The two returned to Xue Ying’s original dwelling inside of the Infernal World, where they found Palace Head Chen and Mountain Lord He waiting for them.
"Xue Ying, are you alright?" Palace Head Chen could not help but ask of his health after seeing Xue Ying’s pale face covered in sweat.
"I’m fine. I should be able to resist for an entire day, and it’s still quite early." Xue Ying laughed. After Palace Head Chen handed Xue Ying the gourd containing the medicine, he also gave him a note of when he should be theoretically drinking the medicine. If he acted according to that timetable, he would be able to live for 200 more years.
For the first nine months, he was only allowed a single portion of the medicine each day.
Meanwhile, Xue Ying had only woken up a mere three hours or so before, so he still far from the portion for the next day. The timetable was recorded in the Deity world, as there had been many cases of people inflicted with Six Ghosts Resentment. Although obtaining the medicine was much easier in the Deity world, the pain would still render many unable to resist taking more medicine, leading to a premature consumption and even to short lapses between drinking extra doses, which in turn resulted in many of them being unable to live even 100 more years.
"Mn." Palace Head Chen did not try to encourage him. He was aware that, despite the pain reaching an unfathomable intensity, it would be better for Xue Ying to resist as much as possible—to the point of the theoretical limit.
He continued, "Remember, you should ask the green-armored protector to give you some of the medicine if you end up fainting. Once you lose your consciousness, if your Undying Body doesn’t recover faster than the Six Ghosts Resentment annihilates, you will end up dead within an hour."
"I understand. I’ll ask the ancestor Deity warrior about it later," Xue Ying replied. Always with him in the shape of a wristband, the green-armored protector would be able to understand Xue Ying’s circumstances. As for the others, even Xue Ying’s loved ones, they could not pay attention to him every single second.
"Oh, right." Xue Ying revealed a smile. "Palace Head Chen, Mountain Lord He, I will marry Jing Qiu the day after tomorrow."
Palace Head Chen and Mountain Lord He both looked towards the couple in astonishment.
Jing Qiu smiled together with Xue Ying as she held onto his arm.
"That’s fabulous! The two of you are really quite fast, haha. This truly is a joyous occasion. While it feels rather early, that’s good in its own way.
Mountain Lord He also let out a laugh. "We’ll be certain to attend your wedding then. I’ll have to think of a good gift for you two. Right, will the wedding take place at Snowrock Castle?"
"Yes." Xue Ying nodded. "I’ve thought things over with Jing Qiu. We decided we’d return to Snowrock Castle tomorrow and have a simple ceremony; there’s no need to make a huge deal out of it."
"I understand," Palace Head Chen added. "Right, you should go rest now. If there’s any issue, just transmit a message over to me."
"Mn."
Xue Ying’s voice had already started trembling as he spoke. He did not try to force himself, instead going back to rest.
Watching the couple enter the house while they stood in the main corridor, Palace Head Chen and Mountain Lord He exchanged slight nods.
"This is good as well," said Palace Head Chen. "At the very least, Xue Ying will have Jing Qiu to accompany him."
"Mn." Palace Head Chen agreed.
They felt better knowing that Xue Ying would have a to wife accompany him for the next 100 to 200 years.
"Oh, right, Xue Yin will return to his castle tomorrow, so you should hurry up and finish modifying that treasure," Palace Head Chen said. "While I don’t think the Sorcerer God and the Great Demonic God will attack Xue Ying again, it’s better to be prepared."
"Rest assured. I’ll be done tonight." Mountain Lord He nodded.
...
In various places throughout the Xia Clan world, the Transcendents were receiving the news about Xue Ying being poisoned by the poison imbued into the Sorcerer God’s saber as well as information about the assault on the Demonic Faction headquarters, the destruction of the vessel for the Great Demonic God’s Deity Avatar, and the joint attack Xue Ying suffered from Elder Ao Lan, Monarch Qing Yan, the Spider Queen and a Deity warrior.
The matter concerning the vessel of the Great Demonic God’s Deity Avatar confirmed the notion of an even more terrifying scheme hidden by the Great Demonic God and the Sorcerer God, so the Xia Clan decided to no longer hide it.
It was at that moment that the Xia Clan Transcendents finally understood what Xue Ying had done and what he encountered as a result!
"Four of the five Demon Generals have died, while the fifth is struggling at death’s door. And that was only possible because of Dong Bo Xue Ying!"
"Our Xia Clan has never before discovered the location of the Demonic Faction Headquarters, but this time, they’ve even destroyed it! Not only that, they even got rid of the vessel for the Great Demonic God’s Deity Avatar…"
"Such a pity."
