C226 Who Would Die First?
Chiu Wan's hatred for Yu Yuan ran deep—right to the marrow!
She had intended to leverage Qin Yun and the four Azure Yang Arrows to coerce Yu Yuan's location from him and bring him to justice. Instead, Yu Yuan turned the tables, leaving her gravely wounded.
Qin Yun managed to slip away in the chaos.
Had she not been a member of the Ghoul Glyph Sect, and had there not been other powerful sect members near Jade Peak, Qin Yun might have even taken her life.
Once her injuries had somewhat healed, Chiu Wan lay low in Jade Peak, scheming against the Poisoners of Chilly Wind Valley, never anticipating a run-in with Yu Yuan.
Her loathing for Yu Yuan eclipsed even that of Jin Fann!
So, upon learning from Jin Fann that the brash young man who had burst in, courting death, was none other than Yu Yuan, she couldn't contain herself any longer.
"Heh, it's you, you madwoman."
Yu Yuan's smile spread wide as he noticed a portly old man standing beside Jin Fann, who resembled a well-to-do villager, also in Chiu Wan's company.
The elder was clearly from the Ghoul Glyph Sect, his golden robe adorned with symbols resembling copper coins.
Like Jin Fann and Chiu Wan, he was an emissary of the Ghoul Glyph Sect, greeting Yu Yuan with a nod and a smile.
But in the blink of an eye, Chiu Wan made her move.
Suddenly, all eyes in the valley were on her, their confusion palpable.
Why fight and kill each other when death was inevitable, when they were all destined to become prey to the miasma, sooner or later?
They couldn't fathom it.
With a whoosh, Chiu Wan soared like a gray heron, gliding seven or eight meters before sweeping her sleeve dramatically.
Seven ghoul glyphs, each the size of a fist, hovered then darted forward in the air.
Simultaneously, Chiu Wan's Yin God emerged from her corporeal form like a tendril of smoke.
Enshrouded by the seven ghoul glyphs, her smoky form seemed to command them with her Yin God, intent on obliterating Yu Yuan.
Loong Tianxiao's grin was a slash of amusement as he shook his head lightly.
Jin Fann and the other, the rotund elder from the Ghoul Glyph Sect, caught the cruel twist of Loong Tianxiao's smile and a sense of foreboding washed over them.
Just as Loong Tianxiao was poised to act, Yu Yuan's voice rang out, "No need!"
Loong Tianxiao froze in surprise.
Yu Yuan glanced up at the thick miasma cloud before launching himself forward like a shot from a cannon, heading straight for Chiu Wan.
The survivors within Chilly Wind Valley were utterly bewildered.
Was Yu Yuan, at the late Spirit Accumulating Stage, out of his mind?
His adversary was none other than Chiu Wan from the Ghoul Glyph Sect of Quietus Continent, a formidable late Yin God Stage expert!
The gap in their levels was immense.
Even if Chiu Wan was at his weakest, even grievously wounded, eliminating Yu Yuan would be as effortless as crushing an ant!
What gave Yu Yuan the audacity to rush in?
And what made him bold enough to insist Loong Tianxiao stay out of it?
"The youth of today are insufferably arrogant, downright foolish!" sneered a practitioner from the Kingdom of Driliwyr, shaking his head in disdain.
"Boom!"
The seven ghoul glyphs erupted with an eerie, formidable energy.
Before the onlookers' eyes, the glyphs transformed into towering specters, ten feet tall, with snarling faces, eager to shred Yu Yuan to pieces.
"Chi! Chi! Chi!"
Beneath the ghoul glyphs, the valley's stony ground was marred with deep gashes.
The slashes were several feet deep!
The stone of Chilly Wind Valley was known for its iron-like hardness, indicating that the ghoul glyphs' tearing force had filled the area with a web of invisible, razor-sharp blades.
Should Yu Yuan proceed, he would be torn to shreds in a heartbeat.
"Ghoul Glyph Sect, huh!" Yu Yuan's piercing cry echoed.
From the depths of Chilly Wind Valley, a soul-shaking screech suddenly rose, sending everyone scrambling in panic to the rocky crevices for cover.
Chiu Wan's Yin God, her physical form suspended in mid-air, looked around in confusion, as if sensing something behind her.
Whoosh!
A shadowy, formless Yin Wind swept through the valley's depths, touching only the space around Chiu Wan.
Under the watchful eyes of all, Chiu Wan's Yin God let out an agonizing, soul-piercing wail, its ethereal form riddled with countless fine fissures.
As if razor-thin blades had sliced through her Yin God, her once distinct spiritual form now blurred and indistinct.
The seven ghoul glyphs burst into the air like fireworks, suddenly extinguished.
Chiu Wan's corporeal form, driven by her main soul and Heavenly Soul, soared upwards, enveloping her severely wounded Yin God and yanking it back into her body.
Then, the body, resembling an old crone, plummeted uncontrollably.
Yu Yuan, who had been lying in wait, let out a thunderous roar.
The onlookers in the valley, who had been focused on Chiu Wan, now beheld Yu Yuan, his body swelling like a monstrous Demonic Beast troll, veins on his neck and forehead standing out starkly.
The sound of his blood coursing was like a mighty river to the acute hearing of the cultivators—a torrential surge of potent life force!
A sky-shattering punch!
The thick, fiery power of his blood, tinged with an unnamed malevolence, was majestic and wildly domineering.
Boom!
Chiu Wan, on the verge of hitting the ground, was blasted back into the sky by Yu Yuan's formidable punch.
Her body, frail and aged, bled profusely, arcing through the air like a bloodied, bent ball.
Mighty warriors like Loong Tianxiao could distinctly hear the crunch of bones shattering under Yu Yuan's devastating blow.
Jin Fann and the elder from the Ghoul Glyph Sect paled, their expressions filled with alarm.
As they moved to intervene, Loong Tianxiao, on the other side, caught their intent and gave them a sardonic, chilling glance.
His eyes conveyed an unmistakable threat.
"Chiu Wan has vanished!"
"She..."
Suddenly, the remaining survivors in the valley looked up and cried out.
Chiu Wan, who had been sent skyward by Yu Yuan's punch, her bones crushed and blood spraying, seemed to be swallowed whole by the miasma cloud.
More precisely, devoured by the entity lurking within that toxic vapor.
"Crack! Crack! Crack!"
Echoing their cries, the miasma cloud quickly filled with a familiar, spine-chilling sound—the sound of that creature feasting!
"Hu! Hu! Hu!"
In the valley, a hush fell over nearly everyone, save for Yu Yuan who took deep, labored breaths, his chest heaving as he gazed up at the sky, lost in thought.
He was looking at the sky, and so were others—some at him, and some following his gaze upward.
What had happened?
Chiu Wan could have easily slain Yu Yuan, so why, at the most critical juncture, did she draw the attention of the invisible and intangible Yin Wind?
Even with her soul severely damaged and momentarily out of control, how was it possible for Yu Yuan, a mere practitioner at the Spirit Accumulating Stage, to inflict such a blow that her bones shattered, allowing him to rise up against all odds?
None of what the onlookers witnessed conformed to any logic!
