Gu Blood

Rumble—!

Thunderous roars echoed above Rank Six's Heart Lake.

Her life had reached its end.

A massive vortex emerged above the roof of her Purple Palace.

Xie Xuanyi knew... Rank Six in the real world probably had only half a breath left.

He drew a deep breath and waited for Dragonwood Revered One to reveal the name of that high-ranking figure who had betrayed Azure Prefecture, providing this crucial piece of information.

Deng Baiyi held Jiang Huang as she came to Xie Zhen's side.

Her movements were exceedingly gentle, and she did not dare make the slightest sound, afraid of disturbing Xie Zhen...

At this moment, Xie Xuanyi's palm rested atop Rank Six's head.

That thin, small soul condensed into human form had already faded until only the faintest wisp remained.

"Phew."

A soft exhalation sounded.

Xie Xuanyi slowly opened his eyes. Rank Six before him had just reached oblivion.

At the critical moment... as Rank Six's Heart Lake was about to collapse, Dragonwood Revered One happened to speak the name of that "high-ranking figure who had betrayed Azure Prefecture."

According to the original plan, once Rank Six obtained the White Marsh Finger Bone, someone would need to guide her onward.

The secret realm of Carp Tide City was heavily guarded on all sides; ordinary people could not enter.

That high-ranking figure could make the arrangements.

Xie Xuanyi slowly calmed his Heart Lake, his gaze somewhat complicated.

The name Dragonwood Revered One had spoken... was very familiar.

This traitor was someone he had known in the past.

Countless thoughts flashed through his mind. Xie Xuanyi was dazed for a moment, only recovering after a long while.

The most urgent matter was dealing with Rank Six's corpse.

The old rules.

That remaining wisp of soul could be kept.

Everything else, including her possessions, could all be burned away.

Xie Xuanyi beckoned, and the remnants of phoenix fire lingering atop Little Barren Mountain swept into his palm at tremendous speed.

Just as he was about to act—

Deng Baiyi cautiously asked, "Were you... Soul Searching just now?"

Deng Baiyi's words made Xie Xuanyi's movements pause for an instant.

As for the matters of the cultivation world—

Along the way, Xie Xuanyi had not kept much from her.

Soul Searching was an exceedingly evil technique, one generally used only by rogue cultivators. He had explained this matter to Deng Baiyi as well.

"...That's right."

Xie Xuanyi fell silent for several seconds, then admitted it cleanly and decisively.

Slap—

He raised his hand and drew a thumb ring and a pill from the pile of ashes.

The thumb ring was the soul-bound demon artifact Rank Six had used to contact Dragonwood Revered One. It was almost identical to Xu You's, only slightly darker in color.

As for the pill...

That was an unexpected delight.

Xie Xuanyi had thought Dragonwood Revered One, having seen through Rank Three's identity, had merely made empty promises.

He had not expected Rank Six to truly possess a Violet Origin Pill!

Rank Six carried no other valuables.

Once he had finished all this—

Xie Xuanyi flicked his finger, sending forth the residual phoenix flames gathered in his palm.

With a boom, phoenix fire completely ignited Rank Six's body, split in two. Crackling, dry sounds like burning firewood rang out across the mountaintop!

The blood within this shell had long since been scorched dry by the Ninefold Phoenix Fire Array. Rank Six had miraculously survived until now... solely because of that strange grotto-heaven with its extraordinarily tenacious vitality.

Now, the grotto-heaven had shattered.

Rank Six's soul and body had both been destroyed.

After witnessing the conversation between Dragonwood Revered One and Rank Six... Xie Xuanyi no longer dared casually meet with the Demon Kingdom through their souls. Dragonwood Revered One's Heart Divination Art was powerful enough to sense something amiss with "Rank Three" from thousands of miles away, so he surely harbored vigilance toward Rank Six as well.

All Class A hidden agents had to endure the Demon Kingdom's soul-torture.

Soul imprints and mental passwords—Xie Xuanyi had neither. If he impersonated "Rank Six" for a meeting while knowing nothing of the intelligence involved, there was a high chance he would immediately arouse Dragonwood Revered One's suspicion.

However.

This demon artifact remained an important item for contacting the Demon Kingdom and had to be kept safe!

"What is it?"

Xie Xuanyi turned around and saw the complicated look Deng Baiyi was giving him... He could roughly guess what she was thinking.

