North of Xianzhou City, Wen Liubing and Yu Xinghe quickly searched the last remaining house, finally finding Feng Yun, dressed in red, atop a hill.
Feng Yun's fiery red robes resembled a wedding gown. She seemed to have anticipated their return, tilting her head slightly and smiling sweetly.
"Oh, isn't this the spirit of the divine artifact?" she said with a smile. "You've actually come too. It seems even Heaven is helping me."
Yu Xinghe was taken aback, not understanding what she was talking about. Seeing that his senior brother Sanshui remained silent, he could only maintain appearances and try to remain calm, saying, "City Lord Feng, you shouldn't have colluded with the demonic cultivators. It's not too late to turn back now."
Hearing such naive words, Feng Yun laughed even more heartily. She parted her red lips slightly and slowly said, "You really are..."
Before she could finish speaking, Wen Liubing, holding the Lanting Sword, thrust it forward without a word.
Wen Liubing never wasted words in battle, preferring to fight rather than talk. He was utterly impatient after hearing Feng Yun's brief exchange, showing no mercy whatsoever, and thrust his sword forward.
Feng Yun seemed to have anticipated his temperament. She chuckled, drew twin swords from her sleeve, and parried Wen Liubing's Lanting sword.
A demonic rune slowly crept across her beautiful face, even her pupils turning red.
Wen Liubing, too lazy to waste words, exerted all his strength, knocking one of her swords away with two clangs. The blade spun many times in the air before embedding itself in the ground in front of Yu Xinghe.
Yu Xinghe: "..."
Yu Xinghe turned and ran. Given his senior brother's formidable fighting style, he might not even have time to spare before being cleaved in two.
He fled.
Yu Xinghe only ran a few steps, found some cover, and turned around to see his senior brother had already finished the fight in no time. The Lanting Sword was pressed against Feng Yun's neck, leaving a bloody mark on her fair skin from the close proximity.
Yu Xinghe: "..."
Yu Xinghe felt incredibly cowardly.
Wen Liubing glanced at him coldly and said, "You're here to help me?"
Yu Xinghe almost cried, sobbing as he ran over, "I'm sorry, senior brother, I was wrong."
Wen Liubing's eyes were practically screaming "little good-for-nothing."
Yu Xinghe was indeed timid and afraid of death, terrified of pain. He timidly crossed his arms and whispered to his senior brother, "Xinghe... what should Xinghe do?"
Wen Liubing looked at him, calmly looked away, and said indifferently, "Just don't talk."
Let him be a mascot.
Yu Xinghe immediately shut his mouth, indicating he was about to begin practicing silent meditation.
Wen Liubing turned to the trapped Feng Yun and coldly said, "Did you set up the formation in Xianzhou City? What exactly is it? Speak."
Even with a sword to her neck, Feng Yun's expression remained calm, as if she had long since disregarded life and death. She slowly said, "What's the panic? Once the formation activates, you'll know..."
Before she could finish, Wen Liubing plunged his sword into her body, drawing blood.
Feng Yun's beautiful eyes widened suddenly, and she staggered to the ground.
Wen Liubing didn't kill her instantly, carefully controlling his strength to keep her from dying, and said in a deep voice, "Don't waste your breath. Answer my questions."
Feng Yun laughed upon hearing this, a trace of blood sliding down her lips: "You might as well just kill me."
Wen Liubing's eyes flickered. Seeing that she truly had no intention of speaking, he raised his sword, intending to finish her off.
Yu Xinghe was stunned. Although he had long known that his senior brother was decisive and ruthless, this was the first time he had witnessed it firsthand.
Seeing Feng Yun about to die easily under his sword, Yu Xinghe finally snapped out of his daze and rushed forward, frantically waving his hands, begging his senior brother to spare her!
Wen Liubing glanced at him impatiently and said, "Speak."
Yu Xinghe finally broke his silence and hurriedly said, "Master told us to find the formation. If you kill her, what about the formation?"
Wen Liubing said, "Master only said not to activate the formation. If I kill her, won't the formation stop working?"
Yu Xinghe: "..."
Yu Xinghe was dumbfounded. Thinking about it carefully, it seemed to make sense.
