Chapter 182 – Love Is the Most Twisted Curse

Yi Chi stared at the Blood Sword in Lu Chen’s hand, his heart filled with despair.

He realized he was trapped within Lu Chen’s Sword Domain, completely incapable of resistance.

Even though he was at the Golden Core Stage, even though he possessed an Earth Corpse Immortal of the Golden Core Stage…

Lu Chen’s Mountains of Corpses and Seas of Blood specifically countered Immortal Fiends like him who suffered from Karma Entanglement.

Not only Yi Chi himself,

But even his Earth Corpse Immortal was now tightly bound by countless arms formed from Karma within the Mountains of Corpses and Seas of Blood.

Despite struggling with all its might and exhausting all methods,

These arms and the blood sea beneath their feet were like quagmire – the more they struggled, the deeper they sank.

Thus, Yi Chi could only watch as Lu Chen raised the Blood Sword and slowly approached him, utterly defenseless.

Under Yi Chi’s terrified gaze, Lu Chen swung his sword.

This strike wasn’t special, appearing quite ordinary at first glance.

But the crucial point wasn’t the Blood Sword itself – it was Yi Chi.

For at the very moment Lu Chen swung his sword,

Large amounts of black Karma immediately emerged around Yi Chi.

This Karma converged on Lu Chen’s Blood Sword, strangely coating the blade with eerie Karma flames.

Yi Chi’s Protective Qi proved utterly useless against these terrifying Karma flames.

The moment the Blood Sword touched the Protective Qi, it shattered instantly.

Then the Karma-coated Blood Sword continued unimpeded, directly striking Yi Chi’s neck.

In his dazed state, Yi Chi felt the world spinning before his eyes.

A headless corpse suddenly entered his vision.

This headless corpse wore Corpse Fiend Cave garments.

Looking at his own corpse, Yi Chi felt surprisingly calm.

So this is what death feels like…

Thump!

As Yi Chi’s head hit the ground, his headless body immediately collapsed.

Without Yi Chi’s control, his Earth Corpse Immortal went completely berserk.

But even in its rampage, it still couldn’t break free from the shackles of the Mountains of Corpses and Seas of Blood.

The blood sea formed from vengeful spirits and Karma tightly entangled it,

Constantly dragging it toward the depths of the blood sea.

Though the Earth Corpse Immortal had beast-like intelligence, its survival instinct still made it struggle against this terrifying blood sea.

But burdened with heavy Karma, it couldn’t escape.

It could only watch helplessly as its body eventually submerged into the blood sea.

Before it, the other Foundation Establishment Stage Disciples of Corpse Fiend Cave had already disappeared into the blood sea.

After completing all this, Lu Chen released one of his Heretical Avatars, which entered the restrained Earth Corpse Immortal.

Soon, a Golden Core Stage Earth Corpse Immortal completely obedient to Lu Chen… appeared.

[Innate Divine Ability: Heretical Avatar]

[Rank: Three Realms]

[Effect: Summons three Heretical Avatars upon use. Heretical Avatars possess 80% of the user’s cultivation and Physique, 100% of skill levels, and receive 200% damage]

[Special Effect · Possession: Your Heretical Avatars can possess other objects or living beings, thereby controlling them. Depending on the actual situation of the possessed target, they can to some extent use either the Heretical Avatar’s own skills or the possessed target’s skills]After having the Earth Corpse Immortal, which was completely under his control, enter a nearby coffin, Lu Chen stored it into Yi Chi’s storage bag.

Soon, the vast cave residence contained nothing besides Yi Chi’s head.

Looking at this head, Lu Chen skillfully placed it into the storage bag with practiced ease.

After all, this was the greeting gift he intended to present to Bai Yu, the Nascent Soul Stage Elder of the Black Lotus Sect.

The reason Lu Chen used his Heretical Avatar to ‘possess’ this Earth Corpse Immortal wasn’t because he valued its combat strength.

In this ‘Instance·Sword Formation Ruins’ that currently housed three Nascent Soul Stage cultivators, a mere Golden Core Stage Earth Corpse Immortal couldn’t possibly influence the battle’s outcome.

His fundamental purpose was actually to use this Earth Corpse Immortal as a means to indirectly control Bai Yu, the Nascent Soul Stage Elder of the Black Lotus Sect.

The reason this Earth Corpse Immortal could achieve this must be traced back to Bai Yu’s relationship with its former identity… Gou Dong.

Gou Dong was Bai Yu’s childhood sweetheart; the two grew up together in a small mountain village.

However, due to her cultivation aptitude and exceptional beauty, Bai Yu was noticed by a Black Lotus Sect cultivator when she was fourteen. She was forcibly taken to the Black Lotus Sect and spent a long period as that cultivator’s Cauldron.

