Chapter 316: Killing (Bonus Chapter 1)

On Prison Heaven Island.

After toppling the second Abyss Heaven Stele, the crowd rushed toward the final one.

"If we still can't block it, then we have no choice but to topple this last stele too!"

Someone said in despair.

They would rather be burned to ashes by the Blazing Sun Holy Fire and escape into the Mo River than be completely erased by the Demon Saint.

Upon hearing their words, Ji Qingqing's body trembled, and she quickly rose to rush toward that final Abyss Heaven Stele.

She would protect this last stele even if it cost her life!

While running, she glanced at the abyss outside the island and saw the massive Abyss Heaven Stele falling straight down, covering that figure.

Tears streamed from her eyes. When she saw that small red flower drifting in the air, she felt as if her heart were being torn apart, a piercing pain deep within.

She covered her mouth to suppress her grief and continued rushing toward the final Abyss Heaven Stele.

The divine soul guarding before this Abyss Heaven Stele merged with her, and she blocked the front of the stele with her sword drawn.

The crowd looked at her with fury, but they didn't argue for the moment. The Prison Heaven Island beneath their feet suddenly took flight, as if it had shed a heavy burden; it soared like a bird, and the speed of its swaying nearly flung everyone off the island.

Having lost the other two Abyss Heaven Chains, the island was pulled upright by this remaining chain. The people on the island were terrified and hurriedly sought nearby rocks to cling to, avoiding sliding off.

As for the original rocks on the island, they all tumbled and rolled down as the island tilted completely.

The loose rocks fell in large chunks, smashing against the chains and plummeting into the abyss.

Li Tiangang and Ji Yunqing, who were climbing for their lives, saw the giant rocks rolling down from above and hurriedly hid in the gaps of the chains to avoid being knocked off by the boulders.

When the falling rocks subsided, the crowd looked out and saw that the Demon Saint's tentacles had all retracted, surrounding the Abyss Heaven Chain they had previously tossed away.

"Great!"

"So the Demon Saint's target was actually him. It seems the Old Madman was right; this dead Wenren Ji is instinctively tracking the aura of a Sage. She said that person was a Dao Seed—he must have been born with Holy Bones!"

"Holy Bones... even in my Ji Clan, they aren't common. What a pity."

"What's a pity? Wasn't it you who pushed the hardest just now? Now you've changed your tune."

"Didn't you push too? I was just providing a little help."

"Enough, we aren't even out of danger yet, and you're already shifting the blame? Are you that afraid of the clan holding you accountable?"

"In any case, it's all that Wenren Ji's fault."

"Come to think of it, is that Dao Seed a criminal too? How did he end up being imprisoned here?"

"What are you thinking? Even if a Dao Seed commits a crime, someone will take the fall for him. I don't think he's a criminal; he came here for a reason. He must be here to pick someone up, right?"

The crowd clung to various rocks and argued, their gazes all fixed on Ji Qingqing.

Without a doubt, the person the Dao Seed came to pick up was her.

When Ji Qingqing was banished here, it was said her crime was marrying an outsider. Now it seems, could that Dao Seed be her son?

These criminals were all old and cunning; they immediately guessed the general situation, though they couldn't help but feel amazed. Could that Dao Seed be a half-breed? Can a half-breed become a Dao Seed? Since when did the Ji Clan become so pathetic? It seems they really can't do without us...

"Stop talking for now. Quickly, guard this Abyss Heaven Stele; don't let it fall off!"

Suddenly, someone exclaimed.

They saw the Abyss Heaven Stele loosening slightly. Originally, the chains of the three steles pulled and stabilized it, but now with only one left, it was actually becoming loose.

Hearing this, the others' expressions changed drastically, and they hurriedly climbed toward the Abyss Heaven Stele, intending to press it back into the island.

Ji Qingqing had originally been worried they would topple this Abyss Heaven Stele again. Seeing them panic and guard it now that Wenren Ji was no longer attacking, she couldn't help but feel a sense of irony.

