Chapter 517

Yunhe

A withered arm stretched out from the ruins, struggling to pull the rest of the body out of the rubble. Yunhe did not expect that, amidst such a violent explosion, the Yellow Spring Ancestor had not died; this old thing's life-saving methods were truly formidable, but at this moment his condition did not look good either. Seeing the huge blood hole at the Yellow Spring Ancestor's dantian, Yunhe thought to himself, 'Not good.' Among all enemies, he was the most troublesome. Just looking at his current state, it was unclear whether he could still mobilize his spiritual power.

At this moment, due to the reversal of the formation, Yunhe's condition might even be worse than that of an ordinary mortal. If the Yellow Spring Ancestor were to attack him now, he would probably—. But Yunhe still forced himself to stand, picking up a stone beside him and trembling as he walked toward the Yellow Spring Ancestor.

Yunhe could only gamble; since the Yellow Spring Ancestor had not moved immediately, perhaps his condition was no better than Yunhe's. 'Today you will not die, I feel uneasy.' Strangely, the Yellow Spring Ancestor's cloudy eyes widened, yet he seemed not to see Yunhe at all, showing no reaction even when Yunhe walked up to his face.

Looking at the hateful visage of the Yellow Spring Ancestor before him, Yunhe's gaze grew solemn, his unease gradually expanding. How could it feel as if his soul had been invaded? Though there was no one else present, Yunhe could only suppress his hesitation. Only a corpse of the Yellow Spring Ancestor would be a good Yellow Spring Ancestor.

Yunhe swallowed a mouthful of saliva, his eyes hardened, and he raised the stone in his hand high before smashing it toward the Yellow Spring Ancestor's head.

Pa

Pa

Pa

Ha ha

Seeing the Yellow Spring Ancestor, who offered no resistance before being killed by Yunhe, Yunhe was slightly stunned; the red and white matter strewn across the ground greatly stimulated his senses.

Ugh

Although this was not Yunhe's first kill, it was the first time killing caused him physical discomfort.

The eyeball that had fallen out of its socket seemed to still be staring at Yunhe, when suddenly a series of voices appeared in his ears without warning.

What does it feel like to smash a person's skull?

Isn't it exhilarating to take someone's life with your own hands?

We can still kill more people.

Shut up!

Yunhe shouted madly, one of his eyes turning blood-red again. A frenzied, murderous will was disturbing his mind, causing him great anguish.

You did very well just now.

You killed them all. You enjoy slaughter.

You can join us.

Become us.

Coexist with us.

Live forever with us.

Shut up!

Yunhe bellowed like a madman; in an instant, the world seemed to suddenly fall silent, and the strange voices in his ears vanished as well.

Ha ha

Yunhe panted heavily, cold sweat covering his whole body, as if he had just endured a terrifying nightmare.

Just when one trouble had not yet settled, another arose: 'Junior Brother, what's wrong with you?'

The bloody, mangled face on the ground suddenly spoke, and Yunhe, his mind dazed, was frightened into stepping back two paces.

Heavenly Corpse Worm

Even though Yunhe had lost his spiritual power and his divine sense, upon hearing that familiar voice he quickly recognized the speaker.

No wonder, when Yunhe smashed the Yellow Spring Ancestor to death just now, the latter was clearly still alive yet seemed like a lump of dead matter. 'Roar!'

Afterward, a huge abyssal beast lifted the debris from its head and leapt to the side of the Yellow Spring Ancestor—no, the Heavenly Corpse Worm.

If it weren't for you, Junior Brother, I wouldn't have obtained so many late Nascent Soul corpses.

Thank you, Junior Brother, for the gift!

Ha ha ha ha

Afterward, the Heavenly Corpse Worm tore off the face skin hanging from the Yellow Spring Ancestor's face, shoved the drooping eyeball back into its socket, and stared at Yunhe as if eyeing a delicacy.

Now it's time for you, Junior Brother, to join us.

Three monstrous beasts, covered in wounds, crawled out of the ruins, speaking the same words as the Heavenly Corpse Worm. Their scarlet eyes held the same madness as the Heavenly Corpse Worm; Yunhe never expected the Heavenly Corpse Worm to appear before him in this manner.

This was the first time Yunhe felt despair, having exhausted all means to slay a powerful foe, only to realize he had unwittingly done someone else's bidding.

If the Heavenly Corpse Worm were to leave the Vermilion Bird Secret Realm like this, then likely no one in the Southern and Eastern territories would survive; the calamity of the 'Heavenly Corpse Worm' that the Insect Sect endured would surely recur.

