Lu Yunze thought he was just playing around, and at the start of the battle, he wanted to get his hands on a real weapon—who would’ve thought he’d actually get one?
The Heavy Sword’s blade scraped against the ground, leaving deep gashes across the ceramic tiles of the grand hall.
The Heavy Sword itself glimmered faintly, its patterns hard to make out, but the feel in his hand was solid—like he was lifting it with real effort, yet somehow, not overly strained.
With a weapon in hand, the fight ahead wouldn’t be so difficult anymore.
“Good! Xiao Yan, get up—now we really have a chance!”
Lu Yunze turned his head, only to see the half-dead girl lying on the ground.
Ever since he struck out with the Heavy Sword, Jiang Sui’s face had become deathly pale. She gasped for air, her entire body drained of strength.
She felt as if she’d been tossed onto a bed and tormented by a few brutes for three days and nights, turned into a used-up toy.
“Can you keep it together?”
Lu Yunze was still nagging, which only stirred up more defiance within Jiang Sui.
She leaned against the wall to get up, giving Lu Yunze a resentful glare, her two pale thighs trembling beneath her robe, unable to stop shaking.
Because her robe had slipped a bit, Lu Yunze’s sharp eyes could glimpse the white peaks inside her clothes, and even the red marks left during the struggle.
Lu Yunze hurriedly turned his head away and said in the direction of Li Zhiyan, “Can you still circulate your energy? I think we can take her away now!”
“Just barely. If I take another hit, I can’t guarantee success,” Jiang Sui replied, clutching her shoulders and staggering forward.
Lu Yunze exhaled deeply and saw Li Zhiya crawling back into the grand hall.
He gripped the Heavy Sword with both hands, advanced swiftly, and swept past Jiang Sui like a gust of wind. Then he leapt high, bringing the Heavy Sword down on Li Zhiya’s back.
Sensing danger, Li Zhiya instantly shielded her head with all her hair. As the blade met her, the force sent her flying again.
Lu Yunze dragged the Heavy Sword to chase after her, restoring a brief calm to the hall.
Jiang Sui stood at the center of the Ritual formation, restarted it, and though her breathing was still ragged, she nearly felt suffocated.
“Are you alright?” The Black Cat emerged from a corner.
“I’m holding on, just exhausted,” Jiang Sui squeezed out a smile.
“Let’s continue.”
“Are you sure you can keep going, in your condition?” The Black Pig didn’t act right away. “Contacting the Evil God is extremely dangerous—it could cost you your life.”
Jiang Sui had told Lu Yunze she had a way to defeat Li Zhiya, but in truth, she wasn’t sure if she could succeed.
Since Li Zhiya possessed the Evil God’s Power, Jiang Sui could only try to get a little benefit from the King in Black Robes. But this was far riskier than using or channeling the Ancient Book’s power—no one knew if she’d survive contact with the Evil God.
As the Black Cat warned, dying instantly was actually the best-case scenario. More often, people would go mad, develop tumors, or mutate into monsters like Li Zhiya.
Jiang Sui didn’t answer. The ground beneath her feet still trembled slightly—it was Lu Yunze and Li Zhiya still fighting.
“Lu Yunze trusts me so much—if I waste that trust now, how will I use him in the future?”
Muttering to herself, Jiang Sui wiped her dry lips and started the Ritual once more.
Among the documents she brought back from the Jin Family’s basement were detailed instructions on offering a tribute to the King in Black Robes and obtaining divine power.
Jiang Sui also had the Black Box. In theory, she could complete the Ritual—as long as the King in Black Robes responded, she just had to store part of that power in the Ancient Book.
If the Ancient Book could withstand it, Jiang Sui could directly contact the King in Black Robes and borrow his power to counterattack Li Zhiya.
Of course, this plan was extremely risky—if she enraged the King in Black Robes, she might be struck down on the spot.
But for victory, she was willing to risk it all.
After all, far greater dangers awaited in the future—she needed to get used to these life-and-death crises.
Jiang Sui continued chanting the incantation. The Ritual’s Red Glow intensified, and the Black Box on the plate before her shook even harder.
Li Zhiya’s attack had cracked the Ritual array, but with the Black Cat’s help, disaster had been averted.
But she couldn’t afford a second mishap. If the Ritual failed, who knew what consequences there’d be.
Again, Jiang Sui distinctly felt that oppressive, alien gaze from above, locking onto her.
Whispering, chaotic murmurs echoed by her ears, flooding her mind, making her body sway.
These murmurs were more terrifying than any sound in the world. Jiang Sui’s head throbbed; she could only force herself to focus on the written incantation, maintaining the chant without pause.
The Black Box continued to shake, even starting to float, bathed in Red Glow.
Amidst the clamor, Jiang Sui seemed to faintly hear a muddled greeting, but couldn’t make out the words.
Just as she strained to listen for that voice, the walls of the hall began to collapse again, and Li Zhiya reappeared in her field of vision.
Again? Lu Yunze!
At this point, Li Zhiya had long lost her human form—her limbs were now elongated and gaunt, like skin wrapped around bone, with only her torso remaining swollen. Her features were already unrecognizable, shrouded in darkness.
Just as Li Zhiya revealed a strange smile, about to rush at Jiang Sui, a Heavy Sword was driven straight through her back, bursting out her chest.
