Corrosive Water

"True love truly exists in the human world! Tsk tsk, the romance between you two star-crossed lovers is truly moving."

The leader of the Dark Ghost, who wore a golden mask and never dared to show his true face, looked at Ouyang Duanhai—who now resembled a vengeful spirit—while waving his hand to signal his subordinates to intercept, all the while mocking them.

Ouyang Duanhai's current hideous appearance brought him great satisfaction.

The reason he wore a mask year-round, aside from the fact that he was still lurking within the Seven Great Families and could not yet expose his identity, was that his scarred face beneath the mask was not fit to be seen.

Yet, this wretch of the Ouyang Family was a man recognized by all Seven Great Families as a handsome youth, admired by countless women.

Ouyang Duanhai and Shangguan Qin had long been considered a match made in heaven—he, tall and handsome; she, pretty and charming.

Both the Ouyang Family and the Shangguan Family had ties to the Blood Moon of the upper realm, and as childhood sweethearts with mutual affection, they had nearly pledged their lives to one another when they were young.

Unfortunately, once the people from the Blood Moon descended and assessed their cultivation talent, everything was rewritten.

The Blood Moon determined that neither of them was worth the family's resources to undergo a rebirth and help them enter the Xisui Realm.

This meant that the Blood Moon would not accept them.

The two, who had assumed they would naturally become husband and wife upon reaching adulthood, were forcibly torn apart by the power of their families.

In this world where strength reigned supreme, a man's handsome appearance was no advantage at all, whereas a woman's beauty... could be traded for resources.

Thus, the beautiful Shangguan Qin was forced by her family to marry a member of the Dong Family who possessed high cultivation potential.

That man was useless in every regard except for his high talent, and he was also hideously ugly.

No matter how much Shangguan Qin threatened to end her life, she was ultimately sent by the Shangguan Family to the Dong Family, the strongest in the Fourth Realm, where she served as nothing more than a small perk the Dong Family granted that clansman.

Years later, that man died during an exploration of a secret realm, and Shangguan Qin was arranged by the Dong Family to be a concubine for yet another clansman.

Her second man also met his end after accidentally suffering a qi deviation while advancing to the Xisui Realm.

Afterward, the Dong Family viewed her as an omen of misfortune and simply sent her back to the Shangguan Family.

Upon returning to her family, she was unwelcome, and the tasks assigned to her were often dangerous—such as this current exploration of the Cenji Mountains.

"A pair of star-crossed lovers with ill-fated lives."

The leader, who kept retreating, secretly signaled his subordinates to spare Shangguan Qin's life.

Understanding his intent, the subordinates smiled meaningfully and surrounded Shangguan Qin and the transformed Ouyang Duanhai.

"This Ouyang Duanhai is not worth mentioning, you don't need to—"

The masked leader saw the ghastly Ouyang Duanhai approaching with murderous intent; his subordinates were growing timid, and he intended to tell them that Ouyang Duanhai was merely a famous "paper tiger" of the Seven Great Families.

But before he could finish, his brow suddenly furrowed, and he fell silent with a change in expression.

He watched as the twisted-faced Ouyang Duanhai unleashed the lowest-level "Blood Handprint" of the Blood Moon. The moment the blood-red handprint flew from his palm, it eerily transformed into a crimson feather.

The sinister, blood-colored feather struck with the weight of ten thousand jun, causing the bones of one of his subordinates to shatter instantly.

The crimson feather, condensed from spiritual power, then seeped into the subordinate's body, as if gnawing away at his flesh, blood, and bones.

"Be careful, he is not the same as he was before."

The masked Dark Ghost leader stared with a cautious gaze at the Phoenix Bird Totem on Ouyang Duanhai's chest.

"Hoo! Hoo-hoo!"

Ouyang Duanhai exerted force once more, his hands flailing wildly in the air, and crimson feathers flew out one by one, slaughtering the approaching Dark Ghost attackers.

In the blink of an eye, seven or eight corpses with gruesome death throes lay scattered across the grass beside him.

The crimson feathers, imbued with evil and bloodlust, continued to burrow into the remains, and the flesh of the corpses penetrated by the feathers withered at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Each body became increasingly like Ouyang Duanhai—gaunt and skeletal, as if all blood and flesh had been drained away.

At this moment, the light of intelligence in Ouyang Duanhai's eyes was also dissipating bit by bit.

It seemed that every time he unleashed a "Blood Handprint" to refine a crimson feather for slaughter, his sense of self diminished, and the demon within his heart grew stronger.

