Chapter 286: Chapter 272: Return 4
Lin Hui stood outside the cave, sensing the fading auras of the five Original Bloods within. Ultimately, he chose not to enter and turned to leave.
You reap what you sow.
The way the Original Bloods had once treated ordinary people was now how ordinary people were treating them.
He had no right to forgive on behalf of these ordinary Martial Artists and Summoners.
He just wanted to find the person he was looking for and get them out safely.
Taking to the air once more, Lin Hui pressed forward.
He gradually encountered more and more hidden caves. In many of them, he found ordinary people besieging and abusing Original Bloods, including members of the Original Blood Nobility.
The Original Blood Nobility were typically handsome and beautiful, and because of this, they suffered even greater hardships in such an environment.
Most were tormented to death. A few were beaten, bound, and imprisoned. Some were even trained like beautiful pets, stripped of their own consciousness entirely.
Lin Hui didn’t interfere. He just silently quickened his pace.
Thunder began to rumble in the sky as a fine rain started to fall.
Lin Hui soon arrived at the former location of Xinyu Town.
All he could see was a wasteland of ruins and rubble. Not a single trace of any building remained.
Raindrops spattered against the dusty ground, kicking up a light mist of dirt.
Lin Hui strode slowly through the ruins, his Heart and Spirit expanding to sense any possible signs of life.
HSSS!
Suddenly, a blood-red shadow shot out from the ruins to his right, lunging for his neck.
In the next instant, the shadow froze stiff in midair, suspended and unmoving.
With a CRACK, the shadow shattered into dozens of pieces that scattered across the ground.
Lin Hui’s hand merely rested on the Ruyi Sword Handle as he continued his slow, steady pace, not pausing for even a moment at the shadow’s appearance.
Suddenly, he stopped and looked up toward a certain direction to his left.
From there came the faint clash of weapons.
’This is...?’ Lin Hui focused his senses, and his previously indifferent gaze sharpened.
’Found her!’
FWOOSH.
In the next instant, he vanished.
In a flash, he crossed several kilometers.
*
*
*
CLANG!
On a scorching, crimson plain, black smoke and flames were everywhere. The corruption of Purgatory had stained the land completely red.
Waves of heat rolled across the landscape, purging all non-Purgatory existence.
At this moment, three massive dark figures were being besieged by a horde of red Purgatory creatures. They fought as they retreated, constantly swinging their weapons.
One of the three figures was a hybrid of a rhinoceros and an elephant. It had the head of a rhino and the body of an elephant, stood over five meters tall, and was built like a humanoid. It wielded a massive, grayish-white Bone Blade with both hands, unleashing a spinning whirlwind of slashes.
The second was a giant Lizardman, but its back was covered in a multitude of spikes that gleamed with a black metallic luster. It looked like a monster that had succumbed to corruption, yet its eyes were not the typical corrupted red, but a pure, jet black.
The third was a tall, long-haired humanoid figure with massive black, fleshy wings. Standing three to four meters tall, she had a pair of gigantic wings that spanned at least ten meters on each side.
This figure was the main defense against the Purgatory siege; the vast majority of attacks were deflected and knocked aside by her broad wings, which she flapped with lightning speed.
She had the face of a woman, one half ancient and wrinkled, the other half beautiful. Grayish-white bone armor grew naturally from her body, barely covering her chest and nether regions.
"Han Xiaoyue, your struggle is meaningless. Tuyue is finished. Your mission is no longer necessary. Why not surrender to our Holy Prison? With your strength, you will surely become a new Commander-class existence after your transformation!"
On the outskirts of the besieging Purgatory creatures, a burly man with three black Scorpion Tails growing from his back floated in midair, his arms crossed over his chest.
His skin was dark red. His face had no eyes, only a single, massive, serrated maw that took up ninety percent of his head.
He was the vanguard officer who had led the Purgatory army’s initial charge—Aurora the Lone Eater.
Along the way, several desperate Blood Ancestors had died at his hands, torn apart and devoured alive.
