Chapter 852: Unyielding Soul

“XuanYuan Wentian... you will... definitely... come to a bad end!!”

Xiao Yun struggled in agony. Number Seven Under Heaven was right beside him, and she carried their unborn child in her womb, yet he couldn't even reach out to touch her.

“Is that so... Too bad you, who are about to die, will never see it!”

XuanYuan Wentian's very breaths carried heart-pounding rage and killing intent. His primary purpose in coming here today was to seize the Mirror of Samsara; his secondary purpose was to eliminate the Little Demon Empress and Feng Xue'er, two threatening individuals. He hadn't overestimated himself, but he had miscalculated the Little Demon Empress's strength, which nearly cost him his life and left him in an utterly miserable and humiliated state.

Although he had regained control of the situation and the lives of everyone present, his fear and sense of humiliation far outweighed any pleasure.

XuanYuan Wentian stepped forward, his demonic eyes fixed on the Little Demon Empress: “Little Demon Empress, you are far stronger than that useless Demon Emperor. You actually stepped into the Divine Way before this Venerable One... But once you are dead, no one in this world will ever be able to threaten this Venerable One again!”

“This Venerable One originally only intended to cripple you, to let you live until the day this Venerable One reigned over the Illusory Demon Realm, so you could personally witness the Illusory Demon Realm submit at this Venerable One's feet!”

“But now... this Venerable One wants you to die immediately!!” XuanYuan Wentian roared, and the Eternal Night Devil Sword surged with black light, stabbing towards the immobile Little Demon Empress.

Bound within the dark prison, the Little Demon Empress could not move. Facing the approaching death, she remained silent, her eyes as calm as still water, without a trace of fear. If there was any emotion to be seen, it was only deep resentment and unwillingness.

“Little Demon Empress Sister!!” Feng Xue'er struggled desperately but could only close her eyes in despair.

“Stop!!” Number One Under Heaven roared, his eyes nearly splitting, his shout almost tearing his throat.

Tear—

A dark aura tore a long black mark through space, then suddenly stopped there. XuanYuan Wentian slowly retracted his hand, his face still contorted: “Hiss... This Venerable One almost forgot something important. You cannot die before you hand over the Mirror of Samsara.”

The Little Demon Empress: “...”

“Tell this Venerable One, where is the Mirror of Samsara?” XuanYuan Wentian extended a hand towards the Little Demon Empress, asking in a deeply hushed voice. Although everyone was like a turtle in a jar to him, it didn't mean he could find the Mirror of Samsara after killing them all. He had never even seen the true Mirror of Samsara, let alone search for it by its aura.

The Little Demon Empress's cold gaze was piercing: “Even if you kill all of us, you'll never find it.”

“Hehehe, is that so?” XuanYuan Wentian's mouth stretched into a grin, smiling sinisterly like a devil: “Excellent. So many people here; it would be too boring to kill them all at once. Since you've chosen to be stubborn, let's play a game. This Venerable One will tirelessly ask you the same question, and you can choose not to answer. But... every time you are stubborn, I will tear one person here to pieces! You will clearly witness how they die without an intact corpse because of your foolishness!”

“XuanYuan Wentian... you despicable and vicious devil!!” Number One Under Heaven almost gnashed his teeth to dust.

“Little Demon Empress Sister, don't tell him, don't worry about us!” Feng Xue'er continued to struggle fiercely.

“Ridiculous!” The Little Demon Empress slowly raised her eyes, mockingly and coldly: “Since we are destined to die, why would we fear your threats of death? The Mirror of Samsara is our clan's sacred artifact; how could a vile person like you be worthy of touching it!”

The Little Demon Empress's gaze made XuanYuan Wentian extremely uncomfortable. His mouth twitched, then he smiled even more sinisterly: “Very good! Excellent... this makes it interesting! This Venerable One has all the time in the world to see how long you can maintain that expression.”

His gaze sharply moved from the Little Demon Empress to the people behind her: “So, where shall we begin... Heh, for a game, it's always more fun to progress step by step. So, let's start with... the most useless one!!”

