Xiao Qinghe froze. He had already used the only working Teleportation Talisman he had. All that remained were the Spirit Pills in the Jade Gourd.
His instincts told him that the Ghost King was definitely not interested in the Spirit Pills.
What else could it be?
Just then, the system suddenly sounded a piercing alert.
[Warning! Warning! Host, evacuate immediately, or the system risks exposure! Host, evacuate immediately!]
Holy shit!
The Human-Faced Ghost King could actually sense the system? Was this bastard cheating?
The problem was, he was already on the verge of dying!
If he could run, would he have waited until now?
"Won't talk?" The Ghost King's voice was sinister. His skin-covered face suddenly pressed close to Xiao Qinghe's as he gave an eerie cackle. "That thing follows this body of yours. In that case, I'll simply take your body."
What did he mean, take his body?
The system sounded another warning.
[The Human-Faced Ghost King is proficient in body possession. Host in danger. Evacuate immediately! Evacuate immediately!]
So this Ghost King could possess bodies, and he had set his sights on the system attached to Xiao Qinghe?
What kind of monster was he?
This was way too broken, damn it!
"Don't touch my senior brother!" Xie Jun's eyes were bloodshot as she drew her sword and thrust.
Her attack was fierce and vicious, almost grazing the Ghost King's neck.
The Ghost King reacted instantly. Light as a feather, he easily slipped aside.
Xie Jun's sword only managed to sever a stray lock of hair by his ear.
"To think you still retain some awareness." The Ghost King sneered. His skin-covered face seemed to have a pair of eyes that stared chillingly at Xie Jun. "A dying struggle. You don't know what's good for you!"
Killing intent surged around the Ghost King. His form turned ghostlike as he shot toward Xie Jun like a hurricane.
That terrifying aura horrified Xiao Qinghe. "Junior sister, watch out! You're no match for him! Don't take him head-on!"
Before his words had faded, the two figures collided like wind and thunder.
Boom!
An earth-shaking crash rang out.
In midair, monster energy spread like an enormous black net, blotting out the sky and moon. A fearsome streak of sword energy cleaved it apart, as though splitting heaven from earth.
The next moment, the Fleeting Swan Sword Formation burst open in midair. Swords of light darted through it, dense as a downpour, forcibly tearing the black net of monster energy to shreds.
The sheer scale of the scene was spectacular.
Even movie special effects wouldn't dare go this far!
Xiao Qinghe watched in awe, thinking that when immortals fought, all he could do was hide and watch so he would not distract Xie Jun.
The Human-Faced Ghost King was, after all, an S-rank great monster with countless battles behind him. Xie Jun was a novice. Even at full strength, she was suppressed at every turn and gradually fell behind.
Monster energy enveloped the sword formation, almost swallowing it whole.
The grand battle looked poised to end in Xie Jun's defeat.
The Ghost King ran out of patience. With a sweep of both hands, he condensed his monster energy into a longsword and thrust it through the air toward Xie Jun's chest. Suddenly, however, he stopped and slowly lowered his head.
A sword of light was embedded in his chest. It had pierced him from behind, leaving a bloody hole straight through his body.
His skin-covered face suddenly twisted. Had he possessed facial features, they would surely have been contorted with fury. "When did you..."
Xiao Qinghe saw it clearly.
Xie Jun had kept a move in reserve. The instant her sword formation broke, she had caught him off guard by splitting off a sword of light and striking before he could react.
Xie Jun staggered back two steps and braced her sword against the ground in a reverse grip. Bloody wounds covered her body. She struggled again and again to hold it back, but finally coughed up a mouthful of blood.
She was already at the end of her strength.
Later in the story, she would become the exalted Lord of the Demon Realm, invincible and immensely powerful. Back then, she could fight the Ghost King for three hundred rounds without losing ground.
Now, she did not even have the Demon Spirit Pearl. Holding out this long and seriously wounding the Ghost King was already beyond what ordinary people could accomplish.
The proud, arrogant Ghost King had never suffered such a grievous wound. Humiliated and enraged, he threw back his head and let out a piercing roar.
In an instant, monster energy rushed toward him like a violent gale.
His terrifying killing intent almost seemed to change the color of heaven and earth!
