"Mo Qi, you can’t die!" Xu He roared desperately. In his current state, Mo Qi was undoubtedly on death’s door; he couldn’t last much longer.

In truth, Xu He didn’t care if Mo Qi lived or died. He only cared about obtaining Mo Qi’s secret.

This was the key to whether he could escape his servitude to the Wang Family and live as a man with dignity.

"I promise, if you tell me your secret, I’ll leave that girl and the fatty alone."

"But if you die just like this, I’ll make those two wish they were dead!"

Hearing this, Mo Qi snapped his head up. The purple light in his eyes gradually faded, replaced by flames of two different colors—one red and one black—flickering in his left and right eye respectively.

"No, you’ve lost your chance!"

Mo Qi didn’t believe Xu He’s promise for a second. He also knew he couldn’t hold on for much longer.

Therefore, he had to use everything he had to kill Xu He before his body completely broke down.

Even if he couldn’t kill him, he had to wound him severely, creating the best possible chance for Jin Sanpang and Niu Kexin to escape.

"Kill!"

He spat out the Fire Stick, which transformed into a cleaver.

He moved like lightning, his cleaver striking with deadly precision as he slashed at Xu He.

"You’re courting death!"

Xu He snorted coldly. Instead of retreating, he advanced, meeting Mo Qi with overwhelming power. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Their figures crossed, clashing violently in an instant before separating again.

SCHLICK!

The sound of a sharp blade tearing through flesh. An arm flew into the air, spraying blood across the sky.

The scene froze. Mo Qi was suspended in mid-air, his feet off the ground, his cleaver embedded in the earth below.

Xu He stood behind Mo Qi. One of his arms had been severed at the shoulder, while his other hand had pierced through Mo Qi’s back and was clutching his heart.

"Hkk... hkkk..."

With his heart in Xu He’s grip, all strength drained from Mo Qi’s body. Blood poured from his mouth like a stream, staining the ground red.

"You dared... You dared to sever my arm!"

Xu He wanted nothing more than to crush Mo Qi’s heart right then and there, ending his life.

But reason told him he couldn’t.

After paying the price of an arm, it would be a huge loss if he got nothing in return.

One had to understand that even at the Vajra Realm, he was far from capable of Limb Regeneration.

Even if he managed to reattach the severed limb, it would never be the same as before. His strength would be greatly diminished.

"Hahaha, Xu He, I won."

Mo Qi faced the setting sun, the corners of his mouth lifting into a smile.

"Won? No, you’ve lost!" Xu He sneered. "You have one last chance. Tell me your secret before you die. Otherwise, I guarantee, that fatty and the girl will die a far worse death than you!"

"Heh." Mo Qi chuckled softly. The side effects of consuming too much Spirit Marrow were kicking in.

Starting from his feet, his flesh and blood began to dissolve, his muscles and bones crumbling to dust, the decay spreading upward.

But Mo Qi seemed not to notice, smiling brightly. "You won’t get the chance."

Mo Qi’s brilliant smile sent a chill down Xu He’s spine.

A sense of foreboding crept into his heart.

SIZZLE~

A faint crackling sound reached Xu He’s ears. He whipped his head around to look.

Not far away, a faint red glow was emanating from the arm Mo Qi had severed.

The red light was devouring the severed arm at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"No!" Xu He’s face paled in horror.

’Even if reattaching the arm makes it less flexible, it’s still better than having none at all!’

But before he could do anything to stop it, the entire arm vanished, leaving not even a speck of dust behind.

"What did you do to my arm?" Xu He yanked on Mo Qi’s heart, pulling him forward.

"Cough, cough..."

Mo Qi began to cough violently, each breath bringing up a gush of blood.

"You should be more concerned about yourself."

Xu He followed Mo Qi’s gaze to the wound on his shoulder.

The same red light was flickering there, continuously devouring his flesh and blood.

"What the hell is this stuff?!"

