Chapter 79 Brother (Bonus Chapter with 2k5 Nutrient Solution) He also has another...

Duan Xuan froze, her eyes wide open, filled with disbelief, terror, and then immense sorrow and anger.

"Why!" Her voice trembled. "Immortal Venerable Huaiwei, why did you kill my senior sister?!"

Fu Yunshu drew his sword, and Chu Yu's body slumped to the ground. He looked at Duan Xuan, his eyes filled with complex emotions, but before he could speak—

"Master!"

Another voice rang out, filled with anxiety and weakness. Supported by Ji Yuanbai, Yin Lisheng staggered over. His face was deathly pale, and he was covered in injuries, but his eyes remained fixed on Fu Yunshu, only relaxing slightly after confirming that he was alright.

Ji Yuanbai and Qin Lianyue arrived with a group of reinforcements. They were sent by Song Wenzhuo. After stabilizing the situation at the camp, Song Wenzhuo immediately sent them to support Fu Yunshu. On the way, Ji Yuanbai encountered the seriously injured Yin Lisheng and fed him some medicine, hoping he would go back to rest, but Yin Lisheng insisted on coming to find Fu Yunshu.

Now, everyone witnessed this scene: Fu Yunshu stood with his sword, blood dripping from its tip. Chu Yu lay on the ground, blood still seeping from his chest wound, lifeless. Duan Xuan stood not far away, her face streaked with tears, her eyes filled with despair and rage.

Qin Lianyue's face turned pale the moment she saw Chu Yu's corpse. Chu Yu was one of her most beloved disciples, whom she had raised from childhood and treated like her own son.

"Immortal Venerable Huaiwei," Qin Lianyue's voice trembled, "What...what's going on?"

Duan Xuan suddenly moved. Like a madwoman, she drew her sword and charged towards Fu Yunshu without regard for anything else!

"Give me back my senior sister!!!"

Her cultivation level was far inferior to Fu Yunshu's, so this sword strike posed no threat at all.

Just as Duan Xuan's sword was about to pierce Fu Yunshu—

A figure quickly blocked Fu Yunshu's path.

It is Yin Lisheng.

The Broken Abyss Sword was held against Duan Xuan's neck; one more step forward and the sharp blade would slit her throat.

"Anyone who dares to harm my master shall die!"

Yin Lisheng's eyes were icy cold, staring at Duan Xuan as if she were a dead object. Startled by his gaze, Duan Xuan collapsed to the ground, sobbing.

“Chu Yu is the Holy Maiden Yue Wu of the Demon Clan,” Fu Yunshu quickly explained. “We’ll talk about this later. The most urgent thing is to find Yan Ji.”

Those two short sentences were like a bombshell, but Fu Yunshu was right; now was not the time to dwell on this.

Fu Yunshu, along with Yin Lisheng, Ji Yuanbai, and the others, quickly rushed into the depths of the Ten Thousand Demons Palace.

The hall was in complete disarray. Several stone pillars supporting the hall had collapsed, and broken tiles and congealed black blood were scattered on the ground. On the highest platform in the center, a figure stood facing them.

That was Yan Nanqiu's face, but his expression had completely changed. His once bright eyes, which always held a smile, were now filled with malice, madness, and a nauseating smugness.

His lips curled into an exaggerated arc, as if he were smiling, but it conveyed no warmth, only a chilling feeling.

“Yanji,” Fu Yunshu said coldly.

"Yan Nanqiu"—or rather, Yan Ji, who had taken over Yan Nanqiu's body—tilted his head and let out a strange laugh: "Immortal Venerable Huaiwei...you came very quickly. Unfortunately, you are still a step too late."

His voice was strange, like two voices overlapping each other, one deep and hoarse, the other clear and youthful, mixed together, making one's scalp tingle.

Fu Yunshu's heart sank. Judging from this, Yan Ji's possession of the body was indeed more than half complete; at least he had taken control of the body.

"Give Yan Nanqiu's body back." Yin Lisheng stepped forward, pointing his sword at Yan Ji, his voice icy.

"Give it back?" Yan Ji laughed so hard his shoulders shook, as if he had heard something hilarious. "This is mine to begin with, so why 'give it back'? My blood flows in this body; I gave it life. Now I'm taking back what belongs to me—it's only right and proper!"

"That's sophistry!" Ji Yuanbai roared. "Yan Nanqiu is an independent person, not your possession!"

"An independent person?" Yan Ji's smile vanished, his eyes turning sinister. "How ridiculous! A useless piece of trash like him dares to call himself an 'independent person'? While he was alive, he couldn't win Nan Qing's favor, nor could he compete with her and that dead man's child. His greatest contribution in this world was to obediently become my vessel."

He suddenly spread his arms wide, and demonic energy surged wildly around him, several times stronger than before. Clearly, the Nine-Turn Essence Condensation Pill not only helped stabilize his soul but also significantly improved his cultivation.

"Since you're all here, then stay," Yan Ji grinned maliciously. "I'll use your blood to celebrate my rebirth!"

Before he finished speaking, his figure disappeared from the spot.

The next second, he appeared in front of a Ji family cultivator, his five fingers forming a claw, directly grabbing at the other's heart! The speed was astonishing!

