Chapter 179: Chapter 179: One Flag After Another

“Is this all the blood and flesh you’ve gathered?”

A dissonant voice emitted from within the blood-red glow shrouded in dark-purple aura, grating like nails scratching across glass, causing an average person’s scalp to tingle at the mere sound of it.

If one were to directly absorb the impact and corruption contained within this voice, they would instantly descend into madness, losing all semblance of humanity and becoming a chaotic monster.

“Most people along the shores of the Eastern Sea live in village towns, and this entire town had only so many people. I beg the Demon Lord’s forgiveness.”

The person clad in a black cloak remained prostrated, respectfully saying, “In the next day or two, I will slaughter an entire county, gathering blood and flesh for your delight. It shall surely satisfy you.”

“No need. Just do one thing for me,” Cang Hua’s piercing voice came forth, calmly instructing, “I’ll teach you an incantation. You need only to go to Huangtong Mansion City in Pingzhou within the Qi Country, recite it within a thousand paces of the city, and it will take effect.”

“Thank you, Demon Lord. It is my honor.” The person in the black robe listened with utmost respect.

After committing the incantation to memory, he bid Cang Hua farewell with an uneasy heart. Upon receiving permission to leave, he transformed into a streak of light, flying towards Pingzhou.

“Thank me?” Cang Hua’s fragment of will watched the person’s departing figure with a light chuckle, musing, “A Ghost Immortal who survived the fire tribulation makes for decent nourishment, at least passable.”

Not long after the cloaked “person” left, a warm, jade-like radiance suddenly rose from the distant Eastern Sea, cutting through waves and surf to arrive before the blood-red glow.

As the jade-like light dissipated, a handsome man in his twenties appeared, with features so flawless they were almost without a single blemish, his visage truly exquisite beyond compare.

This man was shrouded in wisps of misty, ethereal vapors, exuding an air of otherworldly lightness, as if he could dissipate into clouds or wind at any moment.

He was a Loose Immortal.

“Yu Long, you’ve arrived quite swiftly,” Cang Hua observed with a dim flash in the blood-red light, calmly stating, “Sixteen hundred years have passed and it seems your Loose Immortal form has coalesced well.”

“Thanks to your blessings, I’ve also skirted around three Celestial Man calamities,” The Immortal spoke with a peculiar tone, then said, “The Tianyi’s seal must be uncomfortable, I wonder how many moments this fragment of your spirit can last?”

“Then why are you wasting words?” Cang Hua scoffed.

“One must sometimes ease the tension,” Yu Long replied with a light laugh before continuing, “Has Ziwei entered the world? I require an accurate answer.”

“Indeed,” Cang Hua replied with a smile, “Worried? It’s only a Ziwei Master who has yet to grow. Are you planning to take matters into your own hands?”

“Ziwei must not be kept alive,” Yu Long’s eyes shimmered as he declared, “It is safest if I act personally. Ziwei must be killed, and you must tell me his aura.”

“First, you loosen my seal,” Cang Hua commanded.

“Do you want me to die again?” Yu Long immediately shook his head, saying, “With the Heavenly Palace fool gone, your whereabouts must surely have been exposed. Tianyi and Azure Dragon will certainly keep a close watch on the seal. Should I go there seeking my own death?”

“Heh, you’ve become much braver than you were sixteen hundred years ago,” Cang Hua sneered. Then information flowed from within the blood-red light to Yu Long, who was told, “This simulates that Ziwei’s aura. Go and slay him, but I need you to bring his intact body to me.”

“Just a simulation of his aura?” Yu Long received the information with a frown, remarking, “Such information is imprecise. It seems your interference with the outer world is quite limited now.”

“Yu Long, do you wish to die?” Cang Hua’s tone turned ominous.

“Haha, Demon Lord, please take it easy. I was just speaking offhandedly,” Yu Long laughed but wasn’t truly concerned, and then bid farewell, “I take my leave.”

Upon these words, he transformed into a stream of light and soared away, heading towards Pingzhou.

After the Loose Immortal had completely disappeared from view, the blood-red glow tinged with dark-purple energy twisted several times in the void, ultimately taking the shape of a palm-sized figure.

It had a complete set of features and limbs, though all were exceedingly blurred, with only outlines visible.

“Foolish creature, had you not offered your allegiance to me sixteen hundred years ago, you wouldn’t have had the chance to become a Loose Immortal after death,” Cang Hua’s gaze was ice-cold as it followed the direction of Yu Long’s departure.

