At Ease

Above the water, when Luo Hongyan gazed down at the "Dark Giant Python" through Ning Yao's eyes,

the "Dark Giant Python" lurking underwater likewise looked coldly up at her through the "Black-White King Python's" body and pitch-black eyes.

She knew there was more than met the eye inside the "Black-White King Python," and the "Dark Giant Python" knew that she, in her spirit form, had taken over Ning Yao's body.

Having refined all the "Spirit Sha," the "Dark Giant Python" secretly coveted her, a more powerful spirit. But it knew she was no ordinary being, so it did not dare venture out of the pool.

Like the "Dark Giant Python," Luo Hongyan knew it was watching from the shadows, and grew even more reluctant to rashly merge with the Phoenix Marrow.

The two sides were locked in an exceedingly delicate standoff.

Just then, Pang Jian, who had slain Jin Yang, pressed the lush green lotus leaf against his heart and felt the skin there grow cool.

"Jin Yang treasured this thing, hoping it would protect his heart so he could plot to obtain that wisp of Phoenix Marrow."

Thinking to himself, Pang Jian swam up to the python, keeping his distance from the Phoenix Bone, and climbed onto its back as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Then, following the python's upward gaze, he noticed "Ning Yao" on the surface of the water.

Through the water, now clear, he looked at the Ning Family's young lady, drenched and slender, and gave a quiet snort.

While he had been busy hunting down Jin Yang, Ning Yao had taken advantage of the leader's release to escape. Yet she hadn't left at once, and even dared to stay atop the Phoenix Bone, looking around. She must not know what death looked like.

Pang Jian had little fondness for the Ning Family's young lady. He soon looked away and began searching for the Phoenix Marrow.

He spotted it at once: the Phoenix Marrow Jin Yang had regarded as a rare treasure was bobbing up and down inside the Phoenix Bone, near the water's surface.

The Phoenix Marrow seemed to possess a mind of its own. It looked ready to burst out of the Phoenix Bone, yet hesitated, as if wary of something.

"Is it worried about Ning Yao? Does it want to enter her body, or is it considering someone else?"

Pang Jian pondered, then once again gave the python beneath him an order, telling it to take him closer to the Phoenix Marrow.

The python didn't budge.

Its gaze had shifted away from "Ning Yao," but its obsidian eyes were filled with fear and unease.

It was afraid of the Phoenix Marrow.

"Looks like I'll have to go over myself."

As he thought this, Pang Jian heard the sound of someone paddling through the water beneath him.

He looked down and saw Xu Rui, the Dark Ghost leader, his face flushed red, abandoning the Silver Net he had been holding and desperately swimming toward the surface.

Hong Tai and the man in the golden mask were keeping the strange creature bound in the giant net occupied, buying Xu Rui time.

After such a long struggle, the Dark Ghost cultivator at the Pulse-Opening Realm had clearly reached the limit of how long he could hold his breath. If he didn't surface for air, he would suffocate to death.

"Cut him off."

Pang Jian's thought stirred, and the python beneath him suddenly sprang into motion.

It seemed willing to cooperate with any order, so long as he didn't force it toward the Phoenix Marrow.

Pang Jian used the same trick as before.

Relying on the python's agility, speed, and powerful momentum, he swooped down from above and used the Dragon-Patterned Spear to kill Xu Rui.

Exhausted by Ouyang Duanhai, Xu Rui only wanted to gulp down some air as soon as possible. That was why he had been swimming upward with all his might.

Only after he had risen high enough did he see that Jin Yang had been killed, his corpse slowly sinking back down.

Xu Rui immediately knew something was wrong.

Then he saw Pang Jian riding the python, both hands gripping his spear as he attacked from above.

Xu Rui could only lament his fate. He had fared even worse than Jin Yang; after only a few exchanges, Pang Jian drove a spear into his heart.

After Jin Yang, another Dark Ghost cultivator at the Pulse-Opening Realm was killed by Pang Jian in the same way.

