363: The oriole is behind

"Pfft!"

With a muffled thud, Seventh Heaven Venerable's massive body suddenly stiffened.

Jiang Donghua's fist had already punched through his chest and out his back!

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

Seventh Heaven Venerable lowered his head, looking at the large, clear hole running front-to-back in his chest, then looked at Jiang Donghua's indifferent face.

He opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to say something, but only gurgling blood emerged.

Jiang Donghua slowly withdrew his arm, and Seventh Heaven Venerable's swollen body rapidly shriveled like a deflated balloon, his life force quickly dissipating.

However, Jiang Donghua's movements did not stop.

He extended his other hand and, with an empty grasp, pulled towards Seventh Heaven Venerable's soon-to-fall corpse.

"Soul, come!"

A ghostly, distorted soul body, identical in appearance to Seventh Heaven Venerable and filled with terror, was forcibly ripped from his corpse!

The soul body struggled wildly, emitting silent screams.

Jiang Donghua's expression remained unchanged.

He took out a jade bottle he had prepared earlier, flicked his finger, and an arcane sealing rune shot out, imprinting itself upon the soul body.

The soul body's struggles instantly ceased, becoming dull and lifeless, and it was casually stuffed into the jade bottle by Jiang Donghua, who then capped it.

Casually putting away the jade bottle containing Seventh Heaven Venerable's soul body, Jiang Donghua clapped his hands as if he had just done something insignificant, as if to brush off non-existent dust.

His gaze swept towards the direction where Fifth Heavenly Venerable had vanished, then glanced at the dumbfounded Mu Qingxian in the distance, and spoke faintly.

"Obstacles cleared, let's continue on our way."

Mu Qingxian watched Jiang Donghua so decisively deal with Seventh Heaven Venerable, her heart filled with countless questions, such as her Martial Uncle's true strength, and why he was in such a hurry to travel, but seeing that Jiang Donghua had no intention of explaining.

Instead, he was already preparing to tear space again to continue their journey, so the words on her lips could only be swallowed back.

She nodded obediently.

"Yes, Martial Uncle."

Their figures once again vanished into the void.

This area of the void, which had just experienced a brief and intense battle, returned to its deathly silence.

Only Seventh Heaven Venerable's shriveled and broken corpse, gently pushed by the faint spatial currents, floated slowly like rootless duckweed, narrating the tragedy that had just occurred.

About half an hour later.

Suddenly, in the void not far from Seventh Heaven Venerable's corpse, an unstable distortion occurred, and a spatial rift was forcibly torn open.

A figure, covered in blood and extremely weak, stumbled out from it.

It was none other than the Hall of Souls' Fifth Heavenly Venerable, who had been blasted away by Jiang Donghua's punch earlier!

He looked utterly miserable at this moment, his chest caved in, his black robe tattered, constantly coughing up blood, his eyes filled with lingering fear and resentment.

He barely managed to stabilize himself and looked around.

When he saw Seventh Heaven Venerable's floating corpse, a flicker of sorrow, like a rabbit mourning its fallen fox companion, crossed his eyes, but even more so, there was a sense of relief at having survived a catastrophe.

"Cough, cough... Damn Venerable Donghua is a Peak Sixth-Turn Dou Zun!"

"Seventh Brother, that useless fellow, his intelligence misled me!"

He cursed under his breath, struggling to get closer to retrieve Seventh Heaven Venerable's corpse.

"I must quickly bring the corpse and the news of Seventh Brother's demise back to the Hall..."

However, just as his guard relaxed slightly, and he reached out to grab Seventh Heaven Venerable's corpse.

"Pfft!"

A subtle spatial fluctuation, almost imperceptible, rippled out silently behind him like water!

Jiang Donghua's figure appeared out of thin air like a ghost!

He hadn't left at all, but had been using his superb spatial power to hide nearby, waiting for his prey!

"I've been waiting for you for a long time."

The cold voice exploded in Fifth Heavenly Venerable's ear like a clap of thunder!

Fifth Heavenly Venerable's pupils suddenly constricted to pinpricks, and boundless terror instantly engulfed him!

He had no time to make any effective reaction, not even to turn around!

Jiang Donghua struck like lightning, his finger swift as a startled swan, its tip condensed with terrifyingly compressed Dou Qi, accurately pointing at the vital spot on Fifth Heavenly Venerable's back of the head!

This single finger strike contained even more concentrated and deadly power than the previous punch!

"No—!"

Fifth Heavenly Venerable only had time to let out a desperate roar.

"Puff!"

A soft sound, like a ripe watermelon being poked through.

Fifth Heavenly Venerable's head was pierced by the finger's force, and the violent Dou Qi instantly surged in, shattering his brain matter along with his soul origin!

The light in his eyes instantly dimmed, and the remaining vitality was completely extinguished.

This Fifth Heavenly Venerable of the Hall of Souls died with wide, staring eyes, his face filled with extreme shock, unwillingness, and disbelief.

He never expected that he would narrowly escape the first wave of attack, only to ultimately fall victim to his opponent's patience and cunning!

Not only did his opponent possess overwhelming strength, but his mind was also so meticulous and ruthless!

Jiang Donghua watched Fifth Heavenly Venerable's body collapse expressionlessly, then replicated his previous action, reaching out with an empty grasp to forcibly extract his soul body, which had just begun to dissipate, and sealed it into another jade bottle.

Only then did Mu Qingxian, who had been holding her breath and hiding a little further away, fly forward, her beautiful eyes sparkling as she witnessed this scene.

This time, without Jiang Donghua needing to instruct her, she immediately and skillfully began to collect the spoils of war, quickly removing the storage rings from Fifth Heavenly Venerable's and Seventh Heaven Venerable's fingers, wiping away the blood, and respectfully handing them to Jiang Donghua.

"Martial Uncle, here you go."

Jiang Donghua took the two heavy storage rings, and with a casual sweep of his Soul Power, he roughly understood their contents.

He nodded, quite pleased with Mu Qingxian's quick wit.

"Clean up, let's go.

This time, there should be no more tails."

With that, he once again tore open space and, taking Mu Qingxian with him, truly sped towards Holy Pill City.

In the void, only the two Heavenly Venerable corpses remained, gradually being swept into unknown depths by the turbulent currents.

As they once again embarked on their journey through the void, Mu Qingxian followed behind Jiang Donghua, looking at her Martial Uncle's tall and composed back.

Recalling how she had done nothing but watch from afar and then retrieve the corpses at the end, realizing she hadn't helped at all, and might have even become a burden requiring her Martial Uncle's attention, a rare blush of embarrassment and shame rose on her still charming face.

She opened her mouth, wanting to defend her previous insistence or say something like "it won't happen again," but the words felt incredibly hollow on her tongue.

Actions speak louder than words, and her Martial Uncle had been absolutely right before; what else could she do by coming along besides needing his protection?

In the face of an absolute disparity in strength, her status as the head of a valley and her Nine-Star Dou Zun cultivation seemed insignificant.

Jiang Donghua seemed to sense the complex emotional fluctuations behind him.

Without stopping, he slightly turned his head and glanced at her, seeing the rare expression on her face, like someone who had made a mistake.

He couldn't help but find it somewhat amusing, and shook his head helplessly, letting out a soft laugh.

"Heh, now you know coming along was useless?"

His tone held no blame, but rather a few hints of an elder's indulgence towards a junior and a touch of teasing.

Upon hearing this, Mu Qingxian's cheeks reddened further, and she whispered.

"Martial Uncle is right to scold me; it was Qingxian who was reckless and almost dragged Martial Uncle down."