Volume One: The Misty Cloud Immortal Palace Chapter 115: Black Sword Slashes Black Sword

Chapter 115: Black Sword Slashes Black Sword

No one could have guessed that this glib-tongued turtle was the one hiding the deepest secrets. With only the cultivation base of a Golden Immortal, it managed to withstand the combined attacks of three High Immortals. Although it relied on its innate advantages by retracting into its shell, this only served to prove one thing: its shell was not merely hard, and the race it belonged to was not merely strong.

Behind the turtle, Zhou Hao clenched his teeth, fighting to stay conscious. Within him, the situation was dire. The "Cartilage-Softening and Blood-Dissolving Poison" was incredibly tyrannical; true to its name, it could soften bones into sludge and corrode blood. It was a specialized poison targeting the physical body, often used by the envoys of the Night Palace to force the primordial spirits of young geniuses out of their physical vessels.

At this moment, a yellow-skinned gourd hovered silently three feet above Zhou Hao’s head, bathing him in a white light that provided defensive protection. Beside him, Huohuo kept a watchful, protective guard. Qingqing, the green snake, had transformed into a wisp of green smoke and entered Zhou Hao’s nostrils; she intended to devour the poison from within.

Qingqing belonged to the snake race, one of the Five Poisons, and was naturally attuned to toxins. From a young age, she had been exposed to various venoms, eventually cultivating an acquired constitution known as the "Poison-Suppressing Body." This meant that no matter what toxins invaded her, she could use her own internal toxins to suppress and refine them, ultimately turning them into her own. It must be said that this method of cultivating a poison body was a technical skill that depended entirely on the individual; not everyone could master it.

However, while Qingqing was immune to the poison, Zhou Hao was not. Suppressing a poison within oneself was one thing, but detoxifying another person was entirely different—especially with such a ruthless, domineering toxin. There was no time to waste; the detoxification had to be completed as quickly as possible. Thus, Qingqing chose to enter Zhou Hao’s body directly to transfer and refine the poison.

Once the Cartilage-Softening and Blood-Dissolving Poison entered the body, it spread instantly to every inch of skin, every pore, and every drop of blood, leading to the dissolution of bones and flesh. Against such a potent venom, Zhou Hao’s Golden Immortal body was practically a joke. Yet, he possessed one thing that was no joke.

The "Sun of the Great Day"—a "Dao Image" condensed after practicing the Great Radiant Sun Palm and tempering his golden body with the True Sun Fire from the Yin-Yang Eye within the Crystal Palace of the Great Immortal’s dwelling. It had countless merits: it not only bolstered immortal power and accelerated cultivation but also fortified his foundation, protected his body, and nourished his spirit. Because of this, his physical form would not collapse so easily, even under the assault of such a brutal poison.

"You deal with the immortal turtle; the two of us will kill Zhou Hao!" the two Night Envoys transmitted their voices to Nangong Xun in the sky above.

Nangong Xun nodded, then stepped forward, ascending high into the air. He enlarged his foot, intending to stomp the turtle flat. The latter remained tucked inside, using its shell to withstand the weight of Mount Tai.

*Whoosh! Whoosh!*

Simultaneously, the two black-robed Night Envoys struck. They used their Heart-Piercing Swords again, but the targets had shifted to Zhou Hao and Huohuo. Slender, snake-like black chains whipped through the air, darting toward their faces.

Huohuo dodged immediately, but the Heart-Piercing Sword seemed to have eyes. No matter how she maneuvered, the chain pursued her relentlessly. Its speed was beyond her reach, forcing her to continuously use void-evasion techniques to flee. Even worse, the sword could pierce not only armor and hearts but also space itself. Even when she hid within the void, the sword still tracked her down, making the situation perilously dangerous.

The other chain was even more formidable; it pierced right through the white protective light shed by the yellow gourd, turning the light to ash as if it were ice meeting a furnace.

*Thud!* The sky shook violently, dispersing the few remaining clouds. The sound came from the collision between the turtle and Nangong Xun. The latter stomped wildly on the turtle’s shell. Logically, the turtle should have been driven toward the ground, but instead, it used its shell to meet the foot, turning a passive defense into an active counter.

As Nangong Xun’s heavy, mountain-crushing foot descended, the turtle gathered its strength. When the foot was about ten meters away, it surged upward with a sudden, violent force. While the turtle bore the brunt of the pressure, force is mutual, and Nangong Xun had to endure the terrifying shockwave from his own foot.

