Chapter 324: True Form Exposed, Millennia of Ruin
“Heh, hehehe—”
Fu Qingning stood up unsteadily, a chilling laughter escaping her lips.
“Interesting, there’s actually a mortal who can break through the restrictions and reach the Nightmare Realm. So illogical, so unconventional, you truly…”
“How long are you going to keep pretending to be Fu Qingning?”
Lin Tianlu calmly interrupted her, pointing casually: “Since you’ve already been exposed, just take off that fake mask, it’s an eyesore.”
Fu Qingning’s pupils constricted, and she instinctively touched her neck, realizing with astonishment the cracked and caved-in wound.
“…”
Then, she froze as if stunned, remaining silent for a long time.
Seeing her strange behavior, Lin Tianlu frowned slightly, vaguely sensing something amiss.
This woman, it seemed, wasn’t simply impersonating Fu Qingning, there seemed to be more to it— “It seems time is up, let’s end this.”
Fu Qingning murmured to herself, her words puzzling.
What did she mean?
As Lin Tianlu wondered, he saw Fu Qingning raise her hand and press it against her face, her fingers gradually tightening.
Crack!
Her previously soft face cracked like porcelain, the cracks rapidly spreading throughout her body, until she shattered and exploded!
Lin Tianlu was stunned, clearly not expecting this sudden turn of events.
This woman… had actually shattered herself?
No!
His thoughts racing, a suspicion arose in his heart:
“This is… a vessel?!”
He had seen a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, boundless baleful energy, within her body just now. Perhaps it wasn’t her own power, nor was it the karmic blood debt she had incurred, but rather…
This… was her true nature!
Like a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis, this was her true form!
“Hu—”
As her body shattered, a blurry, chaotic, and pitch-black silhouette was revealed, wriggling and swaying like black mud, still vaguely resembling a human form.
It didn’t speak, only spreading its arms, a brushstroke-like mark appearing in the void behind it, and countless churning black energy surged out, rapidly corroding the surrounding world!
“Ugh!”
Chi Lingyuan, who was far away, suddenly groaned, feeling the realm she had barely managed to maintain being forcibly shattered.
The surrounding clouds, mist, and mountains became blurry and indistinct, eventually reverting back to the misty pond.
Lin Tianlu glanced back, seeing that Chi Lingyuan and Yun Yue weren’t in immediate danger, and then turned his gaze back to the black figure, his expression serious.
He saw it slowly raise its hands, and the open gate of the secret realm behind it suddenly spewed out an endless stream of bloody and decaying aura, as if it had been sealed for thousands of years, and now, released, it instantly turned the misty Immortal Phoenix Mountain into a living hell!
“This—!”
Chi Lingyuan and Yun Yue’s expressions changed drastically, their pupils constricting, upon seeing this terrifying sight.
What kind of horrifying thing was hidden within the secret realm, to possess such a terrifying and bloody aura!
“No, this aura…”
Yun Yue transformed back into her fox form, supporting Chi Lingyuan, and looked closely, murmuring: “It’s the resentment, unwillingness, anger, and pain produced after death… It’s the purest form of ‘Yin energy’!”
There was extreme Yang, and there was also extreme Yin.
And the origin of demons and ghosts, besides the naturally occurring Yin energy between heaven and earth, was this pure Yin and baleful aura.
From resentment, ordinary, weak ghosts could be born, as well as powerful demons capable of destroying the world!
“…”
Chi Lingyuan was speechless, as if stunned.
Seeing this terrifying spectacle, Lin Tianlu’s expression darkened, and he was about to suppress it when a familiar female voice suddenly came from behind him.
“Even if you crush this black figure into dust, it’s pointless. It can still regenerate, even emerge from the secret realm as thousands of identical shadows.”
“Youluo?”
Lin Tianlu quickly turned around and was surprised to see Youluo looking rather disheveled, her seductive robe torn, dried bloodstains on the corner of her mouth.
“What happened to you—”
“There was an ambush outside the barrier, it took some effort to deal with them.” Youluo walked over gracefully, chuckling: “My techniques happen to be related to the soul, so I managed to extract some interesting information from their remnant souls. Want to hear it?”
“How are your injuries? Are Ruoyu and Yishi safe?”
Seeing him ask about their safety first, Youluo was slightly stunned and couldn’t help but chuckle, tapping his chest with her finger: “Don’t worry, I only suffered some minor injuries. As for your two good wives, they’re both quite stubborn, they’re perfectly fine.”
Youluo’s eyes softened, and she smiled gently: “Now, let’s focus on this monster.”
Lin Tianlu glanced sideways and vaguely saw two figures running towards them, his heart easing slightly, and he said in a deep voice: “You said you know what’s going on, Miss, why don’t you tell us in detail?”
