Clam Slays Spirit Bridge

"What the hell is that?!"

A gigantic clam monster suddenly charged out of the mist. Chen Shengzhi stared in utter astonishment, frozen in shock.

As his words fell, the Dark Yin Clam Spirit had already torn through the air toward him, while Xu Yan was nowhere to be seen.

A black yin gale howled from its enormous shell-mouth, sharp as blades and swords. The air buzzed as it was shredded, and even the black iron floor rang with clangs as it trembled.

Chen Shengzhi came back to his senses and reacted swiftly. His robe billowed as spiritual power surged through his body.

He raised the earthen jar, sending a yin gale filled with wailing ghosts and howling spirits to meet it head-on!

Boom—

The two gales collided. In mere breaths, the black iron floor had been ripped apart, with shattered stone and dust flying everywhere.

The clam spirit's innate yin wind seemed the stronger of the two. Chen Shengzhi was forced back again and again, his robe sliced open. Clenching his teeth, he shot Song Yan a cold look and snarled, "Junior Sister, what are you standing there for? Come help me!"

Song Yan's beautiful eyes trembled. With no time to think, she hurriedly swung her dharma sword.

Spiritual radiance burst from the blade. Riding her Spirit Bridge into the air, with power flowing beneath her feet like a great river, she stabbed forward and attacked!

The Dark Yin Clam remained unhurried. Opening its huge shell-mouth, it fired several yin pearls.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The yin pearls exploded directly before Song Yan. Her pupils contracted, but it was already too late to retreat.

The razor-sharp yin wind howled.

"Ah—my face!"

Song Yan's delicate face was instantly shredded, blood scattering through the air. Clutching her face, she crashed viciously to the ground and screamed in terror.

"She's fucking useless." Chen Shengzhi spat a curse.

Then he looked toward the Dark Yin Clam Spirit.

Judging from its size alone, a clam monster of three zhang had become a demon, while one of five zhang had entered the Dao. Its cultivation was likely comparable to a cultivator at the great completion of the Spirit Bridge realm. It would be exceedingly difficult to deal with.

After thinking for several breaths, Chen Shengzhi turned and fled without another word, using an escape art!

The next instant, an incredibly swift golden flying shuttle shot toward the back of Chen Shengzhi's head.

A chill ran down his spine. He spun around with lightning speed and barely dodged at the critical moment. The Literary Gold Shuttle grazed his cheek, leaving behind a bloody gash.

In an instant, the Literary Gold Shuttle vanished from sight again.

Cold sweat streamed down Chen Shengzhi's forehead. His pupils quivered as he abruptly swept his gaze around, but Xu Yan was nowhere to be found.

Then the Dark Yin Clam Spirit arrived atop a yin gale. Its immense body loomed in the air like a colossal beast, radiating overwhelming pressure.

Chen Shengzhi's expression turned ugly. His sleeves swelled, and a green astral gale howled forth as he struck the clam spirit with his palm!

The Dark Yin Clam Spirit neither retreated nor dodged. Its enormous body came crashing down like Mount Tai bearing down on one's head, suppressing him from above.

This sort of spirit monster possessed greater dharma power than he did and a stronger fleshly body as well. How could he possibly stand against it?

Boom! Boom!

Chen Shengzhi's astral gale lasted only several breaths before shattering apart.

His face went pale as he was violently crushed beneath it. The tremendous force broke his bones outright. A piercing scream echoed through the ancient hall, chilling everyone to the bone.

The Dark Yin Clam opened its huge shell-mouth, clamped him between its jaws, and prepared to swallow him.

"Wait."

Xu Yan emerged from the distant mist, his expression cold and stern.

The broken bones in his body hurt so badly that Chen Shengzhi was nearly fainting. Cold sweat poured down his forehead, and his entire body shook. Seeing Xu Yan approach, he hurriedly cried out, tears and snot running down his face. "Young Master Yan, I was foolish for a moment! Spare my life!"

Xu Yan remained expressionless.

He picked up the earthen jar from the ground. Within its abyssal darkness, terrifying resentment shrieked and howled.

