Chapter Forty-Eight: Severance

Gui Yue and Jue had spent two hundred years together in this place. Though their relationship was not particularly deep, they had at least been companions, and now, seeing Jue risk her own safety to rescue a mysterious boy, Gui Yue’s fury blazed uncontrollably. She instantly unleashed her power, determined to stop Jue.

From her slender, pale fingers, a blue-white thread suddenly shot forth, whipping through the air and snaring Jue’s ankle in a flash. However, Gui Yue, a King of the Underworld with only five hundred years of cultivation, was no match for Jue, a Saint of the Underworld.

Jue glanced back with a smile, raising her arm lightly. In an instant, she severed the blue-white thread.

“Little Ghost, I’ll come back and get cozy with you after I save this boy,” Jue’s voice made Gui Yue wish she could tear him limb from limb.

~

Beneath the thunderous cascade of sand, Jiang Feng, shrouded within, was oblivious to a force rushing in to penetrate the sandstorm.

“It hurts, it hurts,” he murmured instinctively. He vaguely recalled that at the last moment, an immense power surged forth, shielding him from the fierce winds and sulfurous sand, but then it vanished, and he lost consciousness.

“No, I must reach that safe place!” He suddenly lifted his head, feeling an illusion—there seemed to be someone standing before him, time stretching out endlessly in that moment.

“Boy, how are you feeling?”

It was an elderly man, energetic and smiling with gentle warmth, imparting a comforting presence.

Jiang Feng, half-lidded, replied softly, “Senior—”

Their gazes met, and Jue sighed inwardly. This boy had potential to awaken the power of the Underworld Soul, but his body was so frail—if he wasn’t saved, it would be a real loss.

Jue looked away, tilting her head up to face the tempest of wind and sulfurous sand surging toward her.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Blood blossomed from her body, but she ignored it; the spraying blood was swallowed by the merciless wind, pulverized into a crimson mist that stained the sky with a chilling pale red.

The wind howled like a bloodthirsty beast, hungrily devouring the blood; the sulfurous sand grew fierce, whistling relentlessly.

Watching this, Gui Yue cursed bitterly, “Damn old man, damn liar—I always thought you were just a soul, but you’ve managed to cultivate a physical body!”

She looked at Jue standing godlike amid the storm, furious at being deceived for so long, and retreated back into the boulder, refusing to show herself again.

Jue’s blood-soaked hands seemed worthless in her own eyes; she slowly raised them, making an upward lifting gesture.

The wind rushed toward her raised arms.

Such a simple motion, yet in this vast world, it burst forth with a sense of tragic determination. Jue’s smile was serene, as if the one she was saving was her son or descendant, eyes filled with concern and excitement. She thrust her arms upward, and two torrents of Underworld power surged from her hands, coalescing into flames, intertwining to form a disk of fire about ten paces wide.

Every drop of her Underworld power flowed into the fire disk, leaving none behind.

The vibrant fire disk spun above her head, strange and enchanting.

Perhaps it was the warmth radiating from the fire that brought Jiang Feng's consciousness back to clarity as he lay prone on the ground. He stared blankly at the elder, whose wounds no longer bled, but whose clothes were soaked in blood. Only the jade pendant hanging from his chest remained, shining brilliantly, pristine and flawless.

Despite the winds, the jade pendant was untouched.

---

What astonished him even more was the carving on the pendant: several Redwater Tigers, lifelike and varied in form. If the pendant weren’t so small, he might have thought they were real.

Suddenly, the words of the two Redwater Tigers in the copper hall came to mind: their master had come here searching for the Blood Fiend Fruit but never returned; six tigers sought their master, only one survived.

Was this elder the master of the Redwater Tigers, or their enemy?

Seizing the brief clarity, Jiang Feng hurriedly counted the tigers on the pendant—there were exactly five.

His gaze deepened, lost in thought.

But before he could unravel anything, his attention was drawn entirely to the elder. He was shocked to find that, when the elder conjured the fire disk, his presence within the world vanished.

Jiang Feng’s sensing abilities weren’t weak, and he had been able to feel the elder’s presence moments ago; now, he could sense nothing at all. It was a strange phenomenon.

The elder seemed to have vanished—not just disappeared, but as if he had died.

