175: collapse

The collapse of Tai Xu Mountain began from the inside, but the coldest Killing Intent was always hidden in the Forbidden Ground of the back mountain, where the sun never shone—the 'Immortal Fall Cave'.

In the main hall, Tai Xu Yu, who had been reduced to a plaything, finally crushed the blood-colored Jade Slip hidden between her fingers in the last second before her consciousness completely collapsed. That was the Taixu Sect's final trump card, a taboo that could only be disturbed in a desperate situation of total annihilation.

"Lin Chen... the Old Ancestor... the Old Ancestor will swallow you, you barbarian, alive..." Tai Xu Yu lay prone on the throne, her mouth spitting out fragmented curses.

Lin Chen casually pulled over a tapestry and nonchalantly wiped the traces from his hands, his dark gold eyes looking toward the Forbidden Ground. There, a decaying and massive aura was awakening; it was the Tai Xu Old Ancestor, who had already touched the threshold of a True Immortal.

"Just right, my Dragon blood Body Tempering is missing a decent skeleton."

...Deep within the Immortal Fall Cave, the altar was like a giant blood-colored lotus, blooming faintly in the darkness.

In the center of the altar sat a young girl who seemed as if she did not belong to this filthy world. She wore an extremely magnificent blood-colored wedding dress, the intricate silk spreading out like red clouds, enveloping her slender, almost fragile body. Most bizarrely, her eyes were tightly covered by a three-inch-wide white runic ribbon, which flowed with dense binding inscriptions, making her look like a sacrificial offering forgotten by the gods in the abyss.

Su Qingge, the contemporary Saintess of the Taixu Sect, was also a rare 'Ethereal Holy Physique' in the Immortal Realm. In the eyes of the Taixu Sect, this Physique was not a cultivation Genius at all, but rather the most perfect 'Immortal Essence Converter'.

"Cough, cough... the timing for the sacrifice... has it finally arrived?"

A piercing friction sound rang out as the bronze ancient coffin behind the altar suddenly exploded. A withered old woman, her entire body emitting the stench of a corpse, broke out of the coffin. Her sunken eye sockets flickered with frantic greed as her withered, stick-like palms trembled while reaching for the top of Su Qingge's head.

"Qingge... do not blame the Old Ancestor for being heartless. Once I become a True Immortal, I will surely enshrine your spirit tablet at the highest point of the Sect!"

Before the Old Ancestor's pitch-black nails could touch Su Qingge, the girl's originally calm lips curled slightly into a self-deprecating arc. She could not perceive the outside world because the ribbon not only covered her eyes but also locked her five senses. In her world, there was only endless darkness and the impending wither.

Boom—!

At this critical moment, the ten-thousand-jin Black Iron Stone Door of the Forbidden Ground was actually smashed to pieces by an unreasonable brute force, as if it were made of paper!

"Old woman, your looks are too nauseating; it'll ruin Big Brother's mood!"

A delicate shout rang out like a sudden thunderclap as a dark gold stream of light arrived in an instant. Little Demoness Dragon's petite body erupted with a True Dragon pressure that felt like it could topple mountains and overturn seas. Her small fist clenched, directly creating a visible shockwave in the air as it slammed fiercely into the side of the Tai Xu Old Ancestor's face.

Crack!

That was the sound of bones shattering. The Tai Xu Old Ancestor, as strong as a Peak Earth Immortal and a half-step True Immortal, was actually sent flying like a swatted fly, letting out a scream and hurtling hundreds of meters away, crashing into the stone wall of the Forbidden Ground and creating a bottomless human-shaped crater.

Debris flew, and dust filled the air.

Lin Chen walked slowly onto the altar amidst the tremors of the Formation. He didn't spare a glance for the old woman in the ruins, instead stepping directly onto the 'blood-colored lotus' and standing before Su Qingge.

"Who... are you?"

Su Qingge tilted her head, her voice cold and devoid of any worldly emotion. She could not sense any Killing Intent, but she could feel an unprecedented, scorching masculine aura, like a blazing sun, enveloping her.

Lin Chen did not answer, but instead reached out his hand, his fingertips sliding across the cold white runic ribbon.

"The shackles this world has placed on you are too heavy."

Rip!

With a crisp sound of tearing fabric, the white ribbon covering Su Qingge's eyes was roughly torn off by Lin Chen and thrown into the abyss.

In that instant, Lin Chen's fingers paused.

As the ribbon fell, what was revealed were not teary eyes, but a pair of eyes as pure as silver glass. There was no emotion in those pupils, no fear, not even light—only a void of silver, as if they could reflect all the evils in the world.

