Chapter 1817: Pain

BOOM—!!

Another wound, nearly a waist-slash, pierced through Bai Qi's body.

At the same time, the severely injured figure close to Bai Qi was also hit head-on by an extreme killing intent from the Ancient Soldier Dao Treasury. The theatrical robes were torn to shreds in an instant, and the remaining flesh and blood also collapsed into a sky full of blood mist...

In Bai Qi's eyes, the scene of Chen Ling turning into fly ash under the Soldier Dao killing intent was clearly reflected. He was slightly stunned.

Thud.

Bai Qi's severely injured, near-death body fell into the deep pit, and rolling dust flew up.

A roar of furious cursing rang out in Bai Qi's mind, but he seemed not to hear it, his eyes staring fixedly at the blood mist in the air that had completely collapsed... Chen Ling's existence seemed to have been completely erased by this Ancient Soldier Dao Treasury.

The world suddenly fell into a dead silence.

……

[Audience Expectation -50]

[Current Expectation: 37%]

……

A figure regenerated rapidly in the surging blood mist!

A strange brilliance flashed in Bai Qi's eyes. He dragged his severely injured body and stood staggeringly in the deep pit. Before he could make a move, the blood shadow in the air vanished suddenly.

The next moment,

A red paper tentacle flew out from the afterimage, fiercely gripping Bai Qi's injured neck and waist, and with terrifying power, forcibly slammed him against the cliff of the deep pit!

A dull, massive sound echoed in the air, and hideous cracks instantly covered the entire cliff. A figure had been deeply embedded into the rock wall!

The pitch-black armor was now shattered, the black ribbons stained with blood and scattered in disarray. Bai Qi, covered in wounds, was now pinned to the wall by several red paper tentacles, and a bone-carving knife flashing with chilling light was pressed against his throat...

Just as he had done a few minutes ago, when he pressed his sword tip against Chen Ling's throat.

The red-bottomed, black-patterned theatrical robes danced in the wind. Chen Ling, having completely recovered to his peak state, held the handle of the bone-carving knife with one hand, looking coldly at the severely injured Bai Qi before him.

Although Chen Ling was furious, he was by no means stupid.

He dared to hard-carry the killing intent of the Ancient Soldier Dao Treasury and charge into the deepest million-man pit to fight Bai Qi, naturally because he had enough confidence... With enough audience expectation, even if something went wrong or he couldn't defeat Bai Qi, he still had one chance to survive from the jaws of death.

Chen Ling was now the Sixth Generation Red King of the Twilight Society. He still had too many things left to do in this world, and he wouldn't allow himself to die here so recklessly.

"Do you... have anything else to say?"

Chen Ling's blade pressed against Bai Qi's throat, his voice cold and piercing.

As long as Chen Ling was willing, one slash would decapitate the severely injured Bai Qi... Although doing so might not necessarily kill him completely, he would definitely lose all ability to resist. At that point, Chen Ling would always have a way to obliterate him completely.

Blood seeped from the corners of Bai Qi's mouth. Even as Chen Ling's blade pierced his skin bit by bit, his gaze remained as calm as water.

"I have nothing to say." He replied hoarsely. "My strength was insufficient. If you want to kill, then kill."

"But after you cut off my head, you'd better use the Judgment Court a few more times to beat me into fly ash... otherwise, I will eventually regenerate."

Hearing this, Chen Ling's eyes narrowed slightly...

This sentence, this tone—Chen Ling was very familiar with it. In an instant, it was as if he saw himself back on Frost Street.

Chen Ling just looked at him coldly, and Bai Qi looked back at him calmly. The air fell into a strange, dead silence.

Swish—!!

A flash of light from the knife in Chen Ling's hand, and Bai Qi's head rolled to the ground.

As Chen Ling released those red paper tentacles, Bai Qi's severely injured, broken, headless body fell from the cliff like rotten mud, slamming heavily onto the earth...

Chen Ling's hand gripping the handle of the [Judgment Court] tightened slightly... A moment later, he released it silently.

He didn't do anything to the head on the ground that was staring in death, nor to the shattered body. He just calmly brushed his theatrical robe sleeves and turned to leave.

Chen Ling knew that decapitation didn't mean much to Bai Qi. After he left, he would recover soon.

But Chen Ling had never intended to kill him in the first place.

Although Bai Qi occupied Jian Changsheng's body, in the end, it was a voluntary deal... Jian Changsheng had actively given his body in this lifetime to Bai Qi.

No matter how painful or angry Chen Ling felt, this emotion was ultimately him blaming himself. It was he who didn't notice Jian Changsheng's abnormality in time, and he who failed to stop Jian Changsheng from making the deal to preserve his body and soul...

Chen Ling hard-carrying the killing intent so crazily and charging into the Ancient Soldier Dao Treasury, besides being provoked by Bai Qi's taunts and wanting to teach him a lesson, was more because he really didn't know how to alleviate this self-blame and pain, and could only pay the price in this way.

No matter how much hostility Bai Qi had toward him, he was not an enemy of humanity. Chen Ling had used the Akashic Tower to deduce it, and he knew very well that the reason Bai Qi lived in Jian Changsheng's body was simply because he couldn't stand the weakness of the Divine Daoists in this world and wanted to restore the glory of the Soldier God Dao, using the slaughter of human civilization as a sword to destroy the Red Star.

From the beginning, they were not enemies... It was just that Bai Qi simply couldn't stand him.

What's more...

That was Jian Changsheng's body.

Chen Ling hard-carried the killing intent of the Ancient Soldier Dao Treasury and broke away from the treasury, not completely shaking off the lock of the killing intent until he returned to the sea where icebergs surged.

He looked back at the pitch-black giant sword standing between heaven and earth, his fists clenching silently...

When the pain and tension brought by the life-and-death struggle gradually faded, Chen Ling realized that the pain and self-blame in his heart had not diminished in the slightest... In his empty chest, it was as if something was being stirred crazily until it was torn to shreds.

"Spade..."

Chen Ling murmured, his reddened eyes closing silently.

Extreme pain constantly stimulated his mind, and the scene of Jian Changsheng drawing his sword to take his own life kept replaying in his mind... Moisture welled up in the corners of his eyes again. Just as his heart ached to the point of being unable to hold back, a voice suddenly rang out from his ear.

"Lord Red King."

"Some bad news has come from the Chengtian Domain... Today, two more powerhouses have completed their Divine Dao self-verification and stepped into the Tier 9 Demigod level... The number of Demigods in the Chengtian Dynasty has surged during this period. As of now, not counting Ying Fu, there are already ten Demigods."

"According to our intelligence, that person in the Chengtian Palace... seems to be about to make a move."

The moment Liu Qingyan's grave voice sounded, Chen Ling's tightly clenched fists suddenly relaxed...

The red-bottomed, black-patterned theatrical robes fluttered in the air. He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the tears that were about to fall, as well as the pain and self-blame in his heart, and his bloodshot eyes slowly opened.

His haggard figure stood tall again, as if he were invisibly continuing to carry a heavy mountain...

His weary voice sounded hoarsely:

"I know..."

"Don't worry... everything is under control."