Xuanxia

Chapter 1013 Body and Soul

Xishuo Palace, deep in the back mountains.

The light that descended from the sky cut through the night sky and fell here. The overflowing sword intent blew away the grass and trees, leaving a few shallow sword marks on the tender green branches and leaves.

Ning Wuwang's gaze fell on the sword marks, and a hint of disappointment flashed in his eyes.

"If it was my father, there wouldn't be even a hint of sword intent leaking out..."

he murmured.

"Mr. Ning, you are unique in the world for being able to achieve this level of practice at your age."

At this time, a calm voice came from the depths of the mountain path ahead: "Even your respected swordsman, at your age, did not have such achievements."

Ning Wuwang did not comment, and his face showed no joy or sadness. He just walked slowly forward.

Pushing aside the trees, one could see a huge altar made of white marble in the deepest part of the mountain behind the palace. The circular altar sunk from the outside to the inside, with a high arched cylindrical door in the center. The entire altar was clean and dust-free, and sparkled white under the moonlight.

In front of the altar, Xishuo King Zhao Liang sat on the ground.

He had his back to Ning Wuwang, his plain white Confucian robe draped over the ground, his hair tied into a perfect bun on top of his head.

"Your Majesty."

Ning Wuwang bowed to the figure from behind and said, "The family has failed."

"As expected." King Xishuo said softly, "Fu Qingzhou's return is the biggest variable...everything today was destined from the moment he intervened in Beiyi."

Ning Wuwang didn't say anything.

"But it's okay."

King Xishuo raised his head and looked at the arch in the center of the altar: "This time, many people died... Perhaps, it is enough."

Ning Wuwang nodded, stretched out his hand, snapped his fingers, and an invisible sword energy broke through the air and pierced into the arch!
The archway was empty and had no door, but after the sword energy passed through the archway, it disappeared without a trace in an instant.

After a brief silence, the white jade stones that formed the arch suddenly began to tremble violently, and a large amount of dark yellow water began to gush out from the gaps between the bricks!

Not only that, the tremor quickly spread to the entire altar. All the bricks began to shake, and water gushed out from the cracks between the stones. In just a moment, it filled the entire sinking altar!

"Use the platform made of bones and jade from the bottom of the Styx, and borrow the souls of thousands of people to build the gate of reincarnation... and use it to borrow the water of the Styx."

Ning Wuwang's tone was somewhat excited: "By borrowing the life and death energy of the world's war, my lord, maybe you can really come back to life!"

King Xishuo did not say anything, but slowly took out a tablet from his arms.

He stroked the tablet with his fingertips, and under the moonlight, he could see words on it, but perhaps because time had passed too long, or someone had been rubbing it day and night, the words had long been worn away. He suddenly laughed softly, raised his hand and threw the tablet into the surging dark yellow water in the center of the altar.

The water of the River Styx suddenly boiled!
Countless pale arms stretched out from the bottom of the water, their finger bones hooked onto the tablet and dragged it downwards. Millions of distorted faces emerged from the water, and they opened their black mouths and let out silent screams!
Dark red blood oozed out from the cracks in the jade tiles of the altar, swam towards the archway like a living snake, and intertwined into a hideous spell on the door frame. The entire mountain began to tremble, and muffled sounds came from underground as if some huge creature was awakening.

"Here it comes!" Ning Wuwang's pupils contracted, and the sword intent overflowed uncontrollably, cutting fine spatial cracks around him.

A faint green phosphorescent light appeared deep in the arch.

The outline of a soul emerged from the void, and every line was twitching violently, as if it was enduring the pain of crossing life and death. When it touched the archway, the blood runes in the cracks of the jade bricks suddenly burst into flames, turning into a scarlet flame curtain several feet high.

The soul travels through the fire.

The first thing that solidified was the left hand, with blue blood vessels growing like vines under the pale skin; then half of the handsome face, with eyelashes stained with ice crystals formed by the water of the Styx...

This soul is condensing into a physical entity!
King Xishuo's eyes revealed a strong ecstasy, and Ning Wuwang's eyes were also as bright as the stars. However, just as the soul was about to take shape below the waist, the entire altar suddenly made a crisp sound like bones breaking!
The stone bricks that formed the arch exploded one after another, releasing a huge cloud of black mist filled with rotten flesh!
“No!” King Xishuo lost his composure for the first time, and his Confucian robe was torn into pieces by the surging negative energy.

He formed seals with his hands, his eyes instantly turned blood red, and his whole body was filled with a ghostly aura, which turned into chains that wrapped around his soul.

Ning Wuwang frowned, cut his palm with his sword finger, and wrote the Soul-Calming Technique in the air with his blood.

However, before the talisman could take shape, it strangely reversed its flow, and the backlash force severed all the meridians in his right arm!
The altar began to collapse, and the blood symbols on the archway fell off like living things, twisting flesh and blood crawling with new souls.

"Royal...brother..."

The soul suddenly made a clear human voice, and the Adam's apple that had not yet fully formed rolled slightly. This call made King Xishuo tremble all over, and the ghost chain froze for a moment.

It was this momentary flaw.

Spider-web-like black lines suddenly appeared on the soul's chest, and the new flesh and blood melted like wax, revealing the entangled resentful soul inside.

They tore at each other, completely tearing the last remaining human form into pieces. The tremor of the entire mountain reached its peak, and the water of the River Styx rushed back into the sky, carrying the tablet and smashing heavily into King Xishuo's arms.

The moonlight seemed to have turned a pale green.

The remaining flesh and blood on the ruins of the altar quickly decayed, producing dense pale hyphae. The tips of these hyphae split into lamprey-like mouthparts, emitting shrieks like a crying baby. King Xishuo took three steps back holding the tablet. The black blood that flowed from the corners of his lips fell to the ground and turned into poisonous insects, which were then crushed into powder by Ning Wuwang's remaining sword intent.

"What's missing?"

He stared at the resentful souls gradually dissipating in the mycelium, his voice hoarse like the sound of rusty swords grinding against each other.

Ning Wuwang held his broken right arm and raised his head, his pupils suddenly constricted - on the completely collapsed remains of the arch, a half-charred mark had appeared at some point.

The traces were corroding the stone bricks at a speed visible to the naked eye, blending with the remaining yin energy of the surrounding Styx water...

"what is that?"

King Xishuo hugged the tablet tightly, his eyes horrified: "What is that!"

Ning Wuwang remained silent, strode forward and picked up the corroded bricks. However, before he could take a closer look, the bricks had completely turned into dust and dispersed in the wind, and the previous traces disappeared in an instant.

"This breath..."

He frowned and said, "I've felt this before in Fu Qingzhou."

"It's him again?" King Xishuo took a deep breath and tried his best to adjust his emotions, but his deliberately low voice was hoarse and a little unpleasant to the ear: "But...how did he do it?"

"It wasn't him."

Ning Wuwang still frowned, the knot between his brows getting tighter and tighter: "If I'm not mistaken, something left a mark on him... Chu Xianghong said that he has a soul mark on him, Fu Qingzhou, and it's related to the Styx Valley."

"..."

King Xishuo lowered his head and remained silent for a long while.

After a long silence, he spoke in a low voice: "Try to find out what he did when he was in Beiyi."

"in addition……"

"Don't wait any longer, don't hold back any longer, Fu Qingzhou must not live anymore."

He turned his head, his eyes like lightning, piercing Ning Wuwang: "If we can't kill Fu Qingzhou, then destroy his spirit! Make him collapse, make him despair, and make him powerless to fight against us!"

(End of this chapter)