150: Zhou Liang appears

"Tsk tsk, what a fine zither!" Zhou Liang's voice sounded like sandpaper rubbing together, coming through the mask with a hair-raising gloom and greed.

"Once struck by the Soul-Eroding Ice Soul Poison, even those in the Purple Mansion Realm won't last more than a moment. The strings are defiled, and its spirituality is greatly damaged. Be a good boy and hand over that kid with the Thunder Spirit Body, and I might show some mercy, leave you an intact corpse, and let you take this broken zither to find your useless brother in the underworld."

His gaze was like a venomous snake, fixed firmly on the weakened Di Jingzhe.

Di Jingzhe's eyes were as cold as ten-thousand-year-old ice, his killing intent surging like a tangible wave.

He forced himself to stand in front of the weakened and painfully curled-up Feng Linger. His right hand gripped the air, and the Awakening Thunder Sword stabbed into the ground let out an unyielding clear cry, turning into a stream of light as it flew back into his hand.

On the blade, pale golden-purple thunder patterns flickered rapidly, emitting sharp crackling sounds as if thirsting for battle and revenge.

The sharp pain in his left shoulder and the residual yin poison in his body eroded him constantly, but his spine remained straight.

"If you want to touch her, you'll have to go through the sword in my hand first!" Di Jingzhe's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a decisive resolution, exploding in the deathly silent rift like the thunder of the Awakening of Insects.

The Kui Thunder Shakes the World Art within him operated frantically, squeezing every bit of power from his recent, yet-to-be-stabilized Breakthrough. He forcibly mobilized the remaining Kui Ox Legacy thunder yuan in his Dantian, even drawing in the violent thunder Aura that had not yet dissipated from the air!

Pale golden-purple electric arcs crackled all around him, and despite his heavy injuries, his Aura exuded a tragic madness!

A flash of surprise crossed Zhou Liang's narrow eyes, which then turned into even deeper greed and cruelty. "Good! What a tough bone! It's the perfect time to use your blood to refine my 'Soul-Eroding Needle'!"

His figure flickered, like a ghost merging into the shadows, and he instantly disappeared from the spot! In the next instant, countless faint blue poisonous needles, like a torrential rain of pear blossoms, shot silently toward Di Jingzhe's vital points from all directions and tricky angles!

Every needle carried a yin poison that could freeze the Soul! Meanwhile, his true body approached silently like a ghost under the cover of the poisonous needles!

Di Jingzhe's pupils contracted, and his nerves were strained to the limit! He brandished the Awakening Thunder Sword like the wind, and pale golden sword light instantly wove into a dense thunder net in front of him!

He pushed the Destruction True Intent of the Kui Thunder Shakes the World Art to its limit. The sword net carried violent thunder power, not seeking to block all the poisonous needles, but only to replace defense with offense, using the violence of thunder to disperse the yin poison!

"Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang...!"

The sound of collisions, as dense as rain hitting plantain leaves, rang out! Most of the poisonous needles were knocked away or shattered by the sword light containing the destruction thunder intent! However, several incredibly tricky poisonous needles still pierced through the gaps in the sword net!

Di Jingzhe's figure was like willow catkins in the wind. Relying on the Thunder Spirit Body's natural affinity for thunder and the extreme speed brought by the Kui Thunder Shakes the World Art, he performed incredible dodges within a tiny space!

He narrowly avoided the lethal poisonous needles aimed at his heart and throat, but a piercingly cold and sharp pain still came from the outside of his left leg!

"Ugh!" He let out a muffled groan, and his movements inevitably suffered a slight delay!

Faint blue frost instantly spread from the wound! His left leg became stiff and numb!

In that moment of delay, Zhou Liang appeared like a true ghost in Di Jingzhe's right-side blind spot without any warning!

A hand, withered like a bird's claw and covered in faint blue ice armor, carried a yin poison palm force that could freeze everything as it silently pressed toward Di Jingzhe's defenseless right ribs!

If this palm strike landed solidly, the Soul-Eroding Ice Poison would penetrate his body, and even an immortal would be hard-pressed to save him!

