Chapter 430 - Turning Tables (2/2)

“Gods in Heaven…”

None of anyone else around had witnessed something like this before, and no one could explain what was happening.

“I told you, you will never be able to kill me,” Red Sleeve hissed coolly. She pulled out the Sword from her chest with a sickening swish and tossed it to the ground.

“I can say the same,” Xiao Chen flicked his wrist, magically summoning the Sword of the Vermilion Bird back to him.

“I have never wanted to kill you. Just get out of my way!”

“Give Muxue back to me, and I’d well make way!”

“Never,” Red Sleeve retorted, throwing her head back in a peal of insane laughter, before she hissed like a serpent at him, “For three thousand years I have suffered and sacrificed, only to search for one like her! I’d never let her go!”

“Why must it be her…” Xiao Chen growled, never once taking his eyes off his adversary. He cracked his knuckles, and the snapping of his hands filled the air.

“Then why must it be me then?!” Red Sleeve rebutted vengefully, staring intently at her nemesis too.

Their eyes met and locked with the keenness of the sharpest blade. “What designs do you have for her…” He growled again.

“Designs?! Hahahahahaha!” Red Sleeve began cackling wildly, her eyes looking deranged and mad, “I need her Mystic Yin Body! The Yin energies from her will give me eternal life! With that, I would never need to rely on souls from the Administration of Heaven to replenish myself. Only then would I truly be free of Death. I would reign supreme over the Three Domains and Samsara! Hahahahaha!”

Her voice grew louder as she went on with the ramblings of her megalomaniacal delusions, which startled everyone. Everyone braced with trepidation at the notion of her achieving her life-long dream. Even in her current state, Red Sleeve was already an unstoppable menace. Heaven forfended the horrors she might unleash if she indeed saw her dream made true.

Perfected Immortal Feng Lan breathed hard. The grip of his fingers on the hilt of his weapon tightened. The bloodied mage said to Perfected Immortal Qing Chen beside him, “We must stop her at all costs. Even if it costs our lives. Imagine the havoc she’ll wreak if that infernal plan of hers really comes into fruition. I fear by then, not even an Immortal King from the Heavens would be able to deal with her…”

The forces of the Orthodox Path stirred. They quickly reformed their battle lines, regrouping into formations to prepare for their final battle where none of them might survive. But Xiao Chen remained rooted to his spot, regarding Red Sleeve with an equally piercing look. “Absorb the Yin energies?” He scoffed, “Speak the truth. What are you after? You don’t need girls specifically born on the seventh day of the seventh month if its only Yin energies you’re after…”

Red Sleeve could find no answer to rebut that. She merely looked at Xiao Chen quietly with her sharp stare while inside, she was grimacing at how her nemesis seemed to know enough to see through her lies.

“Be that as it may, you’d never be able to stop me. Look up into the sky if you will. Noon is upon us. It’s not even an hour to a quarter after noon. After which, the natural polarities of Yin and Yang will shift and all of you will die…”

Red Sleeve’s ominous declaration rumbled across the Ridge, shocking everyone who quickly looked up. The dark cumulonimbuses were scattering to reveal a bright sun hanging in the sky. Noon was indeed at hand.

Xiao Chen’s face curdled with apprehension. Stiffly, he muttered, “Nevertheless, you seem to forget that before Yang switches to Yin, it is precisely when Yang energies are at their strongest. If everyone here were to attack you with everything they have at the same time, there’s no way you’d survive…”

“Hahahahahaha!” Red Sleeve’s head threw back as she laughed before she turned placid and eerily emotionless again. “Here I am, all yours for the taking. Yet still, you could do nothing to harm me?”

Their hostile glares met again. None of them moved as they looked with utmost focus at each other as if trying to pry into each other’s mind.

Xiao Chen felt his palms wet with sweat, and his breathing growing harder. It would be a do-or-die situation. Their one last chance when Yang energies would be at their strongest at a quarter to 12. The only last-ditch chance to vanquish Red Sleeve. There was no option for failure lest the window would pass, and the sun would be falling eastward, and the Yang energies would shift into Yin. Red Sleeve would survive, and there would be no telling of how great a monstrosity she would become.

On the other side stood a seething Red Sleeve, watching Xiao Chen sternly in the eyes with her antagonistic glare. The person who had proven to be too great a hindrance to her. “You wish to amass natural Yang energies to defeat me,” she muttered icily, “You seem to have overlooked the fact that your own body is sustained by a Yin energy yourself. The rich Yang energy will also destroy you and you will be reduced into nothing. But I am different! I have three thousand years’ worth of the richest Yin energies in me! What makes you think that Yang energies gathered in just a short span of time will be enough to kill me?”

Xiao Chen said nothing. Their eyes continued looking at each other, and nobody moved for a long and tense moment. The mages of the Orthodox Path did not dare to move without any instruction from Xiao Chen, and everyone could only watch nervously.

Ziyun’er darted. She waved to six of her sisters, motioning for them to follow her lead. They skirted around the outer peripherals of the space where Xiao Chen and Red Sleeve glaring at each other, hoping to slip into the cave. But before they got close, Red Sleeve turned and bolted away from her nemesis, bounding at Ziyun’er at breakneck speed!

“Ziyun’er, look out!” Xiao Chen could only manage to scream. He had sprung after Red Sleeve when she moved, chasing after with his Immortal-override Steps. Still, he was but one step behind. Ziyun’er pivoted just in time for Red Sleeve to plunge her arm through her stomach and blood sprouted out of Ziyun’er’s mouth.

“M-my… My Lord…” Ziyun’er croaked as her eyes closed slowly, and she tumbled backward.

“ZIYUN’ER!” Xiao Chen’s howl thundered, his eyes bloodshot with disbelief and terror. He caught up just behind Red Sleeve, delivering a fierce kick that sent the Queen of the Corpse Refinery Sect into a crash tens of yards away. Qingluan reached just a heartbeat later and carried Ziyun’er in her arms. She spoke tersely to Xiao Chen, “Leave her to us, My Lord. Red Sleeve is yours.” To the rest of the girls, she barked, “Into the cave. Now! We need to find Lady Muxue within the hour!”

“At once!” The rest of the Hidden Fragrance Wafting Under the Moon chorused and they disappeared into the cave.

Xiao Chen spun, intensely angered and vengeful at what Red Sleeve had just done. All of a sudden, the mountains began to shake, and the tremor grew stronger and stronger. Huge boulders and large rocks came loose and rolled down the slopes of the jagged cliffs and stony rockfaces. Many of the mages staggered and fell in the sudden rising turmoil.

Xiao Chen was shrouded in a white brilliance that only intensified with time. Everyone could feel it. The natural Yang energies were all clustering in him, rushing towards him like the powerful rapids of a river.

For the first time, Red Sleeve’s expression changed. Looking positively distressed and frantic, she screamed, “YOU! What do you think you’re doing?! Are you going to sacrifice yourself to kill me?!”