"How many people did you have to kill to refine a dharma artifact like this? Tsk, tsk."

Chen Shengzhi's eyes widened, his lips trembling uncontrollably. He seemed to realize what Xu Yan intended to do, and his face grew ever more terrified.

The next second, Xu Yan walked up to him and shoved the earthen jar over his head.

"This is what they call the heavenly Dao's cycle of retribution."

A miserable scream echoed through the ancient hall as Chen Shengzhi's body convulsed.

Several seconds later, his head was forcibly devoured, leaving behind a headless corpse.

For some reason, the Dark Yin Clam felt a little nauseated and flung the headless corpse aside.

Xu Yan turned and saw Song Yan still curled up on the ground, covering her bloody face, her eyes brimming with tears.

This was innate yin energy. Such wounds were exceedingly difficult to heal. Unless an earthly immortal intervened, or one possessed a ten-thousand-year earthly treasure spirit medicine, her appearance could never be restored.

"Young Master Yan..." She raised that horrifying face, her tone humble to the extreme.

"I won't kill you, but this Clam Brother probably won't spare you." Xu Yan put his hands on his hips and shook his head.

If she had not attacked just now, perhaps she might still have had a sliver of hope.

In an instant, yin wind howled past her. The Dark Yin Clam opened its jaws and swallowed the woman whole without hesitation.

Blood flowed over the rust-colored floor of the ancient hall. The reek of blood hung in the air, severed limbs and mangled remains scattered to one side. The enormous Dark Yin Clam Spirit chewed with crunching sounds from within its shell-mouth, sharp and grating enough to make one's hair stand on end.

Xu Yan stared blankly, looked around, and drew a deep breath.

He truly had not expected things to develop to this point. Daque Temple had sent ten disciples; apart from the three still keeping watch outside, all the rest were dead.

It was not as though he had never killed anyone. Back when he had been a mercenary in his previous life, the bloody scenes he had witnessed on the battlefield had been far more horrifying than this.

That long-forgotten feeling merely made his heart palpitate slightly.

Having lived a second life, he had spent most of his time reading and studying literature. He wanted to be a person who "reasoned things out." So long as others did not provoke him, he rarely went looking to make trouble for anyone.

As he pondered, Xu Yan picked up the storage pouches from the ground one after another.

"Cutting grass means pulling up the roots. There are still three outside."

As Xu Yan cleaned up the battlefield, a cold female voice suddenly rang out in his mind.

He whirled around and stared at the Dark Yin Clam Spirit, eyes wide with surprise. "You can speak? And you're a woman?"

"First, I simply do not wish to speak your human tongue. Second, I am a demon, not a human."

After chewing Song Yan's Dao body into pieces and swallowing it all.

The Dark Yin Clam's body trembled, releasing dim spiritual radiance as ink-black mist quietly rose.

From within the thick fog, a bewitchingly beautiful woman, naked from head to toe, slowly stepped forth.

Her black hair hung over her shoulders, swaying in the yin wind. Her eyes were long and narrow at the corners, while her skin was fair, smooth, and lustrous as congealed cream.

Xu Yan stared at her. Only after standing dumbfounded for several breaths did he awkwardly avert his eyes.

"I helped you kill them, so that should settle the reward for the yin pearls. Is that acceptable?" the clam spirit demoness asked coldly.

"Fellow Daoist, do as you please." Xu Yan did not look at her and turned his back.

"Hehehe, why aren't you calling me Clam Brother anymore? How amusing..." Seeing Xu Yan turn his back on her, the clam spirit demoness's eyes narrowed to nearly slits. She laughed until her body trembled like a flowering branch in the wind, then licked her scarlet tongue, where a black pearl was embedded. "No matter what, young master, you freed me from my predicament. I ought to thank you properly."

"There's no need."

After saying that, Xu Yan walked straight toward one of the nearby meditation chambers and palace pavilions, studying the derived script on its door by himself.

The clam spirit demoness glanced at Xu Yan, then rode away atop a yin gale. Before long, Xu Yan heard several screams coming from outside.