Chapter 101: The Yama Letter

The Earth Venerable’s body was as sturdy as a giant bear, yet his movements were like illusions, sometimes merging with the wind and sand as one, sometimes swinging his iron wheel sideways, cutting through wind and sand, making it impossible to grasp his actions and defend against his attacks.

Under this “escaping technique” that seemed like the art of gods and demons, any ordinary expert would find it hard to react in time or resist effectively, often ending up with their heads separated from their bodies. The Earth Venerable was confident about this, but now his confidence had been shaken. The girl he was fighting did not possess the “Communion with the Hidden” ability that drew upon the power of all things in heaven and earth. Yet her sword techniques were incredibly sharp, seemingly capable of anticipating his every move. No matter how he vanished into the wind and sand, as soon as he emerged, he was met with blinding flashes of sword light.

He had nearly lost his life several times, only narrowly escaping death thanks to Su Yuanying’s assistance from the side, occasionally laced with streaks of thunderlight and black qi. Even so, beads of cold sweat had formed on his forehead, where black qi was rising. He couldn’t believe that without drawing upon the power of all things in heaven and earth, human effort alone could reach such terrifying levels!

Jiang Zhiwei alternated between several sword techniques from the “Supreme Sword Classic” designed for the Qi-opening stage. Her sword energy was overwhelming, fierce and terrifying. Facing two opponents alone, she pressured both Di Zun and Su Yuanying to the point where they could barely breathe.

Of course, a large part of this was due to Su Yuanying himself. Though he had opened eight apertures, it was through external force, and he was not adept at close combat. Additionally, the earlier intensification of the sandstorm had drained most of his energy, making it difficult for him to unleash his killing moves or ultimate techniques.

The light from the vertical eye on his forehead, glowing emerald green, became increasingly eerie. Seeing this, Jiang Zhiwei intensified her attacks. With a few swift sword strokes, she forced Di Zun back into the wind and sand. Then, raising her long sword slightly, it was as if she were delivering an invitation to Su Yuanying.

Emerald green light spread like water, and sword light flared, pure and refined, exuding a chilling aura of death.

Both sides unleashed their ultimate techniques almost simultaneously!

The green light surged like a wave, crashing against the sword light. Su Yuanying eagerly awaited the moment when the sword would fall and Jiang Zhiwei would collapse.

This was the power of a “deity”—a direct attack on the soul and spirit. Without appropriate countermeasures, it was impossible to defend against or neutralize!

The sword radiance, pierced by the aura of death, trembled faintly and shook violently, yet it stood unwavering. It tore through the emerald glow, aiming straight for Su Yuanyang’s forehead—like an invitation from Yama, the King of the Ninth Hell.

How could this happen?

How was it even possible?

Su Yuanying kept changing his footwork, his body nearly twisting, but the sword light was like a soul-hunting ghost, clinging to him like a curse, impossible to shake off!

“The Tang Hongxiu has been killed by the Reborn of the four major sects’ factions. One hundred Virtue Points will be deducted from each of you.”

What?

While dodging and weaving, Su Yuanying was already at the brink of exhaustion. At that moment, the voice of the Lord of the Sixfold Reincarnation sounded, causing him to momentarily freeze in shock.

And then, there was nothing more.

Deceased: Su Yuanying.

Cause of death: A sword through the forehead.

Appearance of death: The third eye on his forehead shattered, his expression one of terror and shock, with no other wounds on his body.

Killer: Jiang Zhiwei.

Jiang Zhiwei swung her sword back, with a clang it blocked Di Zun’s black iron wheel. Blood trickled from the corners of her eyes, her ears, her nose, and her mouth—Su Yuanying’s attack had damaged her soul. If not for the Phantom Transformation Method stimulating her ancestral aperture at the forehead, and her instinctively projecting her spirit outward to protect her forehead, even with her iron will, she would not have been able to withstand that blow.

Even so, her willpower was terrifying. Despite her soul being injured, she managed to suppress the pain and keep her sword techniques unchanged! Most experts who had opened nine apertures could not achieve such a feat!

