Chapter 413 – An Eternal Instant
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In the skies above Blood Demon Island, Lin Ming stood atop Fireshine’s back. He had the soul jade slip in one hand, and the Purple Comet Spear in the other. He stood upright atop the Vermillion Bird, his long hair scattered in the wind, his murderous intent wantonly overflowing.
Underneath Lin Ming, Fireshine seemed to sense his killing intent. Fireshine gave keening cry, and all the red fog around was burnt to nothingness by flames!
According to the signal from the soul jade slip, he was already very close to Qin Xingxuan. But, the soul jade slip could only sense a vague location within a few dozen miles around. Lin Ming still needed to find her himself.
At this time, Lin Ming had extended his sense to the limit, carefully investigating the area around him. “Mm? A blood demon’s corpse!”
In a mountain valley below, there were several pools of wretched looking blood. These were left behind after a blood demon died and melted away. But judging by the looks of these blood pools, they had been recently killed.
There had been a battle here!
Lin Ming let Fireshine slow down. He stood on Fireshine’s back, closing out all six senses of his body and entering the ethereal martial intent state. Now, there was only his perception left behind. It was like the ripples of a lake that were spreading out in all directions.
That thick blood fog was pierced through by his perception!
Currently, almost all that Lin Ming saw in his mind’s eye was a world of red. He felt the lurking blood demons that were hiding in the blood fog, waiting to ambush someone, and he also felt the bones buried within the dark red soil.
“Mm? This is… a battle? There are people fighting!”
Lin Ming’s eyes shot open, and thunder flashed in his pupils. He felt that in the distance, a group of martial artists were in a desperate life or death struggle with blood demons.
“Fireshine, go!”
Fireshine gave a shrill cry and spread its wings. The surrounding red fog was twisted into a giant vortex with the gale wings.
“One… two… three… five in total!” Lin Ming’s perception of the world was becoming increasingly clear. There were a total of five people that were fighting dozens of blood demons. And of these five individuals, besides the strongest of them, the rest were in a tragic state!
“No… I’m wrong… there’s not just five, there are six people. But one is already on the verge of death! Their true essence fluctuation is too weak, I almost didn’t feel it!”
As Lin Ming sensed the existence of this sixth person, he felt an inexplicable sense of grief and loss. It was like someone had stabbed a sword into his heart and twisted it!
“Xingxuan… is that you?”
Lin Ming bit his lips until the skin broke and he bled. With Fireshine’s speed, the time it would take to fly this distance was only several breaths of time. But to Lin Ming, this time seemed to be over 100 years long!
At this moment when that group that contained six lives, one of the fires of life was suddenly extinguished. Now there were only five left!
In a short instant, someone had died!
Lin Ming’s breath caught in his chest. He trembled as he looked down, and saw that the soul jade slip hadn’t broken.
It wasn’t Qin Xingxuan!
Xingxuan… was still alive!
As this thought just flashed in Lin Ming’s mind, he suddenly heard the horrifying ‘ka ka ka’ sound emit from the jade slip!
The soul jade slip shook, and seemed as if something heavy were crushing it. On the very top of the jade slip, a thin, small crack appeared!
In that instant, Lin Ming only felt as if his own heart had been ripped out. His eyes filled with blood, and his eyes caught on the soul jade slip. That small crack finally stopped spreading!
Qin Ziya’s face filled with utter sadness. “It’s breaking… it’s breaking… although it hasn’t split yet, but…”
They were a step too late! Once a jade slip cracked even a bit, that proved that Qin Xingxuan’s life had received a massive amount of damage, a point of no return. At most, she would only be able to survive for 10 more days!
Lin Ming didn’t even speak a single word, remaining silent. Because of Lin Ming’s silence, the surrounding atmosphere became oppressive like they were in a pool of viscous blood.
This invisible pressure even frightened Qin Ziya, causing him to feel a tinge of fear. He wanted to speak, but found that there was nothing to say…
……………………..
“Junior-apprentice Sister Qin!”
With a clear cry, Qin Yao slammed down on her zither, producing a series of notes that exploded behind Qin Xingxuan, throwing away the blood demon that had attached itself to her back, destroying it.
