Chapter 351: Dai Yanfeng’s Death, Jun Xiaomo is Trapped!
As soon as Dai Yanfeng tossed out his spirit tool, its eerie, black orifice immediately turned to face Jun Xiaomo and locked onto her. In the very next moment, the darkness began to burst forth from the dark orifice and expand in all directions, as though a massive spirit beast had just opened wide its mouth, intending to swallow and devour all that were in its path.
Jun Xiaomo’s heart trembled, and she immediately retreated, thinking to avoid the expanding domain of the spirit tool.
Unfortunately, Dai Yanfeng had aimed the spirit tool straight at her, and it had already locked onto her scent. Thus, by the time Jun Xiaomo reacted to what was happening, it was already too late.
Just like that, Jun Xiaomo was sucked into the domain of the pagoda-shaped spirit tool in the blink of an eye, and the spirit tool immediately returned to its original form and dropped onto the ground.
“Xiaomo!”
“Little Martial Sister!”
The Heavenly Peak disciples dashed over towards where Jun Xiaomo was from all directions. Unfortunately, apart from the pagoda-shaped spirit tool, nothing remained where Jun Xiaomo was just moments ago.
“Hahahaha…” Dai Yanfeng began to cackle madly. Streams of blood began to trickle from the corners of his lips, but Dai Yanfeng ignored them completely, “Jun Xiaomo! You’ve miscalculated! You’d never thought that I would actually sacrifice my own life in order to exact vengeance on you, huh! You’ve crippled my daughter. I would never let you lead a good life if I could help it! Hahahaha…”
“You! What did you do to Little Martial Sister?!” Chen Feiyu stormed over in rage and grabbed Dai Yanfeng by his collar, yanking him up from where he was.
Dai Yanfeng was already in his final breaths now, and he was naturally no threat to Chen Feiyu despite the vast chasm between their respective cultivation levels.
Dai Yanfeng glanced at Chen Feiyu with a mocking gaze and began to laugh sardonically, “If I’m still at my peak right now, I would have squashed you like an ant for disrespecting me like this!”
Thud! Chen Feiyu struck Dai Yanfeng ferociously with his fist, and a resounding thud echoed out when Dai Yanfeng’s face slammed into the ground.
“Do you think that you’d get the reprieve of death more quickly by provoking me? Let me tell you something, as long as you’ve still got a breath within you, I’ll do everything I can to make your life far worse than death!” Chen Feiyu threatened.
However, Dai Yanfeng remained completely unfazed. Despite looking frailer and feebler by the minute, he still revealed a victorious smirk on his face as he looked at Chen Feiyu, “There’s no harm telling you either, since you’ll never be able to rescue her. I’m sure you’ve seen what’s become of Rong Ruihan within the pagoda? Very soon, Jun Xiaomo will be following right after his footsteps.”
“You! Release them at once!” Chen Feiyu bellowed.
“Hah. Release them? Why should I when I can’t wait to see them perish?!” Dai Yanfeng chuckled coldly as more and more blood began to flow out of the corner of his lips. At the same time, his voice grew increasingly hoarse, “Do you know the price I’d paid to trap Jun Xiaomo within the spirit tool? This spirit tool is something that can only be used once every one-hundred years. I’d already used it once previously when I’d trapped Rong Ruihan within its domain. Of course, that’s the normal rule for its usage… Hah, there’s yet another way of circumventing those rules – do you know what that is?”
“If the spirit tool’s user offers up his own life, he can forcibly open the spirit tool one additional time. That would also forcibly destroy the contract between the spirit tool and its owner, allowing the spirit tool to become an object without an owner.”
“Hahahahaha…how about it? Even if I’m going down, I’m hell bent on dragging Jun Xiaomo and Rong Ruihan down to hell with me!” Dai Yanfeng glared at Chen Feiyu with a manic expression on his face. Moments later, Dai Yanfeng spat out a huge mouthful of blood, and his eyes began to dilate.
“He…Hehe…Yue…Yue-yue, your father has finally exacted vengeance for you, hehe…”
As soon as he finished uttering his final words, his head slumped down in front of his chest, and his entire body became limp, motionless and lifeless.
“You! Dai Yanfeng, don’t die just yet! Release them, Dai Yanfeng!” Chen Feiyu shook Dai Yanfeng’s corpse vigorously, as though that would recall him from the gates of hell.
Unfortunately, there was no way that a dead person could ever be brought back to life, even if he were a cultivator. No matter how incensed and infuriated Chen Feiyu was, Dai Yanfeng was never coming back.
