The air was thick with the scent of blood, rife with despondency, and lingering with the wails of the unwilling, aggrieved, and hateful.
Yi Yun's tall figure kneeled, his hands touching quiveringly the marble floor, and his eyes absent of comprehension and hope. From his lips, blood leaked; from his nose, blood dripped; from his eyes, tears fell; from his heart, screams thundered.
Behind him, a few thousand meters away, two figures hugged each other in close proximity. The hazy, bitingly cold air around them echoed with sounds of gurgling and whimpering.
In the distance, two figures flew in the sky, completely unhindered as they entered the gaping hole in the 12th Wall.
Standing in the sky high above the two figures, another figure watched on calmly. They sighed, sweeping the world with the melancholy of the spirit and fate.
"A single mistake was all it took, cascading to a life ending with regret." The figure said with a ripple of disappointment, a tinge of relief, and a hint of satisfaction in their voice.
What led to this was a series of calculated and unexpected events. It began just forty-nine seconds earlier...
"Stop!" Lin Ming shouted anxiously. He circulated his cultivation base as his ignited Spirit Core throbbed vigorously, pushing forth tremendous quantities of Spiritual Force. An unfathomably terrifying strength erupted into the air, stirring the world into a frenzy.
Unfortunately, as he tried to move, his body stalled as his cultivation base froze! Suddenly, bursts of terrifying Spiritual light spurted out of his Spirit Core. The light was cold, filled with suppression and restraining power.
"What?!" Lin Ming felt the Divine Origin within him stall its circulation, interacting with his Spirit Core as it began to forcefully end the ignition process. The process left him feeling abnormally weak, unable to move, and with his heart raging with incomprehension!
However, this delay was enough for a sequence of events to occur without salvation.
Na Xinyi saw this, including the doused and extinguishing Spiritual Aura of Lin Ming's Spirit Core, and her grey, beautiful eyes brightened mysteriously. She twisted her figure, using her hand to bring Tang Xingyun closer.
Tian Yinwu was in the process of tailing her, shockingly finding rare enjoyment in their tit-for-tat exchange. The more they contested each other, the more impressive he felt this woman was. Not only was she a peerless beauty of her generation that was only slightly, very slightly, inferior to Empress Xiaocheng, a member of the older generation, which was likely due to their difference in cultivated aura and demeanor, but she also had profound skills and a deep cultivation base.
"The fate of a typical Yin-Point Physique owner is to be the most glorious Yin Cauldron for an expert, but she's subverted that by cultivating to this extent, possessing incredible power far surpassing the limitations of the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region." Tian Yinwu was in awe of Na Xinyi, his interest ballooning a few sizes.
While Tian Yinwu found their exchanges fun, Na Xinyi was fundamentally different; she acted decisively as she began to unfurl her schemes. With a breath, she grabbed Tang Xingyun by the shoulder. She was in a dazed state, close to regaining herself, but this led her to being unable to resist. Na Xinyi enshrouded her in a dense, hazy yin cloak. Then, she tapped into her Spatial Resonance!
Tian Yinwu's eyes lit with shock.
Spatial-Convergence Ripple!
Grand Convergence Spatial Resonance!
If there were peaks of individual stages for the path of cultivation, then thirteen Soul Idol Rings, a Spatial- Convergence Ripple, and Primary Soul Light were the three limits of their respective cultivation bases. While there were abnormalities among them, such as Wei Wuyin's thick, Manifested Spirit Energy stuffed, and heavily refined Soul Idol Rings, typically, these were the absolute pinnacle of the Mortal Dao's cultivation stages!
Achieving this required a degree of transcendent foundations, and for Na Xinyi to display the Grand Convergence Spatial Resonance was far outside of Tian Yinwu's expectations. Why? Because it was one of the absurdly difficult requirements to naturally form the Law Seed of Space!
Na Xinyi hadn't formed a seed yet, but her possessing a Grand Convergence Spatial Resonance was indicative of her talent and ability to do so in the future!
"I'll send you out of here!" Na Xinyi's words echoed throughout the world for everyone to hear.
A surge of spatial yin force infused into Tang Xingyun's body, and Na Xinyi gave Tian Yinwu a look. Her eyes were incomparably calm, and she, with a push, sent Tang Xingyun soaring toward the gaping hole opened by Lin Ming. Then, she spun lightly, speeding toward Lin Ming in the next instance.
