Buzz—!
An invisible wave carrying an extremely sinister Law force burst out from the shattered jade pendant in an instant. It rippled through the stagnant air, distorting the poisonous fog that clung to the trees.
It wasn't an attack. Instead, it moved as if it were alive, a hungry shadow flowing upstream along the blood baleful qi that Xue Shouren was using to devour Granny Hua's source. At an astonishing speed, it surged straight into his palm, raced through his meridians, and charged directly at his Yuányīng on dantian.
"Ah—!"
Xue Shouren let out a shrill scream that tore through the silence of the swamp. He realized in horror that the devouring power inside his body lost control the moment it touched that strange fluctuation. The spiritual energy he had just stolen began to boil and churn within him, turning into a violent torrent.
Not only couldn't he no longer devour Granny Hua, but instead, his own essence blood and Yuányīng source, cultivated through hundreds of years of hardship, were surging back toward her at a speed ten times, even a hundred times faster than when he had been devouring her.
Or rather, they were being forcibly ripped away by an even stronger and more domineering devouring force that tore at the very foundation of his soul.
"No! This is… the Devouring Origin Reverse Curse?! The Hehuan Sect… the Sect Master… the restriction…" He understood instantly, his eyes filled with raw fear and despair.
That jade pendant was something the Hehuan Sect Master had bestowed upon core elders. It was used to control elders who had joined the sect later and secretly contained the Devouring Origin Reverse Curse as a hidden insurance policy against treachery.
Once the holder was secretly attacked by a fellow sect member using devouring or dual cultivation evil arts, and their life was in danger, activating it would trigger the restriction. It would forcibly reverse the devouring, feed the caster's source back to the holder, and severely injure or even kill the caster.
It was one of the Sect Master's ultimate measures to control internal strife and prevent the sect's upper ranks from tearing themselves apart through mutual betrayal.
"You… you were guarding against me from the start?!" he gasped, his voice cracking with disbelief.
Xue Shouren's eyes nearly split apart. He desperately tried to sever the connection, but the backlash force clung to his Yuányīng like a bone eating maggot, locking it down completely and preventing any escape.
He could feel his hard-earned cultivation pouring out like a flood from a broken dam, leaving him empty and hollow.
"Stop it! Stop now! Old woman Hua! I was wrong! Spare my life! The fragment is yours! I will give you everything!" he screamed in terror. All his former arrogance and greed were gone, leaving only fear of death that made him tremble.
"Cough cough… it's too late…" Granny Hua's deathly pale face regained a hint of color as vast amounts of pure source fed back into her, the warmth of the spiritual energy knitting her shredded wounds.
She looked at the Xue Shouren's terrified, twisted expression. There wasn't a trace of pity in her eyes, only the satisfaction of revenge and icy killing intent that burned with a dark light.
"When the Sect Master gave me this… she said… once this curse is activated, it won't stop unless… unless the caster's source is completely drained… or the holder stops it willingly… cough cough… you wanted to devour me… so you should have been prepared… to be devoured in return…"
"No! I don't want to die! I'm mid stage Nascent Soul! I still have a bright future!" He struggled wildly, his limbs flailing against the invisible tether. He even tried to self-detonate his Yuányīng, but it was firmly sealed by the strange reverse curse force. He couldn't even self-destruct to take her with him.
"Young Sect Master! Save me! I know I was wrong!" he howled in despair, but only dead silence and the thick, poisonous fog answered him.
Granny Hua said nothing more. She fully circulated her cultivation technique, guiding the endless stream of pure source flowing into her body to repair her collapsing injuries and stabilize her trembling Yuányīng.
Although the Devouring Origin Reverse Curse couldn't completely restore her, it at least saved her life. Perhaps her foundation might even benefit from this disaster, though the cost was high.
Xue Shouren's aura withered at a visible speed, his presence flickering like a dying flame in the wind. His once full muscles shriveled against his skin. The healthy color drained from his face, turning gray and lifeless as if he were aging decades in seconds. The light in his eyes dimmed rapidly.
"No! I don't want to die!" He made his final, desperate struggle. His nearly drained Yuányīng trembled violently within his chest, trying to ignite its remaining spiritual power for one last stand.