Feng Yun smiled, her cheeks covered in bloodstains, like a blooming flower: "So you came here to find the formation?"
She raised her hand and gently pointed to Xianzhou below the hill, smiling as she said, "But the formation has already been activated."
Wen Liubing's pupils contracted, and he immediately swung his sword, directly destroying Feng Yun's dantian.
Feng Yun's eyes trembled, and her pupils slowly dilated.
Yu Xinghe was stunned by his ruthlessness, remaining speechless for a long time.
Wen Liubing drew his sword without blinking, coldly looking at Yu Xinghe, and said, "What are you looking at?"
Yu Xinghe was taken aback, then quickly shook his head.
Wen Liubing's eyes were full of annoyance; this was the first time he hadn't completed the task his master had assigned him.
He sheathed his sword, turned, and left: "Let's go find Master."
He wanted to go back and apologize, hoping his master wouldn't punish him by making him copy books.
Yu Xinghe hurriedly followed: "Yes!"
Yu Xinghe took a few steps, then, as if possessed, glanced back.
Feng Yun wasn't completely dead yet. Her unfocused pupils stared blankly at the birds flying in the sky, and for some reason, a slow smile crept onto her lips.
Yu Xinghe paused, thinking he was seeing things. Just as he was about to look closer, Wen Liubing said, "Yu Xinghe?"
Yu Xinghe frowned, and whispered, "Senior brother, I feel like..."
Wen Liubing turned back. Yu Xinghe pointed at Feng Yun lying in a pool of blood, tentatively finishing his last sentence: "She doesn't seem to be dead yet."
Wen Liubing frowned deeply.
Feng Yun was on her last breath, likely only a few more. Wen Liubing could clearly sense her meridians drying up bit by bit.
Wen Liubing frowned. He was waiting to report to his master, but he wasn't the type to leave an enemy alive. He reluctantly walked back, intending to finish her off with the Lanting Sword.
But as he drew the sword, Feng Yun, who had been on the verge of death, seemed to have received some kind of divine intervention. Her shattered core was enveloped by a stream of blood, slowly recovering.
Wen Liubing's eyes widened suddenly.
In an instant, the life force draining from Feng Yun's body reappeared like withered trees springing back to life.
Wen Liubing stared in disbelief. Yu Xinghe had only spoken instinctively, but seeing someone who should have died suddenly resurrected startled him as well.
Wen Liubing's eyes flashed with a fierce light: "Mermaid."
Feng Yun slowly rose from the ground, her face streaked with tears, which she casually wiped away.
"Commander of the Demon Slayers, is this all you've got?" Feng Yun wept, yet her smile remained radiant.
Mermaids are difficult to kill easily as long as they retain their heart's blood.
Wen Liubing's eyes were cold: "You know Sang Luofu?"
Feng Yun replied slowly: "Yes, she was my last kin."
Sang Luofu died at the hands of Lin Shuhe and Shen Gurong.
She gently raised her hand, a drop of blood appearing in her palm. With just a drop, Shen Gurong's illusory figure appeared before her.
He was slowly walking towards Li Genglan, sword in hand.
Wen Liubing's pupils contracted.
"Luofu and I are the last two mermaids in the Three Realms. To prevent any mishaps for the other, we exchanged our heart's blood," Feng Yun said calmly. "And now, her last drop of heart's blood is within Shen Feng Xue's body."
She had been using Luofu's other drop of heart's blood to spy on Shen Gurong's every move.
This was also why Li Genglan and the others had always been able to accurately know Shen Gurong's whereabouts and plans.
Wen Liubing gripped his sword tightly, charging forward without a word.
But the moment he moved, Feng Yun chuckled, raising her hand to inject a burst of spiritual energy into the drop of heart's blood. Shen Gurong, who had been walking slowly, suddenly swayed, nearly falling.
Shen Gurong clutched his chest, his expression a mixture of shock, confusion, and barely suppressed pain.
Wen Liubing's face paled, but his steps froze.
"You!"
Feng Yun smiled, looking at Shen Gurong's face contorted in pain. "The feeling of having the arrogant Holy Lord Shen under my control is truly wonderful. I'm actually a little reluctant to let him die."
