiao Die to bite and swallow the law aura emanating from a few artifacts.
After a considerable amount of ti, they stepped out of the room filled with artifact dust. Unbeknownst to them as they walked, the sight of the three gates they had found suddenly vanished.
Confusion briefly crept onto the faces of the practitioners, finding that the three gates had simply disappeared, only to discover another corridor revealing a distant sight of practitioners from the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets walking in a daze.
"Hey, that is ng Zhan!" Wei Tianfeng whispered, his eyes sharpening. "Look, he is with Shi Jing and Jing Kuang. Why are they here?"
"Where are the three gates? Suddenly gone?" Ji Yuanyi murmured, her head turning back to see the gates that were no longer there. "Did we transport again?"
"True, where are those gates?" Lu Qingyan added, her face showing bewildernt. "We walked out of that treasure ruin gate... and suddenly it just vanished, leaving this corridor and look over there, those practitioners look insane."
Far ahead, the giant-bodied ng Zhan suddenly turned his face. He stared at Zhi Xuan with absolute hatred, as if despite being filled with madness, his desire to kill remained real.
"You, Gu Fengyan!" ng Zhan pivoted his body, glaring at Zhi Xuan with a sharp killing intent. "Demonic Cultivator, you dared to trample upon the dignity of the Young Kings on the night of the banquet; surrender your head now!"
Ji Haoxuan imdiately glared at the figure of ng Zhan. "You are still barking in front of Senior Gu even now? ng Zhan, I did not know your intellect as a Young King was so shallow!"
"Big ng, have you gone mad?!" Lu Qingyan stepped forward, her gaze flashing with a cold glint. "You truly harbor a grudge just because Senior Gu said to stand on one's own feet at that banquet?! Big ng, even I retracted my insulting words after that night!"
"Silence, you treacherous wench!" ng Zhan roared. "Lu Qingyan, have you also been poisoned by that Devil Gu's soul manipulation? How does it feel? Is it pleasurable? You have been defiled just like that Holy Maiden Shen!"
"Shut your foul mouth, ng Zhan!" Lu Qingyan scread, her marble-white face now turning red with overflowing rage. "You insult my honor and drag Holy Maiden Shen's na into your madness?! You have truly lost your Dao Heart in this cursed place!"
"Dao Heart? Hahahaha!" ng Zhan laughed uproariously, the sound like the scraping of gravestones. "My Dao Heart is perfectly clear! I see everything now. Look around you; Elder Xuan Ji has disappeared, and now I see a group of heretical practitioners following a Devil!"
"Wei Tianfeng, you coward who always hides in the shadows!" Shi Jing interjected, his eyes bloodshot with veins bulging at his temples. "You have all beco slaves to this Demonic Cultivator. What did he promise you? Immortality? Power?"
Shi Jing's eyes were wild as he looked at Ji Yuanyi and Wu Xingyan, then let out a raspy laugh. "Haoxuan, Xinghan, truly disgusting. Did you surrender your own sisters to that Devil? Look at your sisters' faces, full of reverence for that Devil figure; you are all truly ensnared!"
"Do you want to see how I ensnare a person's life, Shi Jing?" Wu Xinghan hissed, his steps trembling with restrained anger. "You belittled my sister's honor, so you must pay for it with your tongue!"
"My tongue?" Shi Jing spat on the ground, his eyes flashing with madness. "My tongue only voices the truth you all fear! Look at yourselves, the majestic Wu siblings, now no more than guard dogs trailing at the heels of a devil with no origins!"
"Shi Jing, you are not talking to a dog," Ji Haoxuan stepped forward, a cold aura emanating from every inch of his skin. "You are talking to soone who sees you already as a walking corpse. The underworld aura has corroded your Dao Heart until you cannot distinguish light from darkness."
"Light?!" ng Zhan interrupted with a roar that shook the corridor walls. "You call that devil behind you 'light'? Haoxuan, you are truly blind! Since the night of that banquet, he has insulted us all! He treated the Young Kings like dust beneath his feet! Have you forgotten who you are? We are the sky of Chi Di!"
"That sky you boast of collapsed the mont you fell like this, ng Zhan," Wei Tianfeng replied dismissively. "You call Senior Gu a devil only because he has what you do not: tranquility in the face of death. You are rely jealous, and only capable of barking, Big ng."
"Jealous?! I will break every bone in his body!" ng Zhan clenched his fists, the veins in his arms pulsing like black snakes. "Jing Kuang, why are you silent? Have you also beco a coward like them?"
