Chapter 87
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Xie Tingyun didn't know that he had another body. If he failed in this gamble, the worst that could happen was that he could just use that body to reappear.
If I win the bet...
Then Ning Chen made a profit.
Even though he still had to put his new body back into use in the end, Ning Chen at least had a way out.
Now he could only hope that the method he envisioned could be implemented smoothly, and that damned Demon Lord would truly repent.
Xie Tingyun looked like he was about to fall, like a piece of glass covered with fine cracks.
He tightly grasped Ning Chen's hands, but Ning Chen ruthlessly pried them apart bit by bit. At this moment, the endless river water had begun to pour into the collapsed and sinking ghost realm. The coldness of the river water had already hit his face, making people shudder.
Once they are submerged in the river, it will be hard to say whether they can escape.
Xie Tingyun had never felt the despair as clearly as he felt now.
If we take Ning Chen out, we will have to watch him being torn apart by the vengeful spirits until his sea of consciousness demon core is shattered.
If Ning Chen took this gamble, he would have to watch helplessly as he was drowned by the endless river with no possibility of coming out. No one would even know that he was frozen to death in the realm of resentful ghosts at the bottom of the abyss.
Now Xie Ting's Yunyu Sword was close to the barrier, and it would only take a few more steps to get out of the barrier of the ghost realm.
He was obviously just one step away from taking Ning Chen away.
However, Ning Chen had already bent the last two fingers.
Ning Chen looked at Xie Tingyun, whose face was pale and whose pupils were trembling. He said with a chuckle in his throat, "...Brother, please trust me again. You will not die."
He really wanted to tell Xie Tingyun that he still had a body, but due to the rules of heaven, once this aspect was involved, he would be unable to speak. He had no way to be honest with Xie Tingyun and could only hint at Xie Tingyun indirectly.
However, Xie Tingyun had already experienced multiple mental breakdowns in just one day. At this moment, the only thought in his mind was that Ning Chen was really going to die this time. He had no extra energy to think carefully about what Ning Chen said.
He would just treat Ning Chen's assurance as some casual words to coax people.
Ning Shen is used to doing this. He always insists on doing what he wants. No one can stop him, no one can interfere with his choice, and no one can make him stop.
Even when it came to dying for someone else, he made the decision as if it were his own, without even asking for other people's opinions.
He is always like this.
Hot tears dripped onto the back of Ning Chen's cold hand. When Ning Chen completely let go of his hand and fell off the Chengfeng Sword, Xie Tingyun said incoherently: "... Ning Chen, I hate you."
Ning Chen's Adam's apple slid up and down for a moment, and finally turned his eyes away.
When Ning Chen fell down and everyone reached out to grab him in shock, no one noticed that the soul-fixing bead in Daoming's hand lit up, and then a pale and transparent soul fell down with Ning Chen.
Daoming’s expression changed: “Demon Lord… not Tiannan?!”
The Chengfeng Sword stretched out its tassels in vain to hook Ning Chen, but there were only a few silver-white tassels, and it was simply a dream to think that they could hook the weight of an adult man.
The Chengfeng Sword froze for a moment, and the sword tassel passed by Ningchen's pale, blood-stained body.
The tassel of its sword was stained with demon blood. It usually hated having its tassel stained with blood, but every time Xie Tingyun used it to fight, it would inevitably be stained with other people's blood or Xie Tingyun's blood.
Every time Xie Tingyun cleaned his sword, Chengfeng would stretch out the tassel of his sword and gently wrap it around Xie Tingyun's wrist, asking Xie Tingyun to help clean the tassel as well.
But now, Chengfeng stared blankly at the blood on his sword tassel, and he didn't know why he always felt sad.
It and the sword master are in tune with each other and share the same emotions. It likes whoever Xie Tingyun likes, and it dislikes whoever Xie Tingyun dislikes.
Chengfeng is just a sword. How can a sword understand the complex and twisting emotions? It just feels the overwhelming and empty emotions coming from the sword master, and then becomes dazed with sadness like Xie Tingyun.
Xie Tingyun stared at the gilded figure covered in blood. He watched Ning Chen fall from mid-air. Within a few moments, he was submerged by the dark river water and disappeared without a trace.
“…”
Xie Tingyun lowered his eyes woodenly. He looked at the demon blood on the tassel of Chengfeng Sword that had begun to dry up, and suddenly sneered softly.
What Ning Chen left for him was just a trace of devil's blood that he could not keep.
At this point, except for Ning Chen, all the people who were still alive had escaped from the barrier of the ghost realm.
The next moment, starting from a certain line outside the Ghost Realm, the entire Ghost Realm completely collapsed, and as the ground sank, it almost collapsed into a huge deep pit.
Afterwards, the surging river water flowed back into the deep pit due to the height difference. The extremely cold river water filled all places in the realm of resentful ghosts, and the water level rose inch by inch at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The explosion of the Nightmare Evil Array was so powerful that it was estimated that even the deep underground veins were damaged. The depth of the sinking was unbelievable. Judging from the height difference, it was almost incomparable to the few rivers that still exist in the world of cultivation.
The candle "created" an abyss.
Daoming's pupils shrank dramatically as he watched the scene in front of him.
He... He had grown up among the human race for so many years, but had never seen such a shocking demon lord.
Whether it was the Demon Lord's strange temper in the early stage where he focused on beating Xie Tingyun, or his strange intimacy with Xie Tingyun in the later stage where he was almost inseparable from him.