Wen Liubing glared at her fiercely.
"Come and kill me," Feng Yun said with a smile. "This time, don't destroy the yuandan; just destroy my heart's blood. Having Holy Lord Shen accompany me on the road to the Yellow Springs wouldn't be bad."
Wen Liubing's knuckles turned white; he almost crushed the sword hilt, but he no longer dared to be as reckless as before.
Yu Xinghe hadn't expected things to turn out this way and stared at her in astonishment.
Feng Yun watched as Shen Gurong stood up straight, his expression unchanged, and smiled. "Since things have come to this, I can tell you about the formation."
She pointed to the ground. The blood Wen Liubing had stabbed seemed alive, slowly writhing on the ground, gradually forming a blood-red magic circle.
Wen Liubing instinctively wanted to shatter the formation, but hesitated to act rashly, mindful of Shen Gurong's control by the mermaid's tear.
"This is the formation of the Record of the Capital."
She raised her hand and pointed to the center of Xianzhou City: "That's the formation of the Plague Demon."
Feng Yun drew a circle in the air, encompassing the entire Xianzhou City: "And the entire Xianzhou is the formation for the correction of the Heavenly Dao."
Wen Liubing asked with difficulty: "Correct...what?"
Feng Yun didn't look at him, but stared at Yu Xinghe, a smirk playing on her lips: "Correcting the fate of a hundred years ago."
She said calmly: "Yu Xinghe, come here."
Yu Xinghe trembled under her gaze, instinctively taking a half-step back, somewhat frightened.
Feng Yun laughed, but without hesitation, she channeled a wisp of spiritual energy into the mermaid's tear.
The blow was too powerful. Shen Gurong, who had been pretending to be nonchalant, seemed to have been struck by a palm, staggering and collapsing to the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood. Yu Xinghe was startled. Even he, in his dazed state, knew his master was being manipulated. Tears welled in his eyes: "Stop...stop! I'll go, I'll go right now!"
His legs trembled as he tried to go, but Wen Liubing grabbed his hand, stopping him.
Yu Xinghe stammered, "Senior brother?"
"No...you can't go..." Wen Liubing gritted his teeth, struggling to speak, "Master told me to stop the formation from activating. You...you can't go."
Feng Yun's insistence on Yu Xinghe going to that formation meant, if he wasn't mistaken, this little good-for-nothing was definitely the key to activating it.
Wen Liubing looked at Shen Gurong lying on the ground, his eyes bloodshot, yet he gripped Yu Xinghe's hand with all his might, refusing to let him go.
He had promised his master.
Yu Xinghe trembled, incredulously saying, "But..."
"No buts!" Wen Liubing nearly broke Yu Xinghe's hand, coldly stating, "You're not allowed to go!"
Yu Xinghe seemed to be meeting Wen Liubing for the first time, bewilderedly asking, "Master is here..."
"You're not allowed to go! You're not allowed to go! I said you're not allowed to go!" Wen Liubing had finally managed to regain his composure and didn't want Yu Xinghe's words to further sway his resolve. He sternly declared, "I'm the senior brother, listen to me!"
Shen Gurong, whose spiritual veins were being torn apart bit by bit by the Mermaid's Tears, was almost vomiting blood. He struggled to his feet, desperately suppressing the urge to vomit, his eyes coldly fixed on Li Genglan five steps away.
Mu Zhe's eyes were red, and he almost rushed over recklessly: "Master!"
"Don't come any closer," Shen Gurong said coldly. "Don't approach this formation."
The aura emanating from the formation beside them was exactly the same as when the formation used to raise plague demons in Huitang City was activated. Shen Gurong glanced at it and found several plague demon corpses not far away; the aura of the plague demons must have come from them.
Shen Gurong, supporting himself with his sword, rose to his feet, looking down indifferently at Li Genglan. "What did you do to me?" he asked.
Seeing that Shen Gurong was finally looking at him properly, Li Genglan completely suppressed his rage. His eyes were now filled with a ferocious killing intent. He smiled coldly at Shen Gurong's question: "Shen Eleven, does it hurt?"