Tian Yinwu stared at Na Xinyi thoughtfully. This woman! He ran through several calculations as he contemplated using his runes to intercept Tang Xingyun, but the thought seemed wasteful. Every iota of his power was precious, far greater than others, so even he refused to exhaust an unnecessary amount if unneeded.
"You're trying to save that Chosen, but you won't be able to escape." Tian Yinwu considered that Na Xinyi, who had been fiercely protecting Lin Ming and Tang Xingyun had a deep relationship with both, especially since she assisted Tang Xingyun in hiding her illicit act. But they were currently trapped in the sea of bitterness of the Black Path, so there was no need to be hasty. In fact, he recalled Na Xinyi's earlier paled expression deflecting Zuhei's blow and thought that after the wild beastman turned his gaze back toward Lin Ming, she'll be struggling intensely to defend against such grotesque physical strength, delaying her further.
Within the blink of an Ascended Sovereign's eye, Tian Yinwu had swiftly considered several factors and scenarios, finding that the only option was if Tang Xingyun somehow left the Black Path through Na Xinyi's power, finding safety in the Docking Stage's protection. While he could breach it, he needed to reach the third stage, and Tang Xingyun's life wasn't valuable enough for him to miss out on that opportunity.
With all this going through his head, he circulated his cultivation as a burst of silver and gold light erupted from his body, and he shot toward Tang Xingyun with frightening swiftness.
Na Xinyi didn't bother with Tian Yinwu as if she had long predicted his decision. She flew toward the deflating Lin Ming with Lin Ziyan in tow. Lin Ziyan's eyes watched as Tang Xingyu rushed toward the 12th Wall. She bitterly smiled.
Qiao Shulin was powerlessly weak; she had tapped into a self- harming method to elevate her strength, amplifying her Spiritual Sense by an ungodly degree, and then focused on Zuhei's form. Fortunately, she knew his target, so her range allowed her to focus strongly on his potential location.
When Lin Ming stopped, she burst out with her lifeforce burning, sending a single arrow that contained her all. She was now empty, but she knew that Lin Ming had been saved by her arrow. A wave of intense satisfaction surged in her heart despite her arrow having done nothing to the feral, savage, and bloodthirsty beastman.
Unfortunately, she was unable to predict that Zuhei, whose will was intermixed with his Ancestor's, left him in a dazed state of reacting to killing intent with no sense of predatory priorities. When she had acted, sending an arrow infused with her Battle Intent containing her all, including her rampant and earnest killing intent, his primal instincts reacted without differentiation.
He switched targets!
Qiao Shulin felt her entire body grow cold as the beastman rushed toward her, her recklessly enhanced Spiritual Sense allowed her to see Zuhei move toward her. Perhaps it was because she felt death, but her senses were amplified by several levels once again as she could see a swift, savage beast rush her with cold, murderous eyes at an absurdly slow pace.
"I-"
She tried to get out a single sentence-her last.
Zuhei's current state did not allow such things; the Silver Wolf's claw attacked with heart-shaking ferocity! In fact, it seemed slightly stronger! The world screeched in pain and horror! The claw struck Qiao Shulin's body, slicing into her neck, chin, and collarbone.
SWIPE!!
It went through with very little resistance...no, there was no resistance. She was as fragile as air itself. Her head was severed from her body. Alas, the remnant force of the claw was not something her body as a Temporal Eye Phase Chosen could withstand.
Her last sight was Yi Yun in the distance, buffeted by the raging winds of Zuhei's movements, trying to push through with his all. The despair and desperation in his aura were so grim that she could feel it in her soul. Despite that, her final thoughts were thankfulness that she had saved Lin Ming. If Yi Yun knew...
SPLASH!
Qiao Shulin, on the first day of the Chosen King Competition's Everpath Voyage, at the age of 368, was turned into a bloody mist on the Black Path of Bitterness.
HOWL!!!
Author's Notes: The insertion of an Inheritor of Sin is derailing S00000 many storylines of typical MC's loi.If not for WW opening up those secret realms, Lin Ming and Qiao Shulin never would've met. If not for Hong Chunhua, they would've never bonded out of adversity. BUT IT DOESN'T END THERE! ( Note).
