Chapter 116: Unfortunately Chose Wrong
Chapter 116: Unfortunately Chose Wrong
Cheng Lingyu’s calm voice carried arrogance. His cultivation of Thousand Layers of Snow demanded perfection at every stage, developing a personality that pursued flawlessness.
“Counting the days, we’ve been here over twenty days. I wonder what’s happening outside Guishun Valley.”
Cheng Lingyu sighed. “Twenty days… yet I remain at the River Stage. I’ve devoured endless cultivation resources, yet this bottomless pit remains unfilled.”
Lan Xiaozhu softened her tone. “Don’t rush. Those four hundred storage rings we took still hold plenty. They should carry you through to the Thunder Stage.”
Cheng Lingyu still had ample resources—particularly the spiritual herbs, earth-level pills, and monster cores from Yunyang City’s underground palace, most still stored in his Spirit Cloak Ring.
Since entering Guishun Valley, he’d relied on scavenged resources, and his supplies remained plentiful.
“Let’s investigate the three-headed spirit snake’s situation.”
Grasping Lan Xiaozhu’s hand, Cheng Lingyu began searching for clues about the serpent’s current status.
Guishun Valley housed five Spirit Halls. The pair had previously entered one. Now they found a second, nestled on a mountainside in eerie stillness, devoid of cultivators.
“This Spirit Hall feels off. Why no guards?”
Cheng Lingyu edged closer, Magic Eyes scanning. No anomalies surfaced.
“Let’s approach.”
Curiosity drew them to the Entrance of the Hall. The interior appeared foggy through the doorway.
Cheng Lingyu’s Magic Eyes glowed eerily, piercing the Mist to reveal the grand hall’s interior.
A black-and-white skeleton meditated at the center, surrounded by blood-filled grooves. Various martial souls floated mid-air in serene dance.
Brilliance erupted, shattering the calm.
The skeleton jerked upright, twisting toward a blind spot. Cheng Lingyu sensed terrifying vibrations from that unseen direction.
Lan Xiaozhu, seeing nothing, frowned. “Should we enter?”
“Too dangerous.” Cheng Lingyu watched as swirling brilliance engulfed the skeleton, conjuring an expanding black-and-white realm behind it—a nightmarish landscape of bone mountains forming a tower emitting strange energy.
A skeletal hand burst from the pile, startling him. Simultaneously, brilliant light emerged from the skeleton’s focus point, revealing a hazy figure.
“Ah! Him—!”
Cheng Lingyu yanked Lan Xiaozhu into frantic retreat.
“What happened?” she cried.
“The man in gray,” he gasped, still fleeing. “He’s fighting that black-and-white skeleton in the palace!”
Lan Xiaozhu cried out, “The man in gray! How did he enter that Spirit Hall? How powerful is that black-and-white skeleton compared to the golden skeleton in the Holy Emperor’s palace?”
Cheng Lingyu shook his head. “I don’t know. That black-and-white skeleton was formidable too. It conjured a world of bones behind it – truly horrifying to behold.”
Lan Xiaozhu gasped. “Only Spirit Masters or Supreme Spirits can manifest worlds. If the man in gray dares battle it, his own power must shake the heavens.”
Cheng Lingyu frowned. “Guishun Valley’s origins remain shrouded in mystery through the ages. Could that black-and-white skeleton be connected?”
Lan Xiaozhu gave a bitter laugh. “These matters lie beyond our reach. Let’s focus on tracking the three-headed spirit snake.”
The gloomy Guishun Valley resembled hell itself – nothing but bare peaks and empty valleys, devoid of any vegetation.
After trekking over mountains and through valleys, Cheng Lingyu and Lan Xiaozhu hadn’t found the three-headed spirit snake. Instead, trouble came knocking.
In a narrow canyon, they discovered the third Spirit Hall. Over a hundred cultivators crowded the area.
“Look! Two more arrivals. That girl’s quite the beauty with decent cultivation.”
“The man’s worthless though… Wait! That’s Cheng Lingyu – the one who infiltrated the Holy Emperor’s palace!”
“What? Him! Block their escape – don’t let that brat get away!”
Having resumed their true appearances, the pair were instantly recognized. Dozens of cultivators swiftly surrounded them.
“Nowhere to run now, worm! You dared rob us last time – today you’ll pay with your life!”
Among the crowd were cultivators Cheng Lingyu had plundered near the Abyss, now baying for revenge.
