Chapter 158: Fairy Fairy Bingpo Breaks Evil, Sword Slashes Demonic Aura

Elder Lingshuang's voice was like the collision of ten-thousand-year-old ice, carrying a biting chill that pierced the soul. It instantly overwhelmed the "Blood Charm's" seductive and sinister chanting, cleansing the bay of the bewitching sounds and terrifying illusions that had permeated it!

An ice-blue figure, wreathed in frost, snow, and a biting sword intent, descended fiercely from the high-altitude clouds! Before she even arrived, the bone-chilling cold had already caused a thin layer of ice to form on the churning, dark-red surface of the bay, and fine ice crystals drifted through the air.

"Fairy Fairy Bingpo: Frost Heaven Fall!"

Elder Lingshuang pointed her fingers like a sword, gesturing downward into the void. Countless ice-blue sword Qi, condensed into substance like a falling meteor shower of ice, covered the entire shallow beach of the bay! The sword Qi not only precisely avoided Zhao Yuan, Captain Li Feng, and the others, but also focused its bombardment on the five "Blood Puppets" that were lunging madly, as well as the writhing dark-red formation runes on the ground!

*Chi chi chi—! *

The ice-blue sword Qi struck the "Blood Puppets," and large clusters of frost flowers exploded instantly! The extreme cold force invaded, and the dark-red evil light on the surface of the "Blood Puppets" quickly dimmed. Their movements became stiff and sluggish, and a thick layer of solid ice covered their bodies, emitting a "crack, crack" freezing sound. Although it failed to destroy them completely at once, it successfully interrupted their frenzied offensive and temporarily froze them!

The sword Qi landed on the ground runes, similarly triggering a violent energy conflict. The Fairy Fairy Bingpo force and the Blood Fiend evil force eroded and annihilated each other, emitting ear-piercing sounds. The light of the vast expanse of runes became flickering and unstable, and the operation of the entire "Blood Fiend Star-Summoning Formation" stalled! The force field that had been binding and eroding everyone also weakened significantly!

With this single strike, Elder Lingshuang displayed the terrifying strength and exquisite control of a late-stage Soul Formation powerhouse and a high-ranking Elder of the Profound Ice Pavilion!

Zhao Yuan's pressure decreased sharply, and his heart steadied, but his forward momentum increased rather than decreased! Elder Lingshuang's arrival had created an excellent opportunity for him; he had to seize this fleeting moment to slash through the formation's core!

"Thank you for your help, Elder!" Zhao Yuan let out a long roar, and the speed of his body, transformed into a sword rainbow, increased by another thirty percent! Within the gray-blue interwoven sword light, the intent of annihilation and the power of the stars blended perfectly, carrying a resolution to sever falsehoods and cleanse filth, stabbing straight at the terrifying object—covered in scales and bone spurs—that was rising in the center of the dark-red vortex!

"Hmph! You old woman from the Profound Ice Pavilion, you've ruined my plans!" For the first time, a look of obvious annoyance and ferocity appeared on the "Blood Charm's" seductive face. She had not expected Elder Lingshuang to arrive so quickly, and that her first strike would so precisely interfere with her formation and Blood Puppets.

Seeing Zhao Yuan's sword rainbow about to pierce the core of the vortex, a fierce look flashed in the "Blood Charm's" eyes. She gave up on continuing to suppress Captain Li Feng and the others, changed her hand seals, and the pink and dark-purple mist around her surged madly, all of it pouring into the vortex below!

"Since you want to court death, then let you taste the power of the 'Star Fiend Blood Spine'! Rise!"

The vortex sank violently, then erupted upward with an even more violent posture! The terrifying object known as the "Star Fiend Blood Spine" fully revealed its true form—it was actually a remnant of a spine, over ten *zhang* long, as if from the decaying remains of some giant beast of the starry sky! Its entire body was covered in dark-red scales dripping with viscous, filthy energy, and every spinal bone spur was like a twisted blade, emitting a nauseating, fishy stench and a chaotic Star Fiend aura!

The "Star Fiend Blood Spine" twisted like a living thing, its tip aimed at the incoming Zhao Yuan sword rainbow, and it suddenly "reared," spitting out a terrifying beam of light condensed to the extreme, mixed with dark-red Blood Fiend, murky Star Fiend, and pink bewitching energy! Wherever the light beam passed, space slightly distorted, carrying a terrifying power capable of devouring, corroding, and confusing the soul!