The shadow of death instantly loomed!

At this critical moment—

"Dong—!!!"

A heavy sound, like the beating of an ancient war drum or the thumping of the earth's heart, boomed from the ancient zither behind Di Jingzhe!

The sound was no longer the previous iron horses and golden spears, but was filled with chaos, despair, madness, and a destructive will to perish together! It was as if billions of living beings were wailing at the end of the world!

It was Feng Linger!

At some point, she had forcibly propped up half her body, ignoring the faint blue frost spreading from her left arm to her shoulder, ignoring the intense pain of her Purple Mansion being eroded by the poison, and even burning a portion of her Origin blood essence!

Her blood-stained right hand, fingers splayed, slapped heavily against the body of the damaged ancient zither with a resolution that was almost self-destructive!

All her strength, all her anger, and all her despair over her brother's whereabouts were poured into this final, most insane strike!

The target was not Zhou Liang, but the space around Di Jingzhe and herself! An indiscriminate attack! Only to create that instantaneous, destructive sonic boom of chaos!

"Pfft—!" The blood Feng Linger spat out was no longer bright red, but a strange color containing faint blue ice crystals!

Her body slumped backward like a kite with a broken string, her Aura instantly hitting rock bottom, and her eyes quickly losing focus. After emitting this ultimate strike, the strings of the mysterious ancient zither vibrated violently, and the body of the zither also let out a low groan as it became overwhelmed, its spiritual light dimming.

But this life-risking blow had an immediate effect!

A terrifying and chaotic sonic boom instantly swept through! Di Jingzhe bore the brunt of it, his vision going black, his ears ringing incessantly, and his Divine Soul in intense pain!

But he was prepared! The moment Feng Linger's desperate, blood-stained hand slapped the zither, it had already entered his field of vision when he was delayed by the poisonous needles! This was the only chance for survival!

At the ten-thousandth of a second when the sonic boom hit his body and Zhou Liang's lethal poison palm was about to strike his right ribs, Di Jingzhe used the chaotic impact of the sonic boom and his body's instinctive reaction to push the speed of the Kui Thunder Shakes the World Art beyond its limits!

He suddenly twisted his waist and body, holding the Awakening Thunder Sword in a reverse grip!

"Puchi!"

The withered hand covered in faint blue ice armor, carrying a bone-chilling cold, slammed heavily into Di Jingzhe's left rear shoulder! The terrifying Soul-Eroding Ice Poison and yin-cold palm force instantly erupted!

"Crack!" The tooth-gritting sound of bone shattering rang out!

Di Jingzhe's left rear shoulder instantly collapsed a large section, his bones shattered! Faint blue frost covered half of his back at a visible speed! The intense pain and cold made his vision go dark, and he spat out a mouthful of golden blood containing ice shards!

But he also used the immense force of the twist and the push from Zhou Liang's palm force to make his body spin like a top being whipped away. At the cost of a shattered left shoulder blade, he narrowly avoided his vital points!

At the same time, his reverse-hand sword strike, which condensed all his final strength, anger, and unyielding will, used the momentum of the spin like a venomous Dragon emerging from its cave. With a tragic killing intent of moving forward without looking back and perishing together, it stabbed fiercely toward the throat of Zhou Liang, whose body also stiffened slightly due to the impact of the sonic boom!

Trading injury for a life! A counterattack in a desperate situation!

Zhou Liang's eyes behind the mask widened instantly! He never expected this woman to be so crazy as to activate the damaged ancient zither like that, nor did he expect this youth to be able to burst forth with such a precise and ruthless counter-strike while his shoulder bone was shattered and he was poisoned!

The pale golden-purple wooden sword rapidly enlarged in his pupils, and the coldness of death instantly seized his heart!

"No—!" Zhou Liang let out a terrified roar, desperately trying to twist his neck to dodge! At the same time, his always-empty left hand grabbed a pale bone talisman at his waist like a lightning bolt, trying to crush it!

But it was too late!