This demon tribe is like a puzzle with an unknown answer. It is too difficult to solve for Daoming and others. Every step Ning Chen takes is beyond their expectations and difficult to guess.
The only thing they knew now was that the Demon Lord was completely sealed into the Endless Abyss because he saved the human race in the realm of resentful ghosts.
Such cognition is too much of a challenge to the three views they have formed over the past thousand years.
Xie Tingyun could hardly hold himself up, Chengfeng Sword was deeply embedded in the ground. Xie Tingyun lowered his head woodenly, leaning against Chengfeng, without uttering a word.
The other disciples who had already escaped to the Realm of Resentful Ghosts had just escaped death and had not yet figured out the situation. When they saw that the elders from each family had successfully escaped, they gathered around.
However, the aura around Xie Tingyun was inexplicably dead silent, and no one dared to approach him.
Daoming looked at Xie Tingyun who lowered his head deeply, and for some reason he felt a pang of sadness in his heart, as if someone had pinched his heart.
He watched Xie Tingyun grow up, from a silent and stubborn child to the calm and self-controlled man who can stand up to others. However, Daoming had never seen Xie Tingyun like this before.
He was dazed, numb, and hopeless. All his vitality seemed to be sucked away the moment he fell. Even his deeply bent back seemed fragile, as if it could be broken with just a slight push.
Daoming admitted that he had prejudices against the demons. When he found out that Xie Tingyun and the Demon Lord had a close personal relationship, he actually had some complaints in his heart, but he just didn't show it.
However, the image that the Demon Lord showed in front of them was completely different from all the evil demons in the past.
Daoming could even understand why Xie Tingyun would repeatedly protect the Demon Lord, openly or secretly, and even go so far as to withstand the pressure of public opinion in order to help the Demon Lord escape from the siege.
Anyone who came to see at this time could see that the death of the Demon Lord was obviously a huge blow to Xie Tingyun.
At this moment, Xie Tingyun suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood as if he had been hit hard from nowhere.
All the skin on his body that was visible to the naked eye was cracked, and the blood that flowed out was stained with ferocious resentment.
The mark of injury flashed across his forehead, and Xie Tingyun's eyes sharpened. He raised his hand to grasp the blade of the Chengfeng Sword, sliding from the top of the Chengfeng Sword to the bottom in an instant.
Blood soaked Chengfeng's smooth and translucent sword, dripping onto the ground at an abnormal speed. As if being pulled by something, it gradually outlined a complex formation along the dust on the ground.
The devil blood on the sword tassel seemed to be summoned and turned into blood drops again, finally dripping straight into the center of the formation. With the dripping of this drop of devil blood, the entire formation took shape in an instant, and disappeared under the ground the next moment.
The moment the formation was completed, Xie Tingyun raised his hand to press his heart and spat out blood again as if he was overdrawn.
There was a faint crack in the inner palace and the infant within, and even the sea of consciousness had unspeakable damage.
Daoming suddenly stepped forward and held Xie Tingyun's shoulder, and asked in surprise: "Forbidden Formation?! Tingyun, you are overdrawn to this extent and you still use the Forbidden Formation, are you trying to save your life?!"
Xie Tingyun brushed Daoming's hand away without even looking at it. He took out the pills from his storage ring and swallowed them all in one breath. The wound on the palm of his right hand was so deep that the bone was visible. Blood soaked the entire palm, dripping from his trembling fingertips, almost gathering into a blood stream.
However, Xie Tingyun could no longer feel the pain.
He stood up on his knees, and then walked towards the deep pit that was already filled with endless water. Daoming's face changed suddenly, and he stepped forward to hold down Xie Tingyun, but he was still bounced away by Xie Tingyun's protective spiritual power.
The others then realized that something was wrong and rushed forward to stop Xie Tingyun.
If Xie Tingyun were to jump into the Endless Abyss in this state, how would that be any different from committing suicide?
However, Xie Tingyun could no longer hear anyone's voice and didn't want to care what others were doing.
The only thing in Xie Tingyun's eyes was Ning Chen's falling figure.
Xie Tingyun transferred the fatal blow to himself at the moment when the injury mark was activated, which means that at that moment, Ning Chen was still alive.
A drop of Ning Chen's blood dripped into the forbidden formation. Xie Tingyun took advantage of that moment's time difference to use the forbidden formation to protect Ning Chen's soul from a distance.
...But it is only limited to the spirit and soul.
Being hit by the endless river water pouring down from a great height, the river water itself carrying pressure will cause impact on Ning Chen's body. The extremely cold river water will freeze the little magic energy left in his body. The heavy pressure is likely to cause irreparable damage to Ning Chen's body.
Xie Tingyun's body was extremely cold and stiff, and his only thought was:
To bring back the peaceful soul intact.
If even his soul was completely sealed in the Endless Abyss, Ning Chen didn't even know how much more suffering he would have to endure before dying alone at the bottom of the Endless Abyss.
How can that be possible?
The Chengfeng Sword slashed across Xie Tingyun's body with great force, forcing everyone to take a step back.
It was that one step that was enough to make Xie Tingyun take a leap and suddenly sink into the endless abyss.
When he fell into the Endless Abyss, he didn't even make much of a splash. The blood that almost soaked his white clothes even left a deeper mark in the dark water of the Endless Abyss.