At the same time, the solid ice on the surface of the five frozen "Blood Puppets," under the "Blood Charm's" full-force activation of the formation and the resonance of the "Star Fiend Blood Spine," began to show fine cracks! The dark-red evil light within their bodies lit up again, and they struggled to break out of the ice!

"Captain Li Feng, take your men to reinforce the freezing and clear the remaining runes! Leave this demoness and that monster to me and Zhao Yuan!" Elder Lingshuang shouted coldly, her figure flickering as she appeared above the reef where the "Blood Charm" was located. In her hand appeared a long sword, crystalline throughout, as if carved from ten-thousand-year-old mystic ice—the "Fairy Fairy Bingpo Sword"!

As the sword emerged, a cold tide swept forth! Waves of ice-blue sword *gang* were like a collapsing glacier, carrying a solemn Dao intent capable of freezing all things and purifying evil spirits, slashing toward the "Blood Charm"!

The "Blood Charm" dared not be negligent, letting out a sharp laugh as the mist around her transformed into countless flexible and vicious pink-purple whips, battling with Elder Lingshuang's Fairy Fairy Bingpo sword *gang*. Both were late-stage Soul Formation powerhouses; one was sinister and treacherous, with bewitching and corrosive powers that were impossible to guard against; the other was pure and clean, with a sword intent that was pure and vast, breaking cleverness with force. Instantly, energy surged above the reef, frost and evil mist intertwined and collided, and explosions rang out incessantly!

Below, Zhao Yuan's sword rainbow collided violently with the terrifying light beam spat out by the "Star Fiend Blood Spine"!

There was no earth-shattering explosion.

The moment the gray-blue sword light touched the dark-red and pink-purple light beam, time seemed to freeze for an instant. Immediately following was a silent but even more dangerous annihilation and confrontation at the level of laws!

Zhao Yuan felt a violent, chaotic energy, filled with the will of fallen stars and extreme malice, like a filthy flood breaking through a dam, rushing madly along the connection of his sword intent, impacting his mind and meridians! There was also a sweet, bewitching force attempting to drill into his consciousness sea, inciting the desires and fears deep within his heart! At the same time, the "Demon Seed" sealed deep within his consciousness sea, stimulated by this homologous and even stronger evil Star Fiend aura, began to tremble violently, the sealing chains emitting groans of being unable to bear the burden, and wisps of dark-purple aura began to attempt to seep outward!

Attacked from within and without! In imminent danger!

"Annihilation as the bone, stars as the soul! Falsehood cannot invade, my sword shall slash it!"

Zhao Yuan's eyes were blood-red, yet clear as a mirror, and he roared in his heart! He cast aside all distracting thoughts, sinking his entire mind into the sword, driving his Annihilation Sword Intent to the extreme, and completely fusing it with the newborn star power within the "Silent Shadow" sword body! This was not a simple superposition, but using the intent of annihilation as the "frame" and the power of the stars as the "blade," forging a "Sword of Law" dedicated to slashing evil and breaking falsehoods!

The gray-blue sword light suddenly retracted, transforming into a dark-silver thin line, condensed to the extreme and almost invisible! As the thin line swept past, the violent dark-red light beam was actually "dissected" from the middle, as if cut by a hot knife through butter! The filthy energy, bewitching intent, and chaotic Star Fiend contained within the light beam were rapidly decomposed, annihilated, and purified by the dual Dao rhymes of "Annihilation Returning to Ruins" and "Star Purification" contained within the dark-silver thin line the moment they touched!

The dark-silver thin line was unstoppable; after dissecting the light beam, it did not stop, stabbing straight into the hideous "head" (the top of the spine) of the "Star Fiend Blood Spine"!

*Hiss—!!! *

A sharp hiss, indescribable, as if emitted simultaneously by billions of wronged souls and decaying stars, exploded from within the "Star Fiend Blood Spine"! Its massive body twisted and convulsed madly, the dark-red scales on its surface peeling off in large patches and turning to ash, and those twisted bone spurs snapped one after another! The dark-silver thin line was like the deadliest virus, spreading madly within its body, destroying its filthy core structure!

