Overdraw the future and become a peerless martial god

Chapter 160 Blood Sacrifice: The Final Chapter

Blood wails and wind howls, soul fire weeps.

The heavens and earth seemed to be swallowed by an inverted altar, the fields were stained with blood, and even the wind and snow were silent.

Chu Ning slowly knelt down on the ground.

His shoulders trembled, and a series of fine cracking sounds emanated from his bones. The lightning energy, like thousands of fleeing thunder beasts, rampaged through his body, tearing apart his muscles and bones, and shattering his soul meridians.

His chest heaved violently, a sweet taste rose in his throat, and he almost spat out a mouthful of blood, but he swallowed it back down.

He tried his best to steady his breathing, gritted his teeth, and braced his hands on the ground, but the light of the Thunder Armor was peeling away little by little. The once indestructible bone armor was like an old tree breaking in the wind, with cracks extending from his back to his shoulders and elbows. The Thunder Fiend was like a torn battle robe, leaking away bit by bit from his fingertips, from his spine, and from the depths of his dantian.

He's about to collapse.

"Chu Ning...!"

Dong'er's fingers trembled as she gripped the Shuoyue Ice Soul tightly. Standing behind him, she watched as his towering figure, as upright as a mountain, collapsed in the wind and snow, his chest crackling with lightning and blood spurting out. She seemed to see his shattered lightning bones breaking inch by inch, yet still desperately protecting her and the Ice Soul.

She suddenly couldn't breathe, and her heart felt like it was being squeezed tightly.

"Why...you could have taken half a step back...you could have..."

Tears welled up in her eyes, but she gritted her teeth, refusing to let them fall. Because he hadn't backed down, and neither could she.

The wind and snow rose again, but unlike the previous fierce and sharp winds, it was low and oppressive, as if heaven and earth were mourning.

In the distance, fox spirits hovered around the edge of the blood array. They no longer roared or became wary; they simply whimpered quietly.

An old fox phantom lurked in the wind, letting out a long, drawn-out roar, the sound seeming to whisper:

"How long are you going to protect her?"

"Your soul is shattered, your bones are broken, why do you not fall?"

But in the end, all the fox spirits simply bowed their heads, and on the snow-covered ground, ten thousand souls lay prostrate.

They had seen powerful beings and imperial souls, but they had never seen a human who, on the verge of a broken soul and crumbling bone armor, still managed to guard a soul-returning ceremony with his severed back.

A fox-flame reflection flickered in Dong'er's eyes as she murmured softly:
"Chu Ning... what exactly are you betting on?"

She watched his retreating figure, the lingering thunderous aura within the broken sleeve still trembling, as if a wisp of unextinguished obsession remained.

She finally understood.

He wasn't gambling.

He is guarding.

Even if he already knew that he might not live to see the end of this battle.

The wind and snow tore through the clouds, and a ray of moonlight fell from the shattered sky, illuminating his pale yet indomitable face.

At that moment, Chu Ning's gaze remained unchanged as he slowly raised his head.

He's still here. Still alive. Still standing.

Dong'er's hand clenched the Shuoyue Ice Soul tightly, her eyes as clear as ever.

“I will bring her back,” she whispered, “Don’t fall.”

"I am fine."

He uttered those three words in a low voice, his voice hoarse, as if they were being ground out from shattered lung lobes.

Dong'er could clearly feel his bones burning, his skin cracking, and deep black scorch marks appearing on his lightning armor. These were not marks caused by an attack—they were from overload.

Chu Ning had already pushed his Thunder Bone, Thunder Tendon, and Thunder Skin to their limits; now he was merely using up his last breath of true energy.

His expression remained calm, but his fingertips trembled uncontrollably.

The wind and snow howled, as if all spirits were urging him to fall.

Behind them, the Crescent Moon Ice Soul began to flicker violently.

The Azure Soul Flame churned within, while the silvery-blue fox flames, like severed soul threads, struggled helplessly within the vessel's walls.

The sharp, hoarse spiritual cry pierced through the blood curse barrier, as if using all its remaining willpower to call out to him.

"Help me."

Chu Ning closed his eyes.

The next moment, he slowly reached into his robes.

My fingertips touched that familiar jade bottle.

It was cold and quiet, yet a spiritual energy rippled gently within the bottle.

He remembered Li Jing'an's playful yet solemn instruction when he handed it to him:

"If you're going to die, just eat one."

He gave a wry smile.

"Right now, around this time."

He tore off the talisman and uncorked the bottle.

The fragrance of cinnabar wafted towards me, still that familiar scent—like clouds and thunder condensed in the sky, like a spring rising from beneath snow, its aroma as clear as the first drop of dew melting in the early spring frost and snow.

He tilted his head back and swallowed the second Guiyuan Pill in one gulp.

"boom--"

In an instant, lightning and fire struck.

