On a barren slope less than two hundred miles from Great East Mountain, Qi Lianliancheng, who had been sitting cross-legged on the ground, slowly opened his eyes and rose to his feet.
The gray garment on his upper body had been completely shredded, and countless inch-long gashes covered him. Although blood and true essence no longer seeped from these wounds, they had yet to heal, making Qi Lianliancheng's body seem as though countless fine, deep eyes had grown upon it. His skin and complexion were both somewhat pale, nearly the color of someone who had soaked in water for too long.
From where he stood, he could vaguely see the radiant flashes in the distant skies around Great East Mountain, caused by fierce spell battles. He could also see the long trails of blazing light left in the distant sky by Cai Shu's Demon King Lotus Platform and Lin Hang's fire centipede as they streaked toward Great East Mountain. Yet Qi Lianliancheng did not spare those distant flashes a single glance. He merely raised his head slightly and, as if not at all surprised, said calmly, "Junior Brother, I never expected us to meet again in a place like this."
"It seems you hadn't expected Ming Ruo's cultivation to be so formidable either." A red light abruptly descended before Qi Lianliancheng. Nan Liyue, dressed in a red Daoist robe flecked with gold and equally pale-faced, stood not far away opposite him, looking at the wounds on Qi Lianliancheng's body.
"Her cultivation was far higher than I anticipated. It seems she had cultivated the Jing Nian Tong Ming Jue to at least the ninth level. But her life force had already been extinguished. She is probably gone now." Qi Lianliancheng gazed toward distant Great East Mountain as though mourning the passing