"Impossible! Your sword intent... how could it possibly damage the essence of the 'Star Fiend Blood Spine'?!" While battling Elder Lingshuang, the "Blood Charm" caught a glimpse of the scene below and gasped in horror. This "Star Fiend Blood Spine" was her trump card, which she had painstakingly cultivated for many years using the ancient star-resentment blood fiends remaining in this place, combined with the secret arts of the Rebirth Sect. It had extremely strong resistance to star power and conventional spiritual power, and even ordinary Soul Formation cultivators would find it difficult to damage its foundation! Yet, that one strike from Zhao Yuan seemed to naturally restrain it!

Zhao Yuan himself was not having an easy time. This strike had almost drained all his spiritual power and mental energy, and had further triggered the violent backlash of the "Demon Seed" in his consciousness sea. At this moment, his face was as pale as paper, blood overflowed from the corners of his mouth, and his body was swaying, supported entirely by a single will. But in his eyes burned a light of excitement—he had verified his path! The Annihilation Sword Intent fused with the power of the stars truly had miraculous effects against such twisted star-evil objects!

"Take this chance! Destroy it!" Elder Lingshuang saw that Zhao Yuan was at the end of his tether and gave a cold shout. The Fairy Fairy Bingpo Sword's brilliance flared, forcing back the "Blood Charm," while her left hand waved, and a crystalline "Mystic Ice Thunder Bead" left her hand, transforming into a blue light that shot precisely at the "Star Fiend Blood Spine," which was struggling madly and disintegrating on the surface!

The "Blood Charm" was furious, wanting to intercept it, but she was tightly entangled by Elder Lingshuang.

*Boom—!!! *

The Mystic Ice Thunder Bead exploded violently on the body of the "Star Fiend Blood Spine"! It was not scorching fire, but an extremely cold ice explosion! Countless sharp Mystic Ice fragments mixed with violent Fairy Fairy Bingpo thunder instantly submerged and froze the broken body of the "Star Fiend Blood Spine," and then detonated it from within!

*Crack... Boom!!! *

Under the dual destruction of extreme cold and thunder, the "Star Fiend Blood Spine" let out a final mournful cry, its massive body completely disintegrating, turning into countless dark-red ice dregs and filthy dust, which fell one after another into the dark-red seawater below, stirring up monstrous, murky waves.

With the destruction of the "Star Fiend Blood Spine," the light of the "Blood Fiend Star-Summoning Formation" below dimmed by more than half, and those ground runes quickly extinguished and disintegrated. The evil light on the surface of the five "Blood Puppets" also dissipated completely, turning them into true dead objects, which were easily shattered by Captain Li Feng and the others.

The formation core was broken!

"No—! My 'Star Fiend Blood Spine'! You damned bastards!" The "Blood Charm" let out a sharp, ear-piercing scream, her bewitching face twisted by extreme anger and heartache. She stared fixedly at the swaying Zhao Yuan, a bone-deep resentment and greed erupting in her eyes: "It's all you! It's all you little bastard! I will refine you into the most painful Blood Puppet, extract your soul, and torture you day and night!"

She suddenly spat out a mouthful of essence blood, which merged into the mist around her, and the pink and dark-purple mist instantly became as scarlet as blood, its aura soaring! She was actually willing to damage her origin to perform a desperate secret art!

"Demoness, you still dare to be fierce!" Elder Lingshuang's eyes were cold, her Fairy Fairy Bingpo Sword pointing from afar, a point of extreme ice-blue light condensing at the tip, the temperature around it dropping to the point where even the air seemed to be freezing. "Mystic Ice Forbidden Art: Coffin of Eternal Freezing!"

She was also going to use a forbidden art that consumed a huge amount of energy, striving to leave the "Blood Charm" behind completely!

However, at this moment of tension, on the verge of a final showdown.

The "Blood Charm's" resentful and crazy eyes suddenly glanced at Zhao Yuan, then swept extremely quickly toward the direction of the bay entrance, as if sensing something. A trace of extremely subtle unwillingness and wariness flashed across her face, and then she let out a sharp whistle:

"I, the 'Blood Charm,' will remember today's humiliation! Old woman of the Profound Ice Pavilion, and you, little bastard... we will meet again soon! At that time, I will definitely make you pay back a hundredfold!"

