Chapter 537: At the Critical Moment, Madam Sacrifices Herself
“Disguise? False identity?”
Wang Sutai’s brows arched in surprise. After all, Wei Tu had used this false identity to fool the entire Myriad Yin Sect, even her mother Madam Jin and the same-realm powerhouse Duan Changjing.
If Wei Tu hadn’t revealed his true face now, she might never have discovered the truth, even in death.
But she did not ask further.
Compared to righteous cultivators, demonic cultivators were more cautious and more self-aware. They knew better than to provoke a powerhouse, and were more willing to play the role of the weak.
‘I only need to know that he is strong, strong enough to save my life.’
Wang Sutai closed her eyes tightly. Her mother’s repeated instructions echoed in her mind, calming her heart. Her delicate body on the cushioned bed steadied, no longer trembling or breathing erratically.
Yet when the scent of a man’s breath brushed against her nose, she could not help but open her eyes slightly. She caught a glimpse of the face drawing near.
The next instant—
Their lips touched.
The two fell onto the soft bed.
As Wang Sutai felt the strange sensation, her jade-like arms rose of their own accord, hooking around Wei Tu’s neck, her slender fingers sliding lightly across his broad back.
But Wei Tu, experienced as he was, did not indulge in the thrill of male and female contact. His brows furrowed, and he reminded Wang Sutai to focus on circulating the dual cultivation technique.
Startled back to herself, Wang Sutai suddenly remembered—they were still being hunted by Duan Changjing.
This dual cultivation was not for pleasure, but to allow her to refine and take control of the Golden Ghost Bone Palanquin, their only escape treasure.
‘Still… he’s far too calm.’
While circulating the dual cultivation art, she grumbled inwardly, suspecting Wei Tu was no novice at this.
Her thoughts, however, were soon shattered by a stabbing pain.
“Senior Brother Fu, gentler…” Wang Sutai’s brows knit, a trace of pain flashing across her cheeks as she whispered.
She was only a Nascent Soul cultivator. Though her spiritual body made her physique stronger than most of her realm, she was still no match for Wei Tu’s fourth-tier body-refining strength.
…
Elsewhere.
Outside the underground palace, within a forested mountain.
Duan Changjing tumbled from the air, spat a mouthful of blood, then wiped his lips with his sleeve as he staggered to his feet. He spread out his divine sense to search for Wei Tu and the others.
Forced out of the space channel, the backlash had not killed him—he was still a Nascent Soul powerhouse—but it had left him wounded.
Even so, he knew this was no time to heal.
As Madam Jin’s greatest enemy, he was well aware of the conditions to drive the Golden Ghost Bone Palanquin:
1. Possess Jin family blood.
2. Alone or combined, one’s cultivation must reach the mid-Nascent Soul stage.
And the two who had entered the teleportation array with Madam Jin—“Fu Daoist” and Wang Sutai—fulfilled these requirements perfectly.
Which meant that if he delayed too long and the Palanquin was refined by them, it would be too late.
“Even without Wang Sutai, knowing Madam Jin’s nature, she might well refine the Palanquin together with Fu Daoist. Compared to life itself, what is one external treasure?”
His expression darkened.
He could clearly see that Wei Tu was the reason all his careful plans had unraveled.
If not for Wei Tu’s unexpected appearance, Madam Jin would have been captured long ago after Chen Maizhu’s “Nascent Soul self-detonation.”
“But letting Wang Sutai escape with the two of them… that may also be to my advantage.”
Duan Changjing allowed a faint smile. He retrieved a pill bottle from his storage bag.
With a snap, the bottle shattered, releasing several drops of blood faintly glowing with spiritual power.
“Chase.” His lips moved as his fingers formed a seal. The drops of blood transformed into a crimson arrow, streaking away at incredible speed.
Even Madam Jin’s cunning would not let him steal Wang Sutai’s blood.
But Ancestor Chìlóng’s blood was another matter entirely.
Back when Wei Tu—then only a menial servant—was still in Myriad Yin Sect, an elder had secretly taken a few drops of his essence blood, just in case of betrayal.
This was something Ancestor Chìlóng never knew, even after gaining power, because it was always handled in secret, unofficial and unrecorded.
And those few drops posed no real threat to Ancestor Chìlóng—at most, they could be used to sense his position.
But small or not, it depended on where and how it was used.
Now, with this blood guiding secret art, it was more than enough to serve Duan Changjing’s purpose.
…
With the blood-tracing secret art guiding him, it didn’t take long for Duan Changjing to find the underground palace where Wei Tu and Madam Jin with her daughter were hiding.
