On Langtu Mountain, a mass of black Demonic Cloud suddenly erupted, its might so immense, its force so powerful, that it not only enveloped the entire Langtu Mountain but also spilled over the southern end of the Xiling Mountain Range, spreading into the Kunwu Mountains.
Within the black Demonic Qi, two figures could faintly be seen confronting each other. One was dressed in black, slightly petite. The other was hidden within the black cloud, its appearance unclear.
"Master," Nie Wushang stared intently at the figure within the black cloud. "Admit defeat. Although I've only recently reached the mid-stage, you are severely injured and not yet recovered, and your body is incompatible... You cannot defeat me."
A cold snort came from within the black cloud. Venerable Songfeng's voice was sinister. "Wretch, do you think I don't know? Even so, your strength has never matched mine. You're merely using words to provoke, seeking an opening for victory."
As his words fell, the black cloud suddenly swelled violently. From within the original gloom, an aura of destruction was born, transforming into countless terrifying fiends that tore and bit towards Nie Wushang.
Nie Wushang's figure remained unmoving. A ribbon burning with black flames appeared before her, meeting the charge of these fiends.
Seeing this, Venerable Songfeng's black cloud suddenly shuddered.
"Wretch!" The voice came from within the black cloud. "I raised you in vain for so many years. If you hadn't stolen my treasures, how could I have fallen to such a state?"
The treasure Nie Wushang was using to defend herself was precisely one she had obtained from Venerable Songfeng. Behind the ribbon, she gritted her teeth, resisting the onslaught of the fiends, and sneered coldly. "Are you still trying to settle accounts with me? Such a laughable thing doesn't seem like something you would do, Master."
Don't talk to her about the kindness of sparing her life and raising her to adulthood. Life wasn't a ledger with clear credits and debits, where adding and subtracting could cancel out gratitude and hatred. She only knew that her mother had died by his hand, and her own life had been ruined by his hand. Such hatred was carved into her bones day and night, unforgettable.
Venerable Songfeng did not speak. Three black threads instantly shot out from the Demonic Cloud, winding towards Nie Wushang.
Between Nie Wushang's hands, a huge black flower suddenly bloomed, its petals unfurling to completely envelop her.
The three black threads struck the petals and halted. A contest of strength began between the two sides.
Nie Wushang was currently enduring unimaginable pressure. Those three black threads were Venerable Songfeng's secret art, nurtured over hundreds of years. Each thread carried the Origin Demon power that could shake the Primordial Spirit. Each use consumed his own cultivation base, which was why Venerable Songfeng would not lightly employ this technique. Yet today, he not only used it but even unleashed all three threads simultaneously, showing the depth of his hatred for Nie Wushang.
Under the assault of the black threads, the petals around Nie Wushang grew increasingly faint, gradually revealing her silhouette.
Just as the petals dissipated and the black threads were about to pierce her body, Nie Wushang suddenly vanished. Simultaneously, a world-shaking fist smashed down from above onto Venerable Songfeng.
*Crack!* The sound of bones being struck rang out. Venerable Songfeng plummeted downwards.
Nie Wushang's figure appeared in the void and followed him down.
The two landed on Langtu Mountain one after the other. The Demonic Cloud around Venerable Songfeng wavered, its Demonic Qi having dissipated considerably.
"Wretch, you..."
"You should thank yourself for that, Master," Nie Wushang said. "The Phantom Displacement Talisman—it was something you snatched from a Nascent Soul cultivator back in the day."
"Hmph!" Venerable Songfeng certainly knew. The Qiankun Bag stolen from him back then contained all his important spirit treasures. This led to his current predicament where he not only had no treasures to use but was even severely injured by his own treasure.
This little wretch...
Looking at Nie Wushang's icy face, Venerable Songfeng ground his teeth until they creaked. Just as she had guessed, forced to abandon his fleshly body in Fengsha City, he had no choice but to perform a Possession.
Back when he had misunderstood the cultivation method, he hadn't performed a Possession. Firstly, his Primordial Spirit had already been eroded by Death Qi, and Possession wouldn't solve the problem. Secondly, he had left himself a sliver of hope. Possession could only be performed once in a lifetime. If one day he could expel all the Death Qi and then perform a Possession, he could obtain a brand new body, and with it, the hope of reaching God Transformation.
But now? If he hadn't discovered that this wretch had returned to Tianji, why would he have gone to Fengsha City? How could he have been besieged by those old fellows? Why would he have abandoned his fleshly body? How could he have been forced into a Possession? How could he have lost all hope of God Transformation? It was all because of this wretch.
"I truly regret not killing you back then," Venerable Songfeng said, word by word.
Nie Wushang let out a laugh. "Yes, if you had killed me back then, how could there be so much trouble? Unfortunately, your regret is useless now."
A Demonic Cloud rose from her hand. Compared to Venerable Songfeng's, Nie Wushang's Demonic Cloud was not as overwhelmingly powerful, but it was much purer—simply pure, unadulterated Origin Demon Qi.
This made Venerable Songfeng even more resentful. All of this should have been his, belonged to him—
"Ah—!" Following an uncontrolled shout, Demonic Qi surged up like raging waves, one after another, turbulent and mighty.
Seeing this scene, Nie Wushang knew Venerable Songfeng had been provoked by her into madness. He had never cultivated his mental state, and the erroneous Origin Demon Great Art had twisted his spirit, cutting off his hope for God Transformation. Coupled with Nie Wushang's successive blows, he had finally fallen into a demonic obsession.
"I'll kill you—!" A dark voice, carrying billowing killing intent, swept up Demonic Qi and yellow sand, hurling it all towards Nie Wushang.