"Right, it truly is a pity."
"Brother Dong Bo is so incredible without even having cultivated for a hundred years! I can’t even dare imagine where he’ll reach if he continues cultivating. Will he be number one under the heavens? Will he become a Deity? Or maybe he’ll end up as the strongest Deity amongst all of our Xia Clan Ancestors?"
"There’s no point in thinking that far. Brother Dong Bo has been inflicted with that poison imbued into the Sorcerer God’s saber, and in the future, he’ll have to suffer through its excruciating pain. On top of that, he can’t even cultivate Qi or physical strength anymore, and comprehending the world has become very difficult for him. Ai…"
"Doesn’t that mean he’ll end up a cripple?"
"Who are you calling a cripple? Even if his combat power can’t rise any further, he’s still the one who killed the High Priest of the Demonic Faction—Xi Yuan! He’s the one who survived the joint attack of Elder Ao Lan, Monarch Qing Yan and the Spider Queen, together with the Sorcerer God’s saber! No ordinary Demigod is likely to be his match. In terms of how mysterious his techniques are, he’s almost certain to rank among the top Demigods! So are you, a Sky realm Transcendent, qualified to call him a cripple?"
"I… I merely felt it’s a pity. I did not mean to look down on him."
The Xia Clan Transcendents were all discussing among themselves. Regret, resentment, the hearts of many ached.
But a select few of them were plotting in the darkness.
"Wasn’t Dong Bo Xue Ying very close with Mage Jing Qiu? Now that he’s become a cripple and he can’t live for much longer, hmph, hmph, Mage Jing Qiu will most likely end up leaving him! When he dies, I might be able to chase after her!"
As the most beautiful mage amongst the Transcendents, Jing Qiu naturally had many pursuers.
The only problem was that Xue Ying always walked alongside her, crushing the hopes and dreams of many Transcendents.
Not long afterwards, another article of news spread!
"Dong Bo Xue Ying and Mage Jing Qiu will be having their wedding the day after tomorrow, in Snowrock Castle!"
This news…
Destroyed any shred of hope left in those deluded and vain Transcendents! After all, once a Transcendent married, even after their partner’s death, their personality made it so they would never marry again. Throughout history, there had never been any record of a female Transcendent marrying a second time! In fact, many of the female Transcendents never married even once in their entire lives.
...
In the Oceanic Forest World, a major Transcendent World.
The illusion of a golden-robed male once again met with the gigantic illusory skull.
"You’ve received the news quite fast. It would seem like there are still some members of your Demonic Faction amidst the Xia Clan," the illusion of a gold-robed man said.
The Great Demonic God replied, "My information network in the Xia Clan is more effective than yours. I’ve long since infiltrated their ranks. Right, do you think there’s any chance of the news being false?"
"There’s no need for suspicion, " the illusory man with golden robes replied. "I’ve used this saber for a long time in the past, and the poison it’s imbued with is none other than the Six Ghosts Resentment! But who would have thought that one of the Xia Clan Ancestors had actually joined the Bloodshed God Palace and is even proficient enough in the Dao of Medicine for him to so easily recognize this hexing poison."
The first step to curing a poison was recognizing it. Originally, the Sorcerer God thought…that none of the Xia Clan Ancestors would be able to recognize his hexing poison. After all, there were so many hexing poisons in the Deity world, and Six Ghosts Resentment was but one of them.
"There’s no need to worry though! They can’t sent their true bodies down, so they can only rely on external medicine. The Hundred Bitter Restoration is medicine of the lowest level and the price of sending it down is already equivalent to a Deity weapon. Just that price is already exorbitant to those puny ancestor Deities of the Xia Clan. They won’t be able to cure Dong Bo Xue Ying," the Sorcerer God began. "He himself is no longer a source of worry, since he won’t be able to live more than one to two hundred more years! He won’t be able to cultivate either, due to the nightly torture caused by the Six Ghosts Resentment; there’s no reason to care about him anymore."
"Do we stop acting against him?" the Great Demonic God asked.
"First of all, the Xia Clan will most likely prepare something for him, meaning that our chance of success if we act against him again will be much lower. This Dong Bo Xue Ying can hide with ease inside the Mirage or the Shadow World, so killing him is truly hard. Secondly, we’ve already paid a huge price to attack him the first time around, and I’m afraid the price of another assault would be even higher. Using so many resources just for the sake of a Transcendent who’s no longer a concern, and with an added possibility of failure, is not worth it," replied the Sorcerer God.
