Jing Su Shi saw the young girl's corpse being treated like a puppet and toyed with at will. The Killing Intent on her face grew even heavier!
This young girl was also of the Jing Family's direct bloodline, another beloved granddaughter of hers.
Had this calamity never occurred, she should have attempted to Set Her Destiny at the age of twelve, awakened her Destiny Pattern, and embarked on cultivation.
She should have had a brilliant and colorful life!
Yet all of it had been utterly destroyed!
She had suffered calamity while alive, and after death, she still had to endure continued humiliation!
Though Jing Su Shi said nothing, her heart was already seething with fury.
The young girl had been dead for quite some time. The only reason her corpse could speak was that the Ghost Child was controlling it from behind the scenes.
And he was controlling the Jing Family girl's corpse precisely to use the pull of her bloodline to search for survivors who had slipped through the net.
He simply had not expected to find such a big fish so easily!
The old matriarch of the Jing Family had been a renowned cultivator throughout HunZhou Island in her youth. She had once stirred up an enormous commotion and earned the fearsome title of Soul Manipulating Spider Mother.
Among the many Eighth Rank cultivators of the islands of HunZhou, she could be called the foremost of them all!
If not for her advanced age, her Lifespan depleted and both her cultivation and combat strength past their peak,
the enemy would certainly have had to spend much more effort to break through Crimson Pearl Island!
"Fu Ying! You wretched fool, how dare you use my Jing Family's blood descendants and Destiny Furnace bloodline to commit such despicable deeds!"
"Do you truly think you can trample HunZhou at will?"
Jing Su Shi's voice was low and hoarse. Every word seemed to be forced out from between her clenched teeth!
But the Ghost Child did not retreat. Instead, he laughed even more arrogantly:
"Old Matriarch, the times have changed."
"The Zhi Zhou of HunZhou died unexpectedly, and HunZhou Island can barely look after itself. In this world, the strong rule, while the weak can only let themselves be butchered."
"The glory your Jing and Su Families once enjoyed has long since vanished. You should obediently accept death, lest I take action and destroy your granddaughter's body."
This Ghost Child was named Fu Ying. He looked like a child, but in truth, he likewise possessed Eighth Rank cultivation.
He cultivated the Zashiki Warashi Diagram from the secret inheritance, the Hundred Ghost Night Parade Destiny Tome, of Qi Zhi Shi Island. His strength was not to be underestimated.
Moreover, he was young and had an abundant Lifespan. He was the core combat strength in this assault on Crimson Pearl Island.
At this moment, with him facing Jing Su Shi, a great battle was unavoidable!
And while the two of them were speaking, Fu Ying had actually already begun to act!
He pulled on the young girl's hand while using his words to disrupt his opponent's state of mind.
At the same time, he used his own Destiny Pattern to stimulate Destiny Essence and, with the aid of the girl's corpse, unleashed Blood Puppet Art.
This secret art could use the connection between their bloodlines to secretly scheme against the Soul Manipulating Spider Mother before him. Without her noticing, it could use Magic Power to erode her body and turn her into a flesh-and-blood puppet. It was truly unpredictable as ghosts and gods!
Under the effect of the secret art, Jing Su Shi's body gradually stiffened, step by step falling under Fu Ying's control until she could no longer command herself.
Her knees were twisted little by little, until she was forced to kneel before her enemy!
Fu Ying's covert attack had succeeded, and for a time, he was brimming with smug satisfaction!
This successful surprise attack on Crimson Pearl Island had been an enormous windfall!
The resources and foundations of his own island were about to undergo a qualitative leap.
That would naturally bring Fu Ying many benefits in his subsequent cultivation.
After taking down the Soul Manipulating Spider Mother, he had no more concerns. He casually tossed the young girl's corpse aside, strolled before Jing Su Shi, and said:
"Old Matriarch, where is that Soul Weaving Demon Spider of yours?"
"I heard that you have raised this demon spider well. It has already reached the peak of the Azure Wing rank."