"Xiao... Xiao Qin, go... go quickly!" he roared in a low voice like a trapped beast, his pupils appearing to bleed, "I cannot hold on for much longer!"

Shangguan Qin, shocked by his bloody methods, stared at him in a daze, feeling completely estranged.

With her vibrant clothes tattered and her appearance disheveled, Shangguan Qin never expected that her usually timid lover could possess such a brutal and vicious side.

Although the demise of her previous two men had been a conspiracy between her and Ouyang Duanhai, she had been the one to strike the final blow.

Ouyang Duanhai was cowardly by nature, a man who was elegant and gentle to the bone, and he was extremely fastidious, never daring to touch blood.

She could not imagine that one day, Ouyang Duanhai would be capable of such violent bloodlust!

"Go!"

Ouyang Duanhai shrieked madly and charged toward the man in the golden mask. Crimson feathers flew out one after another from the bodies of the Dark Ghost corpses lying in pools of blood.

Once they flew out, the feathers adhered to the Divine Phoenix pattern on his chest, appearing to become part of the tattoo.

Each time a crimson feather returned, the intelligence in Ouyang Duanhai's eyes faded, and it seemed he would soon collapse entirely.

Shangguan Qin looked at him, then at the Phoenix Bird pattern on his chest that seemed like a living creature, and listening to his repeated, hoarse cries, she finally gritted her teeth and ran toward the distance: "Duanhai, I will wait for you at the agreed location!"

"Pursue!"

As she moved, other lurking Dark Ghost members in the forest attempted to give chase.

"Hoo! Hoo-hoo!"

Ouyang Duanhai struck the air with his palms, and instantly, new Blood Handprints transformed into feathers, blasting those who dared to pursue him to death on the spot.

Having descended into a killing frenzy, Ouyang Duanhai stood amidst the carnage, his demonic, dark-red eyes watching his lover retreat into the distance. He murmured, "As long as you live... that is enough. I haven't been able to do much for you in this life. Being possessed by an evil spirit this time has, instead, given me the strength and courage."

Deep within his bloodthirsty eyes, a sense of relief gradually emerged; he no longer feared the arrival of that final moment.

Not far away, Han Duping had originally intended to take advantage of Ouyang Duanhai's display of might to escape alongside Shangguan Qin.

However, seeing the members of the Dark Ghost dying in heaps within the blink of an eye, and unable to gauge Ouyang Duanhai's current state, he was terrified that this madman might mistake him for someone pursuing Shangguan Qin. He remained rooted to the spot, not daring to move.

"Boom!"

The earth continued to tremble, and the underground fissures, centered around the Blackwater Pool, were being torn wider and wider.

Han Duping was burning with anxiety. He feared the emergence of some subterranean monstrosity, yet he dared not provoke Ouyang Duanhai, who had transformed into some unknown creature. He could only look around helplessly.

He soon discovered that the servants of the Zhou Family, whose fighting spirits had been ignited by Zhou Qingchen, were almost all dead.

Ning Yao, who had been calling for the Dark Ghost to let her pass, had also failed to escape; she had been caught in a giant net woven from silver threads.

Another Dark Ghost leader, who had ensnared her, held a hemp rope in one hand. Avoiding the various underground fissures, he dragged her and the giant net along the ground, heading toward the Blackwater Pool.

Watching the scene around him, Han Duping suddenly noticed that the rumbling of the earth seemed to be slowly subsiding.

His face turned pale with terror, guessing that once the tremors ceased, something horrific would surge forth from the underground fissures.

"Hum, hum, hum!"

Suddenly, he heard the sound of urgent sword-ringing coming from the direction of the Blackwater Pool behind him.

He hurriedly turned his head to look and saw seven Cicada Wing Swords, controlled by Jin Yang, whistling incessantly around the Phoenix Bone protruding from the water, yet Pang Jian's figure remained nowhere to be seen.

"That brat... could he still be alive?"

Han Duping was stunned.

Underwater.

Pang Jian, his face flushed red from holding his breath, could now see a portion of the surroundings through the shimmering divine light released by the Phoenix Bone. Naturally, he also saw the Cicada Wing Swords above.

If he did not surface to catch his breath now, he would sooner or later suffocate.

But once he surfaced, he would be subjected to the attacks of the Cicada Wing Swords. He suffered in agony, silently waiting for the earth's fissures to spawn something sinister.

He hoped that from the deep cracks radiating from the Blackwater Pool, a horror sufficient to wipe out the Dark Ghost intruders would emerge!

However, he waited and waited, yet no terrifying anomaly appeared.

