Chapter 88.1: Play the Music, Keep Killing

Far inside the Land of the Sunken Coffin...

The purple-robed elder's face twisted in anger. "Qi Yuan, is it?

Hmph

. Ruan Yixi, how benevolent you are! Giving your disciple the Nascent Soul treasure! Could it be, like the rumors say, Qi Yuan is either your lover or your son?"

Then came a weak voice.

—

Cost me most of my power... I won't be able to use that treasure...

"Liang Ye, I will avenge you. I will not let your death be in vain!" the purple-robed elder roared.

Liang Ye had been one of his most trusted Death Warriors. With the backing of a powerful patron, the elder had raised three hundred Death Warriors. The weakest among them were late-stage Foundation Establishment disciples. With demonic cultivation techniques, their power grew quickly. As a drawback, their lives were short, with most lasting less than ten days. That had been the senior cultivator's method.

Liang Ye was different. He had trained in an orthodox royal technique.

"Liang Chong!" the purple-robed elder called again.

At once, another man in soft armor appeared. His aura was even stronger than Liang Ye's.

"I'm at a pivotal point in my cultivation. I leave the Main Soul Thought Flower to you. Someone named Qi Yuan came to the Land of the Sunken Coffin, he carries a treasure..." After relaying all the information, the purple-robed elder ordered. "Kill Qi Yuan and bring the treasure back to me! Three hundred Death Warriors are temporarily under your command. Do not let anyone else enter the Land of the Sunken Coffin. Understood?"

Liang Chong's face hardened with determination. "Understood! With me here, no one will foil your plan!"

He was, after all, a Death Warrior prepared to perish for his master.

***

Qi Yuan had waited a long while, yet no one showed up. "How many people does this mastermind have? It can't be only a few?”

That would be a disappointment. Just a few Soul Thought Flowers wouldn't even fill a tooth gap.

Suddenly, a feathered arrow flew in from afar. It radiated a powerful aura of Core Formation realm.

Qi Yuan rolled like a carp and dodged the arrow. "Too dangerous!"

He took the chance to play the music jade slip. Then, he rose, scanning the surroundings with a pale face. "Which petty villain dares to ambush me?"

In the distance, two lightly armored Death Warriors wore puzzled expressions.

"Did he just... use the jade slip to play music?"

"Maybe he's trying to scare us off?"

"Don't be afraid. His magic is spent. There's no way he's recovered. The supreme treasure is basically useless. Let's kill him!"

The mid-stage Core Formation Death Warriors charged Qi Yuan with all their might. Potent spiritual energy flooded across the grassland. Like a kite cut loose, Qi Yuan fell to the ground.

"So... strong!" He rose with difficulty and wiped blood from his mouth. "But however strong you are, I'd rather die than surrender!"

Qi Yuan radiated indomitable spirit. The two Death Warriors were momentarily stirred, yet they pressed on.

They struck with force, determined to crush Qi Yuan. "Die!"

Qi Yuan gripped his knife and held on. "Two shameless old men bullying a young lad!”

Under their assault, he soon coughed up blood. Knocked down repeatedly, he still stood firm, brandishing the knife to scare them off. He was relentless, like an unbending swordsman. That stirred more emotions in the two Death Warriors.

They paid their respects to him. "When you die, we'll bury you with honors!"

Qi Yuan, generous to a fault, shot back like a child trying to one-up someone, "If you die, I'll bury you properly and even set a stele for you!”

The Death Warriors' faces darkened.

"Hurry and finish him. We still have to guard the stronghold," one said.

Their style shifted, no longer hesitating against Qi Yuan's knife.

Qi Yuan grinned. "You want me dead? As if! My master has bestowed a supreme treasure upon me!"

Then, he coughed up more blood, feigning a tragic expression. "The untold technique cost me twenty years of my lifespan, but it can activate the secret treasure! I’ve already lost too much to kill you!"

With a dramatic cry, he slashed the two. Even though his face was as white as snow, a smile tugged at his mouth. "

Cough...

I win!"

Blood dripped from his lips, and a strand of white hair even threaded through his hair.

***

Outside Rong City, inside the palace...

Lord Withered Tree looked at the empty bed. "Gone?”

Although his expression didn't change much it was clouded.

The queen's face was sullen. "I underestimated that old devil..."

Lord Taiguang narrowed his eyes. "The old king intends to take real control of the Celestial Dragon Realm. I wonder, by what authority does he plan to seize it?"

A sharp voice cut through the hall like a blade. "By the Red Sword Sect."

An old man in a dark-blue robe appeared. A sword case was hung on his back, which held seventeen flying swords. He was the Xuanfu San Sect’s master, Lord Mad Sword.

Everyone's faces shifted. They knew that name well. Hundreds of years ago, when the Demonic Desire Sect nearly united Great Shang, the Red Sword Sect had been behind it. However, the Seven-Colored Peak Master had foiled it.

Lord Withered Tree felt a sting of regret. "The old king is colluding with the Red Sword Sect?"

Had he known, he would have dealt with the old king without mercy.

The queen seemed ashamed. "It's my fault for not keeping an eye on him."

Lord Mad Sword said, "Now's no time for regrets. What about our disciples who went into the secret realm?"

"The Red Sword Sect has the Red Core Seed that is able to mass-produce powerful cultivators at cost. If the old king schemes to control the Celestial Dragon Realm, he will surely deploy many Red Demon Death Warriors."

𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Lord Withered Tree's eyes were full of worry. "Qi Yuan is in the Celestial Dragon Realm..."

He glanced toward Seven-Colored Peak with a complicated expression. The old king hated the great sects and wanted them wiped out. If strong forces enter, there would be no mercy.

"The old king likely passed through the first Celestial Dragon Realm to enter this one," Lord Mad Sword said. "Lord Withered Tree, dispatch Foundation Establishment disciples under one hundred years old into the Celestial Dragon Realm. Three days have passed, and we can't decide what to do for the remaining disciples. The top priority is to foil the old king's plan. If he truly seizes the Celestial Dragon Realm, disaster will befall us all!"

"All right!" Lord Withered Tree gritted his teeth.

The Divine Radiance Sect didn't have many Core Formation disciples under a hundred years, but there was no time to hesitate. A few reinforcement was better than none. He had even assumed Kang Fulu and Qi Yuan were already dead. How could their few Foundation Establishment disciples withstand dozens or hundreds of Death Warriors?