Chapter 300: Chapter 181: Gloating Over Misfortune

The Fire of Life truly lives up to its name!

"But this pain... it’s just unbearable."

Gu Zheng exhaled, his tense face finally relaxing.

’If I’d known it would hurt this much, I would have just chopped it off and taken a Regeneration Source Fruit...’

’Uh, but I guess growing a new one with a Regeneration Source Fruit would also be very painful?’

’After all, it’s flesh being remolded and sinews reforming. There’s no way it would be completely painless.’

With this in mind, Gu Zheng took a deep breath and withdrew the Holy Wood Essence Flame.

He held out both hands and compared them.

"...Well, I guess this is fine."

One was a bit bronze-colored, the other fair and tender.

Gu Zheng decisively lowered his sleeves, glanced around, and turned to walk toward the entrance.

He was still under his Invisibility Cloak, his aura completely suppressed.

When he emerged from the ruins, the battle high in the sky was still raging.

Xiao Xing was fighting four opponents at once. Arcs of electricity coiled around him, accompanied by rolling thunder. The might of a Half-King was overwhelming, crashing down on Yong Xingdian, Zhong Zhenghong, and the other two.

Sensing their auras, it was clear that Yong Xingdian and his three companions were no match for him; their power had already weakened considerably.

Xiao Xing, in contrast, was still magnificent, his life force surging to the heavens.

’If a Half-King is this powerful, wouldn’t a true King’s Body be even stronger?’

Gu Zheng glanced at them from a distance before quickly departing.

He didn’t burrow into the ground. Instead, he floated just above it, carried by the wind into the distance.

He didn’t stop for a single breath.

Only after flying for a good hundred li did he finally stop, slow his pace, and resume his search for new ruins.

Or for Demon Fiends in this desert region, or even Ancient Demons.

Gu Zheng much preferred Ancient Demons. Killing one was worth one hundred Demon Points.

’Ancient Demons are so much more generous!’

...

...

"RUMBLE~"

THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!

A massive boom shook the area, echoing for more than ten li in every direction.

High in the sky, Xiao Xing brandished a phantom spear wreathed in lightning, sweeping Fu Jinlong, Yong Xingdian, and the other two from the air and sending them plummeting toward the ground.

The four of them crashed into the yellow sand like meteorites, carving out four large craters.

"Zhong Zhenghong, Fu Jinlong, Yong Xingdian... I told you that you were no match for me, and you’re not."

Xiao Xing’s face was expressionless, his voice echoing between the sky and the earth. "Don’t say I didn’t give you a chance. If you surrender now, I can still spare your lives. But if you continue to be so stubborn..."

"Alright, alright." 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Yong Xingdian spat out a mouthful of congealed blood. Sporting a hairstyle that looked like it had been electrocuted, he climbed out of the crater and panted, "The Void Divine Stone is yours! I give up! I accept my fate! That should be enough, right?"

"...Same here," Fu Jinlong said softly through gritted teeth, his face pale.

"The Void Divine Stone belongs to you, Boss Xiao."

Zhong Zhenghong reluctantly chimed in after them.

"We surrender!" the last one exhaled in response.

"Hmph~"

In mid-air, Xiao Xing snorted coldly. "If you knew this would happen, why did you have to get hurt?"

With that, his figure blurred as he shot toward the entrance of the ruins.

To be sure, with Xiao Xing’s power, he could have killed all four of them—Fu Jinlong, Zhong Zhenghong, and Yong Xingdian included.

But he couldn’t kill all four at once to silence them completely.

And if he killed one or two and let the other two escape...

The consequences would be endless!

The royal families of Jing Country, Yue Country, and Kang Country all had experts at the King’s Body realm.

If they came to the Xiao Family seeking revenge, the family would be completely unable to defend itself.

Even if Xiao Xing immediately broke through to the true King’s Body realm, he still wouldn’t be able to stop them!

For this reason, he could only injure them and force Fu Jinlong, Zhong Zhenghong, and the other two to surrender.

And how could Yong Xingdian, Fu Jinlong, and the others not know this?

Getting injured was one thing. If they truly pushed Xiao Xing to the brink and he decided to kill, whether they could escape was also an unknown.

This outcome was for the best.

Losing to Xiao Xing wasn’t entirely unacceptable...

"Where is the Divine Stone!!"

A furious roar suddenly erupted from underground.

RUMBLE RUMBLE~

Along with the roar, the sandy ground trembled as a powerful stream of energy erupted from below.

BOOM!

With a massive explosion, a sand dune not far from Fu Jinlong, Yong Xingdian, and the others suddenly blew apart, a large hole forcibly punched through it from below.

A sky full of yellow sand rained down in all directions.