Chu Ning's pupils shrank sharply, and a white light suddenly exploded on his Thunder Bone. Thunderous energy, like a waterfall, rushed from his dantian to his entire body. His flesh and blood rapidly recovered, and his shattered tendons healed at lightning speed. His dantian was like a furnace, and his true energy was boiling.

The thunderous aura reignited, and the thunderous armor was reborn.

The shattered bone armor was instantly reconstructed, with streaks of lightning flashing like newly forged divine weapon remnants, piecing itself back together from his spine, sternum, and shoulder armor.

Rank 7, medium level, Thunder Extreme Reignition.

Chu Ning slowly opened his right eye. His golden pupils were like lightning, his white hair was like snow, and his breath was like a surging tide.

He slowly stood up and looked down at Dong'er, who was kneeling on the ground.

She held the nearly shattered Crescent Moon Ice Soul in her arms, her face pale, yet she refused to let go.

He looked at her, his voice carrying the lingering echo of thunder, yet incredibly gentle:
"Don't be afraid."

The wind and snow roared, and the world seemed to hear those words.

The next moment, thunder surged, the Thunder Armor returned, and the Thunder Fiend groaned within his body.

Lei Ji Dao Jun has returned to his position.

"I told you, don't touch Qingli!"

Chu Ning roared, his voice hoarse yet thunderous, burning with his soul to tear through the darkness.

His roar was no longer a simple warrior's shout, but a burning cry of the soul in a life-or-death struggle.

"I'm not here to beg for a way to survive."

"Even if the Thunder Bones are burned to ashes and the Thunder Heart is destroyed."

"I will trample over you all and bring her back from hell!"

He struggled to his feet again, his steps unsteady, yet his resolve unwavering.

Behind him, the extraordinary phenomenon of the Thunder Bone became increasingly apparent, and the Purple-Gold Thunder Wheel spun endlessly, radiating a world-destroying pressure.

He did not back down.

Instead, they walked step by step toward the leader who was completing the sacrificial seal.

The first step was that the thick snow suddenly cracked, and thunder roared as if the earth were splitting open.

The second step involved the blood river vortex collapsing violently, with darkness surging forth.

In his third step, he stepped into the spell array filled with runes, which suddenly triggered a thunderous explosion that shook the heavens and earth.

"boom!!!"

Amidst the deafening roar of thunder, he cleaved the pillar of blood that pierced the heavens and earth with a single strike, severing two already solidified "soul locks."

The chains shattered with a crash, the sacrificial array shook violently, and the oppressive force of darkness loosened.

Chu Ning's body suddenly surged with lightning energy, his lightning heart pounding like a war drum shaking the heavens, and a divine thought that seemed to come from the heavens resounded loudly.

"Boom-"

A ring of purple-gold lightning patterns exploded from his back, the surface of his bone armor cracked inch by inch, and lightning danced among the wounds, as if spiritual lightning was devouring his last bit of flesh and blood and obsession.

"Crack-!"

The thunder roared like burning bones, piercing through the Soul Platform, as if it were the roar of the Thunder God from the deepest part of the sky.

A heavy pressure rose from Chu Ning's body, as if he were being torn apart by an invisible force, his bones and blood and his soul were forcibly pushed into a deeper critical state.

The next instant, a massive lightning shadow slowly rose from the ground behind him.

That was not a shadow, but a divine figure of thunder and bones.

It had no flesh or skin, and was made solely of thunder bones. Its entire body shimmered with purple-gold thunder light, like the bones of a soul, which burst forth inch by inch from Chu Ning's dantian.

The colossal shadow stood tall between heaven and earth, its outline blurred, yet its imposing presence was as overwhelming as a mountain.

What is most striking is the ancient rune that suddenly split open deep between his eyebrows.

That was an ancient divine script of thunder, which could only be manifested in the sea of ​​qi when one's Thunder Extreme Body stepped into the gate of Thunder Armor advancement.

As soon as the runes appeared, the entire Thunder Bone Divine Shadow seemed to be ignited, with lightning flowing throughout its body, using the bones as the axis and the soul as the guide.

—Thunder Armor, Second Form, Skull Armor, Awakening!
"哐——!"

Thunder roared, the earth trembled, ice cracked, and the world seemed to be baptized by a thunderbolt.

Chu Ning's aura of lightning surged once more. At that moment, his lightning bones were no longer a defense, but a source of offense.

The lightning power seeped into his internal organs, stimulating the resonance between his soul fire and the lightning patterns within his body.

The Thunder Bone extends along the spine, winding like a dragon's spine, and runs through the Soul Platform; the sternum resembles a Thunder-forged furnace, the shoulder armor transforms into the spine of a Thunder Hammer, and on the arm armor, purple lightning surges and the lightning flow swirls like a tide.

At the very moment Lei Kai ascended to the next level, the chaotic spiritual energy in Chu Ning's dantian suddenly tightened.

"boom."

