He had pursued from west to east, and though he had yet to find the Sovereign's figure, he had passed through four Black Spirit Cities in succession.
In those places, every dark creature above the rank of Grey Spirit had fought to the death.
The Spirit Towers had been destroyed, and their spirit sources had turned into earthly fires, reducing the cities to scorched earth.
But this place was different, even though a great battle had also occurred here.
It was obvious that the ruins were filled with the aftermath of sword qi.
And the Sovereign did not use a sword.
Furthermore,
While the Spirit Tower here had been extinguished, it had not been destroyed. However, its spirit source had been taken.
Summarizing the intelligence gathered along the way, it was exactly as the Leader of the Sequence had feared—there were two separate groups.
He could not fathom the Sovereign's intentions, and the Sovereign's words could not be fully trusted.
The intentions of this other group, however, were not hard to guess. The purpose of taking the spirit sources was more than obvious.
They intended to use the energy of the spirit sources to block the erosion of the darkness and evade the detection of the Darkness Pupil...
But now, the intentions of both groups were aligned: head east, cross the Spirit River, and enter the Immortal Land.
He closed his eyes, and black baleful qi seeped from his body, rising and falling like shifting clouds.
Within his sea of consciousness, in a greyish-white world belonging to him, he was piecing together the fragmented images of the past, reconstructing the truth he sought.
It grew closer, bit by bit, becoming clearer and clearer...
Suddenly, he opened his eyes, a look of bitterness appearing on his brow.
“It’s her...”
“No wonder!”
He muttered to himself, his expression indifferent.
She was another outlier—a girl whose physical body had fallen into darkness, yet whose soul was trapped by a lingering obsession.
She was very strong. He had never met her, but he had heard her story from others.
In the stories, she had remained in Sword Province ever since the darkness descended.
Dressed in a red bridal gown with a sword hanging at her waist and blood-red eyes filled with tears, she loved to stand atop mountain peaks, gazing at the vast distance...
She was not bound by the Spirit Lord Hall, nor was she governed by the Ancestral Spirit Hall.
Some said,
She was waiting for someone.
After hearing that, he felt the same. Dressed in a red bridal gown, was she waiting for a general who would never return?
At least, that was what he had previously thought.
For ten thousand years,
The intelligence sent back from Sword Province never reported any conflict with her. She had never touched the darkness. Because of the frequent battles at the border and the River of Heaven falling from the sky to block the darkness's advance, the Ancestral Spirit Hall had chosen to tolerate her presence.
But today, she had actually acted, protecting a group of living souls. Had the person she was waiting for finally returned through reincarnation?
He pondered this in his heart, finding the matter increasingly interesting, though the anxiety within him also grew slightly stronger.
It had been a long time since something this significant had happened in the Greedy Realm.
Amidst his thoughts, he looked to the side. His gaze fell upon a piece of dust-stained white cloth. Frowning, he approached and pulled it back. His frown deepened as he murmured:
“Both are living souls, so why kill each other?”
“So that’s how it is...”
“Then...”
He took a deep breath, drawing the air into his dantian, then slowly exhaled through his nostrils...
Whoosh—
The breath emerged, transforming into countless wisps of black mist that sank into the half-dead, partially corrupted corpse...
In an instant,
The cheeks of the corpse, which had been dead for many days, suddenly twitched.
Then, he opened his eyes and gasped, taking a massive breath of air.
“Ugh!”
Fang Xiaoyao bolted upright, the pain in his pupils gradually dissipating. Memories of his death overlapped and flashed by, stacking with the scene before him, blurring and swirling in confusion...
Where is this?
Who am I?
Why am I not dead?
He felt the strange yet powerful force within his body that now belonged to him, his emotions surging.
He was alive,
And he was stronger.
Because...
He stared intently at the middle-aged man before him—a man dressed in black with yellow hair, blue eyes, pale skin, long ears, and a vertical golden mark on his forehead. He asked hoarsely:
“Who are you?”
The man stared back without flinching. “Spirit Sequence Five!”
Fang Xiaoyao: “...” Who the hell has a name like that?
Fang Xiaoyao: “Never heard of you.”
Spirit Sequence Five: “It’s not important!”
Fang Xiaoyao asked, knowing the answer: “What did you do to me?”