Before the words had even faded, the scarlet mist around her exploded violently, transforming into countless tiny blood shadows, fleeing madly in all directions, especially toward the crevices of the reefs and the underwater currents! The speed was far beyond the ordinary!

Elder Lingshuang's "Coffin of Eternal Freezing" ice-blue light shot out, but it only froze a portion of the blood shadows; most of the blood shadows had already merged into the environment and disappeared. Clearly, the "Blood Charm" had long since prepared a retreat and was also extremely familiar with the terrain here.

"Escaped quite fast!" Elder Lingshuang gave a cold snort, but did not pursue deeply. The environment here was complex, and the opponent was skilled in concealment and escape arts; pursuing by force carried too much risk. She put away the Fairy Fairy Bingpo Sword, her figure flickering as she arrived beside Zhao Yuan, and a gentle and pure Fairy Fairy Bingpo spiritual power was injected into Zhao Yuan's body, helping him stabilize his injuries and calm his churning blood and consciousness sea fluctuations.

"Zhao Yuan, how are you?" Elder Lingshuang asked, her cold tone carrying a trace of concern.

With the help of Elder Lingshuang's spiritual power, Zhao Yuan managed to stand firm and shook his head weakly: "Thank you, Elder, for arriving in time. The junior only over-consumed, and my consciousness sea... is a bit shaken, nothing serious." He omitted the details of the "Demon Seed's" movement; this matter was of great importance, and he planned to report it in detail to Wei Gong and Elder Lingshuang privately.

Captain Li Feng and the others also finished clearing the battlefield and gathered around, their faces carrying the lingering fear and exhaustion of victory.

"Check the corpses and remains of those 'victims' to see if there are any clues," Elder Lingshuang ordered.

Soon, the results came out. Those few "Blood Puppets" disguised as victims had been implanted with some kind of evil soul-controlling seal and Blood Fiend core, and had been dead for a long time. That broken "sea-exploring ship" was also a forgery, its materials old, but the craftsmanship was clearly recent. Apart from these, no other clues directly pointing to more Rebirth Sect strongholds were found. The "Blood Charm" was very cautious and had cleaned up all information that could expose her.

"This place is not suitable for a long stay." Elder Lingshuang looked at the bay, which was still dark-red and murky. "Although the 'Blood Fiend Star-Summoning Formation' is broken, the residual evil force and star resentment remain, which may attract other filthy things. And that demoness may not have gone far. We will return to Shattered Star Island immediately."

Everyone nodded and quickly boarded the "Swift Shadow Boat." The flying boat turned its direction, full power, and sped toward Shattered Star Island.

Inside the cabin, Zhao Yuan sat cross-legged to regulate his breathing, but his heart was not calm. Today's battle, although it repelled the "Blood Charm" and destroyed the evil formation, also exposed many problems.

The activities of the Rebirth Sect remnants were more rampant and secretive than expected; they were actually able to set up such a trap under the nose of Shattered Star Island. Their goal was clear—targeting the Shattered Star Island defense line, and they had special designs on Zhao Yuan himself (or rather, the star inheritance and Demon Seed on him).

The strength and ruthlessness of the "Blood Charm" also exceeded expectations. Her retreat at the final moment did not seem to be entirely due to the pressure from Lingshuang; it felt more like... she had sensed something else? Or perhaps, her goal had already been partially achieved?

Zhao Yuan subconsciously looked inward at his sea of consciousness. After being stimulated by the aura of the "Star-Shattering Blood Spine" and the intense depletion of his own power, the "Demonic Seed," although sealed and suppressed once more, seemed to have become slightly more "solid" in its "volume" or "presence" than before. The Nirvana Sword Intent and the Star Power chains that sealed it also appeared somewhat dim and would require time to be nurtured and restored.

This was not a good omen.

He raised his head and looked out the window at the rapidly receding, still gloomy Endless Hanhai. The outline of Starfall Isle gradually became clear on the horizon, and the light of the formation was like a guiding lighthouse in the dimness.

However, the heavy premonition in Zhao Yuan's heart was like these lead-gray clouds, impossible to shake off.

The dark tide had never truly subsided. It had merely, for the time being, submerged into deeper waters.