Jumping into the Well

Dong Tianze's slaughter continued.

Pang Jian, gripping the Dragon-Patterned Spear, stood silently at the foot of the hill, watching his every move and searching for the slightest flaw.

The sight of the Su and He family attendants being brutally murdered did not affect Pang Jian in the slightest; his heart was as cold and hard as a rock.

What he was thinking about right now was how to effectively counterattack while preserving his own life when he finally faced Dong Tianze.

Dong Tianze was clearly well-versed in some form of swift movement technique; his shifts were as electric and spectral as a phantom, fast enough to dazzle the eyes.

Fighting him in an open area rendered the numerical advantage of the group useless, as he could pick them off one by one.

He had to be restricted to a narrow space!

"Both of you, be careful!"

As Pang Jian was thinking calmly, Zhou Qingchen suddenly turned his head and roared, "Dong Tianze, you are still mine to deal with!"

A long blade shimmering with cold light flashed out from the silver ring beneath his sleeve, and Zhou Qingchen charged straight toward the small hill, brandishing the weapon!

The edge of the long blade was not sharp and bore many nicks, yet held in Zhou Qingchen's hand, it carried a weight as heavy as a mountain.

"A long blade forged from cold iron. Like black gold, cold iron is also a high-grade metal."

Luo Hongyan offered an assessment, her eyes flashing with intrigue as she watched Zhou Qingchen's charging figure. "He possesses a spiritual artifact capable of storage. In the Fourth Realm, those who can hold storage-type artifacts should be few and far between."

After a brief pause, she added, "Dong Tianze did not want to treat Zhou Qingchen as his first opponent because Zhou Qingchen, like him, is a person who has stepped into the Xisui Realm."

"He is worried that if he gets bogged down in a protracted fight with Zhou Qingchen, we and Han Duping will coordinate to attack him from afar."

"That is why he avoided Zhou Qingchen first, using his advantage in swift movement to hunt down the weakest ones!"

Luo Hongyan had long since seen through Dong Tianze's intentions. She curled her crystalline lips and said, "You used the Bamboo Flute to provoke him, intending for us to deal with him first, right? As long as we pin him down and have Han Duping coordinate from a distance, it will be difficult for him to break free from the vortex."

"Yet, by biting that woman, he quickly regained his composure and did not impulsively do anything stupid."

The most composed person on the scene, Luo Hongyan, evaluated the situation as she watched the battle. She felt she had seen through Pang Jian's intentions.

Seeing Pang Jian remain silent, she suddenly raised her eyebrows and chuckled, "You fellow, you usually look cold and ignore people, but I didn't expect you to have a streak of arrogance in your bones."

"I didn't think that much. I just don't like the look of him," Pang Jian said.

According to Dong Tianze, everyone who obtained a drop of Phoenix Marrow would eventually find their way to Lake Heart Island for a final, life-or-death battle.

Pang Jian had obtained more than one drop of Phoenix Marrow.

Since a fight to the death was inevitable, he would naturally rack his brains to think of how to eliminate the threat that was Dong Tianze.

He would find a way to kill anyone who might threaten his life, ensuring there were no future troubles.

Soon, he saw that compared to Dong Tianze, Zhou Qingchen was much slower in terms of speed.

After reaching the small hill, Zhou Qingchen tore the Heart-Protecting Mirror from his chest, threw it far toward Han Duping, and shouted, "Old Han, keep that to save your life!"

Only then did he charge at Dong Tianze.

At this moment, Dong Tianze was fighting one against two, battling Su Yuntian and He Rong with his bare hands, his body covered in blood.

The black gold dagger known as Ghost Chant whistled in mid-air like the Heavenly Spirit Pagoda, capturing souls and ghosts, including the various "Spirit Sha."

The spiritual artifact Ghost Chant grew more powerful the more souls and ghosts it captured.

Seeing Zhou Qingchen approach with the momentum of a mountain, Dong Tianze grinned hideously. The Ghost Chant in mid-air let out a "whoosh" and flew directly above Zhou Qingchen's head.

Many of the souls and ghosts that had been sucked into the holes of the blade flew out one after another, surrounding Zhou Qingchen as if circling a Mystic Turtle.

Zhou Qingchen sank into the quagmire of ghosts, struggle and pain appearing in his eyes as he desperately resisted the ghosts' corruption of his soul.

"It seems that Dong Tianze avoided Zhou Qingchen in the first wave to use Ghost Chant to gather ghosts; the more ghosts he gathers, the more powerful the artifact becomes."

Luo Hongyan, watching silently, stared coldly at the air, feeling the power generated by Ghost Chant.

