Chapter 9: Death (Part 1)

As the colorful silk net closed in, the man neither dodged nor flinched. Suddenly, a three-foot-long sword appeared in his hand, and he swung it down fiercely. In an instant, countless colors flashed. The man moved in sync with the sword, but although the strike broke through the silk net, the threads still wrapped around the sword, instantly disintegrating it. Horrified, the man vanished. Despite his rapid escape, some of the silk threads remained attached to him.
After much effort to get rid of the threads, a serious expression appeared on his face. He realized it was extremely difficult to dispel them—if there were many threads, he might not be able to do so completely. In battle, even the slightest hesitation could lead to attack. He dared not continue attacking Guo Shier, so he turned and rushed at Kuumu and Monier, who were the targets he intended to kill.
Guo Shier kept retreating, feeling regretful. After all, Jiebaina Zhu was not an offensive sacrificial artifact. It was already quite good that it had scared the man away, and he knew the man had suffered some losses. Before he could retrieve Jiebaina Zhu, he saw the man reappear near Kuumu and Monier and shouted, “Hide quickly!”
Kuumu and Monier simultaneously threw out a palm strike. The man’s sudden appearance was like that of a ghost, so they only reacted instinctively. After delivering their rune palm strikes, they quickly retreated.
The man sneered and slowly drew his finger, creating a horizontal spatial rift right on the path Kuumu and Monier were taking. Caught off guard, they crashed into it. Their bodies were silently severed into two pieces and crashed onto the altar.
Guo Shier felt icy cold all over, but a furious rage surged within him. He could no longer stay calm and shouted, “Master, Masteress… Ah…” He charged wildly, roaring, “I’ll kill you… Ah…” He swung the Soul-Calming Cauldron fiercely at the man.
The man sneered again and said, “Seeking death!”
Qi Wuzhen suddenly appeared behind the man and delivered a sudden palm strike. A pillar of flame transformed into a solid flaming spear, piercing deeply into the man’s shoulder. The surprise attack made the man scream in pain. Qi Wuzhen closed his hands and shouted, “Explose!”
With a loud noise, the flaming spear embedded in the man’s shoulder exploded, blasting half of his body apart. Guo Shier rushed over immediately, slamming the Soul-Calming Cauldron onto the man, knocking him to the ground. Following closely behind, he continued to strike with the cauldron, driving the man deep into the earth.

Guo Shier didn’t bother continuing the attack. In a flash, he rushed to枯木 and Monier’s side, reached out, and countless runes flew out. He knew枯木 and Monier couldn’t survive; the only right thing to do was to save their souls promptly.
The altar for the two of them shrank rapidly and instantly entered their souls. At that moment, Guo Shier’s runes arrived just in time, enveloping their souls. In an instant, their souls took shape.
枯木’s soul nodded at Guo Shier before disappearing. Monier’s soul stretched out its hands, gently touched Guo Shier’s head, and then vanished as well. The bodies of the two suddenly fell downward, caught by Guo Shier’s purple chains.
Guo Shier understood that his master and masteress had already reincarnated with the altar. Though he knew their souls were immortal, his heart burned with rage—he wanted to tear that man to pieces.
Li Ran, Qi Wu Zhen, and Guo Shier hovered in the air. The man, knocked into the ground by Guo Shier, was temporarily out of sight. Li Ran said, “He’s… not dead yet. Keep attacking!”
A roar was heard, and the man flew back up. The three were stunned—his body, which had been blown apart, had grown back, leaving them in utter shock. This man was too abnormal; even such attacks couldn’t kill him, and seriously injuring him was difficult.
What they didn’t know was that the man was actually severely injured. The strength of top professionals wasn’t something to be taken lightly, but this guy was so abnormal that he had fooled Li Ran and the others for a moment.
The man’s heart burned with fury. He now understood that Li Ran’s strength was only slightly weaker than his own. Yet that slight difference gave him a decisive advantage.
Li Ran and the others stared intently at the man, searching for his weaknesses, ready to launch another attack.
Guo Shier struggled to suppress his anger and calm himself down. He glanced up at the Soul Calming Cauldron, which was riddled with cracks and no longer usable. Forcing it to function would cause it to collapse completely. Gritting his teeth, Guo Shier retracted the cauldron, and the old man immediately began refining it within the altar, hoping to recover quickly, though he knew the chances were slim.
The man nodded and said, “I didn’t expect you to be so strong. Hehe, you’re on par with many so-called experts. But… not good enough for me!”
Li Ran said coldly, “Who will win remains unknown. Come on!”
The three attacked simultaneously—Guo Shier’s moon blade, Qi Wu Zhen’s flames, and Li Ran’s sword—firing wild attacks around the man like a revolving carousel.