But just as he was about to slip inside and hunt them down, he realized the entire underground palace was covered by a hidden fourth-rank formation.
Without breaking it, he couldn’t enter.
“That bastard Zhu Tianqi, so afraid of death that he even set up a fourth-rank formation here!”
Cursing under his breath, Duan Changjing scowled. He wasn’t skilled in formations, and breaking this one would take days at the very least.
With that much time, even if Wei Tu and Wang Sutai were fools, they would still be able to refine and master the Golden Ghost Bone Palanquin, then escape easily.
“Wait! There’s still Zhang Nanqiu!”
Suddenly, it struck him—he still had Zhang Nanqiu as an ally.
Although he hadn’t seen whether the man entered the teleportation array, he guessed that if the Soul-Capturing Sect still wanted the Heavenly Ghost Soul Seed, then most likely, eight or nine times out of ten, Zhang Nanqiu had followed him here.
Without hesitation, Duan Changjing pulled out his communication tool and reached out.
Now that Old Ancestor Tianxie wasn’t a threat, working with Zhang Nanqiu could only benefit them both.
All he wanted was Madam Jin’s body.
Half a day later, Zhang Nanqiu arrived near the underground palace and joined up with him.
“Master Duan.” Zhang Nanqiu bowed and greeted him.
“Fellow Daoist Zhang…”
Duan Changjing narrowed his eyes slightly, returning the gesture. The two quickly began to discuss how the spoils would be divided once the fight was over.
It didn’t take long for them to come to an agreement.
“Breaking this array isn’t too hard.” Zhang Nanqiu gave a small laugh, clearly wanting to show off in front of Duan Changjing. He pulled a blue crystal beast bone from his storage bag and hurled it at the glowing barrier.
The next moment—
The void twisted violently, and the beast bone transformed into a one-eyed giant, towering several dozen zhang tall, radiating an ancient, savage aura.
For a moment after forming, the giant looked confused. Then, under Zhang Nanqiu’s hand seals, it roared and smashed its fist down onto the formation.
“The One-Eyed Clan? Your Soul-Capturing Sect actually went to that place?”
Duan Changjing’s brows rose in surprise.
The One-Eyed Clan was one of the ancient races of the human world, standing shoulder to shoulder with mankind in times long past.
Though not as overwhelmingly strong as Heaven and Earth True Spirits, compared to ordinary humans they were far superior.
A One-Eyed clansman was born with power equal to Golden Core stage. By adulthood, they reached the strength of Nascent Soul ancestors.
The most gifted could even touch the Divine Transformation realm.
Fortunately, their numbers were few—at their peak, they had barely over a hundred members.
The one Zhang Nanqiu had summoned through his vile art had only been Nascent Soul in life, but its immense body, rivaling that of body-refiners, was perfect for smashing apart defensive formations like this one.
…
Boom! Boom!
The ground shook like a dragon rolling beneath the earth, the deafening noise echoing through the underground palace.
“Duan Changjing is here?”
Standing guard outside the Golden Palanquin, Madam Jin’s expression hardened as she lifted her head toward the disturbance.
Barely half a day had passed since Wei Tu and Wang Sutai began their dual cultivation.
But by her estimation, it would take at least two full days for them to refine and seize control of the Golden Palanquin.
They were still a day and a half short.
Judging from the force of the assault outside, the fourth-rank formation clearly wouldn’t last that long.
Inside the palanquin, as Wei Tu cultivated with Wang Sutai, he too sensed the looming danger.
His brow furrowed as he weighed their options.
This underground palace was unfamiliar terrain. Without preset array gates, it was impossible to construct an instant teleportation formation and escape.
Running wasn’t an option.
And if they fought directly…
He couldn’t guarantee he could protect both Madam Jin and her daughter.
Of course, if pushed to the brink, he would not stubbornly drag all three to their deaths.
“Old Demon Zhu, it’s your family at risk—do you have a plan?” Wei Tu sank his consciousness into the Dragon Glass Pearl, consulting Ancestor Chìlóng.
But the old ancestor gave no reply at first, remaining silent.
He was only a Nascent Soul cultivator, not some celestial god. How could he possibly conjure up a brilliant plan in a moment like this?
If he had a way, he would’ve prepared it long before.
At last, after a long silence, Ancestor Chìlóng said slowly, “Xiangjun will know what to do. For now, all you need to do is continue refining the Golden Palanquin with Sutai.”
“Madam Jin?”
Wei Tu frowned at that, instinctively turning his gaze toward her.
