Chapter 124

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Chapter 124: Calculating Each Other

Ye Yun pressed the Purple Shadow Sword slightly harder, drawing a thin line of blood from Hualun’s neck.

Hualun seethed with anger yet remained powerless. Though Ye Yun had sworn to the heavens not to kill her—lest divine punishment strip away his cultivation—if provoked enough to strike her down, what could she do?

Frowning deeply, Hualun sighed. “Ye Yun, after meeting again across a thousand years, must you push things this far?”

Ye Yun chuckled. “Senior Hualun, your greatest wish is to walk freely under the sun again, isn’t it? With your talents and experience, why waste time on petty distractions? Focus on rebuilding your cultivation. Reaching the alchemy pill stage should be your priority.”

Hualun nearly coughed up blood in frustration. Though she’d once been a Golden Pill master, her current body refinement stage cultivation left her no choice but to erase the spiritual mark from the Soul Turning Tower.

After wiping away the imprint, Hualun taught Ye Yun the tower’s control method.

Following her instructions, Ye Yun watched the Soul Turning Tower shrink instantly to three inches before dropping it into his Thunder Sound Metamorphosis ring.

“Now open the great tomb’s passage, Senior,” Ye Yun said, the Purple Shadow Sword still gleaming at Hualun’s shoulder.

“At my Golden Core stage, I could’ve opened it instantly,” Hualun muttered, eyeing the blade. “But now, working together, it’ll take half a day.”

Ye Yun’s eyebrow twitched. “Don’t try tricking me.”

“What gain would I find in deception?” Hualun retorted coldly. “Once opened, we part ways forever. My only desire is freedom.”

“Good.”

Eight restrictions guarded the passage. A Golden Core cultivator could shatter them effortlessly, but Hualun’s current body refinement stage made even one restriction daunting. Yet with Ye Yun’s aid—despite being merely at Body Refinement Stage Seven of the Comprehending Qi Stage—his unusually dense spiritual power surpassed even Qi refining stage disciples.

Hualun’s fingers danced through the air, each touch rippling space until a swirling multicolored sphere formed. “Channel your power here. Shatter one sphere to break a restriction.”

Ye Yun slammed his palms against the sphere. Spiritual power surged from his hands with a thunderous crack, scattering the first restriction into shimmering fragments.

“No pauses!” Hualun barked as more spheres materialized. “If we stop, Hualun Hall collapses—and us with it!”

Ye Yun’s hands blurred, shattering sphere after sphere. By the sixth, his spiritual power dwindled to near emptiness.

He staggered back. “You handle the last two.”

“This stolen body’s still unstable.” Hualun’s brow furrowed. “My power’s too weak.”

Ye Yun tensed to step forward, then froze. A strange light flickered in his eyes as he shook his head.

“I can’t. My spiritual power is almost exhausted. I can’t even break through a restriction, let alone muster the strength for a single punch,” Ye Yun said.

Hualun paused, her voice urgent. “Truly impossible now?”

Ye Yun shook his head.

Hualun suddenly laughed. “To think a mere Body Refinement Stage Seven cultivator shattered six restrictions! Had you broken all eight, you might’ve left this great tomb with me. But now, you’ll remain here.”

Ye Yun’s brow twitched as he grasped her implication.

“So this was your scheme. Drain my spiritual power, then kill me to reclaim the treasures.”

“Quick-witted for a Heavenly Sword Sect prodigy.” Hualun’s smile widened. Ye Yun had stolen the Soul Turning Tower and other treasures – she couldn’t let that stand. The tomb’s eight exit restrictions became her trap.

Though talented and sect-trained, Ye Yun seemed like a sheltered seedling to Hualun’s centuries of cunning. As creator of the Hualun Secret Vault, manipulating restrictions against him proved child’s play.

“Had you left the Tower, I might’ve spared you. Now, this tomb shall hold your bones.” Hualun advanced slowly, mockery curling her lips.

“Your ‘incomplete body control’ and ‘unrecovered power’ – all lies to lower my guard,” Ye Yun accused coldly.

“Naturally. Hua Yicheng shares my blood – no adjustment period needed after seizing his body.” Hualun closed in. “With your drained power, you’ll die quietly here.”

She lunged suddenly, palm knife-straight for Ye Yun’s heart.

Though her cultivation had waned, Hualun’s Golden Pill master instincts recognized Ye Yun’s exhaustion. Even Spirit Nourishing Pills couldn’t restore more than twenty percent power – negligible against her schemes.

Ye Yun twisted aside, evading the strike.

Hualun blinked in surprise. She’d expected him collapsed, not dodging. But how many more moves could he manage?

A medicinal wine scent tinged the air.

Whirling, Hualun saw Ye Yun tipping amber droplets from a green vial into his mouth.

“Spirit Concentrating Wine?!”

Ye Yun stashed the vial in his Thunder Sound Metamorphosis ring. “A millennium-old senior breaking oaths? Let this tomb claim its architect!”

Power erupted around him. Purple Shadow gleamed as thunder boomed, electric snakes coiling through the air.

Hualun scrambled backward, one hand weaving defensive seals. Rippling barriers materialized before her.

“Thunderous Strike!”

Ye Yun swung Purple Shadow. A lightning-wreathed sword arc tore through space toward Hualun.

BOOM!

The violet blade shattered her barriers, momentum unchecked. Hualun crashed into the final two restrictions as the attack closed in.

SHINK!

The strike meant for her heart instead severed her right arm at the shoulder. Blood fountained as the former Golden Pill master used her own limb to deflect the fatal blow.

“This debt will be repaid, Ye Yun!” she shrieked. Colliding with the sixth restriction, she vanished in a flash of light.

Ye Yun’s sword shot after her, clanging uselessly against stone as the seventh level emptied. Only the eighth restriction’s glowing orb remained.

Channeling power into the final seal, Ye Yun heard stone grind behind him. A light beam erupted as joyous shouts echoed through the tomb.