Chapter 1466: Return Xinran To Me
The girl groaned softly, but didn’t look up. Two thick iron chains had penetrated her collarbones, and it was impossible to say how much pain she was suffering. She might not even have the strength to raise her head anymore.
Chiang!
I unsheathed the Xuanyuan Sword once more and charged straight toward the sword pillar.
Suddenly, runes floated out of the magic formation and into the air. They blocked my way like some sort of giant web.
Bang!
There was a loud impact, and I lost 500k HP instantly. Deadly flames engulfed me as the web knocked me backward. My pain was nothing compared to the pain the girl on the pillar was suffering, however.
……
A black shadow slowly coalesced at the center of the magic formation. He wielded a scepter and wore a black robe. Behind his hood, he stared at me with his blood-red eyes and let out a malicious cackle before saying, "I don’t care who you are, boy, but your only sentence for having come to the Purgatory execution ground is death, kakaka…"
I activated Dark Pupils. As I thought, he was a Sovereign Rank boss and the guardian of the Samsara Realm—
Flame Singer Boley (Sovereign Rank Boss)
Level: 324
Magic Attack: 65,000~92,500
Defense: 90,000
HP: 700,000,000
Skills: Secrets of Magic, Scythe of Death, Blade of the Void, Fire God’s Demise.
Introduction: Boley was hailed as the master of fire of an era. His mastery of the laws of fire was already at the divine levels, but he also discovered the secrets of fire formations after he succumbed to darkness. Rumor says that he is capable of creating a fire magic formation that is impervious to anything, and it is why he was made the guardian of the second floor of the Purgatory. In the thousands of years of his guard, countless experts have made it through the first floor of the Purgatory only to be stumped by Boley’s fire formation. No one has been able to overcome it.
……
I took to the sky and buffed myself to my best condition with Ghost Deity Shield, Cyan Dragon Scale and more. Then, I activated Heavenly River Transformation and fired Burning Blade Slash and the protective barrier, shouting, "There is no such thing as an unbreakable formation!"
Bang bang bang!
However, my triple-hit skill vanished the moment it made contact with the barrier. It was completely ineffective!
At the center of the formation, Boley cackled loudly. "Do you think you can do whatever you want just because you have become a god, arrogant boy?"
He then waved his scepter and shot Scythe of Death at me!
Chiang!
The magic blast struck my Xuanyuan Sword and knocked me backward at least dozens of meters. It also dealt around 800k damage. The boss's Magic Attack was just too high!
I glanced around. Maybe I had to kill the 20 Ancient Undead Magi who were empowering the formation first?
"Die!"
I flew down and fired Thousand Ice Slash at the four undead magi to the right, but…
Bang!
Again, the skill was blocked by the barrier. My heart sank. Of course they were protected by the fire formation.
……
The air around me seemed to freeze solid as a wind blade flew toward me. I shuddered again and lost another 1.1 million HP. The Blade of the Void was even more powerful than the Scythe of Death!
Boley laughed like crazy as he turned his attention toward the girl on the sword pillar. Then, the bastard engulfed her in a blast of Fire Dragon Spell! The flames ate away at her tattered clothes and left black marks on her white skin. She writhed and screamed in pain.
My heart felt like it was being cut into many tiny pieces. Throwing my own safety completely to the back of my mind, I charged the formation regardless of the burn damage and struck the barrier again and again, screaming, "RETURN XINRAN TO ME! RETURN XINRAN TO ME!"
When my health turned red, I healed myself with the Xuanyuan Art and resumed attacking the fire formation!
The boss hit me with Blades of the Void again and again. My forehead was covered in blood, and they slid down my cheeks together with my tears. My heart wrenched at the sight of the girl who was being burned alive. Sparks flew everywhere as the Xuanyuan Sword made contact with the barrier again and again.
"RETURN XINRAN TO ME! RETURN HER NOW!"
I roared even as three Blades of the Void slammed into my chest!
Bang bang bang…
I flew back unceremoniously before crashing to the ground like a ragdoll. That combo had sapped nearly all of my body’s strength.
Rustle rustle…
I propped myself up with my sword and slowly pushed myself to a half-kneeling position. More blood dripped down my chin and into the shattered stones beneath my feet as I healed myself with Tenacity of the Dead and Dragon Bloodboil. Eyes full of fury and hatred, I roared again, "GIVE HER BACK! GIVE HER BACK!"
……
Thud!
I leaped into the air and downed a Rank 14 potion, swiftly healing myself back to full health. Then, I raised my sword and activated my SSS Rank Ancient Divine Skill, the Xuanyuan Slash!
BOOM!
The entire fire formation rumbled ominously as it was struck by the skill. Not done yet, I backed a dozen or so meters before summoning a purple dragon energy to my blade. It was my strongest skill, Purple Dragon Howl!
Roar roar!
Draconic roars savaged everyone’s eardrums as the purple blast assaulted the fire formation continuously.
"Hah… hah…"
I panted heavily after the attack was over. Using Purple Dragon Howl put me in a Weakened state for a few seconds, and I was lucky my enemy hadn’t ambushed me during this time. Otherwise, they would’ve one-shot me like nothing.
My efforts weren’t futile, however. After Purple Dragon Howl had come to an end, a durability bar finally appeared above the fire formation. Not only that, it was sitting at a paltry 20%. It meant that my attacks weren’t useless after all. Again, there was no such thing as an unbreakable formation!
