764 Retribution
Huang Yuan immediately knew time was of the essence. So, he decided to be decisive and use his most powerful technique.
[Thunder of Death]
He had a thunder-related physique and cultivated Thunder Dao before acquiring the Life and Death Book. So, he did not completely abandon this Dao and cultivated it as a secondary Law. So, for this attack, he fused the two Dao, reaching a higher level.
An enormous black lightning bolt appeared in front of Huang Yuan, and with a flick of his finger, he threw it at Tie Gang and Yan Liling.
Boom!
The roar of thunder echoed in the vacuum of space; a dark energy wave spread in all directions, killing everything in its path. Unfortunately, Yan Liling and Tie Gang remained intact at the center of the explosion, with a cauldron floating above their head.
‘What? This attack reached the beginning of 3-Leaf. But she did not have a scratch on her,’ thought Huang Yuan; he sacrificed hundreds of millions of lifespans to reach such an intensity. Yet, his opponent casually blocked his attack.
“Everyone thought you were only a talented Alchemist, but it seems that everyone underestimates you,” said Huang Yuan with gritted teeth.
“Indeed,” replied Yan Liling. The world knows her as a talented Alchemist and the logistic manager of Wang Wei’s group. However, only the sect knows her battle prowess and overall abilities.
She created the [Nine Cauldron Art] and is considered a supreme scripture for Alchemists. And that’s because Yan Liling’s scripture is all-encompassing. She includes Alchemy and battle methods.
Through her scripture, she can condense different cauldrons with different effects. For example, she was currently using the [Cauldron of Defense], but she had various cauldrons for different purposes.
“Huang Yuan, coming here was your biggest mistake,” declared Yan Liling before manifesting a second cauldron that was red.
[Flame Cauldron]
This cauldron was the most used in Yan Liling’s [Nine Cauldron Art] since she is an alchemist. But it’s not only used for refining pills. A clear–almost invisible–flame emanated from it.
“Chaos Flame and it has been cultivated to the highest level,” said Huang Yuan with an ugly expression. Chaos Flame is usually manifested in the shape of a multicolor flame–like a rainbow. However, once a cultivated trains it to the highest level, it will turn colorless.
Wang Wei fused a Chaos Flame into his heart to temper his body. However, he had no time to cultivate this Heavenly Flame, so he gave Yan Liling a seed to develop before absorbing it himself. Additionally, he once received the Flame Emperor’s understanding of the Chaos Flame, so he gave it to Liling as well.
Under Yan Liling’s control, the colorless flame turned into a phoenix before rushing toward Huang Yuan, making the latter squint. He knew Chaos Flame had terrifying burning capabilities and could change into different attributes.
It can be changed into the Flame of Life, Flame of Destruction, Flame of Thunder, Flame of Purification, etc. Although it is extremely difficult to cultivate the Chaos Flame to reach such a level, a few people have achieved such a feat–like the Flame Emperor.
[Death Shield]
Huang Yuan created a black shield to protect him. He used the Power of Death to block the attack while also bringing Death to the flame. Unfortunately, Yan Liling did not lack battle experience because of Wang Wei and Li Jun’s Dream Technique.
She instantly changed the property of the Chaos Flame into a Flame of Life, which is the opposite of Huang Yuan’s death attribute, thus countering. Huang Yuan acted on instinct and changed the property of his shield to life, and Yan Liling countered by doing the same and changing her flame attribute to death–still overwhelming him.
Finally, Huang Yuan acted swiftly and used the power of Samsara, which is a combination of the Dao of Life and Death. Yan Liling then chose a more direct and overbearing method. She turned the Flaming Phoening into the attribute of Destruction and overwhelmed her opponent.
Bang!
Huang Yuan flew backward a dozen light years with burn marks on his face and body. His hair had turned mostly white because he had to sacrifice his lifespan to activate the book and protect him from this attack.
“Damn it,” he cursed as he felt it a power prevented him from healing–no matter how much he used the Law of Life.
‘There is no more time to waste.’
He waved his hand to manifest a golden sword that illuminated the endless darkness of space. The sword became the center of attention as soon as it manifested.
