The smell of death is already near at hand

"It's... it's too brutal."

Su Jiu organized her words, her clear, fox-like eyes filled with solemnity.

"This doesn't seem like a source of baleful energy formed by the natural dissipation of power after a normal death."

"It's more like... something that has been imprisoned for countless ages, filled with endless resentment..."

Su Ji furrowed his brows.

"Let's go over and take a look first."

Su Ji's voice held not a single trace of hesitation.

He had no other choice.

Time was running out for him.

Whether it was an Immortal Venerable's inheritance or some imprisoned monster, he had to brave it.

Fortune favors the bold.

What he sought was precisely this narrow sliver of survival.

Seeing that his mind was made up, Su Jiu did not try to persuade him any further.

"Senior Brother, be extremely careful."

Su Ji hesitated no longer. Fixing his gaze on the direction Su Jiu had pointed out, his figure flickered, transforming into an afterimage as he sped toward the area untouched by the gray mist.

That area was not far from his current location, only a few miles away.

But the closer he got, the heavier Su Ji's heart became.

The air here was completely different from anywhere else.

Instead of a decaying aura of death, there was a heart-palpitating... scorching heat.

Finally, he arrived at his destination.

The sight before him caused his pupils to violently shrink.

Here lay a massive circular basin.

In the center of the basin stood a pitch-black stone pillar, roughly a thousand feet tall.

Eerie patterns on the surface of the pillar were flowing at an incredibly slow speed.

And at the top of the pillar...

Su Ji's breathing almost stopped at this moment.

Sitting cross-legged at the top of the stone pillar was a blurry human figure.

The figure was entirely pitch-black, as if condensed from the purest darkness. Its facial features were indistinguishable, and its gender could not be determined; one could only vaguely make out a humanoid outline.

Around the figure coiled countless thick black chains, forged entirely from pure baleful energy.

The other ends of the chains were deeply embedded into the pitch-black stone pillar.

The strongest aura that Su Jiu had sensed was coming precisely from this chained figure!

Just as Su Ji's mind was reeling from the shock, a sudden mutation occurred!

Without any warning, the ground beneath Su Ji's feet violently exploded!

A massive net woven from countless streams of quicksilver-like light shot out from underground like crazy, descending upon Su Ji at a speed the naked eye could barely track!

A blood-like red mist swirled over the quicksilver net, and crimson lightning crackled within it, emitting a scalp-numbing aura of destruction!

It all happened too fast, so fast that Su Ji had absolutely no time to react!

He only felt a fatal sense of crisis envelop him!

In that split second, the Desolate Meteor Fallen Dragon Art within Su Ji's body instinctively circulated at a frantic pace!

"Boom—!"

A pitch-black flame erupted from his body, turning into a towering pillar of fire that viciously crashed into the descending quicksilver net!

Flame and net violently collided!

There was no earth-shattering explosion as expected.

The moment the quicksilver net touched the black flames, it acted like a living creature, instantly contracting and tightly wrapping around the pitch-black pillar of fire!

Crimson lightning flashed wildly, mutually corroding and dissolving with the pitch-black flames!

For a moment, they were deadlocked in mid-air!

Su Ji's heart sank.

This was absolutely no ordinary technique!

However, before he could recover from his shock, an even stronger sense of crisis came from behind him without warning!

Without a second thought, the Heavenly Palace Golden Core within Su Ji's dantian violently trembled. Boundless spiritual energy surged from his body, and his figure instantly shifted sideways by over a dozen feet!

Almost at the exact same moment he dodged, a blurry silhouette passed straight through the pitch-black flames that were deadlocked with the quicksilver net, appearing right where he had just been standing!

The silhouette was incredibly fast, leaving only a faint afterimage in the air. A sharp gleam flashed in its hand, carrying an all-tearing sharpness as it viciously slashed toward Su Ji's left arm!

Too fast!

Su Ji's pupils shrank into the most dangerous needle-like points. He only had time to slightly tilt his left arm!

"Pfft—!"

A muffled sound of flesh being torn apart rang out.

Intense pain instantly spread throughout his entire body!