Pang Jian, who had viewed this Blackwater Pool and the Phoenix Bone as his only straws to clutch at, gradually felt a sense of despair and powerlessness.

"I see you."

Jin Yang, who had been controlling the swords, also caught sight of a figure huddled beneath the water's surface beside the Phoenix Bone, thanks to the illumination of the shimmering light. The figure was even resting a hand on the bone.

"Since I have seen you, do you really think you can continue to hide?"

Jin Yang narrowed his eyes and sneered.

A Cicada Wing Sword moved at his will, instantly stabbing toward the shoulder of the submerged Pang Jian. He intended to force Pang Jian out to interrogate him thoroughly.

Seeing the spirit sword strike, Pang Jian hurriedly shifted his body underwater, attempting to evade the thrust.

"Pfft!"

The moment the Cicada Wing Sword pierced into the water, it suddenly encountered a thousand-fold increase in buoyancy, and its momentum slowed a thousand times over.

Moreover, this spirit sword, which had been gleaming brightly, instantly lost all its luster.

The next moment, this Cicada Wing Sword, forged by a master, sank toward the bottom of the pool like scrap metal.

Pang Jian, who had been unable to dodge, watched the spirit sword slide past his left shoulder, his eyes filled with strangeness and confusion.

He pondered for a moment, then suddenly poked his head out to take a deep, gasping breath.

Before Jin Yang could react, he retreated back into the Blackwater Pool, continuing to hide his figure around the Phoenix Bone.

"My Cicada Wing Sword!"

Jin Yang was shocked by the eerie nature of the Blackwater Pool. By the time he wanted to strike at Pang Jian again, he saw that Pang Jian had submerged once more.

He frowned deeply, moved to the edge of the pool, and squatted down to stare at the ink-black water.

When that spirit sword had entered the water, the spiritual energy he had infused into it was eroded, and his connection to the sword was severed in an instant.

Unsure whether it was the water itself or the influence of the white, shimmering light released by the Phoenix Bone, he decided to test it himself.

"I clearly checked this before. Aside from being cold, dark, and impossible to see through, there was nothing strange about this pitch-black water. And the Phoenix Bone, there is no mystery to it either. This shouldn't be..."

Jin Yang, who had explored this place earlier than Pang Jian or Zhou Qingchen, muttered to himself. Suddenly, he extended his left hand toward the edge of the pool to feel the black water once more.

He plunged his left palm into the water, but suddenly pulled it back as if his hair had stood on end, his entire body breaking out in a cold sweat from the pain.

His left hand, which had been as slender as a bamboo joint, no longer had a shred of flesh left after that single dip and withdrawal.

Jin Yang's left hand had become a piece of white bone; not a drop of blood or flesh remained. The skin, muscle, tendons, and blood that had covered his hand had been completely corroded away by the pool water in an instant.

Staring at his skeletal, bone-white hand, Jin Yang bared his teeth and hissed, shivering as he drew in cold air.

Suddenly, his gaze turned frigid as he looked toward Pang Jian.

At this moment, Pang Jian had submerged his entire body beneath the water, still clutching that Phoenix Bone.

Yet, Pang Jian was clearly alive and well.

"Jin Yang, that spineless coward from the Ouyang Family is heading straight for you!"

The Dark Ghost leader wearing the golden mask suddenly shouted; he realized that once Ouyang Duanhai had completely lost his sanity, he was no longer a match for him.

Ouyang Duanhai had abandoned him entirely, no longer remembering who Shangguan Qin was, and was fixated only on reaching the Blackwater Pool.

Somewhere within the Blackwater Pool, something seemed to be constantly beckoning to Ouyang Duanhai, making this creature, who now resembled a vengeful ghost, desperate to reach the water as quickly as possible.

The tremors of the earth had long since subsided, and from the depths of those gaping fissures, nothing terrifying had emerged.

"Intercept Ouyang Duanhai!"

Dragging a giant silver-threaded net that held Ning Yao, and followed by several other Dark Ghost assailants, another leader feared that Jin Yang might be in danger. He dropped the giant net and barked, "You lot, bring this girl over to me!"

This Dark Ghost leader, along with the one wearing the golden mask, were both sprinting toward the Blackwater Pool.

Neither of them saw Jin Yang, who had his back to them, with his left hand already reduced to bone.

Nor did they notice that Jin Yang, with a twisted expression, was staring fixedly at Pang Jian beneath the Phoenix Bone.

So, new books can receive monthly votes now, huh? In early April, if you all have any monthly votes left, please cast one for Old Ni as well. I salute you all~~