“Damn!” Chen Feiyu slammed Dai Yanfeng’s corpse back onto the ground.
Just then, an ice-cold hand grabbed onto Chen Feiyu’s shoulder, causing his body to tremble slightly. He turned around, only to be met with a profoundly deep and abstruse gaze in Ye Xiuwen’s ink-black eyes.
Ye Xiuwen’s usually calm and placid gaze appeared like the eye of a superstorm right now, and the profundity within his eyes seemed to engulf everything as though they were two bottomless whirlpools.
“Ye…Martial Brother Ye?” For some strange reason, Chen Feiyu discovered goosebumps creeping up on his skin – this was the first time he had sensed such immeasurable danger emanating from Ye Xiuwen’s body.
“Round everybody up and bind them up at the ancient tree over there.” With the wave of his hand, Ye Xiuwen instructed the rest of the Heavenly Peak disciples.
“Yes, martial brother.” Everyone immediately did as they were told. Xiang Guqing thought to struggle and put up a fight, but Ye Xiuwen immediately slashed out with his sword and cut off her arm, causing Xiang Guqing to shriek in pain.
“Master!” Xiang Guqing’s other disciples rushed over and began to help her up.
That said, Zhang Shuyue was not one of the disciples who helped her master this time. She remained rooted to the ground, gazing intently at Ye Xiuwen. For some strange reason, she discovered that Ye Xiuwen’s present decisiveness appeared far more mesmerizing and attractive than ever before. Thus, even when the Heavenly Peak disciples bound up her hands and pushed her over towards the corner of the ancient tree, she hardly put up any form of resistance whatsoever.
When she noticed the infatuation in Zhang Shuyue’s eyes, Xiang Guqing spat out a clump of blood in rage.
This was her most beloved disciple! Yet she had just turned a blind eye to her master for the sake of a man!
Xiang Guqing and the rest of her faction were all akin to a spent arrow right now. Faced with the imposing threat of Ye Xiuwen’s abilities accompanying his cultivation at the advanced-tier Nascent Soul stage, none of them dared to put up any form of resistance at all. Thus, the Heavenly Peak disciples managed to round up everyone and bind them up without a hitch. Very soon, a large number of people were laying by the side of the ancient tree, restrained and bound by ropes.
Rong Ruihan’s clansmen were also gingerly shifted to the base of yet another tree, where they rested after having consumed several recovery pills.
They were punching above their weight class earlier. The fact that they had not lost a single person was practically a miracle.
While the other disciples were busying themselves, Ye Xiuwen walked over to the spirit tool laying on the ground and picked it up. Then, he suffused some of his own spiritual energy into the spirit tool.
Very soon, he discovered a powerful force resisting his spiritual energy.
“Martial Brother Ye, how’s that going? Do you have any way of opening the spirit tool and rescuing Martial Sister Xiaomo?” As soon as Chen Feiyu was done with all that was instructed of him, he minced his way over to Ye Xiuwen’s side and asked.
“I’m going to attempt to refine the spirit tool.” Ye Xiuwen calmly responded, before he suddenly swept a cold, frigid gaze towards Xiang Guqing and the rest who were bound and restrained –
“If my refinement fails, and if I’m unable to rescue Jun Xiaomo from this spirit tool, then kill every single one of them. We’ll leave none alive at all!”
Ye Xiuwen’s frigid killing intent was like a frozen dagger that stabbed straight into the hearts of Xiang Guqing and the rest, sending chills down their spines.
None of them doubted the veracity of Ye Xiuwen’s instructions. None of them doubted the fact that Ye Xiuwen and his martial brothers were completely capable of doing what they said.
Some of the Eternal Summit Sect disciples had even begun to turn green with remorse. After all, Dai Yanfeng was the Grand Elder of the Eternal Summit Sect, while Xiang Guqing was the Sect Leader of a small sect. With two powerhouses backing their operations, none of them had ever entertained the remotest possibility that they would fail this time.
Yet, their worst fears had become an eventuality against all odds. Not only did they fail in their operation, their Grand Elder Dai Yanfeng had even perished as a result of the botched cause. It was very much an unknown right now whether they would still be able to return to the Eternal Summit Sect in one piece.
Had they known this was going to happen, they would never have volunteered for this operation with such enthusiasm.
Xiang Guqing coughed a few times before laughing wildly, “Ye Xiuwen, you can try to kill me. Let’s see whether you’ll truly be able to kill me or not!”
