Chapter 2 Bloody Battle and the Curse of Mistaken Accident 2
A humming sound, as if from ancient times, filled with endless malice and mockery, resounded through everyone's soul! The eyes of the broken statue suddenly lit up with a scarlet light!
Immediately afterwards, two blood-red chains, thin as gossamer threads but imbued with the power of absolute order, disregarded the distance between them and the energy barrier. Like venomous snakes emerging from their dens, they shot out from the cracks! One instantly pierced Jiang Xuelan's heart, sending him flying backwards due to the blast, while the other precisely pierced Li Jiuyou's chest, who was also staggered backward by the recoil!
"Ah!" They both groaned in pain at the same time!
A cold, sticky, and strange force, filled with a sense of compulsion and restraint, instantly imprinted itself on the deepest part of their souls! An ancient, twisted, and ominous contract rune—"**Heart-Slaying Contract**"—slowly emerged from their sea of consciousness.
**Blood from the same source as the bait, extreme hatred as the fuel, fate as the fire, the curse of the ancient mad god - the heart-killing contract, is completed!**
The moment the contract was established, both men felt the excruciating pain of their souls being forcibly bound and torn apart, as well as the nausea and rage of being forced to "feel" each other's overwhelming hatred! There was also a strong, instinctive repulsion and the urge to "kill the other immediately to break this damn bondage"!
"What is that?!" Li Jiuyou clutched his aching chest, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Jiang Xuelan, who was also pale and uncertain, with even stronger murderous intent. "The immortal sect's evil magic?!"
Jiang Xuelan also felt the furious murderous intent from Li Jiuyou that threatened to incinerate him, as well as the strange sense of restraint brought by the contract. His heart was trembling: "Demon King... what did you do?!"
However, the battlefield was changing rapidly, leaving them no time to examine the situation. Seeing Jiang Xuelan struck by the strange red chain, the Immortal Venerable thought Li Jiuyou had used some sinister and evil technique, his eyes bloodshot with anger. "Evil creature! How dare you hurt my disciple!" He held back no longer, his whisk transforming into a thousand-foot-long silver thread, and with an earth-shattering pressure, he descended upon Li Jiuyou!
Li Jiuyou had just been hit by the contract, and then he was hit by the full force of the Immortal Lord. The circulation of his demonic power suddenly stagnated, and he was about to be seriously injured!
"King!" Man Gu's eyes were bloodshot, and he rushed forward desperately, using his back to bear most of the power of the Immortal Master's whisk!
Puff! Man Gu spurted blood wildly, and was severely injured and emaciated.
"Barbarian Bone!" Li Jiuyou's bloodshot eyes pierced as he stared at his trusted confidant who had blocked a fatal blow for him. Then he looked at Jiang Xuelan, who was protected by the immortal sect disciples and whose breath was also unstable due to the contract and the explosion. His hatred and rage nearly overwhelmed his mind! But he also understood that with the Immortal Lord present today and the strange contract interfering, continuing the battle would be disastrous.
"Retreat--!!!" Li Jiuyou roared unwillingly, grabbed the seriously injured Man Gu, turned into a stream of black light, and carried the remaining monsters with him, retreating to the depths of Black Stone Castle like a tide.
The Immortal Sect also suffered heavy casualties and was unable to pursue. The Immortal Venerable immediately rushed to Jiang Xuelan's side and eagerly inquired, "Xuelan! How do you feel? What kind of evil magic did that evildoer use on you?"
Jiang Xuelan suppressed the strange feeling of restraint in his chest, the clear perception of Li Jiuyou's hatred, and the lingering "Heart-Slaying Contract" rune in his sea of consciousness. His face paled, and he shook his head, "Master, I'm fine... it's just..." He hesitated, not mentioning the strange contract. He simply said, "It seems like a sinister force has invaded, but it's nothing serious for now."