"You don't need to worry too much; Zhou Qingchen is no pushover. He should be able to hold on. After all, that Ghost Chant is not the Soul Array within the Heavenly Spirit Pagoda; it is not actually that terrifying."

As she spoke, she grabbed Pang Jian and pulled him toward the location of the Pit Well.

"Zhou Qingchen won't be in trouble for a while. Dong Tianze is only using that artifact to pin him down so he can kill the others."

She had roughly judged the true power of Ghost Chant.

Pang Jian, whose body had been facing the small hill but was suddenly pulled around by her, turned his head and saw a familiar "Spirit Sha" drifting toward the Pit Well.

"Luo Meng!"

Shangguan Qin, who was sobbing, also saw the reappearance of Luo Meng, who had turned into a "Spirit Sha." She wailed, "Luo Meng! You've come to save me, haven't you?"

The "Spirit Sha" Luo Meng ignored her and dropped straight into the well Dong Tianze had left, disappearing in an instant.

Shangguan Qin stood dazed, her face covered in blood, as if she could not accept that Luo Meng, who had always been obedient to her, was now ignoring her too.

A moment later, she suddenly shrieked like a madwoman, "You thousand-cut dog of a man! Seeing that I have lost my beauty, even you have turned away from me! Yes, I am ugly and hideous now, and you have started to despise me too..."

She cupped her face, accidentally seeing the blood seeping through her fingers, and hurriedly covered her entire face.

She buried her head in the grass, weeping bitterly and miserably, never daring to look up at anyone again.

"Luo Meng died long ago. Ouyang Duanhai, whom you have been missing and longing to see again, also died at the Blackwater Pool."

Luo Hongyan, who had walked over gracefully, had intended to kick her while she was down with a few more sarcastic remarks, but seeing that she was on the verge of insanity, she held her tongue.

Hearing that even Ouyang Duanhai was dead, Shangguan Qin was instantly plunged into despair. She collapsed into the grass like a soul-lost creature, muttering incessantly in a low voice, "Yes, it's all my fault, all my doing. I am the one who killed my Duanhai. My dear Duan, I have failed you for a lifetime; I have wronged you so..."

In her heart, Ouyang Duanhai—a man with whom she had no name of marriage but all the intimacy of a husband—was the only man she would ever have in this life.

"The Demoness who appeared in the stone pile is also on the island!" Pang Jian reminded her in a sharp, low voice.

Luo Hongyan paused in her tracks, shot him a glare, and huffed, "Isn't that even better? Dong Tianze is so troublesome that Zhou Qingchen alone might not be able to hold him off. With that woman stirring up trouble, our odds of winning will be even higher."

"No, no. The Demoness can control the Spirit Sha. I feel that the Demoness is even more troublesome than Dong Tianze," Pang Jian said earnestly.

Luo Hongyan, who was already fuming from being called "Demoness" at every turn, said coldly, "She hasn't killed you, nor has she killed your friends. Stop calling her a Demoness just because others do!"

Pang Jian felt quite bewildered.

Zhou Qingchen called her that, and Han Duping called her that; why shouldn't he be allowed to do the same?

"There is Mystic Turtle essence blood in the pit."

Without waiting for Pang Jian to ponder further, Luo Hongyan, who had pulled him to the edge of the pit, spoke again. "The Mystic Turtle died after its heart was pierced by the Phoenix Bone. The Phoenix Marrow, condensed from the Mystic Turtle's flesh and blood by the Phoenix Bone, must have been obtained by Dong Tianze."

"The Mystic Turtle is far more powerful than the Dark Giant Python of the Blackwater Pool; a single drop of Phoenix Marrow would not consume all of its vital essence."

"Dong Tianze is using the remaining Mystic Turtle essence blood to perform the bone-cleansing and marrow-washing of the Xisui Realm."

Through Luo Meng, the "Spirit Sha" she had sent down, Luo Hongyan had already seen the situation at the bottom of the well and immediately relayed it to Pang Jian.

"Mystic Turtle? So the giant python from the Blackwater Pool was called a Dark Giant Python..." Pang Jian paused, then asked, "The one that just appeared in the sky?"

"Yes, that is the beast soul of the Mystic Turtle!"

Luo Hongyan nodded and continued, "In fact, the entire Lake Heart Island is the shell of the Mystic Turtle! If you dive deep enough, you will see the Mystic Turtle standing on its four feet, carrying this island on its back."

Pang Jian was horrified. "The Mystic Turtle is that big?"

"This Mystic Turtle is considered small. It merely turned such a tiny island into a blessed land of spiritual energy."

Luo Hongyan, knowing the inside story, glanced at the deep, dim sky and sighed, "Legend has it that there is a massive Mystic Turtle carrying a landmass as large as the North Qi beneath your feet, wandering through the three worlds above."

