Chapter 1360: Qin Qin Lian's Secret

The vast power fluctuations surging from Qin Qin Lian's body halted at this moment, and the black flame chains ravaging the battlefield slowly retreated.

This undoubtedly gave everyone time to catch their breath.

Their eyes, filled with shock and suspicion, turned toward the distance, where they saw Qin Yi's figure.

"Qin Yi!"

Qin Beiming's expression changed slightly, for he saw the black flame chain piercing Qin Yi's lower abdomen; clearly, Qin Qin Lian's sudden stop in attack must have been due to Qin Yi's desperate obstruction.

But Qin Yi had obviously suffered a fatal, devastating blow.

All gazes held their breath watching this scene; they were not entirely sure what Qin Yi had done, but if Qin Qin Lian had truly been stopped by her, then this desperate situation would be broken.

"Junior sister!"

Chu Qing's face was also filled with horror, and he tried to rush forward to rescue her.

But Qin Yi struggled to extend her hand, weakly waving it at him; she had consumed most of her own vital blood, fused it with the Grade Nine Water Attribute, and used the Mi Fa to condense a single drop of "Gui Ling Water."

This "Gui Ling Water" possessed no killing power, but it had an extremely strong effect of clearing the spirit; Qin Yi did not know if this could awaken Qin Qin Lian from her corrupted state, but regardless, she had to try.

And looking at the current situation, it seemed to have some effect, but since her cultivation was simply too low, she dared not let Chu Qing and the others approach now, lest they alert Qin Qin Lian.

"Mother."

Qin Yi endured the intense pain radiating from her lower abdomen and called out softly.

And under her call, Qin Qin Lian's eyes, which resembled a black vortex, gradually dispersed, and deep within the vortex, pupils faintly appeared.

Those pupils slowly moved, gazing at the Qin Yi before her, and then Qin Qin Lian's cold and sharp expression shifted slightly, finally a low, hoarse voice sounded: "A-Yi, you, you were too impulsive."

Qin Yi's beautiful face forced a pale, strained smile and said, "Mother, I do not wish to see you destroy yourself, so please, wake up."

Qin Qin Lian let out a hoarse laugh and said, "I treated you harshly in the past, yet you still risked your life to save me, a fallen person."

"You are my mother; how could I give up?" Qin Yi shook her head slightly and said.

Qin Qin Lian's gaze swept gloomily over this chaotic and bloody area, remained silent for several breaths, then said, "Good daughter, but there is one question..."

"How do you know if I am willing to wake up?"

Qin Yi's delicate body trembled violently, and her voice shook as she said, "Mother, what are you saying?"

Qin Qin Lian said woodenly, "Perhaps I am willing to be this way, taking this opportunity to destroy everything?"

A smile appeared at the corner of her lips as she said, "Look, I can just use this opportunity to kill that Li Luo; I think, once Tai Tai Lan and Li Taixuan learn of this, they will be heartbroken beyond measure, won't they?"

Tears flowed from the corners of Qin Yi's eyes, and she cried out in sorrow, "Mother, is your hatred for them truly so deep? For these years you have become increasingly obsessed because of it, and now you are willing to destroy everything; is this worth it?"

Qin Qin Lian's eyes suddenly turned cold and sinister as she said, "This hatred is, of course, very deep."

"Especially that Tai Tai Lan! I hate her to the extreme!"

"Do you know! When I first learned of the marriage alliance with Li Taixuan, how joyful was my heart? That person, when he was young, once saved me from the hands of strange creatures; long before Tai Tai Lan appeared, his figure was deeply engraved in my heart!"

"If it were not for Tai Tai Lan, I would have become the happiest woman in the Tianyuan Outer Shenzhou!"

"But Tai Tai Lan destroyed all of this!"

"I am a genius of the Qin Li Tianwang lineage; I was originally the most dazzling woman of my generation, yet this Tai Tai Lan, who appeared from nowhere, stepped on me relentlessly, and even Li Taixuan was willing to abandon his marriage alliance with me for her!"

"On what grounds does she have the right?!"

Qin Qin Lian's face gradually began to show signs of distortion again, her eyes filled with endless resentment.

Qin Yi remained silent; Qin Qin Lian's character was far too proud, and Tai Tai Lan's appearance had overshadowed her, the most outstanding genius of the Qin Li Tianwang lineage at that time; naturally, she could not accept it, let alone considering Li Taixuan...

"Mother, this matter has passed many years ago; Li Taixuan and Tai Tai Lan were forced to leave the Tianyuan Outer Shenzhou; no matter how deep these grudges are, they should be let go, shouldn't they? You still hold such deep obsession, merely torturing yourself." Qin Yi pleaded.

"Hahahaha!"

Qin Qin Lian suddenly let out a sharp laugh, and as she laughed, black tears even slid down from the corners of her eyes.

"I also want to let it go!"

"But it does not want to!"

When Qin Qin Lian's words fell, Qin Yi was shocked to see that flesh and blood suddenly writhed between the former's eyebrows, gradually forming a blood-red spider pattern; the spider was extremely bizarre, with four heads, and on its back, figures of a man and woman entwined seemed to be engraved.

"What is this?!" Qin Yi cried out in horror; from that spider blood pattern, she sensed an aura of supreme evil, even deeper than the Black-Eyed Ghost Curse afflicting Qin Qin Lian at this moment.

"This is a Demon Seed brand."

Qin Qin Lian's cold voice came: "A technique from a certain Heavenly King-level Great Demon King; anyone branded with this will turn into a cauldron for that terrifying existence, offering everything they possess; once I step into the Grade Nine Marquis Realm, everything of mine will be taken by it."

