Chapter 976: Hell Realm Artifact

In Jiang Fan's dark vision, Ling Shu's figure appeared. She wore a green dress, her small hands cupped like a megaphone in front of her mouth, calling out with a smile.

She called out again and again.

It was as if she was asking him, "Didn't you promise you would always answer me?"

"Why have you stopped?"

A pang of pain shot through his heart.

He had failed to protect Ling Shu, allowing her to depart forever.

All of it stemmed from his insufficient strength.

How could he stop now?

He still had Xu Youran, Chen Siling, Liu Qingxian, and Consort Yunxia whom he needed to protect.

He couldn't fall; he had to keep moving forward!

"Hey!"

"I'm here!"

A powerful will to survive erupted within Jiang Fan, and he shouted loudly!

The dark world around him shattered in an instant.

His previously closed eyes abruptly snapped open at that very moment!

Despite the intense pain, he managed to hold on, refusing to lose consciousness again.

Feeling the black spear strike again, Jiang Fan glared at the shadowy figure with immense killing intent and roared:

"You can't kill me!"

He decisively pulled out the Gōujué Pen and swung it forcefully.

His physique, spiritual energy, and Void Current Lightning Force had all reached unprecedented levels compared to before.

As his spiritual energy and Void Current Lightning Force were completely drained, only a small amount of his broken physical strength remained.

The character for "Death" (死) was finally fully written!

Jiang Fan gripped the pen and roared, "Die!"

With a push of the Gōujué Pen, the character "死" (Death) shot into the air, rapidly transforming into a celestial curtain that dissolved the attacking black spear shadow.

The shadowy figure, who had remained indifferent until now, had its eyes suddenly contract, letting out an astonished cry:

"The Gōujué Pen!"

"The Underworld Artifact, the Gōujué Pen!"

"How could it be in your hands?"

But he had no time to think.

The skeletal warhorse beneath him reared its front hooves, letting out a terrified whinny, then bolted into the void behind them.

However, how could it outrun the character "死" (Death)?

The next moment, the character "死" (Death) pierced through the skeletal warhorse's hindquarters and back legs.

Instantly.

The latter half of the skeletal warhorse's body decayed into a muddy paste of bones.

The skeletal warhorse let out a shriek of intense pain, thrashing on the ground, causing the shadowy figure atop it to tumble off as well.

He watched the skeletal warhorse's continuously decaying body with an astonished expression and roared:

"Stop!"

"Do not harm this Marquis's warhorse!"

In response, the character "死" (Death) ruthlessly passed through the skeletal warhorse, causing it to completely rot into bone paste and scatter on the spot.

"No!!!"

The shadowy figure let out a roaring bellow, clenching its palm.

The last remaining mass of tribulation clouds gathered in its palm.

Dozens of lingering blood-red lightning bolts condensed into a crimson thunderball.

Its crimson glow illuminated his furious face, making it appear twisted and sinister.

"Ant from the Middle Earth! You killed my warhorse! Die!"

He hurled it down fiercely!

The crimson thunderball passed through the character "死" (Death); although somewhat diminished, it still carried immense destructive power.

If it struck Jiang Fan, he would undoubtedly perish.

Meanwhile, he himself was pierced by the character "死" (Death).

Being a mere phantom, he immediately began to dissipate, letting out a painful shriek.

Yet, he forced himself to endure, staring furiously at Jiang Fan.

He wanted to witness Jiang Fan's death with his own eyes!

Jiang Fan watched the thunderball descend, a hint of bitterness surfacing at the corners of his mouth.

Moving his body was incredibly difficult now; his spiritual energy and Void Current power were completely exhausted.

He couldn't even summon Abbot Puguang's Golden Buddha again.

He could only watch helplessly as the blood-red lightning mercilessly slammed into his shattered body.

This strike would surely blast him into smithereens, right?

The imagined outcome did not materialize.

In his moment of utter desperation, a warm, milky-white glow surged from within his body, enveloped the blood-red lightning, and then gently deposited it beside his hand.

"Through Heaven Marrow?"