From that moment on, Bai Yu’s life was completely transformed.

After all, the Black Lotus Sect’s doctrine advocated ‘extinguishing human desires.’

To achieve this, one either had to satisfy their desires to the point of reaching a state of desirelessness, or destroy what they cherished most to attain a level of despair where nothing mattered, indirectly achieving desirelessness.

Thus, within the Black Lotus Sect, aside from the exceptionally privileged Holy Son and Saintess who could ignore this rule, ordinary disciples had no right to resist higher-ranking members.

Women with outstanding appearances like Bai Yu naturally became key targets for ‘guidance’ within the sect.

Remaining unstained while emerging from filth was inherently improbable.

Unless one possessed the ability to escape the mire, they would only sink deeper into it.

In her early years, Bai Yu didn’t have her current cultivation level, so even a Foundation Establishment Stage disciple could easily manipulate her.

Even though she later killed almost all of these people, what had happened couldn’t be changed.

This forged Bai Yu’s extremely twisted personality.

On one hand, the Black Lotus Sect’s environment made Bai Yu believe that pure, genuine emotions couldn’t exist in this world—only endless desires.

On the other hand, Bai Yu desperately yearned for this very thing she had been deprived of.

This led her to continuously idealize her childhood sweetheart, Gou Dong, in her memories, even to the point of believing he was irreplaceable.

But the more she felt this way, the more Bai Yu believed her tainted self was unworthy of him.

By the time she reached the Golden Core Stage, Bai Yu had developed a Heart Demon that hindered her breakthrough.

Torn between her own Heart Demon and the nearly perfect image of her childhood sweetheart she had constructed in her mind, Bai Yu did something Lu Chen found utterly incomprehensible to resolve this conflict.

Using her Golden Core Stage cultivation at the time, she secretly located the small sect where Gou Dong resided and slaughtered every member.

Then, using her body and other offerings as bargaining chips, she struck a deal with Yi Chi, who was also at the Golden Core Stage at the time.The content of this transaction involved having Yi Chi refine Gou Dong into a Corpse Fiend.

Bai Yu’s purpose for doing this was simple: she wanted Gou Dong to have no one else by his side except her.

But even so, Bai Yu still felt she wasn’t worthy of Gou Dong.

Therefore, she simply had the cultivators from the Corpse Fiend Cave take action to refine Gou Dong into a Corpse Fiend.

This way, as long as Bai Yu could kill the Corpse Fiend Cave cultivator controlling Gou Dong, she could naturally take him back, turning him into her private possession and completely claiming him.

‘Love is the most twisted curse in this world.’

Lu Chen hadn’t understood this statement in the past, until he learned about Bai Yu’s story.

However, it was precisely this twisted love of Bai Yu’s that allowed Lu Chen to find the key to breaking the situation.

In his recent resurrections, Lu Chen had managed to use Bai Yu to deal with the Nascent Soul Stage cultivators from the Corpse Fiend Cave and the Great Thousand Mountains, allowing himself to survive until the end as much as possible and participate in the struggle for the Sword Diagram.

And this key was the Earth Corpse Fiend… Gou Dong, currently possessed by his Heretical Avatar.

After obtaining this crucial key to breaking the situation, Lu Chen immediately stood up and left the cave residence before him, heading toward the Black Lotus Sect’s temporary outpost outside the Sword Testing Valley.

Soon, these long-silent Sword Formation Ruins would become lively once again.

Black Lotus Sect’s temporary outpost.

“Elder Bai, there’s a disciple outside who wishes to see you. He says he has important matters to discuss with you?”

A Golden Core Stage Protector of the Black Lotus Sect lowered his head, his eyes greedily gazing at Bai Yu, who was reclining on the bed not far away, revealing a pair of pure jade feet.

It had to be said, although Bai Yu currently appeared aloof and unapproachable, she exuded an indescribable allure.

This bizarre combination of sanctity and charm was something even Geng Fei, the Black Lotus Sect’s Golden Core Stage Protector who had seen countless women, found difficult to resist.

After all, unlike ordinary, easily attainable Cauldrons, Bai Yu was at the Nascent Soul Stage.

Such a woman undoubtedly stirred Geng Fei’s desire for conquest even more.

“Gouge your eyes out.”

Bai Yu didn’t immediately answer whether she would see the disciple, but instead spoke in an icy tone.

Hearing this, Geng Fei didn’t dare hesitate in the slightest and actually gouged out his own eyes on the spot.

Seeing Geng Fei’s empty eye sockets, Bai Yu nodded in satisfaction.

“Speak, who is looking for me.”

Geng Fei, enduring the intense pain, said in a trembling voice, “A Foundation Establishment Stage disciple, but he’s carrying the head of a Golden Core Stage cultivator from the Corpse Fiend Cave.”