Shen Gurong flicked his Jiu Xi Sword, slowly replying, "It's alright, not even a hundred percent of what it was like during my marrow cleansing."
Seeing Shen Gurong still putting on a brave face, Li Genglan sneered, "If you don't want to die, have your disciple willingly go into that formation."
Because a portion of his consciousness had been diverted, Shen Gurong's cultivation was not at its peak. This was probably why he was being controlled by the Mermaid's Tears, which had invaded his meridians.
While confronting Li Genglan, he searched his meridians for the thing that had torn them apart, but he couldn't find it.
Mu Zhe's pupils dilated, staring at Li Genglan with a sinister glint in his eyes, wishing he could grind him to dust.
Li Genglan said, "Go ahead, do you still want to see your master suffer?"
Mu Zhe's pupils contracted.
Shen Gurong said calmly, "Mu Zhe, don't go—even if I die, I don't want to be controlled by someone like him."
Li Genglan smiled, "Is that so? Then let's try."
It felt as if countless steel nails had been driven into his meridians; a dull pain spread throughout his limbs. Shen Gurong, however, was mentally prepared. He only swayed slightly, his expression unchanged as he gripped his sword and walked towards Li Genglan.
A trickle of blood slowly flowed from the corner of his lips. He casually wiped it away, the blood staining his lips, making them appear even more vibrant red, his beauty boundless.
Although Mu Zhe couldn't discern any clues, the intense pain from the Daoist Pact was undeniable. He cried out anxiously, "Master!"
"I said don't move." Shen Gurong coldly turned and glanced at him, his eyes beneath the icy silk like unsheathed blades. "If you are bewitched and actually step into that formation, then never call me Master again."
Mu Zhe stared at him, stunned, but dared not move his feet.
The formation appeared to be only a small circle, but there was no guarantee that there weren't hidden extension formations nearby. If Mu Zhe were to slip in…
Although Shen Gurong usually joked about expelling them from the sect, now… his seemingly casual words were serious.
If Mu Zhe really entered the formation as Li Genglan wished, Shen Gurong would probably never speak to him again for the rest of his life.
Shen Gurong walked expressionlessly to Li Genglan's side, but didn't draw his sword. Instead, he gently bent down and murmured, "Do you know why I haven't killed you yet?"
Li Genglan scoffed, "Because you're indecisive."
Shen Gurong bit his lip and chuckled softly, "Indeed, I shouldn't have wasted so much time on those thousand-odd cuts. I should have ended you with a single sword strike the moment I saw you."
As he laughed, more blood flowed from the corner of his lips.
"The Records of the Capital that you saw back then, sir, should have been about me being the only one in Huitang City to become a Plague Demon and ascend to immortality, only to be killed by Li Nanyang's sword and ascend to immortality myself." Shen Gurong raised his hand and pointed to the Plague Demon formation beside him, calmly wiping the blood from his lips, saying, "And that formation wasn't for 'raising Plague Demons,' but simply for turning Mu Zhe into a Plague Demon."
"You've completed the 'Raising Plague Demon' formation from Fengdu...back to Huitang City, and turned it into this formation. As long as Mu Zhe becomes a plague demon and I kill him, I can continue what happened back then: the plague demon ascends and is then killed by Li Nanyang. That's Heaven correcting fate, isn't it?"
Even though Li Genglan was seen through, he remained unhurried: "Yes."
Shen Gurong scoffed: "What kind of righteous path is this? It's just a false imitation."
Li Genglan replied: "No, the Records of the Capital will make this the true righteous path."
Shen Gurong: "It seems you haven't gone completely mad yet, knowing this isn't the righteous path."
"Right or wrong, isn't it all written by future generations?" Li Genglan stared at Shen Gurong like a hunter eyeing its prey, his voice sinister, "As long as I win, this will be the righteous path."
Shen Gurong still said: "Ridiculous."
He straightened up slightly, looking at the formation: "I remember Senior Brother always wanted to see the Plague Demon ascend to sainthood, didn't he? Since that's the case, I'll help Senior Brother out."
Li Genglan's eyes flickered slightly, as if deliberately provoking him: "How does the taste of mermaid tears feel? Your meridians should be almost completely shattered. Even if you kill me now, Feng Yun won't let you off easily."
