Chapter 258: Not for Myself
“Master Mu, shall we cooperate?”
A deep voice broke through the chaos as a middle-aged swordsman from the Southern
Kingdom appeared beside Beiyuan and Master Mu. His gaze was steady, though urgency
flickered in his eyes.
“Let’s join forces. In a situation like this, there’s no surviving without unity,” Master Mu replied,
his tone resolute.
Initially, his sole concern had been Beiyuan’s safety. But after hearing Beiyuan’s impassioned
reasoning, he realized the truth: only by pooling their strength could they hope to survive.
“Good. That’s what I wanted to hear,” the swordsman said with a faint smile. Without another
word, he darted forward, his sword slicing through the air as he charged at the Wu Kingdom
elder, who was feasting on a Southern Kingdom cultivator.
The strike, imbued with sharp sword intent, landed heavily on the elder’s back, producing a
deafening metallic clang.
“Even a failed Foundation Establishment cultivator has a body this resilient?”
The swordsman’s expression hardened as his attack failed to pierce the elder’s defenses.
Without hesitation, he retreated rapidly, his instincts screaming danger.
When the Wu elder turned and lunged at him with terrifying speed, the swordsman’s face
twisted in alarm. “Master Mu, now would be a good time to act!” he shouted.
Master Mu wasted no time, activating his technique, Lake’s Embrace. The moisture in the air
coalesced into a towering wall of water, surging forward to block the elder’s path.
But the Wu Kingdom elder barreled through the watery barrier as if it didn’t exist. Even when
Master Mu transformed the water into sharp spikes, they failed to halt the elder’s relentless
advance.
“Everyone, attack! Do you want to die?!”
The swordsman’s voice rang out as he retreated, frustration and desperation coloring his words.
Around them, the other cultivators snapped out of their daze. With renewed determination, they
unleashed a flurry of techniques at the elder’s back.
The combined assault staggered the elder, nearly forcing him to the ground.
“Blood! Blood!”
Momentarily distracted, the Wu elder shifted his attention to the new wave of cultivators.
Abandoning the swordsman, he lunged toward the group with unbridled ferocity.
Panic spread like wildfire as Nangong Chun, Ye Xiaolin, Summer Changfei, and the others
scattered in all directions. Despite their efforts, several cultivators were caught in the elder’s
grip, their screams cut short as they were torn apart and devoured.
“Attack!”
Seizing the moment while the elder was preoccupied, the swordsman roared another command.
Together with Master Mu and the remaining cultivators, they launched a coordinated assault.
Among them, the swordsman and Master Mu were the strongest, both at the sixth stage of Qi
Refinement, while the others ranged from the first to third layers. Though their collective
strength couldn’t kill the elder outright, it was enough to breach his formidable defenses.
By now, the elder’s aura had noticeably waned, his earlier invincibility eroded by the prolonged
battle.
Boom!
An explosion reverberated across the battlefield as their combined attack struck the elder’s
back. His robe was shredded, revealing charred flesh beneath—burned and twisted, emitting a
nauseating stench.
Seeing the elder injured at last, a glimmer of hope flickered in the eyes of Nangong Chun, Ye
Xiaolin, Summer Changfei, and the other Spirit Root cultivators.
Without hesitation, they unleashed their full power, forsaking caution as they bombarded the
elder relentlessly.
“Blood! Blood!”
Despite his injuries, the Wu elder seemed oblivious to pain. His red, beast-like eyes fixated on
the surviving cultivators with insatiable hunger. With a guttural roar, he charged again.
“Scatter!”
Chu Ran’s voice rang out in desperation as he realized the elder’s intent. The cultivators
dispersed in all directions, scrambling to avoid his wrath.
But Chu Ran, a fraction too slow, found himself caught in the elder’s iron grip.
Despair consumed him as he struggled in vain to break free. A searing pain shot through his
neck as the elder’s teeth sank in, tearing into his flesh.
Within moments, Chu Ran’s movements ceased. Darkness enveloped him, and his lifeless body
hung limply in the elder’s grasp.
“Blood!”
Dropping Chu Ran’s corpse, the elder turned his blood-red eyes toward Yun Yueru, his next
target.