Su Qingge slowly opened her eyes, her gaze focusing on Lin Chen's face. Her face, which was pale to the point of being nearly transparent, stood out against the red wedding dress, revealing a heartbreakingly exquisite beauty.

"Are you... the new user?" she asked softly, as if asking something that was only natural. "Are you going to pluck my Primordial Yin, or extract my Saintess Physique Origin?"

Lin Chen tilted up her pointed chin, his fingers stroking her cherry-like red lips, a wicked smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

"I have no interest in treating you as a consumable. I am here to teach you what 'rebellion' means."

Having said that, he suddenly bent over and, amidst the Tai Xu Old Ancestor's angry roar, hoisted the Tai Xu Saintess directly onto his broad shoulder like a sack of grain.

"Bastard! Put the Saintess down!" In the ruins, the Tai Xu Old Ancestor, covered in blood and with her hair disheveled, rushed out, her old eyes full of hysterical madness.

Lin Chen turned his head and slowly raised a middle finger toward this long-famed old monster.

"I'm taking this girl. As for you..." Lin Chen's eyes turned cold as he made a throat-slitting gesture to Little Demoness Dragon. "Xiao Yao, tear this old woman apart; keep the bones for soup."

"You got it!"

Carrying Su Qingge, Lin Chen strode out of the Forbidden Ground amidst the collapsing sounds of the grand Formation... Taixu Sect, side hall secret room.

This place was once the Saintess's seclusion area, but now it had become Lin Chen's temporary 'palace'.

Since the Tai Xu Old Ancestor had already activated the sacrifice Formation earlier, the Ethereal Holy Essence within Su Qingge's body was currently in a state of extreme instability and rampaging. That pure energy was crashing through her Meridians, making her thin red wedding dress swell as if it were about to burst.

"Ugh... so hot..."

Su Qingge slumped onto the white jade bed, her silver eyes finally tinged with a touch of confusion. She had been raised as a cauldron since childhood, and no one had ever told her what terrible consequences would occur when this energy was not harvested.

Lin Chen looked down at her from above. This Saintess's beauty was an extreme of etherealness and fragility. Now, because of the energy rampage, silver leaf-vein-like spiritual patterns appeared on her overly fair skin. Every pulse of the spiritual patterns brought about a delicate cry that made the Soul tremble.

"Do you want it?" Lin Chen undid his outer robe, revealing his oppressive Dragon Emperor Divine Body.

"I don't know... I've never learned..." Su Qingge looked at Lin Chen in confusion, her hands instinctively grabbing Lin Chen's arm, feeling the heat that calmed her Meridians. "Please... guide me..."

Lin Chen sneered, his large hand suddenly exerting force. The red wedding dress, which was already tight from the abundance of energy, instantly turned into a flurry of red butterflies as it shattered.

At that moment, the air seemed to stand still.

Su Qingge's body was like a work of art carved from moonlight. Her collarbones were deep, revealing a bony beauty.

The most maddening part was her waist, so thin it seemed it could be snapped with one hand, and below that ivory-smooth abdomen.

"Then I shall teach you the true way to use a Holy Physique."

Lin Chen showed no mercy; he was like a crude invader.

"Ah—!"

Su Qingge let out a scream that pierced the night sky. In that voice, there was not only the pain of the first time but also the madness of the Holy Physique Origin, which had been suppressed for over a decade, being instantly ignited.

It caused her silver eyes to shrink instantly.

"No... I can't... I'll break..."

Su Qingge cried out loudly, her body emitting bursts of silver-white light.

In this extreme Fusion of spirit and flesh, Su Qingge's originally empty Soul felt a kind of 'Perfection' for the first time. She was no longer the Taixu Sect's sacrifice, but the most loyal plaything under this man's command, and the one most dependent on him.

Lin Chen watched as this once high-and-mighty Saintess sank bit by bit beneath him, a cruel smile of total control appearing on his lips.

"The Saintess's marriage is a cause for universal celebration. For the betrothal gift, I'll use the Taixu Sect's ten-thousand-year foundation to pave the way."

[Congratulations host! Intercepted Taixu Sect's core asset: Saintess Su Qingge (Ethereal Holy Physique)!] [Su Qingge Loyalty: 90% (Spirit and flesh fused, Holy Physique evolved into: Chaos Ethereal Fetus)!] [host receives reward: Cultivation jumped two stages! Current Realm: Earth Immortal Perfection (Can impact Heavenly Immortal at any time)!] [Side Quest: Completely eliminate the Tai Xu Old Ancestor's remnant Soul. Obtain the ultimate key to the 【Tai Xu Secret Vault】!]