Mu Zhe almost gasped for breath upon hearing this.
Shen Gurong seemed completely unaffected, showing no sign of the torment his meridians had suffered. He raised an eyebrow, didn't waste any words with Li Genglan, grabbed Li Genglan's collar, and threw him into the Plague Demon's formation.
Instantly, the formation was violently...
He activated the formation, and a burst of red light shot straight into the sky, completely engulfing his figure.
Within the formation, the plague virus crawled densely onto Li Genglan's body. Li Genglan screamed, his body covered in blood, his eyes bloodshot.
Shen Gurong watched with interest, saying, "Senior brother, my teacher was a hermit, detached from the karma of the three realms. Those who returned to Huitang City don't need to count him. If you become a plague demon and kill me, then you will also become a plague demon and ascend to sainthood."
He took a step forward, looking down at the ridiculous Li Genglan, his eyes filled with contempt, and whispered, "Ascend with the one you value most... Li Nanyang, isn't that what you've always wanted?"
Li Genglan trembled, his voice ripping as he roared, "Shen Feng Xue—I will definitely kill you!"
Shen Gurong, hands in his sleeves, glanced at him lazily, his expression saying, "Your insults against Shen Feng Xue have nothing to do with me, Shen Gurong."
Seeing the formation finally activated, Mu Zhe rushed over and pulled Shen Gurong into his arms, his fingers trembling. "Master, you..."
Shen Gurong's lips were still stained with blood, yet he maintained a calm demeanor. He chuckled, "What, worried about Master? He's just trying to scare someone as clueless as you. Who in the Three Realms could easily shatter my meridians?"
Seeing him struggling to stay composed, his eyes reddening, Mu Zhe said with difficulty, "The Daoist Pact... can sense it."
Shen Gurong: "..."
Shen Gurong choked, suddenly feeling a pang of guilt.
Mu Zhe frantically grasped his hand, stammering, "Master... please... kiss me. My spiritual power can heal your meridian injuries."
Shen Gurong looked at him strangely. He held Mu Zhe's wrist, his fingertips tracing suggestive circles along his pulse, slowly saying, "You think my kiss just now was really just to restore my spiritual power?"
Mu Zhe was stunned.
“Fool.” Shen Gurong sighed softly. Restoring spiritual energy by pressing palms together was the most convenient method.
Seeing Mu Zhe so anxious, Shen Gurong felt inexplicably guilty. He coughed, feeling it necessary to tell Mu Zhe his next plan; otherwise, he might not be able to coax him back later.
“Mu Zhe.” He pulled down Mu Zhe's collar, leaned close to his ear, and whispered a few words.
Upon hearing this, Mu Zhe immediately gripped his hand tightly and shouted, "No!"
Shen Gurong said, "Anyway, I've already told you. You can't be angry with me later."
Mu Zhe was almost bursting with anger: "Just kill him directly! Why take such a risk?!"
Shen Gurong sighed silently, gently placing Mu Zhe's hand over his eyes, and whispered, "Do you know that even though I've already overcome my inner demons, the spiritual barrier in my eyes hasn't disappeared? Why is that?"
Mu Zhe followed his train of thought, stunned, and asked, "Why?"
"I still have a deeper inner demon to overcome," Shen Gurong said lightly. "If I can't kill Li Genglan, I'm afraid I'll never have peace of mind for the rest of my life."
Mu Zhe said anxiously, "He..."
"There he is. You could have just killed him."
Shen Gurong shook his head: "No, in the wooden house outside the city, I found that he seemed to be clinging to life with mermaid tears. Once mermaid tears enter the meridians, they are very difficult to find. He cannot be easily killed, not even by this formation. I have to find another way. If he activates the Record of the Capital formation to reverse the Heavenly Dao, that would suit me perfectly."
"Mermaid tears?"
"Yes." Shen Gurong patted his chest and said, "The strangeness in my body should be related to the mermaid tear from Sang Luofu."
Over the years, he had never allowed strangers or things to approach him. Thinking carefully, the only mermaid tear he had used to dispel the Heavenly Tribulation was from outside, and Sang Luofu was one of Li Genglan's subordinates.