“That aura,” muttered Tie Gang.
“That’s a Dao Artifact,” said Yan Liling with an ugly expression; she knew she could not stop the lowest 1-Root Dao Ancestor Attack, so she acted swiftly to stop Huang Yuan from attacking.
[Condensation Cauldron]
Alchemists must condense all the spiritual herbs into a pill during the refining process. So, Yan Liling created a unique cauldron based on this aspect; it would generate a powerful force that would crush the enemy from all directions, turning them into a pill shape.
Her objective was not to kill Huang Yuan but to use the cauldron’s crushing force to render him immobile and not activate the sword. Regrettably, Huang Yuan easily blocked her attack with the sword before retreating toward his ex-wife.
He wanted to shift his pain and injury to her as a way to heal while simultaneously attacking with the sword. He knew Yan Liling could not block, so Wang Wei would be forced to intervene. Then, in the brief period he was protecting her, he could kidnap Tie Gang and use his escape plan.
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Huang Yuan had an incredulous look on his face; he lowered his head to see a hand had penetrated his body, destroying his internal organs. He slowly turned his head to see his wife–Fan Qianhan–looking at him with cold eyes full of hatred.
“You! How is that possible?” he asked with blood gushing out his mouth. Fan Qianhan did not answer him; she looked directly into his eyes, full of hatred that was almost substantial.
“How…is that possible?” asked Huang Yuan, unable to process the situation; he refined her into an utterly obedient puppet with only a slight consciousness so she could experience the pain he inflicted on her.
Suddenly, he remembered something.
“It’s Wang Wei, isn’t it?” he said with maddened eyes. “When he saved me in the Clean-Up, he placed Karma Thread on me and you. Using it, he freed you from my control, leading to your current betrayal.”
Fan Qianhan did not utter her word; she had not spoken for too long and had no desire to do so. Meanwhile, Huang Yuan could not move as he felt an unknown power invading his body and soul.
‘A curse?’ he thought with an ugly expression. Before he could react, he started screaming in agony. A shriek containing an indescribable pain scattered in the surrounding galaxies, turning the dark void even more gloomy.
Huang Yuan felt the most horrible pain in his body, soul, and mind; the pain was so intense he wanted to die. The truth of the matter is he would have committed suicide if the pain rendered him impossible to control his body.
Meanwhile, Fan Qianhan calmly looked at him, squirming in this vacuum space. She used a technique called the [Curse of Pain] taught by Wang Wei, which allowed her to transfer all the pain she experienced during her life.
And what did she experience? Well, her life was a nightmare since Huang Yuan made sure of this. He defiled her body, soul, and mind. He ensured she experienced the worst possible torture possible for a human and a woman as a price of her betrayal.
Every day, she lived in agony–wishing she could end her suffering. But he refused to kill her and freed her from her suffering. Instead, he added more agony and misery. Fan Qianhan lived like that for more than 200,000 years.
And now, Huang Yuan was now experiencing her suffering–both physically and mentally.
The process lasted for half an hour before the screaming stopped. Then, Qianhan felt relieved and at peace. She looked at the dead body of her former husband before looking into the distance where Wang Wei was.
She clasped her hand together before giving a 90-degree bow.
Finally, her body turned into numerous particles before disappearing between Heaven and Earth. Fan Qianhan killed herself, even utterly eradicating her soul.
After living such an inhuman life, she lost her will to survive; she even destroyed her soul to prevent her from reincarnating–she did not want to risk remembering her past life.
After her death, the entire Eastern Quadrant seemed more gloomy. Unfortunately, life has to continue. Her sad story is one of the many trillions in this vast and endless universe.
A book came out of Huang Yuan’s dead body. The space around it suddenly bent as it appeared the book was about to teleport away. However, a red string suddenly came from Huang Yuan’s body and tied the book before pulling it toward the distance.
Then, Wang Wei opened his eyes as he looked at the book floating in from of him.
“Your true destiny lies with me,” he casually commented with a slight smile. Then, he frowned as he sensed something; he put the book away before looking into the distance.