Ye Xiuwen glanced coldly back at Xiang Guqing as he responded placidly, “I know that you’re leaning on the powers of the valley which we’re in now. And as long as we’re here, I won’t be able to kill you. But, isn’t this even better?” Ye Xiuwen suddenly smiled. Even though his smile looked incredibly sincere and elegant, it caused Xiang Guqing and every single one of her disciples to tremble in fear and trepidation.
“Since it’s not possible to perish here, then I’ll just have to break your limbs repeatedly, again and again. I’ll let you taste and experience what a life worse than death feels like.” Ye Xiuwen explained his intentions succinctly.
Xiang Guqing, Zhang Shuyue and the others immediately widened their eyes with disbelief, and blood started to drain from their faces.
None of them would ever have expected a cool and dignified looking man like Ye Xiuwen to become so vicious when thoroughly provoked and angered.
It was almost as though Jun Xiaomo were manifesting her savagery through him right now!
At this moment, Zhang Shuyue’s infatuation for Ye Xiuwen finally began to dwindle. At the same time, the earlier infatuation in her heart was beginning to be replaced with waves of intense fear and dread.
Had I known this was going to happen, I would never have gone out of my way to entangle myself with this man! If only there were some way to reverse the situation right now…
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After getting sucked into the spirit tool, Jun Xiaomo discovered that she had been transported to a place that was covered with a thick, nauseating stench of blood. Her surroundings were completely pitch-black in colour, and there was no way to orientate herself either.
Jun Xiaomo retrieved a Nightgleam Pearl from her Interspatial Ring, looped a string through it and hung it around her neck. This enabled her for the first time to see with some measure of clarity what her surroundings looked like – to describe this place as “hell on earth” would not be too much of an exaggeration. As far as her eyes could see, the surroundings were scattered with the remains of human innards and limbs. She could even see a few faces on the ground that were permanently contorted and twisted with pained expressions. Some of these faces had been mangled to a pulp, while others appeared whole and untouched.
The scariest part about all of this was the fact that these people appeared to still be alive despite having been reduced to such a tragic state.
That’s right. The most fearsome part of this spirit tool was not the fact that it would melt and corrode a person’s physical being, but the fact that it would trap a person’s soul. Even after a person was reduced to nothing more than a pool of blood, he would still be unable to attain the reprieve of death. The only fate that remained was to suffer an eternity after an eternity of excruciating pain and torment in absolute darkness, without a single hope of extrication and absolution.
Jun Xiaomo could hear the voices of countless vengeful spirits and souls crying, howling and bawling here. It was evident that these people had already gone insane after an eternity of suffering.
Her head suddenly began to spin and throb with pain, and she immediately bent over, hacking and coughing in revulsion. However, nothing came out of her body.
Just then, she heard the distinct sound of the rushing of air, and she immediately detected an oncoming danger. Reacting to her instincts, she dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding a massive fireball that shot straight past her.
This fireball appeared like a congealed mass of molten lava, and it was evident that a person’s body would instantly melt as soon as the fireball brushed against his body.
Moments later, Jun Xiaomo heard a cry echoing from the depths of the spirit tool. This cry sounded incredibly fearful and dreadful, yet at the same time it also appeared to be laced with some measure of ecstasy.
It suddenly dawned on Jun Xiaomo that if a person remained trapped within the spirit tool for too long, the dark, vile energy lingering within would most certainly cause people to go mad, even if their bodies were not consumed by the powerful fireballs.
After the appearance of the first fireball, several more began to hurtle towards Jun Xiaomo in quick succession. Fortunately, Jun Xiaomo’s cultivation was already at the elementary-tier Nascent Soul stage, and both her reaction speed and defensive abilities allowed her to react timeously. Otherwise, she would already have been reduced to a pool of blood by now.
Then, after evading the spirit tool’s attacks for what seemed to be an incredibly long time, Jun Xiaomo suddenly tripped over something on the ground, and the fireball that would otherwise have been easy to avoid hurtled straight towards Jun Xiaomo!
Jun Xiaomo’s pupils constricted anxiously.
“Careful!” A low voice boomed out behind her. In the very next moment, she felt a powerful force pull her from behind, narrowly avoiding the fireball by a hair’s breadth.
Jun Xiaomo’s back slammed into a firm, steadfast chest.
“Brother Rong?”
Jun Xiaomo immediately recognized the voice of the person who had rescued her, and she whipped her head around.
Instantly, she was greeted by the macabre sight of Rong Ruihan’s bloodied appearance.