Thinking of this, a nameless fire rose in Yunhe's heart, but at this moment he had no power to resist.

To break out once more from the grasp of numerous late Nascent Soul experts? This seems like a joke heaven is playing on Yunhe. 'Yunhe, listen to me.'

For some unknown reason, the Little Red Tower suddenly transmitted a sound to Yunhe, its tone especially solemn yet somewhat fragmented, as if the transmission itself were difficult.

I have already seen it.

Soon I will use all the power within the tower to send you out, while they will be left here by me.

Remember.

Remember. You only.

Only a hundred years.

Yunhe had no time to ask; he saw that the previously stable heaven and earth suddenly began to spin, a strong energy enveloping him and rushing toward the firmament.

The Heavenly Corpse Worm immediately sensed the abnormality in heaven and earth and shouted loudly.

Not good, seize him!

Among the three monsters, the leader, the Red Dust Corpse, instantly turned into a red light rushing toward Yunhe; two figures, one ahead and one behind, could not be separated for a moment.

Just before Yunhe, a spatial rift that could only allow one person to enter was flickering; evidently this was the Little Red Tower's exertion of all its energy.

Hum

Just as the Red Dust's outstretched claw was about to seize Yunhe, he finally squeezed into that spatial rift.

Pfft

Only the Red Dust's claw followed Yunhe into the spatial rift, but the rift closed too quickly, allowing only a pair of claws to enter.

Damn it!

—————— I am the dividing line ——————

Whoosh

Upon opening his eyes again, the scene before him was no longer that inside the tower; Yunhe did not know where he was now—eastern border? southern border? Or still within the secret realm?

Before being sent out of the tower, the words the Little Red Tower had spoken still echoed in his ears: "One hundred years."

Yunhe did not know why the Little Red Tower could suddenly send him out, nor what it meant by all the energy inside the tower; could it be that he would have to pay some price?

Cough cough.

Feeling pain throughout his body, Yunhe knew his body had reached its limit; he needed to find a place to rest and recover, otherwise, regardless of whether it was a hundred years or not, he could collapse at any moment.

Young master.

Just now the situation was critical, and Yunhe only then remembered that the old gourd was still there, though it seemed quite low-spirited at the moment.

Seeing this, Yunhe did not ask about the Little Red Tower; some things could be guessed by glancing at the person closest to him. This place was an endless grassland, and Yunhe inevitably felt sorrow—the grassland was vast and sparsely populated, and he did not know how long it would take to reach inhabited lands.

Moreover, at this moment it was not suitable to use elixirs; Yunhe examined himself internally and found not a single meridian intact. If he did not properly tend to his physical body, even using elixirs would likely only worsen the situation.

After walking for an unknown time, Yunhe sat cross-legged again, opened the medicine bottle, and inhaled slightly the fragrance of the Spirit-replenishing Elixir, after which his weary body felt somewhat better.

As days and nights passed, Yunhe had grown somewhat numb; just then, several bright lights suddenly appeared ahead.

Finally... someone

Young master... young master

Yunhe finally saw a tribe, but his vision began to blur, and then, no matter how the old gourd shouted, he collapsed face-first onto the ground, unconscious.

When Yunhe awoke again, his body had been bandaged, and inside the felt tent a strong medicinal fragrance drifted, even somewhat pungent.

Originally Yunhe's Daoist robes were tattered, like a beggar's, but now he had been changed into traditional nomadic attire, evidently having received good care during his unconsciousness.

Recalling the past few days, he stared blankly at the pattern on the ceiling, truly unsure how he had managed to endure—whether it was the low-grade Spirit-replenishing Elixir concocted by the old gourd taking effect, or his own stubborn willpower. "Ada, he's awake!"

A youth had just lifted the tent flap when he saw Yunhe standing dazedly, and hurriedly called for his father.

A hurried footsteps sounded, and the youth's father, A Gu Xia, hurried into the felt tent.

He said nothing, merely placing his hand on Yunhe's wrist, then frowned in thought and said, "Strange, he shouldn't be waking up now—who could recover so quickly from such severe injuries?"

Seeing Yunhe slightly turn his head toward him, A Gu Xia hastily relaxed his furrowed brows and spoke reassuringly.

"Friend, you're recovering well; you'll be fine soon!"

Saying this, still worried Yunhe might not understand, he extended his thumb to indicate Yunhe was recovering very well.

Yunhe licked his dry lips, opened his mouth, but found he could not produce any sound; he touched his throat slightly startled.

"Don't worry, this is just the effect of mute grass; rest easy."