Su Ji let out an uncontrollable muffled groan, his entire body staggering backward from the immense force.

He looked down.

He saw that his entire left arm, from his shoulder to his elbow, had been slashed open, leaving a hideous wound so deep the bone was visible!

Blood gushed out frantically as if it cost nothing, instantly dyeing half his body red.

If his reaction hadn't been a fraction of a second faster just now, his entire left arm would probably have been severed by now!

Su Ji's face instantly turned deathly pale.

After a successful sneak attack, the blurry silhouette merged back into the churning black flames and red mist, vanishing without a trace.

From beginning to end, Su Ji hadn't even gotten a clear look at what his attacker looked like.

Large beads of sweat uncontrollably seeped from his forehead, merging into tiny streams that slid down his cheeks and dripped onto the ground from his chin.

He stared dead ahead.

The area where the pitch-black flames and crimson lightning intertwined was completely empty.

The ambusher had disappeared again.

A tearing agony radiated from his left arm.

The wound was deep enough to show bone, and blood was bubbling out. In just a moment, the grayish-white ground beneath Su Ji's feet was dyed dark red.

What was more troublesome was that a cold, eerie power was attached to the wound, frantically destroying the vitality within his body and preventing the wound from healing.

The spiritual energy of the Desolate Meteor Fallen Dragon Art surged through his meridians, repeatedly crashing against that eerie power, but it could only barely suppress it and could not completely eradicate it in a short time.

"Outsider... retreat or die."

Voices that could not be distinguished as male or female came from all directions without warning.

The voices seemed to echo directly within Su Ji's mind, carrying a coldness that pierced the soul.

Su Ji's heart chilled. He instantly spread his divine sense, staying alert to his surroundings.

But other than the howling baleful winds, there was no other movement around him.

That ambusher was like a non-existent ghost, perfectly hidden within this death zone.

Su Ji did not respond.

Enduring the intense pain, he temporarily sealed the wound on his left arm with spiritual energy to slow the blood loss.

At the same time, he took out the Fallen Dragon Spear and gripped it in his hand. The crimson dragon scale patterns on the spear shaft lit up with a faint glow, and a peerless sharpness seeped out from the weapon.

It was coming again!

This time, the sense of crisis didn't come from the front, nor did it come from behind.

It came from above!

Su Ji abruptly looked up.

He saw that the blurry silhouette had somehow appeared in the air right above his head. With hands crossed and fingers like hooks, it turned into a black afterimage, fiercely clawing down toward the crown of his head!

The speed was pushed to the absolute limit!

Su Ji's pupils shrank into the most dangerous pinpricks!

Without a second thought, he sank his waist and firmly planted his stance. The Fallen Dragon Spear in his hands turned into a crimson rainbow that pierced the heavens. Neither dodging nor evading, he fiercely thrust it upward toward the black shadow above his head!

Trading blow for blow! Risking life for life!

However, the black shadow's reaction completely exceeded his expectations.

Faced with this earth-shattering spear thrust, the shadow did not retreat in the slightest. Instead, it let out a piercing shriek.

In mid-air, the Fallen Dragon Spear pierced straight through its heart...

But Su Ji's heart sank.

He felt absolutely no resistance, as if he hadn't struck a physical body at all.

At the same time, the hands that had been reaching for the crown of Su Ji's head suddenly changed their trajectory!

One hand morphed into a razor-sharp claw, viciously clamping down on the shaft of the Fallen Dragon Spear!

Clang—!

An ear-piercing screech of clashing metal rang out.

Su Ji felt an irresistible, overwhelming force surge through the spear. The webbing between his thumb and forefinger instantly tore open, dripping with blood, and the sheer impact sent him staggering backward.

Meanwhile, the shadow's other hand transformed into a black whip. It carved a cunning arc through the air, completely bypassing the spear's defense!

Having succeeded in its strike, the blurry silhouette did not pause for even a moment. It closed the distance once again, shrouding Su Ji completely in its icy killing intent.

Not good!

Only these words remained in Su Ji's mind.

He could feel the breath of death lingering mere inches away.