"Meaningless. I have my own burdens to bear. This corruption would only weaken my mind; it would not make me stronger."
Han Xiaoyue’s expression was calm. Her wings flashed like lightning, executing two sets of strange Swordsmanship in contrasting styles—one of motion, one of stillness. By coordinating the two, she amazingly prevented a single outside attack from landing on the three of them.
She seemed to have grown a great deal compared to her old Super Adaptable fighting style of frenzied consumption and transformation.
"What’s wrong with becoming a Lord of Purgatory? A Lord who accrues enough merits in battle is certain to earn a title of nobility! Then, your power would be dozens of times greater than it is now! With that kind of power, you could do whatever you pleased!" Aurora the Lone Eater proclaimed fanatically, spreading his arms wide.
Corrupt, devour, corrupt again. In such a cycle, the creatures of Purgatory had no need to worry about the strength of their Heart and Spirit, for they were the very embodiment of chaos. As long as they kept devouring—as long as they devoured enough—they could grow infinitely stronger, until they reached the apex of Purgatory and became the supreme being known as the Chaos Emperor!
He couldn’t understand why anyone would give up such a perfect path to power for something so intangible.
"Power without self-control leads only to the loss of self..." Han Xiaoyue said coldly.
"Foolish!" the Lone Eater bellowed, cutting her off. "Since you’re so stubborn, then... you can just die!"
Suddenly, his form burst like a bubble, dissolving into countless red sparks.
The next moment, he appeared right at Han Xiaoyue’s side and sank his teeth viciously into her right wing.
RIIIP! A huge chunk of flesh was torn from the massive black wing.
The Lone Eater opened his maw wide and, with a wet SLURP, the piece of flesh shrank as if it were jelly and was inhaled into his mouth, vanishing completely.
"I gave you a chance, but you didn’t know how to appreciate it..."
The next instant, he appeared behind Han Xiaoyue again and took another bite.
RIIIP! Another large piece of the black wing was torn off and devoured.
It was an attack so fast that she had no time to adapt. The flesh was severed from her body and devoured before it could even begin to adjust. Han Xiaoyue herself received no feedback from the wounded areas, so her Super Adaptable instincts couldn’t generate a corresponding resistance to the attack. There was no time.
This was the most effective method for countering a Super Adaptable.
It was just like how Tuyue had once obliterated one of their sisters with a single palm strike.
"We have to retreat, Captain! If we keep this up, we won’t be able to hold out either. A single vanguard officer has the strength of a top-tier Blood Ancestor. If two more Lords of Purgatory were to show up..." the Rhino-headed Elephant Man wielding the giant Bone Blade transmitted his thoughts.
"Yunxia and the others have already retreated successfully. There’s no reason to delay any longer, Captain," the giant Lizardman couldn’t help but add.
"Then we retreat!" Han Xiaoyue nodded slightly. Enduring the intense pain, she blinked away, retreating at high speed.
But the next moment, a large hand seized her right leg, and an immense force slammed her into the ground.
BOOM!
The ground shattered and caved in, sending out a ripple of earth like a wave on water.
"You can’t escape!" Aurora cackled, grabbing Han Xiaoyue’s long leg and shoving it toward his mouth.
But in the next instant, her other foot kicked up and struck him on the chin, causing his bite to go wide.
Pained, Aurora grabbed both of Han Xiaoyue’s wings and tore viciously.
Blood sprayed as her massive wings were ripped from her back. They dissolved into two streams of black liquid that flowed rapidly into his mouth.
In immense pain, Han Xiaoyue dodged back at high speed, but a Scorpion Tail still struck from behind Aurora, stabbing her in the side.
Her body was sent flying, crashing hard onto the ground.
Her two companions were also struck by Scorpion Tails and fell, powerless.
"Isn’t this fun? You can super-adapt to toxins, but I can rapidly change my toxins. To counter your resistance, I can rapidly create a unique cocktail of poisons just for you," Aurora laughed.
