Yan Wuxu Appears

Chapter 45: Yan Wuxu Appears

In the corridor shrouded in blood mist, the Cha Ghosts lunging at her were eerie and imposing, yet they could not stop the girl who strode forward alone with her proud sword.

The magical power in Qin Long's eyes burned as she advanced step by step.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Accompanied by crisp footsteps, she actually moved faster and faster, until she was chasing dozens of Cha Ghosts as they fled.

The Formless Sword Tone around her body rang out, now compressed until only a thin membrane remained.

Yet it was precisely this membrane of sword tones that stubbornly resisted the ghostly hands reaching in from all directions, grinding them away.

The Cha Ghosts did not revive instantly; they needed a brief interval.

At last, Qin Long passed the corridor corner buried in shadow. A gust of sinister wind swept through, and dry bamboo leaves rustled.

A courtyard steeped in deathly stillness came into view.

Hundreds of corpses of maids and servants in various attire were piled upon the flagstone path before the courtyard, their faces twisted in terror, blood staining all seven orifices.

The flowing blood had congealed into clots upon the ground!

Many seemed to have seen something horrifying before their deaths. Aside from bloodstains at the corners of their mouths, there was also yellow-green bile, as though they had been frightened to death alive.

The corpses were piled together into a structure resembling a mound of severed heads.

An ancient painting scroll floated above the grisly mound, drawing in and exhaling sinister spiritual energy from all around.

Blood Qi continuously surged from within the mound, absorbed by the scroll before dispersing in every direction as blood mist.

Upon the scroll, someone had used superb painting techniques to depict over a hundred beauties, large and small.

Some sat, some walked, some danced with swords, some rode horses. Some played in their chambers, while others sat in bridal sedans wearing phoenix crowns.

Their poses were so lifelike that they seemed ready to come alive.

But as the scroll trembled, sinister spiritual energy spread across its surface like bloodstains. Every one of those beauties revealed a horrifying ghostly face.

Then their figures blurred, and they all burrowed out, transforming into Cha Ghosts that pounced upon Qin Long.

"So you are the true culprit. I cannot let you remain today."

Anger finally surfaced on Qin Long's cold face. Ignoring the Cha Ghosts rushing at her, she strode forward.

A Spirit Artifact was a magical artifact that had developed sentience.

The Charming Maiden Hundred Beauties Painting truly deserved its reputation as an Extreme-Grade Spirit Artifact of the demonic path. Sensing danger approaching, it not only spewed out Cha Ghosts madly, but also erupted with a blood-colored barrier that tightly protected its body.

Qin Long's Formless Sword Tone specialized in defense. Though it stirred ripples across the blood-colored barrier when it struck it, it could not break through.

"I'll cut you down!"

Without hesitation, she lightly brushed the fingers of her pale hand over the sword at her waist before gripping it steadily.

As her slender waist twisted, the Luoshui Sword finally left its sheath.

A flash of snow-bright sword light instantly illuminated the entire courtyard, and the air seemed to fall still.

The sword momentum she had accumulated since entering the Grand General's Manor poured forth like torrential rain!

A faint azure dragon's roar seemed to echo through the air.

The true-transmission sword technique—Azure Dragon Concealing the Pearl—now erupted with its full power!

As the terrifying sword Qi slammed into the blood-colored barrier, even an Extreme-Grade Spirit Artifact trembled violently, desperately stimulating its spiritual energy to resist.

Crack!

After a brief stalemate, a crisp sound rang out. The nearly solid blood-colored barrier exploded, and an ugly crack burst open along the edge of the sinister scroll.

Yet once Qin Long's sword was drawn, it shook the heavens and shattered the earth. Even after breaking the blood-colored barrier, half its power remained.

Just as the Charming Maiden Hundred Beauties Painting was about to be destroyed beneath that strike, a dreadful rumble sounded from the depths of the courtyard.

