Chapter 143: Hair (Part Two)

During the intense battle, Duan Xingyun had long since hidden deep within the White Emperor Glazed Cauldron, only daring to emerge afterwards. Protected by the furnace, he suffered no injuries. Amidst a conflict approaching the third tier of the True Nether Realm, hiding was the only viable option, as attempting to assist would only have been a hindrance.

"That was truly terrifying..." Duan Xingyun crawled out, shaking his large head vigorously. "I almost died! That Female Demon Overlord is more powerful than all the elders of the Langya Chamber of Commerce combined!"

"The Demon Overlord fought numerous experts of the Langya Chamber of Commerce in Lingbo Town all by herself. There must be others of her caliber within her sect; had she not been so formidable, her sect would have been annihilated long ago." Jiang Feng nodded. "She is indeed several tiers stronger than your master, Xuan Xingzi."

"Let's get out of here. I want to see what her true form looks like. Is she a guest of the Zuma Cult? What on earth is the Zuma Cult? I have never heard of it," Xingyun asked, looking puzzled.

"I have no idea what the Zuma Cult is either. It is likely another mysterious and powerful sect in the West Nether, comparable to the Langya Chamber of Commerce." Jiang Feng shook his head. "The factions in the East Nether are already numerous, but across the universe, cultivators are as countless as the sands of the heavenly river. Someday, when I reach the Void Nether Realm, achieve comprehension of the void, and acquire the ability to tear through space and travel across realms, I will leave the East Nether to journey through the vast outer world. I want to witness the Buddhist sect, the God race, heavenly demons, heavenly dragons, all kinds of nether beasts, demons, and living beings with my own eyes."

The experiences and lessons of the past few days had greatly broadened Jiang Feng's horizons. He felt an even greater sense of awe toward the Demon Overlord, who had completely defeated the multitude of experts from the Lingya Chamber of Commerce using just a single strand of hair. He had never imagined that he would one day fight side by side with such a mighty expert!

However, the legacy left behind by the Demon Overlord for Jiang Feng was a monumental trouble.

A few days later, he was horrified to discover that the entire Samsara Sea seemed to be in an uproar because of him. A ranking list was circulating across the Samsara Sea, featuring notoriously infamous individuals. Known as the Short-Lived List, it was essentially a curse placed by the rogue cultivators of the Samsara Sea upon those whose names appeared on it. The Lord of No-Life Island, whom Jiang Feng had killed, had been ranked thirty-ninth on the Short-Lived List.

Now, someone had actually added Jiang Feng's name to the list, placing him at thirtieth, while Duan Xingyun had taken over the former position of the Lord of No-Life Island.

At this moment, Jiang Feng and Duan Xingyun were still lying low within the Moon-Worshiping Palace, not daring to step outside for fear of being discovered once they ventured into the boundless ocean, which would inevitably lead to a flurry of blades and a life-or-death struggle!

"People truly fear fame just as fat pigs fear the butcher!" Facing such gossip and rumors, Jiang Feng could only force a bitter smile. During these past few days, he had not had a single moment to practice cultivation. After all, the Moon-Worshiping Sword Sect was a rogue cultivator sect within the Samsara Sea and possessed a communication device linked to other islands, known as the Shadow Transmission Array!

Through this nether-power array, Jiang Feng could see strangely dressed people every day broadcasting his image across the array to convey their intended messages.

And the headline news every day, naturally, was Jiang Feng's actions at the Woodman's Ridge of the Moon-Worshiping Sword Sect!

Jue found this immensely amusing. Almost every day when Jiang Feng sat pale-faced before the Shadow Transmission Array, staring at those images, Jue would invariably appear, mocking him with gloating delight: "Not bad, kid! You've made it onto the list so quickly!"

Whenever this happened, Jiang Feng could only heave a faint sigh, and then continue to fix a profound gaze upon the stiff-moving, expressionless communications officer within the Shadow Transmission Array!

It was as if by merely glaring like that, he could stare the communications officer to death on the spot!

What Jiang Feng found most unbearable was that Gui Yue, who usually ignored worldly affairs and focused intently on her cultivation, also began to appear frequently, mocking him with the most sarcastic tone possible: "When are you going to kill another one or two people on the list so that your ranking can actually go up?"

"Gui Yue, do you think that I didn't call you out in time when the Nine-Sun Holy Water appeared, and that you're holding a grudge, which is why you keep mocking me now?" Jiang Feng retorted without hesitation. Right now, he was no longer afraid of these two characters, Jue and Gui Yue. Initially, he had held a sliver of awe toward them, considering their advanced age and former glory, but after spending a long time together, he realized they weren't so difficult to get along with—at least, he saw the traits of mischievous old urchins in both of them.

Gui Yue's gaze suddenly darkened, and a murderous aura surged throughout her body. When Jiang Feng was being refined by that fellow Liu Xiayuan inside the White Emperor Glazed Cauldron, she had been meditating intently in the sea of consciousness to restore her physical form, and as a result, she had been entirely too focused to notice the changes in the outside world.

Furthermore, at that time, Jue had subconsciously used his powerful spiritual energy to completely sever the connection between the entire sea of consciousness and the outside world. Consequently, no matter how immense the pure yang energy overflowing from the Nine-Sun Holy Water was, she had no way of sensing it.

