Chapter 192: Dream On!

Cheng Lingshu almost instantly activated a protective magical scroll she carried for emergencies. A faint ripple formed around her body.

“Chi chi chi—” The red horned demon’s claw slashed down, and dense spatial rifts appeared along its sharp nails. When the claw struck the ripple around Cheng Lingshu, the ripple violently trembled and rapidly weakened.

“So, she’s an extraordinary mage?” The red horned demon’s magical clone immediately struck again with its second claw.

At the same time, Cheng Lingshu activated another protective scroll.

A wave enveloped her, attempting to forcefully traverse through space to escape!

“Do you really think you can traverse space before me?” The red horned demon smirked. Instead of continuing its downward strike, its right claw suddenly opened, and from afar, it grabbed the space!

Boom!

Within a hundred-meter radius, space instantly shattered completely! The streets, pedestrians, and shops within this hundred-meter range were all utterly destroyed along with the shattered space. The already weakened ripple around Cheng Lingshu’s body shattered entirely, and her body could not resist this terrifying destructive force—it was instantly reduced to dust.

Third-tier True Intent—Spatial Shatter!

“Am I…dead?” Though her body perished, Cheng Lingshu’s soul remained.

“Damn, mages are such a hassle. I almost let her escape,” the red horned demon extended its hand again. Magic surged from its claw as it directly reached toward Cheng Lingshu’s soul, attempting to imprison it. However, this was merely a magical clone, so it couldn’t devour her soul.

“I originally thought I would go through many battles, slaying many demons before dying a glorious death. I never imagined I’d die without even killing a single demon,” Cheng Lingshu wasn’t particularly sorrowful. Transcendent warriors often trained between life and death, and had long accepted the concept of death, even preparing for it in advance.

“I do feel a bit resentful!”

“But still, my life has been glorious enough, hahaha!”

“But demon, don’t even dream about capturing this beauty’s soul!” Her transparent soul, smiling, suddenly exploded instantly.

“Aaaa! Damn it! I hate mages!” The red horned demon was furious. A transcendent mage’s soul actually self-destructed?

Transcendent knights and mages are completely different.

Transcendent knights have little expertise in souls, so when they’re killed, their souls are usually easily captured.

But mages are different. Some titled mages begin studying soul transference, even obsessing over the relationship between souls and physical bodies. As for transcendent mages, each has extensive knowledge of souls.

“Just a little more!” The red horned demon was frustrated. Its speed was so fast—if it had captured the soul, the opponent wouldn’t have been able to self-destruct. Unfortunately, this Xia Clan transcendent female mage didn’t hesitate at all! Normally, transcendent beings would hesitate slightly when self-destructing their souls.

“Hmph!” Grasping Cheng Lingshu’s remaining storage artifact, the red horned demon’s magical clone immediately traversed through space and disappeared.

…

From its arrival, it had only taken a few swipes—so fast.

Cheng Lingshu’s own strength was insufficient to resist directly, managing only to survive briefly with protective scrolls, but ultimately couldn’t escape.

The spatial destruction left a massive crater where the street had been, leaving a barren area. Countless people far away, untouched by the destruction, were completely stunned.

Soon after,

“Hu.” Zao Qing, the old man, tore through space and appeared here, followed closely by Chi Qiubai, who also tore through space-time to arrive.

“Lingshu.” Chi Qiubai’s face turned pale. The transcendent warriors of Anyang Province had strong bonds, and Cheng Lingshu was relatively young among them, with a straightforward personality. Chi Qiubai never expected her to die in a demon’s hands.

“Cheng Lingshu is a transcendent mage, and transcendent mages usually carry some life-saving scrolls. She should have been able to escape even against a Saint-tier transcendent peak warrior, but this time she couldn’t,” Old Man Zao felt deep sorrow. Although transcendent warriors live longer than mortals, Cheng Lingshu was still very young among them.

…

“Yah!”

Dongbo Xueying rode a snow-stepping magical horse along the main road, looking just like a common lone traveler.

He constantly maintained his perception of the Heavenly Dao, monitoring a radius of a hundred miles.

“Recently, two transcendent warriors have been ambushed and killed by demons in succession,” Dongbo Xueying frowned. The Xuehuo Palace had issued orders for all Xia Clan transcendent warriors to be more cautious while outside—treating themselves as mortals! Other than using the Heavenly Dao for perception, they were forbidden from using any transcendent abilities to avoid exposure. Therefore, he traveled on horseback!

