Gu Jianlin gazed at the towering cliff face, the red-haired woman under the moonlight looking at him with an inscrutable glint in her eyes.
So that's it. Tang Ling must have taken on this mission for her own reasons. That's why she broke away from the team halfway through. At her core, she's a lone wolf—never fond of cooperation.
It seemed she didn't enter the underground ruins at all but instead arrived here in advance.
"What the hell, Brother Gu, isn't that your teammate?"
The Butcher was utterly shocked: "The Extreme Thunder Great Sword from the Sword Tomb is in her hands!?"
Gu Jianlin glanced at him. "So?"
The Butcher's expression stiffened as he said, "I've been beaten up by that sword before. It's a growth-type Mythical Weapon from the Sword Tomb. Back then, though, it wasn't in her hands. It was wielded by her grandfather, Tang Zijing, and its codename was Wang Gu. But for some unknown reason, Wang Gu went rogue, and Thunder emerged out of nowhere, claiming the sword's authority."
"Thunder is targeting Si Wei'an?"
Gu Jianlin suddenly asked, "Can that Sorrowful Corpse Cycle still be used indefinitely?"
The Butcher froze for a moment. "It shouldn't be possible. The boss said that if used a third time, it would turn someone into a complete lunatic. Master Si has already used it once, and now this makes it twice in total!"
Gu Jianlin couldn't help but think it was an interesting mechanic.
Above the heavens, muffled thunder rolled, birthing intense arcs of electricity that illuminated the dark forest like a blank canvas.
The night air was heavy with overwhelming killing intent.
Yet no one knew who this murderous air was directed at.
Tang Ling withdrew her gaze and lifted her hand to grip the coarse iron sword crackling with lightning. The skull embedded in the sword's hilt had hollow sockets glowing with electric light, and the pale blade seemed to roar as if summoning boundless lightning.
In that instant, her vermillion-red eyes became shrouded, faint clouds swirling in their depths. Silver-white noble markings emerged across her cheeks, and horns sprouted from the top of her head.
Even ethereal, translucent wings flickered into existence behind her!
Controllable deformation!
No, strictly speaking, this was no deformation.
It was perfect evolution!
The pinnacle of the Sword Sect Path originated from Bai Ze Venerable, another Ancient Supreme from the Age of Antiquity.
No wonder she never teamed up with others.
Because this was her secret, something that couldn't be exposed to the Ether Association!
With her crimson hair fluttering in the wind, Tang Ling gripped the boundless lightning in both hands.
Amid the deafening thunder, the world turned blazing white!
At the same time, deep within the shadowy forest.
Si Wei'an stood with his arms spread wide, as nearby attendants finished donning him in a white suit and expensive crocodile leather shoes.
With the alchemy secrets mastered by the You Ying Group, he completed a Sorrowful Corpse Cycle, shedding his former flesh and being reborn anew. His skin was pale as a living corpse's, but his aura hadn't diminished in the least.
"Master Si, was the process a success?"
The attendants asked respectfully.
Si Wei'an's expression remained indifferent. He didn't answer but raised a hand instead.
With a booming sound, the darkness shattered, reducing the heads of his attendants into fine dust.
Yet these bodies didn't collapse; instead, their forms hummed with black talismans, continuing to serve him loyally.
The Fourth-Order Cloud Monarch's ability—the Corpse Control Technique!
"Compared to the living, I much prefer the dead."
Si Wei'an sneered coldly and strode deeper into the forest.
But just then, a scarlet blood mist whipped up on a wild gale, roaring toward him!
Within the veil of blood mist, a sinister figure came into fleeting view, unleashing a brutal flash of blood-red light!
Simultaneously, roaring lightning tore down from the heavens, a searing bolt piercing through the night!
The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind!
Sure enough, Tang Ling was the ultimate safeguard in this operation. Should someone else seize the Qilin's Wedge Fragment from the underground ruins, she, lying in wait here, would be the final act of obliteration.
Yet no one knew how she preemptively foresaw all this, calculating both time and place with precision.
The Kui Dragon Ancestor, as an Ancient God guarding the Qilin Immortal Palace for countless years, likewise had means of discerning the You Ying Group's plot. It had preemptively stationed someone to intercept them halfway.
A scarlet sword light.
The two contrasted sharply in the dark, forming a macabre cross of death.
Si Wei'an's pupils caught the gleam of those twin sword lights. For the first time, his face darkened. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a golden pocket watch, turning its dial before him!
