Chapter 492: You Are Already Dead

Chapter 492: You Are Already Dead

Yue Hongling knew that on the surface, Shi Wuding seemed far more formidable than that blood bubble—after all, what could a mere bubble do...

But in truth, Shi Wuding's so-called "Indestructible Sword Body" was incomplete; at his core, he was still in a state so wounded that his face was gone. As for her, Yue Hongling, though injured yesterday, was far less hurt than Zhao Changhe. After a night's rest, she at least had the strength to fight, and now their power was relatively close.

As for that blood bubble, the moment Yue Hongling was swept by its blood aura, she felt her life withering—it was a crushing, dimensional suppression, not even a contest on the same level.

That wasn't a Triple Hidden Treasury; it was a Dominion Realm Demon God, no matter how broken or wounded, still stronger than them.

Yesterday, there was the Corpse Demon to hold it off. But today? How was Zhao Changhe facing it?

Actually, Zhao Changhe had originally thought this blood bubble would be easy to deal with... Yesterday, he relied on the Corpse Demon; today, they were contending for the Heavenly Book, and Blind Girl was there—wasn't that enough to flatten this thing? He'd have Yue Hongling stall Shi Wuding for a bit, and he'd soon pop that blood bubble like a blister.

So he boasted to the Spirit Clan outsiders that solving the problem here would take only the time of one incense stick.

Yet the moment he approached the blood bubble, before he could even raise Dragon Sparrow, he suddenly felt his body go limp, nearly stumbling face-first into the bubble.

Blind Girl said nothing, watching coldly from the sidelines, almost as if she wanted to kick him in the rear to make him taste it.

"Damn." Blind Girl was unreliable.

Zhao Changhe steadied himself, too busy to wonder why Blind Girl hadn't acted—after all, he'd never relied on her since crossing over. He quickly pulled something from his ring.

The Qinghe Mirror of the Cui family.

Because Zhao Changhe immediately sensed that this "Deathly Withering" felt very much like a curse. Curses were strange things; no one knew exactly how they worked. By conventional internal perception, nothing could be detected—there was still that old master fleeing with his innards burning from a curse, a top-tier Earth List expert who couldn't even find the cause.

And when Zhao Changhe had played the old master by the lake dealing with Lei Ao's assassination, he'd confirmed that the Qinghe Mirror could reveal curse effects that his internal perception couldn't.

Sure enough, when the mirror shone, he saw a strange, alien force entwining his body, constantly absorbing and devouring his life force.

What kind of Deathly Withering was this? It was absorbing his and Hongling's life force to nourish this blood bubble!

In just that short moment, the blood bubble visibly grew hands and feet, taking on a small humanoid form, though headless. Earlier, when it had attached its divine sense to the envoy, it could pull this trick; now, beside the Heavenly Book, it pushed this to the extreme—almost as if a single drop of blood could regenerate.

And the blood it used this time was... Shi Wuding's?

This cooperation was never so sincere or kind-hearted. Doro was still tricking Shi Wuding... His Indestructible Body still needed to borrow others' life force; at this moment, Shi Wuding was incomplete.

That didn't matter—Shi Wuding being tricked had nothing to do with them. But trying to drain his and Hongling's life force? Dream on.

The Return to Spring Art quietly activated, barely resisting the life-siphoning of the alien force within his body, while also cutting off the blood bubble's absorption of Yue Hongling.

No matter what alien force it was, when it came to bodily harm, the Return to Spring Art was on the level of a law—whatever it was, it was all the same.

The life-siphoning was directly broken.

From within the blood bubble came a surprised "Huh?" which then turned into a venomous soul-voice: "Zhao Changhe... You shattered my celestial spirit yesterday, ruined my great plan, and today you break my Indestructible Divine Power? You mortal swine of this world will never know what the Heavenly Book contains!"

The blood bubble crazily proliferated; in the blink of an eye, it grew from tiny limbs into a blood-red figure several feet tall, still swelling. In its hand, a vortex seemed to coalesce, gathering the power to annihilate all life here.

