Ascending to the Clouds Alone

Just as Lin Su was distracted, Han Xiangyu, who was standing to the side, used his essence and blood to power up his strength, forcefully hurling the jade slip into the air, and then knocked him back with a palm strike:

"Here you go!"

Seeing the jade slip being thrown away, the female deacon glared at Han Xiangyu, and at the same time, her body shone with spiritual light as she leaped after it.

Lin Su staggered to his feet ten feet away, not knowing what Han Xiangyu was up to. An ominous premonition rose in his heart.

In this brief moment, Han Xiangyu looked past the rain curtain and gazed at Lin Su, whose face was full of surprise and doubt.

His gaze was calm and indifferent, yet it concealed a hint of undisguised reluctance.

The next moment, as soon as the jade slip was in her hand, the female deacon sensed a terrifying tremor gathering below.

She was shocked. This cunning villain actually intended to use his essence, blood, and soul as a catalyst to self-destruct and unleash the primal, corrupting power of the God-Eating Gu?!

Han Xiangyu's body seemed to be sucked in by something, collapsing inward little by little.

In a hurry, the female deacon formed a spiritual energy shield, but just as it was taking shape, a murky black mist arrived like lightning.

This protective barrier, which could originally withstand a full-force attack from a Qi Refining stage cultivator, shattered instantly upon being touched by the black mist!

The primordial corrupting energy seeped into her body through the cracks in her shield, instantly contaminating most of her true essence, which then became difficult to circulate.

"puff!"

She spat out a mouthful of blood, and the light on the protective shield faded. Although it was not broken, it was now practically useless.

The foul power, wrapped in fragments of Han Xiangyu's obsession, mostly penetrated her sea of ​​consciousness, directly targeting her soul.

Almost simultaneously, some scattered fragments also rushed into Lin Su's mind:

"Blood mines, human sacrifices... A chilling wind blows in the Central Region... Do not trust people too easily..."

Lin Su felt his vision go black, and for a moment the world turned upside down. Only hazy light and shadow and smells lingered on the edge of his perception, as if separated by a thick curtain of water.

Everything seemed to have become distant, leaving only endless pain.

He seemed to hear a voice, it was Uncle Han, calling from afar:

"Let's go... let's go..."

He wanted to say, "Uncle Han, let's go together," but his throat felt blocked.

Immediately afterwards, an even stronger sensation swept over me.

A sharp shriek of spiritual energy, the hissing of Gu worms, the disintegration of flesh and blood, the vaporization of raindrops...

These sensations washed over his senses again and again.

Along with the strangeness emanating from the female deacon, it also wafted over, like the interplay between the strings of a zither during playing:

One string sounds, and the others tremble.

In an instant, it was as if he "heard" it!

Just like when he was a child, when his mother played the piano, he would place his hands on the body of the instrument, and the vibration of the strings would be transmitted to his fingertips.

The female deacon's shield cracked and trembled incessantly, like a string stretched to its limit, ready to snap at any moment.

Uncle Han's lingering soul swayed as it was about to dissipate.

The corrupting power of the Corrosive Gu was churning incessantly...

At this moment, Lin Su's soul seemed to be strangled, and blood kept seeping from his ears and eyes.

In a daze, a warm hand covered his and gently held his fingers.

In my ears, I heard my mother's voice:

"When strings resonate in unison, they can move heaven and earth."

He couldn't understand it then, and even as death drew near, he still couldn't comprehend it.

The excruciating pain in his skull intensified, and Lin Su frantically pulled out the Qifeng Qin (a type of zither) and used it to prop himself up on the ground.

The tremor emanating from the protective barrier felt to him exactly the same as the broken point on the white jade slip.

However, the lingering tremors on the shield were even more ferocious and violent.

Without thinking too much, Lin Su pressed his right hand lightly on the surface of the zither, his fingertips following his memory as he gently touched the strings.

Then, the three fingers of the index, middle, and middle fingers moved rapidly, and the sound of the zither burst forth, like pearls shattering on a jade plate.

The spirit-locking talisman could lock away the spiritual energy within his body, but it couldn't lock away the tenderness deep within the zither's body. That was the old spirit that his mother had transferred in years ago, which had long since merged with the wooden embryo.

The spiritual energy followed the sound, neither rushing nor surging, but like a thread probing a hole, silently wrapping around the cracks in the shield.

The moment the music touched the crack, the tremors on the shield suddenly intensified.

Just then, a surge of tingling numbness rushed up from his fingertips, causing Lin Su's entire forearm to tense up suddenly.