Jiang Fan's eyes widened. The Through Heaven Marrow from the Fate-Altering Jade Butterfly had the ability to ensure 100% success in surviving tribulations.

So, this is where it was meant to be used?

As long as the master remained conscious, it could ensure his survival?

Jiang Fan had no doubt that if more tribulation lightning descended, another milky-white glow would appear.

"No!"

The shadowy figure roared repeatedly, unwilling to dissipate into scattered specks of light.

And with his disappearance.

The crimson moon and the skeletal warhorse's bone paste transformed into phantoms and vanished.

The tribulation clouds also disappeared.

The darkness receded, and sunlight poured down.

The sky was bright once more.

Jiang Fan, showing signs of having survived a great ordeal, collapsed heavily into the pile of rubble.

But suddenly!

In the sky where the shadowy figure had dissipated, a crack suddenly appeared. Something terrifying was forcefully tearing open the Middle Earth Realm.

Soon, a colossal rift, tens of thousands of feet wide, stretched across the sky.

An invincible figure, wreathed in black mist, clad in indestructible armor, riding a skeletal warhorse, and stepping on a giant crimson moon, appeared before the rift.

This was his true form!

Even through the rift, he exuded a dreadful aura that caused the Middle Earth Realm to tremble.

A pair of eyes that seemed to look down upon the world coldly fixed on Jiang Fan.

"You destroyed my clone!"

"Creature of the Middle Earth! Remember my name!"

"Bloody Marquis of Chaotic Antiquity!"

"The one who kills you one day shall undoubtedly be me, the Bloody Marquis!"

He raised his spear and pointed it through the air.

Jiang Fan immediately felt a sense of dread but was powerless to escape. The next moment, his brow felt searing hot.

The character for "Blood" (血) flashed on his forehead, then merged into his skull and vanished.

Startled, he immediately inspected his soul and indeed found a "血" (Blood) character deeply merged into its depths.

When he looked up again, the colossal rift had already healed.

This made Jiang Fan's expression fluctuate with uncertainty.

"Is this 'Blood' character some kind of mark, allowing him to track me at any time?"

"What is his strength? A Soul Transformation Realm Venerable? Or an existence I don't comprehend?"

Remembering the scene of him tearing open a void rift with his bare hands, his heart couldn't help but pound.

It seemed he was wary of some existence in the Middle Earth. Therefore, even with Jiang Fan right before him, he dared not cross the rift to kill him.

Thinking this, he slightly relaxed.

"If I never leave the Middle Earth in this lifetime, what can you do to me?"

At this moment.

An invisible force descended from the sky, pouring into Jiang Fan's body.

His damaged body rapidly regenerated: organs repaired, meridians reconnected, bones restored, flesh re-stitched, and skin reborn.

All his lost hair, eyebrows, and body hair grew back.

Before long.

As Jiang Fan's body trembled, a thick layer of charred blood scabs flaked off his skin.

A powerful and extraordinary body, as pure white as jade, was revealed.

He clenched his palm tightly.

The air itself seemed to explode.

"A physique at the peak of the Three-Aperture Nascent Soul!"

Next, he performed Soul Thorn. This technique, which once consumed a huge amount of soul power with each use, now only used less than half a percent of his soul strength.

"Soul power at the peak of the Three-Aperture Nascent Soul!"

Finally, there were the two Golden Cores!

Under the nourishment of this invisible force.

The two Golden Cores merged into one, then rapidly began to crack open.

It was as if something, after a long period of gestation, was finally breaking free from its cocoon.

*Crack!*

As the outer shell completely shattered and peeled away.

A heart radiating nine-colored light appeared!

A Nascent Soul!

A Nascent Soul, symbolizing the Nascent Soul Realm!

It had two apertures, like a heart that had opened its orifices.

"A Two-Aperture Nascent Soul!"

Jiang Fan's eyes showed delight; this meant his cultivation realm had leaped to the Two-Aperture Nascent Soul stage!

However.

The smile on Jiang Fan's face quickly faded, replaced by a deep solemnity.