"Watch out!" Ji Yuanbai shouted, and a golden bolt of lightning struck towards Yan Ji!

But Yan Ji neither dodged nor evaded; with a casual wave of his other hand, a viscous, almost tangible demonic energy blocked the lightning. At the same time, his claw had already pierced through the protective aura of the Ji family cultivator!

"Pfft—"

Blood splattered. The cultivator stared wide-eyed at the gaping hole in his chest, then slowly collapsed to the ground.

“The first one.” Yan Ji licked the blood from his fingertip, his smile cruel.

This was undoubtedly a bad start for everyone in the cultivation world.

Fu Yunshu and Yin Lisheng attacked simultaneously. The sword energies of Duan Yuan and Han Qi intertwined, attacking Yan Ji from the left and right respectively.

Yan Ji snorted coldly, formed a hand seal, and a huge black bone shield appeared out of thin air in front of him!

"Clang! Clang!"

Two deafening booms echoed as the sword light struck the bone shield, sparks flying. Cracks appeared on the shield, but it didn't shatter. Yan Ji used the momentum to retreat, simultaneously unleashing a barrage of dark demonic energy that rained down on the crowd!

"Defend!" Qin Lianyue played her zither and stood at the forefront. The other cultivators also used their own methods to resist the attack of the demonic energy projectiles. However, these demonic energy projectiles were extremely powerful, and each one exploded with corrosive demonic energy, and soon some people were injured and fell to the ground.

Fu Yunshu frowned. This was, after all, the Demon Palace, filled with demonic energy, which greatly benefited Yan Ji but suppressed cultivators. This imbalance put them at a significant disadvantage.

What's more troublesome is that Yan Ji seems to have become familiar with this body and uses it with great skill, even surpassing the original Yan Nanqiu. Coupled with his seasoned combat experience and ruthless nature, he is extremely difficult to deal with.

"Master, this won't do." Yin Lisheng said in a low voice while parrying the attack with his sword, "His weakness is that his soul is not yet fully stable. We can attack his soul."

Fu Yunshu nodded; he had also noticed this. Although Yan Ji had taken over the body, the fusion of soul and body could not be achieved overnight, especially since Yan Nanqiu's soul might not be willing to be devoured and would inevitably still be resisting.

If an opportunity is found to attack the weak points of his soul, it is possible to severely injure him, or even force Yan Nanqiu's soul out.

But the question was how to get close? Yan Ji was clearly aware of his own weaknesses and defended himself flawlessly, giving them no chance to get near.

The battle intensified, with Yan Ji, taking advantage of his home field, launching wave after wave of attacks. Qin Lianyue's mouth was bleeding; as the main defender, maintaining her defense was extremely taxing. Yin Lisheng sustained several more wounds, his face paling further, but his eyes remained sharp, fixed intently on Yan Ji.

Although Fu Yunshu was still able to cope, he was finding it somewhat difficult to protect the others.

Just as everyone was gradually losing ground and the defensive line was about to collapse—

"Yanji!!!"

A fierce shout filled with hatred exploded like a thunderclap.

A sharp sword light, like a shooting star from outer space, slashed down from the damaged dome of the Ten Thousand Demons Palace, its target being Yan Ji's head.

It's Gu Zhinan!

He arrived at some unknown time, and immediately went all out.

Yan Ji's expression changed slightly, seemingly not expecting Gu Zhinan to appear suddenly and launch such a fierce attack. He had no choice but to abandon his suppression of the cultivators and focus all his efforts on dealing with this unexpected sword strike.

He raised his hands to the sky, and demonic energy gathered into a giant demonic claw to meet the sword light.

"boom--"

The sword light clashed with the demonic claw, unleashing a deafening roar. A violent surge of air swept through the entire hall, sending rubble and dust flying everywhere!

Amidst the smoke and dust, golden light shone, and Yan Ji let out a bloodcurdling roar.

Everyone saw Gu Zhinan produce a bronze mirror and shine it on Yan Ji. Upon being reflected in the mirror, Yan Ji's body began to twist and contort strangely. Beneath his skin, two figures seemed to be struggling and tearing violently! One was pitch black; the other was pure white, filled with resentment and pain.

“Yan Nanqiu’s soul is still here!” Fu Yunshu’s eyes lit up.

"It's working!" Gu Zhinan's spirits lifted, and he continued to increase his spiritual energy output!

The bronze mirror shone even brighter, fixing its gaze firmly on Yan Ji. Under that light, the distortion of Yan Ji's body became more and more obvious, his movements became slow and stiff, and the expression on his face changed constantly, sometimes ferocious, sometimes in pain, and sometimes confused.

"No... impossible... this mirror... how could it be..." Yan Ji roared in frustration, trying to break free from the reflection of the bronze mirror.

Gu Zhinan smiled and said, "In this world, Yan Nanqiu is not without family or anyone who cares about her."

“He also has an older brother named Song Wenzhuo.”

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Author's Note: Thank you, Katina, for the 100 bottles of nutrient solution! [Thumbs up!] I didn't even notice before, I drank so much at once! Damn Jinjiang, give me back my one-click thank-you function!