335: Chapter 71: The Sound of Scales 335: Chapter 71: The Sound of Scales Emperor Qi’s residual Divine Thought floated up, and his will enveloped the entire grand hall, with four huge silver statues standing tall, each guarding one direction.
The Corpse Mountain in the distance collapsed, and the sea of blood churned.
The overwhelming Soul Pressure approached the realm of the Divine Soul… Ao Ying’s complexion turned pale as she looked towards the distant peak above the thousand steps, feeling that reaching the top of this hall was an utterly hopeless endeavor.
Cultivators do not only cultivate their physical bodies but also their Divine Souls.
Her Divine Soul Realm was insufficient.
Once the Heart Lake was attacked, it would be easy to be “extinguished”.
“There is still a chance.”
A gentle and calming voice descended upon the Heart Lake.
This voice, like a sharp sword!
The Soul Pressure of Emperor Qi’s residual Divine Thought had already eroded much of Ao Ying’s Heart Lake…
but now this sword had sliced all of it away!
Xie Xuanyi sent a wisp of Divine Thought into the center of Ao Ying’s forehead.
Besides this wisp of Divine Thought.
There was something else.
“Sssss…”
A half droplet of pure water, wavering uncertainly, floated in the air, slowly falling towards the spot between Ao Ying’s eyebrows, evaporating upon contact with her scorching forehead, turning into a lingering vapor.
Ao Ying stared blankly.
The life force that was constantly seeping out of her body began to stabilize from that moment.
Her pale cheeks also gained a bit of rosy color.
“What is this!?”
She stretched out her palm incredulously, touching her moist forehead.
“The Undying Spring…”
Emperor Qi, floating above the grand hall, recognized the substance.
Emperor Qi laughed loudly, “What a find without even having to search!
I had thought the Undying Spring didn’t exist!”
Nearly all cultivators aspiring to become True Immortals.
They do so for one thing.
Longevity, immortality.
The hardest tribulation in this world was the tribulation of eternal life, with heavenly lightning, Heart Lake demons, and the five decays of Heavenly Persons.
A single misstep could result in “falling”…
But if one had the Undying Spring Water by their side, it would be akin to having an extremely powerful trump card during the tribulation of eternal life!
Emperor Qi stretched out his palm.
The silver statue closest to the two of them also stretched out its palm!
Ao Ying raised her head, her vision once again shrouded in darkness.
Xie Xuanyi grabbed the demoness’s red dress and shifted a great distance in an instant, while the Chen Ke on his forehead launched, the black lightning of the Rule of Destruction enwrapped with the golden sword severing the arm of the silver statue.
He rose with Sword Control, hanging high above the grand hall, where the four silver statues, like four mythological Heavenly Kings, had their severed heads and limbs, previously lying quietly in the ancient hall as relics of defeat, now controlled by Emperor Qi’s Divine Thought, floating up, and reattached to their original owners!
“If you want to live, you only have one chance.”
Xie Xuanyi calmly made eye contact with Ao Ying, and seeing the demoness’s eyes had returned to clarity, he threw her out!
After doing all this, Xie Xuanyi appeared in front of Emperor Qi’s residual Divine Thought.
He tossed up the gentle breeze, and countless strands of Sword Qi instantly burst forth, forming a perfect circle.
The Rule of Destruction encircled Emperor Qi’s residual Divine Thought within!
This wisp of residual thought, although not much power was left, was extremely tenacious.
Under the full force of the Rule of Destruction—
The residual thought became a ball of light fire, shattered, and yet reconstituted.
The purpose of Xie Xuanyi’s action was not truly to obliterate Emperor Qi’s residual Divine Thought, but to sever as much as possible its control over the entire grand hall!
…
…
On the other hand, the red-dressed demoness, tossed out by Xie Xuanyi, blurred into the form of a shooting star, instantly vanishing!
Boom!
The four silver Heavenly Kings appeared instantly on the inevitable path of the red dress’s flight.
Ao Ying took a deep breath.
She closed her eyes, channeling her Essence Blood into the Feng Mou!
This Secret Treasure had already developed Spirit Wisdom and was aware of everything happening outside!
Ao Ying had interacted with the Feng Mou many times.
She was well aware that this Secret Treasure was nefarious by nature, extremely greedy… What Xie Xuanyi had said about absorbing the throne’s Essence Blood was actually for the Feng Mou to hear!
But no matter how greedy, this Secret Treasure had its principles.
Without the injection of Essence Blood.
It would not activate!
“Crack crack crack…”
The hint of rosy color that Ao Ying had only just regained drained from her cheeks at a rapid pace, becoming pale and emaciated again; the Essence Blood replenished by the Undying Spring Water Vapor was quickly consumed!
A crack appeared on her forehead!
A crimson eye, gleaming intensely, opened!
From the moment it opened, the Feng Mou’s gaze never left that throne above the thousand steps!
Hum!
Ao Ying looked up, and the four silver Heavenly Kings, like insurmountable mountains blocking her path… But the moment the Feng Mou activated, those mountains became an illusion; the Feng Mou shattered the empty barrier, and with a plunge into the void, reached the other side of that barrier in an instant.
At the top of the thousand steps, before the throne!
…
…
Sword Qi formed a circle, trapping the emperor.
Just for an instant.
The Chen Ke passed back and forth hundreds of times.
Emperor Qi’s Imperial Robe fluttered, at first, he dodged the Sword Qi, the residual thought still retaining an exceedingly strong battle consciousness.
The Sword Qi was extremely fast, but the residual thought was not bound by form, so the Chen Ke’s sword light simply could not strike it.