Shen Gurong chuckled slightly. At sixteen, he indeed had no sense of vigilance towards his surroundings, using mermaid tears without even checking them.
However, since Lin Shuhe said it could be used, it must have worked fine at the time. It's just unclear why the mermaid's tears could still be used even though Sang Luofu was clearly dead.
"I'll definitely find Sixth Senior Brother when I get back and extort a hefty sum from him." Lin Shuhe, sunbathing outside the clinic, sneezed violently.
Just as Shen Gurong finished speaking to Mu Zhe, sure enough, something strange began to happen within the formation.
The red light seemed to burn with scorching flames, enveloping Li Genglan's entire body, emitting a fierce burning sound.
It was as if… his bones were burning.
Shen Gurong's eyes flickered slightly. He took a step forward, but his body, unable to hold on any longer, staggered and collapsed to the ground, clutching his lips as he uncontrollably coughed up blood.
He only had time to say to Mu Zhe, "Protect my body," before his consciousness slowly faded.
He stared at the flames, his last thought aloud, "Phoenix...feathers?" Shen Gurong seemed to hear Mu Zhe's mournful voice, but his ears were ringing, and he couldn't make out what he was saying.
"Right, Xue Manzhuang said the Demon Lord stole his phoenix feathers..."
Meanwhile, Xue Manzhuang had easily found the Demon Lord by following the demonic aura. He was engulfed in flames, his long sword piercing the Demon Lord's body, pinning him to the city wall, blood flowing everywhere.
Xue Manzhuang's eyes were filled with chilling killing intent. He expressionlessly unleashed a phoenix fire, the flames faintly illuminating half of his face.
"Where is your demon core?" Xue Manzhuang coldly demanded. "Where is your cultivation? Where are my phoenix feathers?"
The Demon Lord seemed drained of all life force, his face aged, his hair and eyebrows white, breathing labored. Looking like he was nearing death, he gasped a few times and smiled, saying, "My son, it's been a long time."
Xue Manzhuang frowned, violently twisting his longsword, almost crushing the Demon Lord's internal organs. He coldly said, "Don't call me that. You are not my father."
The Demon Lord coughed up blood, saying, "I raised you for so many years, and you don't even remember?"
"You raised me only for the demon..."
"The throne of the Lord," Xue Manzhuang said. "If I weren't a phoenix, you would have killed me long ago, just as you did to the Nine-Tailed Fox clan."
The Demon Lord laughed: "You're quite insightful."
Xue Manzhuang said: "Answer me, where is your demon core? Where are my feathers?"
The Demon Lord probably knew his end was near, so he didn't hide anything: "I gave them to Li Genglan."
Xue Manzhuang: "What?!"
"Demonic cultivators cannot be infected by the plague, otherwise they will surely die. But with the demon core and phoenix feathers, he can reshape his body and become a ghost cultivator." The Demon Lord's aura grew weaker and weaker, his voice grew softer and softer.
Xue Manzhuang grabbed him, fed him a drop of phoenix blood, keeping him half-dead, and said coldly: "You risked your own life to help Li Genglan, why?! Answer me, then die!"
The Demon Lord's eyes were already unfocused. In his daze, he seemed to see a blood-soaked phoenix flying towards him, even his eyes reflecting that fiery light.
He murmured, "Phoenix..."
Xue Manzhuang roared, "Speak!!!"
The Demon Lord ignored him, softly saying, "Ah, I remember..." He raised his hand, as if to touch the illusory phoenix before him, its multicolored feathers almost touching his palm.
"Back then..." The Demon Lord's fingertips barely grazed the fiery feathers; even with his life on the line, he couldn't touch the phoenix's feathers.
"I just wanted... to be closer to those magnificent feathers." He would have been content just to be near those flame-like feathers.
Why, after hundreds of years, had he become like this?
Because of greed? Because of resentment?
No one could answer him. The Demon Lord's hand fell limply, drops of blood from his fingertips falling slowly into the pool of blood.
Silence.
Xue Manzhuang stared at him blankly for a long time before angrily drawing his long sword, leaving a bloody trail as it fell to the ground. He shouted sharply, "Useless! Bastard!"
