Phantom Prince

Sen Lijiu stood rooted to the spot, staring blankly as Jiuyou vanished before his eyes.

Her true body shattered? Nine Nether was hurt that badly? Nine Nether was made of jade—how much must it have hurt to shatter, how devastated must she have been? She loved her true body more than anything and treasured it so dearly, yet now it had shattered because of him. Even after it was repaired, it would probably still bear cracks...

No wonder. No wonder Jiuyou had been so weak when she appeared. No wonder she had looked so...

If he had been stronger, Jiuyou would never have been hurt so badly, and his clanspeople would never have been put in danger. It was all because of those traitors. If they hadn't betrayed him, how could he have ended up here? How could he still not have reached the Source Tier?

His fingers clenched into fists, and his eyes turned red and black for an instant. The tails that had emerged in response to his emotions flickered in and out of sight, wildly unstable, shifting between red and black and white and gold. The mark on his forehead flashed rapidly, changing colors over and over. His power began changing color as well, turning from holy white and gold to eerie red and black.

His beautiful silver hair remained unchanged, but his entire air transformed from cool and aloof to bewitching. His clothes shifted from predominantly white and gold to black and red.

The corners of his eyes tilted upward, his red irises tinged with black and utterly calm. His fox ears had also turned black and red. The nine tails behind him were no longer white and gold, either, but black with red patterns.

"Sigh... I never wanted to turn into this. Why did you have to force me?"

His voice was languid, carrying a careless indifference.

This was Wen Li's other form, known as the Phantom Prince.

Mysterious and uncanny, even his methods of attack differed from before.

His original appearance had made him seem innocent and well-behaved at first glance, but now he looked markedly different. The corners of his eyes were crimson, and the mark on his forehead had turned red, making him look all the more bewitching against his snow-white face.

Chime, chime... The sound rang out from far away. Wen Li did not hear it, but the mark on his body kept flashing...

Wen Yan had just sat down and was about to discuss Wen Li's situation in detail with his younger brothers when his expression suddenly grew grave. The others looked no better. He spoke coldly:

"You all felt it, didn't you? Something is wrong with Jiujiu's state."

Wen Jin's expression was solemn as well:

"It's the Phantom Form. Jiujiu actually used it. We can't let him use that form. Its effects on him are far too severe right now."

Just then, their jade pendants began to hum. Wen Yan's pendant manifested first, and his expression grew somber:

"Huai'an, what's wrong? Has something happened to Jiuyou?"

Huai'an bobbed up and down, a voice reaching everyone's ears:

"Nine Nether's true body has shattered, and her Origin Core is unstable. Unless she is repaired in time, I'm afraid she will dissipate completely."

The other floating jade pendants conveyed the same message. Wen Yan and the others looked exceedingly grave. Wen Yun said:

"Something isn't right. If it were only spatial-temporal turbulence, how could Jiuyou have failed to withstand it? Someone else must have had a hand in this."

Wen Jin quickly made arrangements for the other tasks, then told his brothers, "I'll investigate everyone involved. Let's see who was bold enough to tamper with things."

Wen You swept his sleeve back and rose, telling Wen Yan, "Eldest Brother, I'll prepare the materials needed to repair Jiuyou." After a pause, he added to Wen Ze, "Sixth Brother, sorry for the trouble, but we'll need you to handle the heavenly tribulation when the time comes."

Wen Ze nodded in understanding.

Once they had made their arrangements, they were gone, leaving every seat empty. With their departure, the space slowly vanished, as though it had never existed...