Chapter 319: Chapter 316: Return of the King (2)

Jin Sanpang’s state at this moment was incredibly eerie.

Compared to his usual naive and good-natured self, he seemed like a completely different person.

His expression was as grim and cold as ice. Wreathed in black streams of energy, he exuded a bone-chillingly sinister aura.

SHHNK~

Huangfu Jun appeared at Jin Sanpang’s flank and thrust his sword straight through his chest.

Yet Jin Sanpang seemed oblivious. His expression didn’t change in the slightest as his body was impaled; he just stared coldly at Huangfu Jun.

Jin Sanpang’s gaze made Huangfu Jun deeply unsettled, like being targeted by a venomous snake lurking in the shadows.

This infuriated Huangfu Jun.

"Die!" His eyes narrowed as he frantically poured his True Essence into the sword, intending to destroy Jin Sanpang’s vitality from within.

Jin Sanpang raised a hand and abruptly seized the blade. To Huangfu Jun’s astonishment, all his True Essence was instantly shattered and dispersed.

Not only that, but a sinister, cold, and tenacious power surged up the blade, trying to invade his body.

Huangfu Jun reflexively let go of the sword.

He glanced at his palm and saw it had turned black and purple.

Poison!

And a deadly one at that!

Jin Sanpang pulled the sword from his chest and tossed it aside.

"Die!"

Though his jaw was shattered, he still managed to force a muffled word from his throat.

As he uttered the word "die," the black energy shrouding Jin Sanpang’s body violently expanded outward.

"Get lost!"

Forced to abandon his sword and now afflicted with a deadly poison, Huangfu Jun was filled with shame and fury.

The esteemed Void Realm genius of the Huangfu Family had been done in by a mere Vajra Realm Cultivator from the Mortal District. How could he possibly tolerate this?

With a furious roar, the Grotto Heaven behind his head slowly descended, fending off the black energy.

A powerful wave of force crashed toward Jin Sanpang.

He was determined to kill Jin Sanpang with a single, decisive blow!

"Brother Da Pang, look out!"

Li Xuemiao dashed forward, placing herself in front of Jin Sanpang.

BOOM!

The full force of the Grotto Heaven Power slammed into Li Xuemiao’s petite frame.

PFFT~

A spray of fresh blood splattered across Jin Sanpang’s face as Li Xuemiao was thrown backward into his arms.

Jin Sanpang instinctively dispersed the black energy to catch Li Xuemiao. Her familiar scent, now mixed with the overpowering stench of blood, assaulted his senses.

His eyes, which had been as black as ink, rapidly contracted, revealing his normal pupils.

A look of shock and agony appeared on his previously cold, merciless face.

"Ah!"

"AHHHH!"

As consciousness returned, he stared in disbelief at the scene before him. He opened his mouth wide, wanting to call out Li Xuemiao’s name, but he couldn’t. All that came out were heart-rending sobs.

"Brother Da Pang, Miaomiao... probably can’t... play with you anymore."

Li Xuemiao reached out and, just as she always did, pinched Jin Sanpang’s chubby cheek. Her voice was faint, her face deathly pale.

Blood welled up and spilled from her lips as she spoke.

Jin Sanpang had screamed himself hoarse and could no longer even make a sound. Panicked, he frantically tried to wipe away the blood pouring from Li Xuemiao’s mouth.

But he couldn’t wipe it away fast enough.

"These past few days have been the happiest of Miaomiao’s life... I really wish... I really wish it could stay this way forever..."

Before she could finish, Li Xuemiao’s arm fell limp, and the light in her eyes rapidly faded.

"Hkk! Hhhh!"

Jin Sanpang’s face went pale with terror. He gently patted Li Xuemiao’s cheek, his mouth opening and closing as if trying to speak, but only the sound of air rattling in his throat came out.

"Dead? What a shame."

Huangfu Jun sighed. He wasn’t lamenting Li Xuemiao’s death, but the loss of a prime plaything—a Furnace Cauldron.

Liu Hui and Nangong Yan were dumbstruck.

They never imagined Li Xuemiao would use her own body to shield Jin Sanpang from the attack.

Even as bystanders, they were profoundly shaken. They could only imagine the agony Jin Sanpang, the one at the center of it all, must be feeling.

Not to mention, he possessed an Innocent Heart, which meant his emotional pain was more than ten times keener than an ordinary person’s!

’Master, when on earth will you return? San Pang and I can’t hold on much longer!’

Liu Hui was giving it his all, but he couldn’t muster even a shred of Dragon Energy.

He believed that if Mo Qi were here, he could definitely turn the tide!

But alas...

Wait!

The thought of Mo Qi made Liu Hui suddenly remember something else.

"San Pang, quickly! Give her that life-saving treasure the Master gave us! She can still be saved!" he shouted hastily.

Mo Qi had given each of them a special Medicinal Pill, instructing them to take it to save their lives if they ever faced a mortal wound or a situation of certain death.

At Liu Hui’s reminder, a flicker of hope appeared in Jin Sanpang’s panicked eyes.

He quickly took out a blood-red pill the size of a thumb, crushed it, and used his True Essence to deliver it into Li Xuemiao’s stomach.

"Don’t delude yourself," Huangfu Jun sneered from the side. "She took the full force of my attack. Her organs are ruptured and her soul has withered. Not even an Immortal Elixir and Marvelous Medicine could save her now!"

The very next second, however, a hint of color returned to the face of Li Xuemiao, who had already lost all her vitality.

Although she showed no signs of waking, she had begun to breathe again, however faintly.

Seeing this, Jin Sanpang shed tears of joy. He hugged Li Xuemiao tightly, refusing to ever let her go again.

This time, not only was Huangfu Jun shocked, but even Huangfu Yu, who had witnessed the entire event from the sidelines, had a drastic change of expression.

They had watched Li Xuemiao die with their own eyes—her soul had gone still, her vitality had completely dissipated.

Yet now, a single, ordinary-looking pill had actually brought her back to life!

Even seeing it with their own eyes, it felt unreal.

"What was that you just gave her? Hand it over!"

Huangfu Jun snapped back to his senses and shot toward Jin Sanpang.

A treasure capable of bringing the dead back to life... such a thing was rare even in the Immortal Realm, let alone in the Hall of Envoys. In fact, they were practically nonexistent.

If he could get his hands on one, wouldn’t that be like having an extra life?

At this thought, Huangfu Jun decided to give Jin Sanpang no chance to resist. He would capture him and perform a Soul Search directly.

"How dare you!"

Just then, Li Shimu finally appeared, forcing Huangfu Jun back with a single palm strike.

When he saw the state Li Xuemiao was in, his eyes instantly turned bloodshot.

Her entire life, he, her father, had never been willing to so much as lay a finger on her. Now, an outsider had not only struck her but had grievously wounded her!

This was intolerable!

"You have some nerve, daring to harm my daughter!"

If he knew that Li Xuemiao hadn’t just been injured, but had actually been killed once, Li Shimu would likely have unleashed the full power of his imperial destiny. To hell with the Hall of Envoys, to hell with the Huangfu Family—he would have annihilated the Huangfu Brothers on the spot.

"She’s your daughter?" Huangfu Jun was not intimidated by Li Shimu. Instead, he sneered, "So what if I hurt her? You wouldn’t dare attack us yourself, would you? An elder bullying the young?"

"An elder bullying the young?" Li Shimu laughed in fury. He pointed at Li Xuemiao and Jin Sanpang. "They are both only fifteen years old. And you? You must be over twenty-five, I imagine? And you have the gall to talk about elders bullying the young?"