"On the back of that Mystic Turtle, the spiritual energy of the land is incredibly dense—a spiritual site capable of founding a sect."

"I don't know how many powerhouses seeking to build sects have secretly searched for that Mystic Turtle, hoping to tame it so they could build their own sacred sect grounds on the land it carries."

Pang Jian was increasingly shocked.

He had spent his life active in the Cenji Mountains and Linshan Town; he had never even left the continent beneath his feet known as North Qi.

He found it hard to imagine that a Mystic Turtle could carry such a vast world while wandering through the three worlds above.

"Dong Tianze is different from Ouyang Duanhai. Both obtained a drop of Phoenix Marrow, but Ouyang Duanhai was devoured by it. Dong Tianze, however, has maintained his own consciousness, which means he has successfully refined it. As fellow Heavenly Phoenix Divine Guards, this Dong Tianze is far more terrifying!"

Luo Hongyan watched with some concern as Dong Tianze, empty-handed, slaughtered He Rong and Su Yuntian.

He Rong had always harbored a hidden hostility toward her, which she could feel, though she naturally didn't care.

The deaths of He Rong and Su Yuntian stirred no ripples in her heart; this was exactly what she had expected.

She just hadn't expected it to happen so quickly.

Amidst Su Meng's weeping, Han Duping activated the Heart-Protecting Mirror thrown over by Zhou Qingchen. A towering red mountain appeared, hovering above his and Su Meng's heads.

The peak, symbolizing Red Mountain, released a deep crimson light that enveloped them both.

Dong Tianze, having smashed He Rong's eyes, wiped the bloodstains from his fists with his clothes and stood up, walking toward him and Su Meng.

Han Duping hurriedly curled himself back into a silver ball and shouted to Su Meng inside, "Girl, we are both in the Pulse-Opening Realm; I don't have the ability to protect you. In a moment, I will roll down the mountain, and I won't be able to look after you."

With Zhou Qingchen's Heart-Protecting Mirror in his hand, wherever he rolled, the red mountain shielding him would follow.

With that red mountain hovering above, it could help him block attacks made of spiritual power, and curled into a ball like a hedgehog, he could also fend off Dong Tianze, who no longer had the Ghost Chant in his hands.

He said all this to remind Su Meng to flee down the mountain with him later, so the red mountain could help shield her as well.

Watching her father being cruelly murdered, how could Su Meng care about what he was saying? Because of Su Yuntian's death, the girl actually made a move to rush out from under the cover of the red mountain.

Han Duping reached out from his silver ball, grabbed her, and roared, "Are you in such a hurry to die?"

"Pang Jian, aren't you going to save her?"

Down the mountain, Luo Hongyan, after explaining the situation at the bottom of the well, looked at the youth beside her with a strange expression. "That little girl is quite cute and hasn't been annoying along the way. She's about to be killed by Dong Tianze; aren't you going to lend a hand?"

Pang Jian did not answer, but suddenly leaped, jumping into the pit well that Dong Tianze had stepped out of.

Luo Hongyan was instantly stunned.

On the other side, Dong Tianze, who had been walking toward Su Meng and Han Duping, suddenly stopped in his tracks!

He had been closely monitoring the situation across the entire island, and he had sensed Pang Jian's sudden jump into the well the moment it happened.

His expression flickered between light and shadow as he looked at Han Duping, who had turned himself into a silver ball, the deep red mountain hovering in the air, and Zhou Qingchen, who was temporarily restrained by the Ghost Chant.

After a brief internal struggle, he growled, "You brat, courting death time and time again!"

"Whoosh!"

He stomped his foot and shot into the sky, diving straight toward the pit well below like a goshawk hunting its prey.

He didn't even glance at Luo Hongyan by the well or the soul-lost Shangguan Qin.

In his eyes, both women were insignificant characters; killing them now or later made no difference, and they wouldn't delay him for long.

"Damn that brat!"

Luo Hongyan seemed oblivious to Dong Tianze's rapid approach, leaning over the well mouth in a fit of pique and cursing downward, "You keep provoking him—do you not realize you'll get me killed as well?"

"I wanted you to come down here too," Pang Jian shouted from below.

"You wanted me down there? Who told you I intended to risk my life fighting him? What do the lives of the Su and He families, or that of young Zhou, have to do with me?"

While she cursed, Luo Hongyan drifted gracefully aside, making no move to block Dong Tianze from falling into the well.

"Thud!"

Dong Tianze, having jumped into the well just as Pang Jian had, struck the bottom like he had hit iron or stone; the impact left him dizzy and reeling, and he was forcefully bounced right back out.