But no matter how cautious one is,

At some critical moment, a stroke of luck mentality might arise, or one might unconsciously perform a transcendent action. After all, many transcendent warriors have been transcendent for hundreds or even thousands of years; many things have become habits! Daily behaviors and actions might inadvertently expose some transcendent traces when one is distracted.

Even in dangerous situations, they might be forced to use powers beyond those of mortals.

Therefore, absolute concealment is extremely difficult.

“Transcendent warrior Cheng Lingshu was killed by a demon!” A message was transmitted through the Xuehuo Palace to all Xia Clan transcendent warriors.

Dongbo Xueying, who had been riding a horse, suddenly froze.

He sat motionless on the horse. The horse, feeling no urging, gradually slowed down after running for a while, even stopping to graze on the side.

“Sister Lingshu?” Dongbo Xueying felt a sharp pain in his heart.

“I’m Cheng Lingshu. From now on, just call me Sister Lingshu. Calling me ‘Big Sister’ feels strange,” he remembered the first time they met, when she had said that.

“Sister Lingshu,” Dongbo Xueying had obediently called her back then.

He remembered how she had won big in a transcendent life-or-death gambling match, excited beyond belief.

Later, she had won big again in the battle against Yuan Qing, practically becoming a gambling deity.

Before Dongbo Xueying joined the group of transcendent warriors in Anyang Province, Cheng Lingshu had been the youngest among them.

“How could this be…how could this be…” Dongbo Xueying couldn’t believe it. This cheerful Sister Lingshu had died so early in the demon war. He knew this demon war might result in many transcendent warriors dying, but he never imagined she would die this early. She was a mage, after all—mages had many life-saving techniques and could usually escape death.

Dongbo Xueying sat on the horse for quite a while before fully regaining his composure.

“Brother Changfeng, where did Sister Lingshu die?” Dongbo Xueying asked through his communication ring.

“In a small city called Fengcheng,” Chi Qiubai replied.

Swoosh!

Dongbo Xueying instantly shot into the sky, accelerating to his maximum speed toward Fengcheng.

Although the Xuehuo Palace had ordered them all to hide their tracks and avoid exposure, Dongbo Xueying now didn’t care anymore. Exposure was exposure. Fourth-tier demons weren’t his match, and even fifth-tier demons would find it difficult to kill him in a single breath. Besides, he had protective treasures from the Xia Clan! He could even withstand a semi-divine demon.

Perhaps it was reckless, but Dongbo Xueying really wanted to reach the place where Sister Lingshu died as soon as possible.

After flying for a while, he had already covered more than twenty thousand li.

“I’m here.” Dongbo Xueying saw a small city below. It was a very beautiful city, filled with many maple trees, which had become the city’s symbol.

“Swoosh.”

He descended from the sky, landing directly beside a massive crater in the city. Within a one-mile radius around the crater, everything was sealed off. At this moment, Chi Qiubai, Old Man Zao, and Sikong Yang were all here.

“Xueying, you’ve come,” Chi Qiubai looked over.

“You flew here directly like this?” Old Man Zao glared angrily, “Don’t you know demons are lurking everywhere, watching your traces? You come flying so brazenly? Even if you flew high, the possibility of them detecting you is low. But what if they did detect you? Do you want to die from a demon ambush too?”

“Deputy Observer,” Dongbo Xueying quickly replied, “I have a protective treasure that can resist semi-divine beings.”

Old Man Zao was surprised. He turned to look at Sikong Yang beside him, who nodded in confirmation.

Only then did Old Man Zao stop his scolding. He guessed it was some protective treasure Dongbo Xueying had obtained using contribution points from the ‘Demon Well’ last time.

“Even so, you must still be cautious,” Old Man Zao sighed, “Sigh, it would have been better if it were an old man like me who died. Lingshu was still so young.”

“Nothing remains?” Dongbo Xueying looked at the massive crater, the surrounding area reduced to absolute nothingness.

“The space was completely shattered,” Old Man Zao shook his head, “There’s not even a corpse. Only her communication ring automatically notified the Xuehuo Palace upon her death.”

“Did you find the demon?” Dongbo Xueying suppressed his anger.

Thirty years of friendship.

From the time they met in Xiadu City, thirty years! And now she was gone, her body turned to dust!

“I followed the spatial fluctuations, chasing them back. But I only reached the spatial rifts before losing the trail,” Chi Qiubai shook his head, his eyes filled with killing intent, “Damn it! I will find this damned fellow! I will find him!”

Chi Qiubai’s grief was no less than Dongbo Xueying’s.

He had watched Cheng Lingshu grow from a young, talented mage into a mature warrior. This female mage with a pure heart was like his own little sister.