But this scene also made her heart secretly relax. She looked back toward the chains and saw Li Tiangang several thousand meters away.

The husband and wife locked eyes. Li Tiangang's expression was agitated, and he shouted, "Qingqing!"

Grief surged in Ji Qingqing's heart, and she climbed toward the front of the chain, saying, "Tiangang..."

After the chain left the abyss vertically, the suction force in the Demon Saint's mouth weakened. Li Tiangang, filled with surprise and agitation, suddenly accelerated his climbing speed, rushed to the top of the chain, and pulled Ji Qingqing into his arms.

After a deep, tight embrace, he immediately looked around and hurriedly asked, "Where is Hao'er?"

"Hao'er, he... he... he fell into the abyss."

Ji Qingqing's eyes were wet and red; she was already sobbing uncontrollably.

"What?"

Li Tiangang suspected it was the wind and that he hadn't heard clearly.

Ji Qingqing was crying too hard to speak.

Li Tiangang finally realized. His whole body shook, and he felt all the blood in his body suddenly burn to the extreme, only to then violently turn cold to his very soles.

A buzzing roar filled his brain, leaving it blank. It was as if he couldn't even hear his wife's sobbing in his ears.

Fallen into the abyss?

Li Tiangang's neck stiffened. He turned his head with difficulty to look at the other side of the chain, at the Demon Saint's body twisting with its blood lotus, and at the bottomless abyss.

Ho, how could this be...

Li Tiangang's mind stalled at this moment, leaving him stunned.

That child, dead?

Dead?!

His brain buzzed and vibrated; he couldn't believe it, nor could he accept it!

Before he came, he had already made up his mind: no matter how that child treated him, he would choose to endure it. Even if it meant apologizing, bowing his head, or even something more extreme—even if it meant bending his waist and bowing—he would bring the other party back.

He wanted to properly make up for the debt he owed that child.

He also didn't want his father to die with regrets!

Despite the many conflicts he had with the child previously and his disapproval of the child's many behaviors, his dissatisfaction was just that—dissatisfaction. He had always regarded him as his own child to be disciplined, hoping he would become better.

But now, he was dead?

Li Tiangang's mind seemed to have gone numb. After a long while, hot, scalding tears finally seeped from his eyes.

He thought of scene after scene in that courtyard.

The child painting in the courtyard, beaming with joy.

The child chatting with his Second Uncle, lively and spirited.

The child lying on a rocking chair, idle and lazy.

Time and again, he had watched all this from the side, frowning.

But now, he would never see it again.

He couldn't even see the child's playful figure anymore!!

"This is fake, it's fake, right, Qingqing?"

Li Tiangang's voice was hoarse and trembling. In Yanbei, witnessing the life and death of over a hundred thousand soldiers, seeing Li Fu and Yu Xuan die right before his eyes, his heart had been in extreme pain, yet he had never shed a tear. He had heard his father say that a man on the battlefield only sheds blood, not tears!

But now, he was shedding tears.

Ji Qingqing only sobbed; these words left her unable to respond.

"The Hao'er you speak of..."

At this moment, Ji Yunqing nearby had already reacted. His pupils dilated, trembling as if in an earthquake, and he said in shock, "Could it be Li Le Ping?!"

Hearing this name, the grief in Ji Qingqing's heart became even more uncontrollable:

"Li Le Ping is the name I gave him. Tiangang, did you tell him? It's my fault, I'm the one who killed him..."

Ji Yunqing was stunned, feeling somewhat dazed.

That child, fell into the abyss?

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. The child had shaken the entire Ji Clan at the Heaven's Pride Battle, defeating all the Heaven's Prides, using his own flesh and blood to confront Holy Bones, breaking the Dao Domain, and forging an invincible myth—how could he die here?

A rising star, not yet at its most dazzling moment, had actually fallen so rapidly?

"How could this happen? It's the chains, this..."

Ji Yunqing looked up and immediately saw the situation of the Prison Heaven Island tilting over. His pupils shrank, and he instantly understood what had happened.

