Chapter 226 : Undying True Scripture
Chapter 226: Undying True Scripture
"Even though the Chongming Golden Flame is extraordinary, it still can’t do anything against those two Demon Venerables."
Luo Zhouwu watched as the golden flame on Chen Ming's body grew dimmer and dimmer under the suppression of the two demonic lights—one green and one purple. He could already foresee this boy’s fate.
Either become the sword slave of the demonic sword...
Or be possessed by the Undying Demon Venerable.
Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but feel some concern. This boy's talent was likely no less than his Martial Niece, Su Zhi Ning. If he was possessed by a Demon Venerable, he would surely become a serious threat to the righteous path in the future.
What a pity. He had just transferred all the strength he could muster to Chen Ming through the “Heaven’s Heart”, and now had to suppress the demonic nature within himself. He was utterly powerless to intervene.
"Why the hell am I even worrying about this?"
Luo Zhouwu suddenly thought to himself. Once that kid was fully possessed, he himself would die here anyway. Whatever chaos the kid brought to the world in the future, he wouldn’t be around to see it.
At that moment, he saw someone stand up and walk toward Chen Ming.
"Her?"
Luo Zhouwu's heart stirred. How had he forgotten about her?
Among everyone present, the only one still capable of movement was Zhou Yilan.
"What is she trying to do?"
As Zhou Yilan walked step by step toward Chen Ming, Luo Zhouwu couldn’t help but think, "Could it be... she's trying to avenge her husband?"
After all, her husband, Ruan Caihong, had died at Chen Ming’s hands. Ten-plus years of marriage—having witnessed her husband's death—wanting revenge was only natural.
Zhou Yilan walked up to Ruan Caihong’s body, retrieved the life-bound turtle shell belonging to Fang Yong, and tossed it back to him.
Then, she stepped in front of Chen Ming, reached out her hand, and grabbed the hilt of the “Zhi Chi Demonic Sword”, pulling it out of Chen Ming’s body with great effort.
The demonic sword hummed with vibration, seemingly unwilling.
But Zhou Yilan had cultivated the Nine Nether Grand Art. So long as she hadn’t become a sword slave, she could temporarily control this demonic sword.
"Haaa—"
She channeled all her life’s cultivation into the demonic sword, and in an instant, a surge of green light exploded. The entire space seemed to tremble.
"What is she doing?"
Luo Zhouwu felt his heart pound. With her Second Grade cultivation, using the demonic sword like this—was she trying to die?
"Break!"
As the sword's power reached a critical threshold, Zhou Yilan let out the final roar of her life and slashed the sword forward.
Ziiing—
Wherever the demonic sword passed, space itself tore open.
"Senior Brother, go—run..."
She looked at her two gravely injured senior brothers with deep longing in her eyes, and her body crumbled apart.
This strike—was unleashed at the cost of her life.
The Zhi Chi Demonic Sword was a peerless divine weapon with spatial attributes. In a relatively low-grade Secret Realm like this, it could even tear open space itself.
"Junior Sister—"
Fang Yong let out a wail, summoned all his strength, and carried the barely-alive Zhou You, leaping into the escape passage his junior sister had opened with her life.
Whoosh!
Just as the spatial rift was about to close, Chen Ming—his body half engulfed in purple light and half in golden flame—suddenly shot forward and entered the passage.
The Zhi Chi Demonic Sword also tried to escape through that rift, but was a step too late—it was pinned down by a hand.
It was Luo Zhouwu, who had moved just in time to stop it from escaping.
Buzz—buzz—
The demonic sword cried out in unwillingness, but it was, after all, just a divine weapon. Only in human hands could it unleash its full power.
Without a sword slave, no matter how powerful, it was still just a weapon. Its vast power was meaningless.
Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been suppressed here for so many years.
Despite his injuries, Luo Zhouwu forcibly kept the Zhi Chi Demonic Sword behind and felt slightly relieved.
At least the demonic sword hadn't escaped.
However...
He looked toward the spot where the spatial rift had closed, and a shadow crossed his eyes. That brat would surely be possessed by the Undying Demon Venerable.
"Even if it's just a strand of divine consciousness, with that kid's talent, if he starts cultivating the Undying Primordial Spirit, he could very well become another peerless Demon Venerable in time."
No, this must be reported to the alliance immediately. That kid must be eliminated before he grows strong.
...
Chen Ming only felt darkness before his eyes, his body and soul seemingly torn into countless fragments.
It felt like forever, and yet like only a blink.
Suddenly, his vision cleared, and the world regained its colors—green mountains, flowing water, a deep blue sky, and cotton-like white clouds—so soothing and familiar, it lifted the spirit.
Just then, an ominous feeling surged in his heart.
Whoosh—
He used the last trace of his inner Qi to dodge an ambush from behind.
"You?"
Chen Ming darted several zhang away and turned his head. The attacker was Fang Yong—though bound by several Dragon-Locking Needles and missing half a shoulder and an arm—he still looked vigorous and full of fight.
Fang Yong stared coldly at him. "What a fine trick you pulled—disguising yourself as my Martial Nephew and following us all this way. What exactly are you after?"