Xu He tried to force out the red light, but neither his True Essence nor his Domain Realm could do a thing.

The red light was the Yang Fire from the Netherworld Flame, a Celestial-level Fire Seed.

Once afflicted, how could a mere Vajra Realm cultivator like Xu He possibly dispel it?

If not for Mo Qi’s Cultivation being too low to unleash its true power, Xu He would have long since been burned to ash.

Seeing the red light devouring him faster and faster, Xu He gritted his teeth. He formed a blade of True Essence and hacked at his own shoulder, slicing off a large chunk of his torso along with the Netherworld Flame.

The move was nothing short of ruthless, but it was effective. He had finally stopped the red light.

This time, Xu He had damaged his Primordial Energy foundation.

He finally understood why Mo Qi had said he had won.

In his current state, he barely had time to find a place to heal, let alone have any energy left to pursue Jin Sanpang and Niu Kexin.

Xu He was utterly enraged. He could see now that Mo Qi was completely immune to his threats and would never reveal the secret, no matter what.

"Then you can just die!"

With that, he crushed Mo Qi’s heart in his hand.

Mo Qi’s pupils dilated. A satisfied smile on his face, his Vitality faded away.

At that moment, the rusty Iron Ring hanging around his neck—the one that possibly held the secrets of his birth—suddenly burst with brilliant light.

Within a hundred-zhang radius, time and space were frozen by a strange Energy.

Xu He remained frozen in the act of crushing Mo Qi’s heart, fixed in place like a statue. Even his thoughts and spiritual fluctuations had ground to a halt.

The disintegration of Mo Qi’s body, which had been suffering from the Spiritual Marrow Energy backlash and had already reached his waist, also came to a stop.

A white light flew out of the ring, transforming into a young, beautiful woman.

The woman had a delicate and pretty appearance, but her eyes held an ancient sorrow that completely contradicted her youthful look.

She floated to Mo Qi’s side, reached out to gently brush aside his blood-soaked hair, and gazed at him with loving tenderness.

She caressed Mo Qi’s face—a face that was resolute, yet held a hint of simple honesty. Her fingers traced a path downward, lightly gliding over his neck, his chest, his waist, and the place where his legs had disintegrated and vanished.

Specks of fluorescent light trickled from the woman’s fingertips, merging into Mo Qi’s body.

Immediately after, a dazzling purple light flew out from every corner of Mo Qi’s flesh and blood, gathering in the empty cavity of his left chest.

A suction force was generated, pulling the shattered remnants of his heart together.

A brand new heart appeared in Mo Qi’s chest. Propelled by the purple light, it connected with the surrounding tissues.

At the same time, the disintegrated parts of Mo Qi’s body were restored, as if time were flowing in reverse.

THUMP-THUMP!

THUMP-THUMP-THUMP!

The heart beat, and fresh blood surged ceaselessly into his limbs and bones, nourishing Mo Qi’s withered body.

Having lost all Vitality, he began to breathe again. A touch of color returned to his pale face.

The light around the woman grew incredibly dim, until she was almost transparent.

She bent down and kissed Mo Qi on the forehead.

A smile bloomed on her face, a beauty so stunning it could not be described, a beauty that made heaven and earth pale in comparison.

Finally, with a look of reverence on her face, the woman tapped a finger between Mo Qi’s eyebrows.

The Chaos Scripture in his Sea of Consciousness trembled, and a fist-sized ball of flesh flew out from within. It was none other than the slumbering Pig Emperor.

Before the great battle, to avoid getting the Pig Emperor caught in the crossfire, Mo Qi had tossed it into the space within the Chaos Scripture.

The woman flicked the Pig Emperor lightly on its forehead. The Pig Emperor awoke, its eyes heavy with sleep and its expression full of displeasure.

However, when it saw the woman, all the color drained from its pig-like face in terror.

"You... Y-y-you..."

The Pig Emperor’s first instinct was to flee, but in the end, it abandoned the thought.