Chapter 399: Shattering the Rotten!

"Shhh! Shhh! Shhh!"

The crimson sword qi did not cease after slicing through the bone claws; instead, it poured down from above like a gale-driven storm, unceasing and relentless.

This time, there were ten of them!

The sword qi was condensed as solid as physical matter, its edges flickering with pure yang flames that burned away evil, moving so fast they left afterimages in the air, tearing through the atmosphere with sharp, piercing whistles.

The elder on the Divine Bridge who had shouted out never even saw where the attacker was—he only felt an indescribable sharpness and searing killing intent locking him in place, the shadow of death instantly engulfing his entire body.

Instantly, his face turned ashen, fear flashing in his eyes.

"Bad! This guy's dangerous! Retreat!"

Without hesitation, the elder let out a shrill cry as the yin-sha true qi he had cultivated for decades erupted violently from within.

He swiftly formed hand seals and spat out a thick, viscous cloud of gray-black mist, reeking of a pungent, foul stench.

The mist seemed alive, rapidly spreading to engulf a radius of several zhang around him, obscuring vision and disrupting qi perception.

Using the gray mist as cover, the elder's form flickered like a ghost, vanishing deep into the fog, then transforming into a dim gray escape light that fled desperately toward the dense forest on the other side of the valley.

He dared not even look back—he only wanted to escape the range of the sword qi as quickly as possible!

The elder could flee using his vast experience and secret techniques, but the dozen or so Mo Sect disciples attacking Qin Liangjing were not so lucky.

Their highest cultivation was only Seventh Stage Innate; before the sudden, lightning-fast crimson sword qi, they had no time to react effectively.

"Puch!"

"Puch!"

"Ahh—!"

"No!"

The sword qi slashed and cut like the scythe of Death.

One by one, figures were swept through by the crimson light, their protective true qi tearing like paper, their flesh and bones utterly powerless.

Some were cut clean in half at the waist, others had their heads severed, still others had limbs torn away… Blood mingled with the acrid, charred stench left behind as the pure yang sword qi instantly vaporized parts of the corpses, spreading through the valley clearing.

In barely a breath, the dozen Mo Sect disciples were wiped out, lying dead across the ground, their corpses grotesque and horrific.

The elder, having fled hundreds of meters and on the verge of reaching the forest, had just begun to feel a sliver of hope—when a more condensed, faster, and even more precocious crimson sword qi appeared precisely along his path of escape, descending from above like it had foreseen his every move!

"Get out of my way!"

The elder's eyes bulged with desperation as he let out a final, furious roar.

He knew escape was impossible, so he unleashed his last, most desperate measures.

Gray-white true qi gushed from his body like water from a broken dam, forming dozens of larger, more monstrous gray-white bone claws that slammed outward.

The ground churned as thick, grotesque bone spikes erupted from the earth, lashing toward the sword qi.

The elder also pulled from his robes a palm-sized, bone-white bell carved with a terrifying demonic face, shaking it furiously and unleashing eerie sound waves that unsettled the mind and threatened to split the skull.

Finally, he spat a mouthful of his primordial blood into a fist-sized skull that flew from his sleeve, its eye sockets flickering with green flames—the skull swelled in the wind until it reached the size of a washbasin, opened its jaw, and vomited thick, crimson demonic qi toward the sword qi!

In an instant, bone claws flailed, bone spikes stood like a forest, ghostly wails pierced the ears, and crimson demonic qi surged skyward.

The elder had thrown everything he had—his Earth Altar Realm, Divine Bridge cultivation fully revealed, his aura terrifying.

Yet before the absolute gap in power, all of it appeared pitifully feeble.

The crimson sword qi descending from above seemed to carry the radiant heavenly might of purifying heaven and earth, burning away all evil.

Where the sword qi passed, pure yang flames blazed with supreme yang energy!

Gray-white bone claws?

They ignited on contact, reduced to ash.

Grotesque bone spikes?

They snapped on impact, shattered across the ground.

Eerie ghostly wails?

They were instantly shattered by the pure yang sword intent, unable to draw near even a hair's breadth.

Crimson skull demonic qi?

Like a creature facing its mortal enemy, it shrieked "Sssss" in the crimson light, rapidly dissolving—along with the skull itself, which was split cleanly in two by the sword qi, its spirit light extinguished, reduced to an ordinary, lifeless object that fell to the ground.

Like rotten wood shattered by force—no doubt, no contest!

All the elder's defenses and counterattacks, before this crimson sword qi that seemed to purify all things, melted and shattered like snow beneath the sun.

"No—"

"You can't kill me, I'm the Elder of Yin Kui Gate… Aaaah!!"

His final threat and plea remained unfinished—the sword qi was already upon him.

The elder desperately tried to leap into the air for one final struggle, but the crimson light followed like a shadow, precisely slicing through his forehead.

Time seemed to freeze for an instant.

The elder's expression froze on his face, his eyes still filled with ultimate terror and disbelief.

The next moment, a fine line of blood extended from his forehead downward, cutting through his nose, lips, chin, throat, chest…

"Chilaa!"

The bloodline suddenly widened—the elder's body split cleanly down the middle.

The two halves of his corpse tumbled apart, organs and blood gushing forth like waterfalls, then instantly vaporized by the residual pure yang sword qi's heat, filling the air with a thick, acrid stench of burnt blood.

The two halves of the corpse fell lifelessly to the ground like torn sacks, thudding heavily and kicking up clouds of dust.

The entire process—from the appearance of the crimson sword qi to the elder's death—took no more than a dozen breaths.

What had seemed a one-sided chase had instantly reversed—the hunter and the hunted had traded roles.

【Corpse detected. Collect?】

"Yes."

With the card in hand, Chen Mu did not examine it closely.

He descended slowly from midair, like a falling leaf, landing lightly upon the barren ground littered with debris and corpses.

He still wore the same plain blue long robe, spotless and unstained, his expression calm, as if the earlier thunderous slaughter had nothing to do with him.

Walking up to Qin Liangjing, who still knelt on one knee, leaning on his spear, still dazed, Chen Mu bowed slightly, a faint smile on his face.

"Brother Qin, long time no see. It seems I arrived not too late."

Qin Liangjing snapped back to awareness, eyes wide, scrutinizing Chen Mu from head to toe, confirming he was not hallucinating from his injuries.

The young, handsome face before him, compared to over a year ago, had lost some of its youthful naivety and gained a measure of steadiness and restraint.

But that unique aura, especially those deep, bright eyes—he would never mistake them.

"Chen… Chen Mu brother?!"

Qin Liangjing's voice trembled with disbelief, then drowned in overwhelming joy and gratitude: "It's really you, Brother Chen—I… I…"

He struggled to rise and bow, but his internal injuries flared, triggering another violent cough.

"Brother Qin, no need for formalities. Between you and me, such courtesy is unnecessary."

Chen Mu stepped forward quickly, extending a hand in a gesture of support, sending a gentle, pure stream of true qi into Qin Liangjing's body to temporarily stabilize his turbulent blood and qi.

"Brother Chen, had you not intervened so generously today, Qin Mou's life—and my late wife's final relics—would have been lost here!"