“Oh?”

Hearing that a Foundation Establishment Stage disciple was carrying the head of a Golden Core Stage cultivator from the Corpse Fiend Cave, Bai Yu immediately became interested.

“Bring him in.”

“Yes.”

Before Geng Fei had gone far, Bai Yu’s voice came again: “Next time you look at me with that kind of gaze, you’ll leave your life behind as well.”

Hearing this, Geng Fei shuddered all over, then said with utmost respect, “Yes.”

After leaving Bai Yu’s cave residence, a Foundation Establishment Stage disciple of the Black Lotus Sect came forward, intending to pay respects to Geng Fei.

But when he saw Geng Fei’s bleeding eye sockets, he froze on the spot.

Before he could decide what to say, Geng Fei grabbed his head with one hand.

Amid the other’s screams, he directly drained him into a dried-up corpse.Before long, Geng Fei’s originally empty eye sockets had regenerated.

He glanced back at Bai Yu’s cave residence, his eyes filled with hatred and covetousness.

He had already made up his mind: if given the opportunity in the future, he would repay today’s humiliation in full, making Bai Yu kneel on the ground to repent for everything she had done to him today.

At the thought of such a scene, an excited expression appeared on Geng Fei’s face.

After indulging in this thrilling revenge fantasy for a moment, Geng Fei immediately headed outside.

After all, though he desired to conquer Bai Yu, his current strength clearly wasn’t sufficient to achieve this.

Therefore, he first needed to complete the tasks Bai Yu had assigned him, such as bringing in that Foundation Establishment Stage disciple carrying the head from Corpse Fiend Cave.

Under Geng Fei’s guidance, Lu Chen soon arrived before Bai Yu’s temporary cave residence.

“Go in. Elder Bai is already waiting for you inside.”

“Yes.”

Lu Chen pretended to be respectful as he nodded, then directly entered Bai Yu’s cave residence.

Upon entering, Lu Chen immediately lowered his head.

After all, he had suffered before.

He understood just how malicious Bai Yu’s temperament was.

She would demand a body part from you over the slightest dissatisfaction.

Lu Chen had once been instantly killed by her just for glancing at her.

Simply because she detected no trace of ‘lust’ in Lu Chen’s eyes.

This had struck a nerve with Bai Yu, making her feel that Lu Chen looked down on her, considering her body too filthy.

Indeed, Bai Yu was someone pathologically sensitive to such degrees.

Or rather, among those who managed to climb to high positions in the Black Lotus Sect, or even throughout the entire Ancient Fiend World, none were sane.

In that practically cannibalistic world, normal people… simply couldn’t survive.

“Speak. What brings you to me.”

Lu Chen took out the box containing Yi Chi’s head from his storage bag.

With some curiosity, Bai Yu waved her hand, making the box fly to her.

But when she opened the box and saw the head placed inside,

Bai Yu’s originally cold expression showed slight fluctuation.

However, to avoid revealing anything unusual, Bai Yu pretended not to recognize Yi Chi and closed the box in her hand.

“Tell me, where did you obtain this head, and where has his Earth Corpse Immortal gone?”

“Reporting to Elder, this disciple accidentally discovered the corpse of this Golden Core Stage cultivator from Corpse Fiend Cave while exploring Sword Testing Valley alone.”

“Based on this disciple’s observation, they likely encountered a rare large-scale sword qi turbulence during their exploration of the valley, leading to their accidental demise.”

Hearing this, Bai Yu immediately rose from her bed.

Her white Dao robe parted at the legs, her bare jade feet stepping on the cold bluestone floor as she quickly approached Lu Chen.

“Then what about this Golden Core Stage cultivator’s corpse fiend?”

“In his storage bag.”

As he spoke, Lu Chen produced Yi Chi’s storage bag.

Bai Yu took the storage bag, and upon sensing that the ‘corpse-preserving coffin’ inside remained intact, a faint blush appeared on her previously calm face.

Because she hadn’t expected that before she could take action herself, a disciple would have already brought back her beloved.

This was undoubtedly better than if she had acted personally.

Because this way, no one would detect the ‘affection’ in her heart.

Avoiding the danger of being tortured by the Deputy Leader.

“Good.”Bai Yu nodded with satisfaction, indicating that Lu Chen had done very well this time.

“Speak, what do you want.”

Lu Chen respectfully said: “This disciple hopes the Protector can allow me to leave this Sword Formation Ruins alive. Beyond that, I have no other requests.”

After a moment of silence, Bai Yu took out a Protector’s Token from her Storage Bag and handed it to Lu Chen.

“With this token, no one can force you to do anything. You may leave now.”

“Yes.”

