Mysterious Silk Book (Seeking Follow-up Reads, Seeking Votes)

"Kill!"

With a change in Wang Yu's hand seal, densely packed ice spikes pierced through the entire Ice Coffin, turning it into a sea urchin. No matter how formidable Xu Jiao Jiao was, she was still flesh and blood.

His Perfected Level High-grade spell was nearly at the limit of what a Qi Refining Cultivator could wield. Had the Ice Coffin Spell not been a technique focused purely on offense, there would have been a good chance of killing her in a single strike.

More than half the spiritual power in his body had been spent. Wang Yu hurriedly swallowed a Top Grade Spirit Recovery Pill. Over the past half year, he had also taken part in pill-refining trades and accumulated several bottles of First Tier Top Grade pills.

The recovery was swift. Within a few breaths, all the spiritual power he had consumed was restored.

That was the tyrannical aspect of the Top Grade Spirit Recovery Pill. Its medicinal power was gentle and easily refined, while the excess medicinal power continued to take effect without end over the next Half an hour.

At that moment, Xu Jiao Jiao's body was riddled with holes, but fatal points such as her head and heart had been avoided. The ice spikes had not killed her in one blow.

"Wang Yu, I want you dead!"

"Boom—"

The Ice Coffin exploded!

Before his astonished eyes, Xu Jiao Jiao's enormous body began to shrink. Streams of black smoke bearing ghostly faces emerged from her wounds and seven orifices—they were the Evil Ghost souls she had swallowed into her body!

It bore some resemblance to Five Yin Peak's ghost-controlling arts, yet was fundamentally different. Her bloated body shrank to the opposite extreme, her skin clinging to bone, withered like an ancient corpse.

The ghost-faced black smoke once more clung to Xu Jiao Jiao's body, forming a suit of black armor capable of flight. With her head lowered, she shot toward Wang Yu.

The sheer number of her methods and the strangeness of her transformations were all beyond Wang Yu's expectations. He had not imagined that a Qi Refining Late Stage cultivator could possess such a rich array of techniques.

He immediately raised the Ice Shield Technique, attempting to halt Xu Jiao Jiao's advance.

Yet her shoulder shook, and a savage mountain ghost appeared, forming a seal in the shape of the character "mountain." It slammed forward fiercely, instantly shattering the ice shield and sending countless fragments of ice flying.

It was another High-grade spell inherited from Savage Ghost Peak—Mountain Shaking Collision!

Using one arm to direct qi, Wang Yu flew backward and opened up the distance. His movement technique was exquisite; he skimmed close past Xu Jiao Jiao's form, narrowly and perilously evading the attack.

He appeared hard-pressed, yet in truth moved with ease. Without deploying the Nine Illusionary Bodies, Illusionary Steps alone were sufficient to handle every battle in the Qi Refining Stage.

As his opponent crashed into the ground, dust billowed and shattered stones and dirt splashed wildly through the air. Wang Yu rapidly considered how to break the deadlock.

He had already used every spell he knew. He could suppress her, but killing her in one strike was difficult. In a true life-and-death battle, he had discovered his own shortcomings.

Fortunately, this was within the sect. If he truly could not win, fleeing to a crowded place would be enough to resolve the crisis. That was worth being glad about.

But he did not want to merely evade it. His departure from the sect was imminent, and it was not impossible that Zhao Shang would personally deal with him. If he could defeat Xu Jiao Jiao of the Qi Refining Eighth Layer now, it would prove that he had the strength to fight Zhao Shang. The significance was extraordinary.

While considering this, Wang Yu looked down in astonishment.

Two pitch-black iron chains burst from the earth and tightly bound his legs.

"A High-Grade Magical Artifact?"

In the instant between sparks and lightning, Xu Jiao Jiao surged forward again. A triumphant smile appeared on her shriveled face. "Didn't expect that, did you? How could my Combat Skill possibly be matched by a Spirit Slave like you!"

"Rumble—"

Xu Jiao Jiao used Mountain Shaking Collision again. Watching her charge straight at him with an utterly unrestrained posture—

Wang Yu cast the Ice Coffin Spell. This time, he used the Ice Coffin to protect himself within it rather than bind his enemy.

The next instant, the two collided.

The incomparably hard ice crystals of the Ice Coffin Spell displayed their effect. Xu Jiao Jiao's Mountain Shaking Collision was also far from the Perfected Stage. Once her qi and strength were exhausted, she had only left countless cracks across one side of the Ice Coffin.

