302: Chapter 302 Critical Strike Returns to the Dao of Life and Death

"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—"

The tooth-aching sound of corrosion rang out incessantly.

The stagnant water seemed to possess a life of its own, frantically drilling into Jiang Hao's pores and eroding his skin, flesh, and Meridians.

His skin could be seen festering and turning black at a pace visible to the naked eye, revealing ghastly white bones that then grew grey and brittle under the erosion of Death Qi.

The agony of rotting flesh and having one's vitality forcibly stripped away bit by bit was a hundred, even a thousand times more terrifying than the mortal torture of death by a thousand cuts!

"Ugh... ah..."

Jiang Hao gritted his teeth so hard his gums bled, letting out an extremely suppressed low growl from his throat.

His face was twisted and deformed from the extreme pain, looking like a malevolent ghost.

"Hold on! I must hold on! This is my Opportunity! Only by obtaining the Death Legacy can I take my revenge and reclaim the dignity that belongs to me!"

Jiang Hao roared frantically in his heart, his powerful willpower supporting him to prevent him from fainting.

"Double Pupils, open!"

At this moment of life and death, he fully activated his innate Divine Ability.

"Buzz!"

In his already festering eye sockets, two pupils overlapped, bursting forth with an eerie black light.

Under the vision of the Double Pupils, the originally seamless stagnant water was decomposed into threads of black Law.

He frantically analyzed the structure of these threads, trying to find that hidden sliver of vitality within them, or rather, trying to adapt to these rules of death.

At the same time, his Great Ascension Stage magic power surged frantically through his Meridians like a series of dams, desperately resisting the invasion of Death Qi.

Fifteen minutes... thirty minutes...

To him, every second felt like a year.

His consciousness began to blur, and half of his body had already turned into withered bone.

Finally.

"Whew..."

Jiang Hao snapped his eyes open and, using a palm that was nothing but bone to support himself against the bottom of the pool, he laboriously crawled out of the stagnant water.

At this moment, his skin was festering all over without a single patch of healthy flesh; he looked like a rotting corpse that had just crawled out of a grave.

But within those Double Pupils, there flickered an unprecedented excitement and sharp light.

He had endured!

Not only had he endured, but his Double Pupils had even analyzed a sliver of the true essence of the Law of Death at the Void Immortal level!

"I passed! I passed! Hahahaha..."

Jiang Hao lay prone on the ground, letting out a raspy, unpleasant laugh.

"Buzz—"

As if in response to his efforts, a Legacy Jade Slip, pitch-black as ink and surrounded by countless phantom shadows of aggrieved souls, slowly descended from above the hall.

The aura of the Great Dao of Death emanating from it made Jiang Hao feel an incomparable sense of kinship and longing.

"It's mine... it's finally mine..."

Jiang Hao tremblingly reached out his bone-exposed hand, exhausting his last ounce of strength to grasp that Heaven-Defying Opportunity that would change his fate.

Swoosh!

The very instant his fingertips were about to touch that black Jade Slip.

Space shattered.

A palm, crystal clear as jade and untainted by a speck of dust, abruptly appeared beside the Jade Slip.

That palm reached out gently and, as if picking a flower, effortlessly intercepted the Jade Slip.

Jiang Hao's hand froze in mid-air.

"Who is it?!"

At this moment, Jiang Hao felt a boom in his head as a surge of blood rushed straight to his crown.

He snapped his head up, his Double Pupils nearly tearing open from his wide stare.

In the Void Realm stood an exquisitely beautiful woman dressed in snow-white robes with a noble and cold temperament, looking down at him from above.

Her gaze was indifferent, as if she were looking at a stray dog by the roadside.

It was the Yaochi Holy Mother!

"I thank my young friend for passing the trial on my behalf."

Yaochi Holy Mother looked at Jiang Hao, who was sprawled on the ground looking neither human nor ghost, and a faint, elegant smile curled at the corners of her lips.

With a gentle wave of her jade hand, the Death Legacy Jade Slip vanished.

"Since the item is in hand, I shall not disturb you further."

Having said that, she did not linger for a moment, turning to leave with her sleeves fluttering like a Fairy gliding over waves.

"No!!! That's mine! That's my Legacy!!"

Watching that departing figure, Jiang Hao let out a heart-wrenching roar like a cuckoo crying blood.

Pfft—

In his extreme agitation, he spat out another mouthful of black blood, his eyes as crimson as blood, wishing he could charge forward and fight that woman to the death.

But in his current state, he couldn't even stand steadily; the slightest movement caused such intense pain that he nearly fainted.

Chasing a Void Immortal at her peak? That was suicide!

"Why?! Why is it like this every time?!"

"The Source Stone was stolen... the Legacy was stolen... Lu Yuan! Yaochi! You people go too far! You go too far!"

Jiang Hao knelt on the ground, frantically pounding the floor with his bone-exposed fists, producing muffled thuds.

The despair of having clearly endured hardships with the Opportunity right before his eyes, only to have it snatched away so casually and effortlessly, was ten thousand times more painful than being killed!

Within the hall, Jiang Hao's desperate and angry roars echoed for a long time.

...

Ancient Bronze Palace.

Lu Yuan, who was currently confronting Taiyu Sword Venerable, heard two pleasant System notifications ring out in succession in his mind.

[Ding! Successfully intercepted Son of Destiny Li Changsheng's purple Opportunity 'Life Law Legacy'. Triggered thousand-fold critical hit return. Obtained 'Complete Life Great Dao Insight' (Can directly master the Great Dao of Life).]

[Ding! Successfully intercepted Son of Destiny Jiang Hao's purple Opportunity 'Death Law Legacy'. Triggered thousand-fold critical hit return. Obtained 'Complete Death Great Dao Insight' (Can directly master the Great Dao of Death).]

Boom! Boom!

As two massive surges of Great Dao insights flooded into his mind, the aura on Lu Yuan's body underwent another drastic change.

His left eye brimmed with life, while his right eye was heavy with death.

Life and death cycled, Yin and Yang complemented each other.

His already unfathomable aura became even more obscure and difficult to grasp under the blessing of these two Great Daos, like a bottomless black hole that devoured and encompassed everything.

"Life and Death Great Dao... it is complete!"

Lu Yuan slowly opened his eyes, his gaze terrifyingly deep.

Opposite him, Taiyu Sword Venerable saw this scene; his pupils constricted violently, and the fear in his heart instantly reached its peak.

"This... what is this aura?!"

"Life and death... Yin and Yang... he actually mastered so many Great Daos at the same time?!"

"This is definitely no ordinary Void Immortal! This must be some old monster who has hidden his cultivation! Or even... a True Immortal Reincarnation?!"

The more Taiyu Sword Venerable thought, the more afraid he became, his Battle Intent vanishing entirely.

"This person cannot be defeated! Go!"

He no longer hesitated for a moment. With a flicker of his body, he executed the ultimate movement technique 'Sword Roaming the Grand Void', transforming into an invisible sword light and frantically fleeing toward the outside of the hall.

"Want to leave?"

Lu Yuan watched the fleeing sword light, a cruel smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

"Since you've come, then stay."

"myriad things mother qi cauldron, seal the heavens and lock the earth!"

Clang—!!!

The chime of the cauldron shattered the void.

That half-immortal artifact-grade great cauldron instantly expanded, turning into an independent Domain that completely sealed off the entire Ancient Bronze Palace along with the surrounding void.