Therefore, when Gui Yue discovered that Jue had restored his cultivation to the first tier of the True Nether Realm through the Nine-Sun Holy Water, her eyes turned red with envy, and she wished she could slaughter both Jue and Jiang Feng on the spot!

"Little Ghost, you might as well let it go. You know what the Nine-Sun Holy Water is; it's extremely rare in this world. I merely managed to catch a fraction of its fortune. Please don't take it to heart—we didn't intentionally leave none for you!" Jue chuckled heartily. In truth, he was brimming with joy inside; seeing Little Ghost suffer a setback was one of his greatest pleasures in recent years.

"I'll kill you!"

Gui Yue flew into a rage, her hands rapidly forming hand seals as she unleashed exquisitely crafted Ice-Soul Darts that blossomed like pristine ice lotus flowers.

The next instant, these ice lotus flowers surged forward with unsparing force, targeting none other than Jue inside the sea of consciousness.

"Hey, Little Ghost, you're actually attacking me!" Jue cried out in feigned surprise, his acting thoroughly exaggerated.

Even Jiang Feng found such clumsy acting hard to watch, but just as he was about to withdraw from the sea of consciousness, he was horrified to discover that Jue had no intention of blocking that attack!

Facing the lightning-fast Ice-Soul Darts, Jue actually chose to dodge!

His body leaped lightly within the sea of consciousness, executing a three-hundred-sixty-degree spin with a grace and lightness akin to a wild goose treading upon flying swallows. Yet, in Jiang Feng's eyes, such movements were utterly terrifying!

Once Jue dodged the attack, the one who would have to take the hit was his own sea of consciousness!

"Hey, Jue, are you trying to get me killed?!" Jiang Feng screamed in terror, but by the time his voice escaped, it was already far too late. Gui Yue's Ice-Soul Darts, flashing with an icy white radiance, directly pierced straight into his sea of consciousness.

"Ah!"

A wave of tearing sensations rippled from the depths of his sea of consciousness. At that moment, it felt as though his entire head was being forcefully split open. The feeling of his spirit being torn into countless pieces inadvertently reminded him of the sensations he had once experienced within the Illusory Abyss of Myriad Forms.

Pain!

An overwhelming surge of pain caused Jiang Feng to scream out repeatedly. At that moment, he harbored a deep hatred for Jue, knowing full well that Jue was deliberately teasing him with this stunt.

Because with Jue's current strength, he was entirely capable of suppressing Gui Yue.

Before he could even voice his complaints to Jue, however, Gui Yue's hands lit up once more.

"No!"

His eyes widened in terror, stretching even wider than those of an ox. Covered in cold sweat and with his heart pounding wildly, Jiang Feng watched helplessly as his sea of consciousness was riddled with holes by the Ice-Soul Darts, just like a shooting target.

The intense pain became too much for Jiang Feng to bear, and he instantly lost consciousness.

The last scene he witnessed was Jue's figure still leaping and dodging gracefully, nimble and agile like a rabbit.

An unknown amount of time later, amidst a hazy blur, his entire head felt as though it had been forcefully blown apart. The sudden eruption of pain snapped Jiang Feng out of his deep coma. He jerked upright, drenched in cold sweat, with every bone and muscle in his body trembling.

With a muddled and utterly dazed mind, Jiang Feng struggled to recall everything that had happened before.

Suddenly, a flash of insight struck his mind—except this flash of insight was of a chilling, ghostly white color. He suddenly recalled a terrifying name: Ice-Soul Darts!

"Oh no, are they still fighting?!"

Terrified, Jiang Feng hurriedly plunged into his sea of consciousness. Yet, before he even fully entered, he endured another wave of spirit-splitting agony that nearly caused him to faint once more.

When he finally entered, he was utterly dumbfounded.

His sea of consciousness was in complete ruins, riddled with holes everywhere—transparent holes, at that. Standing there in a daze, he caught sight of a figure bouncing up and down.

Jue!

Without a moment's hesitation, he mobilized the nether soul power stored within his sea of consciousness. The surging nether soul power unceremoniously swept toward Jue and Gui Yue, whose hands were still flashing with chilling light.

With a crisp snap, Gui Yue and Jue were forced apart!

"Are you two ever going to stop? If you keep fighting like this, I'm going to suffer a mental breakdown!" Jiang Feng screamed hysterically, utterly helpless against these two troublesome freeloaders residing within his body.

One was as playful as an overgrown child, while the other appeared as cold as frost on the surface, yet when truly angered, she wouldn't spare him an ounce of dignity!

Looking at his battered sea of consciousness riddled with countless holes, he felt like crying without tears.

"You foolish kid, it's not easy to provoke Little Ghost, you know." Jue rolled his eyes at Jiang Feng and retorted dismissively, "Did you really think I was dodging on purpose? I deliberately made her unleash so many Ice-Soul Darts so they would all become engraved into your sea of consciousness. That way, you can train your spirit and elevate your spiritual realm to the next level. When that happens, the nether soul power stored in your sea of consciousness will also have a chance to grow!"

Jue's words left Jiang Feng pleasantly surprised.

He had never imagined that the cluster of immensely destructive nether soul power within his sea of consciousness could actually be enhanced!