The Immortal Venerable frowned as he carefully examined Jiang Xuelan's body. He indeed sensed an extremely obscure, ancient, and cursed power lingering deep within Jiang Xuelan's soul, faintly connected to Li Jiuyou's aura. Recalling the scattered records of the ancient curse in ancient texts, the Immortal Venerable's heart sank.
"This is a grave danger!" The Immortal Venerable's eyes were solemn, and he made a quick decision. He flipped his hand and pulled out a chilling jade box. Inside, a pill the size of a longan lay quietly, completely black, its surface covered with strange blood-colored patterns. It exuded a chilling, deadly aura—it was the legendary "God-killing Gu."
"This item can suppress all evil and otherworldly forces. While overbearing, it's the only thing currently capable of temporarily suppressing the abnormality within you. Xuelan, take it!" The Immortal Venerable's tone left no room for doubt, tinged with deep concern and a subtle hint of urgency. He couldn't allow the Immortal Sect's brightest rising star to be controlled or influenced by the Demon King's sorcery.
Jiang Xuelan instinctively felt a flicker of resistance as he gazed at the ominous pill. However, the restraining feeling of the "Heart-Slaying Contract" in his sea of consciousness was like a leech, and the constant transmission of Li Jiuyou's violent and chaotic emotions left him distraught. More importantly, he couldn't let down his master's trust and expectations, and couldn't allow himself to become a weakness for the Immortal Sect.
"Yes, Master." Jiang Xuelan no longer hesitated, took the "God-killing Gu", raised his head and swallowed it.
The pill melted in his mouth, and an intense chill instantly swept through his limbs and bones, as if to freeze his very soul! This force aggressively rushed deep into his soul, violently colliding with the newly imprinted "Heart-Slaying Contract" rune! The intense pain made Jiang Xuelan groan, and his body trembled slightly. He could clearly feel the power of the God-Slaying Gu like a thick layer of ice, temporarily freezing and isolating most of the direct perception brought by the "Heart-Slaying Contract", especially weakening Li Jiuyou's intense emotional fluctuations. The strange feeling of restraint in his heart seemed to be forcibly suppressed, becoming vague and unclear.
At the same time, a faint yet sharp tingling sensation originating deep within his blood was stirred and amplified by the power of the "God-Slaying Gu," as if something forcibly sealed were hissing in dissatisfaction. This feeling was fleeting, so fast that Jiang Xuelan thought it was an illusion.
"How does it feel?" the Immortal Venerable asked nervously.
"...The evil power has been suppressed. Thank you, Master." Jiang Xuelan took a deep breath, suppressing the surging blood and the strange feeling within him. His complexion regained some composure. At least, that damned, strange connection that allowed him to clearly sense his enemy's emotions was temporarily blocked.
The Immortal Venerable breathed a sigh of relief and patted him on the shoulder. "Well done! Although we didn't achieve complete victory in this battle, you have done a great service by severely inflicting a heavy blow to the Demon King! Return to the mountain gate and recuperate first. I will definitely find a cure for this evil magic for you!"
Jiang Xuelan nodded, his gaze sweeping across the devastated battlefield, strewn with corpses, before finally gazing at the deep entrance to Blackstone Castle. Li Jiuyou's final look, filled with resentment and fury, and the sense of bondage he felt within the contract, forcibly imprinted deep within his soul, loomed over him like a shadow.
He knew that this absurd entanglement, begun by blood feud and bound by a series of misunderstandings, had only just begun. And was the "God-killing Gu" he had been forced to take an antidote, or another, deeper bond? No one knew.
Weary and stricken with wounds still lingering, repressed curses, and deep doubts, Jiang Xuelan embarked on his journey home with the Immortal Sect's army. The gears of fate had been irrevocably meshed by the uncontrolled explosion at the God Burial Abyss and the mockery of the ancient mad god. Both of them were firmly stuck between the gears of "Heart-Slaying," helpless, entangled in hatred, and facing an uncertain future.
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