“There are no living people left in the eight clans’ secret realm.”
Youluo smiled faintly, a hint of mockery in her voice: “Even that so-called Shaoqing Emperor, Fu Qingning, was just a puppet. They all died thousands of years ago, not a single survivor.”
Lin Tianlu was slightly surprised, but seeing the terrifying scene of the sea of blood before him, it wasn’t entirely unexpected.
“Then the one who appeared in the form of Fu Qingning just now was…”
“The ‘ghost’ formed by the combined resentment of millions of souls from the eight clans over thousands of years.”
Youluo tapped her forehead and sneered: “It has no consciousness, just a monster formed from pure baleful energy and resentment. It could talk to us and use the techniques of the eight clans just now because most of the resentment was directed towards Fu Qingning.
The Shaoqing Emperor, Fu Qingning, bears a significant responsibility for the tragic fate of the eight clans. Being possessed and controlled by the resentment of millions of people is her just desserts.”
“And now that the last of her reason and soul has been destroyed by you, its true nature and form have been revealed.”
Lin Tianlu’s expression changed: “Fu Qingning… she truly committed such heinous crimes?”
“She was a truly foolish woman, an idiot.”
Youluo couldn’t help but sneer: “It was because of her that the once prosperous eight clans gradually declined. Her schemes and plots ultimately forced the eight clans to seal themselves away in this secret realm to survive.”
Boom——!!
Immortal Phoenix Mountain trembled violently as the blood mist that had covered the sky dispersed, revealing countless figures within, like a vast sea, their screams, wails, and mournful cries echoing… An overwhelming wave of resentment descended, as if trying to crush the entire mountain, the ground collapsing and sinking!
Youluo’s face turned slightly pale, and she stumbled in the howling wind.
But Lin Tianlu quickly supported her, a warm current flowing through his arm and spreading throughout her body, a comforting sensation.
She smiled faintly and said softly: “It seems I don’t have time for a detailed explanation now.”
“Do you know how to resolve this situation, Miss?” Lin Tianlu looked up at the black figure floating in the air, his gaze narrowing.
“It’s both easy and incredibly difficult.”
Youluo’s eyes flickered, and she smiled faintly: “To completely annihilate the resentful souls of the eight clans who are trying to return to the world… with a single strike!”
“Annihilate… with a single strike?”
“Indeed.”
The seductive and mature woman glanced sideways, her hair fluttering in the wind, a hint of determination in her eyes: “If it were anyone else, I wouldn’t have the slightest confidence in turning the situation around. But with you here, Tianlu…
I believe you can end this millennia-old grudge of the eight clans.”
“…”
After a moment of silence, Lin Tianlu couldn’t help but smile wryly: “With such trust from you, Miss Youluo, I must truly do my best.”
After saying this, he calmly stepped forward.
Looking ahead, the vast and boundless bloody baleful energy tore through the clouds and mist, dyeing the moonlight crimson. The gate to the secret realm gradually cracked and crumbled, as if countless vengeful spirits were roaring and wailing within. Along with the howling wind, it gradually formed a blood-red river reaching into the sky, the mountains trembling, countless stones and debris floating upwards.
There were no words, only the terrifying baleful energy, enough to incinerate the world, burning fiercely.
The black figure slowly clasped its hands together as if in prayer, and a stream of blood from the swirling blood-red river above suddenly descended, like a torrential flood pouring from the sky, as if trying to completely submerge and shatter Immortal Phoenix Mountain.
—Clang!
An ancient sword flashed, a single sword strike!
A pale sword light left a faint mark in the sky above.
But this single sword mark seemed to tear through the void, the descending blood-red flood being swallowed and absorbed. As the blade swept lightly, even the sword mark disappeared without a trace.
The wind gradually subsided, only a few blades of grass and dust particles floating past.
“The dead cannot wreak havoc and create carnage in this world.”
Lin Tianlu’s right hand, holding the ancient sword, turned slightly, and magnificent markings gradually lit up on the broken blade, forming profound and mysterious sword patterns, the edge swirling with a pure and sharp, invisible edge.
He calmly stepped into the air, looking at the motionless black figure: “The dead should rest peacefully with this secret realm.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he swung the ancient broken sword!
The sword light exploded, instantly transforming into a giant sword that seemed to cleave heaven and earth, its chilling sword energy seemingly severing the baleful energy and sea of blood that covered the sky, falling swiftly with unstoppable force— Crack!
The gate to the secret realm, filled with countless decaying corpses, was suddenly struck by the sword light, a crisp cracking sound like breaking porcelain echoing.
“Ah… ah—”
But the black figure, cleaved in two, gradually opened its mouth, letting out hoarse and strange gasps.
