Chapter 508: You Wouldn't Say No, Right?

“Well, I’ll be damned!” Chu Liang muttered, recalling his earlier words. He felt the urge to punch himself for being so unnecessary, blurting out that extra sentence.

“

Haaaaaa...

” He let out a heavy sigh.

Now that the father and daughter were talking over there, Chu Liang felt like an outsider who needed to step aside... though, in truth, he was indeed an outsider.

As he left, Chu Liang caught a glimpse of Jiang Yuebai's expression—it seemed rather complicated. She didn't look happy as she stared at Jiang Tiankuo. Still, Chu Liang knew she had been anticipating this meeting for a long time.

So deep down, he was happy for her.

If only it had happened at a different time...

With this thought in mind, Chu Liang wandered slowly beyond the ten-mile radius. Suddenly, a series of guttural beastly roars echoed in the distance, and a faint, blood-stained aura drifted toward him on the wind.

What’s going on? Something's not right

, Chu Liang thought.

Although there were quite a few demonic beasts on this icefield, their territories were clearly defined, and interactions were minimal. Large-scale gatherings and battles were rare.

It was unusual to smell such a strong scent of blood.

He became cautious and flew in that direction, extending his divine sense far ahead.

As he drew near, he spotted four or five large demonic beast corpses sprawled messily in front of a concealed cave.

Each corpse appeared mangled. As the scorching demon blood flowed onto the icy surface, it immediately solidified into ice, releasing wisps of steam into the air.

The scent of blood attracted more and more demonic beasts. They arrived in search of food, fiercely snarling and biting at each other in a competition for food, resulting in a cacophony of noise.

He cautiously approached the cave entrance, only to be met with a shocking scene.

At the edge of the cave lay a... No! It was half a corpse.

The blood-soaked armor and half-dried blood formed a ghastly sight. Yet, the golden skeleton beneath the flesh revealed that this person was far from ordinary.

This was the skeleton of a seventh-realm Eminent One!

Immediately, someone came to mind. Although the battle happened today, he had not heard of another seventh-realm Eminent One dying. Could this be the Violet Gold Marquess himself?

The Guardian of the diabolical sect who claimed that he had only suffered "minor injuries."

No wonder he didn’t take the bait. Was I really in a contest of patience with a dead man? Thank goodness I didn’t keep waiting. If I had, I would still be stuck here even after the Ji Family's competition ended.

All the demonic beasts lying outside the cave had likely tried to eat this dying man only to be killed by him. However, in this process, the Violet Gold Marquess must have exhausted his last bit of qi.

Out of caution, Chu Liang didn’t immediately approach to check. He controlled the Dustless Sword and stabbed the body a few times. Given how severely mauled and gored it was, the body definitely wouldn’t mind a few extra strikes.

After observing for a while and seeing that the other remained motionless and lifeless, Chu Liang finally stepped forward to confirm the identity.

He stood at the cave entrance and raised his hand, channeling a surge of foundational qi to flip over the body lying face down.

The remaining half of its face was revealed. With one eye wide open, the expression conveyed a sense of resignation and an unresolved grudge in death.

How pitiful

, Chu Liang thought.

Chu Liang had just let down his guard, believing the man was truly dead when, suddenly, a spark of soul flame erupted from that wide-open eye!

Whoosh—

The light quickly pierced Chu Liang's eye!

In actuality, Chu Liang had been cautious enough.

Even if this body belonged to a seventh-realm Eminent One, considering the severe injuries it had sustained and the time that had passed since all its qi was depleted, it should have been dead.

However, there was something extraordinary about this body. He was the Violet Gold Marquess. The Violet Gold Marquess of the diabolical sect had studied the Dao of Soul for a century, and in terms of soul strength, very few seventh-realm Eminent Ones could compete with him.

Even though his body had been dead for half a day, a wisp of soul flame still lingered! The Violet Gold Marquess had indeed died, but his soul remained intact!

Chu Liang could hear the Violet Gold Marquess's frantic roar echoing in his mind.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!! I will take you down with me!"

...

Boom!

Chu Liang felt a tremendous force wrenching open his head as the Violet Gold Marquess's broken form invaded his forehead, the seat of his celestial spirit.

As the Violet Gold Marquess seized his divine soul and refused to let go, Chu Liang realized he couldn't move at all.

This was the first time he had ever faced such an attack. He was entirely unfamiliar with this setting. A deep blue ocean surrounded him, and both he and the Violet Gold Marquess were submerged in the water. Every ripple and movement made Chu Liang feel extremely dizzy.

This was his Niwan Sea of Consciousness!

At that moment, the Violet Gold Marquess's soul was like a dying candle, on the verge of extinguishing at any moment. Nevertheless, as the saying goes, a thin, lifeless camel is still bigger than a horse. Even in his dying state, the Violet Gold Marquess was still strong enough that Chu Liang found it hard to handle.

"I can't believe you are this weak..." the Violet Gold Marquess shouted. "Who the hell are you?"

The marquess was shouting hysterically. This was meant to be a final, desperate act of revenge before he died, but to his surprise, he discovered something different.

"Marquess, I am Fifty-Eighth..." Chu Liang struggled to speak, attempting to make the marquess stop whatever he was doing.

Though he had never seen the Violet Gold Marquess, there was no doubt about the identity of this opponent. Who else could possess such a powerful fragmented soul?

A clash of souls was vastly different from a physical fight. The most significant distinction was that even the slightest pain could instantly plunge the mind into chaos.

