As the evening deepened, the blaze over Xianding Lake turned half the sky crimson. Shen Tanqi and Yu Ce stood opposite Xie Chi, their gazes as cold as ice.
Xie Chi shifted his focus from the fleeing Taro Ball and Jing Wei to Yu Ce before him, his eyes narrowing with a hint of amusement. With a faint smile, he extended his arms and said, “Brother, long time no see.”
The face before him bore no resemblance to the old Xie Chi; it was unmistakably Shen Han. He had taken over Shen Han’s body, breaking through the tribulation period and leaping to become a Golden Immortal. For a Golden Immortal, dealing with someone below the tribulation period was as easy as crushing an ant.
Yu Ce’s sword suddenly blazed with a chilling, dragon-like breath. His voice was icy as he said, “Letting you go last time was my mistake. This time, I’ll make sure to crush you to ashes.”
Xie Chi met his gaze, old memories flooding back, making him nostalgic. “Since it’s been a while, let’s not exchange harsh words. Back then, you and I were the most talented in the clan, and my aunt often had me spar with you.”
He paused, then chuckled softly, “But I always lost to you. You… will never learn to appreciate your own talent.”
Yu Ce had no intention of chatting further. He raised his sword and charged at Xie Chi. As their swords clashed, it was immediately clear to Yu Ce that Xie Chi’s sword energy had changed significantly. The difference in their realms was vast; today’s battle would be a tough one.
“Why the rush?” Xie Chi tilted his head, glancing past Yu Ce at Shen Tanqi. “Oh, you’re still alive?”
He had thought Yan Ning had already decapitated Shen Tanqi. His plan was to defeat Yu Ce until he was barely alive, then show him Shen Tanqi’s head, enjoying Yu Ce’s look of despair.
Such a shame.
Shen Tanqi narrowed his eyes and replied coolly, “If you’re still alive, how could I be dead?”
He followed Yu Ce’s lead, both of them using the same Rongyun Sword Technique. As soon as Yu Ce raised his hand, Shen Tanqi knew what he intended to do.
Xie Chi remained unruffled as he raised his sword to meet Yu Ce’s attack. His blade danced in the air while he stood still, casually addressing Shen Tanqi. “It seems showing you the mermaid pearl that day was a waste of my good intentions.”
The spies hidden in Rongyun Sect had informed him that Yu Ce had indeed secured the top spot in the grand sect competition. Shen Tanqi had never mentioned the mermaid pearl to him or taken any action against Yu Ce. What a waste; his good brother had ended up showing off again for nothing.
Shen Tanqi sneered. “How could that be? Without you, I wouldn’t even know who I am. I should actually thank you.”
“Oh?” Xie Chi suddenly lunged forward, grabbing Shen Tanqi’s wrist. In the next moment, Yu Ce’s sword severed the hand. Xie Chi, unconcerned, let the hand regrow and cheerfully asked, “So, how will you thank me?”
His regeneration speed was more terrifying than an indestructible cockroach. Shen Tanqi kicked him away with a fierce glare. “I’ll send you to the afterlife!”
Yu Ce restrained Shen Tanqi, his brow furrowing deeply. “Ah Qi, step back.”
Shen Tanqi hesitated, wanting to say something but realizing Yu Ce might not be able to show his full strength with him around. After a moment, he nodded. “Understood.” He then retreated to a safe spot behind Yu Ce.
Losing interest, Xie Chi slowly turned his gaze to Yu Ce, his tone indifferent. “Yu Ce, do you think I’m still the old Xie Chi?”
He swung his hand, unleashing a torrent of sword energy that crashed towards Yu Ce like a tidal wave. Yu Ce’s expression remained unchanged as he raised his sword to block, but his feet slid back slightly.
Xie Chi chuckled and swung again. The floating clouds in the sky ignited into flames, rocks transformed into ferocious beasts, and withered trees became monstrous, gaping hands.
“Yu Ce, I’m now an immortal—”
He spread his arms, allowing Yu Ce’s sword to pierce his heart. With a more excited grin, he continued, “Do you know what it feels like to be an immortal?”
To do whatever one pleases, to be the most untamed and powerful being in the world.
Yu Ce pulled out his sword, his face clouded with a lingering gloom.
Without a dragon ball, the immortal body is impervious to death or decay, so killing Xie Chi was no longer possible.
“Daemons seek to become immortals in their lifetime, but why must we alone suffer heavenly punishment? Humans are so fragile, useless, and greedy. What makes them deserving of the favor of the heavens?”
Xie Chi seemed to have lost his sanity, or perhaps he had long since gone mad.
