Chapter 249: Lend Me Your Head
Above the Ghostly Mist Abyss.
Shen Daoxing turned his head and looked around. The surrounding red mist was constantly churning, and he could faintly hear something roaring within it. It was as eerie and terrifying as ever.
He was back. Back above the Ghostly Mist Abyss. As he recalled everything that had happened, a surreal feeling washed over him. But the Venerable Dharma Seal floating in his Venerable Domain was a clear and certain sign that everything he had experienced was real.
Remembering the Jade Pendant Dugu Sheng had given him before he returned, Shen Daoxing felt for it in his robes and took it out. Dugu Sheng had said he could sense her location with it.
Shen Daoxing tried to sense her but came up with nothing. He had heard that Dugu Sheng had left the East Continent long ago, so perhaps the distance was too great.
In any case, Shen Daoxing still hadn’t decided what to do about those three matters, so he put the Jade Pendant back in his robes. Only then did he look over at the cliff’s edge, where he was shocked to find a huge gap—the very spot where he had fallen.
Shen Daoxing crouched down, grabbed a handful of dirt from the edge, and examined it closely. He realized it was all fresh soil, meaning the collapse had happened recently.
’Could it be...?’
Shen Daoxing froze for a moment, then stood up and scanned his surroundings. There was nothing but the eerie red mist.
He started walking back slowly, carefully observing his surroundings. The journey was uneventful, though the strange red mist remained unsettling.
Before he knew it, he had walked out of the red-misted mountain forest. The area around him was now completely silent.
Shen Daoxing continued forward and was horrified to see three bloody, severed heads. They belonged to Six Ears, Mo Ya, and Da Shi.
Shen Daoxing’s heart clenched as memories flooded his mind.
He had learned the Demon Ape Meteor Step from the Six-Eared Demon Ape clan. If not for their help in tempering his cultivation, he would never have made it this far.
The three of them may have looked fierce and sinister, but Shen Daoxing knew they were kind at heart. To him, they were both mentors and friends.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Shen Daoxing decisively swung his Great Ming Demon Sparrow, blasting three large pits in the ground nearby. He gently placed their heads inside. Then, he searched the area, found their bodies, and laid them to rest in the graves, filling them with earth.
After erecting gravestones and carving their names, Shen Daoxing bowed respectfully with his hands clasped before turning to leave.
He took a few more steps and saw several disciples from the Celestial Profound Sacred Land flying through the air, seemingly searching for someone.
Apparently, while a long time seemed to have passed for him in the abyss, only a few days had gone by in the outside world.
Shen Daoxing glanced up at the sky but paid them no mind and continued walking.
Just then, he saw a figure leaning against a tree trunk. It was a young man with an indifferent expression and cold eyes, a Treasure Sword in his hands. It was none other than Yuwen, the Sword Fool.
"It’s a good thing Wuchen had me wait here. So you really didn’t die!"
Yuwen, the Sword Fool, turned to look coolly at Shen Daoxing, his face devoid of expression, as if he were looking at a dead man.
"Since you didn’t die in the Ghostly Mist Abyss, I’ll just have to kill you again myself!"
Yuwen said flatly.
SHWIIING!
A flash of blue light.
The Taotie in his hands was instantly unsheathed.
Suddenly, Yuwen shot up from the ground, leaping high into the sky.
"Shen Daoxing! I told you that you wouldn’t escape my grasp, and you absolutely won’t!"
ROAR!
The roar of a monster suddenly echoed.
The light from the sword in Yuwen’s hand flared, and the eyes of the Taotie engraved on it rolled, suddenly coming to life.
It flew off the blade, growing larger and larger until it was bigger than Shen Daoxing himself. With a slash of Yuwen’s sword, its bloody, fearsome maw lunged down at him.
Shen Daoxing looked up at Yuwen with a placid expression.
SHING!
His Great Ming Demon Sparrow slid just an inch from its sheath, and a graceful arc of black light streaked across the sky.
