Chapter 259: Determined to Die
“Retreat! We can’t win!”
Watching Summer Changfei fall to the monstrous elder, Ye Xiaolin made a swift decision. At this
point, the battle was clearly unwinnable. If they stayed any longer, their lives would be forfeit as
well.
Without another word, Ye Xiaolin’s figure blurred as he vanished into the dense forest.
Lu Shanglin and Lin Yifeng didn’t hesitate. Following closely behind, the three disappeared into
the shadows of the mountains.
“Cowards from the Yue Kingdom!”
Nangong Chun noticed their retreat, her delicate brows furrowing as she spat angrily.
“The situation is dire. Continuing this fight serves no purpose,” Beiyuan said, his expression
grim as he surveyed the battlefield. Bodies of cultivators littered the ground, and even Master
Mu, who had been protecting him, was gravely injured.
“What? Are you planning to run too?” Nangong Chun snapped, alarmed. “We’ve fought this far,
and the elder is weakening. If we hold on, we can kill him!
“Run? Even if we escape now, how long do you think we’ll survive? The Wu Kingdom sealed us
in here—they intend for none of us to leave alive! If we don’t kill the elder, do you think we’ll
have a chance of escaping later?”
Beiyuan’s eyes darkened as he listened to her, but his response was cold.
“If you want to stay, suit yourself. I’m leaving.”
With that, his figure flickered, and he disappeared into the forest.
“Coward! Weakling! They’re all spineless!”
Nangong Chun cursed as she watched him go.
Suddenly, a wave of danger surged through her, sending chills down her spine.
“Princess Nangong, run!”
The middle-aged swordsman who had been guarding her shouted urgently, his face pale. He
had just been knocked back by the elder’s devastating strike and barely managed to steady
himself. Now, he watched in horror as the elder turned and charged straight at Nangong Chun.
Ignoring his own injuries, he joined Master Mu and the remaining three cultivators in a
desperate attempt to intercept the elder.
Despite their efforts, Nangong Chun found herself frozen in place.
She stared wide-eyed at the monstrous elder as he closed in, his grotesque face smeared with
the blood and flesh of the Spirit Root cultivators he had devoured.
Fear gripped her so tightly that her body refused to obey her commands.
Run! Move! Do something!
Her mind screamed at her body, but she remained paralyzed, unable to react.
Crack!
The elder’s claws crushed her neck in one swift motion.
With a low, guttural growl, he sank his teeth into her throat, tearing flesh and sending a spray of
blood into the air.
Pain coursed through her, mingling with the despair that filled her heart. Regret clawed at her
thoughts—regret for not escaping with Beiyuan when she had the chance.
Why did I stay? Why did I think we could kill him? This monster was never meant to be
defeated.
But it was too late. Regret couldn’t save her now.
“Bastard!”
The middle-aged swordsman roared in fury as he watched Nangong Chun fall. His sword
slashed wildly at the elder’s back, each strike infused with powerful sword intent. The blade
descended again and again, as relentless as a torrential storm.
But the elder didn’t flinch.
Lost in his bloodlust, he ignored the sword strikes and continued devouring Nangong Chun’s
lifeless body. His back was a mangled mess of blood and exposed bone, yet he seemed
impervious to the pain.
At this moment, he was no longer a man but a monster—a creature devoid of reason, humanity,
or even the basic sensation of pain.
“Blood! Blood!”
Having finished his gruesome meal, the elder threw his head back and let out a savage roar.
A burst of energy exploded from him, sending the middle-aged swordsman, Master Mu, and the
others flying. They tumbled dozens of feet away, coughing up blood as they landed in crumpled
heaps.
“He’s too strong… a Foundation Establishment cultivator is too strong!”
Master Mu slumped to the ground, his face pale as death.
“Yes… too strong. Even with so many of us working together, we can’t kill him. So many lives
lost, and he’s still standing,” the middle-aged swordsman muttered.
His gaze drifted across the battlefield, where the mutilated remains of his comrades lay
scattered—gruesome reminders of their failure.
The corpses scattered across the battlefield had once been the Spirit Root cultivators of various
kingdoms, their cultivation levels mostly at the Embryo Breath stage, with some at the Qi
Refinement stage.
Among the dead were also the hidden guardians assigned to protect the Spirit Root
cultivators—cultivators of formidable strength, most in the Qi Refinement stage.
Even with such power gathered in one place, defeating the Wu elder proved nearly impossible.
The cost was staggering.
“If the elder hadn’t failed at Foundation Establishment and was merely a half-step into it… we
wouldn’t have lasted this long, let alone injured him,” Master Mu said with a bitter smile.
“Can you still fight?”
The middle-aged swordsman didn’t answer directly. Instead, his gaze fell on Master Mu as he
posed the question.
“My organs have shifted, several ribs are broken, and I’m nearly out of spiritual energy… I don’t
think so,” Master Mu replied with a helpless laugh, shaking his head.
“Then there’s no other choice.”
Hearing this, the swordsman let out a rueful chuckle. Leaning on his sword, he pushed himself
to his feet despite the pain wracking his body. Without hesitation, he began walking toward the
Wu elder.
“What are you doing? Are you trying to die?”
Master Mu’s eyes widened as he watched the injured swordsman drag his battered body toward
the monstrous elder.
“Princess Nangong is dead. I failed to protect her. Even if I survive this, I have no face to return
to the emperor.
“Besides, none of us are getting out of here alive. I might as well make it quick and take that
damned creature down with me,” the swordsman said, his voice calm and resolute as he
marched forward.
By now, he had fully accepted his fate.
“Blood! Blood!”
The Wu elder turned, sensing the swordsman’s approaching aura. His beast-like eyes locked
onto his target as he lunged forward, closing the distance in an instant.
With a feral snarl, the elder’s bloody jaws sank into the swordsman’s neck.
But the swordsman showed no fear or hesitation. His expression remained calm, even as his life
ebbed away.
Then, his face contorted into a ferocious grin as he bellowed, “Let’s die together, you damned
beast!”
His dantian surged with spiritual energy, the power coursing wildly through his body.
Pale blue ripples appeared across his skin, veins bulging as the energy expanded and
concentrated. His body swelled, ballooning grotesquely as it teetered on the edge of rupture.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion tore through the battlefield, shaking the earth and sky.
The self-destruction of a Qi Refinement Sixth Stage cultivator unleashed a devastating wave of
heat and energy, ripping through the area within a kilometer.
The shockwave reduced everything in its path—trees, grass, and stone—to fine dust, swallowed
whole by the inferno that followed.
Master Mu and the remaining injured cultivators were thrown hundreds of meters by the blast,
landing heavily on the ground.
“Who could have expected he’d go so far…”
After a long silence, Master Mu struggled to sit up, his body battered and broken. He gazed at
the heart of the explosion, where a massive column of fire spiraled into the sky, forming a
mushroom cloud that reached the heavens.
“Do you think a self-detonation at the Qi Refinement Sixth Stage is enough to kill a Foundation
Establishment cultivator?” one of the other survivors murmured weakly, his voice trembling with
uncertainty.
“It’s hard to say…”
Master Mu shook his head, his tone uncertain. Even if the elder was a failed Foundation
Establishment cultivator, survival seemed almost guaranteed.
“If even that wasn’t enough to kill him… then we truly have no hope left,” the survivor whispered,
despair heavy in his voice.