Chapter 111: “Tremble! Scream!”
Du Yuejiao’s swordsmanship was completely different now.
The golden energy from above flowed downwards, merging with the crimson demonic flames, intensifying them.
Each of her sword strikes unleashed a burst of demonic fire.
Her movements were fluid and powerful, her aura menacing, her entire being radiating a sinister energy.
Shi Hao, however, showed no fear. He held his sword, still sheathed, its disguised wooden handle deflecting Du Yuejiao’s attacks.
Her power surged, overwhelming him, forcing him to retreat.
“Yes, I was the one who captured, imprisoned, and tortured you,” Shi Hao said, deflecting her attacks with the Six Immortal Lightning Strikes, his sword a blur, “Didn’t you find it… stimulating?”
Du Yuejiao’s face contorted in rage, her teeth gritted, her sword a whirlwind of demonic energy.
He was the most shameless person she had ever met.
Her sword erupted in flames, sweeping towards Shi Hao.
The Mysterious Charm Technique? Shi Hao was slightly surprised.
It was similar to the Mysterious Charm Technique, but the flames, rising from below, seemed to amplify her sword’s power, making it even more ferocious.
Du Yuejiao, a Daoist cultivator, was using demonic techniques. If Shi Hao weren’t a “monster” himself, he would have been shocked.
He continued retreating, parrying her relentless attacks.
He knew he should be trying to calm her down, denying everything, perhaps even trying to… seduce her.
But one lie would require more lies to cover it up.
And although Yuejiao was easily deceived, the Emerald Beauty was watching.
It was better to be direct, “Yuejiao, stop this. What I did was wrong, but think about it, if we’re together in the future, won’t it be a… fond memory?”
“You have to admit, I was quite gentle. If you weren’t so beautiful, I would have been much more… ruthless. Why did I capture you and then rescue you? Because I like you, of course.”
Of course, his true motive had been to obtain information about the God-Sealing Stones, but he couldn’t reveal that.
“Don’t lie to me!” the girl screamed, “If that’s true, why didn’t you come looking for me? Why were you with her?”
Good question… why? he thought, dodging her increasingly frantic attacks, “Yuejiao, Yuejiao, let me make something up… I mean, let me explain!”
Xu Xiaoyan, tied to the rack, shouted, “Don’t believe him! He’s lying! He’s just playing with you! He thinks you’re annoying, clinging to him! He just wanted to use you and then discard you…”
Shi Hao shouted, “Xu Xiaoyan, stop making things worse!” He was sweating under Du Yuejiao’s increasingly powerful attacks.
Xu Xiaoyan laughed, “Don’t you get it? He had a reason for capturing you. Think about it, what did he want from you? And what information did he get from you after he ‘rescued’ you? Think! Don’t let him deceive you again!”
Shi Hao shouted, “Xu Xiaoyan, I came here to save you! Whose side are you on?!”
Du Yuejiao stopped attacking, her sword gripped tightly, her body trembling with rage, “The God-Sealing Stones… so, that evening, when you held me in your arms, whispering sweet nothings… it was all for the God-Sealing Stones?”
Xu Xiaoyan’s laughter echoed, “Oh, it was for the God-Sealing Stones? Why didn’t you say so? I have that information! If you had come to me, you wouldn’t have needed her! All those sweet words, those promises… lies, all lies!”
“Aaah!” Du Yuejiao screamed, her demonic aura flaring, flames erupting around her.
She lunged forward, her flaming sword aimed at Shi Hao, intending to incinerate him… but her attack missed.
While she was screaming, Shi Hao had used the Soul Chasing Locking Steps to move behind her and was now running towards the other end of the bridge.
Seeing him trying to save Xu Xiaoyan, Du Yuejiao’s fury intensified. She turned and, like a fiery phoenix, attacked him.
Shi Hao turned, his sword flashing, deflecting her attacks, the scabbard in his other hand also creating a blur of motion.
After several clashes, flames erupting around them, he was thrown backwards.
“Die!” Du Yuejiao’s eyes were filled with tears, but her attacks were merciless, her flaming sword aimed at his chest.
Another clang echoed as sparks flew.