“Once I fully escape my bind, you will all die!”

…

Under the pitch-black cloak of night, a chaotic burial mound.

“Cough cough cough!!

“Cough cough! Ugh! Ugh! Cough cough cough!!”

In front of his own gravestone, Ma Quan was doubled over, covering his mouth, coughing nearly to the point of frenzy.

At this moment, his entire body was covered in boils, including his eyeballs and tongue; many of them had already burst open, oozing thick pus.

At his feet lay one organ after another.

Liver, lungs, kidneys, stomach… as well as various blood clots. He had almost ejected all of his internal organs, with only his heart remaining inside.

Ma Quan was not unfamiliar with this situation, on the contrary, he was very well-acquainted with it.

This was precisely the dark skill he was most adept at.

The Absolute Evil Heavenly Epidemic Technique!

A Sect Fifth Rank sinister method, characterized by the wretched agony he was exhibiting now, a living hell of pain unbearable.

“What in the world is going on? How could I be afflicted by the Heavenly Epidemic Technique, and how did I end up in this mass grave?” Ma Quan’s mind was filled with shock and uncertainty, yet he had not completely lost his reason, “An Illusion Technique? Or perhaps it’s a dream?”

Just as he realized he might be in a dream, a pair of faint purple eyes suddenly appeared in the night sky, looking down at him with an icy gaze.

Instantly, Ma Quan felt an overwhelming sense of crisis. Without hesitation, he reached back and pulled out his own heart, crushing it to pieces.

Bang!

Blood splattered everywhere, the stench overpowering.

Yet as his heart burst, Ma Quan suddenly achieved an unprecedented level of clarity, and the fog that had shrouded his spirit since he had fallen into this world began to lift rapidly.

Boom!

Suddenly, a bolt of purple lightning struck down from the sky, seemingly intent on obliterating Ma Quan entirely.

By this time, however, Ma Quan was no longer in a state of confusion. He had recovered most of his reason and spirit, realizing that he was not in reality.

Thereupon, he immediately employed a spirit secret technique, forcefully breaking out of this “dreamscape.”

The next moment, Ma Quan found himself back in the inn’s room.

Yet he also noticed pustules beginning to appear on his body. Although not particularly severe, he was well aware that in just half a moment more, he would end up just like he did in the dream, dead on the spot.

At the same time, he discovered that his chest was hollow, his heart gone, his hands still stained with blood, and the floor covered with large patches of fresh blood and flesh.

Clearly, his real heart had been crushed just as in the dream.

Even though the loss of a heart wasn’t fatal for a Sixth Rank Innate like Ma Quan, it was a near-fatal injury, and his condition plummeted to rock bottom.

At this moment, any Peak of the Seventh Rank could easily kill him.

Ma Quan glanced at the corner where the young disciple had been and found only a corpse there. Besides that, there was no one else in the room.

As for the owner of the pair of purple eyes, he remained entirely ignorant from start to finish.

“Damn it! Damn it!!”

Ma Quan gritted his teeth, gathered the last of his True Qi, and used a secret technique to conceal himself, fleeing the inn at the highest speed possible.

“Once I’ve healed, I will make sure to kill all of you!!”

…

Chu Qingchuan was a very hearty person.

He also admired the strong, especially those younger yet stronger than himself.

So, after a bout,

Chu Qingchuan’s attitude toward Zhou Heng had undergone a full three hundred and sixty-degree shift. After crawling out from the rubble, he eagerly approached Zhou Heng to get closer.

Zhou Heng had intended to find an inn to settle down after getting off the stage.

But Chu Qingchuan had pulled him aside to watch others duel.

Of course, if Chu Qingchuan had not offered to cover all expenses for lodging and meals in Wujiang Prefecture City, Zhou Heng would not have bothered with him.

“Brother Zhou, it seems a lot of people are gathering over there,” Chu Qingchuan pointed in a direction where a crowd was forming, and said with a smile, “I heard it’s Li Wuwang dueling someone.”

“Li Wuwang?” Zhou Heng, who initially had a lack of interest, perked up at hearing the name and said, “Let’s go take a look.”

On the boat to Wujiang Prefecture City, he had heard of the disparaging remarks Li Wuwang made about him.

It would be impossible to say he was unaffected by those words.

For Zhou Heng, a man in his twenties, to not go directly to Li Wuwang and settle the score upon arriving in Wujiang Prefecture City already showed great restraint.

Now that he heard Li Wuwang was in a duel, he was naturally inclined to watch.