Jing Kuang, who had seed motionless until then, raised his head slightly. His face showed fear, but it was obstructed by the creeping madness. ng Zhan wasted no ti; he kicked Jing Kuang as if the man were unworthy of existence.
"Useless trash!" ng Zhan roared after his foot struck Jing Kuang’s body squarely, causing the youth to sprawl and vomit foul-slling black blood. "This underworld is only for those with resolve, not for trembling rats like you!"
Zhi Xuan remained standing still, his black and white robe not moving an inch despite ng Zhan's killing intent filling the corridor like a storm.
"His Dao Heart has shattered into pieces; nothing can be done," Zhi Xuan murmured, his voice cold. "Unrestrained desires forming their own vortex of death. Death is a generous rcy for your soul."
"Talking about rcy?" ng Zhan roared, his red eyes now completely losing any remnants of sanity. "Save your nonsense for hell, Devil Gu!"
BUM!
ng Zhan shot forward, his steps shattering the stone floor of the corridor. His giant body was now enveloped in a filthy aura, mixed with the black underworld mist. He no longer fought with the grace of a Weaver but charged like a wild beast that had lost its mind.
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Zhi Xuan closed his eyes for a mont; he raised his hand and imdiately the Slaughter Gods Crescent appeared in his palm. Zhi Xuan moved his hand in a cold wave, as if he were slashing an object rather than a practitioner. The thick demonic and death aura from the Slaughter Gods Crescent billowed, forming a cleaving blade of reddish light.
SRANGG!
The energy blade collided with ng Zhan’s fra; his eyes widened, and his body froze in the middle of the corridor a few zhang from Zhi Xuan. Zhi Xuan pointed the scythe blade forward, pulling ng Zhan’s soul out, and instantly the fra dissolved—not into a pool of blood, but crumbling into dry grey dust, exactly like the dust that covered the bodies of the practitioners who had turned to stone before.
At that mont, a blackish clump appeared from where ng Zhan’s body had dissolved. Zhi Xuan stared coldly at the clump. "Transforming Demon; he... turned out to be possessed by this demonic mass."
The black mass pulsed, letting out a hissing sound resembling a suppressed laugh of victory. Smaller Transforming Demon figures began to crawl out from ng Zhan's dust remnants, trying to find new hosts among the remaining practitioners.
"Wild creatures," Zhi Xuan hissed; he moved his fingers and trapped the black mass. "I have caught one, it doesn't an I cannot do it a second ti."
The black mass struggled within the invisible cage ford by Zhi Xuan’s will. It wriggled like thousands of dark worms locking onto each other, emitting a sharp frequency that pierced the ears of the practitioners behind him.
"M-ng Zhan... destroyed?" Shi Jing murmured, his voice now a tiny squeak like a chick that had lost its mother. "Young King... dust... we are all just dust..."
Zhi Xuan ignored Shi Jing’s rambling. He focused his gaze on the Transforming Demon mass in his palm.
"You allowed jealousy and anger to beco the fertilizer to breed a new form," Zhi Xuan hissed. "Pathetic. ng Zhan thought he was taking revenge, yet he only beca a shell brooding over his own death."
"Senior, look!" Lu Qingyan cried, her fan snapping open, radiating energy to ward off the grey dust fragnts trying to creep toward her feet. "Those shadows... they are not just in ng Zhan!"
Behind Shi Jing, the dark aura rippled and caused Shi Jing to be swallowed by darkness, forcing the remains of the mortal fra to explode in a disgusting transformation.
Jing Kuang, who had previously sprawled from ng Zhan's kick, was now crawling back with a trembling remnant of consciousness. His terrified eyes witnessed how Shi Jing, who had just been screaming with hatred, was now beginning to warp unnaturally.
"Jing Kuang... he," Ji Haoxuan whispered. "He is not possessed by a Transforming Demon, look... only Shi Jing and ng Zhan."
"Help... ... don't..." Shi Jing tried to speak, but his tongue had turned into a cluster of tiny writhing tentacles. Within breaths, his face, full of spite, lted, rging with the hissing clump of darkness.
Zhi Xuan turned his palm, and the Transforming Demon mass from ng Zhan that he had caught earlier was now squeezed until it solidified into a purplish crystal. However, his attention was now on Shi Jing’s more horrific transformation.
"Transforming Demon." Zhi Xuan stepped forward, his face cold as he realized sothing. "Apparently not always as a demon, but a ghost dreaming they can beco a demon through this Transforming Demon form."
"Not a demon born from hell, but a soul lost in obsession," Zhi Xuan murmured, his voice flowing like a death bell tolling in the middle of the night. "A ghost stealing flesh to feel alive again; how amusing."