He felt a surge of blood rush to his face, and grief welled up in his heart:

"Why didn't you topple our Abyss Heaven Stele? Why was it that child's? Why?!!!"

His angry roar reached the island. The people who had pushed the stele previously all had their expressions change slightly. If they could choose again, they would have considered pushing this stele first, but the situation at the time was truly critical, and they couldn't care about much else.

"I would rather it be us who fell down, it shouldn't have been that child! How old was he? How old was he!!"

Ji Yunqing roared in grief. It was no exaggeration to say he was the most outstanding Heaven's Pride the Ji Clan had seen in ten thousand years. Defeating a Dao Domain with the Three Imperishables, breaking legends, and even receiving the favor of a Sage—and yet, he had fallen just like that.

He couldn't accept that the light carrying the future hope of the Ji Clan had been extinguished just like that.

"You deserve to die, you all deserve to die!!"

Ji Yunqing's eyes were bloodshot. Amidst his grief, a monstrous killing intent rose, and he glared at the people on the island.

Everyone's expression changed, and the old man from the Dao Domain inside also looked grim. Ji Yunqing was also in the Taiping Dao Realm, and even if he burned his primordial spirit, he would be no match for the opponent; after all, his condition was too poor.

Li Tiangang heard Ji Yunqing's furious roar, his body shook, and he also realized the reason.

Looking at this only remaining chain perpendicular to the sky, he felt his heart tremble, with an indescribable impulse, even wanting to vomit blood.

Doesn't this mean he indirectly killed Li Hao?

If he hadn't come, they wouldn't be on this chain, and the two chains that were toppled would definitely not have been Li Hao's!

Understanding this point, he felt his head roar again, a feeling of his Dao Heart being burned to ashes.

He had personally buried Li Hao?!

But he clearly only wanted to chase after him to apologize...

Why did it turn out like this?

Li Tiangang's eyes were vacant, and he stood there dumbly, unable to speak.

In the abyss.

When Li Hao was struck down by the Abyss Heaven Stele, the force of the rapidly falling stele made Li Hao's physical body feel pain.

Falling close to the abyss, close to that Demon Saint, Li Hao finally pushed away the Abyss Heaven Stele on his body with difficulty, wiped the blood from his face, and then rapidly climbed to the other side of the Abyss Heaven Stele, while simultaneously activating the Sage mark in his body.

At this moment, only this Sage mark could allow him to escape.

As his consciousness touched it, silver radiance bloomed from the mark, but after a moment, it retracted, returning to its original state.

Li Hao's expression changed drastically. He touched it again, and the silver radiance bloomed once more, only to return to its previous state.

Was it being obscured by this demon?

Li Hao was shocked and angry in his heart. He touched it rapidly in succession, but it was always the same.

Darkness and a foul stench surrounded him from all sides. Seven or eight tentacles that had previously been wrapped around the chains also slapped toward him at this moment.

Despair appeared in Li Hao's eyes. Was he really going to die here?

Looking at the unreachable sky, he suddenly realized that no one cared about his life or death.

The despair in his eyes turned into anger, transforming into boundless raging fire. He let out a heaven-shaking roar, but the sound could not be transmitted under the law suppression of this Demon Saint, just like a silent scream.

He swung his fists in anger, as if he didn't care about his life, smashing toward those tentacles.

With a *boom*, the tentacles slapped the Abyss Heaven Stele along with the chain away. Another tentacle whistled toward Li Hao. Before it even arrived, the momentum it carried seemed as if it would crush every bone in Li Hao's body.

And the youth, filled with despair, roared crazily and swung his fists.

They collided, the tentacle vibrated downward, slapping Li Hao into the giant mouth that had split open in the blood lotus.

And Li Hao also swung out thousands of punches in an instant, smashing onto the Demon Saint's tentacles.

His whole body seemed to be shattering, his flesh and blood tearing. The power of the tentacle's vibration exceeded what he could bear.

