Chapter 30: Foundation Establishment vs. Post-Heaven & Spirit Condensation
Daoist Ziyang wanted to live.
Everything he had done was for the sake of living.
Even if the price of his survival was the sacrifice of countless young lives.
Luo Xue’s destruction of the Xuanyin Puppet Refining Formation had disturbed the source of the Yin Breath Poison in the depths of Mount Fengyin.
A large amount of Yin Breath Poison was released, and Daoist Ziyang was powerless to resist.
His limit was between 0.3 and 0.4, and he had to constantly maintain his protective spiritual power.
Therefore, when he realized this, Daoist Ziyang abandoned his pursuit of Luo Xue, abandoned his decades-long plan, and tried to escape with his life.
But unfortunately…
Daoist Ziyang’s luck was poor. He ran headfirst into the explosion of the outer formation.
This formation, which contained countless efforts of his and was capable of merging the Xuanyin Gu Seed and performing the Heaven-Seizing Evil Art, had instead cut off his path to survival.
The direct explosion severely injured Daoist Ziyang. When he recovered, it was already impossible to escape.
The concentration of Yin Poison reached 0.8, and his flesh and internal organs were eroded by the Yin Breath Poison, leaving only a trace of his soul and his skeleton stumbling out.
His vitality was completely cut off, and Daoist Ziyang was only a step away from death, with only his obsession still driving his will.
Daoist Ziyang fell into a despair he had never experienced before.
And the culprit of all this…
“Hiss… হু… hiss…”
Daoist Ziyang stared intently at Luo Xue, his eerie snake pupils revealing a sinister glare at this moment.
His throat could no longer make a sound, but his aura still brought a heavy pressure on Luo Xue.
No matter what… even at death’s door, Daoist Ziyang was still a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
In an instant, the skeletal figure vanished.
The next moment, he appeared in front of Luo Xue, his bony claw-like hands reaching out to grab her.
Although Luo Xue had been on high alert, this astonishing speed still caught her off guard, and she hastily raised her short sword to block.
“Clang!”
Though it was just bone, it was sharper than metal. Luo Xue’s short sword snapped in half.
She was forced back several feet, closer to the depths of Mount Fengyin, deliberately keeping her distance from the coffin.
Daoist Ziyang had lost his mind, and his only remaining obsession was to take Luo Xue with him to the grave, so he didn’t try to destroy the only hope of escaping Mount Fengyin. He immediately pressed forward, closing in on Luo Xue.
“This is Foundation Establishment… Even with his spiritual power depleted and on the verge of death, his physical strength is still so powerful.”
Luo Xue held her almost broken arm in pain, but it was useless. She could only switch to holding the sword with her other hand.
But Daoist Ziyang didn’t give her time to rest. In an instant, he appeared before her again.
His bony claw struck again, and Luo Xue, unable to dodge, was directly hit. The flesh of her left arm was torn open like tofu, and purplish-red blood flowed out.
“Ugh!”
Luo Xue fell several meters away, clutching her left arm, the intense pain making her forehead drip with sweat.
But at this moment, Daoist Ziyang’s movements inexplicably paused for a moment.
Luo Xue opened her eyes and saw Daoist Ziyang standing in place, his bony claws making a sizzling sound, as if being corroded.
“…This is, poison?”
Luo Xue looked closely and saw that the bony claws were stained with a purplish-red color. Looking at her own wound, the information that had appeared in the red text resurfaced in her mind.
“The body of the one with the Calamity Poison Body… is the most terrifying poison!”
It was actually a poison that even Foundation Establishment cultivators couldn’t easily touch…
Daoist Ziyang was only momentarily delayed by this unexpected situation. He quickly rushed towards Luo Xue again, his bony claw aimed directly at her heart.
If this claw hit, no matter how poisonous Luo Xue’s body was, she would be unable to escape death.
But at this critical moment, a sharp, childish shout suddenly rang out.
“Take this!—Whack!”
A solid blow.
Daoist Ziyang fell to the ground with a thud.
Luo Xue looked at Daoist Ziyang’s back in surprise, and saw Su Yiyao, looking fierce, holding the coffin lid high.
It was she who had used the coffin lid to ambush Daoist Ziyang from behind.
The material of the coffin lid was indeed strong. It had clashed with the skeletal frame of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and it was Daoist Ziyang’s skull that had caved in slightly.
“Ah Chou, are… are we winning?”
Su Yiyao held the coffin lid, panting heavily.
She worriedly looked at Luo Xue’s arm. Ah Chou was bleeding so much, it must be very painful, right?
“Probably… not yet.”
Luo Xue shook her head. Foundation Establishment cultivators weren’t so easily killed.
As expected, the skeleton, which had fallen for only a short time, stood up again, crookedly.
Its aura hadn’t weakened at all; it had even grown stronger.
Luo Xue saw that in the skeleton’s dantian, an invisible fire seemed to be burning fiercely.
“Self-detonating the spiritual aperture…”
Using the price of severing the future path of cultivation in exchange for a short burst of powerful strength.
This was a life-risking technique that every cultivator above the Spirit Condensation Realm knew, and Daoist Ziyang was no exception.
Although Daoist Ziyang was already at the end of his rope, with no future to speak of.
But by doing this, his already faint life force would enter its final countdown.
However…
Whether Luo Xue and Su Yiyao could survive this countdown was another question.
At this moment, the Daoist Ziyang they faced, although devoid of spiritual energy, had his physical body restored to the peak of Foundation Establishment.
Not even a blink of an eye passed before Luo Xue’s eyes widened. A gray blur flashed past her, and an unprecedentedly intense pain assaulted her heart.
Was she going to die?
Was she… about to die?
Her pierced heart pumped out blood, which now appeared a sickly purplish-red.
“It hurts…”
Luo Xue’s eyelids drooped, her vision turning gray.
Su Yiyao quickly helped the nearly unconscious Luo Xue up, but before she could worry or grieve, Daoist Ziyang’s attack came again.
The gray blur flashed again, but for some reason, it was a fraction slower.
This fraction of a second allowed Su Yiyao to instinctively raise the coffin lid, facing the onrushing gray blur.
“Sizzle…”
Unexpectedly, the coffin lid was unharmed, not pierced by Daoist Ziyang’s bony claw.
Instead, Daoist Ziyang’s bony claw, which had been stained with poisonous blood after piercing Luo Xue’s heart, had become much more fragile.
Now, clashing with the coffin lid, it shattered directly.
Su Yiyao was filled with lingering fear. She held Luo Xue in one arm and the coffin lid in the other, anxious but unsure how to deal with Daoist Ziyang.
Daoist Ziyang didn’t hesitate because of his broken claw. After a brief pause, he attacked again.
This time, it was faster and more ruthless than before.
Su Yiyao’s movement of raising the coffin lid had already been seen through by Daoist Ziyang. He easily bypassed it, his broken claw aiming straight for Su Yiyao’s head.
Just as the claw was about to touch Su Yiyao, a deep sigh suddenly sounded.
“…Stop.”
The next moment, Daoist Ziyang’s now-extinguished spiritual intelligence, for some reason, rekindled slightly.
His hollow eyes stared blankly, and a trembling voice came from his hoarse throat.
“Mas… ter…”
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