Chapter 588 - 340: Breakthrough
It was a mass of viscous, pitch-black liquid. If Yang An had been there to see it, he would have recognized it in an instant.
It was Spirit Juice!
The Spirit Juice from inside Huan’s body!
Recalling the Spirit Juice he had released without a sound, Huan frowned.
He had long suspected that Yang An was an Innate Flesh Mushroom. This meant Yang An could suppress the ’cost’ of his powers, delaying its onset or even preventing it from ever erupting.
But absorbing Spirit Juice was different. No matter how it was suppressed, once absorbed, it would accumulate in the body like a toxin. It would only grow, eventually causing the victim to become just another member of the Earth Demon Cliff.
Huan had originally wanted to accelerate this process. If he could make Yang An one of them, trapped here forever, Yang An would surely fall into a rage.
Then, Yang An might attack and kill him.
Even if Yang An managed to restrain himself for a while, he would be trapped here forever, just like them. Forced to endure the same endless, mind-numbing boredom day after day, he would inevitably strike out at Huan eventually.
Ultimately, if Yang An left the Earth Demon Cliff, there would be too many uncertainties.
Who knew if Yang An would keep his promise to help him find release, or to grant him freedom?
It was better to use this opportunity to provoke Yang An and trap him here forever. That way, perhaps Yang An would eventually reach his breaking point and attack him.
But what Huan hadn’t expected was that even after some of the Spirit Juice he had stealthily released was consumed, Yang An hadn’t been corrupted by it at all!
He was certain that Yang An had absorbed not only the Spirit Juice from the other Demon Fiends but also the portion he had specifically released himself. Yet, it had no effect.
’That was the Spirit Juice from countless Demon Fiends across the entire Earth Demon Cliff, and it still couldn’t corrupt this guy?!’
’What kind of monster is he?!’
As Huan’s thoughts raced, a suspicion grew in his mind. ’Could this guy really be the handiwork of that bastard, He?’
What he didn’t know was that after using Purification on the cost of the Spirit Juice, Yang An had become completely immune to it.
Even the Spirit Juice from inside Huan’s body was still just Spirit Juice.
Instead, Huan’s attempt to scheme against Yang An without his knowledge had ended up giving him a helping hand.
Everyone had assumed it was the Spirit Juice from all the Demon Fiends in the Earth Demon Cliff—except for Huan—that had helped Yang An reach Zombie God Perfection.
Who would have thought that Huan had also played a part in it?
His scheme had completely backfired.
「Meanwhile, outside the Earth Demon Cliff.」
Xuan You was sneering at the few people who had regained consciousness. Nearly an hour had passed since he had delivered his ultimatum to Yang An.
The members of the Scripture Defector Association he had captured were bound by branches covered in holes. Wriggling maggots crawled all over their bodies, and they were completely immobilized, able to move nothing but their mouths.
"Just give us one day! He’ll definitely come save us! You just sit there and wait to die, you old bastard!"
Heart and another member viciously cursed at Xuan You. They were deliberately trying to provoke him with their words in order to buy more time.
They knew very well that there was no telling how much time they could actually secure for Yang An.
The power over their lives and deaths was in Xuan You’s hands, and it also depended on when Yang An would appear.
One day was the absolute limit of what they could hope for, but it was still too short. They had already given up all hope.
Nothing could change in just one day, but Yang An had asked them to buy time, and they had done their best to accomplish that.
But Xuan You wasn’t provoked by their words. Instead, his face was filled with contempt.
’Forget one day. Even if I gave Yang An three days, what could he possibly do?’
’Does he dream of breaking through from the Middle Stage of Zombie God to the Late Stage of the Insect Dao in just three days?’
Only an hour had passed. His patience was limited, and he certainly wasn’t going to wait a full day as these people demanded.
His limit was two hours at most. Whether Yang An would come out to obediently face his death or watch his comrades die was surely a difficult choice for him, but it wasn’t a difficult one for Xuan You.
If the man chose to be a coward and hide in the Earth Demon Cliff, then Xuan You would simply kill the ones he’d already captured and report back to the Central Sect. It would count as a barely completed mission, a passable report for the Sect Leader.
This action would nearly wipe them out and serve as a warning, scaring them out of causing any more trouble in the Fusheng Domain. The objective would have been met, and he imagined the Sect Leader wouldn’t give him too much grief over it.
"Your time is running out. It seems he doesn’t really want to save you..."
Staring at the pathetic creatures in his grasp, Xuan You’s eyes held a mixture of disdain and pity, but mostly, it was mockery.
But just as the words left his mouth, an aura suddenly shot out from the Earth Demon Cliff, appearing several thousand meters away.
Xuan You whipped his head around, a trace of surprise on his face.
’Late Stage of Zombie God?’
He was stunned for a moment, but then a scornful smile spread across his face.
’So what if he went from the Middle Stage of Zombie God to the Late Stage of Zombie God in just one hour? What’s the use?’
’If he had stepped into the Insect Dao, Xuan You might have been a bit wary. But a mere Zombie God...’
"I didn’t expect you people to be so loyal. A bit foolishly overconfident, perhaps, but this is good. I was getting tired of waiting."
As he finished speaking, a figure appeared a hundred meters away from Xuan You.