A breakthrough!
His energy surged into a higher dimension like a thunderous tidal wave breaking through a dam, his dantian expanded once more, his blood and qi flowed like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, and his thunderous breath permeated all the acupoints in his body, forcibly propelling him to a higher level.

— He jumped from the middle rank of the seventh grade to the upper rank of the seventh grade.

This is not the effect of the Returning Origin Pill, but rather a bonus from the advancement of the Thunder Armor Battle Armor.

When Lei Kai merges with his divine soul, his physical body and Qi Sea expand simultaneously, bringing about a true breakthrough and advancement.

Lightning flashed across the fields, and the wind and snow swirled in a maelstrom.

Even the fox flames were shaken by the lightning field and retreated to a distance of three zhang around Chu Ning.

The Thunder Bone God slowly bent down, merging its aura with Chu Ning's. Their souls intertwined like twin stars, their fighting spirit ignited, and thunder roared once more.

At this moment, Chu Ning was no longer the middle-aged man with a missing arm who was staggering.
He slowly raised his left arm. The movement was not fast, but it stirred the air currents, causing the air to explode in spiraling waves between his palm and fingers.

The wind and snow were torn apart, transforming into a vortex of thunder and snow.

In the mountains and forests, those ancient trees that had long since withered—previously silent and lifeless—were now trembling.

"Kakakaka..."

The branches and trunks cracked, and the withered bark exploded into ash.

“Chu Ning…” Dong’er’s eyes widened in shock, she could hardly believe it.

Skeleton armor rose from Chu Ning and Dong'er's bodies, and the world was once as silent as suffocating dead snow.

Chu Ning stood in the center of the battlefield, his half-body lightning armor transformed into bone flame armor, his shoulder armor like a split mountain, his spine like a thunderous dragon's spine, and the lightning threads wrapped around his arm armor flowing like the patterns of a heavenly punishment lock.

He looked down at Dong'er beside him.

She seemed not yet to have recovered from the shockwave that resembled a "divine descent."

Fox flames raged, and the river of blood wailed, yet she knelt motionless in the snow, her hands tightly protecting the Moonlit Ice Soul, her lips pale, and her eyes slightly unfocused with horror.

At that moment, she was not a "guide" at all, but just an ordinary girl standing in the center of a storm.

"Dong'er."

Chu Ning's voice came from his armor, slightly muffled, but exceptionally deep and steady.

"Follow me."

The words were like thunder, shattering the thoughts that had frozen in Dong'er's mind with fear.

She subconsciously looked up at the figure that was no longer a human.

—What did it look like?
Lightning flashed like bone, clad in armor.

Chu Ning's face was no longer gentle, but was marked with cold lines drawn by lightning. At the severed arm, lightning coiled like a dragon, extending inch by inch.

"Zi-"

As the lightning surged, Chu Ning's right shoulder trembled violently.

The next moment, strands of lightning bones extended from his shoulders, slowly forming like a sculpture crafted by the gods amidst the chaotic world of wind, snow, and blood curses.

A translucent prosthetic limb, formed from lightning energy, slowly took shape.

That was not simply an "arm of rebirth," but a projection of the will of thunder, a concrete manifestation of his soul and fighting spirit.

The prosthetic fingers of Lei Gu twitched slightly, gleaming with a faint light. The palm was half-clenched, resonating with Chu Ning on a soul level, like another heart beating.

Dong'er was stunned.

At that moment, she seemed to forget where she was.

The wind and snow continued, and the thunder roared like a tidal wave, but she only felt a weight on her shoulder.

A prosthetic limb forged from lightning quietly landed on her shoulder.

It was not a physical hand, yet it was as steady as a mountain.

She could even clearly feel a slight electric current when the prosthetic limb touched her shoulder—it wasn't hot, but it carried a rhythm similar to a heartbeat, as if a thunderous heartbeat coincided with her breath for a moment.

Dong'er instinctively wanted to back away, but stopped herself.

It wasn't out of fear, but the warmth of that arm—even though it had no flesh and blood, it provided a sense of security that went deep into my bones.

That temperature was unlike the warmth of human cooking, but rather like an ever-burning ember in a snow-covered landscape.

"Chu Ning..."

Her slightly parted lips uttered only these two words, her voice so soft as if afraid to disturb the brief tranquility amidst the snowstorm.

But his voice then fell, slowly, steadily, like a low rumble of thunder rolling in my ears:

"I told you, with me here, I won't let you get hurt."

Those words were calm and resolute, like an inextinguishable lamp in the snowy night, reflected in her eyes, swaying but never wavering.

Dong'er suddenly realized that she had always been afraid—not of death, but of failure.

He feared he wouldn't be able to protect Qingli's soul fire, and that he was just an ordinary person who was "chosen" but couldn't bear the weight of fate.

What I fear even more is that he might burn his last drop of blood to protect her.

She slowly raised her hand and gently touched the Thunder Bone Prosthetic with her fingertips.

A subtle electric current slid across her palm, but she didn't pull her hand away. She simply felt the sense of connection with him—the warmth she had never forgotten when she held that fox paw as a child.