The man felt an abrupt surge in pressure, finding it far more difficult than fighting against seven opponents. Without the Soul-Stabilizing Cauldron to hold his form in place, the three of them realized his speed was incredible—he could not be locked down at all and easily dodged their attacks. He darted around wildly, and soon Wu Zhen was the first to fall victim, sent flying by a single punch. She kept spewing blood, which burned in midair. Immediately after, Guo Shier was also hit and severely injured. He took a talisman pill, mustered up courage to continue attacking, and summoned the Jie Baina Pearl as a sacred artifact. Unfortunately, it couldn’t stabilize that guy; otherwise, with the power of the Jie Baina Pearl, it would surely have hurt him. Li Ran engaged the man in a fierce battle, but despairingly, both were struck by the opponent at the same time—Li Ran was injured, while the man seemed unharmed. In just a moment, Qi Wu Zhen and Guo Shier lost their fighting ability. Their sacrificial altars had been retracted into their bodies, preventing them from continuing to fly. Both fell to the ground, coughing up blood repeatedly. Guo Shier knew he was done. He said, “Sister Zhen, we’re going to be reborn… Hehe, death can’t really kill us. This life is over, hehe. Let’s prepare for the next one.” Qi Wu Zhen spat out a mouthful of blood—even her blood was flames. She looked up at Li Ran, who was still fighting the man, shook her head slightly, and said, “I didn’t expect him to be that strong. Shier, can I be reborn?” At this point, she lacked confidence. Guo Shier nodded. “No problem. I’ve already been reborn twice. Including this time, it’s the third time. I have experience. Um, Sister Zhen, you need to seal part of your soul. If your soul is too vast and you reincarnate directly, you won’t be able to wake up…” Qi Wu Zhen nodded. “I’m prepared. I’ve already refined a sealing sacred artifact. Once I die, most of my soul will be sealed away.” Guo Shier nodded. “You’re really unwilling to give up… dying here like this…” His emotions had calmed down. Qi Wu Zhen said, “If I’m going to die, so be it. I’ve died before!” Her response was so bold that Guo Shier didn’t know how to reply. Guo Shier and the Handsome Old Man discussed, “Handsome Old Man, I’m going to die. You… you’ve also studied the Soul Scriptures. You should be able to be reborn, right…”

The handsome old man said, “Reincarnation? Bullshit! I can’t reincarnate! As long as your soul altar remains, I can’t reincarnate—unless you’re completely destroyed… No, if you’re completely destroyed and the altar shatters… then I’ll be completely ruined too! Forget it. Anyway, I can only stay in the altar. We’re not only destined to be entangled for life but probably for countless lifetimes. Damn it, if you were a woman, it would be fine, but as a man… Sigh, I hope you become a woman in your next life so I can at least enjoy the sight a bit.”

Guo Shier didn’t know what to say. He had never thought about what it would be like if he had to reincarnate as a woman—his fun would be greatly increased. He fell silent immediately.

The handsome old man said, “Don’t worry. I’ll always be with you. I’m doomed to be a kind of nanny.”

Guo Shier held back for a while but couldn’t help asking, “Sister Zhi, what if you reincarnate as a man?”

Qi Wuzhen smiled slightly and said, “It doesn’t matter whether it’s a man or a woman. As long as I can regain my current strength, everything else is unimportant. Anyway, I won’t rely on others.” After saying that, she spat out some blood and added, “That person… is really powerful. They managed to completely destroy my body, leaving no chance of recovery at all…”

Guo Shier nodded. “Yeah, I checked too. My body is completely ruined. I don’t know what kind of power this is—it can instantly destroy all vitality in the body. Thankfully, the soul isn’t affected.”

Qi Wuzhen sighed. She felt the same way. If not for the strange nature of this power, she wouldn’t have fallen victim so easily.

The handsome old man asked, “What about your little friend?”

Only then did Guo Shier remember Seraphine’s soul. He hurriedly said, “Don’t try to strengthen her soul. Give it to me…”

Soon, a soul appeared in Guo Shier’s palm—it was Seraphine’s soul. Her soul wasn’t as strong as Guo Shier’s or the others’, but after being purified by the Soul Scriptures, it had become much stronger. Guo Shier’s soul trembled slightly. “Seraphine, you should be able to hear me. I’m going to send you on reincarnation now. Don’t panic. When I grow up, I’ll come to find you…”

Seraphine’s soul trembled slightly. She couldn’t yet communicate through the soul, but she could clearly sense Guo Shier’s soul fluctuations and understand his words.

Guo Shier smiled faintly before involuntarily spitting out more blood. He managed to cast a spell, and in an instant, Serichlin’s soul disappeared without a trace. Only then did Guo Shier realize that those whose souls are reincarnated can only be found by heaven. Nevertheless, he left tracking runes in Serichlin’s soul, so as long as she was in the Greater World, he would surely be able to find her.