Bursts of perfume… Xu Yangyi almost dared not believe his nose. Was this really the body of the horrifyingly grotesque and strangely alien Spirit Parasite?

There was no time to sigh with emotion. Chu Zhaonan had only broke through the first layer of ice for him. The second attack was imminent!

Huuuummm… 

A spinning bell, its surface carved with the image of the Eight Trigrams, was being handled by Lord Zhao like a flying kite. A red ribbon extended out of his palm and quickly flew towards the crown of Xu Yangyi’s head. Immediately, a clear and loud jingle rang out!

Swoosh… 

Sound waves solidified and circled Xu Yangyi. As the waves revolved, he shockingly discovered that the surrounding tentacles, which had originally detected an attack, had oddly calmed down for a moment. Instead, the tentacles blooming with flowers actually began to bear fruit!

A Spirit Parasite… Xu Yangyi’s eyes glimmered. What in the world was this thing?

Jingle… Jingle… 

The bell started to slowly open a path for him. His gaze was fixed dead on at the puppet’s head above.

Closer… Even closer! Just as he was only forty meters away from the head, the bell came to a sudden halt, and his eyes flashed. As he was on the verge of forming seals, endless black light suddenly shout out from the cloud gaps of the all-encompassing sky of tentacles! Shadows formed all kinds of weapons, and the earth churned with black lotuses!

“Hundred Shadows Heavenly Punishment?” Xu Yangyi gritted his teeth, his heart searing hot. He seemed to see his senior brother down below. Fang Cheng, the rash fellow, didn’t ask him why, merely placing his pure belief in him. The half-demon had then used his strongest killing move to clear his path!

“Thanks.” He quietly said in his heart, not to thank Fang Cheng for opening his path but to thank the latter because of the trust he had to not question a thing.

To repay this trust, Xu Yangyi would answer with a final, all-out dash!

Twenty meters! The final twenty meters! After these twenty meters was the Reincarnation Puppet’s massive head!

Yet at this time, the enemy’s mouth surprisingly began to close up little by little!

Perhaps it was a function brought on by instinct. Perhaps the puppet had felt true danger. Maybe the puppet had sensed his objective, yet this was important.

What was important was that he HAD to get in!

Here and now, Xu Yangyi was not only peerless in his belief but also convinced. The Reincarnation Puppet, a mobile fort which the Nalan Clan only had ten left of, could only be defeated from within! His heart, in this instant, could have no blemish or defect, and he moreover couldn’t doubt himself.

The momentum of his charge could only advance, never retreating!

“Do me a favor…” Falling Moon appeared in his hands, and spiritual force steadily poured in. He erupted with a shout, “AND OPEN!!!”

Yet before his silver-white crescent moon even slashed out, a sword-light, no less inferior than his, suddenly shone!

Now and then, the white rainbow slices jade, purple clouds of the night drying stars!

[1]

Xu Yangyi’s eyes twinkled. This sword-light… was actually no weaker than his!

The sword wielder was absolutely not below him! In addition, this sword-light, firing straight at the puppet’s giant maw, was helping him, to his shock!

All of a sudden, realization dawned on him. Since the beginning, he and this person had never been close. Perhaps it could be said that this person bafflingly wanted to be very much close, but he hadn’t give him the opportunity. 

And yet this person had also come. Still, only this person’s strength right now could match his own!

Xuan Chengzi!

As if to confirm his guess, above the sky, now, between heaven and earth, an almost-divine voice was suddenly heard.

“Three To Transform Life.”

[2]

Following this voice, one sword became three, bringing forth an infinitely harsh killing aura! The swords hurried straight to the puppet’s eyes and mouth!

“So strong!” At this moment behind the Featherwood Guard, the Screaming Wind Legion’s captain snapped his head up and shockingly looked at the three sword-lights in the sky!

The sword-light was like a waterfall, surprisingly illuminating the vicinity with a dazzling brightness!

“This is no ordinary genius!” He clenched his teeth and said in disbelief, “It’s not like I haven’t seen the three great geniuses of the Linghu Clan… but not a single one of them can perform such a powerful sword move while over hundreds of meters away!”

