Chapter 59: Chapter 58: But That’s All, The Death of Lin Fan

Lin Fan’s Divine Soul trembled violently, shuddering in terror. He felt as if all his Life Force and his very Divine Soul were about to be devoured by the Blood-colored Treasure Bottle.

"ROAR..."

But just then, the Abyss of Despair began to shake violently.

The miasma and fog that filled the sky rolled back toward the heavens as a fierce gale erupted, crashing down like a furious tide.

Accompanied by a terrifying, thick stench, a massive figure, as long as a mountain range, suddenly shot up from the bottom of the abyss. It opened its cavernous, fang-filled maw and swallowed Jiang Lan and Lin Fan in a single gulp.

A hint of playfulness and mockery flashed in its crimson eyes, which seemed almost human in their eerie, emerald depths.

Then, with a flick of its massive, scale-covered body, it rushed back to the bottom of the abyss, disappearing into the boundless darkness.

’A Celestial Cyan Nether Python on the verge of transforming into a flood dragon?’

’And a Demon King at the Sixth Realm, no less.’

Xiao Yingyue watched this scene unfold, not expecting such a sudden turn of events.

At the critical moment, the local Demon King had appeared, playing the role of the oriole stalking from behind, and had swallowed both Jiang Lan and Lin Fan.

Her delicate brows furrowed as she walked to the edge of the Abyss of Despair.

Violent gales raged, churning the clouds, fog, and miasma. The abyss was a pitch-black chasm, its depth impossible to gauge.

"You’d better not die..." Xiao Yingyue sighed softly.

If Jiang Lan were to perish in the belly of the Demon King, she would be held accountable by the Prime Minister’s Mansion, even if she survived.

Even Medicine King Valley, the power backing her, would be implicated.

However, the methods Jiang Lan had just displayed had made even her heart palpitate, giving her an indescribable sense of dread.

’This guy has hidden himself so deeply. His true strength is impossible to fathom. A mere Demon King shouldn’t be able to do anything to him.’

’I might as well wait for him here.’

Although she thought this, she still raised a delicate hand to rub her brow, suffering from a splitting headache.

After another imperceptible sigh, she went to fetch her Cyan Jade Deer. As she mounted it, she pricked it with a silver needle, forcing it to gallop into the Abyss of Despair.

The Abyss of Despair was tens of thousands of fathoms deep, perpetually shrouded in clouds, fog, and miasma, with almost no light ever reaching its depths.

Viewed from high above, one could see the terrifying rift valley, like a scar upon the earth, cutting straight through half of the Primordial Mountain Range.

The cliffs on both sides were steep and jagged. Many strange herbs and exotic trees grew in the crevices, and numerous Demon Beasts circled the area.

This was the territory of a Demon King, and the number of Demon Beasts that depended on it for survival was by no means small. In the past, the air would be filled with the roars and cries of these beasts, but tonight, it was deathly silent.

All the Demon Beasts trembled in fear, their heads bowed, lying prostrate on the ground in terror, not daring to make a single sound.

RUMBLE!

The colossal body of the Celestial Cyan Nether Python slithered across the abyss floor, crushing boulders and creating a deafening rumble.

Its scales, cold as molten iron, shimmered with a grim, armor-like aura.

The oppressive aura of a Demon King spread out, immobilizing all living creatures on the abyss floor.

’Two foolish members of the Human Race, daring to fight on my territory. Do they truly have no regard for me?’

’But these two humans both have quite a few secrets. Once I have digested them, my power will surely rise to a new level.’

A mocking glint passed through the Celestial Cyan Nether Python’s eyes. It planned to return to its Earth Palace and begin the Refinement and absorption process.

"HISS..."

But in the next moment, a terrible, piercing pain shot through it, causing its pupils to constrict.

Its massive body began to convulse, thrashing about on the abyss floor.

Its vigorously beating heart felt as if it had been seized by a terrifying, giant hand, on the verge of being crushed at any moment.