Her throat tightened, and many words surged in her heart. She wanted to say, "I can do it," "Don't worry about me," "Go quickly"...

But in the end, she said nothing.

She simply raised her head and looked at the white-haired man with thunderbolts, a cut sleeve, and a knife.

He stood beside her, his body riddled with wounds, his bones shattered, and his aura turbulent, yet he remained as steady as a rock.

That's no longer just one person.

It was a barrier they were determined to protect with their lives, a blade that went against the wind, a mountain that separated life and death from hope.

She finally understood that what she needed to do was not to tell him to stop, but to keep up with him.

Dong'er's eyes were slightly moist, but no tears fell. She took a deep breath, bit her lip, and endured the pain brought by the backlash of the soul fire. She steadied her trembling hand again and tightly grasped the Shuoyue Ice Soul.

At that moment, she knew:
She wasn't just summoning a soul—

She was with him when she brought Qingli home.

“…Okay, I’ll lead.”

Chu Ning nodded slightly, and Lei Gu's prosthetic limb tightened gently, as if making a silent promise.

"You shall protect Qingli's soul flame."

"The rest—leave them to me."

At this moment, the Thunder Bone Prosthetic tightened, like an indestructible shield, isolating it from the wind, snow, blood curse, and all darkness.

At this moment, Thor guards the mortal lamp, and his battle armor embraces the spiritual fire.

The priests surrounded them, the river of blood still flowed, but there were two figures standing side by side.

One in front, one behind; one strong, one gentle; like a candle, like a rock, they stand firm in the wind and snow, becoming the most steadfast coordinates between heaven and earth.

In the center of the blood sacrifice array, the leading priest, who had been sitting high behind the altar of bones, his figure draped in a red robe, resembled a deity seated on a blood throne. He had originally thought that Chu Ning was at his last gasp.

But in the next instant, the skeletal armor formed from lightning bones rose up from the raging thunder, and under the heavens and earth, it seemed as if a lightning soul statue had appeared.

In that scene, lightning swirled around his shoulders, lightning bones burst forth from his spine, and the patterns on his breastplate seemed to pulsate like living lightning runes, with purple-gold runes moving endlessly like the wheel of fate.

Even more astonishingly, a transparent lightning arm grew from the severed shoulder, as if divine intervention had filled the void.

"Battle armor that displays external energy... can it evolve a second time?"

The pupils beneath the mask of the leading priest contracted sharply, his throat tightened, and even his incantation stopped for half a breath.

He had seen Thunder Path Warriors before, and he had also seen weapon spirits take form, but this was the first time he had seen a battle armor that integrated divine sense, battle armor, Dharma body, and divine bones into one.

The other priests behind the altar also changed color; some cursed under their breath, some breathed erratically, and even their stance wavered slightly.

But the leader's expression immediately darkened, and faint red patterns appeared on his animal bone mask, as if some ancient greed had been stirred up.

A sinister smile crept across his lips, his eyes revealing an undisguised greed and madness.

"It's nothing more than... a soul guide on the altar, draped in divine robes, but ultimately just mortal bones."

His voice was hollow like a tomb bell, and he reached out with one hand to touch the sky.

"boom--"

The blood river hanging upside down in the sky, which had been floating in the sky like a long whale lying still, suddenly roared down.

The blood surged like a furnace being overturned, tearing apart the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in an instant. The wind and snow lost their color, the cold clouds exploded, and the red light dyed the earth.

The entire battlefield seemed to be engulfed in a dream of blood. The snowfields surrounding the altar appeared to have evaporated, twisting and collapsing inch by inch. It wasn't just a river of blood.

Rather, it is the manifestation of the "Blood Sacrifice Domain" in the modern world.

"This is actually a domain!" Chu Ning's gaze darkened. He stomped his left foot on the ground, and the lightning patterns burst open inch by inch. His bone armor creaked and cracked, as if his divinely forged body was being tempered in a furnace of immense power.

“Interesting…then I’ll chop down this ‘furnace’.”

Chu Ning stood with his sword drawn, the lightning still shimmering, his killing intent piercing the air.

"Seven Soul Locks - Activated".

The chief officiant uttered those three words in a low voice.

The world seemed to freeze for a moment.

It was no longer just a matter of seven blood curse chains falling from the sky.

Below the Soul Bridge above the Azure Soul Flame, the ice shell that had been frozen for ten thousand years suddenly cracked, and seven "soul thorns" forged from black gold divine bones slowly rose from the depths of the earth veins, as if the ancient remains that had once pierced through heaven and earth had been awakened once more.

Each soul thorn corresponds to one of the seven soul lifelines of the Snow Fox royal family, and each thorn tip has a wisp of foxfire remnant sealed there.

"This is not a lockdown, it's—an alternative."

Chu Ning's pupils shrank slightly.