After I had recovered from my Weakened state, I landed on top of the barrier, pierced it with the Xuanyuan Sword and roared, "Rise of the Guardian Dragon!"
The ground shook, and countless draconic souls savaged the fire formation from the inside. I could see Boley’s ugly face turning purple by the second.
Scepter shaking a little in his grip and voice tinged with fear, he muttered, "Where the fuck did this brat come from? Why is he going this far for one woman? Heavens, his power is terrifying. When did we provoke a divine expert from the Silver Moon Alliance?"
Many more hits later, the fire formation finally shattered into pieces.
I shattered a couple of blades beneath my feet before zipping toward the Ancient Undead Magi like lightning. Then, I executed Burning Blade Slash + Myriad Swords Obliteration combo plus a Claw of the Storm from my Phantom Wolf King. The Ancient Undead Magi were only deity-rank mobs with a bit over 5 million HP, so the combo instantly deleted them from existence. Now that four of the magi were dead, Boley couldn’t recreate his fire formation anymore.
"You damned brat! You will pay with your life!" shouted Boley as he fired Scythe of Death and Blade of the Void at me.
I immediately turned around and punched him below the chin with the Magic Piercing Punch. Right after I canceled a Blade of the Void, a dozen or so Fireballs struck my back and engulfed me in flames. The good news was that five of the magic spells resulted in a MISS thanks to Pardon of the Purgatory Gods. Wonderful!
……
I stabbed Boley through the heart and filled his body with Purple Frost Concentration, lowering his tankiness all the way down to the level of an Ancient Immortal Rank boss only. Now I could kill him even faster.
In just 6 minutes, the boss's HP had fallen below the 15% mark. The Xuanyuan Sword had triggered its septuple damage effect repeatedly, and to say that it absolutely chilled Boley’s heart would be the understatement of the day. Every time the passive triggered, he would lose nearly ten million HP. Not even 700 million HP could endure this much punishment!
"Dammit! You will not break through the Samsara Realm!"
Boley raised his scepter and began chanting his forbidden spell—Fire God’s Demise!
Without hesitation, I activated my invincibility skill before resuming my attack. The forbidden spell might have killed the Phantom Wolf King and my apparition, but it couldn’t deal even a single point of damage to me. This fight was utterly one-sided to say the least.
Two minutes later, Boley joined his lackeys in a scream of well-deserved death. He turned into a cold, dead corpse and rewarded me with some of his loot.
……
I wasn’t thinking about the loot at all, however. The moment Boley was dead, I immediately ran toward the sword pillar and hugged the chained girl with one arm. Heart aching, I called out to her gently, "Xinran?"
The girl groaned, but still didn’t say another word.
I held up her chin and was greeted by a beautiful face that was covered in wounds and deep exhaustion. However… she wasn’t Xinran. She wasn’t even a familiar face. What…?
"You’re not Xinran… you’re not Xinran…" Words couldn’t describe how I felt when realization finally struck me, and my heart became filled with disappointment and distress.
The girl smiled weakly at me before speaking her first words. "Sorry… to disappoint you… but thank you… for saving me…"
Me: "..."
I raised my sword and cut off the iron chains, freeing her from the sword pillar. Then, I took out two bottles of Rank 14 potion and poured them on her wounds. Hopefully, they would heal her to a certain extent.
……
At the same time, I noticed that an ID was slowly appearing above her head—
Twilight Wanderer Uldan (Basic Divine Rank Boss)
Introduction: Once a human girl who fell into darkness, she was rescued only to be killed yet again. Unwilling to become the puppet of darkness a second time, she killed her captors and broke out of her prison again and again until finally, Lin Na himself showed up to hunt her down. After she was captured, he pierced her collarbones with iron chains [1] and trapped her in a fire formation. Uldan was subjected to endless inhuman torture for thousands of years, but she never gave up waiting for her destined hero to rescue her from the bottomless darkness.
……
"Twilight Wanderer… Twilight Wanderer…"
I repeated her name multiple times until it finally sparked a memory. That’s right, she was one of the ten big bosses of Spirit of Grief! She was an OP woman who once bled the continent like a pig!
Uldan opened her eyes and shot me a tired smile. "You finally arrived, my destined hero…"
I stayed quiet for a moment before starting, "Actually, I’m…"
"Not here to save me, am I right?" Uldan smiled again.
"Mn." I admitted frankly.
The corners of Uldan’s lips turned upward. "This person you gave your all to save is one lucky girl. Xinran, is it? Could she be the Wind Singer Xinran?"
My heart skipped a beat, and I grabbed Uldan’s wrist. "Do… do you know her? She… she’s still alive, right?"
Uldan shook her head. "Sorry, I don’t know anything about her current condition. I’ve been trapped in this fire formation for a long time, and I have no idea what is happening outside. Didn’t the Wind Singer leave the Purgatory a long time ago? The fact you’re here… Did she come back? Why would she come back to this place?"
I gritted my teeth. "She was dragged back into the Purgatory by Lin Na… I came here to take her back…"
Uldan fell silent for a moment. Then, she grabbed my hand and declared softly but firmly, "I’ll search for her with you!"
1. T/N: in Chinese martial art novels, having your collar bones pierced usually seals away your qi powers ☜
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