Seeing Su Yuanying fall, Di Zun’s soul nearly left his body. When he saw Jiang Zhiwei raise her sword again, assuming the posture of delivering an invitation, he was so frightened his soul seemed to leave his body. Black qi surged around him as he lunged toward Jiang Zhiwei, while he himself turned and “vanished” into the wind and sand.

The sword light was pure and deep, as if flying from the ninth hell, piercing through the black qi directly into the wind and sand.

“Ahh!”

Di Zun let out a scream of pain, blood spraying out and staining the nearby sand red. His back had been struck. However, Jiang Zhiwei’s soul had been injured, and she was dizzy and disoriented. Blocked momentarily by the black qi, her sword strike was slightly delayed, allowing him to escape despite his injuries, leaving a trail of blood behind.

Since the sandstorm had not yet subsided, Jiang Zhiwei could not pursue him, so she stopped, took out a “Hundred Herbs Pill,” tilted her head back, and swallowed it. The injury to her soul needed immediate treatment, or it could leave lasting problems.

“The Xia Dandan has been killed by the Reborn of the Demon Sects’ factions. One hundred Virtue Points will be awarded to each of you.”

“Eliminated the Demon Sects’ faction Reborn Shadow Killer. One hundred Virtue Points will be awarded to each of you.”

Jiang Zhiwei had just begun to regulate her breathing when the voice of the Lord of the Sixfold Reincarnation sounded in her ears one after another.

This puzzled her somewhat, because there had been no notification yet of the man with the emerald green vertical eye on his forehead being killed by her—surely he was at least a sixth aperture cultivator, so it couldn’t be just worth a hundred Virtue Points.

She raised her eyes to look at Su Yuanying’s corpse, which was rapidly decaying as if he had been dead for a very long time. In no time at all, only a skeleton remained, with nothing else on it.

“Not dead?” Jiang Zhiwei mused thoughtfully, beginning to understand where her enemy’s power came from.

…

Meng Qi poked around for quite a while before finally selecting two items that seemed usable.

One was a seemingly ordinary black iron dart, but on it were tiny characters written in fly script: “Seeing it means death”; the other was a net shimmering with metallic luster. Its threads were soft and fine, the whole thing compacted into a ball the size of a fist. As Meng Qi held it, he felt the black iron dart trying to fly toward the net on its own.

“Could this be the ‘Heavenly Net and Earthly Mesh,’ specially designed to counter metal darts?” Meng Qi thought with a surge of hope. After witnessing the terrifying scene earlier, he had lingering fears about darts and poisons.

Of course, once he cultivated the Golden Bell Cover, he could resist all of these.

As for the dart labeled “Seeing it means death,” Meng Qi didn’t know its exact function, so he decided to keep it for now, wondering whether Jiang Zhiwei, Fu Zhenzhen, and others might recognize it—for a dart, without the corresponding technique to use it, its power would be greatly diminished.

At this time, due to Su Yuanying’s “death,” the violent sandstorm began to subside, the wind and sand cutting against the body becoming less fierce.

Meng Qi wasn’t afraid of this; after all, such winds couldn’t break his Golden Bell Cover. However, he suddenly thought of something—could Gu Xiaosang come specially to kill him?

That madwoman, that pervert, might really come just for a fabricated reason!

If it had been before the sandstorm intensified, Meng Qi would definitely have waited here for Gu Xiaosang to walk into his trap. But now, he knew that Jiang Zhiwei and the others were likely in a fierce battle and wouldn’t arrive soon. Gu Xiaosang might already be fighting them or on her way.

Thinking for a moment, he turned to Chen Xiao and Luo You and said, “Hide yourselves.”

With that, he ran his inner energy along a special path, activated the Wind God Leg Technique, and leapt into the sandstorm, hiding himself on a poplar tree. His forehead felt swollen, his spirit projecting outward to envelop his entire body.

