Evil Venerable of the Sword Dao
Chapter 396: Soul Shattered

Chapter 396: Soul Shattered

"Hmm?"

Zhou Yan slightly startled, immediately harboring some doubts in his heart.

However, while he was still questioning, the woman swiftly donned a pitch-black Soul Armor.

The Soul Armor, forming a cohesive whole, enveloped her body and most of her appearance, leaving only her spiritual eyes and a strand of her nose visible.

Although at that instant it seemed as though she had completely recovered, once the halo of rainbow light vanished, she continued to cough, vomiting blood incessantly.

In the strikingly vivid blood, one could clearly see shattered organs and fragments of viscera.

This was clearly a wound caused by destructive strength.

"So it’s... Zhou Xuanzhe, I am Lin Miaohan," the woman said, spewing another mouthful of blood, her voice somewhat feeble.

Regarding her nude state seen earlier by Zhou Yan, she appeared nonchalant.

Yet Zhou Yan still discerned from her fair, slightly flushed nose that the woman was not as composed as she seemed.

"You’re Miao Han Xuanzhe, ranked eighth among female geniuses!"

Zhou Yan was taken aback, those ranked so highly were no mere trifle, especially those specifically named by Yao, each one extremely noteworthy.

Yet such an extraordinary woman was on the brink of death here, which was utterly shocking!

"What ranking, it’s all just a joke. A list selected by Saints has become a death list."

Lin Miaohan, clad in black Soul Armor, sighed and said with a wry smile.

"What happened?"

Zhou Yan was slightly astonished, feeling an inexplicable unease in his heart once again.

"Among the Saints, there are Saints who have actually been slain by powerhouses from outside the universe, or Saints who have allied with forces from the Heavenly Emperor Universe. Now that the trip to the Ten Thousand Ghosts Sword Tomb in the Southern Wilderness is known... this will be a desolate land."

Miao Han Xuanzhe’s answer surprised Zhou Yan.

"How... how could this happen?"

Zhou Yan’s voice trembled.

It was the most terrifying news he had heard because if there were Saints colluding and plotting against the geniuses here, then no one could leave this place alive.

"Not only the Guanghan South Mansion, but even the Carefree East Prefecture, Haoran Western Prefecture, and Asking Dao Northern Prefecture have Saints colluding inside. Their tests will surely be roads to death."

Miao Han Xuanzhe said with a sigh.

"This... no wonder I felt a fatal unease about this Ten Thousand Ghosts Sword Tomb trip, it turns out to be so. However, I was still unaware of this matter and had not heard about it, how did you come to know of it?"

Zhou Yan thoughtfully asked, a flash of wisdom in his gaze.

Despite Lin Miaohan’s words, he did not appear panicked; rather, he harbored more thoughts that Miao Han Xuanzhe was unaware of.

"This time I encountered the third-ranked female genius Qingning Xuanzhe. We were both at an ancient tomb and saw the leading Saint fighting with that traitor ’Qian Saint’ and exposed his conspiracy. We were affected by the combat energy, nearly instantaneously perishing.

Normally, just an energy shock wouldn’t likely cause such talented individuals like us to be stunned to death, but... the chaotic Sword Qi in the Ten Thousand Ghosts Sword Tomb unexpectedly exploded immensely.

This type of Sword Qi could instantaneously kill Profound Level geniuses of the Void Nine Battle Line, and we were no match. Qingning Xuanzhe died, and I was left with only a wisp of breath. Fortunately, I was greatly rescued by you, Zhou Yanxuan."

Miao Han Xuanzhe said, then immediately bowed to Zhou Yan.

She appeared vulnerable and fragile, evoking an instinctive desire to protect and cherish.

Zhou Yan nodded and sighed, "I had a premonition that this would not be simple, but I didn’t expect to be schemed against by Saints, alas."

"Yes, now, I am also unsure how to continue forward here, and to talk about comprehending ’Sword Qi’ or ’Sword Intent’ seems like an unimaginably massive and difficult task."

Miao Han Xuanzhe spoke, her gaze suddenly tender as she looked at Zhou Yan, seemingly having an important secret she wanted to reveal but was evidently hesitant.

Zhou Yan seemed to sense something and looked into Miao Han’s eyes.

At that moment, Miao Han’s gaze suddenly turned profoundly deep, and a controlling, cold light burst forth from her eyes. In that instant, Miao Han was no longer Miao Han, nor the frail beautiful woman clad in Soul Armor, but a chilling Evil Spirit, radiating strands of bright blood-like luster.

"Soul Fire, extinguish!"

"Assume the role of Netherworld Soul! Netherworld Spirit sacrifice!"

"Ghostly Soul Fire, ignite!"

This chilling soul suddenly unleashed a terrifying Soul Shock, directly assaulting Zhou Yan’s soul.

Just then, the Thunder Seal in Zhou Yan’s brow suddenly erupted with a purple light, dispersing the assault, while a thread of Thunder Will, with even more fearsome speed, struck towards the chilling ghost.

"Hmm? You didn’t fall for it?!"

The ghost was greatly shocked, emitting a hoarse and terrifying voice.

Cold winds howled, and the chilliness of the underground intensified.