—It had blocked it!

Before Wang Yu could relax, the ghost armor covering Xu Jiao Jiao's body abruptly transformed into an enormous Ghost Head. It opened its Blood Basin Big Mouth and bit down.

Crack, crack, crack~

The Ice Coffin lasted three breaths before shattering completely. Wang Yu toppled backward, but his legs were bound in place by the chains. The giant ghostly jaws closed over his chest—it had been perilously close!

Had it been half a foot nearer, he would have been bitten cleanly in two.

The more perilous the situation, the calmer Wang Yu became. The mass of Xu Jiao Jiao's Evil Ghost armor was not Infinite. After transforming into the giant Ghost Head, not a trace of that black smoke remained on her body.

Wang Yu seized the opportunity to lunge forward, his body springing up like a coiled spring.

Yin qi and corpse qi covered his right hand, extending his nails by an inch. With one claw, he reached for her heart!

Possessing a fragmentary Corpse Demon Bone, Wang Yu had the traits of a zombie and Infinite strength. Yet no one knew this. Xu Jiao Jiao relied on Savage Ghost Peak's body-tempering cultivation method to reign supreme in physical strength, so she neither dodged nor evaded.

Instead, she struck out with a palm of her own, meeting Wang Yu head-on.

What followed was an expression of absolute horror. When their attacks collided, Xu Jiao Jiao's right hand bent one hundred and eighty degrees. Wang Yu clamped tightly around her wrist and yanked her close.

He threw his head back and slammed it forward!

Wang Yu's iron head crashed into her brow. Xu Jiao Jiao was immediately shaken to the brink of unconsciousness. At that moment, his right hand released her wrist, and a savage claw pierced through her chest.

A small heart slick with thick black blood appeared in Wang Yu's hand.

Forced to hang from his single arm, Xu Jiao Jiao vomited blood again and again.

The giant Ghost Head in midair rapidly weakened, splitting once more into ghost-faced black smoke that wailed without end.

"You... you won."

With those words, Xu Jiao Jiao's life force was extinguished, and all the Evil Ghosts bound to her life vanished as well.

With a complicated gaze, Wang Yu stored the corpse in his Storage Bag. The High-Grade Magical Artifact chains wrapped around his feet were also spoils of war, and he put them all away.

Killing Xu Jiao Jiao meant that his relationship with Steward Xu had become a blood feud over his daughter's death. Though the other man was detained in the Law Enforcement Hall, he would certainly be released eventually.

After all, he was the victim. No matter how overbearing the Inverse Spirit Blood Sect was, it would not kill him. At most, it would keep him locked up for a while longer. The sect's order and rules existed fundamentally because the upper ranks needed them, and they would naturally uphold them.

They would not allow the law to lose its authority for the sake of minor gains.

For Wang Yu, this meant gaining a great Foundation Establishment enemy. That was no good news, and leaving the sect was now imperative.

With that in mind, Wang Yu inspected Xu Jiao Jiao's Storage Bag as he headed toward the agreed meeting place.

That Heavenly Corpse Peak inner disciple had sold him out. Naturally, Wang Yu had to pay him a visit and have a proper word with him.

While examining Xu Jiao Jiao's Storage Bag, he found that much of it contained ordinary items. There were nearly two thousand Spirit Stones, along with large quantities of various pills—a genuinely wealthy young woman.

There were also several Jade Slips and Magical Artifacts, detailing their methods of operation and effects.

The High-Grade Magical Artifact Nether Spirit Iron Chain possessed a splitting and binding effect. It could extend up to one hundred meters and split into three chains, while also exerting a slight suppressive effect on spiritual power.

From Wang Yu's personal experience, the suppression of spiritual power was nearly nonexistent. Its binding effect, on the other hand, was exceptionally impressive.

Xu Jiao Jiao was highly aggressive, and paired with such a High-Grade Magical Artifact, it had suited her extremely well. Now it had become his spoils of war.

The remaining Magical Artifacts were rather weak, mostly middle-grade.

A Net and a Whip were of no use to Wang Yu. He could dispose of them through Ice Snow Tower later.

Among the many gains, only one item caught Wang Yu's particular attention.

It was a Mysterious Silk Book.

Black paper, blood-red writing—it was clearly an object of the Demonic Path. Unfortunately, it was written in Ancient Demonic Script, which he could not recognize.