A small figure leaped forward, rolling on the ground, intercepting Du Yuejiao’s sword.
It was Xu Xiaoyan, wielding Shi Hao’s sword, its blade narrow and thin, its hilt cylindrical.
Shi Hao only held the scabbard now, the chains binding Xu Xiaoyan broken.
“You’ll both die!” Du Yuejiao roared, her attacks even more ferocious.
Shi Hao watched as Xu Xiaoyan leaped into the air, clashing with Du Yuejiao. She too was now enveloped in a demonic aura, her movements fueled by the flames of the lotus below.
Why is Xiaoyan like this too? he wondered, alarmed.
Both Yuejiao and Xiaoyan cultivated Daoist internal energy.
Although Du Yuejiao practiced orthodox Chongxian Sect techniques, while Xu Xiaoyan’s were from an unknown, unusually yin source, they were both using demonic energy now.
The golden energy from above flowed into the demonic flames below, further intensifying them, swirling around the two women, seeping into their bodies.
Shi Hao knew the Emerald Beauty was behind this, but he couldn’t see it anywhere.
He shouted, “Xiao Yan, what’s going on?”
Xu Xiaoyan, without turning around, shouted back, “I don’t know! I feel like I’m dying!”
“Then let’s die together! Hahahaha!” Du Yuejiao’s laughter echoed through the cavern, her demeanor almost crazed.
Shi Hao shouted, “Don’t die, Yuejiao! We’re meant to be together! I love you!” He was trying to calm her down.
Xu Xiaoyan shouted, “Just be together then! Leave me out of it! I’m leaving!” She tried to escape.
But Du Yuejiao’s relentless attacks continued.
Engulfed in flames, the two young women clashed, their swords flashing.
Shi Hao could sense their power increasing.
He looked around. The fiery lotus below continued to “bloom,” its petals spreading across the walls, rising upwards, transforming the cavern into a fiery temple.
And the golden energy from above continued to fuel the flames.
With a loud crack, the stone bridge beneath them collapsed, and the two girls screamed as they fell towards the sea of fire.
Shi Hao, in a flash, caught them both, his arms wrapping around their waists, and pushed them towards the edges of the broken bridge.
“Shi Hao?” “Brother Shi?” They both cried out in surprise as they were thrown upwards.
Shi Hao, unable to stop his own momentum, fell into the flames. To his surprise, instead of burning, he felt a surge of chaotic demonic energy.
“Look out!” the two girls on the broken bridge shouted simultaneously.
Shi Hao turned and saw the doll… the Emerald Beauty.
Its small hands, palms facing him, were outstretched. He felt a jolt, and a wave of demonic fire washed over him, surging into his body, his demonic energy swelling, rising towards his upper dantian.
It’s trying to destroy my Daoist foundation! he realized.
But he was paralyzed, unable to move. The golden energy within the cavern, transformed by the demonic flames, flowed into him, his demonic foundation surging uncontrollably, reaching its peak.
At the same time, the demonic fire, like a venomous dragon, coiled towards his upper dantian, devouring his Daoist foundation.
The two girls on the broken bridge jumped down, landing in the flames, trying to reach him. Then, they screamed, writhing in the fire.
Their bodies weren’t burning, but the flames, transformed into pure demonic energy, were pouring into them.
“Tremble! Scream!” the Emerald Beauty’s small figure, also enveloped in demonic energy, its beautiful face now twisted into a grimace, shouted, “Only the strongest will survive and inherit my legacy! The weak will perish! Let’s see who’s worthy! You can hate me, but it won’t change anything! Hehehehe…”
Shi Hao’s mind was filled with visions, his consciousness sinking into an abyss.
At the last moment, he used the Sacred Heart Clear Mirror Technique, his body surging upwards, escaping the flames.
“You can’t escape!” the Emerald Beauty shrieked, pursuing him, a wave of demonic fire following in her wake.
Shi Hao ignored it, continuing to rise, higher and higher, towards a sliver of moonlight filtering through a crack in the mountain.
Just as the Emerald Beauty, her demonic fire like a tsunami, reached out, about to touch him…
…the Jade Clarity Stone in his hand, held aloft, was illuminated by the moonlight—
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