XuanYuan Wentian's gaze immediately locked onto the person with the weakest profound energy. With a sinister laugh, he retracted his hand, already having drawn that person before him.

This person, also the one with the weakest profound energy among them all, was none other than...

Xiao Lingxi!!

Amidst her terrified screams, an irresistible, cold, immense force had pulled her before XuanYuan Wentian. She had originally been protected at the very back with Cang Yue and Xiao Lie. Although everyone now faced certain death, no one had expected that the first person XuanYuan Wentian would target would be Xiao Lingxi.

“Lingxi!!”

“Little Aunt!!”

“Ah!!!”

This scene made Xiao Lie cry out in despair, old tears instantly streaming down his face, and caused everyone's eyes to fill with pain, their hearts feeling as if they were being torn apart. Their reactions made the black light in XuanYuan Wentian's eyes surge, and an endless sense of glee rose within him... This was precisely the sight he most wanted to see!!

“Hahahahahaha...” XuanYuan Wentian threw his head back and laughed maniacally, unable to control himself. He congratulated himself for not having unleashed his wrath and massacred everyone earlier, for how else could he enjoy such an intense thrill right from the start.

He raised his hand, wreathed in black mist, and said very slowly: “Little Demon Empress, watch carefully, watch how she turns into bloody pieces under this Venerable One's hand... Tsk, tsk, little girl, when you go to hell, don't you dare blame me. Because you could have died quickly and painlessly, but because *she* insisted on being stubborn with this Venerable One, you will die without an intact corpse, hahahaha...”

Amidst the mad laughter, XuanYuan Wentian's palm violently tore downwards towards Xiao Lingxi's head.

“Stop!!”

“Little Aunt!!”

“No!!!”

The shouts were heart-wrenching and desperate, but their bodies were pinned within the dark prison. Besides shouting, they couldn't even offer a moment's resistance.

In their widened pupils, XuanYuan Wentian's palm descended towards Xiao Lingxi's head. They could only close their eyes in agony, feeling as if cold blood flowed through their torn souls...

“Ah... Ah!!!!!”

An ear-splitting shriek rang out, but... it wasn't Xiao Lingxi's shriek! Instead, it was clearly...

XuanYuan Wentian's voice!?

Xiao Lingxi, who had closed her eyes to await death, felt death approaching... But then, she felt no pain. Even the aura of approaching death seemed to vanish, and in her ear, there was a shriek that shouldn't have been there. She opened her eyes in confusion...

XuanYuan Wentian's palm was still hovering above her head, fingers splayed, but the black mist upon them had vanished. His other hand was clutching his own head tightly, his face contorted, his body twisting, and from his mouth came cries of extreme agony, as if he was enduring immense torment.

Everyone opened their eyes, staring in bewilderment at the suddenly transformed XuanYuan Wentian. No one knew what had happened.

“No... impossible... Ugh... Ahhh... Ahhhhhh!”

XuanYuan Wentian felt as if his soul was being sliced and pierced by a thousand blades. The fingers of the hand clutching his head were twisted, on the verge of breaking, almost piercing his skull.

“No... it can't be...” he shrieked in unbearable pain: “I clearly... already... completely... Uwaaaahhhhh...”

“What's going on?” Xiao Yun muttered blankly.

“Could it be... a backlash of power?” Number One Under Heaven whispered, but immediately negated it himself: “No... this doesn't look like a power backlash at all...”

Thump!

“Ah... Ahhh... Ahh...” XuanYuan Wentian suddenly dropped to one knee, his body convulsing violently in pain, his fingers bone-white at the knuckles, as if he were enduring the cruelest torture in the world.

Xiao Lingxi, closest to him, was terrified, her face pale... At this moment, XuanYuan Wentian, struggling in agony, seemed to suddenly realize something. His tortured, almost white eyes suddenly fixed on Xiao Lingxi: “It's... you... it's you!! I... killed... you!!”

He raised his right hand and lunged fiercely towards Xiao Lingxi.

