novelraw Chapter 97 : Curse
Chapter 97 : Curse
Chapter 97: Curse
The waters of the Nether River splashed in all directions.
Lu Changyuan walked out from the waters of the Nether Kingdom without a word. Severed Thought floated up into the air, returning to his hand once more.
Xiao Qingfeng’s hands trembled.
“Jade Radiance… my Jade Radiance Technique.”
The life-and-death reversal born of the Nether Kingdom had now been reclaimed by the acting Nether Lord.
Jade Radiance was Jade Radiance.
Dawning Sun was Dawning Sun.
Xiao Qingfeng fell from Dawning Sun, his face twisted hideously, his voice like a ghost crawling out from the Nine Nether Abyss: “I’ll let you live—then make you watch as I grind your bones inch by inch!”
Behind him, countless black spirits suddenly appeared. Yet these spirits were far inferior to the ancient monsters Lu Changyuan had encountered before; they were merely ordinary puppets, conjured by a spell no different from common folk tricks that could turn stones into soldiers.
Having lost control over the Nether Kingdom, Xiao Qingfeng could no longer make its spirits his own.
Those spirits behind him were all cultivators who had died in the Nether Kingdom during this incursion.
Lu Changyuan saw Xiao Hai, saw Wang Lian, and even saw members of the Beast-Taming Palace.
These people had found no peace even in death, their bones crushed and marrow drained by Xiao Qingfeng for his use.
The bone blade flashed, appearing before Lu Changyuan in an instant.
Xiao Qingfeng roared and bellowed, “If I transform you, I can still ascend to Jade Radiance once more!”
The blade clashed with Severed Thought, sparks flying.
Lu Changyuan was struck back by Xiao Qingfeng, and countless black spirits surged forward together.
“Kill me, and you still won’t ascend to Jade Radiance! You can no longer reach it!” Lu Changyuan held his sword in one hand, the fierce sword aura splitting open space itself.
Zhu Ming!
A sword strike as magnificent and blazing as midsummer annihilated the spirits formed from the dead cultivators.
Xiao Qingfeng came again. The bone blade split into thousands, pouring down toward Lu Changyuan from all directions.
Even stripped of his Jade Radiance Technique, Xiao Qingfeng was still a cultivator of the Sixth Realm, Dawning Sun.
Dawning Sun was already a peak-level power, one who had mastered his Dao to perfection.
The spirits of the dead cultivators revived once again.
So long as Xiao Qingfeng did not die, those spirits would ceaselessly harass Lu Changyuan until he was exhausted and devoured.
Xiao Qingfeng continued to shriek: “Eat him! Eat him all!”
Lu Changyuan was, after all, not even at the Fifth Realm. To defeat Xiao Qingfeng, he could only rely on the authority of the acting Nether Lord he now bore.
Another clash of white blades.
The tooth-like protrusions of the bone blade thickened like temple pillars and smashed down toward Lu Changyuan. But with a flash of dazzling sword light, both the bone blade and Xiao Qingfeng were obliterated beneath his sword.
“You can’t kill me!”
Xiao Qingfeng’s hateful voice echoed again as he reformed like a dark shadow, alive once more.
That was the troublesome part of the Transformative Life Dao.
To die and live again.
Even at the Sixth Realm, his vitality was abnormally resilient.
Killing Xiao Qingfeng quickly was nearly impossible.
“Lord Lu!”
Mei Zhao Zhao had unexpectedly returned early.
Why hadn’t she left?
Lu Changyuan turned his head toward her, only to see that Xiao Qingfeng had also noticed her and was staring at her intently.
Feeling something amiss, Lu Changyuan instantly turned into a gust of wind, flying toward Mei Zhao Zhao.
What was she doing coming back at a time like this?
Clang!
“Lord Lu!”
Severed Thought intercepted the bone blade midair. Lu Changyuan swept Mei Zhao Zhao into his arms and kicked Xiao Qingfeng’s body aside. “Why haven’t you left yet?”
“This humble one came back out of kindness!”
“Stop talking nonsense—why?”
Lu Changyuan swung his sword to cut down the black spirits before him while carrying Mei Zhao Zhao farther from Xiao Qingfeng.
“This humble one came to return something to you! Don’t be so ungrateful!”
As she spoke, Lu Changyuan suddenly felt something moist on his cheek.
It was lighter than the mark Su Youwan had once left—carrying a faint, intoxicating fragrance.
When Lu Changyuan turned back, Mei Zhao Zhao was still covered in her black robe, her face hidden. Only a faint strand of purplish-red hair peeked out before the girl quickly brushed it back.
“Stop looking at me! Hurry and kill him!”
Then Lu Changyuan realized that a certain authority had returned to him.
The Authority of Commanding Nether Spirits!
Because Lu Changyuan had never acknowledged the name Yu given to him, the Nether Lord had passed this authority to Mei Zhao Zhao. Now that Lu Changyuan was acting as the Nether Lord, she had returned it to him.
Lu Changyuan released Mei Zhao Zhao and once again met Xiao Qingfeng head-on. The two collided violently. Xiao Qingfeng tried to roar something, but Lu Changyuan swung his fist, shattering his words along with his jaw.