Lu Chen took Bai Yu’s token and directly hung it at his waist.

After Lu Chen left, Bai Yu immediately opened the Corpse-Preserving Coffin from Yi Chi’s Storage Bag.

As the coffin opened, a robust middle-aged Corpse Fiend immediately appeared before Bai Yu.

The moment the coffin opened, the Corpse Fiend’s eyes snapped open.

It then lunged violently toward Bai Yu.

It looked as if it wanted to devour her alive.

But before it could act, the white silk ribbon at Bai Yu’s waist flew out and bound it.

Looking at the restrained Earth Corpse Immortal, Bai Yu squatted down with a dazed expression and gently stroked its cheek with her hand.

“Brother Dong, we’re finally together again.”

“This day… I’ve waited far too long.”

As she spoke, Bai Yu directly embraced it.

The scene resembled long-separated lovers finally reuniting.

That is, if one ignored Gou Dong’s ferocious appearance.

In a cave residence of the Black Lotus Sect, Lu Chen watched Bai Yu’s situation clearly through his Heretical Avatar.

Had he not known the full story, he might have mistaken Bai Yu for some lovesick woman.

After confirming there were no surprises, Lu Chen immediately withdrew his gaze.

Because he had already completed the first step of clearing the instance: gaining the trust of Bai Yu, the Nascent Soul Stage Elder of the Black Lotus Sect.

Next he needed to complete the second step: weaken the forces of the Black Lotus Sect, Corpse Fiend Cave, and Great Thousand Mountains as much as possible, and break their fragile alliance.

After all, facing three Ancient Immortal Sects alone was undoubtedly unrealistic.

So he first needed to muddy the waters.

And when it came to muddying waters, Lu Chen was quite experienced.

Lu Chen closed his eyes, and a black shadow emerged from his own shadow, entering the body of a Black Lotus Sect disciple meditating in a nearby cave residence.

Instantly, the Black Lotus Sect disciple began trembling violently, soon bleeding from all seven orifices.

When he reopened his eyes, he directly stood up and walked out of the cave residence.

Corpse Fiend Cave, temporary outpost.

“Speak, why come to me at this time? You should know how difficult it was to plant you in the Black Lotus Sect. Your coming here now undoubtedly exposes you prematurely.”

Ma Guilin, a Golden Core Stage cultivator of Corpse Fiend Cave, looked sternly at the spy he had painstakingly planted in the Black Lotus Sect.

He knew this spy wouldn’t risk coming directly to Corpse Fiend Cave unless it was extremely important.

After all, such an action would completely expose their position.

“Sir, the Black Lotus Sect has found the exact location of the Sword Diagram.”

“What!”

Hearing this, Ma Guilin stood up in shock.

“Is this true?”

“Absolutely true. I witnessed with my own eyes how the Black Lotus Sect killed our Golden Core Stage Protector Yi Chi to suppress the information.”Upon hearing this, Ma Guilin was almost completely convinced by the other party’s words.

Because not long ago, they had just received news that Yi Chi had fallen.

However, due to the short time since the incident occurred, they had no idea how Yi Chi died or the exact location of his death.

They only knew that Yi Chi had died in the Sword Testing Valley.

Now, thinking back, it was likely that Yi Chi had discovered the secrets of the Black Lotus Sect and was silenced because of it.

After all, killing a Golden Core Stage cultivator without leaving a trace was no easy task.

Moreover, even if someone were to kill him, there must have been a reason.

It all matched up, everything fell into place.

With this in mind, Ma Guilin immediately made a decision.

“Let’s go, we’ll demand an explanation from the Black Lotus Sect!”

“Yes.”

Watching the other’s retreating figure, the Black Lotus Sect disciple controlled by Lu Chen had a profound look in his eyes.

Did they really think he had randomly chosen the cave residence where he was staying in the Black Lotus Sect?

Every step he had taken so far had been meticulously calculated.

And what he intended to stir up was not just the conflict between the Black Lotus Sect and the Corpse Fiend Cave, but also the Great Thousand Mountains.

Soon, these three Ancient Immortal Sects, which were only superficially united, would completely tear off their masks.

And at this moment, he would be able to thoroughly muddy the waters.

Then, at the most critical moment, he would deliver them a heavy blow.

It was worth noting that, so far, aside from failing to kill the three Nascent Soul Stage Elders, Lu Chen had eliminated every Golden Core Stage cultivator in the instance.

Although rewards were only given for the first kill in an instance, the total of eight Golden Core Stage cultivators—two from the Black Lotus Sect, and three each from the Corpse Fiend Cave and the Great Thousand Mountains—had provided Lu Chen with considerable rewards.

[Soul Crystal Shard (Purple): 30]

[Current EXP: 6.5 million]

(End of Chapter)