Translator: CinderTL

Jian Xiao lay in the deep crater blasted by thunderlight, dust swirling around him, his clothes torn to shreds.

Most of his flesh had been charred to a crisp, even his bones and internal organs were blackened.

Wei Gu’s figure pierced through the dust cloud, landing beside Jian Xiao and looming over him.

"Fellow Daoist Jian Xiao, do you have any last words?"

Jian Xiao was too severely injured to move even a finger, let alone speak. Only his bloodshot eyes shifted slightly, glaring fixedly at Wei Gu.

"It seems Fellow Daoist Jian Xiao has no regrets and no last words."

A mocking smile curled Wei Gu’s lips. His skeletal right hand, its fingertips gleaming with a cold light, was poised to strike.

Suddenly, his smile froze.

Jian Xiao’s mouth snapped open, revealing a deep azure talisman.

The talisman’s surface was crisscrossed with cracks, clearly activated, and it erupted with a ferocious sword intent.

Wei Gu’s pupils contracted sharply, and he instantly retreated.

But it was too late.

The talisman shattered, and a three-inch-long, deep azure blade materialized, hurtling straight for Wei Gu’s face.

Wei Gu spat out a torrent of crimson blood, which surged through the air and gradually coalesced into a shield a foot wide.

But the distance between them was too short. Before the blood shield could fully form, the blade had already pierced through the blood.

The blood shield shuddered violently for a moment before shattering with a thunderous crash.

The blade, its momentum undiminished, plunged into Wei Gu’s left eye.

Boom!

Wei Gu’s head exploded.

A wisp of his divine soul drifted out.

"Jian Xiao, how dare you destroy my physical body!" Wei Gu’s divine soul shrieked, its voice laced with boundless hatred. "I will tear you limb from limb, extract your divine soul, and burn it in nether fire! You will suffer the agony of soul-searing flames day and night!"

As he spoke, Wei Gu’s divine soul plunged back into his mangled remains.

The mangled body stirred and lunged toward Jian Xiao.

Jian Xiao’s earlier immobility had been a ruse.

Now, he dragged his charred, tattered body to its feet.

But his injuries were too severe, and his spiritual power was nearly exhausted, causing him to sway unsteadily.

Seeing Wei Gu’s head shattered but his divine soul seemingly unharmed, a flicker of disappointment flashed in Jian Xiao’s eyes.

Jian Xiao had exhausted all his resources, with no backup plans remaining.

Clutching his natal flying sword, he coldly watched Wei Gu approach, as if awaiting the arrival of death itself.

Wei Gu’s head had been shattered, and his physical body was devoid of life. The only purpose of his mangled remains now was to use his dantian to prevent the spiritual power within his nascent soul from dissipating too quickly.

Afterward, if he could find a suitable physical body in time—one capable of containing his nascent soul’s spiritual power—he could perform Body Seizing, submerge his nascent soul into the dantian, and recover his full strength within a short period.

The mangled corpse raised its arms, reaching out to seize Jian Xiao.

Just then, a thunderous shout erupted:

"Senior Jian Xiao, hold on a moment longer! This junior will come to your aid!"

Hearing this, Jian Xiao finally noticed a Peak Void Refinement cultivator rapidly approaching, now only about two hundred miles away.

During their life-or-death struggle, both he and Wei Gu had been completely focused, pouring every ounce of their strength into the battle and daring not to let their guard down for even a moment. They had been so engrossed in the fight that they hadn’t noticed when this person had appeared.

Though uncertain of the newcomer’s intentions, a flicker of hope ignited within Jian Xiao’s heart.

A situation that had seemed utterly hopeless suddenly took a turn for the better.

It was like a drowning man catching sight of a life-saving straw, clinging to it with desperate fervor.

Driven by an intense will to survive, Jian Xiao’s depleted dantian inexplicably began to generate a trace of spiritual power. His trembling body regained a sliver of strength.

The longsword in his hand flickered with a faint, sword-like radiance.

With a flick of his wrist, he thrust the blade forward, aiming directly for Wei Gu’s mangled dantian.

Wei Gu wouldn’t allow such a strike. Dense, ink-black corpse qi erupted from his dantian.

Jian Xiao’s weakened state caused the sword’s momentum to falter the moment it pierced the corpse qi, as if trapped in a bottomless swamp, unable to advance even an inch.

Wei Gu’s skeletal right arm casually swept out, sending Jian Xiao flying dozens of meters.

Jian Xiao tumbled across the ground several times before coming to a stop, utterly unable to rise.

The reason he hadn’t yet perished was that Wei Gu had deliberately spared his life, intending to slowly torture him after dealing with the arrogant Void Refinement Stage cultivator who dared to interfere.

Wei Gu, no longer bothering with Jian Xiao, projected the upper half of his divine soul from his mangled body, turning to face the rapidly approaching figure.

A black Spirit Beast Pouch at his waist suddenly glowed with an eerie light.

In the next moment, the Black Wolf Void Demon materialized beside him.

"A mere Void Refinement Stage cultivator dares to rescue someone? You’re courting death!"

Though Wei Gu couldn’t unleash his full power in his current state, the late seventh-tier Black Wolf Void Demon at his side was no ordinary creature—one that few could afford to provoke.

Yet Wei Gu didn’t rush to attack. Instead, he calmly watched the approaching figure.

The newcomer was none other than Song Wen.

The Soul Cleaving Blade materialized before him, transforming into a cold, piercing point of light that shot toward Wei Gu ahead of him.

When the blade was still thirty meters away, a shadowy afterimage flickered out.

With a sharp clang, the Soul Cleaving Blade was knocked aside.

The afterimage slowed, retracting toward the Black Wolf Void Demon.

The demon’s maw gaped wide as nine tentacles erupted from its throat, flailing wildly in the air.

The afterimage had been one of these tentacles.

To Wei Gu’s surprise, the newcomer showed no sign of retreating upon seeing the Black Wolf Void Demon. Without the slightest hesitation, he continued to advance.

Wei Gu’s vigilance sharpened, though he didn’t dwell on it. When the figure closed to within thirty meters, the demon’s nine tentacles struck simultaneously.

The newcomer seemed frozen in terror, neither retreating nor defending, allowing the tentacles to pierce through him.

As the nine tentacles tore his opponent to shreds, a cold glint flashed in Wei Gu’s divine soul.

"Something’s not right!"

Wei Gu’s divine sense spread out like ripples.

He immediately noticed the ’intruder’ had reappeared behind him, hovering three meters above the ground, swooping down like an eagle hunting its prey.

Wei Gu’s mangled body darted sideways, taking cover beneath the Black Wolf Void Demon’s belly.

Simultaneously, the Black Wolf Void Demon’s right hind leg lashed upward.

Boom!

The ’intruder’ collided with the Black Wolf Void Demon’s hind claw, exploding into a mass of mangled flesh once more.

A figure flickered into existence!

Song Wen appeared three hundred meters above, gazing down at the Black Wolf Void Demon and Wei Gu below.

The situation was far more complicated than he had anticipated.

He had painstakingly waited for Wei Gu and Jian Xiao to weaken each other, only to be thwarted by this Black Wolf Void Demon.

Meanwhile, Wei Gu sensed something amiss. His sinister eyes narrowed slightly as he stared intently at Song Wen.

First, the timing of the newcomer’s appearance was suspiciously convenient, as if he had been deliberately hiding nearby, waiting for the opportune moment to swoop in and claim the spoils.

Second, the intruder had casually used two Substitute Puppets in quick succession, clearly possessing more of these life-saving artifacts.

Wei Gu’s vigilance surged, and his killing intent intensified.

(End of the Chapter)

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