With his restrictions in place, Ancestor Chìlóng couldn’t sense what was happening outside.
But Wei Tu could feel it all too clearly.
In that instant, Madam Jin’s cultivation began to rise, slowly pushing toward the barrier between mid-stage and late-stage Nascent Soul.
At the same time, her heavy injuries showed faint signs of healing.
“Secret art burst—Nine Secrets of Vitality!”
Wei Tu’s expression turned grave. He understood she was preparing to fight to the death to buy him and Wang Sutai a chance to escape.
He was a fourth-rank body refiner, so using the Nine Secrets of Vitality left almost no lasting damage. By drawing on the essence of the First Spirit Bone, he could recover completely.
But Madam Jin was different.
With her mid-stage Nascent Soul realm, she could handle a short burst of this secret art, but if she maintained it too long… her body would collapse and she’d die.
Against two equal-level powerhouses like Duan Changjing and Zhang Nanqiu, lasting only a short while was impossible.
And she was already heavily injured.
Still—Wei Tu knew well. If Madam Jin had any chance to escape on her own, she would not now be risking her life.
Whatever her motives, in this moment, she acted as a mother, not the cold-blooded demon cultivator she was reputed to be.
“Fellow Daoist Fu, take care of Sutai. I leave her in your hands.”
After adjusting her breath, Madam Jin glanced toward the Golden Palanquin, spoke softly, then soared upward into the underground palace sky.
“Mother!”
Inside, Wang Sutai, who was refining the Golden Palanquin through dual cultivation with Wei Tu, broke into tears.
Since her birth, only her mother had ever been by her side. As for her father, Ancestor Chìlóng, she hardly had any memory of him at all.
Now, such a sudden parting cut straight to her heart.
But she also knew—there was no choice. Refining the Golden Palanquin with Wei Tu was her only path.
The faster they succeeded, the greater her mother’s chance of survival.
“Don’t worry. Neither of those two will walk away alive.”
As she poured her strength into the palanquin, a cold, steady voice brushed her ears.
Her body trembled at the sound. She looked up at the man so close before her, his plain, indifferent face only a hand’s breadth from her own.
It was the same unremarkable, emotionless face she had first seen.
But now, in her eyes, it was very different.
Even if she knew Wei Tu had his own enmity with Duan Changjing and Zhang Nanqiu…
“Yes, husband.”
Her whisper was barely audible, but her head dipped in acknowledgment.
…
Outside—
As the underground palace’s protective formation flickered and buckled under the blows of the one-eyed giant—
A streak of blood light flared.
The giant was instantly cleaved in half. Its blue crystal beast bone lost all spiritual power, crumbling to dust.
“Madam Jin?”
Duan Changjing and Zhang Nanqiu stepped back in shock, their eyes fixing on the figure rising from the palace, her aura already at late-stage Nascent Soul.
“You dare use a burst secret art to raise your realm?”
Duan Changjing’s face darkened, fury in his voice.
He had long since counted her cultivation as his prize.
Now, burning her cultivation to advance meant his carefully-laid scheme might yield nothing.
“Master Duan, just kill her quickly. Her cultivation will still be yours.” Zhang Nanqiu smiled faintly, offering a reminder.
At that, Duan Changjing nodded, his scowl easing somewhat.
As long as they cut her down swiftly, her power wouldn’t dissipate much.
Even if it lessened his chance of breaking into late Nascent Soul, it was still better than nothing.
“Kill!”
He wasted no more words, his right hand resting on his blade hilt.
In the blink of an eye, a cold arc of light appeared.
Duan Changjing lunged, blade already sweeping toward Madam Jin’s neck.
But she reacted at once. Her neck stretched like a serpent’s, twisting to dodge the strike.
Her head swung back around, and from her mouth she spat a gleaming spirit sword straight at his back.
“Beast Transformation Secret Art?”
Duan Changjing’s brows lifted. He blocked with his blade, then clawed out with his left hand, forming a massive hand of condensed energy that smashed toward her head.
At the same time, Zhang Nanqiu raised his sleeve, releasing several dozen jet-black talismans that streaked forward.
These talismans were none other than the Soul-Capturing Sect’s secret “Soul-Binding Talismans.”
As they flew, they transformed into dozens of Golden Cores, exploding one after another.
The force of the blasts reached the level of Nascent Soul combat in an instant.
It was no weaker than Chen’s self-detonation.
Perhaps even stronger.
At the very least, when Chen self-detonated, space hadn’t collapsed briefly, leaving behind cracks in the void.