Xie Xuanyi, holding the thought that “to hold off Emperor Qi’s residual Divine Thought was to win,” pushed the Sword Qi to its limit.
For a moment.
Two streams of light chased each other within the Sword Qi cage!
A few breaths later.
Emperor Qi’s residual Divine Thought suddenly stopped dodging; he returned to human form, and in an instant, was pierced through the heart by Chen Ke.
His clothes shattered, his chest also burst open, spilling copious blood everywhere.
Unfortunately.
All of it was fake.
The afterimage of Divine Thought had no blood at all.
Xie Xuanyi narrowed his eyes, his face expressionless, as he watched the blood reverse its flow; these were all just parts of Emperor Qi’s residual Divine Thought…
The sovereign of the Great Yue Kingdom cracked a slight smile, seemingly tired of the dull game of dodging Sword Qi.
He simply opened his arms, allowing the Sword Qi to strike him, making no move to dodge…
At this moment.
A trace of unease suddenly surfaced in Xie Xuanyi’s Heart Lake, as he saw a hint of contempt and mockery in Emperor Qi’s residual Divine Thought, on a face that had seen the passage of countless lives.
Emperor Qi…
Was smiling?
Xie Xuanyi glanced back and saw Ao Ying had smoothly bypassed the four towering giants and successfully reached the throne, placing her palm on the withered face of the emperor!
With a “boom,”
The vertical pupil on Ao Ying’s forehead expanded to the extreme!
The pupil swirled frenetically, revealing a voracious “countenance” never seen before!
Numerous blood vessels surged from beneath the beautiful skin on Ao Ying’s cheek, quickly slithering like serpents, densely crossing her neck and forearms, eventually “blooming” at the fingertips, tightly clinging to the shadowy figure sitting on the throne!
“Gurgle-gurgle—”
The sounds of Feng Mou absorbing Ancient Saint Essence Blood echoed throughout the silent great hall!
This scene appeared maddening and eerie.
But what was even more insane, more eerie, was still to come…
“Hm…”
Ao Ying let out a low, stuffy hum, veins on her forehead bulging as she forcibly endured the severe pain the [Feng Mou] brought to her flesh, trying to stand up but incapable of doing so.
She felt as if she had become a vine parched paper growing beneath the throne, her entire person irreversibly adhered to the throne…
However, the only piece of good news was that the vertical pupil’s process of absorbing the Ancient Saint Essence Blood was going smoother than expected.
The ancient essence blood within the withered figure on the throne contained an extremely old, mellow power, intoxicating like fine wine.
Feng Mou had barely sipped upon it when it got slightly carried away, no longer confined to Ao Ying’s forehead and began to drift.
Numerous blood vessels emerged from beneath the skin.
The vertical slit on her brow surged, and this vertical pupil slowly meandered on Ao Ying’s cheek, taking its steps, finally bit by bit, inch by inch, it arrived at the back of her hand!
Ao Ying closed her eyes.
Yet, she saw this world even more clearly.
Because the third eye was gradually “surrendering” to her.
The [Feng Mou], this secret treasure of the Demon Race, is such…
whoever can satiate it, can become its master.
Of course, this wasn’t truly “taming”!
It was an eye from an ancient demon phoenix.
To truly integrate it completely, one needed to either have the strength of a Great Venerate or to display a more potent Bloodline Power than that demon phoenix.
Even Prince Jiu with his Yin God Peak strength,
wasn’t enough to make [Feng Mou] submit.
“Wait…”
After closing her eyes, Ao Ying’s face turned somewhat blank.
The entire world became pitch-black.
But the Feng Mou located on the back of her hand was conveying a brand new vision of the world to her.
What [Feng Mou] saw was different from what she saw.
The world was broken, declining, withering.
The palace pillars, though towering and majestic, were broken and collapsing.
The murals had long been destroyed by external forces, turning into a pasty mess.
The surging Corpse Mountain and sea of blood were nothing more than dry bones, illusions, bubbles.
The thousand-step great hall was stained with blood.
The four seemingly towering silver-white Heavenly People were actually wearing rusty black armor, covered with blood sores all over, their heads abhorrent to look at.
Most importantly, the figure being frenziedly drained of essence blood by [Feng Mou]…
the one impaled by the spear and killed upon the throne.
Was not wearing an Imperial Robe.
This person was draped in a pale golden long shirt, pierced by the spear tip, covered with fine rips; beneath the shirt, the skin was covered with patches of cold, hard dragon scales.
Seeing this scene, Ao Ying opened her eyes in confusion.
After opening her eyes, the world regained its sanctity and splendor.
This was the most revered palace of the Great Yue Kingdom.
It was also the Lifebound Cave Heaven that the sovereign of the Great Yue Kingdom sealed with the Ruyi Dao.
The “man” on the throne died in peace and dignity, clothed in an imperial robe, with a serene countenance…
but upon closer inspection, one would find that the giant spear piercing through the figure on the throne was actually engraved with fleeting Tao Rules.
She had seen them outside the cities of the Great Yue Kingdom.
It was the…
Dragon Destruction Dao Principle.
Specifically designed to exterminate Dragon Descendants.
“No…”
Ao Ying’s body trembled.
She looked incredulously at the scene unfolding before her, slowly closed her eyes, and once again, saw the withered face that was unrecognizable.
Ao Ying slowly extended her hand, touching the withered person seated on the throne.
She touched his forearm.
Crackling and clashing, the sound of scraping iron rang out from her fingertips.
Those were dragon scales.
She also had them.
…
…
(I have to step out for a bit, the next chapter will probably be around 10 pm.)