A Gu Xia said this while gesturing with his hands and feet, indicating it was to help Yunhe recover faster.

Yunhe could only temporarily give up speaking, and he did not know when the effect of the mute grass would wear off.

Afterwards A Gu Xia spoke a few more comforting words, then took his son out; seeing the two leave, Yunhe hurriedly sat cross-legged and tried to circulate his magical power throughout his body, but after trying for a long time he could only muster a trace of it.

Yunhe reckoned that his spiritual power was now only at the Foundation Establishment level, utterly insufficient to drive the operation of a spirit treasure.

To regain his former peak strength, at this rate even a hundred years might not be enough! Moreover, whenever Yunhe grew slightly angry, his head throbbed fiercely, as if a large hand were ruthlessly kneading his brain, causing immense pain.

In no time, Yunhe fainted again from the pain.

—————— I am the dividing line ——————

Roar!

On Huanhu Dao, a jet-black spirit turtle bearing dragon horns suddenly rose from the basking platform and let out a loud, anguished howl toward the sky.

This howl quickly startled the other demon beasts on the island, which ran over nearby, looking at Yunhe with uneasy eyes.

"Your Majesty, what's wrong?"

"I don't know, I don't know, but I'm scared."

"Shh, where's Sister Ning? Go find them quickly!"

The little demons beside them chattered away, completely unaware that a small monkey had slipped from the demon horde and was running outward.

Silence!

The clamor of the little demons made Yunhe's already irritable head even more painful; fortunately, they have now quieted down.

"I'm fine, everyone disperse."

Having said that, Yunhe lay down again, appearing completely normal

appearance.

After the little demons had all left, Yunhe finally dropped the pretense, and his turtle head was filled with a pained expression.

Unexpectedly, this feeling of pain actually transmitted through Yunhe's Cultivator Body to his Demon Beast Body!

"Yunhe, you... you how did you fall into demonic possession?"

Not far away, the arriving Qingluan of Wenxun instantly saw Yunhe's condition.

"Demonic possession... what is demonic possession?"

"Uh, demonic possession is just demonic possession."

"I can't remember either~"

Fortunately, as the pain gradually faded, Yunhe slowly lay down, revealing an extremely weary expression.

"You were fine, how did you end up possessed?"

The Qingluan fluttered her tiny wings, speaking to Yunhe; she believed she still understood him well, and moreover there were clearly no demons on Huanhu Dao—how could Yunhe have become possessed?

However, Yunhe was destined unable to answer Qingluan's question—could it be that he would reveal his own secret of still possessing a Cultivator Body? Seeing Yunhe shake his head, the matter was considered settled, but as Qingluan left she continued to ponder how Yunhe had become possessed and how to eliminate his inner demon, hoping that only after growing again and recalling more memories would there be a method for this demonic intrusion.

Yunhe silently gazed toward the direction of the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains; since his last transaction with the Second Young Master of the White Tiger Hall, he had not been in contact with him for quite a while.

Speaking of that deal, Yunhe never imagined that he would actually, through Bai Zhanwu before the war broke out, obtain that precious divine bird's essence blood.

It's just that Bai Hanwu clearly had no good intentions; after that transaction, Bai Ning (Line: Bai Ning) reported that the area around Huanhu Dao had seen many unfamiliar yao beasts, and they often attempted to enter Huanhu Dao, but she blocked them outside.

If he still can't see the problem, Yunhe might as well not bother; it seems the previous big move made Bai Hanwu suspicious—what should we do, kill him now? Yunhe thought for a while but gave up that idea. Now his Cultivator Body's Cultivation Base is down to less than one-tenth; this is exactly when he needs a large amount of spirit grass and monster cores to concoct elixirs, and he also needs to rely on the foundation of the Thus line: Yao Shou Shijie.

Yunhe also really wants to obtain the secret technique of half-demon transformation that Bai Hanwu displayed that day; it not only carries the ferocity of the yao beast's strong fleshly body, but also grants the agility suitable for human combat.

It seems it's still necessary to make a trip to Heavenly Yao City.

Yunhe thought, perhaps later he could still make a name for himself in Heavenly Yao City! By the way, how long has it been since he came to the Thus line: Yao Shou Shijie, and why hasn't he discovered any spirit stone veins? Given how abundant the spirit qi is in the Thus line: Yao Shou Shijie, there should be vast spirit stone mines; if he doesn't go mine them, wouldn't that be a huge loss?

Thinking of this, Yunhe summoned a few newly third-rank little yao beasts not far away, and had them quietly leave the island to search for traces of the spirit vein.

(End of chapter)