Mo Fan leaned against the cold, broken walls, staring dead at that dark red "sun" in the sky—the kind that looked like it could crush everything beneath it to powder.
Venerable Miasma Dust's blood-force storm had brewed to its absolute peak.
The terrifying oppressive pressure made the surrounding air unbearably viscous, squeezing against Mo Fan's chest like something tangible, until every breath tasted of iron and blood.
Mo Fan was almost ready to accept his fate. Almost ready to close his eyes and welcome that devastating blow.
"San Niang... San Niang..."
A voice—an extremely weak, intermittent calling sound—suddenly rang out near his feet.
Mo Fan froze for a moment. He looked down with difficulty.
It was Wu Feng.
This robber cultivator—who had been caught in the aftershock of the Foundation Establishment spell and had nearly half his body blown off—was currently dragging a trail of nauseating bloody intestines across the ground.
Like a rotting loach with its lower half crushed, he was crawling bit by bit, extremely tenaciously, toward Mo Fan's direction.
He actually wasn't dead yet.
His one remaining hand still tightly clutched that poisoned black short blade, waving it futilely in mid-air.
But his expression was extremely bizarre. Those eyes, which had been scarlet and mad from Qi Deviation, were actually brimming with hot tears right now.
Had he finally returned to his senses?
Or was he still unwilling to face the cruel reality of having killed his own wife with his bare hands, choosing to sink forever into that false illusion?
Perhaps, his stubborn crawling toward Mo Fan, waving a blade that had long lost its strength, was simpler than all of that.
Maybe he just wanted Mo Fan to give him a quick end, so he could go down and atone for San Niang.
No one would ever know.
"Heh..."
Mo Fan stared at this extremely tragic scene in front of him. At first, he didn't even react. Then the corner of his mouth pulled into a bitter smile uglier than crying.
"Brother... of all the people to accompany me in my last moments, I really didn't expect it to be you."
He shook his head slowly. "Who the fuck could've seen that coming."
He started to look away. Started to lift his gaze back toward the sky and whatever was coming.
And then—in the instant before his eyes left Wu Feng entirely—he caught it.
He keenly perceived that extremely chaotic, yet absolutely tangible aura on Wu Feng's body.
That was... the aura of [ Peak Qi Condensation (LV.10) ]!
BZZT—!
It felt as if a million-volt bolt of lightning had violently struck down inside Mo Fan's brain!
In the depths of absolute desperation, he had suddenly captured a fatal blind spot he'd completely forgotten existed!
"Wait."
Mo Fan abruptly widened his eyes, his breathing stalling.
Peak Qi Condensation! A living person! A cultivator of the same tier!
"HOLY SHIT!"
Mo Fan was so excited his entire body shuddered. He slapped his own thigh violently, almost jumping straight up from the ruins!
"I'M SUCH AN IDIOT! HOW THE FUCK DID I NOT SEE THIS?!"
Wasn't this Wu Feng right in front of him a ready-made peak Qi Condensation cultivator?!
The ecstasy of finding a lifeline in the abyss instantly made Mo Fan's blood-stained face radiate a near-manic glow.
This Wu Feng was originally a murderous, looting animal. He was dead set on killing me just now, and even with only half a life left, he's still crawling after me. This is called Self-Defense!
And that bullshit Venerable Miasma Dust in the sky, and Fang Tong—killing them is called Enforcing Justice on Behalf of Heaven! If the blind Heavens won't take you, your father will take you today! Just you all wait
Meanwhile, high above.
Venerable Miasma Dust—who was currently holding up the blood-colored storm, preparing to smash down the fatal blow—watched the youth in the ruins below suddenly start dancing around by himself, even excitedly slapping his thigh.
The disgust and contempt in his eyes reached a new depth.
"Still playing the fool and bluffing?"
He snorted coldly. "This Seat will not fall for your tricks again. Die!"
But Mo Fan below didn't even have the time to pay attention to the old monster in the sky right now.
With no time to lose, the ultimate move from above was seconds from coming down!
Mo Fan's expression turned solemn. Looking at Wu Feng, who was still struggling to crawl over with eyes full of hot tears, a trace of complex emotion flashed through his gaze.
"Sorry about this, Wu Feng."
Mo Fan crouched down, his voice extremely low, yet carrying a cold ruthlessness.
"Take it slow on the road to the underworld. I'll avenge you and San Niang both. I'll send that old thing in the sky down to keep you company."
Before the last word had fully left his mouth—
Mo Fan flicked his wrist.
The bone dagger he had been gripping all along turned into a grayish-white afterimage, slicing across Wu Feng's throat with extreme precision, without the slightest hesitation!
Squelch.
The sharp blade severed the windpipe. Fresh blood spurted out.
His head rolled to the side. Wu Feng's hot tears, and the twisted obsession behind them, completely froze in this moment.
He was finally freed. Escaping that cruel illusion—forever. He could finally go be with San Niang.
Ding.
The exact instant Wu Feng completely lost all vital signs.
Within Mo Fan's mind, a sound rang out—cold, mechanical, long-absent, and in this moment, sounding exactly like music from the heavens!
[ Tier-2 Breakthrough Quest: Necromancer's Foundation ]
[ Objective: Kill one cultivator of the same tier (Alive). ]
[ Progress: 1/1 — COMPLETE ]
[ Breakthrough conditions met. Initiating Realm Breakthrough... ]
BOOM——!!!
In a split second, an aura surged up—ancient, vast, and so soul-tremblingly alien it seemed to shatter the boundary and descend from the endless Nine Underworlds!
It ignored all physical barriers, pouring madly into Mo Fan's limbs, bones, and every meridian in his body.
Mo Fan only felt as if his mind had been dropped into the heart of a cosmic galaxy.
Countless complex and obscure necromantic laws and ancient runes turned into a massive stream of information, frantically assaulting his sea of consciousness.
His pupils instantly lost focus. They went pure grayish-white.
Under the baptism of this magnificent planar force, Mo Fan's entire being plunged into a state of complete stupor—standing motionless in the ruins like a wooden post that had lost its soul.
Meanwhile, high above.
Venerable Miasma Dust's line of sight had happened to take in this entire scene playing out in the ruins below.
This old monster—who had once stood half a step from the Golden Core—was currently experiencing an unprecedentedly violent collapse of his worldview and cognition.
What had he just seen?
He had seen that youth—who was just cursing up a storm with surprisingly hard bones moments ago—suddenly start dancing around excitedly by himself and slapping his thigh when facing his certain-death spell.
Then, for no apparent reason, this kid pulled out a dagger and killed that half-dead "companion" who had been crawling toward him the whole time with a single slash!
And then—after killing him—this kid neither turned to run away nor cast any defensive spells.
Instead, he simply dropped the dagger, stood in place like a block of wood, tilted his head back, rolled his eyes white, and went catatonic?!
"What the hell is this little animal doing?!"
Holding up that massive blood-colored storm, Venerable Miasma Dust was completely dumbfounded in the wind.
When things are abnormal, there must be demons.
His old paranoid habits flared up again. He subconsciously hesitated—half a breath, no more.
But immediately after, his keen perception as a Foundation Establishment cultivator screamed at him like a needle driving into his skull!
He realized it in horror. From the body of the youth below.
A terrifying aura had suddenly surged forth—an aura that sent a genuine shudder through even an old monster like him!
Venerable Miasma Dust swallowed hard, cold sweat breaking across his forehead.
Is this kid actually an idiot? Or has he just been playing one this entire time?!
In this moment, the so-called "Venerable Miasma Dust"— Was completely, utterly, and thoroughly lost.