Chapter 298

Chapter 298: Yaoruoxian, Your Heart is Disturbed

Until now, Zhang Yang had shown little interest in the Nine Battles Tribulation.

But this time, he found himself intrigued.

As the final phase approached, Yaoruoxian’s attacks had become increasingly unpredictable. It was clear that she intended to complete all nine battles through sheer momentum.

They stood facing each other, a stark contrast to their previous encounters.

Where once their battles had been ruthless struggles for survival, they now competed calmly for the Moonlight Saint Stone.

The tension between them was measured, not explosive.

In this forsaken realm of the living dead, Yaoruoxian shone like a beacon.

Her ethereal beauty carried an otherworldly charm, yet the cold arrogance gleaming in her gemstone eyes, that utter disregard for all existence, rekindled Zhang Yang’s deep-seated aversion.

"I accept this challenge," Zhang Yang stated coolly.

The White Jade Skeleton quivered with anticipation, its crystalline bones shimmering.

Though stripped of past memories, it instinctively recognized the significance of this escalating bid.

Yaoruoxian’s jade-white fingers traced a delicate arc through the air, leaving behind a faint fragrance.

In her palm, a lotus materialized, its viridescent stem supporting nine tender leaves and a tightly furled pink bud, pulsing with vital energy.

A sharp intake of breath.

"Nine-Leaf Divine Lotus!"

Jin Zhihong had arrived with Butian Pavilion disciples, positioning himself behind Yaoruoxian in a clear provocation toward Yue Guilong’s faction.

He smirked.

"Three drops of sacred life water pale before this treasure," he declared. "The victory is clearly the fairy’s."

The White Jade Skeleton’s soul fire blazed excitedly as it nodded.

Zhang Yang smiled faintly.

"Ten drops."

A hushed silence.

All eyes shifted to Yaoruoxian.

The bidding had escalated beyond mere equivalence, the Nine-Leaf Divine Lotus surpassed three drops, yet ten drops overwhelmed its worth.

This was no longer a simple auction.

This was a declaration of absolute confidence—a bid that left no room for dispute.

Jin Zhihong stepped forward.

"Might I offer assistance?" he said smoothly, his gaze flickering toward Yue Guilong. "Our pavilion holds abundant life treasures…"

Yaoruoxian’s dismissive gesture silenced him.

True to her nature, she ignored her would-be ally.

Instead, she retrieved three azure herbs from her storage bag.

Wreathed in cerulean mists, sparkling like starlit fragments of the night sky, their presence alone was breathtaking. She spoke, voice unwavering. "Three Meteorite Divine Grasses."

The market fell silent. Their value was undeniable. The battle had truly begun.

Zhang Yang’s gaze never wavered from his rival. "Thirty drops of sacred life water."

Yaoruoxian stared at him fixedly, her hand twitching ever so slightly.

Jin Zhihong and Yue Guilong exchanged bewildered glances. For a moment, the world around them seemed to fade, leaving only Zhang Yang and Yaoruoxian, their gazes locked in mutual disregard for everything else, including the White Jade Skeleton, who contested ownership of the Moonlight Saint Stone.

They resembled quarreling lovers.

Yet their eyes held neither affection nor bloodlust—only glacial detachment.

Purple light cascaded from Yaoruoxian’s fingers as she produced an extraordinary blossom, violet petals swirling with nebulous patterns.

"The Great Luo Purple Cloud Flower! A true sacred bloom!"

The moment it emerged, torrents of vital energy swept across a hundred-meter radius, rejuvenating the spectators until even chronic injuries seemed to mend under its fragrant influence.

Zhang Yang’s expression remained unreadable. "So this explains your fierce determination in the fifth challenge," he mused. "As always, you came prepared. Excellent! Your humiliation will be all the sweeter when you concede defeat."

With a flick of his hand, he revealed a fragment of stone membrane.

At first glance, it seemed unremarkable.

