Chapter 941

The shield of blood precisely blocked You Xingchen's full-force strike, halting him as if a dragon cart had come to a sudden stop, leaving him firmly rooted in place—his numb, trembling right hand revealed that his condition was far from calm as it appeared.

You Xingchen stared at Lord Han, having never witnessed such strangeness, never felt such oppressive pressure!

That suffocating sensation, as if lingering on the edge of death, was like a bloodied hand squeezing his heart, rendering him utterly motionless.

Those around Fang Yue who had regained their wits were shouting for You Xingchen not to kill Lord Han, not to kill the man before him.

Yet in reality, it was You Xingchen… who faced a life-or-death crisis!

He could not move!

That instant of clash had thrown his entire Qi and Blood and internal strength into chaos, freezing his internal energy as if he had suffered Qi Deviation.

This strange ability, akin to extreme cold, had sealed his entire power utterly, as if by a magical imprint.

At this moment, standing before this strangeness was merely a paper tiger—a body of Yun-level martial artist, yet devoid of any internal strength. One light touch, and he would die on the spot!

In all his years of life-or-death battles in the Qing Division, You Xingchen had never encountered such a crisis, such a razor-thin line between life and death.

Cold sweat traced down You Xingchen's cheek and dripped to the ground.

Now, all he could do was wait—for reinforcements from the Qing Division members behind him! For the You Mansion guards!

For the first time, he regretted why he had rushed so far ahead, leaving his teammates behind.

As for Fang Yue and the others, You Xingchen had never counted on them from the start.

In his mind, Fang Yue and the rest were outsiders—none of them reliable.

Just as You Xingchen listened to his pounding heart, praying for fate's mercy—

The strangeness before him finally shifted its gaze from him to another direction.

It was… Fang Yue's direction.

"Xiao Ye, Lin Ling is about to die."

You Xingchen did not understand the meaning of these words, but to his shock, the moment they were spoken, the strangeness's right eye violently spewed forth black blood—like controlling the flow of black blood, the expelled blood immediately reversed direction, wrapping itself around his half-bone-exposed body.

After completing this, the strangeness… simply collapsed with a thud.

As the strangeness fell to the ground, You Xingchen felt his internal energy resume its flow!

Like frozen lake water thawing in spring, life returned!

For a moment of stunned pause, elation surged through him—surviving death, You Xingchen's first reaction was not to retreat, but to channel all his internal strength into a single sword slash at the fallen strangeness!

"No!!"

"Stop!!"

Amid the cries of Jing Yan and others, the blade fell—but was halted again just before touching the strangeness's neck.

Clang!!

This time, the one who blocked him was a legendary weapon—the Heaven Sword!

"Yese Liming! Do you know what you're doing?!"

You Xingchen spoke in a voice as cold as the deepest abyss, his face darkened to its most sinister extreme.

He had just barely escaped death—had danced on the edge of the underworld and barely survived!

Now, this creature had just blocked him from killing this strangeness, the most dangerous one imaginable!

Unforgivable! Qing Division members treat strangeness as mortal enemies—exterminate them utterly, without mercy!

Those who protect strangeness have no right to serve in the Qing Division!

You Xingchen unreservedly unleashed his killing intent—and at that moment… he felt a powerful, ancient aura.

Startled, he turned toward the source—and saw the Jibing Shengnyu, whom he had ignored until now, her left eye ablaze with flame, her right eye slowly freezing into ice—the terrifying, primordial aura emanated from her!

His body stiffened; You Xingchen immediately realized he could never defeat these people alone.

"Xingchen Shu, I can't explain now, but you must not kill him—we must take him with us."

With that, Fang Yue gave a glance to the others, then lifted Lin Ling's body and sprinted out.

The rest understood, following swiftly—their tails had already retracted their auras, returning to normal, trailing behind.

"Lord Xingchen! Are you alright?"

"Lord Xingchen! What happened here?! Was there a strangeness attack?"

"Xingchen Shu…"

Inside the You Mansion, the rest of the team—supposedly under You Xingchen's command but now separated—finally arrived, asking anxiously.

You Sisi was also at the rear of the group; she hadn't seen what had transpired—when she arrived, she only caught sight of Fang Yue and the others retreating, and a sense of worry rose in her heart.

…

Yuansuan Tea House.

Due to the appearance of strangeness, the once wildly popular Yuansuan Tea House in Jingcheng had shut its doors, with staff and owners fleeing in panic.

Thus, the tea house was now empty—save for a group of unwelcome guests.

"How is Lord Han?"

As Fang Yue had just laid the body on a large table made of joined tea tables, Jing Yan immediately asked anxiously.

"I'm not sure. His condition is strange… how to put it—you know, as martial artists, we burn our lifespan to cultivate Martial Arts and use them. But Lord Han's current state seems to be using Lin Ling's lifespan as his own power source; when Lin Ling's lifespan can no longer sustain it, he sacrifices his flesh and blood to keep using power."

Lord Han said Lin Ling was near death because the power he used had overwhelmed Lin Ling's lifespan and body, causing this condition.

Just now, at the final moment, Lord Han barely managed to use blood to form flesh, temporarily filling the hollows in Lin Ling's body—but it's only temporary; his body is still deteriorating, and the black blood-turned-flesh merely treats the symptom, not the root cause.

Lin Ling pushed himself too hard, too desperately.

While Fang Yue and the others were occupied with other matters, unnoticed by anyone, Lin Ling had silently cultivated, burning his already scarce lifespan.

Unknowingly, Lin Ling's strength had risen—but the lifespan he consumed was enormous.

One could say Lin Ling had forcibly accelerated his strength by gambling his life.

If they hadn't awakened Lord Han, and if he stopped using martial power, Lin Ling might have lived a few more years—but now, how long he can survive is unknown.

"What should we do?"

Niu Niu asked, somewhat dejected.

He had just reunited with Lin Ling, and now she was about to die?

Although Lin Ling was merely a Native, Niu Niu knew this game was no ordinary one, and he had long since changed his view of Natives.

"Perhaps Qingchen has a way... or perhaps..."

Jing Yan looked up, toward Fang Yue, who had just sat down and was frowning in thought.

"The legendary Master Qiankun might also have a way to save Lin Ling."

The worse the situation, the more calmly Jing Yan remained, his mind working at high speed.

(End of Chapter)