Lu Chen grabbed its wrist with both hands, trying to pry its fingers apart.
In his weakened state, he could not even bend one of its fingers.
Its wrist was as hard as stone, black bones faintly visible beneath its skin in the dim crimson light.
A trace of air remained in his lungs. That air was turning into foam, surging up from his windpipe toward his throat.
His mouth hung open, a gurgling sound coming from his throat.
It lifted him until they were face-to-face. Its black eyes stared into his amber-gold pupils.
Their faces were so close that he could smell the breath from its mouth—not rot, but dry and stale, like old dust. The scent of the undead.
"You killed six of my avatars." Its voice rose from deep within its throat without passing through its mouth, traveling directly through the hand gripping his neck and into his body, vibrating through his bones.
"Whenever an avatar died, I watched. I watched how you swung your sword, how your true essence circulated, when you used your trump cards. Six times. I watched six times."
Its fingers tightened a little more. His windpipe was completely crushed. One last soft pop of bursting bubbles came from his throat.
"I know what else you have." Its other hand reached over and slipped into his robes. Grayish-white fingers pulled out two items from his lapels: the empty jade box of the Nine-Dragon Heart-Protecting Pill, and the jade vial containing the essence of the Life Creation Spring.
It crushed the jade box. Shards of jade sifted through its fingers. It kept the vial, raising it before its eyes for a look. Within the transparent bottle, that drop of golden liquid swayed faintly in the dim crimson light.
"Life Creation Spring." It tucked the