These seven soul thorns were not meant to imprison the enemy, but to forcibly nail Qing Li's remnant soul to the false altar, replacing her original soul path, stripping away her spirituality, and injecting it into the Blood Eye of Sacrifice. And the soul threads flowing on those soul thorns—were resonating with the seven origins of Qing Li's soul fire.

"They are hijacking the road to Guixu."

Chu Ning gritted his teeth in a low voice, and lightning burst forth.

"This is the original lineage of the Fox Clan's place of return to the soul. They are not killing people, but stealing the divine position and blood rights of the entire clan—they want to establish a new king here."

Dong'er suddenly realized what was happening and looked at the magic array beneath her feet in horror:

"This is not just destroying one soul... this is severing the path of 'all returning souls'!"

Blood flowed like a river, and the seven souls pierced the ground like pillars, as if the entire world had yielded to this ritual.

And Chu Ning stepped into it step by step.

The power of the Blood River crashed down, as if to press Chu Ning into the crack in the sky.

Chu Ning slowly straightened up.

The half-body skeletal lightning armor shimmered faintly, and the purple lightning binding the soul bones seemed to roar, each pulse proclaiming:

He is still on the battlefield.

He did not yield.

The power of thunder and fire flowed along the spine to the crown of the head, and thunder and fire rose between the shoulders and back, while the prosthetic limbs surged with lightning like a galaxy.

In the distance, four sacrificers stood on the altar of bones, their gazes cold and unwavering, undaunted by Chu Ning's battle prowess. But the power of their cursed seals was crumbling inch by inch.

Chu Ning raised his long sword high in his left hand and tightly embraced Dong'er's waist with his right.

"Sacrifice? Soul stealing?"

He sneered, the bloodstains on his face still visible, yet he resembled a god of thunder:
"Then you'll see just what true Kamui is—"

The next moment, the Thunder Bone exploded.

He swept across the void like a ghost.
"The world is extinguished."

"boom--!"

The Snow-Breaking Blade slashed horizontally like a thunderbolt, and the first altar of offering bones collapsed with a roar. The two priests were blasted into dust by the lightning pressure, unable to even utter a cry of pain.

The first to die was the one who possessed the "Forgetful River Netherworld Silk," whose soul curse remained unbroken, and he was reduced to ashes and his soul was annihilated.

The remaining priests were terrified and immediately activated the secret runes, forcibly summoning the "Second Form of the Soul Offering Array" - Seven Soul Ring Lock - God-Splitting Body.

Seven soul chains shot up from the blood river, intertwining into a ring, attempting to forcibly strangle Chu Ning.

however……

Chu Ning's eyes flashed with lightning, and his shout was like divine fire burning his soul:

"You want to trap me?"

"I will cleave your souls—"

He swung his sword backhand, and lightning burst forth like a star core collapsing. Three of the Soul Locks were shattered, while the remaining four sparked with electricity on the lightning patterns on his bone armor, making them impossible to seal.

The Shuoyue Ice Soul trembled violently, and Qingli's soul fire surged and churned within it like a whale, as if it were about to break free of the Soul Bridge and fall into the "Blood Eye of Sacrifice" that was about to open.

Dong'er suddenly realized that the temperature of the soul fire was starting to get out of control.

The fox flames that had been wrapped around her fingertips suddenly rose up, and the silver-blue flames seemed to have a will, winding like snakes and wrapping around her wrists in reverse, burning hot.

"Ugh—!" she cried out in pain, her knuckles turning white, the skin on her palms cracking open inch by inch, blood and soul fire intertwining, and circles of ancient fox clan patterns, as if weeping and lamenting, appeared on her icy soul, overlapping with Qing Li's name.

Foxfire was disrupted.

The Soul Bridge is unstable.

"Qingli's soul fire... has been pulled astray!" Dong'er murmured in fear, her pupils constricting. At that moment, she felt a cold consciousness peering at her from the depths of the Blood River, as if it wanted to swallow her along with her Ice Soul.

She tried to grit her teeth and persevere, but suddenly she saw—the cyan spirit shadow on the ice soul twist violently, emitting a silent cry, like a ghost being torn apart.

"I can't... I can't do it... I can't hold on any longer—"

Her knees buckled, and she almost fell to the ground, nearly losing her grip on the Shuoyue Ice Soul.

"Dong'er—!"

An arm wrapped in lightning bones reached out just in time, steadily supporting her body as it was about to collapse.

It's Chu Ning.

He held a knife in one hand, fighting fiercely with the priest, while his other hand resolutely pierced through the blood curse storm to protect her trembling shoulder.

"Don't let go."

He leaned closer, his voice deep and thunderous:

"You are the only way she can come back."

"What are you afraid of? Are you afraid of failure? Are you afraid of not being good enough? ... Then don't be afraid. Even if you are afraid, you still have to finish this journey."

Dong'er stared blankly at him, at that solitary figure standing between thunder, fire, and waves of blood, like a silent yet unyielding chasm.