Even while killing Xu Rui, Pang Jian had enough leisure to keep an eye on the Phoenix Marrow. He saw it swimming back and forth inside the bone, never bursting out as he had expected.

Above the water, Ning Yao merely crouched on the Phoenix Bone and waited in silence. She made no unusual moves.

With no opponents left, Pang Jian felt a little more at ease. He was about to abandon the disobedient mount and approach the Phoenix Marrow himself.

But before he could act, he saw Hong Tai suddenly shoot up from the bottom of the pool.

Old and cunning, Hong Tai had seen Jin Yang's corpse sink and immediately realized Xu Rui probably wouldn't escape either.

He ordered the masked leader to keep Ouyang Duanhai, who was trapped in the Silver Net, restrained for the time being. Then, as a cultivator at the Xisui Realm, he swam up alone to see if he could quickly deal with Pang Jian.

"Is he trying to fight me to the death?"

Pang Jian immediately abandoned the idea of separating from the python.

The "Dark Giant Python" began swimming at once. Obeying Pang Jian's instructions, it paid no heed to Hong Tai's arrival.

It circled around and swooped toward the bottom of the pool from the other side, going after the Dark Ghost leader guarding Ouyang Duanhai.

Hong Tai was strong in a fight, but underwater, he was still nowhere near as fast as Pang Jian with the python at his side.

By the time he finally caught sight of Pang Jian, he hadn't even had a chance to attack before Pang Jian, riding the "Black-White King Python" Hong Tai had raised for years, swooped downward.

"Damn it!"

Hong Tai hadn't anticipated this. Cursing inwardly, he hurriedly turned back to save his subordinate.

But he was too late.

When Hong Tai saw the Silver Silk Giant Net, he also saw the masked man left behind alone. With Pang Jian riding the python and boosted by its high-speed dive, the man's mask was pierced through by the spear underwater.

The mask shattered, revealing a face covered in crisscrossing scars.

As Hong Tai saw that face, he also saw the Dragon-Patterned Spear's tip pierce the man's left eye, pinning him to the ground.

Just as the Phoenix Bone had pinned the "Dark Giant Python" to death.

"So he wore a mask because he knew he was ugly, with all those scars covering his face."

Pang Jian made the assessment in his heart, then yanked the Dragon-Patterned Spear out of the man's eye socket.

As blood gushed out, Pang Jian noticed the iron chain in the man's hand was retracting violently into the net.

He realized at once that the humanoid monster trapped in the net was about to break free. He quickly ordered the python beneath him to get away.

Just as he'd thought.

He and the python had barely moved away when Ouyang Duanhai broke free of the net, heading straight for the Phoenix Marrow above.

Hong Tai was swimming down, while Ouyang Duanhai was swimming up.

The two sides had fought for so long that they were already at each other's throats. Seeing Hong Tai so close, Ouyang Duanhai attacked him outright.

"Everything's a mess! It's all gone to hell!"

Hong Tai was furious. Just then, Xu Rui's corpse sank past him to the bottom of the pool.

Jin Yang's corpse, the corpse of the subordinate whose mask had shattered, and the bodies of many of his subordinates at the Qi Refining Realm were scattered across the pool floor.

Hong Tai's dark, murderous gaze roved through the water before locking onto Pang Jian, still riding the python.

Damn it—that was his spirit pet, the one he'd raised for years!

"Pang Jian!"

Hong Tai's eyes blazed as he roared the name in his heart. Ignoring the monster-like Ouyang Duanhai, he fixed his sights on Pang Jian and gave chase.

He cast aside the priceless bones of the "Dark Giant Python," the mysterious object inside the Phoenix Bone, and even the consequences Jin Yang's death might bring.

All he wanted now was to kill Pang Jian and vent his fury.

"The old fool's gone mad."

Pang Jian, riding the python, shook his head as he watched Hong Tai charge after him without restraint.

The fastest python underwater was now obedient beneath him. Even if Hong Tai was formidable, what could he do if he couldn't catch up?