“You’ll never become an immortal, Yu Ce, so you can’t defeat me,” Xie Chi said calmly, his gaze steady as he continued, “If you hadn’t driven me out of Hidden Dragon Valley back then, I wouldn’t have been pushed to this point.”
Yu Ce knew that Xie Chi had harbored a grudge against him all these years because of what happened at Hidden Dragon Valley.
“I turned to demonic cultivation because I wanted to grow stronger. I wanted to make the dragon race the supreme power of the Three Realms, to have everyone bow to the dragon race! This was also my aunt’s wish!” Xie Chi’s voice rose in anger and hatred. “So why did you have to drive me out? What did I do wrong?”
Yu Ce’s hand trembled slightly around his sword. He lifted his gaze, asking each word with a heavy weight, “Just because of that?”
Yu Ce stepped closer, grabbing Xie Chi’s throat and slamming him down onto the ground. His voice shook with emotion. “And what about my mother? Why did you kill her after you turned to demonic cultivation?”
Xie Chi lay on the ground, looking up at him with an almost indifferent expression, as if he didn’t feel Yu Ce’s fury. He murmured softly, “I didn’t want to kill her.”
“But she just happened to see me using demonic cultivation?”
Xie Chi seemed a bit puzzled. “She didn’t truly love me. If she had cared for me as she cared for you, she wouldn’t have forced me to cleanse my marrow and sever my spiritual roots. What could I do?”
He spoke softly, “I had such a bright future. How could I let it be destroyed because of her? I had no choice but to kill her. It was painful for me too.”
Though he spoke of his pain, there was no trace of remorse in his tone. Xie Chi looked at the trembling Yu Ce, as if finding new pleasure in tormenting him. He continued softly, “Do you know what it was like when I drove the sword into her? The first sword, the second sword, she tried to dodge. But by the third sword, she was crying.”
“She held me and whispered in my ear, ‘Chi’er, you’re my son too.’”
Yu Ce’s eyes blazed red as he suddenly looked up, swinging his sword towards Xie Chi’s neck. But instead of his head falling to the ground, it dissipated and reformed like shifting sand, with not a drop of blood spilled.
Xie Chi’s voice continued unabated as he laughed. “Do you think it’s because I’m her son that she stopped struggling? Just before her death—well, right when you arrived—she even begged you not to kill me. She truly was a good mother, wasn’t she?”
If not for her plea, Yu Ce, lost in his despair, might have killed Xie Chi without a second thought.
Yu Ce felt a cold numbness spreading through him, nearly losing touch with his own sanity. He swung his sword repeatedly, so fast that it was almost invisible to the naked eye. Xie Chi’s body was severed and reformed time and again, yet his grin remained unbroken.
Shen Tanqi listened in disbelief. It was hard to imagine how Xie Chi could commit such acts against his own mother!
Beast! Worse than a beast!!
“I didn’t want to kill her. She brought it upon herself. Who told her to give birth to me…” Xie Chi said with a twisted grin, but was abruptly cut off by Yu Ce’s harsh voice. “Shut up!”
The sword in Yu Ce’s hand seemed to contain a terrifying intent capable of swallowing the heavens and earth. Xie Chi’s heart leaped. He tried to dodge, but the sword’s intent didn’t give him a moment’s chance, tearing through his abdomen.
Xie Chi spat blood, staining Yu Ce’s white robe. He stared in disbelief at the gaping wound in his abdomen.
—How could this be?
His Golden Immortal body was wounded by a mere Nascent Soul stage sword?
What kind of existence is Yu Ce?
Xie Chi stumbled back, his earlier playful demeanor completely gone. Gripping his sword tightly, he summoned a towering sword intent, infusing it with the energy of a Golden Immortal, and charged at Yu Ce.
Yu Ce didn’t flinch as he met Xie Chi’s sword head-on. He drew on his spiritual energy and precisely drove his sword into Xie Chi’s heart again.
Xie Chi coughed up another mouthful of blood, his eyes burning with fury. He clenched his teeth and drove his sword into Yu Ce’s chest, twisting it with force.
Yu Ce fought to keep the blood from spilling from his throat, channeling even more spiritual energy to push his sword deeper into Xie Chi’s heart.
Shen Tanqi, who had been watching for a long time, seized the moment and stepped forward to strike Xie Chi from behind. However, his sword’s intent was far less potent than Yu Ce’s and barely affected the now-immortal Xie Chi.
It was only Yu Ce’s sword lodged in his chest that made Xie Chi finally show a hint of panic. He hadn’t expected Yu Ce, this madman, to be so fearless even in the face of death. He raised his hand and struck Yu Ce back a few steps with another sword blow, finally catching his breath.
