The Forbidden Path to Immortality-Chapter 168

Shui Die Lan’s arm coiled around Li Xun’s neck once more. Watching the joy on his face plunge from wild elation to despair, the vivid shift in his expression filled her with deep satisfaction. In that instant, all her earlier suffering felt worthwhile.

She gave him a dazzling smile. “Still alive, I see?”

Li Xun’s face twisted grotesquely as her arm crushed the breath from him, until he looked utterly unnatural.

When Shui Die Lan loosened her hold a little, he finally managed a breath. Turning to look at her radiant smile, he forced a bitter grin. “Impressive. Your illusions are one thing, Fairy Shui, but what I truly admire is… how you can still fly with such a burden weighing you down.”

At those words, Li Xun’s face suddenly warped into something fierce and ghastly. Startled, Shui Die Lan instinctively tightened her grip. Yet just as before, at the very instant her strength should have closed in, agony ripped through her waist and belly. She even heard the sound of her own intestines twisting apart.

Her body went limp. Eyes wide, she watched as Li Xun slipped free of her hold once again, turned calmly to face her, and revealed what he held in hand. The pitch-black tip of the Ghost Crow Sword.

Their eyes met, and a sudden flash of realization struck Shui Die Lan. Shocked, she cried out, “Your eyes…”

“Ah, my eyes are perfectly fine.”

Li Xun gave a faint smile as his grip tightened. The blade’s edge tore open his palm, blood pouring out in streams; yet not a single drop spilled. Every thread of it was instantly drawn into the sword’s body.

In the next instant, with a sharp, metallic crash, the Ghost Crow Sword shattered into seventeen or eighteen pieces. Most of the fragments remained buried inside Shui Die Lan’s body.

She let out a faint groan. Her slender frame could no longer hold itself up, and she collapsed to the ground. The fragments of the sword were one thing, but what truly dealt the fatal blow was the chill that burst forth the moment the blade shattered, a dreadful aura that seeped into her spine.

Through clenched teeth, she forced out two words: “Blood Nightmare!”

“Sharp eyes.” Li Xun clapped his hands in praise. “That Blood Nightmare has been sealed within this sword for over thirty years. You’re the first to taste it, Fairy Shui. Call it fate.”

This time it was Shui Die Lan who gave a bitter smile. The moment she realized what foreign force had invaded her body, she had already fallen into despair. Even so, there was one thing she still didn’t understand, and if she died without the answer, she would never rest in peace.

“You were under my control. How did you break free?”

“Heh. I may not have your Butterfly Transformation technique, but thosefew incantations that Flayer of Yin left me aren’t just for show. This ‘Hidden Origin of the Secret Division’ method may be a bit… feminine in flavor, but it works well enough, don’t you think?”

“Your eyes…”

At that, Li Xun’s smile only grew wider. “Fairy Shui, your illusions truly stand unrivaled. I’ll give you that. But too bad for you, I happen to have one more treasure up my sleeve.”

From his robes, he drew out a dark, glossy orb and waved it before Shui Die Lan’s eyes. Smiling, he said, “Fairy Shui, don’t you remember the Gathering of Lotus on the Northern Sea all those years ago…”

“Rainbow Shade Pearl!” Shui Die Lan’s reaction was as quick as ever. Her gaze fixed on the jewel in Li Xun’s hand, her eyes full of conflicting emotions. Then she shook her head with a bitter smile. “You certainly know more than most…”

Li Xun gave a faint smile and left it at that. Truth be told, her earlier “great reversal” had nearly scared him out of his wits.

Now, even with the Blood Nightmare already stirring chaos through her meridians, a restriction powerful enough on its own, he still waved over two of his puppets, intending to place another seal on her just to be safe.

Shui Die Lan showed no sign of resistance. It wasn’t until the two puppets stepped close, about to strike, that she let out a soft sigh. “What a pity…”

“Hm?” Li Xun peered at her from behind the puppets’ shoulders, unsure what she meant.

She gave him a faint smile.

Ordinarily, it would have been nothing more than a simple smile. But at that moment, it looked strangely uncanny. Li Xun’s pupils shrank as a voice rang in his ears: “What a pity. You only understand half of it!"