"Missing the Page of Nature, this single page of the Life Heavenly Book isn't meant for healing or indestructibility—it only lets you complete life transfer and blood essence plunder... That means your soul power hasn't recovered at all; you're extremely weak. All this spectacle now is entirely reliant on the Heavenly Book. Who do you think you're fooling?" Zhao Changhe ignored it completely and did one very simple thing.

He casually reached out and grabbed the Heavenly Book.

The Doro Venerable inside the blood bubble stared, dumbfounded: "?"

The so-called resistance to them from the Heavenly Book, which had turned them into neither human nor ghost, had no effect on Zhao Changhe at all. Instead, it seemed to rejoice, bursting into myriad rays of light in his palm.

The power Doro Venerable had been gathering in his hand suddenly dissipated like a fart, "pfft," vanishing.

Indeed, it had never belonged to him.

...

All this, though described at length, happened in an instant. By the time Zhao Changhe lunged at the blood bubble and severed the life-siphoning, Yue Hongling felt her pressure lift. With a "shing!" Dragon Sovereign howled, straight for Shi Wuding's brow.

Clearly, Zhao Changhe's side was the key; she had to keep Shi Wuding occupied, prevent him from interfering with Zhao Changhe!

Shi Wuding was just about to thrust his palm at Zhao Changhe as he darted past, when a chill ran through him. His sword qi swiftly looped back, barely parrying Yue Hongling's strike. His heart shook: "Second Hidden Treasury? No, still a hair's breadth away... How long has it been..."

Yue Hongling didn't reply. Dragon Sovereign rained down on Shi Wuding like a storm.

Others might think being a hair's breadth away was impressive, but she herself was dissatisfied, feeling that throughout this battle, her role hadn't been significant enough.

And this place was strange.

Maybe it was because of that golden page of silk... It seemed that here, she could always sense her swordsmanship on the verge of breaking through, just shy of complete integration.

Her gate to the Second Hidden Treasury should be here.

Not just a hair's breadth away!

The moment of breaking the cocoon was right here!

"Even if you reach Second Hidden Treasury, you'll die here today." Shi Wuding spoke coldly, his whole body erupting with sword qi, sword light everywhere: "Because you came too late. I am about to break through to the Third Hidden Treasury here!"

Yue Hongling turned one sword into ten thousand, staring intently at Shi Wuding through the sea of sword shadows. She could faintly see a blood-colored sword shadow looming behind him.

Was that a Dharma Image?

No... Indestructible Sword Body—what was that?

The body as a sword, the soul as a sword? A wisp of sword intent within, eternal and indestructible? Perhaps that was the Sword Emperor...

But why did Shi Wuding's sword feel so wavering, as if it were a moon in water, a flower in a mirror?

"Boom!" The blood-colored sword shadow pierced the sky.

Outside, the Spirit Clan people looked up in horror.

Third Hidden Treasury? The power of a Heaven List expert?

"Tap." A thin, gaunt figure, pale-faced, climbed the mountain step by step, slowly.

He didn't even have the strength of an ordinary person; climbing the towering sacred mountain was extremely arduous. Before he'd even reached the mountainside, he was panting, drenched in sweat.

Spirit Clan guards quickly blocked him: "Where are you from? This is the Spirit Clan's sacred mountain. Your Xia camp is at the foot!"

Han Wubing panted a few times, looked up at the blood sword piercing the sky, and said calmly: "He won't break through. He never will."

Guard: "?"

Shi Wuding, inside the Blood Moon, seemed to hear Han Wubing's soft words from far away on the mountainside.

Then, like a heavy hammer striking his heart, he grew agitated and restless.

Han Wubing sat cross-legged on a rock on the mountainside, closing his eyes: "You will lose this battle... I'll wait for you."

"Rumble!" Thousands of sword energies merged into one, shooting straight at Yue Hongling's face.

Yue Hongling couldn't withstand the intense pressure of the sword qi; she retreated a step, one hand on the ground, looking up.

Over there, Zhao Changhe had seized the Heavenly Book.