"Throughout HunZhou, I am the most skilled at manipulating flesh. Your demon spider excels at controlling souls and Origin Spirits. Our cultivation paths could hardly complement each other better."
"Call the demon spider over and let me toy with it for a while!"
As he spoke, he continued urging the Blood Puppet Art, controlling Jing Su Shi and forcing her to fulfill his demand.
Yet he suddenly discovered that although he could manipulate Jing Su Shi's body at will, using her body, he could not affect her soul or will in the slightest.
The old woman before him seemed like an empty shell, unlike any living creature.
Suddenly, a strange rustling sounded beside Fu Ying's ear.
It sounded like a spider devouring a moth it had just caught in its web in the dead of night.
Then a human voice rang out:
"I am merely old, not dead."
"Before your master died, did he not tell you never to step within three zhang of me?"
The voice was like an icicle stabbing into Fu Ying's eardrum, sending a chill through him!
Then, for no apparent reason, he felt a faint itch above his crown, at the tip of his coccyx, and beneath the soles of his feet.
Immediately afterward, a cool sensation spread out from those three places. Following the circulation of Magic Power within his body, it covered him from head to toe in the blink of an eye.
"Y-You... what did you do to me?"
A trace of terror colored Fu Ying's voice. He stared wide-eyed at Jing Su Shi, but between her brows and eyes, he saw only deep mockery and coldness.
"How dare you cause trouble on my Crimson Pearl Island? Then you must be prepared to lose your life!"
"It is only regrettable that I did not know to cherish my own body when I was young, and thus overdrew my Lifespan until I became this decrepit!"
"My soul-controlling art has the strength for only one final strike. Since you ran into it, consider yourself unlucky!"
As Jing Su Shi spoke, a strand of pale-blue Magic Power drifted outward, resembling a spider's web as it spread over Fu Ying.
Then, a force that ripped apart souls and seized spirits descended upon him.
"Arghhh!"
The ugly demon child felt his soul being torn apart in a frenzy, as though he had suffered the piercing of ten thousand arrows, ripping his consciousness to shreds!
Fu Ying possessed a complete inheritance and profound foundations. He had nearly condensed the Zashiki Warashi Dharma Form in its entirety, reaching the perfected stage of the Eighth Rank Dragon Elephant Realm.
Yet he had never imagined that before an old woman whose Lifespan was nearly exhausted and who was controlled by Blood Puppet Art, he would crash and burn completely, dying a violent death!
All his years of cultivation, which had consumed countless resources, were wasted as well!
After killing him, Jing Su Shi's aura plummeted. It grew as faint as the last strand of candlelight in the wind. She had utterly reached the end of her strength.
Yet she still forced herself onward, struggling to crawl to her granddaughter's side and gather the petite corpse into her arms.
She gently patted and stroked her beloved granddaughter, waiting for the last sliver of her Lifespan to run out.
But Heaven was not on her side. Heavy snow suddenly began to drift down from the sky!
The wind and snow blurred her vision, while an extreme chill enveloped her body.
Jing Su Shi looked back toward the island and saw a pretty figure, white from head to toe, slowly walking toward her.
"The Snow Woman Dharma Form?"
Jing Su Shi's consciousness was nearing confusion, yet she knew that another enemy had approached.
The wind and snow contained exceedingly profound freezing Magic Power, and her body was completely frozen stiff.
Knowing she had no strength to resist, she merely bent down and lifted her granddaughter around the waist.
Then Jing Su Shi squeezed out the final trace of her Destiny Essence, burning away all the Lifespan she had left.
"Crack!"
She actually used her soul and will to drive her rigid body, forcing herself to stand upright.
In this clash between spirit and flesh, every tendon, bone, and piece of flesh in her body tore and snapped.
The final Eighth Rank Dragon Elephant Realm cultivator on Crimson Pearl Island died standing!
By the time the white figure reached her, Jing Su Shi's soul had already been completely extinguished.
This long-renowned Soul Manipulating Spider Mother died beside the shore of her own island.
There were no friends or family beside her—only the howling ice and snow, as though composing a funeral song for her.