Chapter 430 - Turning Tables

“W-what the… IMPOSSIBLE!”

From all quarters, the forces of the Orthodox Path or the Corpse Refinery Sect alike, breathes were drawn and shocked and surprised gasps could be heard rising like the rustling a storm. The Xiao Chen who was dead is now standing again! What was more, the wounds on him were healing at a visible and yet unbelievable rate! No one could ever believe their eyes at what was happening.

Everyone was astonished; Zuoqiu Yang, Xiaoyue, and the others, especially Xiaoyue. The color of her face seemed to have utterly drained as she felt herself convulsing violently as if she had witnessed her greatest fear coming true…

“Junior Brother!” Luo Shangyan screamed, surprised, and exuberant. Beads of tears still hung from the ends of her eyelashes. Yu Yifeng was wearing a bewildered look, flustered beyond words. Xiao Chen got up and walked past them, gently giving them a push to his back, “Stay back.”

Yu Yifeng recovered from his shock at once; he knew Xiao Chen had this incredible but unexplainable ability to resurrect from death, and he realized only Xiao Chen stood any chance of defeating Red Sleeve. He pulled Luo Shangyan’s arm, leading her back to where the forces of the Orthodox Path were.

Red Sleeve had stopped when she heard Xiao Chen’s voice earlier, right before she had completely disappeared into the darkness of the cave. She slowly turned around, regarding Xiao Chen with the same piercing stare as sharp as ice picks. Even the air between them seemed to tense with fear.

On the other side of the field, Wu Fa and Wu Tian, with the remaining few of the defenders, could only look on wordlessly. Red Sleeve breathed angrily, “I see. You are the same as me. You feed on souls from the Administration of Heaven to survive…”

“I am not the same as filth like you… I need nothing of the sort…”

Xiao Chen channeled his powers to both his arms and sent forth a shockwave of energy that rippled all around him. The Sword of the Vermillion Bird screamed like a phoenix and soared into the sky, displaying its fiery splendors that bespattered the air with specks of flames with such intensity that everyone could have sworn that they felt as if the entire Ridge was burning.

“The Flames of the Southern Vermillion Bird…” Red Sleeve observed icily with hardly a shred of fear in her.

A gigantic fiery cyclone spun in the air, and the defenders of the Corpse Refinery Sect below watched with panic, wondering if death was indeed upon them. The Flames of the Southern Vermilion Bird consumes all that is foul and evil and is most potent against Corpse Puppets, which relied on Rancorous Qi and Malicious Grudge as fuel.

“ARGHH!”

With an earsplitting bellow, Xiao Chen let fly jets of Flames at Red Sleeve that devoured her ravenously. Realizing their chance at victory, Perfected Immortal Qing Chen, with many more mages of the Orthodox Path, quickly rushed to Xiao Chen to help him, channeling more of their True Energies into him.

The inferno grew stronger. A sea of flames sprawled before the yawning mouth of the cave. Knowing that this was no ordinary flames, the remaining Corpse Puppets of the former High Chieftains were immediately relocated to someplace else safer.

The waves of flames continued blazing everything it could find in front of the cave for more than a quarter of an hour. Then a figure appeared, walking casually amid the thrashing firestorm of the most destructive and powerful flames in the world. The flames licked at her vainly, harming her not one bit, and not even a hair or an article of her clothing was damaged. Her entire person was protected by a sphere of Rancorous Qi that was impervious to the destruction outside!

“BEGONE!” Red Sleeve repeated herself, and a huge, angry wave of foul energy spilled from her, rolling towards all directions. Several senior leaders of the Orthodox Path were caught in the path and fell to the ground, vomiting blood and saliva.

Xiao Chen gritted his teeth and raised his arm. The Sword of the Vermilion Bird returned to him. His fingers wrapped firmly on its hilt, and he charged. Like a bolt of lightning, he dashed forward with reckless abandon. But this time, the Sword of the Vermilion Bird struck true; blood spattered around him as the tip of his sword sank deep through her chest, tearing through her heart.

Red Sleeve grunted in pain with blood spewing from her mouth. Xiao Chen let loose a beastly howl, yanking his weapon free before stabbing her again and again in successive. Imbued with the Flames of the Vermilion Bird, his sword could easily penetrate the sphere of Rancorous Qi like a hot knife through butter, and each stab could not be any more devastating than anything that anyone had dealt upon her before.

Finally, Xiao Chen swung his sword, aiming for her throat. But the sword had only sunk for a little more than an inch through her neck when Red Sleeve collapsed. Her eyes were closed as she fell on her back with a loud thud with dust and grime tossed into the air.

The Queen of the Corpse Refinery Sect laid on the ground. A lifeless corpse with not even a pulse or a breath.

The howling winds resonating with the firestorm died down just as the fires slowly came to an end. The eerie silence was punctuated by only the interminable heaving and puffs of panting and heavy breathing of Xiao Chen. The remaining defenders of the Sect looked, hardly able to move, and so were the mages of the Orthodox Path from afar. Xiao Chen staggered in his steps, and then he noticed something he would never quite believe: Red Sleeve’s eyes opening again! A red glare flashed across her eyes, and she got up with every bruise and gash healing at an unprecedented rate just like Xiao Chen!

“What the… How can…”

There was hardly anyone who was not surprised. T-this… This is entirely the same as what happened to Xiao Chen earlier!

“I have the Malicious Grudge of three thousand years. How many times do you think I can go on?” The resurrected Red Sleeve challenged Xiao Chen coldly.

“As many times as it takes to send you to Hell!” Xiao Chen snarled, the Sword of the Vermilion Bird in his grasp charged again. Clang! Only this time, Red Sleeve had caught the blade of his weapon with her bare hands with blood dripping down from where the edges of the Sword had bit deep.

“My very existence transcends beyond the circles of influence and authority of the Three Domains and Samsara! Not even the Nether Emperor can kill me, nevermind one as puny as you!” Red Sleeve screeched venomously in return. Her other hand thrust forward and lanced through Xiao Chen’s heart with blood gushing out like a geyser through his back.

Xiao Chen groaned. He drew back the Sword and drove it forward with all his might, impaling Red Sleeve through her heart as well, and both the Undead and the Undying spat a mouthful of blood.

“Where is she…”

“I told you, she’s dead…”

“ARRGGGHH!” Xiao Chen emitted a maniacal roar. He raised a fist, and Red Sleeve did the same, and they struck at each other in unison in the head. Two successive Bangs! Both fell on their backs, equally dead with blood trickling down from their ears, eyes, noses, and mouths.

No one drew a breath. What unfolded before their eyes were well beyond any of their comprehension. Suddenly, Xiao Chen and Red Sleeve came back to life again! Their eyes blinked open once more with the same red flash, and they rose, their wounds healing rapidly again.

“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?!”