Translator: CinderTL
Under the relentless barrage of ice spikes, the protective shield formed by the black umbrella gradually weakened and finally shattered.
Countless ice spikes shot forward, several targeting Jiang Yushan directly.
Jiang Yushan found himself utterly helpless, forced to watch as the ice spikes hurtled closer, eventually slamming into the earth-yellow shield conjured by the Thick Earth Talisman.
After repeated impacts, the earth-yellow shield finally succumbed, shattering into fragments.
Pfft!
A massive ice spike pierced Jiang Yushan's body, instantly tearing his flesh apart.
Suddenly, Song Wen noticed a figure materialize dozens of meters away.
It was Jiang Yushan!
After Song Wen was ejected from the black umbrella's shield, Ye Bing had not attacked him.
As a result, his current position was relatively safe.
"Death substitute technique! Let's see how many Substitute Puppets you have!" Ye Bing sneered.
With a wave of her hand, a ten-foot-long ice spear materialized before her and shot toward Jiang Yushan.
Jiang Yushan, with only a mid-nascent soul cultivation level, wasn't worth her using the plum blossom fan. A simple spell would suffice to kill him.
In Jiang Yushan's right hand, he clutched a six-inch-tall wooden carving.
The carving bore an uncanny resemblance to Jiang Yushan himself—it was his last Substitute Puppet.
Crafting a Substitute Puppet required splitting one's soul and implanting a soul anchor within the puppet, a process that severely damaged the soul. Not everyone could create these puppets as casually as Song Wen did.
When Jiang Yushan had forged his two Substitute Puppets, he had mobilized half the Jiang Family's resources to gather Spirit Herbs for soul restoration, enabling him to complete the process successfully.
Moreover, according to Jiang Lanruo, who had assisted him in crafting the puppets, the very act of creating them had damaged his human soul.
This left Jiang Lanruo with enduring guilt. For years, she had tirelessly searched for Spirit Herbs to heal Jiang Yushan's human soul.
"Aunt Ye, if you spare my life, I'll have my father and aunt find you any treasure you desire. Just please don't kill me..."
Before Jiang Yushan could finish speaking, an ice spear pierced him, shattering his physical body into fragments.
He reappeared over a hundred miles away, his eyes filled with terror and panic.
"Don't worry," Ye Bing said, summoning another ice spear and aiming it at Jiang Yushan. "I'll keep your soul intact and slowly torture it to appease the spirit of my son in the heavens."
Jiang Yushan was consumed by fear. He bitterly regretted his lust-blinded judgment, his arrogance, and his underestimation of Ye Bing. If he hadn't coveted her beauty, he wouldn't have met such a tragic end.
Fueled by intense resentment and an overwhelming desire to survive, Jiang Yushan's eyes suddenly wept tears of blood. His black hair and robes stirred violently despite the absence of wind.
A power not his own awakened within him. A surge of dark energy erupted from his body, instantly shredding the incoming ice spear into fragments.
Tens of thousands of miles away, in a secret chamber within Demon Subduing City, Jiang Lanruo, who was meditating, suddenly opened her eyes, a flicker of alarm crossing her face.
"What's happening?! Why has the seal on the 'shadow void' been forcibly broken? What has Yushan encountered?"
As she pondered, Jiang Lanruo carefully sensed her surroundings. Her gaze soon turned toward the Rotting Miasma Ridge.
With a flash, Jiang Lanruo vanished without a trace.
Song Wen was astonished to discover six tentacles sprouting from Jiang Yushan's head.
These tentacles were utterly bizarre, seeming to exist between the ethereal and the corporeal, as if they could shift freely between nothingness and reality.
Even more astonishingly, these tentacles extended directly from Jiang Yushan's Sea of Consciousness.
Song Wen also sensed a faint aura of Primordial Qi emanating from the tentacles, bearing a resemblance to the Nether Fox's aura and the Resentful Spirits within the Ghost Mist, yet distinct from both—as if belonging to another type of creature dwelling within Primordial Qi.
"What the hell is that thing?" Ye Bing muttered, her face pale with disbelief as she stared at the tentacles writhing above Jiang Yushan's head.
Shocked into inaction, she even forgot to continue her attack.
In truth, she could no longer be certain if the Jiang Yushan before her was still the same man.
The aura radiating from his body had completely transformed, now bearing the unmistakable signature of a Primordial Qi creature—as if he had been possessed.
Meanwhile, Jiang He had already been defeated, grievously wounded by a relentless barrage of ice spikes.
Ye Bing left him a sliver of life, leaving him lying on the ground, barely breathing.
Jiang Shi's divine soul had already been seized by Ye Bing, bound by a chain of icy energy.
Not only were Song Wen and Ye Bing astonished by Jiang Yushan's condition, but Jiang He and Jiang Shi were equally horrified, clearly having never seen Jiang Yushan in such a state before.
Song Wen's eyes suddenly lit up.
The black umbrella drifted down, landing a short distance in front of him.
He glanced sideways at the ice net, which stretched over two hundred miles away.
The ice net was woven from countless massive ice pillars.
Can the Soul Cleaving Blade break through this ice net? Song Wen wondered inwardly.
With his Life Substitution Art, he could instantly teleport to the ice net before Ye Bing reacted, avoiding the ice spikes that had erupted from the ground and the ice net above due to Ye Bing's magic.
However, Song Wen wasn't entirely confident that the Soul Cleaving Blade could breach the ice net.
He then shifted his gaze to Ye Bing, hovering in mid-air.
Could the Soul Cleaving Blade penetrate her defenses and deliver a fatal blow in a single strike? he pondered.
Just then, another unexpected twist occurred.
The six tentacles atop Jiang Yushan's head suddenly began to tremble violently, stirring the surrounding air into chaotic vortexes that emitted a series of deep, resonant hums.
This sound was unlike anything of the mortal realm, resembling instead the wails of Fierce Ghosts from the abyss, filled with unspeakable agony and despair.
Song Wen, Ye Bing, Jiang He, and even Jiang Shi, now reduced to his divine soul, all felt as if countless swords and blades were piercing their Seas of Consciousness, tearing apart their divine souls.
Within Song Wen's Sea of Consciousness, an endless Black Hole suddenly materialized, swallowing the invading sound whole.
The other three, however, were not so fortunate.
Ye Bing didn't even have time to activate her soul defense Magic Treasure before being struck.
Her mind raced as she tried to summon the artifact, but it was impossible.
The piercing hum from the vibrating tentacles stabbed into her ears, causing unbearable pain and shattering her focus. She couldn't concentrate enough to control her Spiritual Power.
Moreover, the plum blossom fan gradually slipped from her grasp, its radiant glow dimming.
The entire Icebound Domain began to dissipate. The ice layer on the ground thinned, and the ice net high above began to melt.
(End of the Chapter)
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