Chapter 872: Decapitation

“Jing Qiu, I’m going out for a walk. I’ll be back soon,” Dongbo Xueying said.

Yu Jingqiu was practicing her swordplay and smiled at her husband. Ever since his return, her mood had been exceptionally bright. The thought of having him by her side in the years to come filled her with contentment—even if she never transcended and eventually passed away, she would have no regrets. “Alright,” she replied with a light laugh.

With a single step, space twisted around Dongbo Xueying as he vanished into the distorted void.

…

The next moment, he reappeared in the Ninecloud Continent. For someone who had mastered ultra-long-distance teleportation, the vast chaotic void and the Five Sacred Worlds were but a heartbeat away! This realization made Dongbo Xueying sigh inwardly. What kind of supreme technique had the Ninecloud Emperor—whose achievements in the void surpassed even the Void Ancestor—failed to complete in those four remaining diagrams?

At the Ninecloud Emperor’s level, even the fourth diagram was merely a fragment.

After all, the formations he had left behind in his abode remained unbroken to this day, despite the passage of countless ages.

Standing mid-air, Dongbo Xueying glanced at the sun above and quickly determined his location. “A slight deviation. If I were to travel through a spatial tunnel, it would take at least two hours to reach my destination.” With another step, space warped around him as he traversed the void, arriving at a grassland very close to the Demon Swordsman.

“Very close now.”

“If I wished, I could arrive in an instant.” Dongbo Xueying sighed helplessly. “Still, making it here within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea is already quite fortunate.”

He dared not reveal his abilities too openly.

While there were some Chaos Realm experts who had mastered ultra-long-distance teleportation, he had never heard of anyone at the Unity Realm achieving such a feat. Perhaps his knowledge was still limited? But given his status as an inner hall elder of the Taixu Heaven Palace, if even he hadn’t heard of it, it was best to keep this ability concealed for now.

Once he reached the Chaos Realm, he could openly display it without raising suspicion. Others would naturally assume he had also cultivated the Ancient Path.

…

Dongbo Xueying deliberately delayed for the time it took to “drink a cup of tea” before finally locating the Demon Swordsman, guided by the latter’s continuous updates.

“Demon Swordsman, struggling is futile. This time, you’re doomed,” said Palace Master Qiwu, clad in purple robes, his narrow eyes glinting with a faint mist. With another long-range manipulation, a sky-obscuring formation materialized around the Demon Swordsman. Desperate, the Demon Swordsman frantically tore through the void to escape, occasionally drawing the black sword strapped to his back.

Each time he unsheathed it, the blade unleashed devastating power before being swiftly returned to its scabbard.

“Cough, where are they? Where are the experts from the Taixu Heaven Palace?” the Demon Swordsman muttered anxiously.

“Oh? Palace Master Qiwu?” A cold voice cut through the air.

A white-robed youth emerged from the void. This time, Dongbo Xueying made no effort to conceal his appearance. Since he usually remained in his home universe and only ventured out for important matters, there was no need to hide his identity—especially since he wouldn’t be staying long in the Ninecloud Continent.

Palace Master Qiwu’s expression darkened. “Dongbo Xueying? How did he arrive so quickly? Even if the Hall Master of Inquiry from the Taixu Heaven Palace personally transported him, over such a vast distance, there should have been significant deviation!”

“Hmph.”

A flash of icy light gleamed in Dongbo Xueying’s eyes.

Whoosh—!

Layers of the Dark World descended, instantly enveloping Palace Master Qiwu in the distance. The multiple layers materialized from illusion into reality, leaving him no time to evade.

“Damn it!” With a furious roar, Palace Master Qiwu transformed into a scaled, lizard-like beast.

Boom—!

One hundred and twenty layers of the Dark World detonated simultaneously. The transformed Palace Master Qiwu let out a pained scream as his body was torn apart by the explosion, leaving gruesome wounds. Yet, he still clung to life. His violet eyes flicked toward Dongbo Xueying before he immediately tore through the void to flee.

“How? This Dongbo Xueying has only cultivated for such a short time, yet he can grievously wound my body, which I reforged with countless poisons?”

Sensing the danger, Palace Master Qiwu chose escape without hesitation.

“Running?” Dongbo Xueying immediately pursued along the void’s traces.

Escaping from a Voidwalker who had mastered ultra-long-distance teleportation? If he succeeded, it would be nothing short of a monumental humiliation!

…

The Demon Swordsman finally exhaled in relief and landed on the ground, sitting cross-legged to expel the toxins. Previously, he had been too preoccupied with evasion to focus on detoxification. Now, the lingering poisons within him were gradually being purged.

“Why did the Witch Ancestor create the ‘Witch’ system? Even their poisons are this terrifying?” the Demon Swordsman grumbled inwardly.

Before the birth of the Witch system, toxins had already existed.

But their usage had never been as widespread or potent as it was now. After the Witch Ancestor emerged, the system he created elevated the manipulation of all things to an unimaginable level—formations, artifact forging, witch poisons, puppetry… he reached unparalleled heights in every field. Practitioners of other systems quickly adopted the Witch system’s methods, leading to the ubiquity of “witch poisons.”

Many weaker cultivators didn’t even understand the significance of “witch poisons,” simply labeling any toxin-related practice as such.

“Hah.” The Demon Swordsman opened his mouth and exhaled a stream of gray mist, which dissipated into the wind.

His complexion improved significantly. Though traces of poison remained, they were no longer a threat.

Whoosh.

Dongbo Xueying reappeared from the void.

“Brother Dongbo!” The Demon Swordsman stood up hastily, gratitude evident in his voice. “I owe you my life this time. If not for you, I would have perished at Palace Master Qiwu’s hands. Hmph, this time I fell into his trap, but mark my words—I’ll find a way to settle this score in the future.”

“Palace Master Qiwu is already dead,” Dongbo Xueying stated.

The Demon Swordsman froze. “He… he’s dead?”

He knew Palace Master Qiwu all too well.

This was a cunning and tenacious expert of the Ancient Sacred Religion, a practitioner of both the Witch and Ancient Paths, with numerous survival techniques. He had assumed Dongbo Xueying returned so quickly because Palace Master Qiwu had escaped. But killed? In such a short time? Even he, poisoned as he was, had held out against Palace Master Qiwu for so long.

“Is he really that strong?” The Demon Swordsman could hardly believe it. A renowned powerhouse like Palace Master Qiwu, dead in mere moments?

“I relied on external means,” Dongbo Xueying explained.

Indeed, he had.

Palace Master Qiwu’s survivability was extraordinary. Relying solely on his own strength, Dongbo Xueying would have needed half a day to exhaust and kill him. Unwilling to waste time, he had employed the Black Gourd’s assistance. With fireballs at the sixth level of the Star Pagoda’s might, amplified by his own “Panbo Diagram” domain suppression and the “Multi-Layered Dark World,” he had swiftly eliminated Palace Master Qiwu.

“In life-and-death battles, there’s no such thing as external means,” the Demon Swordsman said quickly. “Brother Dongbo, your strength is truly admirable. Since you’ve saved my life again, come—let’s head to my residence. It’s nearby. Once there, I’ll properly host you. Don’t refuse, or I’ll take it as an insult.”

“Very well.” Seeing his enthusiasm, Dongbo Xueying agreed.

The two immediately traversed the void.

A mere instant later—

“Stop.”

Dongbo Xueying and the Demon Swordsman emerged from the void. The latter looked at him in confusion. “Brother Dongbo, what’s wrong?”

Dongbo Xueying frowned as he gazed downward, his expression grim.