During the previous attack, those 12 arrays which could be set within a breath’s worth of time had truly been precious.
Every additional array set had the possibility of causing the entire outcome of the battle to change. And for them to be set within a breath’s worth of time, they would have to be arranged by an expert at the level of the Black Wind Deity Palace’s master, which would incur huge costs. The Black Wind Deity Palace had not been broken through for so many years because each Transcendent could only rely on their own combat power to break through, not because the Xia Clan did not have the necessary power. For example, previously, when the Dragon Mountain Emperor and other Deities had been there, they could not procure the Black Wind ancestor’s treasures because they were not actually inside the palace itself. Therefore, the Xia Clan decided not to break through with force, instead abiding by the rule of each Transcendent having to depend on their combat power, as imposed by the Black Wind ancestor himself.
During that attack, the Xia Clan relied on various clan treasures as well as the assistance of the Meishan Clan Master, yet they still had to spend such a long time to break through the arrays. On top of that, the arrays had been arranged almost simultaneously; just how much would they cost?
Not to mention the scroll which was torn apart to imbue the Sorcerer God’s saber with additional power. If not for it, the saber would truly have been unable to suppress space inside the Mirage. How frightening of a cost would such a scroll have?
They had paid such a great price for the first attack while further operations would cost even more! On top of that, the Xia Clan was prepared this time around, which added a chance of failure—the current Xue Ying was just not worth the price.
"Oh, right. That Xia Clan Ancestor, the Purple Thunder Emperor, has been taken in by the Bloodshed God Palace. Will that cause any additional issues on your side?" the Great Demonic God suddenly asked. "Just thinking about the Bloodshed God Palace is enough to make me shiver in fear. They truly are a terrifying superpower, and the Purple Thunder Emperor might rise in rank in the future."
"Hmph. As a territory lord, I wouldn’t even be afraid of someone stronger than him by a thousand times. For the sake of the Crimson Rock Mountains, I will kill anyone who dares obstruct me!" The Sorcerer God’s eyes were brimming with killing intent.
The Great Demonic God laughed. "Haha, I think you would be a better fit to our Dark Abyss."
"Hmph, hmph."
The Sorcerer God sneered twice before disappearing. The illusory skull of the Great Demonic God similarly dissipated into nothingness.
The two returned to Xue Ying’s original dwelling inside of the Infernal World, where they found Palace Head Chen and Mountain Lord He waiting for them.
"Xue Ying, are you alright?" Palace Head Chen could not help but ask of his health after seeing Xue Ying’s pale face covered in sweat.
"I’m fine. I should be able to resist for an entire day, and it’s still quite early." Xue Ying laughed. After Palace Head Chen handed Xue Ying the gourd containing the medicine, he also gave him a note of when he should be theoretically drinking the medicine. If he acted according to that timetable, he would be able to live for 200 more years.
For the first nine months, he was only allowed a single portion of the medicine each day.
Meanwhile, Xue Ying had only woken up a mere three hours or so before, so he still far from the portion for the next day. The timetable was recorded in the Deity world, as there had been many cases of people inflicted with Six Ghosts Resentment. Although obtaining the medicine was much easier in the Deity world, the pain would still render many unable to resist taking more medicine, leading to a premature consumption and even to short lapses between drinking extra doses, which in turn resulted in many of them being unable to live even 100 more years.
"Mn." Palace Head Chen did not try to encourage him. He was aware that, despite the pain reaching an unfathomable intensity, it would be better for Xue Ying to resist as much as possible—to the point of the theoretical limit.
He continued, "Remember, you should ask the green-armored protector to give you some of the medicine if you end up fainting. Once you lose your consciousness, if your Undying Body doesn’t recover faster than the Six Ghosts Resentment annihilates, you will end up dead within an hour."
"I understand. I’ll ask the ancestor Deity warrior about it later," Xue Ying replied. Always with him in the shape of a wristband, the green-armored protector would be able to understand Xue Ying’s circumstances. As for the others, even Xue Ying’s loved ones, they could not pay attention to him every single second.
"Oh, right." Xue Ying revealed a smile. "Palace Head Chen, Mountain Lord He, I will marry Jing Qiu the day after tomorrow."
Palace Head Chen and Mountain Lord He both looked towards the couple in astonishment.
Jing Qiu smiled together with Xue Ying as she held onto his arm.
"That’s fabulous! The two of you are really quite fast, haha. This truly is a joyous occasion. While it feels rather early, that’s good in its own way.