The horde of demons trembled in fear, not understanding why their Demon King had suddenly started to roar in agony and thrash about.

SQUELCH...

The next instant, a torrent of hot blood rained down from the sky. A terrifyingly large, bloody hole had been blasted through the Celestial Cyan Nether Python’s abdomen.

The Celestial Cyan Nether Python let out a pained roar as its massive form rapidly shrank, transforming into a middle-aged man dressed in a Python Robe. However, a gaping hole was torn open in his chest, from which blood gushed like a fountain, soaking the ground into a crimson pool.

Amidst the downpour of blood, a slender figure walked out slowly, his expression indifferent.

In one hand, he held a corpse whose head lolled limply to the side; in the other, he clutched a vigorously beating heart.

His white robes, now stained with blood, looked somewhat demonic.

The middle-aged man, the transformed Celestial Cyan Nether Python, stared at him in terror and disbelief, completely unable to comprehend what had happened.

Jiang Lan’s aura clearly wasn’t that strong, so how could he have broken out of his stomach?

In the past, even humans with far stronger auras that it had swallowed were eventually digested and absorbed.

"Considering your cultivation was not easy, I had intended to spare you. But you insisted on seeking your own death."

A cold glint in his indifferent eyes, Jiang Lan crushed the heart in his hand.

He had known a Demon King was lying dormant here, but he hadn’t paid it any mind.

He never thought the creature would be so audacious as to try to be the oriole that stalks from behind.

As the Demon Python’s heart shattered, the bloody essence scattered through the air, gathering toward him in wisps and threads, being absorbed into every one of his cells.

The middle-aged man transformed from the Demon Python had an extremely tenacious Life Force. Though his heart was destroyed, he was not yet dead. A surging, dense Demonic Power steamed from his body.

His eyes filled with ferocity as he spat out a cloud of miasma. A green light flickered within it, and the blurry shape of a Wooden Sword flashed through before slashing down toward Jiang Lan.

At the same time, he spewed a sheet of black flame. The temperature was incredibly high, and it possessed a terrifyingly corrosive property that seemed to scorch the very Void.

In an instant, monstrous Demon Qi surged like a furious tide, flooding the sky and earth, submerging the entire abyss floor.

As a Demon King who had lorded over this place for several thousand years, he was terrified by Jiang Lan’s methods, but at this moment, he cast all caution to the wind.

A violent urge filled his mind; his only thought was to tear his enemy to shreds.

At the same time, Lin Fan’s corpse, still in Jiang Lan’s grasp, seemed to sense something. It suddenly twitched as a surge of abundant Life Force emerged from it.

The once withered and shrunken body was like a dead tree in spring, once again showing fluctuations of Magical Power.

Lin Fan’s head, which had been slumped to the side, suddenly snapped up. His eyes flew open, and a profound golden light flashed within them.

A terrifying aura emerged from his body, as if some peerless, sharp-edged weapon was about to reawaken.

A golden radiance erupted, brilliant as the scorching sun, so dazzling it rendered his physical body translucent.

"Slay!"

Lin Fan pressed the tip of his tongue against his lower jaw, his gaze icy, and let out a profound, thunderous Daoist cry.

He had used the Turtle Breath Skill to conceal all his aura and signs of life, then used a Divine Soul Secret Technique in a feigned attempt to escape. This was all to mislead Jiang Lan, to make him think he had exhausted all his tricks, just so he could wait for this very moment.

At that moment, it was as if tens of thousands of Divine Swords were reawakening and crying out in unison. The entire abyss floor echoed with the hum of swords.

Many of the Demon Beasts felt their Divine Souls waver, as if they were about to drift away, leaving them in a daze.

Even the ferocious expression of the Demon King charging at Jiang Lan went vacant for a moment. His movements slowed by a fraction, and the black flames he spewed scraped past the cliff wall, instantly corroding it to dust.

SHIING!

A hazy golden radiance illuminated the area, making it incomparably brilliant.