“Enough!” Xie Chi sneered, spitting out blood. “It’s time to send you on your way. But before I do, I’ll make sure you watch your loved ones die one by one before your eyes.”
He reached out to grab Shen Tanqi, whose eyes widened in sudden shock. Shen Tanqi’s body was uncontrollably pulled towards Xie Chi’s grasp!
Once he had Shen Tanqi securely in his hand, Xie Chi smirked and addressed Yu Ce, who was barely holding himself up with his sword. “Do you remember how my aunt killed your rabbit? Grabbed it by the neck and twisted it until it was broken?”
Yu Ce’s pupils constricted as images flashed through his mind. In the illusion, Shen Tanqi’s head was twisted off like a white towel being wrung dry.
He tried to rush to Shen Tanqi’s rescue, but ghostly hands made of withered trees clutched him tightly.
Xie Chi tightened his grip on Shen Tanqi’s throat and murmured, “Let’s make sure Yu Ce watches you die. You’ll go first, and then I’ll send your entire family to the underworld.”
Shen Tanqi clawed at Xie Chi’s wrist, gasping for breath and gritting his teeth. “Wait.”
Xie Chi raised an eyebrow and replied, “No waiting.”
With that, he prepared to snap Shen Tanqi’s neck. Just as his fingers tightened, Xie Chi suddenly felt an overwhelming, terrifying dragon’s breath coming at him. He turned around in alarm, only to find that Yu Ce had disappeared from sight.
A colossal, endless dragon, its tail disappearing into the void, burst free from the ghostly hands. Its eyes were so red they seemed to bleed, and its snow-white scales contrasted sharply with the crimson sea of flames, appearing as a divine being descending from the heavens, both majestic and terrifying.
Before the dragon, everything in the world seemed insignificant, like mere specks of dust.
In the moment of Xie Chi’s stunned surprise, Shen Tanqi poured all his remaining spiritual energy into his sword and struck, severing Xie Chi’s unguarded arm. Taking the chance, he fled without looking back, shouting at the snow-white dragon in the sky, “Kill him!”
The white dragon appeared to be deaf to any other sounds, its crimson pupils fixed firmly onto Xie Chi. It’s cold, piercing dragon breath coiled around it as its razor-sharp claws dove towards Xie Chi.
Xie Chi raised his sword to block, but the immense force sent him stumbling back several dozen steps.
He pierced Yu Ce’s dragon claw with his sword and laughed maniacally. “Do you think you can kill me? I am an immortal, and you’re just a dragon!”
He had truly lost his sanity.
Shen Tanqi realized that Xie Chi had likely forgotten that he, too, was once of the dragon race.
The dragon circling in the sky was meant to be a divine being of this world. Xie Chi had once had the chance to become such a deity but had abandoned his divine status.
Thunderclouds gathered ominously on the horizon, startling Shen Tanqi. He sensed the grave danger, knowing that Yu Ce was now truly intent on killing Xie Chi, with a murderous resolve to crush him to dust.
But to kill a Golden Immortal, the only way was for Yu Ce to become one himself.
Shen Tanqi recalled Yu Ce’s past warning to Taro Ball, his voice echoing in his mind:
‘Dragons should not attempt to transcend easily. The tribulations for daemons are far harsher than for humans. The Nascent Soul stage is already the greatest blessing the heavens grant to daemons. Beyond that, there is only a one-in-ten-thousand chance of surviving the tribulation without being turned to dust.’
Looking up at the terrifying thunderclouds, Shen Tanqi began to regret eating the Stretch Legs and Widen Eyes pill he had originally prepared for Yu Ce.
At times like this, Shen Tanqi wished he could do something to help Yu Ce, but he felt utterly powerless!
Xie Chi, trapped in the dragon’s claws, noticed the roiling thunderclouds on the horizon and immediately deduced Yu Ce’s plan. “You want to transcend the tribulation!”
This madman intended to use the daemon’s thunder tribulation to turn him into ashes!
“Do you think your tribulation can kill me?” Xie Chi gritted his teeth. “I won’t die, but you, Yu Ce, you’re doomed!”
He expected that after saying all this, Yu Ce might show some reaction, but the white dragon’s eyes seemed devoid of any rationality, unable to comprehend even a single word.
Xie Chi felt frustrated. If only he had saved Shen Tanqi for last, instead of pushing Yu Ce to the brink of madness!
A deafening thunderclap erupted, splitting the heavens—
The first bolt of lightning descended.
Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters. (๑>ᴗ<๑)
