Chapter 96: Empress, Stop Playing Around!

“Suppress the Evil Fire?”

Lu Jin froze the moment he heard those words.

He understood exactly what she meant. But… in a place like this? The Empress certainly had a knack for picking unique locations.

While his mind raced, a pair of jade-white arms wound around his neck. They moved like slithering snakes, soft and seemingly without bone.

“Why are you so hot!”

As their skin touched, Lu Jin gasped in shock. The woman’s body was like a furnace, scorching and burning as if she had just stepped out of boiling water.

“Don’t speak. Kiss me…”

Empress Qinglian pressed her body against his. Her expression was one of urgent desperation, yet even in her haze, she carried an imperial majesty that Lu Jin didn’t dare to defy.

“If you’re certain this is the only way to save you, then I’m going all in!”

“We’ve already walked this path before. Why are you still wasting breath with nonsense!”

“Fine! Woman, don’t you dare beg for mercy later!”

With a look of mock solemnity, Lu Jin gripped that slender waist and kneaded the woman, who was currently a raging blaze, into delicate water.

***

Beneath the array base, the air rippled with the haze of passion.

Above ground, the onlookers watched with complex gazes, none of them knowing exactly what Lu Jin was doing at this moment.

However, above the Eight Desolations Blood Dragon Altar, the sight of the blood-colored spiritual energy drifting about began to recede rapidly. The billowing aura atop the eight massive pillars, reaching toward the sky, also began to dissipate inexplicably.

Elder Chi Yu’s eyes grew even more conflicted. Killing intent radiated from her body as her frigid gaze slowly shifted toward the Ten Thousand Swords Sect camp.

Yet, she did not strike.

Rumors claimed that a supreme expert sat within the Ten Thousand Swords Sect, someone who had easily wiped out the Ancestor of the Mo family from one of the Holy Land’s four great clans. She didn’t want to offend such a powerhouse.

As for this Lu Jin, he possessed a strange treasure and was currently breaking the formation. Even if the King of Heaven himself showed up, it wouldn’t stop her from killing him!

Unfortunately, Elder Chi Yu had only heard the rumors of a high expert appearing in the Ten Thousand Swords Sect. She never imagined that the person protected by that expert was the very same Lu Jin she was so intent on killing.

“Elder, what should we do? The formation’s power is fading!” another Elder hissed through gritted teeth.

“If this continues, I fear the Grand Formation truly will be destroyed!”

“With his abilities, it should be impossible for him to destroy the Blood Dragon Bone!”

“But as for destroying the formation supported by the Blood Dragon Bone’s energy, that is hard to say…”

“Elder Chi Yu, please make a decision.”

Several people looked toward Elder Chi Yu, their eyes filled with complicated emotions.

Having such a monstrous talent emerge should have been a cause for celebration, but none of them could feel happy right now. They were afraid they couldn’t control Lu Jin!

If the boy was willing to listen to reason, they could hand him over to the Ancestor, and they would surely be heavily rewarded. But Lu Jin’s current actions left them with no confidence at all.

“This boy must not be allowed to live!”

Elder Chi Yu’s eyes narrowed into slits. “Everyone, though his talent is peerless, he has violated the rules of our Blood Moon Holy Land. Since he has broken the rules, we shall punish him according to those very rules!”

“Everyone, prepare the array! This Elder intends to catch a turtle in a jar!”

“Understood!”

*Buzz!*

Following Elder Chi Yu’s command, a piercing flash of profound light erupted. Within the light, the phantom image of a pyramid emerged.

The spiritual energy of several powerful experts flooded out, weaving together like a net before pouring into the pyramid. The phantom image became increasingly solid until it finally slammed into the ground with a heavy thud, suppressing the cavern Lu Jin had blasted open.

When the pyramid landed, its vast and heavy weight was so immense that it instantly crushed the dragon-patterned corpse of the large mink into a bloody mist!

Watching this scene, the crowd’s expressions shifted, each person harboring their own thoughts.

“Lu Jin…”

Chu Tianxiong and the members of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect were undoubtedly worried about Lu Jin, but now was not the optimal time to intervene.

“Everyone, it seems Elder Chi Yu has developed a murderous intent toward Lu Jin. I don’t care what Lu Jin is doing down there, but if Elder Chi Yu wants to kill him, I will fight her to the death!”

Hearing this, the experts of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect nodded one after another.