The transford Shi Jing was now leaping along the corridor ceiling, his movents fragnted like a wooden puppet moved by invisible strings. His eyes, which had turned completely white, radiated a wicked glow, staring intently at Wu Xingyan who stood closest to him.
"Yan'er, move back!" Wu Xinghan roared, stomping his foot until the corridor floor cracked.
However, Shi Jing—or whatever now inhabited that body—let out a shriek that tore the silence. His body launched like a black arrow, leaving a trail of foul mist that froze the air. His elongated claws snatched toward Wu Xingyan’s neck, carrying a killing intent far purer and sharper than when he was still human.
"Begone, foul ghost!" Wu Xingyan shouted; she no longer retreated as the rage triggered by the previous insult burned in her chest once more. She raised her palm, a bright light radiating sharp silver to strike the figure lunging at her.
DUM!
The collision created a shockwave that sent tallic dust flying from the walls. However, the horrific part was that Shi Jing’s fra did not fly back. He seed to rge with the attack, letting his chest be pierced by the silver light only to elongate his arms, which were now rubbery like giant veins, coiling around Wu Xingyan’s wrist.
"Eternity... give it to ... your warmth..." a voice hissed from Shi Jing’s shattered throat.
Wu Xinghan moved his fingers, and instantly a sharp burst of energy slashed through Shi Jing’s fra, making the creature shriek in a roar of light and fly far from Wu Xingyan, hitting the corridor wall with a loud thud, leaving a large crack radiating black steam.
Despite his fra being torn by Wu Xinghan’s attack, no blood flowed; only a thick, murky liquid. Wu Xingyan fell to one knee, her face deathly pale as she saw the coil marks on her wrist now turning black, as if being pulled by thousands of roots of decay.
"Yan'er!" Wu Xinghan caught his sister, imdiately bringing out a high-level recovery pill. "Restore yourself; fortunately you were freed in a short ti."
Wu Xingyan coughed, her spiritual essence churning violently as she swallowed the recovery pill given by her brother. The black color on her wrist pulsed, as if possessed of its own life trying to creep deeper toward her Divine Wheel.
Zhi Xuan stepped closer, his shadow falling over the Wu siblings. He said nothing, but the tip of his index finger glowed with a sharp light. With lightning speed, he touched the pulse point above Wu Xingyan’s wrist.
"Akh!" Wu Xingyan gave a small cry. It was not pain she felt, but a sensation of incredible cold, as if eternal ice were being forced into her veins to freeze sothing hot and disgusting.
The black aura coiling around the girl’s hand instantly shrieked—a silent shriek that could only be heard by the divine soul. Foul smoke billowed out from Wu Xingyan’s skin, scattering into ash before it could touch the floor. The coil marks now faded, leaving reddish skin that slowly healed.
Shi Jing’s body did not wait; he shifted as he saw Zhi Xuan with his back turned. The figure's eyes were wild and turned toward Ji Yuanyi, who was imdiately blocked by Ji Haoxuan with a cold face, pulling Ji Yuanyi behind him, his eyes staring sharply at Shi Jing’s body.
The fra of Shi Jing, which no longer resembled a human, leaped through the air, twisting his body at impossible angles as if his bones had turned to liquid. He struck Ji Haoxuan’s shield with a fist coated in underworld fire.
BUM!
The shield vibrated violently, sparking spiritual embers that illuminated Ji Yuanyi’s pale face. However, Shi Jing did not stop; he attacked blindly, raining hundreds of blows upon the shield in a single breath. Every strike carried a weight of darkness trying to crack Ji Haoxuan’s Dao Heart through sickening vibrations.
"Senior Gu, let finish it!" Wei Tianfeng cried; he could no longer stand by seeing his fellow kings beco monsters. "He is no longer the Shi Jing I knew. Destroying him is a form of final respect!"
Wei Tianfeng shot forward like blue lightning, passing Ji Haoxuan’s shoulder and releasing a seal that pierced through Shi Jing’s fra. Shi Jing only smirked, his mouth torn to his ears letting out a high-pitched laugh.
He let the seal pierce his body and create a stretch of light that pierced the corridor wall, then with a speed Wei Tianfeng could not anticipate, he caught Wei Tianfeng’s neck with an elongated hand. Wei Tianfeng moved his fingers, his domain essence surging, causing the corridor to shake violently.
Zhi Xuan, having just stabilized Wu Xingyan’s condition, rose to his full height. His sapphire blue eyes now dimd, replaced by a void deeper than a death chasm. He saw how the ghost within Shi Jing’s body was trying to forcibly absorb Wei Tianfeng’s essence through his skin.
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