The Demon Lord's body instantly reverted to its original form after death. It was a grey-feathered pheasant.
Xue Manzhuang stared blankly for a long time, and for some reason, two lines of tears suddenly fell.
As a child, the Demon Lord adored his feathers. Every time he saw Xue Manzhuang's true form, the expression in his eyes was something the young Xue Manzhuang couldn't understand.
Only now did he vaguely recognize it.
It was admiration.
It was jealousy.
It was… a self-mocking, pathetic laughability.
Can one disguise a phoenix by attaching colorful feathers to grey feathers?
Is the grand, righteous path disguised by the Records of the Capital truly the Way of Heaven?
Wen Liubing still held Yu Xinghe's hand tightly, not loosening his grip an inch even as he saw the blood continuously flowing from Shen Gurong's lips.
"That's not the right path, not the way of Heaven," Wen Liubing said coldly. "It's just your ugly selfishness trying to impose on others."
Yu Xinghe stamped his feet anxiously, "Senior Brother, Master! Master will die!"
Wen Liubing's fingertips dug deeply into his palms, blood seeping between them, but he still insisted, his eyes red, "No, no."
Yu Xinghe: "Look at Master..."
Wen Liubing said sternly, "If you enter that formation, you will die!"
Yu Xinghe trembled, but somehow found the courage to say, "I'm not afraid!"
Wen Liubing was exasperated, grabbing Yu Xinghe's shoulder, his jaw clenched, and said coldly, "If you're not afraid, I'd rather kill you with a single blow right now than let you enter that formation!"
Over the years, Wen Liubing had encountered countless demons and monsters, and witnessed countless formations, but none had ever instilled such fear in him.
Just now, when Feng Yun saw the two, her first words were "Divine Artifact Spirit." Her gaze was fixed on Yu Xinghe.
Wen Liubing didn't know what a spirit was, but he was certain that the one these people wanted most, or rather, the one the formation lacked most, was Yu Xinghe.
Wen Liubing had a premonition that if Yu Xinghe entered the formation, his master would definitely not forgive him.
But… Shen Gurong seemed to have lost consciousness, while Feng Yun was still continuously channeling spiritual energy into the mermaid's tears.
Master would die…
The formation couldn't be activated…
But Master would die.
Wen Liubing had never known that making the next decision would be so difficult.
Just then, someone murmured behind him, "Brother…" Wen Liubing turned around and saw a girl standing expressionlessly behind him, her eyes fixed on Feng Yun with a gloomy gaze.
Wen Liubing was stunned: "Xiwu?"
The demonic energy in Shen Xi Wu's consciousness had been completely dispelled by the Soul-Separating Pearl. She stared at the phantom of Shen Gurong in front of Feng Yun, her pupils contracting violently.
"How dare you do this to him?!" Shen Xiwu murmured, "How dare you..."
She could no longer contain her inner rage. Her figure shot forward like an arrow, a ghostly figure rushing towards Feng Yun.
Caught off guard, Feng Yun hadn't expected her to charge directly at her. Her first instinct was to crush the mermaid tear, but before she could close her fingers, countless snakes appeared from all directions. One spirit snake bit her wrist.
A sharp pain shot through her, but Feng Yun still used all her strength, straining for a moment. The mermaid tear shattered, blood flowing down between her fingers.
The phantom before her vanished instantly. Shen Xiwu grabbed Feng Yun by the neck and slammed her to the ground with a loud thud.
"I'm going to kill you!!!" Shen Xiwu had clearly overcome her inner demons, but now she was even more frenzied than if she had been possessed by a demon. Her stance looked like she was about to strangle Feng Yun to death.
Wen Liubing's breath hitched. He didn't have time to think about Shen Gurong's condition; there was no need to hesitate now. With a ruthless resolve, he drew his Lanting Sword, flinging Yu Xinghe backward. The unstoppable sword intent surged towards Feng Yun's heart.
Yu Xinghe collapsed to the ground, his eyes glazed, staring blankly at the vanishing phantom.
Before the phantom disappeared, Shen Gurong's hand suddenly dropped.
"I...I killed Master." Yu Xinghe stared blankly into the void, his whole body trembling.