A sphere of lightning wreathed in blood-red light silently blasted through the screen wall outside the courtyard. Carrying a heart-pounding aura, it hurtled toward Qin Long!

Qin Long's pupils contracted. Her swordsmanship was nearly sentient, and in that same instant, she sensed the power of the silent lightning sphere.

She stepped into the air, forcibly redirecting Azure Dragon Concealing the Pearl, a move she had nearly exhausted, toward a new target. It curved through the air and struck the silent lightning sphere head-on.

Boom!

Violent spiritual energy fluctuations became a gale that surged skyward. Even the grisly mound of corpses nearby was blasted away.

Sword light and lightning intertwined. With a soft shout, Qin Long wore away most of the lightning sphere before forcefully driving it back with her sword light.

Crackle!

The lightning sphere exploded upon returning to the courtyard. Amid flashes of lightning and rolling thunder, the courtyard was reduced entirely to ruins.

With a soft tap, Qin Long's toes landed lightly on the ground. The mid-grade Spirit Artifact sword in her hand trembled gently, its blade like a pool of autumn water.

However, she frowned slightly and discovered that the Charming Maiden Hundred Beauties Painting beside her had vanished at some point.

"You attacked me while I had the advantage, just to save that disgusting magical artifact?"

Qin Long lowered her gaze as Xiao Liang and Pandora moved closer.

"Are you all right?"

Xiao Liang quietly pressed a hand over the Heaven-Earth Bracelet, narrowing his eyes at the hundreds of corpses strewn across the courtyard. He now understood even more clearly just how ruthless this place's master was.

"I failed to destroy that magical artifact."

Qin Long first shook her head, then spoke with a trace of self-reproach.

"I painstakingly refined my natal Spirit Artifact. Did you think you could destroy it whenever you pleased?"

Smoke and dust filled the courtyard as a low voice emerged, carrying the commanding air of one long accustomed to high status.

Then, a tall figure in magnificent robes slowly emerged from the haze. Even from more than a dozen paces away, his powerful aura was overwhelmingly intimidating.

Yan Wuxu!

With a flip of his hand, Xiao Liang quietly clasped the Fire Chi Pearl within his palm.

Since Qin Long's sword had already left its sheath, there was no need to return it. She casually slashed out a streak of sword Qi, cleaving through the smoke and dust as it flew toward the figure.

The latter extended a sharp claw covered in azure scales and effortlessly caught the sword Qi. With a forceful squeeze, he ground it away.

But this also allowed Xiao Liang's group to clearly see the true face of the infamous Grand General of the Yan Kingdom, the royal noble whose status was exalted among mortals.

Yan Wuxu's appearance was utterly unexpected.

His tall body was girded with a jade belt, and he wore a bright yellow dragon-patterned robe trimmed in gold, dressed like a royal prince. Yet his exposed neck was slender and long like a snake's.

Atop it sat a dragon head covered in azure scales. Its pale yellow vertical pupils were occasionally swept by a nictitating membrane, much like a lizard's, radiating savage and terrifying Baleful Qi.

He was actually a monster with a dragon's head and a human body!

He stared at Xiao Liang and the others as though he had already regarded them as prey.

In his other empty hand, which was human, he held that demonic Extreme-Grade Spirit Artifact—the Charming Maiden Hundred Beauties Painting!

"You... what exactly are you?"

Xiao Liang was briefly stunned before asking coldly. Though he appeared to be questioning Yan Wuxu, he was actually asking the Golden Core old ghost within the Heaven-Earth Bracelet.

"Hiss, how could this be? This is within the Yan Kingdom, in the heartland of the Ten Thousand Demon Cavern, yet this thing has appeared here—and it even has the resources to refine an Extreme-Grade Spirit Artifact!"

"Kid Xiao Liang, something is deeply strange here. The Demon Race and the human race have been mortal enemies, fighting one another for thousands of years, yet this thing is actually a Half-Demon!"

Thanks to the readers who contributed their creativity and ideas. Thank you all.

(End of Chapter)