Cheng Lingyu ignored the threats, his attention fixed on two figures in the distance – Yu Feilong and Hua Yuehong.
The search for the three-headed spirit snake had scattered major forces across the land.
Yet here stood the Heavenly Palace disciples outside this third Spirit Hall, catching Cheng Lingyu off guard.
“Not completely ugly,” Yu Feilong sneered. “They say you caused quite the stir in Yunyang City. I see nothing remarkable.”
Cheng Lingyu’s lips curled coldly. “I pale before the Heavenly Palace’s holy son who got half-beaten to death.”
“Insolent!” Yu Feilong’s face darkened with rage. “I could crush you with one finger!”
Cheng Lingyu snorted. “Others made similar boasts to Heavenly Palace before. You learn fast.”
Hua Yuehong studied Lan Xiaozhu with mild surprise. “Unexpected company you keep. Your cultivation has improved.”
Lan Xiaozhu murmured, “Equally unexpected – you ultimately chose Heavenly Palace. What a waste.”
Yu Feilong’s brow arched. “Waste how?”
“She chose wrong.” Lan Xiaozhu’s quiet voice held no fear, her eyes gleaming clear.
Hua Yuehong floated like celestial mist. “Right or wrong, the choice remains mine.”
“True,” Lan Xiaozhu conceded. “As Bai Ruomei chose the Heavenly Fire Sect. Who’s to say she won’t outshine you someday?”
Hua Yuehong’s expression shifted slightly as she demanded, “What are you implying?”
Lan Xiaozhu answered calmly, “Just a passing remark. Why take it to heart? There are countless versions of the Tianyang Holy Emperor’s legend. Who can separate truth from fiction?”
Hua Yuehong stayed silent, her eyes frosty.
Yu Feilong snorted. “Are you suggesting the Heavenly Palace is lesser than the Heavenly Fire Sect?”
“Strength will reveal itself in time, won’t it?”
Lan Xiaozhu’s unyielding tone stoked Yu Feilong’s anger.
Nearby, a cultivator snarled at Cheng Lingyu, “Come out and die, brat!”
Cheng Lingyu glanced around. Among the crowd of cultivators, only seven were from the Heavenly Palace—all at the peak of the Soul Martial Realm. The rest, varying in strength, glared at him with hostility, eager to seize him and interrogate him about what he’d witnessed in the Spirit Hall and the Holy Emperor’s palace.
Stepping forward, Cheng Lingyu took Lan Xiaozhu’s hand and strode toward the shouting cultivator.
“You wish to kill me?”
His voice held no rage, but his eyes blazed with a mysterious magical aura.
“Damn right! What’ll you do about it?”
Cheng Lingyu replied flatly, “I endured bullying all my childhood. Now, I despise it. Since you seek my death, I won’t show mercy.”
The moment he finished speaking, the cultivator shrieked. A crimson gash split his forehead as he clutched his head, martial souls erupting from his skull and materializing before the crowd.
“A mental attack?”
Yu Feilong frowned, surprised Cheng Lingyu—still in the True Martial Sixth Realm—could unleash such a strike.
Even more shocking was its ferocity. The cultivator, merged with a Beast Soul, writhed as each soul was severed one by one, his anguished howls echoing.
This was the result of Cheng Lingyu’s Soul Cutting Technique fused with Invasion of the Mind—a force capable of erasing martial souls. His mastery in spiritual combat rivaled experts at the Soul Martial Realm’s later stages.
With a crack, the cultivator’s skull shattered. His screams ceased as he collapsed, lifeless.
“Anyone else?”
Cheng Lingyu swept his gaze across the crowd, eyes gleaming with an icy magical light.
Many cultivators averted their eyes, unnerved by his ruthlessness.
“You dare kill him openly? Today, you die!”
The dead man’s comrades surged forward—four late-stage Soul Martial cultivators. Their martial souls materialized in the void, radiating oppressive energy.
Cheng Lingyu narrowed his eyes. The tiny plant in his mind trembled, spiritual patterns on its leaves flickering as waves of psychic force erupted.
Simultaneously, he activated the technique of origins—a supreme art honing the Primordial Spirit. Combined, these powers amplified his mental assault.
Soul swords shimmered in the air, intertwining with Seven Butterfly Shadows to form dancing butterflies trailing ghostly light.
This fusion of soul swords and techniques, learned from Duan Hong, represented resource integration. Paired with formations, its power would soar even higher.