“Sect Master, Lu Jin is a genius of our Ten Thousand Swords Sect. We cannot stand by and watch him be killed!”

“The moment there is an opening, we will act and rescue Lu Jin!”

Chu Tianxiong nodded slightly at their words.

With his strength, he wasn’t necessarily incapable of fighting Elder Chi Yu. The reason he spoke those words was to test the attitude of his people.

It seemed that after the Great Cleaning of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect, those who remained were indeed loyal!

In that case, there was nothing to fear. When people work with one mind, they can move even Mount Tai. Though the Ten Thousand Swords Sect couldn’t compare to the Blood Moon Holy Land, he still had the Sanctuary!

Chu Tianxiong’s eyes narrowed, and a messenger talisman vanished from his fingertips…

Night began to fall.

The pyramid suppressing the cavern remained motionless. Some even began to suspect that Lu Jin had already perished inside.

Yet, no one left.

Time moved into the deep hours of the night.

Deep underground.

The lingering traces of passion finally faded, and the thick, bloody light had completely vanished.

The space beneath the earth was now clear and bright, devoid of all Baleful Qi. Only Lu Jin remained, sprawled out on the ground like the character for ‘wood’, eyes closed as he rested.

This bout of “training” had been fraught with danger. He had even been forced to use the Heaven Burial Coffin to continuously devour the surrounding Baleful Qi. He had consumed over ten thousand spirit stones from his storage ring just to succeed in the rescue.

At this moment, he wasn’t actually unconscious. He simply didn’t dare to look at the peerless woman standing a few yards away.

He didn’t know why the Evil Fire in her body was so domineering and fierce. In all his years, he had never been this exhausted.

“Huu…”

A soft sigh from Empress Qinglian drifted through the darkness. She glanced at the man on the ground and silently gnashed her silver teeth.

*He still ended up looking like a dead dog! Hiss… it hurts a little, hiss…*

After meditating for an unknown amount of time, the feeling of her body falling apart finally vanished. Empress Qinglian stood up, dressed herself, and regained her previous inviolable and majestic aura.

With a flick of her jade hand, a piece of jade-like bone appeared.

The moment this jade bone emerged, a startling ripple of energy suddenly expanded through the clear air. Lu Jin, who had been lying on the ground, instantly snapped his eyes open.

“Empress, stop playing around!”

Lu Jin was truly afraid now.

Empress Qinglian had fallen into that state of boiling Evil Fire precisely because of that thing, leading her to squeeze him dry! Now that she had brought it out again, Lu Jin panicked.

“Heh, look at how pathetic you are.”

Empress Qinglian let out a cold laugh. “Rest easy. The evil Baleful Qi within this dragon bone has been thoroughly purged by this Empress. Of course, you deserve some credit for that.”

As she spoke, Empress Qinglian waved her hand, and a golden light landed in Lu Jin’s palm.

Lu Jin looked down to find a golden key.

“Naturally, you’ve gained quite a few benefits yourself. With a cultivation at the 5th Layer of the Jindan Realm, you can now open a small sub-space within the Heaven Burial Coffin.”

Lu Jin frowned and immediately checked his internal aura.

Sure enough, after that ordeal, his cultivation had advanced again! Furthermore, every time he shared “joy” with the Empress, his realm increased without even attracting a lightning tribulation! And the speed of the breakthrough was incredibly fast!

This was indeed quite pleasant!

However, he quickly turned his attention to the golden key in his hand.

“Empress, there are sub-spaces inside the Heaven Burial Coffin? Can you tell me what’s inside?”

Empress Qinglian curled her lip. “See for yourself.”

“This Empress needs to thoroughly refine the Blood Dragon Bone. I will disappear for a period of time.”

“Also, don’t forget about entering the Blood Dragon Pool secret realm of the Blood Moon Holy Land. Otherwise, I’ll kill you.”

Lu Jin: “…”

He sighed. Accompanying the Empress was truly like accompanying a tiger!

With a thought, his consciousness entered the space of the Heaven Burial Coffin.

Looking at the golden key in his hand, he frowned.

Where was this sub-space? What good things were inside… and what benefits would they bring him?

***

Footnotes:

TN1: Jindan (金丹): The Golden Core stage of cultivation, representing a condensed seed of power within the Dantian.

TN2: “Catch a turtle in a jar” (瓮中捉鳖): A classic idiom meaning to trap someone so they have no escape.