“Who is this? Someone from the Xingtian Legion? The Hidden Dragon Legion?” He hesitated for several seconds and then tightly gripped the spear in his hand again. “Regardless of whoever it is… he’s only one person!”

“I’m afraid… the Screaming Wind Legion won’t be able to support the White Tiger Hall for much longer… If we want to continue this game, we have to grab another command plate…”

“No matter who you are…” He closed his eyes. As he opened them, his murderous aura had not weakened by a sliver. “Despite this great opportunity, I’m definitely going to bury you under the Linghu Clan’s iron claw!”

Presently, he was none the wiser that everyone in the Featherwood Guard was looking at this Daoist with wide eyes and open mouths. Mo Yeyu, Jun Man, and Li Zongyuan were a little astonished. They knew that this man… was one of the Four Mountain-Protector Sword Inheritors of one of Daoism’s Three Great Ancestral Halls, the First Mountain of Greenwall Mountain.

At Danxia Temple, a thousand had entered, yet only a pittance of people had left. Of the deceased Four Swords, only one remained. Yet this person was in front of them, his clothing rippling in the wind from the remnant qi. In the sky, a snow-white sword-light gradually traveled further away, even breaking through the nighttime clouds. It could even compare to the bright moon in the heavens!

Xuan Chengzi slowly sheathed his blade in his scabbard.

Was this the true power of an inheritor?

Why did it feel… that he was about the same as their commander? Perhaps… he was possibly a little stronger? 

Everyone else was in a total daze. None had expected that the power of a single sword from this quiet Daoist was actually so fast to keep up with the Ketu-Rahu Sword’s thrust!

Now, the elders of the White Tiger Hall, Bluedawn Winding Corridor, Sky Universe Palace, and Kindling Mulberry Wall raised their heads in astonishment.

“A super sect?”

“No… how can that be? Why would they participate in the heavenly paradise?” 

“That’s a move from one of Daoism’s Three Great Ancestral Halls… It’s hard to imagine… has a Daoist power actually joined the war?”

“That’s not right… Greenwall’s Last Mountain in itself is a Greater Paradise! Why would they seek a place like this that’ll end up a Lesser Paradise in a couple decades?”

This sword caused the Crimson Rakshasa, Zhao Zhiqiu, and the Five Honored Stars to all be shocked. One’s name, the shadow of a tree, the cultivator who produced this sword was not frightening. But… the Three Super Sects were the cultivation world’s true leviathans!

“All-out attack!!!” The Crimson Rakshasa stood up, glaring daggers at the White Tiger Hall. “Within five hours! This Palace wants a result!”

“All forces attack…” Zhao Zhiqiu took a deep breath. “We can’t drag this out, we 

mustn’t

 drag this out. If we slow down, there might be an unforeseen change… Spare no price to down the White Tiger Hall!”

Xu Yangyi was unaware of all of this. He moreover didn’t know that a few mistaken calculations had come up again in the well-scheduled battlefield. In his eyes, only three incomparably resplendent sword-lights existed! 

Bang bang! 

Two sword-lights shot right into the puppet’s eyes, and a miserable screech suddenly made itself known from its head!

“HIIISSS!!!”

The clouds in the sky were being swept away!

Having been struck, the Reincarnation Puppet’s head slightly rose up. Several seconds later, its nerves traveled to its body. Its head lowered, yet it didn’t feel pain. The sensation of this attack, however, caused it to feel extremely ill. But what welcomed it… was a meteor-like figure!

Xu Yangyi, twenty meters, in this fleeting moment of unparalleled crisis, vaulted forth!

Chaotic waves strive to clash against the shore, surging like thunder and wind!

[3]

Swoosh!

 Even though the sword-light still hadn’t arrived, Xu Yangyi had already dove into the Reincarnation Puppet’s mouth because Xuan Chengzi’s attack had jolted it open!

Crack!

 The puppet’s reaction was blazing fast! Its two rows of sharp, blade-like teeth snapped shut! It even made the effort to audibly chew!

Nevertheless… there was nothing.

Inside the mouth, Xu Yangyi rolled. He was absent of any hesitation, charging straight down. Only using his spiritual sense, he looked around his surroundings.

Dry, very dry.