Mountain Lord He also let out a laugh. "We’ll be certain to attend your wedding then. I’ll have to think of a good gift for you two. Right, will the wedding take place at Snowrock Castle?"
"Yes." Xue Ying nodded. "I’ve thought things over with Jing Qiu. We decided we’d return to Snowrock Castle tomorrow and have a simple ceremony; there’s no need to make a huge deal out of it."
"I understand," Palace Head Chen added. "Right, you should go rest now. If there’s any issue, just transmit a message over to me."
"Mn."
Xue Ying’s voice had already started trembling as he spoke. He did not try to force himself, instead going back to rest.
Watching the couple enter the house while they stood in the main corridor, Palace Head Chen and Mountain Lord He exchanged slight nods.
"This is good as well," said Palace Head Chen. "At the very least, Xue Ying will have Jing Qiu to accompany him."
"Mn." Palace Head Chen agreed.
They felt better knowing that Xue Ying would have a to wife accompany him for the next 100 to 200 years.
"Oh, right, Xue Yin will return to his castle tomorrow, so you should hurry up and finish modifying that treasure," Palace Head Chen said. "While I don’t think the Sorcerer God and the Great Demonic God will attack Xue Ying again, it’s better to be prepared."
"Rest assured. I’ll be done tonight." Mountain Lord He nodded.
...
In various places throughout the Xia Clan world, the Transcendents were receiving the news about Xue Ying being poisoned by the poison imbued into the Sorcerer God’s saber as well as information about the assault on the Demonic Faction headquarters, the destruction of the vessel for the Great Demonic God’s Deity Avatar, and the joint attack Xue Ying suffered from Elder Ao Lan, Monarch Qing Yan, the Spider Queen and a Deity warrior.
The matter concerning the vessel of the Great Demonic God’s Deity Avatar confirmed the notion of an even more terrifying scheme hidden by the Great Demonic God and the Sorcerer God, so the Xia Clan decided to no longer hide it.
It was at that moment that the Xia Clan Transcendents finally understood what Xue Ying had done and what he encountered as a result!
"Four of the five Demon Generals have died, while the fifth is struggling at death’s door. And that was only possible because of Dong Bo Xue Ying!"
"Our Xia Clan has never before discovered the location of the Demonic Faction Headquarters, but this time, they’ve even destroyed it! Not only that, they even got rid of the vessel for the Great Demonic God’s Deity Avatar…"
"Such a pity."
"Right, it truly is a pity."
"Brother Dong Bo is so incredible without even having cultivated for a hundred years! I can’t even dare imagine where he’ll reach if he continues cultivating. Will he be number one under the heavens? Will he become a Deity? Or maybe he’ll end up as the strongest Deity amongst all of our Xia Clan Ancestors?"
"There’s no point in thinking that far. Brother Dong Bo has been inflicted with that poison imbued into the Sorcerer God’s saber, and in the future, he’ll have to suffer through its excruciating pain. On top of that, he can’t even cultivate Qi or physical strength anymore, and comprehending the world has become very difficult for him. Ai…"
"Doesn’t that mean he’ll end up a cripple?"
"Who are you calling a cripple? Even if his combat power can’t rise any further, he’s still the one who killed the High Priest of the Demonic Faction—Xi Yuan! He’s the one who survived the joint attack of Elder Ao Lan, Monarch Qing Yan and the Spider Queen, together with the Sorcerer God’s saber! No ordinary Demigod is likely to be his match. In terms of how mysterious his techniques are, he’s almost certain to rank among the top Demigods! So are you, a Sky realm Transcendent, qualified to call him a cripple?"
"I… I merely felt it’s a pity. I did not mean to look down on him."
The Xia Clan Transcendents were all discussing among themselves. Regret, resentment, the hearts of many ached.
But a select few of them were plotting in the darkness.
"Wasn’t Dong Bo Xue Ying very close with Mage Jing Qiu? Now that he’s become a cripple and he can’t live for much longer, hmph, hmph, Mage Jing Qiu will most likely end up leaving him! When he dies, I might be able to chase after her!"
As the most beautiful mage amongst the Transcendents, Jing Qiu naturally had many pursuers.
The only problem was that Xue Ying always walked alongside her, crushing the hopes and dreams of many Transcendents.
Not long afterwards, another article of news spread!
"Dong Bo Xue Ying and Mage Jing Qiu will be having their wedding the day after tomorrow, in Snowrock Castle!"
This news…
Destroyed any shred of hope left in those deluded and vain Transcendents! After all, once a Transcendent married, even after their partner’s death, their personality made it so they would never marry again. Throughout history, there had never been any record of a female Transcendent marrying a second time! In fact, many of the female Transcendents never married even once in their entire lives.
