201: Chapter 201 Everlasting Regret

At the bottom of the Western Desolate Marsh, all was silent.

This was the deepest part of the forbidden zone for living beings, where even light was devoured by the ink-thick mist.

On an altar built from the white bones of countless Yao Beasts, Gu Changsheng sat cross-legged.

Two items floated before him.

To the left was a crystal-clear phalanx emitting a faint golden light; it was the "Finger of Scarlet Skeleton" stolen from right under the Blood Fiend Master's nose.

To the right was a fist-sized piece of earth vein spirit marrow pulsing with heavy earth Spiritual Qi, a trophy his Clone, Gu Changfeng, had just seized from the Wang family.

"It's about time."

Gu Changsheng slowly opened his eyes; deep within his pupils, there were no whites, only a gray, desolate silence.

He waved his hand.

Dozens of Formation Flags turned into streaks of light, accurately plunging into the silt around the altar.

Buzz.

A gray light barrier that isolated heavenly secrets rose, completely enveloping the space within a hundred-zhang radius.

Immediately after.

Gu Changsheng opened his mouth and spat.

Whoosh—

A ball of grayish-white flame landed silently in the center of the altar.

This was the devil flame obtained from mastering the Life-Substitution Aspect.

It did not burn vegetation, but specialized in incinerating Divine Souls and metal or stone.

"Go."

Gu Changsheng flicked his finger.

That priceless earth vein spirit marrow was tossed into the grayish-white flame like an ordinary stone.

Sizzle sizzle sizzle.

Under the refining of the true fire, the spirit marrow did not melt into liquid but began to collapse and compress.

The originally heavy earthy-yellow Spiritual Qi was forcibly stripped away, leaving only a mass of the purest earth vein Origin.

It was the bone and blood of the earth.

"Merge."

Gu Changsheng pointed his finger again.

The restless phalanx of the Scarlet Skeleton was seized by an invisible force and slowly pressed toward the mass of earth vein Origin.

Boom!

The moment the two touched, a terrifying repulsive force erupted.

The immortal golden nature contained within the phalanx instinctively resisted the external Impurities.

And the earth vein Origin, like a startled beast, surged wildly, attempting to break through the constraints of the true fire.

The entire underwater altar shook violently.

The surrounding silt and rock layers emitted overburdened cracking sounds, with countless fissures spreading like spiderwebs.

Gu Changsheng's expression remained unchanged.

He formed hand seals, his ten fingers flying like phantoms.

"Refusing a face-saving offer."

A cold snort.

The Taiyin Mana within him poured out without reservation, transforming into a massive black hand that blotted out the sky, ruthlessly gripping the two wrestling spiritual objects.

Crush.

Forced Fusion.

This was the overbearing nature of a Purple Mansion True Person.

In the face of absolute power, so-called spiritual persistence was nothing but a joke.

Sizzle—

The phalanx and the Origin were forcibly kneaded together.

The shape began to change.

It was no longer in the shape of a bone but gradually elongated and became hollow in the middle, turning into a tubular object about a foot long.

Just then.

A sudden change occurred.

Roar—!!

An extremely shrill roar exploded without warning deep within Gu Changsheng's Sea of Consciousness.

It did not come from the outside world.

But from within the phalanx that was being refined.

The voice was filled with resentment, unwillingness, and a primal ferocity from ancient times.

It was a sliver of the life-essence will of the Scarlet Skeleton remaining in the phalanx.

This Golden Core devil cultivator from eight thousand years ago, even though his body had perished and his Dao had vanished, and only a fragment of bone remained, his will was still this terrifying.

Boom!

Gu Changsheng felt his vision go dark.

The real world vanished.

In its place was an illusion of mountains of corpses and a sea of blood.

A crimson giant a thousand zhang tall, treading on a land piled with white bones and standing beneath a sky burning with devil fire, looked down upon him from above.

The giant had only one hand.

To be precise, it had only one finger.

That finger was like a pillar supporting the heavens, its tip wreathed in black Devilish Qi capable of corroding the Void Realm, ruthlessly crushing down toward the ant-like Gu Changsheng.

"Ant!"

"You dare refine this seat's remains? Die!!"

The devilish voice flooded his ears.