Feeling the elder’s piercing gaze fix on her, Yun Yueru shivered, an overwhelming sense of
dread creeping up her spine.
She tried to flee, but a terrifying suction force locked onto her, pulling her toward the Wu elder
against her will.
“No! No!”
For the first time, Yun Yueru’s usually composed and strikingly beautiful face contorted in sheer
terror.
“Save her!”
Zhang Tianli cried out, raising his sword as he prepared to charge forward.
“And how do you plan to save her? Rushing in is suicide!” Summer Changfei snapped, his
expression grim as he hesitated.
Everyone else in his family—the Spirit Root cultivators of the Summer clan—had perished in the
battle. He was the sole survivor, and no matter what, he wasn’t about to throw his life away,
even if it meant disobeying the Third Prince’s orders.
Zhang Tianli fell silent, his grip on his sword trembling.
“That creature is impossible to kill,” Summer Changfei continued bitterly. “The Third Prince sent
us into this death trap knowing full well it was hopeless!”
“We thought that combining our strength with the cultivators from the other kingdoms might give
us a chance to kill the elder. But now, look at us—half of us are dead, and that monster is only
wounded!”
He glanced at Zhang Tianli and Li Hanhai, his voice dropping to a harsh whisper. “It’s just the
three of us left. Are we going to stay here and die, or do we find a way out of this nightmare?”
“Leave?”
“What about the Third Prince…?” Zhang Tianli began hesitantly.
“Do you still care about his orders when death is staring us in the face?” Summer Changfei
roared, his voice filled with desperation and rage.
The outburst snapped Zhang Tianli and Li Hanhai out of their stupor.
“Fine! We’ll find the Third Prince and demand he gets us out of here. The Wu Kingdom has
suffered enough losses already—there’s no point in staying!” Zhang Tianli said after a long
silence, his tone resigned.
The three quickly made up their minds and prepared to leave.
But before they could act, a shadow loomed over them. The Wu elder, having finished devouring
Yun Yueru, appeared behind them like a ghost.
Summer Changfei was the first to react, his face twisting in terror. Without hesitation, he shoved
Zhang Tianli and Li Hanhai toward the elder and bolted in the opposite direction.
“Summer Changfei! You bastard!”
“I’ll haunt you even in death!”
Zhang Tianli and Li Hanhai screamed in fury and despair as they stumbled toward the elder,
unable to regain their footing. Their cries were filled with anger and bitter resentment as they
realized their fate was sealed.
In the shadows, Ye Xiaolin, Lu Shanglin, and Lin Yifeng watched the scene unfold with cold
detachment.
“Summer Changfei’s actions are despicable,” Lu Shanglin muttered.
“Despicable, yes, but not surprising. People will do anything to save themselves,” Ye Xiaolin
replied, his voice low. “Still, it won’t save him.”
As if on cue, Summer Changfei, who had barely made it far from the elder, found himself
ensnared by a powerful suction force. The Wu elder had finished feasting on Zhang Tianli and Li
Hanhai, and now turned his sights on him.
“Damn it! Damn it!”
Summer Changfei screamed, his voice cracking with desperation. “Why aren’t you attacking?! If
I die, you’ll lose a powerful ally, and then you’ll all die!”
His pleas echoed through the battlefield, but even as the other cultivators—Master Mu, the
middle-aged swordsman, Nangong Chun, and the rest—launched their attacks, it wasn’t
enough.
The elder’s grip tightened, and Summer Changfei’s screams faded as he met the same grisly
fate as the others.
With Summer Changfei’s death, the Spirit Root cultivators of the Wu Kingdom were wiped out
entirely.
The Chu Kingdom’s cultivators had also perished, leaving only a handful of survivors: Nangong
Chun, Beiyuan, Ye Xiaolin, Lu Shanglin, and Lin Yifeng.
The battle had been nothing short of catastrophic for all involved.
Despite their sacrifices and the countless lives lost, they had only succeeded in injuring the Wu
elder. Killing him remained as elusive as ever.
What had once seemed like a glimmer of hope now lay shattered. Their goal of slaying the elder
had turned into nothing more than a cruel illusion.