Covered in blood, Lu Yunze crouched on her back, pinning her to the ground with the Heavy Sword so she couldn’t get up.
“Hurry! I can’t hold on much longer!”
Lu Yunze used every ounce of his strength to shout.
Hearing his voice, Jiang Sui instead calmed down and finished the last verse of her chant.
In that instant, all the whispers vanished, and silence fell.
Jiang Sui opened her eyes to find herself in a strange space. Underfoot was soft, warm earth; in front, a perfectly still lake, its surface reflecting a beautiful Star.
Just as she hesitated in doubt, ripples spread across the lake, and a figure slowly emerged.
The figure wore inky black robes, its face obscured by a hood. What stretched from the hem of the robe were not feet, but writhing tentacles.
The figure glided closer, finally stopping at the boundary between shore and water.
At that moment, Jiang Sui finally understood the meaning of that voice:
“What is it you desire?”
Jiang Sui lifted her head, met the gaze beneath the hood, and presented the Black Box.
The figure in the black robes stood still for a moment, then raised its hand to press upon the Black Box.
Now! This was the moment!
Jiang Sui held her breath and prepared herself.
If every person in this world had a soul, then this Black Box was a vessel for those souls. Handing the Black Box over was to offer up those souls, but Jiang Sui couldn’t bring herself to do it—she used it only as bait for her true target.
She summoned the Ancient Book, placing it above the Black Box, and reached out toward the figure’s hand.
The pages of the Ancient Book passed through the space near the figure’s fingers. Jiang Sui’s breath nearly stopped—she thought her plan had failed.
But the next moment, the figure in black robes actively reached out, touching a finger to the Ancient Book.
A burst of red light erupted, illuminating Jiang Sui’s astonished face.
“Ah!”
Jiang Sui’s consciousness snapped back to the real world, the Ancient Book and Black Box both falling from her hands as the Ritual array’s light faded.
Lu Yunze saw all this and felt a chill in his heart, before being snatched up by Li Zhiya and thrown in Jiang Sui’s direction.
Lu Yunze crashed onto the ground behind Jiang Sui, completely spent.
Li Zhiya pulled out the Heavy Sword and tossed it aside, her face filled with madness.
“Give it to me! There’s nowhere left for you to run!”
Jiang Sui picked up the Ancient Book, checked its contents, then smirked: “Nowhere left to run? That’s not me.”
She tore out a page, then drew the Remnant Moon Mirror Blade. The Ritual was complete, and the Ancient Book’s divine-powered page fused with the Mirror Blade, emitting an even more terrifying aura than Li Zhiya’s.
“How could you… You clearly didn’t succeed in the offering!”
Li Zhiya’s face twisted in disbelief.
“Maybe the King had eaten his fill and didn’t want any more,” Jiang Sui replied lightly.
Her answer made Li Zhiya’s face flush with fury; she unleashed all her spikes and tentacles, trying to tear Jiang Sui apart.
But Jiang Sui merely raised the Mirror Blade, and with a gentle flick, all the spikes and tentacles were sliced to pieces, falling to the ground as fragments.
Li Zhiya hesitated for a moment, then stretched out her neck, preparing to release a sonic attack.
Jiang Sui vaporized and appeared before her, raising the Mirror Blade and slashing down.
Li Zhiya’s torso was cleaved in two, her body and head tumbling in opposite directions.
Stepping lightly, Jiang Sui noticed that Li Zhiya was still alive.
Her head, connected to a long, snakelike neck, had sprouted eight limbs and now scuttled around the floor like a centipede.
Jiang Sui didn’t rush; she simply stepped on her, raised the Mirror Blade, and aimed at the bulging armpit on her mutated body.
“Wait, don’t kill me!” Li Zhiya’s soul nearly fled from her.
“Anything you want to say?”
“A lot, a lot!” Li Zhiya squeezed out a pitiful smile.
“I’m now the head of the Jin Family, and like you, I’ve been blessed by the King in Black Robes. Maybe we could become good friends and develop our business together!”
Jiang Sui fell silent for a moment, then lowered the blade:
“I’ve always wanted to ask you a question.”
“Go ahead, ask anything.”
“What was your goal? After doing all that, what was it all for?”
Li Zhiya thought it was some profound question, but it turned out to be this.
“Of course, for wealth and glory!”
“…I see.”
Because Jin Huancheng was rich, she became his mistress, but the Jin Family’s assets had been declining recently, so she turned her gaze to the Black Star Cult.
“In other words, from the start, your plan was to use everyone up and then take everything for yourself.”
“That’s right, exactly. I’ve always had sharp judgment. You’re a girl too—you want money for makeup and handbags, right? If we work together, we can catch even more foolish, rich men!”
“Is that so? Too bad I’m not interested.”
Jiang Sui, without warning, raised the Mirror Blade once more.
“And don’t ever compare me to people that shallow.”
Amid Li Zhiya’s wails, the blade sliced open her belly and pried out the mutated Black Box.
This abomination’s life had truly come to an end.
“So tired… I’m about to die…”
Jiang Sui used the Mirror Blade to support herself.
The page from the Ancient Book that had fused to the Remnant Moon Mirror Blade now automatically detached, dissolving to gray ash and scattering in the air.
Wait. Chapter 109 was released before 108 was.