Only the dead emit no trace of their presence.

Yet the elder’s eyes were wide open, hands trembling as he carefully controlled the fire disk.

“Is he… trying to save me?” Jiang Feng felt a surge of emotion rise from his heart. He couldn't name the feeling, only that a flame burned in his chest—never before had he felt such intense, reckless impulse. He knew that if he made one more move, his body would surely wither away in the storm.

“Ten years of preparation… begin… capture… more of these souls…”

That nightmare phrase surfaced again, suppressing the impulse within him.

If he died, all would be lost!

His eyes reddened, bloodshot like a web, veins bulging on his forehead from exertion, his blood vessels writhing like earthworms.

The most immense, bitter wave of the sandstorm drew closer to the elder; in a blink, it was less than two yards away.

The elder suddenly lowered his head, looking at him.

“Boy, remember: the wind is not the fiercest force, nor is sulfurous sand undefeatable,” the elder spoke simply, “The most basic defense, is offense! In battle, if you defeat your opponent before they defeat you, there's no need for tedious defenses!”

Something exploded in Jiang Feng’s heart. Boom! His mind went blank, all his Underworld power and every ounce of primal strength in his muscles erupted at once!

Was this elder teaching him, entrusting him with something?

Jiang Feng didn’t know, but his eyes had grown moist. Since childhood, apart from his father, no one had ever risked their life for him.

Memories, both familiar and strange, drifted before his eyes.

His father’s silhouette, now perfectly overlapping with the elder’s.

Father’s guidance, the elder’s teaching.

Layer upon layer, thundering like a storm!

Above, the sulfurous sand roared in, hammering against the fire disk.

Thud, thud, thud!

Each wave of sand and wind struck the fire disk like boiling oil, spawning new tongues of flame that flickered wildly. The sandstorm surged like a flood, relentlessly battering the fire disk!

Jue’s arms suddenly drooped, her body trembling slightly.

---

“Damn it, even if my body’s been restored, this is all the power I have left—I still can’t resist it.” Jue was furious, wanting to glare, but felt no regret. She muttered, “It doesn’t matter if I die, as long as I can save that boy.”

Jiang Feng heard every word.

He felt like a beast forced to the brink, roaring madly!

“Why are you saving me!”

Everything seemed to return to that time before his rebirth, to when his father had died unexpectedly.

He didn’t want those who cared about him to be threatened again.

Even though he was a stranger to the elder, the elder was saving him, which meant he owed him a debt.

A debt must be repaid!

Jiang Feng’s whole body trembled violently, but this time, he did not cry out. He stared fiercely, biting his teeth, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.

Boom, boom, boom!

The tongues of flame continued to flicker, but the storm was so fierce it began to suppress the fire disk, still battering it.

Jue’s body shook more violently, and with a muffled groan, her figure sank downward.

Beneath Jue, Jiang Feng watched everything with calm focus, struggling to lift his head. His eyes were bloodshot, his entire body undergoing astonishing changes. The strange power that had appeared earlier now writhed across his skin like countless blazing white serpents, burrowing desperately into his bones, while the dried-up Underworld power surged forth like underground springs, gushing wildly from his meridians and every part of his body.

His dull eyes gradually regained stability.

Boom!

Above him, the elder’s figure sank downward again.

The raging sandstorm seemed endless and unstoppable. Nearby, a mountain was obliterated by the overflow, leaving only half. Had Jiang Feng not witnessed it himself, he could never have imagined mere wind and sand could be so terrifying!

Would he really die here today?

Jue’s lips curled into a despairing smile, but suddenly she tensed, incredulously lowering her head to see Jiang Feng already standing beneath her. First surprised, then delighted, she exclaimed, “Good boy, you managed to grasp it even under these circumstances!”

Jiang Feng’s entire body was entwined by two powers, standing upright like a silver javelin, unmoving!

His face was twisted and contorted, as if the intertwining powers made him anything but comfortable.

Yet this ugly visage let Jue see a glimmer of hope.

“The power of the Underworld Soul—yes, yes, this is it!”

Jiang Feng was burning with anxiety, the rampant energy within him nearly tearing him apart. He had only one thought: “Faster, faster—”

Hurry!