Chapter 121: Heavy Injury

Wu Tie darted swiftly through the rocky beach.

Jagged rocks, stalactites and stone pillars constantly falling from the ceiling, and those mysterious, extremely aggressive toxic tiny creatures.

This gave Zhu Zixi's pursuit some trouble.

It was only some trivial trouble, causing his speed to slow slightly.

The biggest trouble, however, remained the Stone Toad.

By forcibly compressing its body, pressing its stature down to a few meters, its mana became even more violent—the Stone Toad.

He was like a fish entering the ocean, moving fluidly through the rubble, appearing and disappearing, attacking Zhu Zixi with various spells. Stone spears continually erupted from the ground, stone pillars constantly fell from above, and sometimes the Stone Toad even broke through the rock layers, drawing backflows of magma.

The Stone Toad wielded the power of earth and rock, had lived for many years, and possessed abundant experience in using these powers.

Zhu Zixi repeatedly destroyed the Stone Toad's evoked stone spears, pillars, and lava, and found opportunities, directly attacking its body several times.

However, the Stone Toad wore a set of heavy rock armor, one of the ancient treasures handed down from the giant clan, with formidable defense; Zhu Zixi's several all-out blows could only make it vomit blood and retreat, unable to truly kill it.

Zhu Zixi, frustrated and defeated, gave up counterattacking the Stone Toad and focused solely on pursuing Wu Tie.

He had a bad premonition, a sense of danger like being watched by a poisonous snake, entwining his heart.

A master of the Life Pool Realm possesses a certain strange ability of "heartfelt inspiration"; according to ancient legend, that is a "profound Dao" great adept, and with "heartfelt inspiration, a finger calculation," they can divine the various heavenly secrets closely related to themselves.

Something bad was happening, so Zhu Zixi urgently sought to kill Wu Tie and retrieve the Blaze Three Tribulations Fruit.

But the Stone Toad was like an indestructible cave cockroach, constantly jumping out and continually harassing Zhu Zixi.

Zhu Zixi cursed furiously, but the Stone Toad's skin was as thick as its rock armor; no matter how Zhu Zixi greeted its ancestors, the Stone Toad just gave a simple, honest smile.

Finally, when Zhu Zixi once again rudely greeted the Stone Toad's grandmother, the Stone Toad, while summoning a lava giant from the boiling magma to lunge at Zhu Zixi, seriously reminded him.

"Elder Zhu, honestly, you and my grandmother could never…" the Stone Toad extended two fingers, gesturing at Zhu Zixi's petite figure, and sincerely said: "My grandmother… your build isn't even enough to fill a gap between her teeth. Wanting to enter her is impossible."

Zhu Zixi held a mouthful of old blood in his chest.

The Skull Button Blood-Colored Seal smashed out violently, blasting the lava giant to pieces; Zhu Zixi staggered, then continued pursuing Wu Tie.

After all this chasing and fleeing, several days had passed, and Zhu Zixi had no mood to waste more time.

He flung the Blood-Colored Seal at the Stone Toad in a frenzy of blows, gritted his teeth, and pulled out a black painting scroll, unfurling it sharply.

This was a dark, frightening scroll: a naked beautiful woman reclined slantwise on a chaise, while nine jagged white-bone demonic shadows surrounded her.

The nine shadows extended their arms, as if wanting to touch the woman's body.

Yet they seemed also filled with fear toward the woman, their arms kept some distance from her, the ambivalence of advance and retreat, greed and fear, depicted vividly. Even though their faces were nothing but white bone, their expressions were as rich as a living person's.

Zhu Zixi's face also showed a mix of greed and terror.

He gazed at the woman and the nine white bones on the scroll, gritted his teeth, bit his tongue tip, and sprayed a mouthful of blood onto the scroll.

A bewildered sigh echoed from the scroll, an extremely beautiful female voice, sweet and lingering, as if resonating from marrow and soul, making one wish to drown in it, to have soul and spirit scatter, to have marrow turn to ash.

On the scroll, the beautiful woman and the nine white bones had vanished.

The next moment, Zhu Zixi's body shuddered, his essence and blood suddenly drained heavily; a blood arrow shot from his tongue tip and struck the scroll. The scroll writhed, suddenly transforming into a black-and-white mixed fur palace skirt, which floated up lightly.

The beautiful woman from the scroll appeared at some point within the palace skirt.

The black-and-white palace skirt clad her, appearing exceedingly mysterious and evil; she stood smiling behind Zhu Zixi, her eyes gazing gently at the Stone Toad charging out from a pile of rubble.

The Stone Toad warily halted its steps, reached into a large beast-skin pouch at its waist, grabbed twice, and pulled out a tortoise shell about a meter in diameter, then slammed it heavily onto its back.

The tortoise shell split open and snapped firmly onto the Stone Toad's body.

