293: Just a sacrifice

Hearing this, Shen Xi was greatly astonished.

Although he sensed a special consciousness within the starlight barrier, he hadn't expected the other party to be able to communicate with him.

"Are you trying to protect your Legacy holder?"

Shen Xi vaguely guessed something and deliberately probed.

"Hehe! What Legacy holder? Is he worthy?"

The consciousness spoke with some arrogance.

At this moment, Shen Xi confirmed his guess.

"You're treating him as a sacrifice to revive yourself, aren't you?"

"You, how did you know!"

This was the first time the consciousness showed panic, clearly indicating that Shen Xi had hit the mark.

That's right!

The so-called Nirvana Realm Legacy was actually a huge trap.

Of course, this trap wasn't dug by the Nirvana Realm expert who left the Nirvana Realm Legacy, but rather traced back to a much more distant time.

The person who created the Cultivation Technique 'Shattering the Wolf' should have been an existence transcending the Martial Dao Five Realms.

Only such an existence would have a chance for their residual consciousness to revive.

The other party left 'Shattering the Wolf,' and by a twist of fate, it was obtained by a Nirvana Realm expert, who then awakened the residual consciousness slumbering deep within the Cultivation Technique.

Eventually, as the consciousness continuously grew stronger, it devoured the Nirvana Realm expert.

In the final moments of his death, the Nirvana Realm expert finally realized, belatedly, that it was all a deception.

To seek revenge, the Nirvana Realm expert chose mutual destruction; he used self-detonation to drag the residual consciousness down with him.

However, the original body of the residual consciousness was, after all, an existence transcending the Martial Dao Five Realms, so it wouldn't die so easily.

The Nirvana Realm expert clearly knew this, so to prevent failing to kill the residual consciousness, he did one more thing before self-detonating: he destroyed the 'Shattering the Wolf' Cultivation Technique.

Unfortunately, the Nirvana Realm expert ultimately failed.

He only managed to divide the 'Shattering the Wolf' Cultivation Technique into two parts, upper and lower, and he didn't manage to kill the residual consciousness through self-detonation; he merely caused it to fall into slumber again, its state once again becoming weak.

The subsequent events became simple.

Gu Tong, in the previous Chasing Wind Secret Realm, stumbled upon the upper part of the 'Shattering the Wolf' Cultivation Technique, believing it to be a heaven-sent Opportunity.

Then, to obtain the complete Legacy, he entered the Chasing Wind Secret Realm again, finally collecting both the upper and lower parts of the Cultivation Technique, thereby reawakening the residual consciousness.

And the residual consciousness, by secretly absorbing Gu Tong's power, gradually recovered.

Originally, in the residual consciousness's plan, it should have remained hidden, continuously absorbing Gu Tong's power to strengthen itself while he wasn't paying attention.

But unexpectedly, Shen Xi appeared and almost killed Gu Tong.

To prevent Gu Tong's death, the residual consciousness had no choice but to activate the 'Shattering the Wolf' Cultivation Technique itself, guiding the power of starlight to form a barrier to protect Gu Tong.

After all, in its current state, if the sacrifice were to die again, it could very likely be implicated and completely dissipate.

What the residual consciousness hadn't expected was that after Gu Tong was protected by the starlight barrier and barely saved his life, his first reaction wasn't to flee?

The other party actually smugly believed he was the 'chosen one,' protected by the heavens.

This delay caused the starlight barrier to endure Shen Xi's continuous attacks.

If the residual consciousness hadn't desperately maintained the starlight barrier, the barrier would have shattered long ago, and Gu Tong would have been utterly dead.

In desperation, the residual consciousness could only actively communicate with Shen Xi, hoping Shen Xi would spare Gu Tong.

The residual consciousness was truly terrified by Gu Tong; if this idiot continued to stay here, even it wouldn't be able to protect Gu Tong.

But it couldn't directly tell Gu Tong, lest it arouse his suspicion. If a repeat of what happened with the Nirvana Realm expert occurred, the residual consciousness feared that not only would it not revive, but whether it could even survive again would be an unknown.

"Young friend, since you know I intend to devour Gu Tong to revive, you should also be very clear that Gu Tong will die sooner or later. If that's the case, why not let him live now? You and I can forge a good relationship, and I'll owe you a favor, how about that?"

The residual consciousness tried to persuade him.

A favor from an expert transcending the Martial Dao Five Realms would be enough to drive countless experts to madness.

"Sorry, I don't need it!"

Shen Xi flatly refused.

Indeed, a favor from an expert transcending the Martial Dao Five Realms is very precious.

But this favor also depends on who owes it.

How credible is the favor of someone who would harm his own Legacy holder?

This was akin to asking a tiger for its skin!

Shen Xi could be 100% certain that, despite the pleasant words now, if he spared Gu Tong, the other party would owe him a favor.

But once the residual consciousness recovered, what it would think of would absolutely not be Shen Xi's leniency in sparing it, but rather that it almost died because of Shen Xi.

A favor would never be repaid, but revenge would definitely be sought!

Besides this, there was another reason: Gu Tong.

For the residual consciousness to devour Gu Tong, the first thing it needed to do was use Gu Tong's power to strengthen itself.

This also meant that, initially, the residual consciousness and Gu Tong had a symbiotic relationship; the stronger Gu Tong was, the faster the residual consciousness could recover.

This period might last for several years, or perhaps decades.

And Gu Tong and Shen Xi had already forged a deep blood feud.

If the other party survived this time, would he target Shen Xi's relatives and friends for murder?

No one could guarantee it!

This time, if Shen Xi spared Gu Tong, and in the future, due to Gu Tong, his relatives and friends were harmed, Shen Xi wouldn't even have a chance to regret it.

Cutting the grass must remove the roots—this was Shen Xi's consistent standard for dealing with enemies.

After all, he wasn't alone; he had family and friends, and he had to nip any potential danger to his family in the bud.

"You should have guessed that my strength has transcended the Martial Dao Five Realms. Don't you want my favor? Once I recover, with a flick of my finger, I can help you eliminate all your enemies. Aren't you tempted?"

The residual consciousness hadn't expected Shen Xi to refuse him directly without any hesitation, and it continued, unwilling to give up.

"I don't need it!"

Shen Xi resolutely refused.

Subsequently, he no longer held back.

One Sword Sweeps the Nine Provinces, Sixth Level Sword Intent, Sixth Level Illusion Intent—all available means were unleashed.

Aside from worrying that using 'Wind Sweeping the Wilderness' would expose his acquisition of the Wind Chasing Swordplay, this was Shen Xi's current strongest attack.

This sword strike was earth-shattering, as if a legendary Sword God had personally acted to slay an enemy.

"Damn it!"

Gu Tong finally reacted, no longer immersed in the excitement of being the 'chosen one,' and took off running!