The result: Nangong Xun was sent flying into the sky, his foot feeling as if it had stepped on a bolt of lightning. A bone-deep agony surged from his sole, and after a long moment, not only his foot but his entire leg lost all sensation.

"You are courting death!" Nangong Xun roared in fury, his face twisted. As he tumbled through the high sky, a golden long spear appeared in his right hand, its tip flickering with a cold, uncertain light.

With a sharp whistle, the spear left his hand, piercing straight toward the giant turtle below, determined to shatter its black shell. The spear descended like a golden lightning bolt from the heavens; a strike so heavy and swift that it would have punched through ten thousand mountains!

"Heh heh, Grandpa Turtle isn't playing with you unfilial grandson anymore. Bye-bye!" The turtle didn't need to look to know its back had become a target, but it suddenly shrank its body down to the size of a thumb.

The spear struck the majestic Alchemy Tower. It first punched a massive hole through the roof, then continued downward with a series of thunderous crashes, destroying every floor in its path. Its momentum remained unstoppable until it broke through the soil into the underground dungeon, where it collided with the bronze Yin-Yang Cauldron that had birthed an artifact spirit.

*Clang!* A sharp, crisp sound rang out as the spearhead snapped off, and the shaft lay lifeless in a crater beside the cauldron, ending its short-lived existence.

The most critical situation was Huohuo’s. The Heart-Piercing Sword had already tasted her blood, though it had yet to pierce her heart. Several times it grazed her, but she barely avoided lethal strikes using her void evasion, resulting in a wounded shoulder, a torn red dress, and severed locks of hair.

*Zing!* The slender chain flickered like a snake’s tongue—fitting, as the Heart-Piercing Sword was also known as the Snake Sword. It "saw through" her location in the void once more, the arrow-tipped end piercing the air, determined to draw blood.

*Clang!* The sound of metal striking metal rang out, followed by a crisp *snap*, as if something metallic had shattered.

Huohuo emerged from the void. Before her stood a familiar figure in white, a yellow gourd hovering above his head, holding a black stone sword. Beneath the sword lay the two broken halves of the slender black chain.

Black sword slashes black sword!

"Zhou Hao, you... your poison is cured?" Huohuo’s face was filled with surprise and joy; she was on the verge of tears.

The white-clad figure turned, revealing a sunny smile. "Yes."

But the smile vanished instantly when he saw the "forlorn" young girl, her shoulder bleeding, her red dress pierced, and her hair disheveled.

"It’s... it’s nothing. I’m not really hurt. You should check on the turtle; it’s surely complaining..." Seeing Zhou Hao’s gaze shift from her face to her left shoulder, Huohuo scrambled to cover her fair skin and the striking bloodstain with her right hand.

Before she could finish, Zhou Hao reached out a large hand and said gently, "Open your mouth. Say 'ah'."

"Ah..."

Hearing these words, Huohuo involuntarily and obediently parted her cherry lips. A rosy flush crept onto her cheeks, and she shyly closed her large eyes.

*Gulp.* The girl in red swallowed, along with the red immortal pill he had placed in her mouth. The pill melted instantly, tasting sweet and sour like strawberries. Lulled by the flavor, she drifted off into a deep sleep.

"Sleep now. This Fire Origin Pill will heal your wounds. With your current strength, you cannot contend with High Immortals. Everything is in my hands; I don't want to see you suffer even the slightest injury for me again!" Zhou Hao’s gaze was resolute. He pointed a finger, shrinking Huohuo back to her miniature form, and tucked her safely into his robes.

"This time, you must thank me properly! I risked my life to buy you time!" A streak of black light fell into Zhou Hao’s palm—it was the thumb-sized turtle.

"Easily done. You get top credit this time. When I slaughter those three High Immortals, you can have first pick of whatever treasures I loot from them. Take whatever you like," Zhou Hao laughed, his tone treating the Night Envoys and Nangong Xun like mere livestock.

"Hahahaha... for that sentence alone, Grandpa Turtle’s suffering today was worth it!" the turtle laughed aloud.

The two Night Envoys were no fools; hearing such arrogant words, they grew cold with rage. "You insolent brat! Today, we will peel your skin, pull your tendons, and grind your bones to ash to uphold the majesty of the Night Palace!"

"Count me in," a voice echoed as a figure in green Daoist robes descended from the sky. The robes fluttered without wind, a testament to the intensity of Nangong Xun’s fury.

In the next moment, the three High Immortals approached Zhou Hao from three directions, walking through the air. Zhou Hao stood alone with his sword, surrounded on all sides!