Myriad rays of light bloomed, spreading over the blood sword in the sky, as if illuminating every detail within, revealing it to Yue Hongling.

This sword... though fierce in appearance, why did it feel like it had severe flaws?

That book... seemed to tell her that this person's life was extremely incomplete?

Huh... why was the book growing brighter? Why did she feel a sword intent that resonated deeply with her—that image of a flying swan shadow, charging toward the blazing sun... What had Zhao Changhe done?

But Shi Wuding roared: "Han Wubing, what have you done!"

Now!

Yue Hongling merged with her sword, shooting toward Shi Wuding like a bolt of lightning. The resolve in her eyes was unyielding, charging forward without looking back!

That sword shadow, so utterly terrifying, its power even more exaggerated than what Zhao Changhe had seen in the Sword Emperor's tomb, seemed a moth darting into flame, a suicidal strike—yet the result was the opposite: the sword shadow was shattered by her single blow.

There was no narrow margin.

Long ago, when assassinating Lan Tiankuo, the judgment of the Chaos Scripture had already revealed her path; the so-called "setting sun" could describe time and imagery, but it could also be a verb.

A rainbow pierces the setting sun, falling from the nine heavens!

Bound within the imagery of a lone wanderer at world's end, it was skewed, too narrow. The way of life is vitality—how is it not also destruction?

Sunset and blood moon—why should they confine me?

Yue Hongling shattered the gate of the second secret treasury.

The divine sword's momentum did not waver; it broke through all sword-qi obstacles and drove deep into Shi Wuding's brow.

"Roar!" Shi Wuding bellowed, inexplicably erupting with power far beyond his current state, and with a "bang" blasted Yue Hongling away, transforming into a streak of light that shot beyond the blood moon, racing toward Han Wubing.

Yue Hongling sheathed her sword and looked back; she did not pursue.

"I did nothing." Facing Shi Wuding charging madly toward him, Han Wubing, though utterly powerless, remained unruffled: "It's just that I've understood much in these past two days..."

Shi Wuding reached him, raising his palm to strike.

Han Wubing said slowly, "That day when the Snow Owl appeared and went after the Thief Saint, you acted as if you felt nothing... I found it strange. Clearly, the Bashan Sword Hut should be the Listening Snow Pavilion; since you are not the Snow Owl, you should be acting on his orders... But everything you did showed no sign of serving anyone's command; it seemed you sought only your own sword path—strange, isn't it?"

Shi Wuding's hand froze in midair.

"These two days, I've understood... because you are incomplete..." Han Wubing smiled: "You used sword slaves to comprehend the myriad sword intents of others—have you ever considered that you yourself might be one?"

Shi Wuding's hand suddenly clutched his head, groaning in pain.

"I didn't know I was your sword slave, and you don't know you are another's." Han Wubing's voice held a hint of pity: "But now I have a self; you still do not..."

"The sword is the self. What use is comprehending another's intent?" Han Wubing continued: "Look at Lady Yue—from beginning to end, she has been her own, even if that was once skewed, yet it will eventually broaden."

He gently reached out and touched Shi Wuding's brow: "Your body is broken and battered, half your life stolen by another... The sword-qi seeks a more suitable vessel; when I drew near, I became the ideal carrier in its mind, for in its eyes, you and I are the same. So your sword-qi scattered—truly, I did nothing..."

As he spoke, a wisp of sword-qi entered Han Wubing's body.

Shi Wuding's groaning ceased; the light in his eyes grew dimmer.

"Without this sword-qi's support, your body is already dead, Master... What is immortal is the sword-qi, not you." Han Wubing suddenly waved his hand, casting the sword-qi he had just absorbed into the mountain like a discarded shoe, causing a thunderous explosion.

Amid the blast, Shi Wuding fell backward and lay still, with no further breath.

Han Wubing looked up at the radiance of the Heavenly Scripture, and from his body began to grow a brand-new sword-qi—weak, yet unyielding.

One's own sword intent is the foundation of immortality.

Han Wubing awakened the Immortal Sword Body, and under the halo of the Heavenly Scripture, he was fully revived.