His body was covered in cracks like a spider web, his shoulders were sunken, and blood dripped continuously from his torn sleeve, splashing onto the snow and seeping into the Shuoyue Ice Soul in her palm.

Just as the blood drop fell into the Ice Soul.

Dong'er's pupils suddenly dilated.

She saw a scene that wasn't reality.

It's an illusion. It's fragments of Qing Li's memories.

A silvery-white image appeared in the fox flame:
—Young Qingli stood alone in the snowy forest, bending down to bandage the paws of a small animal, her expression gentle.

—In another scene, she held the foxfire and handed it to the elder, whispering, "If I die, please leave a trace of my soul in the Northern Forest."

—And the last scene is when she stands silently in the wind and snow one night, watching Chu Ning's departing figure, her eyes filled with tears, but she doesn't utter a word.

The tears fell, overlapping with the fox flame in Dong'er's palm.

“Qingli…” Dong’er murmured.

At that moment, she was no longer afraid.

She finally understood that this soul-summoning ceremony was not just about inheritance, nor was it just a ritual.

It was she who was fulfilling another woman's unfinished wish.

It was she who inherited a bond from the "Saintess".

She took a deep breath, feeling as if the chill of wind and snow filled her lungs, but it also ignited a fire that had never been extinguished.

She slowly lowered her head, looking at the Crescent Moon Ice Soul in her palm. Her fox flames surged, her fingers trembled, yet she firmly gripped the Cold Jade Divine Weapon once more.

Blood seeped from his fingertips, trickling through the gaps in his palms and flowing into the fox flames.

The silver-blue flames suddenly blazed fiercely, as if drawn by some kind of flesh-and-blood resonance.

Qingli's soul fire floated slightly within the Shuoyue Ice Soul, and the originally struggling and restless flames gradually calmed down.

That dormant will seemed to sense Dong'er's firm and fearless mind at this moment, so it finally stopped resisting and crying out, but instead resonated with her.

The Soul Bridge then stabilized.

The fox flames reignited.

Amidst the wind and snow, the Azure Soul Flame slowly returned to Dong'er's palm—like a homecoming that transcends life and death.

But Chu Ning had already turned away.

He didn't turn around or say anything, but in the next instant he let out a low shout and suddenly stepped forward.

"—Thunderous Roar—Activate the Formation!"

He stomped his left foot heavily on the ground, and a thunderous roar resounded.

At that moment, the entire ice field seemed to be infused with some kind of violent will. Purple-gold lightning patterns erupted like a mountain torrent, bursting out from under his feet and covering the entire snowfield.

A ring of lightning, like intertwined spider silk, suddenly expanded, sealing him completely within it.

The lightning runes coiled around his lightning bones, instantly activating a resonance. The lightning energy leaped and hissed between his bones, like a awakened, dormant lightning serpent, surging and roaring deep within his bloodline.

He resonated with Lei Gu, his Qi Sea trembled, and his fighting spirit was like a furnace.

Just as the thunderous breath was about to explode, he suddenly pressed his palms into the ice and snow.

"Hey!"

The skull armor trembled, and the runes covering its surface shimmered with light, as if the entire armor was responding to its master's will.

It crouched low, its arms outstretched, like a giant beast lying on the ground, its ten fingers piercing deep into the earth's veins, achieving a terrifying resonance with Chu Ning's spiritual sea.

The next instant, the heavens and earth roared.

A pillar of lightning, like the spine of the sky, rose up from beneath Chu Ning's feet, erupting from the earth's core, piercing through the thick ice layer, and straight through the blood river in the sky.

That bolt of lightning, like divine punishment, struck upwards in fury.

Thunder River collides with Blood River, Purple Lightning surges through Blood Tide.

"Boom—boom boom boom boom!"

Thunder roared and blood surged; at that moment, heaven and earth seemed to lose their center of gravity.

The entire ice field began to shake violently, with ice and snow splashing like mist, and the air filled with the floating patterns of burning incantations.

The soul fire struggled and twisted under the lightning, and one after another, the bone-offering altars suddenly exploded, emitting a shrill wail, and soul liquid splattered everywhere, falling like blood rain from the sky.

Chu Ning's battle armor was cracked.

Purple lightning scorched his body, blood seeping from his chest and arm bones, yet it did not stop.

His right eye was still burning with lightning, as if the god of thunder had descended to earth, his gaze sharp as a knife.

Chu Ning raised the Broken Snow Blade, and lightning energy gathered around him on the blade. As the lightning flashed, the air was cleaved apart.

He unleashed a furious strike.

This strike was not meant to kill the enemy, but to break the ritual.

"drink."

The blade slashed out, a thunderous roar cleaving through the sky, like the heavens splitting and stars collapsing.

He slashed at the chief priest on the high platform.

—The sacrificer, wearing a horned crown and holding a blood curse, was gathering the last spiritual seal, intending to forcibly refine the Azure Soul Flame into the Soul Altar.

