125: Chapter 125 You're Getting Annoying

Murong Yue stood in place, a flash of madness crossing her eyes.

"Come out... you get out here..."

"Come out!"

Murong Yue's voice suddenly rose, sharp and ear-piercing.

A cyan longsword flew out from the palace pillar, landing steadily in her palm.

Three flying knives rose from the ground, circling her body, the silver light on their blades flickering on and off. A jade-green feather fan hovered behind her, its surface vibrating slightly, emitting a series of low hums.

"Come out! Get out here!! Come out!!!"

Murong Yue became increasingly frantic, waving her longsword as cyan Sword Qi crisscrossed, leaving deep furrows on the palace walls.

Rubble splattered, dust filled the air, and cracks on the walls spread outwards like a spiderweb.

The three flying knives flew out simultaneously, turning into countless blade shadows, attacking everywhere like headless flies.

The surroundings instantly became a complete mess.

After her outburst, Murong Yue leaned on her sword, gasping for breath.

Just then, a hoarse voice drifted out from the shadows deep within the palace, unhurried and carrying a hint of annoyance.

"You are getting a bit annoying."

Murong Yue's body stiffened abruptly; she turned her head sharply, looking in the direction the voice came from.

Murong Yue's pupils constricted violently; as she turned, her pupils reflected a ring hurtling towards her.

It was moving too fast for the naked eye to clearly see.

"Puchi!" A crimson blade of light swept across her neck and vanished in a flash.

Murong Yue's mouth was open, but she could no longer make a sound; her eyes remained open, reflecting Wu Li's figure, with expressions of terror and unwillingness still lingering on her face.

Then, her head slid from her neck, fell to the ground, rolled twice, and stopped in a pile of rubble.

The corpse slowly toppled over, blood gushing from her neck and dyeing the bluestone floor beneath her a dark red.

The three Spiritual Artifacts, having lost their master's control, fell to the ground simultaneously with a crisp clatter. The yin soul blade ring circled in the air once, flew back to Wu Li's ankle, and transformed back into a small ring.

Wu Li stood in place, his blood-red pupils scanning the corpses of Murong Yue and Murong Cheng without any emotion.

"Come out."

As soon as Wu Li finished speaking, a pool of dark red blood slowly squirmed in the cracks of the bluestone floor in the corner of the palace.

The blood seemed to have a life of its own, seeping out from the cracks, gathering, surging, and condensing, gradually outlining a human shape.

Zhang Huaiyuan stepped out from the blood, the blood color on his body fading to reveal his morbidly pale face.

The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, carrying a hint of an evil smile, and he lowered his head towards Wu Li, his posture submissive.

"Master."

Wu Li's blood-red pupils stared at Zhang Huaiyuan, silent for a moment, his voice hoarse and flat: "You certainly have a lot of nerve, daring to sneak in."

Zhang Huaiyuan raised his head, the smile at the corners of his mouth deepening, a flash of smugness in his eyes, his voice shrill and effeminate: "Those Immortal Sect Cultivators are truly stupid."

"I've been following them the whole way, from the Mass Grave to the Secret Realm entrance, and then from the Secret Realm entrance to here; not a single one of them discovered me."

He paused, licked his lips, as if savoring something.

Wu Li did not speak, his blood-red pupils examining Zhang Huaiyuan up and down. Qi Refining Fifth Stage.

From the last time they parted until now, only a few days had passed, yet Zhang Huaiyuan's cultivation had jumped from Qi Refining First Stage to Qi Refining Fifth Stage. It seemed he must have killed quite a few people.

As for him being able to kill Murong Cheng in one sneak attack, that was entirely due to luck.

The battle ended. Zhang Huaiyuan looked up, glanced at the pale blue bead on the stone platform, then looked at the corpses of Murong Yue and Murong Cheng on the ground, a flash of greed appearing in his eyes, but he quickly suppressed it.

He looked at Wu Li and lowered his voice: "Master, when I was coming here, I passed by a building where the Spiritual Qi fluctuations were very strong."

"The people from the Xuanyi Sect and the Heavenly Sword Sect also discovered it at the same time, and both sides are already in a standoff, ready to fight at any moment. Would you like to go over and take a look?"

Wu Li's blood-red pupils contracted slightly, silent for a moment, then he nodded.

He walked to the stone platform, extended his claw, and picked up the pale blue bead from the rubble.

The bead felt warm and smooth in his hand, and that cool power surged into his body again, suppressing the scorching Spiritual Qi fluctuations around him.

He looked it over carefully, and after confirming there was nothing unusual, he put it into his Stomach Storage.

Then, he turned and walked to Murong Yue's corpse, waved his right claw, and a ray of blood-colored light shot from his claw tip into the center of Murong Yue's forehead.

A moment later, strands of dark red vital blood were extracted from Murong Yue's corpse, gathering in the air into a thumb-sized blood bead, crystal clear and glowing with a faint fluorescence.

Wu Li opened his mouth and inhaled; the blood bead entered his mouth. For a Foundation Establishment Early Stage Cultivator, the vital blood was pitifully thin, merely a drop in the bucket for him, but better than nothing.

Wu Li opened his eyes, his blood-red pupils devoid of any emotion. He turned to look at Zhang Huaiyuan. "Lead the way."

Zhang Huaiyuan nodded quickly and turned to walk out of the palace. Wu Li followed behind; the two of them, one after the other, soon disappeared into the mist outside the palace. Behind them, only two cold corpses and a floor full of rubble and dust remained in the palace.

The mist outside the palace surged, completely swallowing their figures.

... At this moment. Somewhere in the Secret Realm. A huge palace stood in the gray-white mist.

The palace was more than ten times larger than the one Wu Li had seen before; the palace gate was towering, a full three zhang high, and a pitch-black plaque hung on the lintel, with three large characters written in gold powder: "Lingyuan Pavilion".

On the steps in front of the palace, two groups of people were in a standoff. On the left were the people from the Xuanyi Sect, led by Inner Sect Elder Han Song, followed by ten Disciples; on the right were the people from the Heavenly Sword Sect, led by Ding Yuan, followed by seven or eight Disciples.

The two groups were clearly divided; neither side entered first, and neither side let the other enter.

In the center of the palace. A huge bronze vat sat quietly there.

The bronze vat was over ten meters high and over fifty meters wide, its surface covered with dense runes, with faint Spiritual Qi flowing through them.

Inside the bronze vat, a thick mass of Spiritual Qi fluctuations surged endlessly, as if something was sleeping inside, or as if something was about to break out of the vat.

That Spiritual Qi fluctuation was so strong it was startling, thicker and purer than the Spiritual Qi on everyone present.

Inner Sect Elder Han Song stood on the left side of the bronze vat, his hawk-like eyes staring at Ding Yuan, his voice cold and hard as iron: "Ding Yuan, this bronze vat was discovered by my Xuanyi Sect first. Your Heavenly Sword Sect people should stop looking here and leave."

Ding Yuan stood on the right side of the bronze vat, his hand on his sword hilt, his expression unpleasant, his voice as cold as ice shards.

"What do you mean by that? You want to hog it all for yourself?"

Inner Sect Elder Han Song sneered, his hawk-like eyes fixed on Ding Yuan, his voice cold and hard as iron. "What do you mean by 'hog it all'? It was already agreed upon when we entered that our Xuanyi Sect would choose the items here first. If your Heavenly Sword Sect wants them, wait until we are done picking."