Translator: CinderTL
Chi Qi's eyes gleamed sharply as he drew his bowstring taut, a chilling aura capable of piercing through anything emanating from the icy arrowhead, locking firmly onto Jiang Yushan.
"Jiang Lanruo, I ask you one last time: are you truly unwilling to reveal the mission's details?"
A flicker of anxiety crossed Jiang Lanruo's eyes.
Now was definitely not the time to clash with Chi Qi.
If Jiang Yushan died, her years of meticulous planning and cultivation would all be for naught.
She needed to stall for time until the shadow void's seal was complete.
"Very well! I'll tell you," Jiang Lanruo said, her voice strained with forced resolve.
Her tone shifted abruptly as she continued, "This matter is of utmost importance. The fewer who know, the better. Eliminate these four juniors first, and then I'll reveal everything."
Song Wen, Ye Bing, Jiang He, and Jiang Shi were instantly horrified.
Jiang Lanruo was attempting to divert disaster by turning Chi Qi against them!
Jiang He and Jiang Shi, in particular, wore expressions of utter disbelief.
They had always guarded Jiang Yushan with unwavering loyalty, serving the Jiang Family with utmost devotion and selflessness.
Yet now, Jiang Lanruo was ordering their deaths.
"No problem!"
A sinister smile curled Chi Qi's lips as he slightly shifted his bow, the arrow now aimed squarely at Song Wen.
Song Wen was the closest of the four to Chi Qi.
"Young man, I saved your life earlier. Now, it's time for you to repay the favor," Chi Qi said, releasing his grip. The arrow shot forth with explosive force.
The arrow's speed was beyond comprehension. Song Wen realized that neither his Divine Sense nor his eyes could track its trajectory.
Thud!
A muffled sound echoed as Song Wen's body instantly shattered into pieces.
The arrow arced through the air, then swerved to target Jiang He.
In the blink of an eye, Jiang He met the same fate as Song Wen, his divine soul instantly pulverized.
Next, Jiang Shi's divine soul was torn to shreds by the arrow.
Finally, the arrow turned toward Ye Bing, who was the farthest away.
Perhaps the deaths of the others had given Ye Bing time to prepare.
She activated her plum blossom fan, conjuring a thick, blue ice shield around herself for full-body protection.
Clang!
The arrow struck the ice shield like a meteor.
The shield shattered instantly, fragments scattering everywhere, utterly failing to stop the arrow.
The arrow's momentum carried it straight toward Ye Bing's face.
Boom!
A deafening explosion shook the air.
The arrow struck the plum blossom fan squarely.
In that instant, cracks spiderwebbed across the fan's surface, but it successfully blocked the arrow.
At the same moment, a violent lingering force erupted outward.
Ye Bing, who was standing mere inches away, was the first to be struck. She was sent flying backward, crashing heavily into the ground far away.
Her Mystic Treasure had been damaged, and the Lingering Force had struck her directly, causing severe injuries. She coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood.
"Hmm! She actually blocked my attack. She's got some skill after all," Chi Qi remarked.
He was about to draw his arrow again to finish off Ye Bing when he suddenly stopped.
Song Wen's figure had materialized in the distant sky, hovering amidst the miasma, his form flickering in and out of view.
This sight surprised both Chi Qi and Jiang Lanruo.
"Is he one of your Jiang Family?" Chi Qi asked.
Since the Jiang Family also possessed a Life Substitution Art, Chi Qi instinctively assumed Song Wen was one of their members.
"No! I've never seen him in the Jiang Family. Moreover, his Life Substitution Art is different from ours. He uses Corpse Puppets as Substitute Puppets, while Jiang Family disciples typically use wooden carvings," Jiang Lanruo explained patiently, eager to stall for time.
"Then this man is quite interesting," Chi Qi said, a faint smile curving his lips.
A crimson light gradually flared in his eyes as he scanned Song Wen's position.
The smile vanished from Chi Qi's face in an instant.
"No! That was just an incarnation. His true body isn't here."
"What do you mean?" Jiang Lanruo asked, momentarily confused by Chi Qi's words.
Chi Qi didn't answer. Instead, he drew back his arrow and fired it at Song Wen.
"Chi Qi, don't fall for Jiang Lanruo's tricks! She's deliberately stalling for time!" Song Wen shouted.
Before his words could fully escape his lips, the arrow had already pierced through Song Wen's body.
But instead of blood and flesh, countless splinters of wood exploded outward.
"So it was an incarnation after all! For a mere nascent soul cultivator, this man has endless tricks up his sleeve," Jiang Lanruo remarked.
"He's not a nascent soul cultivator. He's at the Early Stage of Divine Transformation. My Dreamfloat True Eye never lies," Chi Qi replied, the crimson glow in his eyes gradually fading. His gaze turned icy as he continued, "Jiang Lanruo, what he said makes sense. You really are stalling for time."
By now, the six tentacles protruding from Jiang Yushan's head had fully retracted into his body.
Jiang Lanruo's sealing process for the shadow void egg had reached its final and most critical stage.
Spiritual light shimmered from her fingertips as she wove a series of magic seals, which rained down on Jiang Yushan like raindrops.
"Chi Qi, do you truly want to know the mission Senior Ji Hong entrusted to me?" Jiang Lanruo asked. "Sometimes, knowing too much isn't a good thing."
"Jiang Lanruo, stop bluffing. If you don't speak now, don't blame me for showing no mercy," Chi Qi warned, drawing his bow again and aiming at Jiang Yushan.
Jiang Lanruo fell silent for a moment, then sighed in resignation.
"Very well, I'll tell you. Senior Ji Hong gave me an egg. He promised that if I could hatch it, he would reward me with a Heavenly Astral Body Integration Pill."
"What kind of demon beast egg is it?" Chi Qi asked.
"A shadow void egg," Jiang Lanruo replied.
Chi Qi frowned. He had never heard of a demon beast called a "shadow void."
"What exactly is a shadow void?" he pressed.
Jiang Lanruo's gaze shifted to Jiang Yushan.
Chi Qi immediately understood. "The thing you sealed within Jiang Yushan's Sea of Consciousness... that's the shadow void?" he asked, his voice tinged with surprise.
Jiang Lanruo nodded. "After obtaining the shadow void egg, I tried various methods to hatch it, but none succeeded. It wasn't until I discovered its ability to shift between physical and illusory states that I sealed it within Jiang Yushan's Sea of Consciousness. By nurturing it within his Sea of Consciousness, I hoped to incubate the egg."
Chi Qi asked, "Do you mean the tentacles extending from Jiang Yushan's head are the shadow void? Have you successfully hatched it?"
"Not completely," Jiang Lanruo replied. "The hatching process of a shadow void egg differs from that of ordinary demon beast eggs. It doesn't simply break out of its shell; instead, it undergoes a slow, gradual evolution into its final form. According to Senior Ji Hong, a shadow void possesses nine tentacles. Currently, the shadow void within Jiang Yushan's Sea of Consciousness only has six tentacles, indicating it hasn't fully matured."
"Furthermore, the hatching process damages the human soul, one of the Three Souls. This damage is continuous. To prevent Jiang Yushan's human soul from being extinguished, which would halt the shadow void's hatching, I've been tirelessly searching for Nine Deaths Grass to constantly repair his soul. Otherwise, do you truly believe I couldn't have found a single five-hundred-year-old Nine Deaths Grass in all these years?"
(End of the Chapter)
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