But the moment he raised his hand, he felt the terrifying killing intent emanating from the earth's vein lightning source, like a thunder dragon rushing down from the sky, carrying the fury to destroy the world.

Before he could even form a hand seal, the lightning struck.

"Oh!"

The lightning bolt formed by the Broken Snow Blade struck directly into the spell array in front of his chest, piercing through it with a deafening roar.

His eyes widened in horror, and before he could utter a sound, his entire body, along with the Soul Lamp, Blood Curse, Bone Altar, and Divine Seal, disintegrated in the lightning.

His body exploded into a cloud of black ash, which drifted into the air as if it had never existed.

The platform collapsed, and one of the seven altars used for offering bones was completely destroyed.

Lightning surged like a sea of ​​thunder, electric snakes danced wildly among the runes, the entire ritual structure was forcibly interrupted, the array base shook, and the soul lock shattered.

—This strike truly severed the hope of this rebellious sacrifice.

Beneath the blood-red sky, the two evil spirits in the center stood silently atop the bone altar, like gods who ignored the mortal world, their brows closed as if in deep slumber.

They remained expressionless, silent, and motionless, as if the carnage and the collapse of the altar had nothing to do with them.

It wasn't arrogance, but rather that they never took anyone seriously from the beginning.

The remaining sacrificers had already formed a circle in different directions, guarding the core of the sacrifice.

Amidst the howling wind and chanting, their robes fluttered in the wind, the corners of which were covered with runes outlined in soul blood, which writhed slightly under the illumination of the soul fire, as if they were alive.

Their faces were covered with blood-red masks made of snow fox fur, which were cold and eerie. Behind the masks, their eyes were cold and lifeless, devoid of joy or anger, only filled with a cold and murderous will.

Chu Ning slowly stepped into the center of the sacrificial array.

Lei Kai trembled slightly with his footsteps, emitting a "clang clang" sound, like the gentle beating of a divine drum, warning heaven and earth.

His eyes blazed like torches as he swiftly swept across the seven-person formation, clearing his mind of every node of the soul array, every fluctuation of the incantation lines, and the foothold of each sacrificer within a single breath.

He did not rush to attack.

With the enemy in plain sight and the sacrificial array intricately complex, and the Azure Glass Soul Flame intertwined and bound by the Seven Soul Locks, a single misstep could lead to the shattering of the Soul Flame and the annihilation of the soul.

You have to hit the target with one shot.

He lowered his gaze slightly, fixing it on the first priest on his left.

The man was holding a black bone soul hook, its teeth as sharp as blades, slowly drawing the outermost soul threads of the Azure Glass Soul Fire to resonate with the soul array of the altar.

This person is the node controller responsible for manipulating the "Soul Thorn Root".

The spell he wielded was called "Soul-Locking and Thought-Severing," which could tear apart the veins of consciousness with a soul hook. If activated when the Azure Glass Soul Flame was out of balance, it could instantly sever the connection between the soul and spirit, completely shattering it and turning it into an invisible death flame.

—If this person is not defeated first, Qingli's soul will be in imminent danger.

Chu Ning's eyes suddenly turned cold.

"I'll take you first."

With a thunderous step, the ground beneath his feet suddenly exploded with lightning energy, causing the snow to crumble like a volcano, and shards of ice to fly up.

"Boom!"

His figure transformed into a bolt of lightning, bursting through the air. Behind him, lightning bones surged, and the blade's momentum whipped up thunder, breaking through the soul array's gale and slashing straight at the sacrificer on his left.

"Humph--"

The priest snorted coldly, a strange, cold light already appearing in his eyes, as if he had expected this.

Suddenly, a complex soul pattern rose from beneath his feet, and a crimson light emerged from the earth's veins, twisting and rising to form a three-layered soul barrier.

"Soul Barrier, Triple Protection!"

The three layers of barriers overlap like waves, one layer sealing the body, one layer sealing the consciousness, and one layer sealing the soul, separate yet inseparable, incredibly stable.

This is the ultimate defensive technique among soul-based spells, capable of directly resisting soul-killing intent with the power of the soul. It is specifically designed to counter powerful lightning-based martial arts practitioners.

He was confident that this moment was enough to hold Chu Ning back and buy the others the time needed to "seal the Soul Bridge".

But the next moment, his expression suddenly changed.

—Chu Ning's sword stance suddenly changed.

The Thunder Blade transformed from a slash into a thrust the instant it was about to strike, its sharpness like a needle piercing through the fog. The entire thunderous intent gathered at a single point and thrust straight out into the air.

"Qiang!"

The first layer of soul barrier shattered instantly, like glass breaking apart in a flash.

"boom."

The second barrier trembled violently, and purple-gold lightning burst forth from the point, with arcs of electricity scattering like snakes shedding their skins and dancing wildly, piercing through in an instant.

The third layer of soul-protecting barrier lasted only half a breath before being "melted" by the high-frequency vibrations of the lightning, turning the soul barrier to ashes and annihilating the barrier.