At this moment, Chu Liang couldn't think calmly.

"I can't believe your Sea of Consciousness could be so calm... No matter. As long as I can destroy your soul, I can take control of your body and start cultivating again. Heaven hasn’t forsaken me yet..." the Violet Gold Marquess said.

He had slipped into madness.

After being surrounded and attacked by demonic beasts and losing all the qi in his body, he had sunk into utter despair. Now, discovering a glimmer of hope for survival, he clung to it desperately.

As for taking over a body, it was something he had never considered, as it seemed utterly unrealistic.

Even with an incredibly strong soul cultivation, body possession is an extremely difficult task. Even for someone at the level of the Violet Gold Marquess, he might be able to possess a mortal or a cultivator in the first two realms, but once they reach the third realm, it's nearly impossible.

To seize control of someone else's body, one must enter their Sea of Consciousness, which would be a domain controlled by the owner of the body. The invasion of any foreign soul would trigger a reaction from the Sea of Consciousness and the entire Sea of Consciousness would fight back, meaning that the invading soul would have to fight with more than just the power of the original soul.

Typically, the Sea of Consciousness would either kill the invading soul or self-destruct. As long as the owner of the body refused to cooperate, seizing control would be impossible.

However, when he invaded Chu Liang's Sea of Consciousness, he discovered that this space didn’t reject him. It was as if two foreign souls were fighting there while the Sea of Consciousness remained neutral.

Thus, even though the Violet Gold Marquess was just a fragmented soul, he easily gained the upper hand, as Chu Liang's soul was no match for him.

Chu Liang's mind stopped working. He felt his soul being stifled...

When he could see everything around him clearly, he realized what was happening.

This was the deepest area of his Sea of Consciousness, a place where outsiders should not have been able to remain this aggressive.

But why is it so calm? Is it because I am an outsider?

There’s no one to help me here, so which part of this domain am I in control?

As Chu Liang pondered this, he focused his mind and began summoning the White Pagoda.

Boom—

As a thought crossed his mind, a familiar sensation washed over him, causing his soul to sink once more into the White Pagoda.

The Violet Gold Marquess, who had been firmly grasping him, also became momentarily dazed and found himself in a strange space.

"Hmm?" The Violet Gold Marquess exclaimed with utter astonishment. "What is this place?

"It's where you will die..." Chu Liang forced the words out through clenched teeth.

"Then I'll take my time exploring it after I kill you!" the Violet Gold Marquess retorted viciously.

But he didn’t realize that this was no longer just a battlefield between him and Chu Liang. A small creature with golden wings, previously sound asleep, slowly opened its eyes and drowsily gazed at them.

The two figures surged with light as the Violet Gold Marquess gripped Chu Liang's neck tightly, as if trying to extinguish his light.

Tuntun blinked hard and furrowed her tiny brow. "Bad..."

She wobbled into the air, flew over to the Violet Gold Marquess's side, and sank her teeth into his arm.

Whoosh—

It wasn’t an actual bite but more of a gentle inhalation. In an instant, the Violet Gold Marquess’s form transformed into a purple stream and was drawn into Tuntun’s belly.

"Ah!" The Violet Gold Marquess let out a sudden wail.

The chance of rebirth was right in front of him, but he could not grasp it. He could only cry out, "I am not willing to accept this—"

If this isn't fate, then why torment me repeatedly by giving me hope? Is it merely to deepen my despair?

The Guardian of the diabolical sect for this generation was finally killed.

"

Phew...

" Chu Liang let out a long breath.

He regulated his breathing for quite a while before slowly recovering his mental composure. As he reflected on the situation, he recognized that he had been cautious enough during the initial inspection; he simply hadn’t expected that a seventh-realm Eminent One would possess such powerful vitality.

Even with half of his body remaining and his qi completely depleted, he could still keep his soul flame alive.

That was truly terrifying.

Looking at Tuntun, whose belly was once again bulging from its meal, he patted the little creature's head and said with a sigh, "You've saved my life again, but with this meal, my three months of effort to starve you of spiritual energy had been wasted..."

As his soul ascended from the White Pagoda, he slowly opened his eyes.

He was still in the icy cave, facing the mauled and gored body of the Violet Gold Marquess before him. The marquess looked as if he had died a peaceful death. Now that the marquess's soul had completely dissipated, Chu Liang no longer had to worry about anything.

Chu Liang reached onto the marquess' body, rummaged around, and discovered a jade pendant that resembled an enchanted storage tool.

After putting away the jade pendant, he stood up, bowed to the remaining half of the body. The expression on his face conveyed that he pitied the marquess. Although the marquess had nearly killed him just moments ago, Chu Liang still intended to show the utmost respect.

Then Chu Liang solemnly said, "Violet Gold Marquess, you were a prominent figure in the diabolical sect. To leave your corpse exposed here, reduced to a meal for demonic beasts, is something this junior cannot bear.

"After all, the Mount Shu Sect values compassion. Although you committed countless evils in your lifetime, death extinguishes all. The past will not be pursued. I will take you back to the Mount Shu Sect for burial, so you may rest in peace.

"Furthermore, you once asked me to bring you some spirit plants and precious herbs, but unfortunately, I never got the chance to do so. I will plant some treasures of nature on your tombstone to accompany you in eternal slumber. Alas, it pains me that you did not die with a complete body...

"I suppose you wouldn't say no to this, right?"