...
In the Oceanic Forest World, a major Transcendent World.
The illusion of a golden-robed male once again met with the gigantic illusory skull.
"You’ve received the news quite fast. It would seem like there are still some members of your Demonic Faction amidst the Xia Clan," the illusion of a gold-robed man said.
The Great Demonic God replied, "My information network in the Xia Clan is more effective than yours. I’ve long since infiltrated their ranks. Right, do you think there’s any chance of the news being false?"
"There’s no need for suspicion, " the illusory man with golden robes replied. "I’ve used this saber for a long time in the past, and the poison it’s imbued with is none other than the Six Ghosts Resentment! But who would have thought that one of the Xia Clan Ancestors had actually joined the Bloodshed God Palace and is even proficient enough in the Dao of Medicine for him to so easily recognize this hexing poison."
The first step to curing a poison was recognizing it. Originally, the Sorcerer God thought…that none of the Xia Clan Ancestors would be able to recognize his hexing poison. After all, there were so many hexing poisons in the Deity world, and Six Ghosts Resentment was but one of them.
"There’s no need to worry though! They can’t sent their true bodies down, so they can only rely on external medicine. The Hundred Bitter Restoration is medicine of the lowest level and the price of sending it down is already equivalent to a Deity weapon. Just that price is already exorbitant to those puny ancestor Deities of the Xia Clan. They won’t be able to cure Dong Bo Xue Ying," the Sorcerer God began. "He himself is no longer a source of worry, since he won’t be able to live more than one to two hundred more years! He won’t be able to cultivate either, due to the nightly torture caused by the Six Ghosts Resentment; there’s no reason to care about him anymore."
"Do we stop acting against him?" the Great Demonic God asked.
"First of all, the Xia Clan will most likely prepare something for him, meaning that our chance of success if we act against him again will be much lower. This Dong Bo Xue Ying can hide with ease inside the Mirage or the Shadow World, so killing him is truly hard. Secondly, we’ve already paid a huge price to attack him the first time around, and I’m afraid the price of another assault would be even higher. Using so many resources just for the sake of a Transcendent who’s no longer a concern, and with an added possibility of failure, is not worth it," replied the Sorcerer God.
During the previous attack, those 12 arrays which could be set within a breath’s worth of time had truly been precious.
Every additional array set had the possibility of causing the entire outcome of the battle to change. And for them to be set within a breath’s worth of time, they would have to be arranged by an expert at the level of the Black Wind Deity Palace’s master, which would incur huge costs. The Black Wind Deity Palace had not been broken through for so many years because each Transcendent could only rely on their own combat power to break through, not because the Xia Clan did not have the necessary power. For example, previously, when the Dragon Mountain Emperor and other Deities had been there, they could not procure the Black Wind ancestor’s treasures because they were not actually inside the palace itself. Therefore, the Xia Clan decided not to break through with force, instead abiding by the rule of each Transcendent having to depend on their combat power, as imposed by the Black Wind ancestor himself.
During that attack, the Xia Clan relied on various clan treasures as well as the assistance of the Meishan Clan Master, yet they still had to spend such a long time to break through the arrays. On top of that, the arrays had been arranged almost simultaneously; just how much would they cost?
Not to mention the scroll which was torn apart to imbue the Sorcerer God’s saber with additional power. If not for it, the saber would truly have been unable to suppress space inside the Mirage. How frightening of a cost would such a scroll have?
They had paid such a great price for the first attack while further operations would cost even more! On top of that, the Xia Clan was prepared this time around, which added a chance of failure—the current Xue Ying was just not worth the price.
"Oh, right. That Xia Clan Ancestor, the Purple Thunder Emperor, has been taken in by the Bloodshed God Palace. Will that cause any additional issues on your side?" the Great Demonic God suddenly asked. "Just thinking about the Bloodshed God Palace is enough to make me shiver in fear. They truly are a terrifying superpower, and the Purple Thunder Emperor might rise in rank in the future."
"Hmph. As a territory lord, I wouldn’t even be afraid of someone stronger than him by a thousand times. For the sake of the Crimson Rock Mountains, I will kill anyone who dares obstruct me!" The Sorcerer God’s eyes were brimming with killing intent.
The Great Demonic God laughed. "Haha, I think you would be a better fit to our Dark Abyss."
"Hmph, hmph."
The Sorcerer God sneered twice before disappearing. The illusory skull of the Great Demonic God similarly dissipated into nothingness.
