Chapter 140: The Patriarch Entrusts His Orphan

Fists collided, and both Chubby and I were driven backward by the impact.

After regaining his footing, Chubby glanced at the God-Slaying Spear behind me. Instantly, his footwork shifted rapidly, and he rushed straight toward the spear.

At the same time, he made a hand gesture.

The demons accompanying Chubby immediately swarmed toward me.

I took a deep breath, formed a finger incantation, and directly unleashed the Five Thunders Palm, blasting it toward those demons.

In an instant.

Sudden thunder filled the entire demon hall. As my palm struck out, the thunderbolts crashed against the demons with loud, explosive bangs.

The fierce and malevolent aura surrounding them was naturally no match for this divine power. In the next second, they were all blasted flying backward.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Chubby attempted to seize the God-Slaying Spear.

I spun around, kicked him squarely in the rear, and sent him stumbling forward. Following up swiftly, I thrust out my palm with another wave of roaring thunder, forcing Chubby back.

"Chubby, I advise you to give up. There is no way I will hand the God-Slaying Spear over to you!" I said, thunder crackling across the palms of both hands.

Chubby said nothing, lunging at me once more.

I gritted my teeth, having no other choice, and engaged him in combat.

The force of the Five Thunders Palm was formidable. This time, Chubby was directly blasted backward. He crashed onto the ground and seemed unable to get back up. Seeing this, I rushed over immediately, forming a finger incantation, ready to seal the soul gateway between his eyebrows.

Right at that moment, however.

Chubby suddenly soared into the air.

Raising his hand, he unleashed a palm strike brimming with ferocious malevolence, blasting it toward me. I instinctively dodged, while he sprang forward rapidly. A wave of fierce, oppressive malevolence surged outward, knocking Xiaojia and Camellia back.

He charged straight at the God-Slaying Spear.

Sensing the danger, I thought to myself that things were going poorly. Changing my footwork, I leaped into the air to intercept Chubby. Yet, Chubby acted as though he were risking his very life for the God-Slaying Spear.

Although my footwork reached its absolute limit, I was still a step too slow.

By the time I reached him, Chubby’s hand was already gripping the God-Slaying Spear.

A sudden flash of crimson burst from the spear, its edge dazzling and sharp.

With a furious roar, Chubby wrenched the God-Slaying Spear straight out of the wall. With a resounding rumble, a massive section of the wall collapsed.

The moment he grasped the God-Slaying Spear, Chubby’s eyes turned a deep, scarlet red. Clasping the spear tightly, the scarlet aura enveloping his body blazed upward like a roaring flame.

I raised my hand and sensed the sword intent of the Qingping Sword.

The Qingping Sword cleaved through the collapsing debris of the wall and flew back into my grasp.

To my dismay, I had ultimately failed to prevent Chubby from obtaining the God-Slaying Spear. At this moment, with his crimson eyes and terrifying appearance, he had likely fallen into the path of a demon.

The next instant, wielding the God-Slaying Spear, Chubby thrust it straight at me. I immediately raised the Qingping Sword to parry. However, the surging, ferocious malevolence was so overwhelming that even the Qingping Sword could not instantly absorb it all. I was driven backward by this immense force, only regaining my footing right at the entrance of the demon hall.

Before I could even stand straight, Chubby lunged forward with another spear thrust. This time, I shifted my sword techniques to defend against him. After several clashes, the formidable malevolent energy within the God-Slaying Spear was stirred to an even greater degree. Gradually, my Qingping Sword seemed unable to contend with it, steadily losing the upper hand.

Naturally, I could not unleash a fatal blow against Chubby. Thus, neither the sword of execution nor the sword of suppressing malevolence was an option.

The only remaining path was to suppress him with my own overwhelming baleful energy.

In perfect harmony with the Qingping Sword, I channeled a ferocious, baleful sword strike in the next second, slashing it down toward Chubby in an attempt to suppress his malevolent aura and restore his sanity.

Chubby parried with the God-Slaying Spear, every single one of his strikes landing with the weight of mountains.

Finally, amid a furious roar from him.

The God-Slaying Spear smashed heavily against the Qingping Sword. The sword vibrated with such violent intensity that I could barely keep my grip on it, and the Qingping Sword was knocked out of my hand, flying away.

I flipped through the air and landed.

Chubby's God-Slaying Spear lunged directly toward the space between my eyebrows.

His momentum instantly swelled like a roaring mountain torrent and crashing waves. In that very fraction of a second, I was pinned down by this extreme, oppressive malevolence, utterly unable to move even a fraction of an inch.

The God-Slaying Spear whistled through the air.

In another second, it would pierce right through my brow. Yet, at the very last moment, the God-Slaying Spear halted. I saw Chubby gritting his teeth hard, his right hand holding the spear trembling continuously. Between his eyebrows, a cut was slowly oozing blood, a sight that was utterly shocking to behold.

"Chubby!" I cried out.

"Leave!"

With a wild roar, Chubby pulled the God-Slaying Spear back. Following that, he swept the spear horizontally, unleashing a ferocious surge of malevolent energy that smashed into the demon hall.

Cracks immediately began to spread across the dome of the demon hall.

Then came a series of thunderous crashes as the demon hall collapsed completely.

Camellia hurried over, while Xiaojia transformed into a fire phoenix, instantly carrying me out of the demon hall. When I turned back to look, the demon hall had already crumbled into ruins, and Chubby was nowhere to be seen.