"Do not--"

The priest was horrified and tried to retreat, pulling back the Soul Hook in his hand to protect himself, but the Snow-Severing Thunder Blade struck him like a divine thunderbolt, piercing through his chest.

"Crack!"

The Thunder Blade shattered the Soul Seal, causing the Soul Hook to snap and crack, the power of the severed thread instantly backfiring.

The priest's eyes widened, his soul consciousness collapsed, the seven soul-locking nodes shattered, and his body, like a torn husk, exploded into a cloud of blood mist.

"Boom."

His remains were instantly burned to ashes in the lightning, and the threads of his soul hook were severed as well. The soul thread wrapped around the Azure Soul Flame slowly dissipated into the air like a spider web that had fallen away.

What followed was the violent trembling of the Azure Soul Flame.

The vital energy channel that was about to be torn apart miraculously returned to stability, and the silvery-white flames reassembled and blazed brightly again.

The soul fire has stabilized.

The first lock of the sacrificial array—break.

The remaining two priests' expressions changed drastically.

Some took a step back, some gripped the spell hooks tightly, and some summoned backup array symbols. The soul fire reflected on their cold masks, but could not hide the sudden fear that appeared in their eyes.

Chu Ning's gaze shifted, lightning flashing across his pupils as he swiftly locked onto his next target.

—The second priestess from the right is a slender woman. Her long, gray hair can be vaguely seen swaying in the wind beneath her mask. Her joints are long and flexible, and a complex blood-patterned curse mark floats in her palm.

She is the central figure of the spells in this sacrificial array, the controller of the God-Sealing Blood Seal, and the key caster who controls the "Seizing the Fire Seal".

Her movements were swift and precise, her fingertips dancing like a woven tapestry, the ten fingers already intertwined into a seal, the entire Fire-Seizing Curse was ninety percent complete, only the last three fingers needed to be joined together to forcibly separate the Azure Soul Fire from the Ice Soul and place it into the Blood Curse Altar, completing the Reverse Sacrifice and Soul Transfer.

—If she completes that one seal, all her previous efforts will be in vain.

Chu Ning felt as if struck by lightning.

"You're next."

A thunderous roar erupted, and with a stomp of his foot on the ground, he transformed into a streak of lightning, suddenly lunging forward.

"Boom!"

He struck like a thunderbolt, closing in in an instant. Before the woman could finish her last three fingers, Chu Ning's knee strike was already upon her.

"boom!"

A knee strike landed squarely on his chest, carrying the force of a thunderous impact, shattering the defensive runes on his body into dust.

Before she could react, the bone in her hand that was forming a hand seal shattered inch by inch, the sound of bones cracking like porcelain breaking. Before she could even scream, Chu Ning swiftly pulled her away.

The Snow-Breaking Blade spun like lightning, sweeping out from the right side with a beam of thunderous light, instantly tearing through the void and precisely striking the core axis of the cursed seal.

"Ah-"

Blood suddenly appeared.

The woman's spell seal had just been completed when it was severed by the lightning blade. The seal axis reversed, and the soul fire surged back, impacting her sea of ​​consciousness. She spat out a mouthful of scarlet blood, and her whole body flew out like a butterfly with a broken string.

"Snapped!"

She crashed into the soul array, her robes shattered, her mask fell off, and her face instantly turned ashen. The blood-red curse mark that had been floating in the air began to collapse, break, and dissipate, like paper burning in flames, turning to ashes.

The second core spell point – Break.

Chu Ning stopped, his body cracked by the unstable lightning, his shoulder armor was already cracked, and the lightning energy inside his body surged and rolled like a tide, causing him severe pain in his chest and a metallic taste in his throat.

He didn't make another move; instead, he knelt on the ground, breathing heavily.

"One is skilled in controlling the soul, and the other is the master of incantations."

He gritted his teeth, the Snow-Cut Blade in his hand trembled incessantly, and lightning flickered around him, only to stabilize again with that low roar:

"...Then I will finish off the last one as well."

He wasn't fighting in the chaos.

He was precisely removing every "nail" embedded in the soul within this sacrificial array.

Every "nail" is a core, a weapon, and he will use his broken Thunder Bone to pull them out one by one—even if it means being shattered to pieces, he will not allow that wisp of soul fire to be taken away.

The wind and snow suddenly froze, and the picturesque scene was put on pause.

From behind the River of Blood, a priest clad in a scarlet robe slowly took half a step forward.

His figure was extremely thin, like a withered skeleton pacing in the red snow. His face was covered with half a mouthless white bone beast mask, and his eyes were hidden in the shadows, cold and silent.

His right hand hung limply, and a barely perceptible thread of blood extended from his fingertip, piercing the ground and meandering deep into the ice.

The next moment, a chilling scene quietly unfolded.

The six priests who had been killed by Chu Ning slowly rose from the river of blood one after another.

(End of this chapter)