I...killed Master again.
He froze.
Again?
What does "again" mean?
These words seemed to trigger a reaction. The Bamboo flute, the Record of the Capital, which Yu Xinghe had casually placed in his storage ring, suddenly emitted a bright light, flew out on its own, and circled Yu Xinghe a few times.
Yu Xinghe's eyes closed slightly in the light. When he opened them again, a strange line of words flashed before his eyes.
"In the twenty-third year of Yongping, Yu Xinghe entered the Burial Mound."
Yu Xinghe was stunned.
What… the Burial Mound?
He instinctively stood up, reaching out to grab his master's bamboo flute.
The Record of the Capital formation had an instinctive attraction to the bamboo flute; it seemed to be pulled, drifting backward little by little. Yu Xinghe, as if possessed, followed the flute a few steps, and when he came to his senses, he had uncontrollably stepped into the formation.
The Record of the Capital suddenly emitted a burst of bloody light, enveloping Yu Xinghe entirely.
At the same time, the Plague Ghost Formation and the Record of the Capital Formation activated simultaneously, triggering the massive formation enveloping the entire Xianzhou.
Shen Gurong leaned against Mu Zhe's chest, his slender white fingers drooping slightly, the jade marrow in his palm rolling to the ground, still containing a wisp of lingering spiritual energy.
***
In a small wooden cabin by the lake outside Xianzhou City, Shen Gurong's distracted state snapped back to reality. He clutched his chest and coughed up blood.
Lin Xia Chun, leaning against Shen Gurong and clutching a few strands of his silky white hair, looked up blankly: "Master, you've come to pick me up."
Shen Gurong, still lying on the ground, coughed up blood again with difficulty. After a long while, he said irritably, "Do I look like I've come to pick you up?"
Lin Xia Chun: "..."
Lin Xia Chun timidly let down the lock of hair, lest Shen Gurong notice the blood from his claws staining the white hair and scold him—but now Shen Gurong was covered in blood and no longer cared about the dirt.
Lin Xia Chun stammered, "You were beaten up?" Having followed Shen Gurong for so many years, this was the first time Lin Xia Chun had seen him so disheveled.
Shen Gurong closed his eyes, finding himself covered in blood. His original body's meridians weren't broken, though he was in considerable pain, while the meridians of his divided spirit body were shattered beyond recognition, as if stirred by a violent storm.
Fortunately, the Daoist Pact had protected his heart meridians, preventing the uncontrolled Mermaid Tear from completely crushing all his spiritual meridians.
He said weakly, "There's a small matter."
Lin Xia Chun nodded quickly upon hearing it was a small matter, "That's good."
Small matters were good; he preferred simplicity.
Shen Gurong casually tossed him a dagger, closed his eyes again, and weakly said, "Take this and find the escaped Mermaid Tear within this body."
He had searched all the meridians in his original body but couldn't find the rampaging Mermaid Tear, so it must have been transferred to this divided spirit body.
Lin Xia Chun, gripping the dagger, stared blankly. "Huh? Find it? How?"
Shen Gurong was exhausted. Leaning against Lin Xia Chun, he was on the verge of death, struggling even to breathe. "Find it however you like, even if it cuts open your meridians, just find it within a quarter of an hour… If you can't find it, the Mermaid Tears will kill this avatar, and my main body will be severely injured. You won't be returning to Sword Pavilion either."
Lin Xiachun: "…"
He was completely stunned. This was… a small matter?
After Shen Gurong finished speaking, he suddenly felt a warm sensation on his lips. He raised his hand and gently touched his lips, finding nothing there, but the sensation remained, continuously channeling pure spiritual energy into him.
The spiritual energy gradually smoothed out the shattered meridians within his body, but soon the out-of-control Mermaid Tears rampaged and shattered his meridians again.
Shen Gurong was stunned for a moment, then realized…
The sensations of what Mu Zhe was doing to his main body were being transmitted through his spiritual energy to his divided body.
Shen Gurong: “…”
Shen Gurong suddenly blushed for no apparent reason.
It was something perfectly normal, so why… was it more erotic and shameful than being bitten on the back of the neck in broad daylight?
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