At that critical moment, a highly condensed strand of black baleful qi shot out from the dense fog at the side without any warning. It moved with lethal, silent intent, cutting through the miasma like a razor.
At the instant when both Xue Shouren and Granny Hua had all their perception locked onto each other and the rampaging reverse curse inside their bodies, that strand of baleful qi pierced with perfect precision into his dantian qi sea. It was wide open due to the backlash, leaving him completely vulnerable.
Squelch.
The sound of a blade piercing flesh rang out through the swamp, accompanied by the eerie noise of a Nascent Soul being forcibly pierced and shattered.
"Uh…" TheXue Shouren's body stiffened violently, his back arching with the impact. All his struggles and screams froze in an instant as his nervous system misfired.
He lowered his head in disbelief, staring at the black ribbon tip that had pierced through his abdomen. It was wrapped in chilling baleful qi that felt like a liquid void. His eyes were filled with shock and confusion.
This… this was… who? How could someone have gotten so close?
He couldn't even turn his head to see who had launched the sneak attack, his neck muscles refusing to obey.
"Detonate." A cold, hoarse whisper came from within the thick fog, the words barely audible.
Boom—!
The black ribbon tip embedded in his dantian erupted with terrifying baleful qi, instantly shredding the Xue Shouren's already shattered Nascent Soul along with his last trace of vitality.
He was gone without a trace. Xue Shouren was dead, his physical body and his cultivation path extinguished forever.
Puff—!
The Devouring Origin Reverse Curse, which had been bound to his life, was forcibly cut off as his soul dissipated.
Granny Hua, who was receiving the feedback, was struck heavily by the sudden severance. She spat out a large mouthful of blood that splattered on her robes, and her aura instantly plummeted. She became even weaker than before, her spiritual energy sputtering. The hint of color she had just recovered vanished at once, her face turning pale like golden paper.
Her body swayed in the wind, and she almost collapsed to the ground. Her eyes were filled with disbelief as she tried to comprehend what had just happened.
Who? Who was it? Who could evade both her and Xue Shouren's perception, lurk so close to them in this miasma, and strike with such a fatal blow at the most critical moment?
"Who is there?" She forcibly gathered her breath and shouted sharply, the sound echoing through the trees. At the same time, she barely managed to raise her jade hairpin with a trembling hand, staring warily toward the direction the black baleful qi had come from.
However, before she could see the figure within the fog—Swish—!
A brilliant ice-blue sword light carrying bone-chilling cold tore through the fog from another direction without warning, stabbing straight toward her brow.
The timing of this sword strike was just as perfect as the first attack. It was precisely the moment her attention was drawn by the black baleful qi.
"Who are you?" She twisted her body with difficulty, raising the jade hairpin in a hurried block to protect her head.
Clang—!
A crisp sound rang out, the impact vibrating through her weakened arm.
The ice-blue sword light was knocked aside, but the pure and razor-sharp icy sword qi still made her already weakened body feel like it had fallen into an ice abyss. Her movements slowed by another half beat as the frost bit into her skin.
A figure in snow-white dao robes, holding an ice-blue longsword, slowly walked out from where the sword light had come from and stopped not far in front of her. His expression was cold and detached.
She finally saw the newcomer's face. It was Ling Chuan, the core true disciple of this generation from the Northern Ice Palace, his features sharp and composed.
"How could it be you? Why are you here?" She froze for a moment, her eyes widening.
She clearly remembered that not long ago, the Northern Ice Palace team was being besieged by several Nascent Soul cultivators and ferocious creatures, locked in a bitter battle that seemed impossible to escape.
How could he, a late-stage Golden Core core disciple, break away from the battlefield and appear alone deep within this poisonous miasma swamp? And with timing this coincidental?
Her mind jolted as she recalled the black baleful qi that had instantly annihilated Xue Shouren's remaining soul.
That aura definitely wasn't something a Northern Ice Palace technique could produce. It was sinister, domineering, and filled with destruction. It was completely different from the cold and detached temperament Ling Chuan gave off, lacking the purity of ice.
Could it be that someone else had struck earlier? Or was he hiding his true strength and methods from everyone?
Countless questions surged up, but immediately after, an even stronger sense of danger wrapped around her.