Its body began to twist and writhe rapidly, countless black, fleshy lumps swelling and overflowing. The scattered baleful energy and decaying corpses, as the secret realm collapsed, swirled and converged, as if making a final, desperate struggle!
Lin Tianlu’s brows furrowed, his expression turning colder and calmer. His mind stirring, his spiritual energy surged and erupted, his robes fluttering, unleashing a world-shaking power against the approaching mountain of corpses and sea of blood.
Then, holding his breath and focusing his mind—
He suppressed it with a wave of his hand!
The crimson sea of blood rapidly evaporated and dissipated, the grotesque corpses shattered before they could even take form. The endless torrent of spiritual energy, carrying the power to overturn heaven and earth, instantly annihilated most of the disaster pouring out from the secret realm gate!
Crack, crack, crack!
The gate to the secret realm, unable to withstand the pressure, suddenly collapsed. Spiritual energy surged, bones disintegrated, and the “tomb of the eight clans,” accumulated over thousands of years, was forcibly destroyed by a single palm strike.
“…”
Lin Tianlu landed back on the mountain peak, dispelling the dense spiritual energy swirling around him.
And not far away, only fragmented remnants of baleful energy remained, gradually condensing into a blurry and twisted figure, about several zhang tall.
As its massive body also landed on the peak, it crouched on the ground like a beast, letting out hoarse and strange groans, its grotesque body twisting and expanding.
“There’s still some left?”
He raised the ancient broken sword in his hand, about to strike, when the black monster suddenly turned its head and fled towards the edge of the cliff!
Lin Tianlu was slightly surprised, he hadn’t expected this monster, formed from pure malice and baleful energy… to know how to retreat!
But just as the monster leaped into the air, about to escape from the mountain peak, a long, fair leg, like porcelain, kicked its head simultaneously, sending it flying back onto the peak like a cannonball.
“Haa… Aaaaaah!”
The monster roared madly, countless faces seemingly stacked and intertwined on its face.
“Hu—”
A light and nimble, voluptuous figure landed steadily on the ground, exhaling softly.
Chi Lingyuan straightened up, her expression returning to its usual aloofness and otherworldliness, her beautiful golden eyes reflecting the ugly and grotesque monster before her, only…
…pity in her calm and undisturbed gaze.
“Sister… Lingyuan!” Fu Qingning’s delicate face reappeared on the monster’s face, and she cried out in pain and desperation: “Spare me… don’t block my way… that scholar will kill me! I don’t want to die here!”
Facing the mournful cries and pleas, Chi Lingyuan’s expression remained unchanged, she simply assumed a fighting stance.
“You promised me, Sister Lingyuan… you treated me like a sister… why are you harming me now?!”
“It ends here.”
A soft murmur, like a mountain breeze.
A simple and unadorned punch landed squarely on Fu Qingning’s shocked face, cracks gradually appearing.
“Since you’re already dead, return to the underworld.”
Chi Lingyuan lowered her eyes and said indifferently: “I only protect those who have shown me kindness, not evil beings. You deceived me, so we’re even now… This face is truly disgusting.”
As soon as she finished speaking, her fist flashed.
The monster, stunned and shocked, didn’t even have time to react before it exploded into countless fragments of Yin energy.
“Be careful!”
Youluo, who was far away, shouted: “Its true target is you!”
Chi Lingyuan stood her ground, seemingly oblivious, her gaze calm as she lowered her hands.
The next moment, the scattered Yin and baleful energy converged again, rapidly clinging to and spreading along her delicate hands, as if trying to devour her completely!
Until—
The baleful energy that had almost completely engulfed her… suddenly dissipated like melting snow.
“How… is this… possible—”
A faint, shocked, and bewildered murmur seemed to be carried away by the wind.
Along with the dissipating Yin and baleful energy, it vanished into nothingness.
Chi Lingyuan brushed away the remaining baleful energy from her hair, her gaze unwavering, and murmured softly: “Eight clans, our past connection ends here.”
…
There were no more earth-shattering battles, no more schemes or plots, no more suspicion or paranoia.
A world-threatening disaster had quietly come to an end.
Without cheers or exclamations, without any lingering attachment or melancholy.
“Returning to dust is the best ending.”
Her mind relaxed, Chi Lingyuan’s eyelids drooped, and she swayed, about to collapse.
But she quickly fell into a warm and comfortable embrace, her consciousness fading as she drifted into sleep, soft murmurs escaping her lips.
Lin Tianlu carefully lifted her horizontally and looked towards the collapsed pond: “The eight clans, how are they?”
“Annihilated.”
Youluo slowly walked to his side and whispered: “Just like thousands of years ago, there are no more eight clans in this world, everything about them has vanished like the wind, without a trace.”