There was no bodily fluid. The inside was unlike a human body, instead more like a cavern. It was just velvety soft. Trailing along the esophagus, he abruptly went down. His body didn’t even exert a speck of spiritual force to prevent fall impact.

Right now, time was everything!

Behind the Featherwood Guard, the Screaming Wind Legion was waiting for the most fitting opportunity!

Thump thump thump!

 His body became a ball, the pain of collision assaulting him from everywhere. It wasn’t until his spiritual sense detected that the end was already below did his two wings flutter open, and he floated down.

“This place…” Xu Yangyi roughly performed Innersight on his body and immediately stood up. Even before deciding to come in, he had contemplated endless vile situations, yet everything in the surroundings now left him no choice but to be dazed.

Here… there wasn’t even a dreg of foulness! There wasn’t even all kinds of vile bodily ichor that he had imagined. Instead, there was a man-made stone room! 

The demon slayer brought his hand to punch the wall, stowing his thoughts. To call this a stone room still wasn’t appropriate. And that was because… the surrounding walls were still very soft, just like a human’s internal membrane.

An ordinary stone room without any decoration. The bricks on the ground were somewhat blackened, yet the area around had tens of passages!

But at this time, he furrowed his brows again.

Upon arriving here… the cocoon’s movement had intensified! He could clearly sense that the thing being nurtured within was already in embryonic form. Merely a little itty-bit more, and it would be able to break through its shell!

No, now was not the time to think of these things… 

“Did you think I wouldn’t find it?” He laughed grimly and quickly took out the jade chest. He tore off the seal on the surface and then a kind of odd feeling started to quickly pervade the area.

What it was couldn’t be clearly explained… It seemed to be this box’s protector. On top of that, it didn’t hold a rigid feeling. On the contrary, it was very nimble, just like… there were now living, unseen people standing in the surroundings. Like all of them were calmly watching him.

He cooled his nerves and clasped his hands. “Excuse me.”

Swiftly, he opened the jade chest.

Inside the jade chest was a puppet. It had the facial appearance of Zhao Ziqi who he had once seen. But at this instant, the entire box radiated alternating black-and-white light.

Amidst the brilliance, Xu Yangyi seemed to truly see the countless surrounding people peering at him. However, how was there time now to look around? He locked his eyes on the jade chest, and a black coffin appeared in front of him after three seconds.

The coffin was lidless, and Zhao Ziqi was lying down inside. His face was very pale, yet his breathing was rather steady. The him of this moment seemed to sense someone’s summons, rubbing his eyes and sitting up in confusion.

“Listen.” Xu Yangyi had no time to chat with the youth. “This place can isolate all qi. I can’t even sense anything. But, I believe you certainly can.”

Zhao Ziqi was somewhat dazed. It was probably because he had slumbered for so long, his eyes fairly vacant. Xu Yangyi gritted his teeth and patiently waited for the other’s gaze to come together. Zhao Ziqi oh’d and surprisingly laughed. “Y-You’re that big brother from inside the lotus sea last time?”

“Right… I…”

“Awesome! I haven’t seen anyone for so long!” A flush of excited red suffused over Zhao Ziqi’s pale face. Just as he was about to say something, Xu Yangyi shook his head and pressed down on the youth’s shoulder.

“Listen to me talk.”

“Down below.” He pointed at the ground. “Your clansmen are fighting. If we’re a fraction slow, everyone might be seriously injured. You want to play around, sure, big bro is gonna take you out for fun when we get out. But, you have to tell me right now where qi is coming from inside this stomach.”

Indeed… no ‘person’ could get a feel.

However, Zhao Ziqi was an exception! His innate mysticism could detect all non-human objects! 

Using a non-human to sense a non-human, only Zhao Ziqi was capable of following the vine to get to the melon, tracking down the necessary clues and finding the Spirit Parasites true lair in this labyrinth-like place!

1. This is a poet from a Tang-era chancellor named Li Jiao (645-714 CE). This line originates from a poem called “Sword”, and it is used to describe… swords.

2. This is another skill that I found to also be in a video game. Most likely referring to how “One becomes two, two becomes three, and three becomes all living things”.

3. This is a poem by Tang poet Cen Can.

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