Zhou You, though grievously injured, also stood up at this time, staring fiercely at him. His lip wounds hadn’t healed, making him look even more vicious.
Seeing their stance, Chen Ming knew they wouldn’t let him go easily. He sighed, "There’s no point in talking. Let’s fight."
At the same time, he summoned his interface and muttered in his heart: Add points!
He added a million points into Five Elements True Art.
【Level: 71】
【Current Points: 1,783,783】
【Cultivation Methods: Iron Horse Stance (Fifth Layer - Perfected), Five Elements True Art (Incomplete) (Seventh Layer: 1,242,456/10,000,000)】
【Combat Techniques: Three Talents Fist (Mastery), Eight Trigrams Saber Technique (Mastery), Zhuang’s Flying Knife (Mastery), Swallow Returns Sword Technique (Mastery), Vermilion Bird Sword Technique (Mastery), Phoenix Dances Through Nine Heavens (Ninth Layer - Perfected), Heaven and Earth’s Lone Swan (Second Layer: 35,734/2,000,000)】
【Secret Arts: Disguise Technique (Mastery), Nurturing Artifact Art (First Layer: 1/100,000), Controlling Artifact Art (Ninth Layer: 1/900,000)】
His level rose by one, and his inner Qi instantly recovered.
Chen Ming gripped the Phoenix Cry Sword, sneered coldly, and whoosh!—appeared above Fang Yong’s head, slashing down with a single sword, "Die!"
"No!"
Zhou You and Fang Yong’s expressions changed drastically. They had thought the kid's strength was drained and corrupted by the purple demonic aura—he shouldn’t have had much power left.
How could he still move so fast, like a ghost?
"Senior Brother, look out—"
Before Fang Yong could finish, he saw Zhou You beheaded in a single stroke—killed instantly. "No—!"
Moments later, he followed in his senior brother’s footsteps—his own head cleaved off.
【You have slain a Level 94 enemy. Gained 2,500,000 EXP.】
【You have slain a Level 98 enemy. Gained 2,500,000 EXP.】
It seemed that at his current level, 2.5 million EXP per enemy was the cap.
Chen Ming was in a great mood. The EXP he’d just spent on Phoenix Dances Through Nine Heavens and Controlling Artifact Art had all been recovered.
Honestly, he hadn’t planned on killing the two. He had appreciated Zhou Yilan’s earlier mercy.
She could have easily killed him when pulling out the sword, yet she had spared him. That was a favor he remembered.
But he’d intended to let them go—and they’d tried to kill him. So they couldn’t blame him.
Just then, he heard an unwilling scream in his mind—the Undying Demon Venerable’s consciousness had finally been extinguished by the golden flame.
"Just like that?"
He couldn’t believe it.
Wasn’t this the Undying Demon Venerable? How could its primordial spirit be destroyed so easily?
Something didn’t feel right.
Though the golden flame was powerful—enough to burn a First Grade expert—it was still a Demon Venerable. Even the strongest in the world could only suppress it, not destroy it...
"What’s this?"
Chen Ming sifted through his thoughts and found several cultivation methods implanted in his mind.
Undying True Scripture, Grand Art of Divine Soul Fission, Soul Fragmentation Technique.
In addition, there were many memories that didn’t originally belong to him.
Some were from the Demon Venerable himself—but they seemed incomplete.
Others were from several individuals—including Gu Xianyu, and the Second Grade experts he had just killed.
Chen Ming immediately ignored the memories and techniques—just in case they were traps left by the Demon Venerable.
Who knew what thoughts might still linger inside? Better not get contaminated.
Regardless, for now, the crisis seemed resolved.
Still, he felt an uneasy sense deep inside.
He stretched out his hand, and a flame the size of a lighter’s spark emerged. "Only this much left."
He had swallowed the golden flame, thinking he would die.
But surprisingly, it hadn’t harmed him at all. Only when the demonic sword’s will and the Undying Demon Venerable tried to possess him did the golden flame erupt into a desperate battle.
Fortunately, the demonic sword was pulled out in time, allowing the flame to destroy the Demon Venerable’s primordial spirit.
Now, only this small flame remained.
"But—"
A thought struck Chen Ming, and he absorbed the golden flame back into his body, storing it in his Qi Sea. With each cycle of internal circulation, his Qi became purer.
"So, Mysterious Fire True Art can refine this golden flame."
That explained it—back in the Fire Element space, Yu Haitang had suddenly burst out with power beyond First Grade. She must’ve had a corresponding divine item for her Mysterious Wood True Art.
A doubt in his mind was now resolved.
"If I train Mysterious Fire True Art to a high level, its power might reach the level of this golden flame."
He went on to think: If I fully master all Five Elements True Arts and fuse them with five divine items, just how powerful would I become?
Still, that was just wishful thinking. After what had just happened, once Luo Zhouwu compared notes with Su Zhi Ning, they would figure out who he really was.
He couldn’t return to Jiangzhou now.
Come to think of it—where was this place?
"I’d better find someone and ask."
Just as he was about to leave, he saw something new beside Zhou You’s corpse—a pitch-black broken sword, and by Fang Yong’s body—a black turtle shell.
"These... are their life-bound items?"