A shattered arm recoiled through the golden wind and fine rain.
The once pale, slender arm had lost all its skin and flesh. Only bone remained, gray and riddled with cracks and pits. Its index finger and thumb were gone, leaving just three maimed fingers.
"Ah..."
Blood Lake Ancestor's wails rang through the Human Realm Path, only to be swallowed by the formations everywhere around him. Neither a ripple of divine sense nor a physical sound wave escaped.
His mouth merely opened and closed in silence.
"Fellow Daoist Blood Lake, your mind isn't firm enough."
"That hardly suits the cruel, cold Dao heart of a blood-path cultivator who sees billions of living beings as pigs and dogs. You aren't ruthless enough with yourself."
Jiang Ding sighed softly. "It's only a little damage to your soul. Why make such a fuss? You're an old fossil over twenty thousand years old, yet you're still this fragile. You really shouldn't be."
"Didn't you say you were certain to advance to Dao Integration?"
"From the looks of it, that was far too arrogant. Reality seems rather different..."
He shook his head.
It was plain to see that the instant Blood Lake Ancestor's soul was damaged, his strength began to fall from its peak. The injury to his soul's very essence had a profound effect.
His already vanishingly slim hope of reaching Dao Integration had dwindled many times over.
"You feral sword cultivator!"
"You're courting death!"
Blood Lake Ancestor stopped wailing. Clutching his maimed left arm, he roared, "Blood Lake Bone Mountain is a subordinate force of the Immortal Artifact Sect. Once word gets out, the Immortal Artifact Sect will turn its gaze this way."
"You'll die for certain. No one can save you!"
"Is that really so?"
Jiang Ding offered no opinion.
Clang!
That