He had told Deng Baiyi before.

Soul Searching was the work of rogue cultivators.

There had truly been no time for concealment in tonight's battle on Little Barren Mountain. Rank Six's life had hung by a thread, and Xie Xuanyi had no intention of losing the chance to Soul Search merely for the sake of some so-called image.

"So... are you a rogue cultivator?"

Deng Baiyi cautiously asked again.

She had never been able to fathom Xie Zhen's origins, sect, or true identity.

At Jade Pearl Town, that stunning strike with peachwood that shattered evil had made her think Xie Xuanyi came from the Great Grain Sword Palace.

Later, as they traveled east and entered Fengsui City, Xie Xuanyi had told the stationed official that he came from the Dao Sect.

Deng Baiyi knew that what Xie Zhen said might all have been false.

And from the moment she had begun traveling with Xie Xuanyi, she had prepared herself for the worst...

Someone who never followed the rules and acted solely according to his own preferences.

Someone utterly merciless, who killed whenever he chose to kill, his actions clean and decisive to the extreme.

No matter how she looked at him, he resembled someone from the demonic path.

"If I said I wasn't, would you believe me?"

Xie Xuanyi looked at Deng Baiyi's face and spoke helplessly.

Tonight's battle truly was difficult to explain... He had not expected beforehand that the Demon Kingdom's supposed traitor would be a cultivator of the demonic path. At this moment, the summit of Little Barren Mountain was littered with the fragmented shells of Death Puppets and withered corpses scorched dry by phoenix fire.

"I believe you."

Deng Baiyi pursed her lips. "But if you are, that's fine too."

"..."

Xie Xuanyi sank into a long silence.

"Then why not keep me by your side? I think I'm rather talented at killing and setting fires."

Deng Baiyi grinned. Her face was pale and her expression terrible... She had just vomited. While controlling the talisman, she had seemed radiant and awe-inspiring, but this was, after all, her first life-and-death battle since leaving the nest.

The phoenix fire array had slaughtered nearly a hundred enemies in an instant.

After leaving the talisman-controlling state, the stench of blood in the air rushed into her nostrils, and she had nearly vomited at once. She had only just wiped away her tears and snot.

Watching Deng Baiyi struggle to straighten her back and pretend nothing was wrong—

Xie Xuanyi gave a derisive laugh.

"Though I'm not a rogue cultivator, I may not have killed fewer people than one."

Xie Xuanyi said flatly, "Stop pretending. You aren't suited to killing and setting fires... After tonight, just obediently carve arrays. Once matters in Carp Tide City are settled, I'll send you to the Dao Sect."

Deng Baiyi opened her mouth, still wanting to say something.

Cough, cough—

Xie Xuanyi suddenly covered his lips with one hand. He broke into a violent coughing fit, thick blood spilling through his fingers and dripping to the ground.

Deng Baiyi hurried forward, only to be blocked by a hand.

"Don't, don't come over!"

Xie Xuanyi bent at the waist, gasping heavily...

His vision had become somewhat blurry.

This was a sign that Rank Six's Gu Blood had begun to spread.

The Blood Refinement Art was a technique so strange and vicious that it defied imagination.

Had the Ninefold Phoenix Fire Array not been able to burn away evil, the Gu Blood contained within these Death Puppets alone could have exterminated every innocent person in an entire village.

As the host of the Gu Blood, the vital blood within Rank Six's body was even more poisonous!

Xie Xuanyi felt as though his lungs and organs were burning. Looking at the bloody hole pierced through his shoulder, an unprecedented chill surged into his Heart Lake.

To lure Rank Six into the trap—

He had forcibly endured one strike... and now, the Gu Blood had finally spread.

As blood flowed through him, Xie Xuanyi felt a chill rise from his marrow. It reached straight into his Heart Lake, making him feel as though he had fallen into an abyss.

Yet at the same time, every limb and bone in his body endured a scorching burn like thousand-degree flames!

"Immortal Spring..."

Veins bulged on Xie Xuanyi's forehead. He sat cross-legged on the ground and, relying on tremendous willpower, crushed the Violet Origin Pill.

Origin energy ten times purer than that of an Azure Origin Pill, and ten times more abundant, instantly spread across the small mountain's summit!

A glimmer of brilliant golden light lit up at his dantian.

The surging origin energy poured madly toward his dantian!

A new week is here—charge on, Z warriors!