However, as that blood demon was destroyed, it had already sucked away the last wisp of Qin Xingxuan’s blood essence. She had eaten the Blood Burning Pill, but the truth was that Qin Xingxuan had long ago run out of blood essence!
At this time, from head to toe, there was not a single hint of color on Qin Xingxuan. Her clothes were torn, her lips shivered, and she was just like a dying person who was thrown into an icy storm, freezing to death.
She could have sliced apart the blood demon that had attacked her, but Qin Xingxuan actually didn’t have any strength left to lift a sword.
“Senior-apprentice Sister Qin Yao… leave me…” Qin Xingxuan’s eyes were full of tears; she didn’t want to drag her friend Qin Yao down with her.
Half a year ago, Qin Xingxuan had met Qin Yao when she was at the Seven Profound Valleys. The two of them had a very good friendship. Qin Yao was older than her by four years. Her talent was mediocre, but she still wanted to try and reach the Xiantian realm. Thus, she had risked danger to come to Blood Demon Island.
During this month on Blood Demon Island, Qin Yao was like a big sister who constantly looked over Qin Xingxuan’s well-being. Through their adversities, they had become closer. If it wasn’t for Qin Yao, Qin Xingxuan would have long since died.
During the month she had been on Blood Demon Island, Qin Xingxuan was confused. She had no idea what she was fighting day and night for. Lin Ming had died. Her Qin Family was under the control of others. And under the suppression of the giant force known as the Seven Profound Martial House, even her master Mister Muyi was unable to do anything, along with her grandfather. Now, all that she could do was wait for the newly crowned emperor to fabricate a false charge against her Qin Family, and the heads of all her family members would roll onto the ground!
She didn’t want to yield. So, she persisted, she fought, she revolted as far as she could. She wasn’t ready to resign herself to such a tragic destiny. But she thought that even if she persevered and continued to live longer, so what?
She simply could not resist the existence known as Ouyang Boyan!
She wasn’t willing to die like this. But everything she did only added to the fun that Ouyang Boyan had, watching her suffer in pain!
Confusion.
Helplessness.
Despair.
In her fragile mind, the endless blood demons around her coalesced into a massive ancient monster, as if it was ready to swallow her soul…
“Junior-apprentice Sister Qin, over here!”
Qin Yao played several dozen notes, blocking the five or six blood demons that rushed at Qin Xingxuan. But Qin Xingxuan’s true essence was exhausted, and she had no blood essence left. She simply couldn’t activate any movement technique to escape.
In that brief moment, Qin Yao and Qin Xingxuan were surrounded by blood demons. The two of them had been completely cut off from Ou Xiong and his group.
Ou Xiong turned to look at them, the corners of his lips curving up an a demonic smile. “Zither Faction, Sword Faction, all they can produce are righteous idiots like this. Qin Yao knows perfectly well that she’ll die if she stays, and yet she still won’t leave. Well then, she can be buried here with Qin Xingxuan. This is also good, the two of them are enough for the blood demons to eat.”
As for Ou Xiong’s two Acacia Faction junior-apprentice brothers, as they saw Qin Xingxuan and Qin Yao being surrounded by the mob of blood demons, their faces were full of regret. They didn’t regret Qin Yao and Qin Xingxuan’s deaths, but rather that these delicious and drool-worthy beauties would be spoiled by the blood demons before they had the chance to sample them…
The three of them began to kill their way out of the encirclement. As for that Array Faction disciple, he had already been sucked dry by blood demons a moment ago. The Array Faction disciple had the weakest combat strength. When he had been surrounded by blood demons, he had called out for help. But, Ou Xiong and his two junior-apprentice brothers naturally didn’t bother to save him, lest they be dragged down and suffer the same miserable fate as him.
“Mm? What’s that?”
As Ou Xiong chopped a blood demon into pieces, he suddenly looked up and saw that a mass of flames was rapidly approached them at an amazing speed!
“Vermillion… Vermillion Bird? It’s someone from Divine Phoenix Island!” Ou Xiong was immediately overjoyed.