Gu Changsheng's Divine Soul trembled violently under this pressure, as if it would shatter into countless fragments in the next second.

This was a Golden Core-level willpower impact.

If it were an ordinary Purple Mansion, even one at the Purple Mansion Late Stage, facing this sudden blow, their Divine Soul would likely be damaged or they would even turn into a walking corpse.

But Gu Changsheng did not move.

He stood amidst that mountain of corpses and sea of blood, looking up at the falling colossal finger.

On the face that should have been filled with fear, there was now an extremely eerie... sneer.

"A corpse coming back to life?"

"Did you get this seat's permission?"

Before his voice could fade.

Buzz—

At Gu Changsheng's brow, that ancient jade pendant which had been in a dormant state suddenly lit up.

The taiyin submerging spirit jade.

Taiyin is the ultimate hidden aspect of heaven and earth, and the nemesis of all devils.

A ghostly light, cold as moonlight yet deep as an abyss, shot out from Gu Changsheng's brow.

In an instant, it transformed into a black full moon, hanging in the sky of this bloody illusion.

Moonlight spilled down.

It was not a gentle caress, but the most cruel dissolution.

The originally overbearing crimson giant, the moment it touched this black moonlight, was like a snowman splashed with concentrated sulfuric acid.

Sizzle sizzle sizzle.

Its massive body began to smoke and fester.

The colossal finger capable of crushing a Purple Mansion Divine Soul disintegrated inch by inch, just three inches above Gu Changsheng's head.

"Ah—!!"

The giant let out a roar of pain.

It discovered in terror that its power was being frantically devoured by that black moon.

Not just its power.

But also its remaining will, memories, and even its desire for "life" were being forcibly stripped away.

"What is this?!!"

"Taiyin?! You are a Taiyin descendant?! Impossible! The Taiyin lineage has long been severed..."

The giant retreated in panic, wanting to escape this Sea of Consciousness.

But that black moon seemed to have infinite suction, pinning it firmly in place.

Gu Changsheng stepped forward one pace at a time.

With every step, his figure grew by one zhang.

After three steps.

He had already transformed into a god-demon that stood tall between heaven and earth, looking down in turn at the shrinking crimson phantom.

"Nothing is impossible."

Gu Changsheng reached out; in his palm, Taiyin Power turned into a massive vortex.

"Since you've come, don't leave."

"Perfectly, this seat's Magic Treasure is still missing an artifact spirit."

"No—!!"

The remnant soul of the Scarlet Skeleton let out one last desperate howl.

Gu Changsheng's five fingers snapped shut.

Snap.

The illusion shattered.

The crimson giant was forcibly crushed, turning into red specks of light that filled the sky.

These specks of light did not dissipate but were sucked into Gu Changsheng's mouth and swallowed whole.

That was the purest nourishment for the Divine Soul.

Gu Changsheng lowered his head and looked at the center of the true fire.

The bone tube that had been struggling was now completely quiet.

It appeared as an eerie dark red throughout, its surface flowing with a faint golden luster.

Nine holes, like nine closed devil eyes, were arranged in an orderly fashion along the body of the tube.

It was done.

Gu Changsheng reached out, ignoring the terrifying high temperature, and grabbed the bone flute.

Sizzle sizzle.

A burning sensation came from his palm, but it immediately turned into a warm moisture connected to his Bloodline.

"Good treasure."

Gu Changsheng gently stroked the body of the flute, his fingertips passing over the holes.

Woo—

It was just the slight friction of the airflow.

A low, distant sound, yet one with a heart-palpitating rhythm, instantly spread throughout the entire Western Desolate Marsh.

A tune that breaks the heart; where in the world can a kindred spirit be found?

Gu Changsheng looked at the bone flute in his hand, a hint of satisfaction flashing in his eyes.

The power of this Magic Treasure was thirty percent stronger than he had anticipated.

Not only could it deliver a devastating blow to a Divine Soul, but it could also use the advantage of the terrain to control the local earth vein and form a natural killing formation.

In this Western Desolate Marsh, holding this flute, he was the uncrowned king.

"Since it was formed from the remains of the Scarlet Skeleton."

Gu Changsheng flicked the flute's body with his fingertip, producing a clear, crisp sound.

"I shall call you... 'eternal regret'."