"No matter how many times you try, in the face of the Holy Prison Power, there is no outcome for you other than being corrupted and becoming our food!"
Han Xiaoyue’s body adapted to the poison. She struggled back to her feet and coughed up a mouthful of black blood, which was filled with tiny, microscopic insects.
That was his toxin.
"Go. I’ll hold him off."
Her body began to heal again, but the constant loss of flesh had already caused her strength to drop significantly.
The longer the fight went on, the lower her chances of victory became.
But she didn’t seem to care. Her gaze grew calm as she faced Aurora and took a fighting stance. Behind her, new black wings began to grow at a rapid pace.
"If I die, please tell His Highness that I am sorry, but I cannot fulfill our agreement."
She paused, then sent another telepathic message.
"And... tell Lin Hui... I’m sorry. I broke my promise."
The Lizardman and the Rhino-headed Elephant Man trembled. Gritting their teeth, they rose and decisively fled.
Sensing her companions’ departure, Han Xiaoyue gently closed her eyes.
’Even though I was already seeking death... to die here... I’m still not resigned to it...’
FWOOSH!
In the next instant, a sheet of darkness completely engulfed her.
’Holy Emperor... please... let everything... be all right...’
All sights and sounds receded and faded from her mind, as if she were drunk.
Her consciousness sank into an endless, dead silence, without the slightest stir.
"Instead of pleading with the Holy Emperor, you’d be better off pleading with me." A familiar voice suddenly jolted her consciousness awake.
"Since Han Xiaoyue is now dead, then from now on..."
SWISH SWISH SWISH!!
In that instant, countless strands of slender, long hair glowing with blue light shot down from above. They wrapped around Han Xiaoyue’s body as she fell through the darkness and began to pull her upward.
"Now, why don’t you try living for yourself?"
As she was pulled upward at high speed, Han Xiaoyue’s eyes widened. She saw that at the very top of the darkness, the countless strands of blue-lit hair converged like chains to a single point.
And there stood Lin Hui, dressed in a white robe.
White robes, blue hair, and the Ruyi Longsword held lightly in his right hand.
"Long time no see."
Lin Hui drew closer.
He brushed past her side.
WHOOSH!
The world around her lit up.
Han Xiaoyue suddenly found herself standing in the same spot as before. All around her was still a crimson landscape of fire and black smoke.
She turned around.
Behind her, Lin Hui was retracting his index finger from the center of the Lone Eater’s forehead.
PUFF!
In the next instant, the Lone Eater’s entire body began to rapidly disintegrate from the feet up, as if weathered by wind. It turned into countless specks of transparent dust and scattered into the air.
"When... when did you get here?" Han Xiaoyue stared at him, dumbfounded. This horrifying monster, who had plagued them for days, had been like a toy in Lin Hui’s hands, shattered with a single, gentle touch.
The sheer, unbelievable disparity in power made her think she was already dead and that everything she was seeing was just an illusion.
"I’ve been here for a little while," Lin Hui replied, turning to face her. "I was just observing for a bit to be safe."
"..."
In truth, Lin Hui had acted just before Han Xiaoyue met her end, using the dark, starry expanse created by his Star Breath Sword Manual to temporarily shield her.
He just hadn’t expected her to mistake it for her own death. Seeing an opportunity, he decided to play along to help her untie the knots in her heart.
Super Adaptables were created for the sole purpose of fighting the corruption from the Deep Core and slowing its spread across vast regions.
Now that she had "died" once, it was time for her to start living for herself.
"You think... you’ve won!?" The Lone Eater’s voice suddenly interrupted them. Half of his head had yet to dissipate.
"I am but a humble vanguard officer! I will be waiting for you in the Heart of Purgatory! The Duke will avenge me... Just you wait! Just you wait!"
As the last of his form crumbled to dust, the Lone Eater vanished completely from the world.
"There’s no need to wait. He’s already here."
Lin Hui smiled and raised his head, his eyes fixed on a crimson meteor streaking toward them from the distance.
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