Yet the moment it appeared, it radiated such concentrated vitality that it nearly extinguished the White Jade Skeleton’s aura of decay. The skeletal being shuddered violently, twin soul flames blazing within its hollow eye sockets.

"The life-boosting forbidden law of the path of a saint!"

"Forged from holy blood by an almighty saint, this artifact grants prolonged resistance against death’s corrosion!"

"On Ghost Island, this ranks as the supreme holy treasure!"

The White Jade Skeleton trembled with fervor.

This stone skin had originated from Saint Yue Shou’s cavern sanctum, a portion Zhang Yang had peeled away during his fateful boarding of the Ghost Ship.

A mocking smile played on his lips. "Today, I see through you, Yaoruoxian. Your vaunted detachment masks a growing unease. You fear me."

Yaoruoxian’s aura erupted in a frigid luminescence, her eyes becoming lightless voids, swirling with cold fury and lethal intent—utterly devoid of humanity.

And Zhang Yang laughed.

"HAHAHA…!" His laughter roared unchecked. "Your composure shatters!"

His confidence stemmed from crystalline logic.

Yaoruoxian had overlooked the stone skin’s significance.

She had seen him board the Ghost Ship with this relic, despite her initial attempts to block his passage.

For an ordinary mind, such oversight might be excused.

But Yaoruoxian?

She had boarded the Ghost Ship of the Buried Immortals precisely to undergo the Nine Battles Tribulation.

For a cultivator of her caliber, every detail should have been scrutinized with diamond-edged focus.

This lapse betrayed a fundamental weakness.

What explanation existed beyond her mounting dread of failed ascension?

This mistress of apathy…

Terrified that her trials might fail. That she might be denied her immortal path. That she, a lofty observer of heaven, might be reduced to the most wretched of slaves. A savage fighting spirit roared within Zhang Yang.

He was determined to crush Yaoruoxian.

To utterly defeat this celestial being, using the very demonic tribulation she had sought to impose upon him.

He thirsted to witness how this so-called immortal would endure servitude.

A shadowed impulse coiled through his mind as he took a deliberate step forward. Mere inches now separated them.

The universe dissolved around their locked gazes.

No words passed between them, only the collision of primal wills and opposing convictions.

Yet through this psychic maelstrom, Zhang Yang detected no flicker of apprehension in Yaoruoxian’s obsidian eyes.

Her imperious aura remained unbroken, her celestial composure flawless.

His predatory gaze traced her flawless features, her luminous complexion as smooth as freshly curdled tofu, the exquisite oval of her face resembling a divine masterpiece.

And then he spoke, his voice dripping with venomous revelation.

"During the Inheritance Stone Furnace conflict, your mortal peril catalyzed sudden enlightenment. You awakened the Star Flame Saint’s legacy, harnessed the furnace’s primordial power, and cast me into the Abyss of the Buried Immortals. That triumph inflated your celestial pride beyond measure."

His lips curled into a feral grin. "But when I emerged unscathed from spatial chaos and claimed the Great Path Sacred Fruit Tree before your very eyes, your invincible psyche fractured. Behind that mask of arrogance, the seed of doubt took root."

He leaned in, their breaths intermingling.

"You wear no false veneer, deception would leave traces. No… your fatal flaw is that magnificent ambition that drove you to board this cursed vessel."

His voice dropped to a hiss. "You cannot feel it yet, but the terror of defeat already festers in your soul. My purpose is to nurture that dread until it consumes you."

A guttural growl rumbled from his chest. "I will relish every moment of your descent from celestial grace to groveling mortality."

And then, a snap of his fingers.

"Well, Brother White Jade Skeleton? Does this Stone Skin meet your approval?"

Their ocular duel continued, even as Zhang Yang addressed the bone entity.

The White Jade Skeleton began to respond.

"I consen—"

"Hold!"

A spectral ripple distorted the space around them.

Zhang Yang turned sharply.

A ghostly figure began to materialize.

An emanation from the Great Terror lurking within the Ghost Ship of the Buried Immortals’ cabin.