Dragging her battered body, Xie Jun crawled to Xiao Qinghe's side. She clasped his hand with one hand and held her sword across her chest with the other, gritting her teeth. "Senior brother, I will never let you die before me."
Her eyes were bloodshot, and mottled demon marks still covered half her face, yet at this moment, her mind was utterly clear.
She knew she would die, and that she would die alongside Xiao Qinghe.
That was fine, too.
She had lived alone, cursed to bring misfortune to everyone around her. It was her senior brother who had taken her in and given her warmth she had never dared hope for.
It was her senior brother who had made her greedy, made her yearn to have that warmth all to herself.
Sharing a bed in life and a grave in death had never been a joke.
Now, dying alongside her senior brother would at least fulfill that wish.
Xie Jun turned back. A smile of utter contentment bloomed on her devastatingly beautiful face. "Senior brother, I'll accompany you on the road to the underworld. Would that be all right?"
No!
I don't want to die yet!
Xiao Qinghe was frantic. "Junior sister, how can you still be smiling?"
Xie Jun's smile deepened. She leaned gently against Xiao Qinghe, her lips moving as though she had whispered something.
Xiao Qinghe did not catch it. Above them, monster energy condensed like black clouds bearing down on a city, and an air of despair spread.
At this rate, they really were going to die!
"System, can't you give me a two-person teleportation formation?" Xiao Qinghe was beside himself with anxiety. "Whatever points it costs, put it on my tab. But you can't let me die! If I die, who's going to advance the plot for you?"
The system remained matter-of-fact, astonishingly unhurried.
[No teleportation formation is needed. Reinforcements have arrived.]
What reinforcements?
While he was still stunned, a streak of golden light shot toward them, piercing the clouds and cutting through the wind to tear a gap in the monster energy filling the sky.
Its speed was staggering.
"Who's there?" The Human-Faced Ghost King was horrified. He raised a hand to block, gathering monster energy and blasting it toward the newcomer.
Yet the golden light surged forward with unstoppable force. Without slowing in the slightest, it tore through the monstrous mist and pierced straight through the Ghost King's clawed hand.
Blood splattered.
Wounded a second time, the Ghost King suffered a severe loss of vitality. At last, the golden light became recognizable.
"It's the Wind-Piercing Sword!" Xiao Qinghe's eyes lit up. "It's Master!"
Against the night sky, a white-robed figure swept gracefully toward them.
His white robes fluttered without wind as he approached on his flying sword, celestial in bearing, sacred and inviolable.
Hearing Xiao Qinghe's voice, he lowered his gaze. Xiao Qinghe lay on the ground, barely breathing, his face deathly pale, utterly bedraggled and weak.
Bai Yuqing's gaze hardened. Without wasting a word, he raised his sword and thrust straight at the Ghost King's throat.
For a moment, terrifying killing intent filled the sky.
Bai Yuqing's cultivation ranked among the highest in the Human Realm. He was practically the pinnacle of the Human Clan's combat strength. He already loathed monsters and demons; now that one had wounded his beloved disciple, his fury left no room for mercy.
He unleashed his full strength from the outset, catching the Human-Faced Ghost King completely off guard.
The Ghost King's arrogance had already led to him being wounded twice. Finding himself outmatched for the moment, he flew into a humiliated rage. "A mere member of the Human Clan dares challenge me? You're courting death!"
He threw back his head and released a piercing howl. A tremendous surge of monster energy poured from his body like a swirling hurricane, whipping up violent winds that sent sand and stones flying.
Towering trees were uprooted and swept into the monstrous gale, where wind blades instantly sliced them into fragments.
Such an immense formation of monstrous wind would grind an ordinary mortal body into pulp in the blink of an eye.
The vortex grew larger and larger, destroying everything in its path.
Bai Yuqing remained expressionless, without a trace of fear. He slashed the Wind-Piercing Sword into the gale and pointed it at the Ghost King. Suddenly, the blade blazed with brilliant light, splitting into hundreds of luminous swords that formed a sword formation and shot toward the roaring monstrous wind!
"The same move? You think it can wound me again?" The Ghost King laughed wildly. "With you alone and these paltry tricks, you dream of harming me even a little? Delusional!"
"Who said he was alone?" Xie Jun suddenly sneered.
Before you continue