"Time, halt thyself!"
He softly chanted, "Come to a standstill by my side!"
A massive, golden clock materialized behind him, its hands freezing abruptly.
An invisible domain spread outward, nearly suspending time and space itself!
Mythical Weapon—Doomsday Pocket Watch!
The blood-red sword light and the crashing lightning both froze in the stillness of halted time.
Si Wei'an strode out leisurely, fingers weaving seals across his chest!
Starlight burst forth in the dark sky, as countless stars came together, forming a radiant galaxy!
The Fifth Rank—Star Lord's ability!
Above, the gathered stars brewed a destructive force like that of an impending supernova!
In a flash, a streak of lightning blazed downward.
Tang Ling leaped from the cliff face, bolstered by her evolved state. She dashed with frightening speed through the dense forest, the Extreme Thunder Great Sword roaring with thunderous force, cleaving trees like dry wood.
Elsewhere, the man cloaked in blood mist also surged forward—a silhouette of blood-red lightning.
The spiritual fluctuations exuded by the three individuals all reached the Fifth Rank.
If they went any further, they would risk being expelled into chaotic dimensional turbulence, foiling their plans entirely!
Tang Ling's sword struck the boundary of the frozen-time domain, electric arcs exploding outward as thunder rumbled through the heavens!
Accompanied by torrents of blood mist, the mysterious figure also unleashed a blood-red slash, its blade's cry piercing the skies.
The two Sword Sect practitioners' strikes failed to break the frozen-time domain!
"This Mythical Weapon of mine may look unassuming, but in the Ancient Times, it belonged to the Candle Dragon Clan. Known as the Dragon's Eye, its spirituality has long transferred through history, eventually taking the form of a pocket watch."
Standing in the frozen stillness, Si Wei'an chuckled coldly. "Even the virtualization ability of the Ghost Slayer Path wouldn't penetrate my barrier. As for the two of you? Unless you wield a power exceeding this Rank, you'll simply wind up sucked into dimensional turbulence. You're far from enough to stop me."
The starry galaxy above him intensified, blazing with stellar light as if a supernova were about to erupt!
Tang Ling sneered coldly. "Then let's see you try."
She tilted her head slightly, casting her gaze toward the enveloping blood mist.
The mysterious man's voice sounded hoarse. "You've grown, child."
The unlikely pair—a grandfather and granddaughter—simultaneously stepped back half a pace. Their swords roared to life, their Sword Intents tearing heaven and earth as they blasted apart the gathered nebula in the heavens!
A resounding boom erupted, gravel and wind scattering as destructive light raged through the battlefield.
At that moment, Gu Jianlin, observing from the sidelines, suddenly conceived a daring idea.
As this notion took form, the phantom of the Divine in his consciousness fell into slumber, vanishing into the darkness.
In its place emerged the Ghost Slayer phantom!
Gu Jianlin's eyes glimmered with eerie light, as though he was peering through the torrents of time. He glanced down at his phone, its black screen reflecting his visage, body riddled with grotesque scars and pierced by bladed edges—his back bearing the ominous image of a colossal black Qilin!
No, it wasn't a Qilin.
It resembled a dragon ascending to the heavens!
In that instant, his Inheritance Path shifted from Divine to Ghost Slayer!
Ancient whispers echoed in his mind as abstruse, arcane knowledge coursed into his brain, as natural and fluid as a memory long forgotten.
Gu Jianlin grasped two core abilities.
First, Divine Speed Force.
A power that allowed traversal through the currents of time, exponentially accelerating his movement speed!
Second, Time-Space Gap.
A perceptive ability to discern the fabric and structure of reality, identifying its weakest points and tearing them asunder!
At the same time, Gu Jianlin felt his Rank plummet—from Third Rank back down to Zero-tier.
Yet this did not concern him; after all, he was never lacking in Spiritual Secret Medicine.
He retrieved three vials of Fallen Angel Blood from his pocket, downing them all in one gulp. A surge of spiritual energy coursed through him.
For a brief moment, the spirituality belonging to the Ghost Slayer Path surged explosively!
——A temporary breakthrough!
With a tearing sound.
The wind screamed, silence shattered, as a fleeting shadow darted through like a wraith.
"You just mentioned that your Mythical Weapon is so powerful that even the Ghost Slayer Path's virtualization wouldn't penetrate it?"
A ghostly voice whispered behind Si Wei'an.