A sudden sense of crisis welled up within Lu Changyuan.
He frowned.
Xiao Qingfeng had appeared before him again.
Moments earlier, there had been only a single drop of Xiao Qingfeng’s blood there—left when Lu Changyuan had shattered his teeth and sent his body flying.
Now, Xiao Qingfeng had used that single drop of blood to regenerate himself, swapping places in a trick of movement.
Xiao Qingfeng appeared at Lu Changyuan’s side: “You can’t kill me! I’ll haunt you forever! As long as the Nether Kingdom stands between life and death, I cannot die!”
Thanks to the nature of the Nether Kingdom, Xiao Qingfeng was invincible here—unless the true Nether Lord returned to decree a new law. Lu Changyuan was merely an acting lord; an acting lord could not issue new decrees.
Lu Changyuan sighed. “The Transformative Life Dao is truly disgusting.”
When Xiao Qingfeng had once sought enlightenment, his sole wish was—to keep on living.
He succeeded.
He truly was difficult to kill.
“Xiao Qingfeng, do you know what your greatest difference from the Nether Lord is?”
Xiao Qingfeng charged again, no fancy Dao techniques this time—just the pure, brutal assault of flesh and spirit, wearing down Lu Changyuan’s strength. He was waiting for him to tire.
“Difference? The only difference is that I failed to kill you and ascend to Jade Radiance! The Nether Kingdom should have been my realm!”
Lu Changyuan shook his head. “You don’t understand. The Nether Kingdom is made of its citizens and its Lord. Your illusory kingdom contains only you.”
A true king is one embraced by his people.
A king without people is but a false one.
Xiao Qingfeng’s pupils contracted, then steadied. “So what? I never wanted to be Nether Lord anyway! Through the Transformative Life Dao, I can still attain eternal life!”
He never sought to rule the Nether Kingdom—only to devour it.
As he roared and lunged again, he suddenly found a massive spirit standing before him, opening its bloody maw.
Moreover, countless ethereal spirits had emerged from the ground, tearing and devouring the black spirits. Each black spirit consumed transformed into a phantom spirit.
The tide had turned.
“How is this possible!?”
He could not gain the Nether Spirits’ recognition—but Lu Changyuan could.
For four hundred years, Xiao Qingfeng had never regarded the horned spirits who’d accompanied him for centuries as friends—only as tools.
Yet Lu Changyuan, who had stayed barely a hundred years, had truly treated Luo as a friend, even though that friend had been half-mad most of the time.
That was the essential difference between them.
The name Yu had been bestowed by the Nether Lord, recognized by the Nether Spirits. Thus, when Lu Changyuan had left the Nether Kingdom years ago, the spirits had pleaded for him to stay.
And now, the authority to command the Nether Spirits—
In Lu Changyuan’s hands and in Mei Zhao Zhao’s were two utterly different things.
As the acting Nether Lord returned to his role, the Nether Spirits finally revealed their fangs. The phantom spirits grew terrifying, transforming into ghosts that devoured Xiao Qingfeng’s spirits.
The horrifying sound of gnawing and crunching filled the air.
Lu Changyuan said coolly, “Once your spirits are completely devoured, Xiao Qingfeng, the foundation of your existence in the Nether Kingdom will vanish. I may not be able to kill you—but I can seal you beneath the Nether Kingdom for thousands of years. Can you still live then?”
Xiao Qingfeng stared in shock.
He realized Lu Changyuan was right.
If sealed beneath the Nether Kingdom for a millennium, even the Transformative Life Dao’s tenacity could not save him.
I am the one who was meant to ascend to Jade Radiance. I was already halfway there. How can I be stopped here by him!?
There had to be a way—there must be!
Xiao Qingfeng narrowly avoided the gaping jaws of a ghost and then saw it.
He saw a pool of blood.
It was Lu Changyuan’s blood—spilled when Xiao Qingfeng had smashed him against the stone stele earlier.
Eyes gleaming with madness, Xiao Qingfeng flashed to that bloodstain.
He said,
“In that case, you won’t have peace either!”
Xiao Qingfeng’s body exploded completely. From the pool of blood, a figure slowly rose—a man entirely suffused in blood.
Lu Changyuan frowned.
So what if Xiao Qingfeng had turned himself into another him?
Xiao Qingfeng’s defeat was already certain.
But the bloody figure quickly took shape—bearing Lu Changyuan’s own face.
That face twisted into a feral grin unlike anything the real Lu Changyuan would ever make. “If I can’t ascend to Jade Radiance, then you’ll pay the price!”
Using Lu Changyuan’s face, Xiao Qingfeng thrust his hand into his own chest and tore out his heart.
It was a crimson heart laced with streaks of black qi.
Bang!
The heart was crushed to pieces.
Xiao Qingfeng’s eyes glowed scarlet as he laughed wildly. “Lu Changyuan, you’ll feel the same pain I did—your heart gouged out! You’ll taste the agony of losing everything, just like me.”
As his final words fell,
Xiao Qingfeng detonated into a storm of blood mist.
The surging shockwave threatened to obliterate everything.
Before Lu Changyuan could seal him, Xiao Qingfeng had self-destructed—destroying his Transformative Life Dao cultivated over so many bitter years along with himself.