Lin Fan’s Divine Soul left his body. Cradling a primitive yet sharp Divine Sword, he flickered and vanished into the Void, reappearing in the next instant at Jiang Lan’s chest.

Amidst the dazzling divine light, the Divine Sword plunged downward with a SQUELCH, piercing through flesh and tearing apart the heart. It unleashed an indescribable, terrifying energy that threatened to overturn the entire abyss floor.

Lin Fan took this opportunity to fall to the ground, his physical body now withered beyond recognition.

He gasped for breath, like a drowning man clutching at a life-saving straw, before forcing himself to calm down.

’I used the Eternal Damnation Sword once before while escaping, which caused it to fall dormant. But at this critical moment of life and death, I finally managed to activate it...’

’Dying to the Eternal Damnation Sword... you can’t say it was an unjust death.’

A hundred thoughts flashed through his mind. Although Lin Fan felt a little more at ease, he also felt like he had just walked through the gates of hell. His back was now drenched in cold sweat.

Moreover, his qi and blood were now depleted, and even his Magical Power was nearly exhausted. The aftereffects of using the Secret Technique had flared up, leaving him completely unable to move.

’In my previous life, countless enemies died by my Eternal Damnation Sword. This guy is the first to die by my sword in this life. If not for our encounter today, I would never have known he was hidden so deeply, that he was so terrifying...’

Just as the thought crossed his mind, the expression on Lin Fan’s face suddenly froze. His pupils constricted, trembling uncontrollably.

His whole body began to tremble as if he had seen something impossible, his eyes filled with disbelief and terror.

"Eternal Damnation Sword Master, you truly live up to your name. To have such skill even when you’ve reached the end of your rope..."

"But... that’s all it is."

A calm, unhurried voice sounded from within the dissipating miasma.

Jiang Lan’s white robes were tattered. He looked down at his own chest with a strange expression.

A horrifying, bloody hole had appeared there. The blade of the Eternal Damnation Sword was embedded within, piercing straight through him. But it seemed stuck, unable to break free. Then, he grabbed it with one hand and slowly pulled it out.

At the site of the ruptured wound, a heart interwoven with Immortal Charm and radiant light could be seen. It was crystalline and brilliant, and it was still beating.

From each of its chambers, wisps of a substance resembling Immortal Charm flowed out, mysterious and magnificent.

"An Immortal Heart..."

Lin Fan’s pupils trembled violently as he cried out in shock. But what terrified him even more at this moment was the name Jiang Lan had called him.

Eternal Damnation Sword Master—that was the honorific countless people had used for him in his past life.

But in this life, no one knew his identity. How could Jiang Lan have said it so easily?

In fact, when Jiang Lan had mentioned the Golden Cicada Rebirth Soul Technique earlier, Lin Fan had already been filled with disbelief, but he hadn’t had time to dwell on it.

"You... Who in the world are you?"

Watching as Jiang Lan pulled out the Eternal Damnation Sword and all the blood flowed back into the wound as if in reverse, Lin Fan’s voice trembled even more, and he could no longer hide the despair in his eyes.

The wounds were all healing at a speed visible to the naked eye. Soon, his chest was like new, without a single trace of injury.

He had clearly just pierced through Jiang Lan’s heart.

Overwhelming fear and unease enveloped Lin Fan’s heart. The Jiang Lan before him now was no different from a monster in his eyes.

"Now you should be out of trump cards, right?"

Jiang Lan didn’t answer his question. He casually tossed the Eternal Damnation Sword to the ground. His tone was nonchalant, but his gaze was cold and merciless.

He gently raised his palm. The qi and blood that had scattered through the air suddenly interwove, forming a massive, bloody hand that descended.

SPLAT!

An explosion of bloody light filled the air. Lin Fan’s physical body instantly disintegrated, dissolving into countless threads of qi and blood.

His entire being, including his Divine Soul, seemed to have been ignited by an unseen Netherworld Fire, turning to dust and ash in an instant.