Spirit Sequence Five: “That’s not important either.”
Fang Xiaoyao fell silent, continuing to scrutinize the unfathomable expert before him.
The same breath of darkness had granted him dark power, yet this man looked completely different from the dark creatures he had seen.
He had flesh and blood, appearing no different from a living soul. Whether it was a concealment spell or something else, Fang Xiaoyao couldn't tell.
Spirit Sequence Five turned and began to walk away, his voice echoing lazily, “From this day forth, your name is Yi. I grant you the surname Ling. You are my spirit servant.”
Fang Xiaoyao stood up and shouted at his back, “By what right?!”
Blue light flashed in Spirit Sequence Five's eyes.
The look of hatred on Fang Xiaoyao's face vanished instantly, replaced by a calm and indifferent expression.
His mouth, his body, and even his consciousness compromised against his will.
He said respectfully, “Understood, Master...”
Spirit Sequence Five said calmly, “Let’s go!”
Fang Xiaoyao followed him.
He knew he was alive, but he was no longer himself.
Fang Xiaoyao?
He was Ling Yi.
A spirit servant—a spirit servant at the Heaven Immortal stage!
...
Time was like a vast canopy, forever frozen in a grey frame.
On the long road, everything they saw and heard was of a single color—monotonous, dull, and tedious.
The end of the road lay somewhere unknown on the horizon, and their flight never ceased for a moment.
Thanks to Li Shuhe's guidance and the concealment provided by the spirit sources, they had avoided all trouble and encountered no danger along the way.
Ten days,
Twenty days,
Thirty days,
A hundred days...
They no longer remembered how much time had passed, nor did they remember how many provinces they had crossed.
The only thing they had to do was fly—fly without stopping, replenishing themselves on the move, tireless...
Some ran out of spirit stones and began taking pills. When the pills were gone, they started eating the spirit plants they had been saving...
When those were gone, they spoke to Xu Xian, and he gave them more.
They were acquaintances now,
Companions in flight.
He helped where he could; it wasn't easy for anyone, and he wasn't short on money. He had plenty of spirit stones...
Lu Yuan occasionally complained, “Does anyone know how long we've been traveling?”
Jin Yu said with a long face, “The ghosts might know...”
The others remained silent.
Only Xu Xian gave a precise and certain answer. “It has been one hundred and twenty-three days since we ascended to the Heavens. We have crossed five provinces, covering nearly ten million li.”
The group was startled and began to offer their compliments.
“You remember that clearly?”
“Impressive!”
“As expected of an immortal...”
“It had to be you.”
Xu Xian smiled calmly. It wasn't that he was amazing; it was because he had a very bored spirit with him.
The Little Book Spirit crossed its tiny arms and grinned. “How about it? Isn't this spirit impressive?”
“Very!”
The Little Book Spirit was feeling quite smug and was about to show off some more.
But then, as if it had sensed something, its smile vanished. It suddenly stood up, looked back behind them, and said gravely, “This is bad!”
Xu Xian was taken aback. “What’s wrong?”
The Little Book Spirit said, “He’s coming!”
Xu Xian: “...” He?
Xu Xian: “Who?”
The Little Book Spirit shared its Pupil of Insight with Xu Xian and replied, “The Sovereign!”
The aura was closing in. Within his vision, a streak of light was rushing toward them at an incredible speed, drawing closer bit by bit.
Xu Xian's heart skipped a beat. He thought to himself, “Has he finally caught up?”
But he soon noticed something was wrong.
Xu Xian said to the Little Book Spirit, “His aura is very chaotic?”
The Little Book Spirit said tentatively, “He seems to be injured?”
No sooner had it spoken than it confirmed its own suspicion. “Yes, he really is injured.”
Xu Xian came to a sudden halt in mid-air.
The other eight were caught off guard and stopped in confusion.
Xu Xian looked back.
The others looked back as well.
“What’s wrong?”
“What are you looking at?”
Xu Xian didn't hear them; instead, he shared a look with the Little Book Spirit.
Sharing the same thought, a similar glint of cunning flashed in both of their eyes.
The Little Book Spirit suggested, “Take him down?”
Xu Xian opened his mouth and said, “Let's take him down!”
The others: “...” They were completely lost.
The others: “Take who down?”
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