< Chapter 37: Surprise Attack >
When Han Ming was forced into battle, Sun Lingtong took a step that pierced through space, already arriving inside the storeroom for medicines.
“Phoenix Soul Fragrance Pills!”
“Foundation Establishment Pills!”
“Soul Returning Pills!”
“Returning to Origin Pills!”
“Hehehe…”
Sun Lingtong jiggled his chubby hands. On his lotus-root-like forearm, he wore a bracelet.
The bracelet glowed.
This storage magical instrument was powerful, and its light erased the pills on the spot.
Outside, swords crisscrossed and ghostly figures soared.
Han Ming’s face was as still as water, unable to shake off her enemy.
This deadlock in battle was something she desperately wanted to avoid.
Suddenly, she snorted coldly and used her demonic skill, the Nine-Turn Soul-Devouring Art!
The figure of the sword cultivator inevitably staggered slightly.
But at the same time, a flying sword shot towards Han Ming’s heart.
Han Ming did not dodge; she exerted her full strength and launched a flying shuttle from her sleeve.
The shuttle was only about a foot long, grey like stone, and covered in spikes, with a strange design. It seemed slow but was actually fast, hitting the sword cultivator’s body.
At the same time, Han Ming was also pierced through the heart by the flying sword.
It seemed like mutual destruction, but Han Ming revealed a sinister smile of success.
Her innate ability was called Yin Corpse Qi, suitable for both soul cultivation and corpse cultivation. She joined the Soul-Devouring Sect, primarily practicing the Nine-Turn Soul-Devouring Art, while secretly cultivating the Corpse Cultivation Technique—the Immortal Zombie Life Creation Method.
She had successfully turned her internal organs into those of a zombie, no longer having conventional vital weaknesses.
Even if her zombified heart was pierced, it did not matter.
In contrast, her opponent was different.
Han Ming’s shuttle was extraordinary, a magical instrument perfectly adapted to the Nine-Turn Soul-Devouring Art—the Soul-Capturing Shuttle!
When it struck the body of the sword cultivator, it generated a strong suction force, forcefully extracting part of the sword cultivator’s soul.
The sword cultivator’s face turned pale as his body violently trembled, suffering a heavy blow in an instant.
“Even if you are at the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage, you are just a lone cultivator. How can you oppose the great sects of the demonic path?” Han Ming revealed a cruel smile. “Die!”
But the next moment, the sword cultivator suddenly threw out a talisman—the Void Escaping Talisman.
In the next instant, the talisman erupted with spatial fluctuations, instantly teleporting the sword cultivator away, disappearing from the spot.
Han Ming snorted coldly, her desire for revenge unsatisfied as she failed to kill her enemy.
She was about to continue her charge towards the storeroom when she received a message transmission.
It turned out that Sun Lingtong had already swept the storeroom clean and had easily escaped.
Sun Lingtong transmitted to her, “I’ve got the goods, let’s go!”
However, Han Ming could not suppress the boiling killing intent in her heart. “Heh, to give up such a good opportunity, wouldn’t that be a pity?”
She set her sights on the alchemy room and charged over.
She harbored considerable resentment towards Sun Lie.
Previously, in her quest to obtain the Phoenix Soul Fragrance Pill, she had fought fiercely, only to end up with nothing. She was subsequently wanted by Puppet Immortal City and had been hiding and moving about for over a year. During this period, her attempts and attacks made no progress.
Boom!
Han Ming smashed through the door and charged towards Sun Lie.
Sun Lie, having heard the noise outside, was helpless as the alchemy process had already started, and he could not leave.
“It’s you!” Sun Lie saw Han Ming and had no choice but to summon all his remaining strength, standing his ground unmoving, striving to resist.
He could only exert less than forty percent of his combat strength, naturally no match for Han Ming, and was quickly knocked down.
Thud.
Sun Lie was sent flying, crashing into the wall, bleeding from all orifices, falling to the ground unable to rise.
“Die for me!” Han Ming sneered sharply, utterly thrilled.
Her fingers were razor-sharp, each fingertip wrapped in a sinister bluish-gray Yin Qi, viciously aiming for Sun Lie’s crown.
Boom!
The next moment, the Ziyang Pill Furnace burst open, and a bolt of lightning shot out.
This was completely unexpected by Han Ming.
She had not anticipated that the pill furnace was not refining ordinary pills but a genius young man!
Meng Chong in the pill furnace heard the noise and realized that the Ziyang Courtyard was under attack. He had recently been attacked by assassins, and this time he had secretly left the City Lord’s Mansion to come to the Ziyang Courtyard, quite on guard.
He immediately shouted, trying to connect with Sun Lie, intending to leave the furnace to join the fight.