“Ah!!”

“Uwaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!”

Two screams erupted: one from Xiao Lingxi, again greatly startled, and the more intense one from XuanYuan Wentian. He, who had been lunging at Xiao Lingxi, suddenly collapsed to the ground, clutching his head tightly with both hands, rolling back and forth like a jackal with broken legs and shattered courage, unable to stand again. The roars he emitted were so agonizing they seemed to come from the Nine Nether Purgatory.

Having brushed past death time and again, Xiao Lingxi's small face was completely drained of color, not knowing what was happening. She wanted to shrink back in terror, her heart nearly leaping out of her chest.

“What... what on earth is going on? Has the heavens sent down retribution?” Xiao Yun and the others were completely stunned.

“Ugh ahhhhhh... Ahh... Ah...”

XuanYuan Wentian's rolling and struggling continued, but his screams suddenly became intermittent. At this moment, a voice suddenly sounded in Xiao Lingxi's ear.

“Lingxi... quickly... go...”

The voice was incredibly faint, hoarse, and filled with deep pain.

This voice, so indistinct it was almost unrecognizable, struck Xiao Lingxi like lightning, and a figure instantly flashed within her mind.

“Big Brother Fen...” Xiao Lingxi murmured unconsciously, then her body trembled violently, and she cried out excitedly: “Big Brother Fen! Is that you... Is that you!!”

Xiao Lingxi's call was like a fatal sword piercing XuanYuan Wentian's soul, causing his body to spasm violently, rolling even more fiercely, and his roars growing more agonizing. Where he rolled, alarming streaks of sweat were left behind.

“Fen Jue... Chen!?” Xiao Yun and Number One Under Heaven couldn't believe their ears. Number One Under Heaven exclaimed in surprise: “Could it be... that Fen Juechen's soul wasn't completely annihilated by XuanYuan Wentian?”

“Quickly leave... leave...” The hoarse voice became even weaker and more painful.

As XuanYuan Wentian's body went out of control and his soul suffered immense pain, the power of the dark prison began to decline significantly. Feng Xue'er, who had been struggling, felt the force suppressing her profound energy suddenly weaken. She abruptly drew a breath, and with a resounding phoenix cry, the black aura on her body instantly dispersed, and phoenix flames blazed across her entire form.

Restored to freedom, Feng Xue'er quickly channeled her profound energy, pulling Xiao Lingxi to the rear. Then, a phoenix arrow shot towards XuanYuan Wentian.

Boom!!

XuanYuan Wentian screamed as he was blasted far away by the phoenix flames. Unable to condense profound energy for protection, his entire body was immediately engulfed by the phoenix flames, burning fiercely. Feng Xue'er dashed forward like lightning, mobilizing all the phoenix flame energy in her body, unleashing torrents of sky-blazing phoenix flames towards XuanYuan Wentian.

This was the first time in her life she unleashed phoenix flames without the slightest reservation or pity!

In the blink of an eye, fire light filled the sky, and the area where XuanYuan Wentian was had turned into a sea of phoenix fire. Feng Xue'er's attacks still didn't stop; a massive Blazing Star Demon Lotus descended from the sky, blooming mercilessly within the phoenix fire sea.

Boom!!!

A black light suddenly flashed within the sea of fire, forcibly tearing apart the Blazing Star Demon Lotus. From the torn opening in the fiery sea, the Eternal Night Devil Sword shot skyward. Upon it lay XuanYuan Wentian, appearing on the verge of death. Immediately after, the devil sword flickered with black light and rapidly streaked towards the south.

“One day... this Venerable One... will send you all... to hell!!”

XuanYuan Wentian's weak voice, filled with endless hatred, echoed from afar. Just as Feng Xue'er was about to give chase, her vision suddenly blurred, her body sagged, and she nearly collapsed to the ground.

Her desperate attacks after breaking free from the dark prison had severely agitated her previous internal injuries. In her current state, it was utterly impossible for her to catch up to XuanYuan Wentian, who was being carried away by the devil sword.