If it weren't for his physical body being comparable to a Nine-Cast Divine Weapon and being in a state of divine power, the mere sweep of the tentacle would have directly shattered him into dust.

Inside that giant mouth, which seemed like a bottomless abyss, Li Hao fell for a long time before dropping into a dark, bottomless, viscous place.

His flesh and blood were shattered, with only tendons wrapped around his bones, like a piece of waste bone waiting to die, lying in this abyss.

The giant mouth closed, shutting out the last ray of light.

But not a few seconds later, suddenly, Li Hao felt his body still falling rapidly.

No, to be precise, it was the Demon Saint's body falling rapidly.

He had a sense of weightlessness as his body floated, but not long after, this fall ended, and he fell heavily into that viscous place.

Subsequently, bursts of vibration seemed to come from all around, followed by large amounts of liquid dripping down.

Had he fallen to the bottom of the abyss?

Li Hao thought, but at this moment, he was instead devoid of anger, leaving only an indescribable calmness.

More and more liquid surged in, landing on his broken body. Li Hao felt his flesh and blood being burned, with bursts of piercing pain.

Was his end to be digested?

Li Hao's mouth twitched slightly. Looking at the pitch-black darkness, he suddenly felt that his transmigration was truly absurd, and it was superfluous to have come to this world once.

Was coming here just to suffer?

It's a pity he hadn't said goodbye to Old Man Feng.

And Qianqian's sword art—he hadn't guided her into the Dao yet.

That brat Yuanzhao, his parents weren't around, and he wasn't by his side either. Would he be bullied by others in the future?

Some thoughts drifted through his mind.

The burning pain all over his body grew increasingly intense.

Suddenly, a large piece of soft flesh seemed to fall from above, landing on him along with the liquid.

Immediately after, the surroundings vibrated violently, as if the sky were collapsing and the earth splitting, and large amounts of soft flesh and hard bones smashed onto him.

Large amounts of foul-smelling liquid splashed out all around, appearing to be blood, surrounding Li Hao.

Li Hao was submerged in the blood, nearly choking.

This blood carried a strong corrosive power. Li Hao's whole body felt like it was placed in boiling water and hot fire, with endless burning and pain tearing at him.

His flesh and blood were all torn and fell off, but his bones were still resisting, protecting his consciousness and divine soul.

In this excruciating pain, which felt like being sliced to death, Li Hao looked around, only to discover in horror that this Demon Saint that had swallowed him seemed... dead?

The petals of the towering blood lotus were falling off powerlessly, breaking, and splashing blood hundreds of feet high in the sea of blood.

The blood surged toward him like waves, knocking Li Hao down to the bottom of the blood lake again.

Li Hao struggled to swim upward with all his might. Just as he surfaced, he saw other limbs of the Demon Saint rotting and falling, no longer possessing their previous softness and destructive power.

Li Hao's whole body rippled in the waves of blood, and his bones were also being eroded by the blood.

This Demon Saint was dead?

Li Hao looked at the collapsing giant Demon Saint body before him, feeling somewhat incredulous.

Suddenly, a flash of lightning seemed to streak across his mind, and his pupils widened.

Could it be... that the thousands of punches he had swung with all his might, hitting those tentacles, had accidentally triggered the 1% fatal attribute?!

Li Hao was shocked by this thought.

This Demon Saint... had been killed by him?!

He was somewhat dazed, but at this point, he couldn't care about the reason. His heart, which had already been desperate and gray, now revealed a strong desire to survive once again.

He struggled desperately in the sea of blood, wanting to climb up, but even though the Demon Saint's body was collapsing, the power of the laws had not dissipated, preventing him from circulating his Qi and power, making it impossible for his strength to be released.

He could only rely on his physical body to swim in this blood lake.

However, the Demon Saint's blood seemed to carry a strong corrosive power. His flesh and blood fell off more and more, and the places where his white bones were exposed were also being burned and worn away. His physical body, comparable to a Nine-Cast Divine Weapon, was almost melting. ===== CHAPTER 317 =====