They were saved! Even Ou Xiong didn’t have absolute confidence that he would be able to break out of this tight encirclement. After all, there were still two high level blood demons that weren’t much weaker than he was.
“Here! Over here!” Ou Xiong began to wildly shout, fearing that this person wouldn’t see or hear them. He promised to himself that after he escaped from here alive, he would never come back to Blood Demon Island. He would hug his seven or eight concubines to sleep – to hell with the Xiantian realm!
Ou Xiong waved his sword, signaling to the Vermillion Bird. The Vermillion Bird was really flying in his direction, but… it wasn’t slowing down!
As he saw the Vermillion Bird expanding in his eyes with terrifying speed, Ou Xiong was petrified. A figure leapt down from the Vermillion Bird!
Bang!!
An inferno of flames gushed out like a wave!
Lin Ming’s spear swept out; over 20 blood demons were directly turned to nothing but ash! Even the two high level blood demons that were equal to a Houtian realm martial artist were instantly killed!
Ou Xiong and his two junior-apprentice brothers were sent flying backwards. They landed flat on the ground, dazed like dead dogs. Ou Xiong’s eyes were wide, he couldn’t believe what was happening. It was a spear! Only a spear! And yet two high level blood demons and over 20 blood demons were instantly killed!
Who… just who was this!?
As the terrifying explosive shock wave swept over them, Qin Yao was frightened. However, she was surrounded by blood demons and didn’t know what had happened.
She had paused, but in that moment of delay, a blood demon leapt towards her, and two other blood demons also leapt towards Qin Xingxuan!
Qin Yao grit her teeth, and the zither in her hands burst with notes. But, she had consumed too much true essence. Although these notes exploded from her zither, she was unable to fend off three blood demons!
“Junior-apprentice Sister Qin, be careful!” Qin Yao loudly shouted.
Lin Ming’s eyes were like electricity. He was able to clearly determine the situation from 200 feet away. But in this instant, these 200 feet seemed like an eternity!
200 feet distance, but only an instant in time!
Lin Ming’s eyes emitted a savage and utterly brutal light.
The power of Tempering Marrow burst out from within his bones.
Heretical God Force – open!
Every strength he had was unleashed to the limit.
“Die!!!!”
Bang!!!
The rocks under Lin Ming’s feet suddenly blew up, the shattered stones flying dozens of feet into the air. Lin Ming shot forwards like a bolt of lightning. With the Purple Comet Spear in hand, he was like an avatar of thunder!
Hu!
Lin Ming’s skeleton issued out crackling sounds through his entire body. A glorious dragon roar emerged from his depths, shooting straight into the sky!
“Divine Demon Thunder Soul!”
The Purple Flood Dragon Divine Thunder was the ultimate suppressive power against demons and ghosts.
But, the Blood Extinguishing Demon Thunder was just the opposite: it could instead absorb their power!
Regardless of which one it was, both of them were the absolute nemesis of blood demons!
Within Lin Ming’s body, the Heretical God Seed began to howl in elation. Lin Ming’s figure was completely enveloped by the phantom of an Azure Dragon. The Divine Demon Thunder Soul fused into the Purple Comet Spear; the power of thunder flared out!
The terrifying purple and red dual-colored lightning formed a vast net of electricity that came crashing down!
Bang!
All of the blood demons that surrounded Qin Xingxuan and Qin Yao were instantly and completely exterminated!
When a normal martial artist killed a blood demon, the blood demon would become a puddle of blood on the ground. But when Lin Ming hand instantly killed them, the blood demons had actually turned to ash, without a single drop of blood remaining!
Qin Yao was utterly stunned. She watched helplessly as the horde of blood demons around her were instantly turned into floating ash, annihilated in a single second without being able to offer an ounce of resistance. She felt as if she were living a dream. Just… what was going on?
However, Qin Xingxuan stood there in the same place, her body swaying as she stared at Lin Ming, her face devoid of any color.
Slowly, her once dim eyes began to fill with a range of emotions.
Joy…
Affection…
Happiness…
Contentment…
No regrets.
Her lips bent awkwardly. She wanted to smile, but she failed to.
Then, she began to fall over, like a broken butterfly in the late autumn cold…