He knew instantly something had gone wrong. Shouting “Kill her!” he darted behind Nether One for cover.

By all logic, hiding behind Nether One’s massive frame should have been the safest place. Yet a sudden unease rose in Li Xun’s heart, as if some critical step had been overlooked.

Before he could sort it out, a sharp pain tore through his abdomen. Scorching true breath flooded into his body, and in the next instant he was sent flying, tossed about like a leaf in a storm. He slammed hard against the cliff wall behind him, stone fragments showering down. The jolt of pain was so great it nearly knocked him unconscious.

But compared to the agony of his blood and qi boiling within, the crash was nothing at all.

This feeling.... there was no mistaking it.

Blood Nightmare Devouring Heart!

Li Xun’s spirit quaked, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Ever since he had subdued Blood Wanderer, he had been the one tormenting others with burning blood essence. Never once had he imagined that one day, he would be the one to suffer it.

Nether One… betrayed me?

Through his blurred vision, he saw Nether One turning his head. The puppet’s blood-red eyes were filled only with confusion. With his limited mind, he clearly had no idea why he had just struck his own master.

That vacant look drew another mouthful of blood from Li Xun’s lips.

“Illusion!”

Yes. Shui Die Lan’s illusion.

The Rainbow Shade Pearl that Mistress Tianzhi had once given Li Xun could indeed break through illusions, but it protected only him. The two puppets were not included in its shield.

Shui Die Lan had struck precisely at that weakness, and with one move, she succeeded.

Regret churned in Li Xun’s chest. With the intelligence the two puppets possessed now, they shouldn’t have been fooled so easily. But ever since becoming puppets, they had never once faced an opponent skilled in illusions, and so lacked the experience to counter them.

If there was a next time…

Would there even be a next time? 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Nether One’s sweeping leopard-tail kick had been delivered without the slightest restraint. Had it not been for the subtle qi mechanism between the puppet and its master—when his body had been struck, their true breath that came from the same source but was different in nature cancel out part of the force—Li Xun would have been left a dried corpse by now.

Even so, his whole body felt as though it were burning. His qi and blood were thrown into complete disorder, and with every passing moment, some of his very blood seemed to vanish into steam, dragging away his vitality with it.

In the blink of an eye, he had fallen into a weakness from which there would be no recovery.

Damn it… damn it…

Li Xun lay sprawled on the ground, every breath from his throat carrying sparks of fire. The Nethermyst Shadow Body technique was still active, but in such a dire state, what real effect could it have? The rightful source is novèlfire.net

At least Nether One wasn’t entirely witless. It rushed over and drew the burning blood essence out of his body, giving Li Xun a brief moment of relief.

Just then, a pained cry sounded from ahead. Li Xun lifted his gaze just in time to see Shui Die Lan rolling miserably across the ground, her once-beautiful face now haggard and drained of color, showing not a trace of her former demonic allure.

And yet, she was still alive. No doubt she had once again clouded Nether Two’s mind with her illusions, slipping past death a second time.

But if she thought she could rely on that trick to escape, then she was underestimating the intelligence of the Nethermyst Puppets.

After suffering two losses in a row, the puppets’ astonishing combat instincts had already begun linking with fragments of their past memories, pulling forth ways to counter the illusions. This change fed directly back into Li Xun’s own spiritual sense.

Coughing violently, Li Xun gave his third command: “Kill he—”

But before the words had fully left his mouth, a strange ripple surged up from his abdomen, cutting his order short.

Nether Two carried out his command without the slightest hesitation, stepping forward and striking down with a palm. Shui Die Lan watched as that pale, slender hand descended, blotting out the sky above her.

Her heart sank in despair. She possessed countless secret arts and rare techniques, yet had been driven to the point where she couldn’t even gather a breath to fight back.

To die like this... she could not accept it.

The thought flickered through her mind and was gone. A wave of freezing cold had already pierced straight into her skull, savagely stripping away every trace of her life force. Her consciousness quickly blurred.

Just then, a warped, inhuman cry rang in her ears.

Time froze in that instant.