"Fall for it? These series of events, really too implausible. If it were someone else, they probably would have fallen for it, but as for me..."

Zhou Yan didn’t continue, instead, at that moment, he unleashed the core Origin attack amid the thunder.

Twelve Sword Spirits, almost simultaneously derived, formed the Twelve Sword Spirits’ Soul Sword, like an everlasting monument, violently suppressing the Evil Spirit.

"Uh? You are the Emperor—Ah—Impossible! Impossible! This can’t be!!"

The Evil Spirit was taken aback, as if discovering some great secret, and emitted a terrified scream out of shock.

Immediately after, it went mad, unleashing a terrifying Soul Shock, crushing Zhou Yan like a brutal wave.

The intense pressure of the soul, like a giant wave, surged overwhelmingly, instantly shattering and breaking Zhou Yan’s Soul Sword.

"Pfft—"

Zhou Yan felt his variant soul completely shattered at that moment, and his strong body also suffered a destructive crushing.

This enemy was not on the same level of combat power at all.

At that moment, true death, like a streak of light, flashed before his eyes.

It was like a returning light; Zhou Yan found that he had not died at the moment in the crystal coffin, nor amidst the sky full of Sword Qi, yet he was still about to be killed by this unknown ghost.

However, the feeling of death, though infinitely close, did not arrive.

At that moment, Zhou Yan even gave up resisting, but he did not truly die because the Broken Stele he held in his arms suddenly emitted a purple light.

Within the purple light, the terrifying Gloomy Sword Intent, like a tsunami storm, suddenly erupted.

Effortlessly, with earth-shattering Sword Intent, it swept away everything from the Evil Spirit in an instant.

Effortlessly!

Instantly killed!

The ghost was immediately reduced to ash!

Threads of golden Netherworld energy, like stars in the air, were devoured eagerly by the Thunder Seal on Zhou Yan’s forehead.

Moments later, the Thunder Seal had gathered an extreme amount of Origin Energy, swelling as big as a mountain, as if it had devoured a million top-level Profound Level geniuses.

This immense amount of Origin Energy, even unable to be contained, condensed into a liquid form of Origin Energy within the space of the Thunder Seal.

In this space, there was already a terrifying amount of golden liquid Origin Energy like seawater.

This benefit was enormous, yet at this time, Zhou Yan’s body was shattered, his soul broken. Although saved by the power unleashed from the Stele, he still flickered like a damaged candle, ready to extinguish at any moment.

"Puh—"

The space settled down, with no strange energy flowing or bizarre energy pressure; even now, Zhou Yan could not feel gravity or magnetic energy.

His six senses seemed to be deteriorating, his memory fading, and he began to forget many things.

With so much Origin Energy, Zhou Yan theoretically had countless opportunities to perform the Nirvana Scripture and Undying Rebirth Technique, but at this moment, he couldn’t even perform them.

His life’s Soul Fire was about to extinguish.

The Stele also started to shatter bit by bit in his arms, exploding, breaking, and dispersing in the wind like icing powder.

That lone grave, and the last trace of its mark, had also disappeared.

Zhou Yan staggered forward, step by step.

He didn’t know what could keep him going, but with his body destroyed and soul shattered, he could no longer find any hope to live.

Actually, the moment he saw that cultivator who still had a breath, Zhou Yan sensed immense danger, but still feigned ignorance.

It was not his ignorance, but a lack of choice, there was no choice.

Thus, taking the advantage of the opponent’s neglect, there was still a chance for a narrow victory.

If he directly attacked, there would be no chance at all.

The ghost was dead, the space fell silent for a moment, and then a colder wind blew over, the outline of the Sacrificial Heaven Ancient City reappeared in the distance, as the ancient eight-carried sedan chair, seemed to rush toward here again.

By this moment, Zhou Yan seemed to understand; this was the phenomenon after a genius cultivator’s fall—maybe, only a dying genius cultivator could witness this scene.

Zhou Yan felt a sense of peace in his heart, at this point, he ultimately could not stir any waves, every inch of this place was extremely dangerous, filled with the peril of death.

There was no escape, no avoidance.

Zhou Yan calmly watched as the eight-carried sedan flew past, rushing towards him.

...

"When did people from the Netherworld Palace start interfering in the ’Ten Thousand Ghosts Sword Tomb’?"

Suddenly, a voice transcended through this dead silent world, followed by a warm and familiar energy enveloping the area.

"Hmm? Ancestor of Ten Thousand Ghosts, so many years have passed, you still haven’t decayed?"

A cold voice resonated through the world, with a tone of surprise.

"Why should you in the Netherworld Palace worry about the life and death of my Wan Jian Tian? You didn’t stay in the well-maintained Life and Death Netherworld Illusion Realm, but came here looking for trouble? Could it be, you also wanted to command all the Netherworld Spirit Channels?"

"Ancestor of Ten Thousand Ghosts, you can’t talk nonsense about this. This time, we won’t make it hard for you; just lift the restrictions, and we will take this Thunderflame Sword Body away, and everyone will mind their own business."

(Please pity me, -.-||| asking for monthly pass, asking for recommendation pass...)