“Bang! Bang! bang!”
All the saber Qi struck the flood dragon spirit in close sequence. A black baleful aura spread out from the flood dragon spirit.
Just one Subduing Dragon Profound Slash nearly dissipated this spirit, causing it to howl in the air.
Xiao Chen panted slightly. Using the Subduing Dragon Profound Slash so rapidly like that drained him significantly.
However, he was elated. It looked like his guess was right. The fight with that Ghost Race great grandmaster-level Martial Sage had left this flood dragon spirit severely injured; it was already very weak.
Otherwise, given that the flood dragon spirit’s strength rivaled that of a great grandmaster-level Martial Sage, Xiao Chen’s Subduing Dragon Profound Slash would not have damaged it so much.
The eyes of the evil flood dragon spirit glowed red. It glanced at Xiao Chen with some desperation. Then, it let out an aggrieved howl and turned into a beam of black light, charging at Xiao Chen.
Xiao Chen’s heart sank as he quickly dodged. This was the other party’s death throes.
This flood dragon spirit was a match for a great grandmaster-level Martial Sage. Xiao Chen did not even dare to imagine the consequences of receiving its death throes.
“Pa!”
However, Xiao Chen was still one step too late. That black light moved extremely fast—faster than the speed of his thoughts. Even as he considered fleeing, the black light stabbed into his chest.
Blood fountained out of Xiao Chen’s wound. Black lines spread out from the stab to the rest of his body.
When Xiao Chen looked carefully, he discovered that the black light was actually a black scissor blade. It was half a meter long and had patterns of black dragons carved on it, giving off a faint spirituality.
A vast smokelike sea of baleful aura instantly spread through Xiao Chen’s body, quickly rushing to his mind.
The sound of aggrieved howls was interminable, reverberating in his mind.
Xiao Chen bit his tongue and vomited a mouthful of blood. Then, his mind cleared considerably. Enduring the pain, he grabbed the handle and pulled the scissor blade out.
Boundless black Qi lingered in the wound on his chest. The death throes of the flood dragon spirit pierced right through him. If it had been at its peak, the death throes might have torn his body apart completely.
“Fortunately, my Firmament Body Tempering Art already reached Consummation. As long as my heart is not shattered, I can recover quickly.”
After vomiting another mouthful of blood, Xiao Chen started to inspect the black scissor blade in his hand. According to Qing Cheng, this had been half of Immortal Scissors from the Immortal Epoch.
Unfortunately, when the Immortal Epoch ended, hell broke and the cycle of reincarnation no longer existed. The Immortal Scissors lost most of its Divine Might and became an ordinary item.
The scissors were something that even quasi-Emperors did not care about. However, no matter how ordinary it was, even after it lost its Divine Might, the Immortal Scissors were definitely made with top-grade divine materials.
These divine materials would no doubt be no inferior to the ten-thousand-year-old Flame Crystal and ten-thousand-year-old Essence Iron that Situ Leihong needed. They would help Xiao Chen’s Azure Dragon Body Nourishing Art immensely.
Xiao Chen had to heal the wound on his chest fast, so he could not be bothered with anything else. He quickly circulated the Azure Dragon Body Nourishing Art and directly swallowed up this half of the Flood Dragon Scissors into his body.
“Roar!”
Just as Xiao Chen swallowed this half of the Flood Dragon Scissors, a dragon roar came from his body. An additional azure-colored dragon image swam about his bones in his body.
One Dragon Force!
Unexpectedly, Xiao Chen gained an additional Dragon Force. He was greatly startled. What is going on? No matter how excellent the materials of the Immortal Scissors were, according to his estimation, he should gain half a Dragon Force at best, even if he consumed the entire thing.
Back then, after Xiao Chen consumed more than five hundred tons of divine materials, he barely attained one Dragon Force.
Absorbing this half of the Immortal Scissors already raised his strength by one Dragon Force. Once he digested it entirely, the increase would be two Dragon Force. This was too extraordinary.
Xiao Chen could not understand what was going on. However, the doubling of his Vital Qi was certain. It was not an illusion or false.
With a thought, he could easily feel the explosive Vital Qi in his body, a bona fide two Dragon Force.
Once he completely digested the half of the Immortal Scissors, his Vital Qi would increase by another Dragon Force, reaching a total of three Dragon Force.
Could it be because of that flood dragon spirit? Xiao Chen considered that possibility.
That seemed very likely. The Azure Dragon Body Nourishing Art cultivated Dragon Energy. The Immortal Scissors contained the evil spirit of a flood dragon from the Immortal Epoch. Swallowing it allowed him to boost his Dragon Energy rapidly.
This discovery opened up a new path for Xiao Chen. If in the future, he consumed Secret Treasures containing dragon souls, the target of ten Dragon Force would not be far off.
“Indeed, riches can be found amid danger. This half of the Immortal Scissors might not be incredible, but it opened a new path for me, a path for me to cultivate the Azure Dragon Body Nourishing Art.”
Xiao Chen revealed joy on his face. Then, he glanced at the Ghost Race great grandmaster-level Martial Sage who was drowning in many spirits.
He silently gave thanks. Then, he unfurled the Freedom Wings to fly forward quickly.
Qing Cheng carried Xiao Chen’s Cycle Banner, allowing him to sense their location. So he did not fear getting separated from the four in the Nine Layers of Purgatory.
---
After one hour, the Ghost Race great grandmaster-level Martial Sage charged out of the encirclement in a sorry state. Black spots of light filled the air.
It had been just one hour. However, it felt like a year and a half to this person. His face was gray with heavy fatigue.
This great grandmaster-level Martial Sage had exterminated wave after wave of spirits with his fists. If he were in his peak state, he would have been able to charge out with one loud shout.