The lingering force from the unfinished finger-rolling motion intertwined with this subconscious tension.

Lin Su suddenly pulled three fingers to his side and plucked them at the nearest seven-stringed instrument.

"clank--"

These two zither sounds were several times brighter than the previous tremolo, and their resounding clangs pierced the air.

This wave is like lighting a lamp, and another thrust is like piercing armor!

The sound of the zither reverberated, and cracks appeared on the shield from the inside out, leaving patterns on its surface.

Immediately afterwards, the entire barrier of light seemed to have its last vestige of life sucked away.

Cracks instantly covered the entire surface of the shield, and then completely transformed into a shower of shimmering light.

At this moment, Lin Su stood playing the zither, the lingering sound of his fingers still present, and drops of blood dripped from the strings.

The barrier was gone, and the corrupting power went completely berserk.

A surge of frenzied force rushed back from the female deacon's true energy, flooding into her dantian like a burst dam.

Then, she let out a muffled groan and fell from mid-air.

Before she even touched the ground, she used all her strength to reach to her waist, gripped the hilt of the sword, and pulled it outwards.

"choke--"

A soft sword appeared in response.

The moment her feet touched the ground, the female deacon froze in place.

She knew she couldn't use her true energy anymore, but how could she have acquired her swordsmanship after practicing for twenty years for nothing?

The moment the soft sword flicked, its blade taut and straightened, piercing through the rain curtain and heading straight for Lin Su's throat.

All that remained before Lin Su's eyes was a hazy curtain of rain, making it almost impossible to distinguish the shadows of swords and figures.

But the sword's cry that pierced through the air reached his senses, like a vibrating string, its lingering resonance never ceasing.

Just as the sword tip was about to pierce his throat, Lin Su dodged to the side, the blade grazing his clothes and slicing off a strip of cloth.

A hint of surprise flashed in the female deacon's eyes. This young man was clearly almost blind, yet he was able to dodge her sword strikes!

Such powerful intuition?!

Her brows furrowed instantly with coldness, and with a flick of her wrist, the soft sword drew an arc in the air, swiftly slashing towards Lin Su's neck.

Lin Su bent down to dodge again, a flash of cold light above his head, and a strand of broken hair slowly drifted down.

Despite the excruciating pain surging in her lower abdomen, the female deacon thrust her soft sword forward with all her might, her veins bulging on the back of her hand.

Lingjue sensed the sword tip approaching his heart. Lin Su took several steps back, but the sword blade drew ever closer.

He knew he couldn't avoid the sword strike, so he instinctively raised the Qifeng Qin (a type of zither) to block it in front of his chest.

The sword tip pierced the body of the zither, causing Lin Su's tiger's mouth to go numb.

In the blurry light and shadow, he seemed to see the sword tip piercing into the body of the zither.

Lin Su's face drained of color instantly, his pupils shrank to a point, and he stared at the female deacon with gritted teeth.

The sword paused, and the female deacon suddenly seemed somewhat dazed:

What exactly does this young man care about?

The thought flashed through her mind, and she was about to draw her soft sword to stab again, but the sword was stuck in the body of the zither, as if it were being bitten by something.

Upon closer inspection, it was clear that Lin Su's left hand was gripping the soft sword tightly.

Blood seeped from between his fingers, mixing with the rainwater and flowing down the sword.

"Let go!" The female deacon's face was cold and stern.

Lin Su still gripped the tip of the sword, refusing to let go, and then pulled the Qifeng Qin closer to his chest.

The female deacon drew her sword with force, the blade gliding across Lin Su's palm, tearing open his skin and revealing the bone beneath.

The rain was cold, but his blood was hot, yet Lin Su felt as if he were in a nightmare, unable to feel anything at all.

After a few breaths, he slowly released his grip.

His body swayed slightly forward, and Lin Su suddenly retreated, instantly putting distance between himself and the female deacon.

Then he took out the triangular talisman and clutched it tightly...

Rain pattered on his hands and on the zither, and Lin Su just stood there.

At that moment, it seemed as if only his breath remained, and all other sounds were silenced.

The female deacon endured the excruciating pain in her body and soul, the horrific scene of the cunning disciple's self-destruction still vivid in her mind.

She held the sword horizontally in front of her chest, striking a powerful pose, but inwardly she was secretly shocked:

This Qi Refining stage youth was able to shatter a shield with the sound of his zither. His spiritual sense was powerful, his methods were unpredictable, and his mental fortitude far surpassed that of ordinary people.

What kind of deadly move is he holding in his hand now?