C881 Madman Spitting out Pearls!

What a madman.

Yu Yuan watched the world's collapse with a keen interest, holding the soul puppet in his hand, which allowed him to precisely capture Qi Yunhong's psychological journey.

Every thought and action of Qi Yunhong was within his grasp.

Dissatisfied with the betrayal of the Soulsear Bolt's artifact soul, this unhinged former disciple of the Thunder Sect was prepared to abandon everything. This included the Illusion Orb, fragments of his Solar Spirit, the Soulsear Bolt, and even his real body!

Such behavior can only be described as maniacal.

It was evident that Qu Jing, who had hoped to exert pressure on Qi Yunhong with the Illusion Orb and Spectral Umbrella's artifact souls, had his plans thrown into disarray by Qi Yunhong's lunatic actions.

Qu Jing was clearly frustrated.

"Sister, sister!"

The boy under the large black umbrella wept bitterly.

The girl, who bore a striking resemblance to him and was sustained by the Illusion Orb, had her pale face crack like porcelain.

First her face, then her body, began to show a network of dense cracks, from which scarlet blood seeped.

Yu Yuan looked up at the sky and saw that the pitch-black firmament was riddled with slender, dense fissures, revealing patches of scarlet flesh and blood, along with squirming veins and arteries...

"So, it really is inside him."

Yu Yuan stroked his chin, realizing that Qi Yunhong's madness had rendered his initial plan unnecessary.

The Illusion Orb was already fracturing. Now, he could leave through any crack at will and return to the real world outside.

"Merge with her, since it's come to this."

Qu Jing sighed deeply, persuading the artifact soul of the Spectral Umbrella with regret, "If you wait until she's completely gone, merging with her will be pointless."

"Sister, sister!"

The youth sobbed, his hands gently pushing forward against the girl's.

His hands passed through her arms and into her body.

Like a shimmering light, he merged into the artifact soul of the Illusion Orb.

"In your dreams!"

Qi Yunhong's hysterical shriek echoed from the shattered crimson electric snakes, as the vibrant remnants of the Soulsear Bolt abruptly appeared on the girl's forehead.

The faces of the young man and woman were superimposed, etched with pain.

Qu Jing's brow furrowed as he suddenly extended a hand, covering their foreheads with his palm.

Sizzle sizzle!

Beams of "Soulsear Bolt" ignited in his palm, exploding and mutilating his hand, leaving it a bloody mess of flesh and bone.

Yet Qu Jing's expression remained unchanged, as if the hand didn't belong to him.

"Impressive, very impressive."

Yu Yuan applauded appreciatively, marveling at the sight.

"Time to go!"

In the next instant, he and the Crucible of Evil flew out through a fissure.

As he emerged, he glimpsed the Illusion Orb inside Qi Yunhong's body, riddled with cracks.

In his diminished form, he clutched the Illusion Orb and flew upwards, out of Qi Yunhong's mouth, against the stench of blood.

In the dimly lit basement, Qi Yunhong sat disheveled in a corner, coughing up blood, his eyes murky, resembling a patient lost to madness.

Yu Yuan held the soul puppet in one hand and the cracked Illusion Orb in the other, his expression one of amusement.

One of the soul puppet's fingers pointed at Qi Yunhong's other face, revealing a look of frenzied irritation. "Master, when a person loses both their heaven soul and earthly soul and suffers severe injuries, they end up like this," the puppet's finger articulated in human speech.

"If my Lunar Spirit returns, I'll regain much of my clarity. However, the rupture of the Illusion Orb has also gravely wounded my real body, I..."

The puppet's finger was about to continue when a commotion erupted outside.

The sealed stone door burst open, and blinding sunlight flooded in, causing Yu Yuan's eyes to sting, struggling to adjust after so long in the darkness of the Illusion Orb.

"Who are you? You..."

At the doorway, a cultivator with a dark expression was interrupted mid-sentence as his face suddenly contorted in shock, "Q-Qin Yun!"

"Huang Ming!" Qin Yun gasped.

"How did you get here?"

"Am I in Midnightshields?"

Huang Ming and Qin Yun both cried out, their surprise echoing through the chamber.

Yu Yuan was taken aback. After witnessing the Lunar Spirit's explosion and the Solar Spirit's fragments being engulfed by the Soulsear Bolt, Qi Yunhong nearly went insane and ingested the Illusion Orb. Yu Yuan then turned his attention to the cultivator who had appeared out of thin air, someone who bore a striking resemblance to Qin Yun, and felt his mind swirl with confusion.

"Why is he here?" Qin Yun asked, gesturing toward Qi Yunhong's real body.

Huang Ming was bewildered. "This madman, despite his insanity, has extraordinary vitality. I brought him back to be detained, planning to investigate his peculiarities at leisure. I thought, once we've dealt with this, you and the situation in Asvetaesi..."

Realization dawned on Huang Ming as he pointed at Yu Yuan inside the Crucible of Evil. "You are Yu Yuan! You and Qin Yun, you're the ones aboard the Crucible of Evil!"

Boom!

A tower within the Midnightshields' compound was suddenly reduced to rubble, drawing many cultivators from the sect to the scene.

Coming out of his stupor, Qin Yun saw one familiar face after another. Observing the destruction of the tower and the scene around him, he spoke to Yu Yuan with an odd look in his eyes, "Young Master, we are indeed within the Midnightshields."

Qu Jing had laid a trap with the Illusion Orb en route. When he and Qin Yun stumbled into it, the deranged Qi Yunhong ended up swallowing the orb whole.

The crazed Qi Yunhong, having lost his sense of self, roamed the wilderness between the Nemo River and the Midnightshields, where Huang Ming found him and brought him into the sect.

After some reflection, Yu Yuan began to piece together the events that had transpired.

Crack! Crack!

The Illusion Orb in his palm continued to fracture, revealing strands of crimson lightning and a black speck the size of a grain of rice.

"It's about to emerge."

With a thought, Yu Yuan reached out to the Moonfall Sanctuary from within the Midnightshields' territory.

Aware that Qu Jing had alerted the Ethereal Void Sect, Yu Yuan anticipated the imminent arrival of Sages Chong Xiao and Tianjing, who were intent on slaying Qi Yunhong.

As the thought formed, he felt a profound connection with the Soulforge Pool in the Moonfall Sanctuary.

Indeed, he was in the real world, and the Midnightshields were not ensnared by any bizarre magic circles.

Yu Yuan breathed a sigh of relief, yet when he established the spiritual link with the Soulforge Pool, he did not immediately detect the presence of Yan Qiling.

With a resounding pop, the Illusion Orb he was clutching burst open, transforming into a cloud of pearl-like powder.

Qu Jing from the Ethereal Void Sect materialized, clutching the Spectral Umbrella. The large black umbrella expanded manifold, flipped upside down, and scooped up the swirling pearl powder.

"Ethereal Void Sect, Qu Jing!"

Huang Ming from the Midnightshields was startled to see someone emerge so suddenly from the remnants of the shattered orb.

​