The massive Taotie’s head was split in two.
SPURT!
A Blood Arrow shot high into the air.
Taking Yuwen’s head, which was right behind the Taotie, with it. It soared high before hitting the ground with a THUD.
They met again, and Yuwen was still the same Yuwen, but Shen Daoxing was no longer the man he once was.
A single strike.
Shen Daoxing had been swift and decisive.
Yuwen’s head rolled across the ground. His eyes stared blankly at his own headless body, not yet comprehending what had happened. He could only stammer, "You can’t escape... Wuchen is just outside... You can’t escape."
Shen Daoxing smiled faintly. "Perfect. I was just about to go looking for him."
With that, he reached down, picked up Yuwen’s head, and started walking away.
Soon, the Profound Celestial Sacred Land disciples in the sky noticed the commotion in the forest.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
Several of them landed at once. They were all shocked to see who it was. "Shen Daoxing! You’re not dead!"
But when they looked down and saw the bloody, dripping head in Shen Daoxing’s hand, they froze in shock. "Yuwen!"
Shen Daoxing looked up, his gaze sweeping coolly over them. He didn’t see Yue Wuchen in the group.
He didn’t break his stride. With a flash of his blade, he struck.
SHLICK! SHLICK! SHLICK! SHLICK!
Several graceful arcs of light cut through the air as Shen Daoxing strolled through their midst.
In an instant, several heads flew into the air, followed by soaring Blood Arrows.
Shen Daoxing’s figure was already behind them. He sheathed his Great Ming Demon Sparrow without a backward glance and continued on his way.
THUD!
The disciples of the Celestial Profound Sacred Land all collapsed to the ground at the same time.
A short while later, the trees on either side of him began to thin, and he gradually emerged from the mountain forest.
THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP!
The chaotic sound of footsteps echoed as Shen Daoxing saw a mass of figures swarming before him. More and more people emerged from the woods until a large group of Celestial Profound Sacred Land disciples had surrounded him.
The man in the lead wore a white Daoist robe. He was gentle and refined, and despite his youth, he carried the air of an immortal. It was Yue Wuchen.
Seeing Shen Daoxing walk slowly out of the forest, Yue Wuchen shook his head. "Shen Daoxing, you are without a doubt the number one prodigy of the East Continent. To fall into the Ghostly Mist Abyss and emerge unscathed... I imagine the senior uncles of the Sacred Land would have been very fond of you. It’s a pity you just had to be the Celestial Slaughter Demon Star."
He sighed. "Since you escaped the Ghostly Mist Abyss, you really shouldn’t have come out. You could have lived a few more days, at least."
"It’s Yuwen!"
Suddenly, a disciple from the Celestial Profound Sacred Land cried out in alarm.
Yue Wuchen paused, his eyes finally focusing on the bloody head in Shen Daoxing’s hand. "Hm?"
At that moment, Shen Daoxing had already raised the Great Ming Demon Sparrow in his hand.
"I’ll be borrowing your head!" he said, wasting no more words.
The Great Ming Demon Sparrow in his hand suddenly flew out.
A graceful arc of black light cut across the sky.
Yue Wuchen was startled and quickly raised the Heaven-Peeping Mirror to block in front of him.
But it was useless.
The next moment, Yue Wuchen’s head was already flying high into the air.
???
???
???
It all happened so fast that the surrounding disciples of the Celestial Profound Sacred Land couldn’t even react.
Shen Daoxing flicked his finger.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
The Great Ming Demon Sparrow transformed into a streak of black light, dancing through the air in a series of graceful arcs.
SPURT!
SPURT!
SPURT!
...
In the blink of an eye, bloody holes had appeared in the chests of the remaining Celestial Profound Sacred Land disciples. With a series of THUDS, they all fell stiffly to the ground.
Shen Daoxing raised a hand and caught Yue Wuchen’s falling head. Without a second glance at the others, he turned and walked back into the forest.