The Stone Toad's head and limbs protruded from the tortoise shell, making it look like a giant turtle walking upright.

Zhu Zixi did not turn back, seemingly afraid to look at the beautiful woman standing behind him, and muttered a low incantation: "This guy, he is your offering… his flesh, blood, and soul are all yours."

The beautiful woman let out a sweet "oh," and floated lightly toward the Stone Toad.

"Old sir, how is your frame so sturdy?" the nine white-bone phantoms flickered behind the woman; she approached the Stone Toad as if dancing, lightly reaching out to touch its chest.

The Stone Toad suddenly raised its stone scepter and chopped downward at the woman.

A jagged white-bone hand materialized out of thin air and caught the Stone Toad's scepter with one palm.

With a tremendous boom, the white-bone hand sprayed sparks, the scepter landing on it without moving a hair.

The woman covered her mouth and laughed, gently saying to the Stone Toad: "Old sir, why all the killing? I love strong, mighty men—come play with me……"

The woman's body shuddered, swelling to five or six meters tall, about the same height as the Stone Toad now.

The Stone Toad's gaze suddenly became confused; he let out a loud roar, bit his tongue, used sharp pain to force himself awake. He stared in shock at the woman, then turned and fled.

While fleeing madly, one could see bright crystal-like sweat continually sliding from the Stone Toad's pores.

Merely contacting this woman caused the Stone Toad's essence and qi to flow out uncontrollably; even the temporary, astonishingly defensive tortoise shell he'd added gave him no help.

Zhu Zixi released the strange woman to block the Stone Toad, his mouth continually dripping fresh blood as he gritted his teeth and hurried after Wu Tie.

That woman outside seemed to be constantly draining Zhu Zixi's essence and blood, his aura fluctuating; maintaining her existence was obviously a great burden on him as well.

"Well, dear child… the ancestors will surely help you lay a perfect foundation." Zhu Zixi smiled kindly and brightly: "Your father, and those uncles, are all useless—none can inherit my legacy……"

"Dear child, in the future the ancestors will let you become Sect Master of the Changsheng Sect—are you happy about that?" Zhu Zixi smiled, eyes narrowed: "Those little love‑poem writers, we'll catch them later, you can have as many as you like… Of course, you must become the Changsheng Sect Sect Master and marry a perfect partner first."

Zhu Zixi chuckled "hehe," with the Stone Toad's obstruction gone, his speed suddenly increased greatly; ahead he could already see the backs of Wu Tie and the Wu Maiden.

Wu Tie, fleeing in a sorry state, suddenly stopped his feet.

He turned, retreated a few steps, and silently gazed at Zhu Zixi.

Behind Wu Tie lay the extremely wide and deep chasm leading to the Mist Blade Ancestral Ground—the very chasm Wu Tie himself had seen the Chief Steward throw a stone into, instantly vaporized by high‑temperature white light into green smoke.

After retreating several steps until his heels were over the cliff's edge, Wu Tie recalled the spot where the Chief Steward had jumped off the cliff to open the metal bridge—exactly directly beneath his heels.

This position should be safe; as for elsewhere… recalling that terrifying white light, Wu Tie's pores all stood on end.

Zhu Zixi landed a hundred meters before Wu Tie, glanced left and right, slightly lifted his head to look at the wide chasm behind Wu Tie, and couldn't help but chuckle: "No way to escape? Or…"

His gaze shifted, and Zhu Zixi suddenly spotted the Wu Maiden perched on Wu Tie's shoulder.

Throughout this pursuit, Zhu Zixi had actually overlooked the Wu Maiden's presence, his mind fixed solely on Wu Tie; upon careful observation, he felt the Wu Maiden's whole body exuded pure, tranquil qi, filled with an inexplicable sacred aura.

At the same time, this aura was ever‑changing and elusive, giving a sense that no matter what, it could neither be grasped nor locked onto—a strange feeling.

"What physique is this?" Zhu Zixi's eyes flashed with a wicked gleam: "Look at this girl, so young, already born so pure and beautiful; when she grows up, she will surely be an extraordinary enchanting beauty... Wonderful, exactly the disciple our Changsheng Sect needs."

Another mouthful of blood surged from his mouth, Zhu Zixi's body trembled slightly; he recalled the woman who was chasing and killing Shi Tuo, and he hurried forward a few steps, grabbing Wu Tie: "Boy, hand over the Flame Three Tribulation Fruit, and also this little girl, to this seat."

Wu Tie retreated a step without a word, an invisible force field enveloped his body, pulling him suddenly downward; with a "swish", he sank into a hundred-meter-deep abyss, his body contracting as he slipped into the stone crevice opened by the Chief Steward's mechanism.

Zhu Zixi startled: "Suicide? Or escape? Boy, you think too highly of yourself."

He lunged forward violently, Zhu Zixi flew after him.