The sandstorm grew weaker and weaker when suddenly a faint sigh reached Meng Qi’s ears: “Are you really so unwilling to see me?”

The voice was soft and beautiful, filled with sorrow, as if the speaker was deeply in love yet unrequited, making the listener’s heart ache and their composure falter.

But to Meng Qi, it was no less terrifying than the soul-summoning call of the ox-headed and horse-faced guardians of hell, nearly stopping his heart.

Girl, since when have we been so close?

He dared not make any move, not even lifting his head, fully concentrating on concealing himself.

As the sandstorm blew gently, the sorrowful voice continued: “Hongxiu called you a little bald monk, saying she wanted to play you to death, so I didn’t warn them, letting them find their own doom, letting you kill her yourself. See, how good I am to you. Xiaozi likes you, no one else can touch you or bully you; I have to do it myself.”

As she spoke, her tone became cheerful, full of joy: “If I want to play you to death, it has to be me doing it. Don’t worry, I won’t let you return to the Void Homeland in pain; Xiaozi would blame me for that. I’ll let you return to the Old Mother’s embrace in bliss.”

What a lunatic! Meng Qi inwardly cursed, what did I ever do to deserve this?

He judged that the gap in their strength was too great. This woman was a terrifying figure ranked among the top of the Human List, so he continued to hide.

Gu Xiaosang let out a long sigh and said nothing more. In the sandstorm, it seemed there was no more sound.

“Little monk, little monk…” Jiang Zhiwei’s voice sounded.

Meng Qi was first delighted, then cautious. Could it be the enchantress changing her voice to trick me?

“Disciple Zhen Ding…” At the same time, Zhang Yuanshan’s voice also came.

Only then did Meng Qi feel relieved, knowing they had arrived and scared Gu Xiaosang away.

Thus, he jumped down from the poplar tree and met them in front of the ruined temple, seeing Luo Shengyi, Jiang Zhiwei, Zhang Yuanshan, and Qi Zhengyan—had they not nearly arrived together, with Gu Xiaosang’s strength and boldness, she might have tried to kill the reinforcements.

…

On a distant hilltop.

One of the two maids left behind by Su Yuanying suddenly showed an expression of extreme pain on her beautiful face. Then, streaks of black qi emerged from her body, and her belly swelled, soon resembling a full-term pregnancy.

Plop! A hand pierced through her belly, stretching outward. Then, this enchantingly seductive maid was corroded by the dark energy.

Her flesh melted, writhing and converging at the belly wound.

The black qi grew denser, and within it, a tall, slender figure stood up. “He” coughed violently, stepping slowly out of the black qi, completely naked, with pale skin, and flesh faintly tinged with black qi.

The other maid watched all this without changing expression, as if the dead were not her companion. Then she smiled seductively and approached, fetching clothes to dress her master.

“Mo Tong has died. Fifty Virtue Points will be deducted from each of you.”

Su Yuanying listened to the voice of the Lord of the Sixfold Reincarnation with narrowed eyes, clenching his hands tightly.

“You’re not dead?” Di Zun, emerging from the sandstorm, saw Su Yuanying standing on the mountaintop, nearly losing his footing in terror, almost rolling down the hill. He had clearly seen him die at the hands of that terrifying young girl with his own eyes, so why was he alive and standing there now?

Black qi was spreading over the wounds on his back, mingling with the mangled flesh, continuously writhing and healing.

Su Yuanying’s face was pale as he briefly replied, “False death.”

He coughed once, then coldly said to Yun Tingfeng, who was climbing up behind him, “Your subordinates gathered excellent intelligence.”

Yun Tingfeng looked at Su Yuanying’s remaining single maid and sighed, “So they are already dead.”

“Good deaths.” Su Yuanying said bluntly.

Yun Tingfeng narrowed his eyes, his hands tightly clenched behind his back.

“If you want to fight, don’t hold back. Why clench your fists behind your back?” A soft, pleasant voice teased, “Master Yun, I’m rooting for you.”