Nie Wushang did not hold back. One spirit treasure after another appeared in her hands, blocking Venerable Songfeng's attacks.
Demonic Qi danced around her black robes, yellow sand blotted out the sky and covered the earth. She dared not relax in the slightest. After all, Late-Nascent Soul was Late-Nascent Soul. Although she deliberately provoked and belittled him with words, she knew in her heart that even if her master was severely injured and his Possession had failed, leaving his body incompatible, he was still not someone she could face head-on.
This was the number one cultivator of Tianji. She understood this better than anyone.
Therefore, she could only drag it out. As long as she dragged it out, the final victor would be her.
Within the Origin Demon Qi cloud, yellow sand rustled, mountain rocks tumbled, and Langtu Mountain seemed on the verge of complete collapse.
Nie Wushang gritted her teeth and held on. Magical artifacts, spirit talismans—she threw them out one after another to meet Venerable Songfeng's Demonic Cloud, only to have them destroyed one after another.
Each time, she had the illusion that she couldn't hold on any longer. But thinking of the humiliation of over a hundred years, she held on again. The injuries on her body grew heavier. She clutched the Demonic Talismans she had prepared long ago, continuously replenishing her Demonic Qi.
What did these hardships matter? She was no longer that Nie Wushang who was bullied, humiliated, and unable to fight back. She had friends. She straightened her back. She could walk under the sunlight. She would have her own life.
This person who had left a shadow in her heart, making her afraid to even breathe—she would personally erase him.
Countless times, she crushed Demonic Talismans to replenish her Demonic Qi. Countless times, she threw out spirit treasures to block attacks. Finally, the oppressive might bearing down on her slowly weakened. When the attacks ceased, Nie Wushang's spirit shook. She brought her hands together, and a massive Demonic Crystal appeared between them, flickering with a strange aura of death.
She flicked it lightly. The Demonic Crystal flew out. Though its speed seemed gentle, it swiftly appeared beside Venerable Songfeng.
Venerable Songfeng scoffed. "You think you can counterattack like this? Dream on."
The corner of Nie Wushang's mouth lifted into a cold smile. Origin Demon power gathered on her fist, and she struck out silently.
Venerable Songfeng waved his hand, Demonic Cloud coiled, casually blocking.
Unexpectedly, the next moment, Nie Wushang's fist penetrated the Demonic Cloud and solidly struck his body.
Venerable Songfeng's eyes widened in disbelief. Impossible. How could it be...
Watching him crash heavily to the ground, Nie Wushang's tone was indifferent. "Master, there are three thousand paths of the Dao, but not all of them lead to the destination."
The Demonic Cloud dispersed, revealing a withered, skeletal body. On the terrifying face, two eyeballs stared fixedly at her, still unbelieving. "How... why did I lose..."
Nie Wushang gazed at him. "Do you really want to know?"
Venerable Songfeng refused to close his eyes.
Nie Wushang said, "When I set foot on Langtu Mountain, I began arranging the Demonic Crystals. Master, you probably didn't know. These Demonic Crystals don't just contain Death Qi. In Yunzhong, everyone fears them because they have a strange effect—they absorb vital essence."
Seeing Venerable Songfeng lying on the ground, struggling desperately to stand, Nie Wushang spoke with pity. "Master, your body is ruined, your Primordial Spirit is entangled with Death Qi. Your own vital essence was already insufficient. If not for your profound cultivation, the essence of your soul would have long been unable to sustain your life. I kept provoking you, first to make you underestimate me, second to buy time for the Demonic Crystals to absorb your vital essence."
"So that's it..." On Venerable Songfeng's bloodied, mangled face, a strange expression appeared, as if he were smiling. "You... you really are her daughter..."
This was the second time he had said these words, but with a different tone. The first time was filled with hatred. This time, it held longing. He murmured softly, "It's fine. Dying by your daughter's hand is better than dying neither human nor ghost, vanishing without a sound... Aying, in the next life..."
"What use is it for you to be like this now?" Nie Wushang looked at him, feeling for the first time that he was so weak. "When my mother was alive, why didn't you say it to her?"
Venerable Songfeng let out a strange laugh from his throat. "She betrayed me. That's right. With this ghostly appearance of mine, how could any woman love me forever..."
"Was my mother that kind of person?" Nie Wushang interrupted him coldly. "The woman you loved deeply, the only woman in your life—was she that kind of person? Although I don't remember anything before I was three, I don't believe it."
Venerable Songfeng's eyes widened, his eyeballs almost popping out of their sockets, looking increasingly disgusting and terrifying.
"Master," Nie Wushang said softly. "You always kept my mother's stone chamber in the cave abode. You forbade anyone from entering, wouldn't allow anyone to mention her, and would punish even Senior Brother if he cursed her... Master, you always loved my mother, didn't you?"
"I..." He had no lips; his teeth were exposed, clearly trembling.
"A woman you loved so deeply—would she leave you for such a reason? She had accompanied you for thousands of years. Would she leave like that?" Nie Wushang said coldly. "Rather than blaming her, blame yourself. Even in the next life, she wouldn't want to meet someone like you again."
Venerable Songfeng stared blankly at the yellow sand filling the sky. Over a thousand years of time passed before his eyes one by one.
Stepping onto the immortal path, an ordinary disciple, his sect destroyed, Tianmo Mountain, a fortuitous encounter, the stone stele, misunderstanding the cultivation method, his body rotting away, Aying... Yes, when he met Aying, he was already that ghostly appearance. She wouldn't have left him because of that. It was he who doubted her, pushing her further and further away step by step.
So his life had been a complete failure. He failed to step into God Transformation, and he personally destroyed her.
Such a failed life... then let it end like this...