He didn't care at all what ambush Wu Tie might have here; in such a poor, remote place as the Cangyan Realm, what masters could there be? Even if Wu Tie had an ambush here, could there possibly emerge an unkillable Shi Tuo wearing a turtle shell?

Zhu Zixi flew out of the cliff, lunging outward over a hundred meters, then he suddenly lowered his gaze to see Wu Tie hiding in the stone crevice of the cliff.

In the void, a white light fell down.

Zhu Zixi hastily dodged to the side, but in the flurry the white light came extremely fast; he couldn't block it in time, and the white light pierced his right chest, penetrating his torso.

The white light passed, leaving a scorching white trace in the air.

Zhu Zixi grunted, he fiercely locked eyes with Wu Tie, bloody clouds swirling beneath his feet as he prepared to lunge at Wu Tie.

Wu Tie let out a long whistle, the Golden Carp gave a resonant clang, and twenty-four blue little carp flew out, forming a light net several meters before him that sealed the entire stone crevice tightly inside.

In the snap of a finger, Zhu Zixi reached outside the light net; he reached out with his right hand, slamming a huge blood-colored palm print onto the net.

An irresistible force surged forth; the light net formed by the Golden Carp was shattered by a palm, and the twenty-four little carp trembled as they flew back to Wu Tie's waist.

Another white light flashed.

Zhu Zixi twisted his waist; the white light swept past his waist, bringing a piercing burnt smell; beneath his left lower ribs, the white light tore open a fist-sized transparent hole, breaking two ribs and exposing the stark white bone cross-section.

"Boy, you deserve to die." Zhu Zixi, slightly blocked by the Golden Carp, took another white light; he roared angrily, cursing as he charged at Wu Tie.

Wu Tie stared expressionlessly at Zhu Zixi, his hands tightly gripping the White Tiger Rend; the golden light cluster at his brow suddenly faded by ninety-nine percent.

Compared to an ordinary Half-Step Chonglou Realm, the immense, almost heaven-defying mana was instantly consumed; a roaring flood-like sound came from within Wu Tie's body, the White Tiger Rend sprayed a faint white light, and the million-jin force, bolstered by mana, suddenly increased several dozen times.

Strange runes flickered across the surface of the White Tiger Rend, and the spear's weight suddenly rose to around a million jin.

Wu Tie poured all his essence, energy, and spirit into the White Tiger Rend, then brought it down in a overhead thrust at Zhu Zixi.

With a tremendous boom, the air violently trembled, as if dozens of thunderclaps exploded simultaneously beneath the White Tiger Rend's shaft; the blast caused Zhu Zixi's bloody clouds beneath his feet to churn violently.

Wu Tie's skin burst open all over his body, like a shattered porcelain doll, with countless miserable cracks splitting his skin and muscles.

Copious fresh blood spurted out; this strike was overly violent, and before Wu Tie could even hit Zhu Zixi, he himself had been severely wounded by the backlash.

Zhu Zixi gave a grim cold smile, his hands shrouded in heavy blood flames, and he went forward to meet the White Tiger Rend.

"Just a minor Sensing Profound Realm... I am the Life Pool Realm, transcending the mundane Life Pool Realm!" Zhu Zixi looked down on Wu Tie disdainfully; this strike was astonishing in momentum, but how could it possibly threaten him, a Life Pool Realm cultivator?

With a tremendous boom, the long spear slammed into Zhu Zixi's both palms.

Zhu Zixi's complexion turned deathly pale; the spear's weight and its power were completely beyond imagination.

This strike, Zhu Zixi could not withstand!

The immense force wave after wave struck his body; he could fully rely on mana to hold out, but the result would be his entire flesh and blood crushed into pulp by the terrifying pressure.

The power of this strike, pure physical might so overbearing and tyrannical as to be horrendous to the extreme; even a giant Shi Tuo who had specialized in cultivating bodily divine abilities at the Half-Step Life Pool Realm could hardly unleash such a heavy blow.

Zhu Zixi's face turned ashen, and he stepped back a step.

Two white lights flashed, then another two white lights.

A white light pierced Zhu Zixi's left shoulder, and his left arm silently detached at the root.

A white light pierced Zhu Zixi's lower back, creating a transparent hole in his waist and abdomen, and his vertebrae shattered with a huge gap.

Immediately after, his right leg was pierced, and the ankle bone of his right leg vaporized silently.

Zhu Zixi, in pain so intense his vision darkened, paid no further heed to Wu Tie; his body swaying on the verge of collapse, he kicked up a gale and fled in disarray toward the cliff.

Wu Tie coldly watched Zhu Zixi.

His mana was nearly exhausted, but the power of his innate divine ability remained intact.

Wu Tie exerted all his strength to expand the invisible force field, then the field collapsed inward, enveloping Zhu Zixi's body and yanking it down hard.