The Qingping Sword returned to my side. Clutching the sword, I rushed over to the ruins and shouted at the top of my lungs, "Chubby!"

Chubby could not possibly have been buried beneath the ruins of the demon hall, yet at this moment, his whereabouts were entirely unknown.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the demon hall's ruins.

Amidst a swirling shroud of dark mist.

Chubby stood quietly. He glanced back toward the opposite side of the ruins and muttered, "Boss, I'm sorry!" With those words, Chubby turned and walked away.

Far beyond the mountains in the Wutong Ancient Territory.

Deep within a tract of dense forest.

Ma Zhenlei lay sprawled on the ground, blood still streaming from the corner of his mouth, looking utterly disheveled and wretched.

Standing right before him was a single figure.

That person showed only his back, clad in a black robe adorned with azure dragon patterns, exuding an air of supreme dominance.

"Who are you?" Ma Zhenlei wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and asked.

Yet, the man replied coldly, "Do not ask what you ought not to know."

Finding it strange since he did not recognize this person, Ma Zhenlei asked again, "Then why did you save me?"

"Unimportant. You need only know that within the Kunlun Immortal Dao Territory, the Kunlun Ruins, there lies a profound chance of destiny. Are you not looking to strengthen your own power? The Kunlun Ruins are the most suitable place," the man said.

This was indeed an exceptionally tempting condition, but Ma Zhenlei knew that no pie falls for free from the sky. He sneered and asked, "And the condition?"

"The condition is simple: kill Lin Yi, and erase everything related to him," the man stated, keeping his back turned to Ma Zhenlei the entire time.

"Lin Yi and I are irreconcilable enemies. Even without your conditions, I would still kill him," Ma Zhenlei replied, attempting to extract information from the man. After all, ever since Mount Kunlun had transformed into the Kunlun Ruins, it had become a forbidden zone of death where no one dared to tread—going there meant a one-way trip to destruction.

"With just you? Even if you were given ten lives, you could not kill him. Do you truly believe the Six-Yao Worms could kill him? Those worms cannot harm a single hair on him. If I had not stepped in to save you today, do you think you would still be breathing?" the man retorted rhetorically.

Ma Zhenlei chuckled inwardly. The poison of the Six-Yao Worms was peerless; why couldn't it kill? However, he did not pursue this question further. Instead, he grew far more interested in another matter and asked, "What enmity do you hold against Lin Yi?"

"If you believe your life is tough enough, feel free to keep asking!" the man warned.

Ma Zhenlei instantly clamped his mouth shut.

Then, he quickly added, "Very well, I won't ask. As you said, it's a deal!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Ma Zhenlei bowed low with cupped hands in gratitude. But when he raised his head to look at the man once more, the mysterious figure had vanished without a trace, as if dissolved into thin air. After searching around in vain, Ma Zhenlei hurriedly departed.

Back in the withered forest of the Wutong Ancient Territory.

I returned alongside Camellia and Xiaojia.

However, upon reaching the depths of the withered forest, we discovered that all the members of the Phoenix clan were kneeling outside the wooden pavilion of the Elder Matriarch.

Seeing this sight, I immediately demanded, "What has happened?"

Beside me, a member of the Phoenix clan was weeping bitterly, her face washed in tears.

"The Elder Matriarch... she probably doesn't have much time left!"

"How can this be?" I asked in shock.

Only then did I learn that in order to save Lixi, the Elder Matriarch had expended every last drop of her Phoenix blood. Phoenix blood represented pure vitality; she had poured all her life force into Lixi, trading her own life to keep Lixi alive.

Hearing this, I was deeply moved.

I rushed directly into the Elder Matriarch's wooden pavilion and saw her lying at death's door, while Lixi knelt on the ground, tears streaming uncontrollably.

A sharp ache gripped my throat. Seeing me, the Elder Matriarch murmured, "Master, to be able to see you one last time before I depart, this old one can die without regret..."

"Elder Matriarch!"

I choked back my words, my voice thick with sorrow.

"Master, Lixi is still young, and the heavy burden of the Phoenix clan's resurgence rests upon her shoulders. I fear she can scarcely shoulder it alone. I implore the Master to take the Phoenix clan under your wing. From this day onward... *cough, cough*... from this day onward, the Phoenix clan shall serve as disciples of the Ghost Dao!" the Elder Matriarch declared.

Her words left me utterly astounded.

"Elder Matriarch, even if you did not say this, I would still help the Phoenix clan. Please rest assured on this matter," I replied, though inwardly I worried that bringing the Phoenix clan into the fold of the Ghost Dao—given the Ghost Dao's meager strength—would be doing them a disservice.

"Master, it is not mere help—the Phoenix clan... belongs to the Ghost Dao!" She finished speaking and glanced at Lixi. Lixi immediately raised her hands in a respectful salute and declared, "Master!"

Following her proclamation, the Phoenix clan members outside cried out in unison.

"Greetings, Master!"

"The Phoenix clan now consists mostly of the elderly, the weak, the sick, and the young. I earnestly beg the Master not to spurn us!" the Elder Matriarch pleaded, her tone heartbreakingly humble.

"I never would, Elder Matriarch. I shall most certainly take the Phoenix clan under my protection!" I vowed.

At that moment, the Elder Matriarch slowly opened her palm.

Nestled within her palm was a bead the size of a chicken egg, oval-shaped and resembling amber, radiating a faint, ghostly fire glow.