However, the great grandmaster-level Martial Sage had fought the flood dragon spirit for a long time, and his body was no longer at peak state. He even exceeded his limits a few times, sustaining significant damage to his body.
The great grandmaster-level Martial Sage’s face sank as he looked around. The hundred-odd people he brought with him were all dead, including a few of his prized disciples.
“A white-robed person? When did the Kunlun Realm gain such a decisive youth? Why did I not know about this?”
This person’s expression turned terrifying as he recalled Xiao Chen’s appearance. He clenched his fists tightly and said in a rage, “No matter what your backing is, after offending me, Mo Lian, in this Nine Layers of Purgatory, there is no way you can continue living.”
Just at this moment, sonic booms resounded. Mo Lian felt a few strong auras flying closer. One of them was no weaker than his at his peak state.
Mo Lian looked up and squinted. Then he muttered, “So, it is the Medicine God Valley’s people.”
This was not the first time the Medicine God Valley came to the Nine Layers of Purgatory to obtain Yin-attributed flames. Right now, Mo Lian’s body had yet to recover, so he did not want to clash with this group of people.
The face of the Medicine God Valley’s Mister Wei lit up in joy when he saw Mo Lian. He quickly called out to him, “Haha! Old Mo, please wait up. I did not expect to meet you here.”
Mister Wei noticed Mo Lian’s injuries. Puzzled, he could not help but ask, “Hey, why is Old Mo injured in the first layer of purgatory?”
Mo Lian originally did not want to say anything. However, he recalled that the other party was a grandmaster Alchemist and thus should have some Sage Grade Medicinal Pills on him. Those should be able to help Mo Lian quickly recover his Vital Qi and heal his injuries.
If Mo Lian was lucky and fast, he might be able to catch up with that white-robed person.
“A white-robed youth plotted against me. Mister Wei, you came at a good time. How many Sage Grade Medicinal Pills for healing do you have? I’ll buy them all.”
What kind of junior was this? To think that he even managed to plot against the Ghost Race’s Mo Lian!
White-robed person?
Suddenly, a thought occurred to Mister Wei. He took out a scroll and asked, “Brother Mo, is the white-robed person you are talking about him?”
After the painting unfurled, a boundless murderous intent immediately appeared in Mo Lian’s eyes. He demanded coldly, “How are you related to this person? Why do you have a portrait of him with you?”
Mister Wei put away the painting and said, “Brother Mo, please don’t misunderstand. My Medicine God Valley has no relationship with this White Robed King Xiao Chen.”
---
The second layer of purgatory was called Sin Mirroring Hell. It specialized in punishing people who killed their own family, their parents and siblings.
There was a mirror in there known as the Mirror of Sin. When the one being punished looked at it, they would see the scene of them killing their relative, making them relive it over and over again in an illusion.
However, the pain that the victim experienced would be felt by the perpetrator a hundredfold or even a thousandfold. If that person stabbed the victim, they would suffer a hundred times that pain.
The heart felt even more pain. The desperation and fear of the victim would be amplified a hundred times for the perpetrator to feel for themself.
One had to endure both mental and physical pain. Each cycle brought boundless torture. This was even more horrifying than the first layer of purgatory—the Tongue Pulling Hell.
However, that was a legend from the Immortal Epoch. The current Sin Mirroring Hell was a smooth, mirrorlike glacier, which was said to have been made from the Mirror of Sin.
There were many Phantoms made from combining spirits and ice in the glacier. They already could no longer be defined as spirits and are known as Ice Phantoms.
When an Ice Phantom died, it sometimes left an Ice Soul Pearl. This item was of great help to ice-attributed cultivators.
Thus, there were more people in this layer of purgatory than in the first layer. Occasionally, one would see cultivators fighting with Ice Phantoms.
As Xiao Chen flew in the air, he casually killed a few weak Ice Phantoms. After that, he lost interest.
So, he unleashed the might of his immortal will of thunder. Phantoms feared the power of lightning the most. Furthermore, his Small Perfection saber soul was contained within it.
With the two layered on each other, the fear that the combination induced in the Ice Phantoms deterred them from approaching and provoking Xiao Chen.
Using his connection to the Cycle Banner, he quickly flew towards Xiao Bai and the others’ location. Based on what he picked up using his Spiritual Sense, Xiao Bai’s group had not decreased their speed. They probably realized that with the Freedom Wings, he would catch up sooner or later.
Suddenly, Xiao Chen, who was traveling quickly, stopped in the air.
Five kilometers in front were a man and a woman fighting an intense battle with a handful of Ice Phantoms.
Each Ice Phantom was at least a hundred meters tall. The tallest was close to two hundred meters in height. Its huge body looked like a small hill.
Ice Phantoms could swallow up their own kind to increase their strength. The larger they were, the stronger they would be. Those taller than a hundred meters were as strong as Martial Sages.
A two-hundred-meter-tall Ice Phantom already equaled a Medial Grade Martial Sage.
The man and woman found it relatively difficult to deal with the Ice Phantoms. The woman was only an Inferior Grade Martial Sage. The man was slightly stronger, a peak Inferior Grade Martial Sage.
The man had excellent skills with the saber. Xiao Chen could feel the sharpness of the man’s strong saber intent from a kilometer away—this was a peak Great Perfection saber intent.
Naturally, what prompted Xiao Chen to stop was not this saber intent but the man’s use of the Four Season Saber Technique.
Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter—the four mysterious phenomena flashed in the man’s surroundings. This person was Bai Qi of the Sky Dome Realm’s Bai Clan.
Bai Qi seemed to have made some alterations to his Four Season Saber Technique. While the result was not like Xiao Chen’s, which had taken an entirely different path, it was still quite remarkable.