However, Sun Lie stopped him: “Once pill refining begins, it cannot be stopped. Meng Chong, you are already in the process of leaking mana. If you leave the furnace now without sufficient medicinal nourishment and external pressure, your three treasures of essence, energy, and spirit will all leak wildly. By then, not only will your cultivation be dissipated, but your physical foundation will be exhausted, and you will become a cripple, living a fate worse than death!”
Meng Chong then realized the severity of the situation, hesitating for a moment.
By the time he heard clearer sounds, heard Sun Lie coughing blood, and Han Ming’s sharp laughter as she declared Sun Lie’s impending death, he could no longer bear it.
His blood boiled, and the divine energy of a thunderous rush was unconsciously triggered.
Crackling!
In an instant, numerous bolts of lightning swirled around him. Meng Chong, with eyes wide in fury, made a resolute decision, and smashed through the furnace door, bursting out like a tiger freed from its chains.
Fast, too fast!
Han Ming turned her head only to see what seemed like a thunderous tiger roaring towards her.
Meng Chong was merely at the Qi Refining stage, having dissipated much of his power, and was only at the third layer of Qi Refining. In contrast, Han Ming was at the pinnacle of the Foundation Establishment stage!
Sensing Meng Chong’s aura, and with her enemy Sun Lie right before her eyes, Han Ming’s heart hardened. She continued her assault on Sun Lie, intending to rely on her own defenses to withstand Meng Chong’s attack.
Boom!
The next moment, dazzling lightning struck Han Ming’s back fiercely.
The power of her Yin Soul, which she had been amplifying, was destroyed as easily as dry weeds. The supremely strong and yang force of the lightning invaded her body, rampaging and wreaking havoc.
In just a breath’s time, all of Han Ming’s zombified internal organs were damaged!
Han Ming spat out a mouthful of bluish-gray cold blood, and her attack on Sun Lie crumbled.
Her extensive combat experience made her instantly realize the danger she was in. No longer caring about claiming her enemy’s life, she conjured an escape talisman and vanished in an instant.
“Where do you think you’re escaping to?!” Meng Chong roared.
The thunderous power within Han Ming gave him a strong sense of her location.
The escape talisman Han Ming had used was not of high quality, allowing her only to teleport randomly within a radius of no more than six miles—a distance well within Meng Chong’s sensing range.
Just as Meng Chong was about to pursue, he heard Sun Lie stopping him: “No need to chase!”
Meng Chong paused, then quickly realized that tending to Sun Lie was the priority.
He hurriedly ran up to Sun Lie, yet found himself at a loss for what to do.
Combat was his forte, but saving someone was an entirely different matter.
Han Ming, having been seriously injured, forced himself to regulate his breathing and teleported away from the battlefield using void travel.
Sun Lingtong was the first to withdraw.
Ning Zhuo covered the rear, directly abandoning part of his mechanical creations to leave the scene easily.
As for the Foundation Establishment cultivator who had come looking for him, he had already become a corpse hanging from the Dead Whip.
The three of them met halfway as agreed.
Han Ming glanced at the corpse on the Dead Whip and at Chui Tou Guest, who showed no signs of battle on his person, and felt a chill in his heart.
At this moment, she was enveloped in a shroud of Yin energy, her aura formidable, nowhere near the weakness she had shown after her severe injuries.
Han Ming said coldly, “Let’s part ways here. Give me the Phoenix Soul Fragrance Pills, and I want one-third of the other pills.”
Ning Zhuo immediately frowned, “One-third? My contribution was much greater than yours.”
Han Ming retorted with a sneer, “But it was I who severely injured Sun Lie and held off Meng Chong!”
“Especially Meng Chong, merely at the Qi Refining third layer, yet possessing such combat strength. Truly a genius with exceptional celestial talents! Could your mechanical creations have stopped him?”
Ning Zhuo snorted and remained silent.
“Stop arguing, our operation was a huge success, let’s all be happy,” Sun Lingtong chuckled and tossed a pill bottle to Han Ming, “Everything inside is Phoenix Soul Fragrance Pills.”
Han Ming immediately opened the bottle to check, and a puff of black smoke sprayed out, hitting her right in the face.
In an instant, Han Ming’s aura vanished, her soul was sealed, and she nearly collapsed on the spot.
Incredulous and furious, she exclaimed, “Sun Lingtong, you betrayed me!”
Pfft, pfft, pfft.
The next moment, three strands of the Chui Tou Death Whip silently attacked, piercing through Han Ming’s body, then coiled around her like a python, binding her tightly.
Ning Zhuo’s voice eerily echoed, “Dividing between two is always better than dividing among three.”