The disdain on Pang Jian's face and the mockery in his eyes drove Hong Tai into an even greater frenzy, stripping him of all reason.

Hong Tai had only a few guesses about the Phoenix Marrow. How could he care about Ouyang Duanhai now? He just kept chasing Pang Jian, even though he couldn't catch him.

Pang Jian wasn't nervous. As long as he didn't leave Blackwater Pool, he knew he could rely on the python's overwhelming speed advantage.

Riding the python, he dodged Hong Tai's relentless pursuit while leisurely edging upward, watching the humanoid monster with the Phoenix Bird Totem on its chest and wondering how it would obtain the Phoenix Marrow.

After the stalemate dragged on for a while, bubbles kept streaming from Hong Tai's mouth as he panted.

Pang Jian saw the humanoid monster finally reach the top of the Phoenix Bone. The Phoenix Marrow immediately began darting about again, as if evading the creature's grasp.

The Phoenix Marrow seemed anxious, as though it knew that if the monster got hold of it, it would be assimilated.

Gradually, the Phoenix Marrow moved higher and higher.

At the peak of the Phoenix Bone above the water, Luo Hongyan had been waiting in silence. Watching the Phoenix Marrow driven into a corner, she seemed finally to have noticed her. Her heart filled with both joy and worry.

She was glad because she could refine this drop of Phoenix Marrow, making it the key to rebuilding her body.

She was worried because she would be extremely weak while refining the Phoenix Marrow, and the python Pang Jian was riding carried the "Dark Giant Python" within it—a being that could threaten her.

There was also the fact that she still couldn't be sure whether the mysterious person who had raised the "Dark Giant Python" was at the bottom of the pool.

"Damn old fool! Black Snake, if you think we can kill him, we'll stop running!"

After Hong Tai had dogged him for so long, Pang Jian had also been drawing nearer to the Phoenix Marrow. A thought suddenly occurred to him, and he wanted to see what his mount would do.

The Fifth Realm outsider possessing the second-level "Black-White King Python" merely paused for a moment before choosing to keep circling Hong Tai.

"Forget it. I'll think of something else."

Pang Jian wasn't annoyed. He immediately gave up on fighting Hong Tai.

At this point, the Phoenix Marrow was wavering under Ouyang Duanhai's relentless pressure, Luo Hongyan above was weighing the risks and gains, and Pang Jian was drawing closer and closer to Ouyang Duanhai and the Phoenix Marrow.

Suddenly, the Bronze Pendant on Pang Jian's chest flared with scorching heat once more!

The blazing heat instantly enveloped the "Dark Giant Python," helping it overcome its fear of the Phoenix Marrow.

Driven by a mysterious force, the "Dark Giant Python" suddenly went berserk and charged toward the Phoenix Marrow!

Pang Jian abruptly sensed countless tiny Phoenix Birds, small as dust, stirring restlessly within the bones of his hands and chest.

Ouyang Duanhai, heading for the Phoenix Marrow, sensed something and suddenly fixed his gaze on Pang Jian. The Phoenix Bird Totem on his chest turned savage.

With a sharp crack, the totem shattered "Ouyang Duanhai's" bones. The Phoenix Bird stretched its head toward Ouyang Duanhai's neck, as if filling his skull.

The Phoenix Bird completed its transformation, turning Ouyang Duanhai's skin-and-bones body into a bizarre Phoenix Bird form.

At the same time, Luo Hongyan at the peak of the Phoenix Bone sensed a strange aura emanating from Pang Jian's body.

It was an uncanny aura almost identical to Ouyang Duanhai's, yet the two existed in completely different states.

Ouyang Duanhai had been devoured through the heart by the Phoenix Marrow, which had taken complete control and eaten him away, refining him into a Heavenly Phoenix Divine Guard.

Pang Jian, by contrast, had refined a drop of Phoenix Marrow and used it to temper his bones.

"How is that possible?"