"This thing can even alter my will, preventing me from even forming the thought of purifying it."

Qin Yi felt a chill surge from her feet to the crown of her head, causing her already weak body to tremble uncontrollably; she could not imagine that such a terrifying thing was hidden within Qin Qin Lian.

"Mother, why not seek a King-level expert from our lineage to act and remove it for you?" Qin Yi asked with difficulty.

Qin Qin Lian said slowly, "King-level experts simply cannot do it, and as I said, it affects my will; if it were not for the interference of that poison curse right now, I would not have told you voluntarily."

Qin Yi's beautiful eyes were filled with tears.

Qin Qin Lian's eyes, cold and terrifying, said, "This thing has caused me such misery; do you know why I ended up in this situation?"

"It was all caused by that Tai Tai Lan!"

Speaking of this, her face suddenly became grotesque: "Back then in that ruin, she fought with me and caused me to fall into a certain terrible place within the ruin."

"There, I came into contact with that sealed terrifying existence, and was subsequently branded with this Cauldron Seed; since then, life and death have not been up to me!"

"Tell me, if it were not for Tai Tai Lan, would I have ended up in this situation?!"

Qin Qin Lian's eyes were filled with intense malice; over these years, she had been tortured by this Cauldron Seed to the point of living worse than death; under such pain, if she did not hate Tai Tai Lan and Li Taixuan, who else could she hate?!

"Tell me, they caused me such suffering; how could I let Li Luo go?!"

Hearing Qin Qin Lian's ear-piercing, sharp, and malicious voice, Qin Yi was struck as if by lightning; she could no longer withstand the weakness within her body and collapsed to the ground, her eyes filled with sorrowful tears, letting blood flow from her lower abdomen.

It turned out that Qin Qin Lian had suffered such an experience.

No wonder Qin Qin Lian's character had become increasingly extreme and ruthless over these years, even trying every means, disregarding her status, to kill Li Luo.

And as Qin Qin Lian's malicious energy grew even more intense, the black vortex in her eyes, which had previously been dispersing, surged forth again, and this counterattack was far more ferocious than before.

Boom!

An even more terrifying surge of phase force, wrapped in the miasma of malice, swept out from within her body.

In the distance, Qin Beiming and the others turned pale with shock, their bodies, which had just relaxed a moment ago, tensing up in haste. From the look of it, Qin Yi had failed!

Qin Yi stared at the black vortex surging once more in Qin Qin Lian's eyes, despair flooding her heart to the extreme. She understood that Qin Qin Lian had accumulated far too many negative emotions over the years, and now that they had been ignited, there was no way her "Spirit-Returning Water" could suppress them.

She had naively believed that as long as she could awaken even a sliver of Qin Qin Lian's consciousness, Qin Qin Lian would take the initiative to suppress it herself. But after learning of these hidden truths, she now understood that perhaps Qin Qin Lian had never had the slightest intention of saving herself.

She was seeking death!

Only before dying, she intended to drag someone down with her.

Li Luo was the most important one.

"A-Yi, these years you've had it very hard, but don't blame your mother. Your mother has walked a path from which there is no turning back."

The vortex in Qin Qin Lian's eyes surged forward, and just as it was about to cover her pupils, she flicked a finger. A ball of black light landed on Qin Yi, transforming into streaks of black feathers that, like a lid, completely obscured Qin Yi's figure.

"A-Yi, this is the last bit of love your mother has for you."

"I hope you can weather this tribulation."

Qin Qin Lian's faint, ghostly voice drifted over.

As those black feathers enveloped Qin Yi's figure, the grim expression returned to Qin Qin Lian's face, and surging phase force swept out.

She stretched out her palm and slammed it down viciously.

The void shattered, and a giant hand wreathed in black flames, like a demon's claw, lunged straight for Zhao Xiuyuan.

That Zhao Xiuyuan was terrified beyond measure. His five Marquis Platforms erupted with dazzling radiance as he threw everything he had into meeting the attack.

Boom!

Yet those resplendent five Marquis Platforms were fragile beyond endurance beneath that black-flame giant hand. As the massive palm slammed down, cracks immediately split across the surfaces of the five Marquis Platforms.

Finally, the five Marquis Platforms let out wails of anguish, transforming into dim streaks of light that sank into the crown of Zhao Xiuyuan's head.

Zhao Xiuyuan vomited a gush of fresh blood, his figure retreating wildly.

But the black-flame giant hand reached through the air and grabbed him, snatching him right into its palm. The black flames, carrying terrifying force, surged in, and in an instant crushed Zhao Xiuyuan's flesh, blood, and bones to pulp.

Ah!

Zhao Xiuyuan let out a shrill, agonized scream.

"Save me!" he cried out in desperate plea to Qin Beiming and the others.

Qin Beiming and the others were also terrified pale, after all Zhao Xiuyuan was a Fifth-Grade Marquis-tier powerhouse, yet now in Qin Qin Lian's hands he had not the slightest power to resist.

While they were still in shock, that black-flame giant hand clenched viciously, crushing Zhao Xiuyuan into a pulp of flesh, then flung him aside with a casual toss.

Fresh blood splashed down from the sky.

Under countless gazes of terror, Zhao Xiuyuan's mangled body plummeted from the heavens, falling straight into the gaping maw opened by those enormous petals.

Crunch, crunch.

The tusked great mouth began to chew, emitting the sound of flesh, blood, and bones shattering.

Watching this scene, a thick, helpless despair rose unbidden in everyone's eyes.