"What’s going on?" Fu Jinlong frowned.

"Let’s go take a look and find out." Yong Xingdian’s eyes glinted. With a flicker, he shot over.

Zhong Zhenghong and the other man followed close behind.

Seeing this, Fu Jinlong quickly followed suit.

The four arrived at the edge of the hole and looked down from above. They saw the pale blue Spirit Pool in the center of the ancient city below.

"Boss Xiao, what..."

"The Divine Stone is gone!"

Xiao Xing’s eyes blazed with fury. He looked up at Yong Xingdian, Fu Jinlong, and the other two at the edge of the hole and roared, "Speak! Did you take it?"

"The Divine Stone is gone?"

Fu Jinlong was stunned. In the next instant, he leaped down into the hole.

Yong Xingdian, Zhong Zhenghong, and the third man followed him down.

The four of them stopped in front of the pale blue Spirit Pool, circling it with grave expressions.

"Boss Xiao, you think too highly of us."

Yong Xingdian said in a low voice, "We were fighting you the entire time. How could we have had the time to come down here and take the Divine Stone?"

"That’s right."

Fu Jinlong nodded and analyzed the situation. "The Divine Stone was inside the Spirit Pool. Ordinary methods can’t retrieve it. Only a living body of flesh and blood can."

"The process is also excruciatingly painful. The average person couldn’t bear it," Zhong Zhenghong added.

"Now that the Divine Stone is gone, we can only say that whoever took it paid a heavy price—they lost an arm, at the very least!"

"What’s the use of saying all that?" Xiao Xing’s eyes spat fire as he roared, "The important thing is, where is the Divine Stone now!?"

Fu Jinlong, Yong Xingdian, and the other two fell silent.

How were they supposed to know where it was?

They couldn’t bring themselves to say that out loud.

Because deep down, they were gloating over his misfortune.

If they couldn’t have a treasure like the Void Divine Stone, then Xiao Xing could forget about getting it too!

’Hahahaha...’

’Ahem!’

...

...

"SCREECH~!"

"ROAR!"

Vast yellow sands danced in the sky.

Countless crimson ants, each the size of a millstone, shrieked and roared as they swarmed toward the base of a sand dune.

SWISH SWISH SWISH!

A cold glint flashed as blades shot through the air.

PTH~ PTH~ PTH!

A series of crisp sounds was accompanied by blossoms of blood splashing onto the sand.

The crimson ants fell in droves, their bodies piling up in mounds.

Spirit Capturing!

[Demon Points +8]

[Demon Points +6]

...

What a haul!

Although each crimson ant wasn’t worth many Demon Points individually...

...there were just so many of them!

Thousands of crimson ants burrowed out from beneath the sand, converging from all directions to madly attack Gu Zheng.

In response, Gu Zheng stood his ground, allowing the crimson ants to approach as his three hundred and sixty blades whirled around him, darting and weaving through the air.

He harvested swaths of Demon Points.

In just these few short minutes, he had already gained ten thousand Demon Points!

...

SWISH SWISH SWISH~

PTH! PTH! PTH~

The sound of cutting wind continued as cold light flashed like threads.

After another few minutes, more and more mounds of fallen crimson ants piled up.

His Demon Points haul increased by another ten thousand!

"HISS~!"

A sharp screech echoed in all directions.

The frantically attacking crimson ants finally began to cease their assault, retreating and burrowing into the yellow sand until they disappeared.

"Don’t go."

Gu Zheng raised a brow. He activated his Earth Demon Techniques, controlling the three hundred and sixty blades to pursue the ants, diving underground after them.

SWISH SWISH SWISH!

PTH~ PTH~ PTH~

Spirit Capturing!

[Demon Points +7]

[Demon Points +6]

...

He carved a path downward, slaying crimson ants and using Spirit Capturing to harvest Demon Points all the way.

SWOOSH~!

Suddenly, his vision changed.

The yellow sand vanished, as did the fleeing crimson ants.

In their place was a dilapidated palace.

There were no people around, nor any Demon Fiends.

The crack-riddled walls were covered in carvings depicting Demon Fiends, human warriors, and even some Evil Spirits and strange races?

"Switched to another area again?"

Gu Zheng retracted his blades and flew forward, hovering just above the ground.

Desolate yellow earth, vast mountain forests, a world of ice and snow, a calm ocean, and an endless desert.

He had already been through five different areas.

This was now the sixth!

The "Nine Heavens Shadow Realm" had nine areas in total.

Gu Zheng remembered Fu Jinlong mentioning it when they had just entered.

So far, of the nine areas, four remained unexplored!

And now, Gu Zheng had entered the sixth.

A new one...

"TAP... TAP!"

A faint sound of footsteps suddenly echoed.