Cultivation: I Can Steal Lifespan from Spirit Beasts

Chapter 129: You Deserve to Die! Eight Eyes

“Ye Lingyu!”

Wang Ba stared in shock at the figure standing solitary and proud before the gates of Water Controlling City.

She was tall and slender, her complexion fair and pale, her expression as cold and beautiful as frost and snow.

He could vaguely trace the features of the girl in the purple Daoist robe he once knew—the one with fair skin who was nonetheless often covered in dust, looking utterly disheveled and wretched.

He had assumed she perished long ago in that earth-shattering upheaval. He had even sighed in regret over her fate.

After all, back in the Eastern Sage Sect, she was one of the few who had treated Wang Ba as an equal when he was merely a lowly Laborer Disciple. They had formed a friendship—a bond extremely rare among cultivators.

Never did he expect that not only was she still alive, but her strength had undergone a terrifying transformation.

The spiritual energy surging around her was so turbulent that he almost didn’t dare confirm her identity.

She was too strong!

Her aura roiled around her, almost solid enough to touch. Even from such a distance, merely catching a glimpse of her out of the corner of his eye caused a sharp, squeezing pain in his senses.

Looking across the entirety of Water Controlling City, not a single person could compare to her.

Perhaps only Bai Yu, who was currently overlooking the battlefield from the Bone Boat, could rival her presence.

“Wait! Could it be that the person he was waiting for is…”

A sudden realization struck Wang Ba like a bolt of lightning.

Meanwhile, Bai Yu, who had remained motionless until now, began to emit a teeth-grating, bone-grinding crack-crack sound from his body.

“I have been waiting for you for far too long!”

The moment the words fell, Wang Ba didn’t even see a blur of movement before Bai Yu vanished from the Bone Boat entirely.

Below.

Inside Water Controlling City, the moment the Eastern Sage Sect inner disciples saw Ye Lingyu appear, they breathed a collective sigh of relief.

“It’s Senior Sister Ye!”

“We’re saved!”

“Quick! Let’s attack from the inside and disrupt the balance of the formation!”

The red-haired Incense Path cultivator also perked up visibly. Although he had never met her, she was rumored to be the number one Foundation Establishment cultivator of the Eastern Sage Sect. Even if the rumors were exaggerated, with everyone coordinating, their chances of breaking the formation were high.

He immediately shouted, “Let’s coordinate with our Fellow Daoists from the Eastern Sage Sect!”

However, before any of them could make a move.

Outside the blood-colored light curtain, Ye Lingyu’s gaze swept over the formation flags below, her brows furrowing slightly.

Without a word, she simply flicked a finger.

Thrum!

A wisp of nimble sword light leapt from her fingertips, tracing a graceful, dancing arc through the air.

Then, in a split second, the sword light bloomed like a firework!

Swish! Swish! Swish!

The single strand fractured into countless razor-sharp rays, raining down from the heavens like a torrent of meteor light!

The seven Heavenly Gate Sect Foundation Establishment cultivators turned pale with horror.

They dared not linger for even a heartbeat, each unleashing their life-saving techniques to retreat violently.

Yet, even so, the seemingly ordinary streams of sword light were relentless. One cultivator was a beat too slow; a ray of light gently looped around his neck.

A perfectly good head rolled to the ground, while the headless body continued to fly forward for several hundred zhang before collapsing.

Each beam of light landed with terrifying precision on the formation flags.

The blood-colored light curtain flickered wildly. Only a breath later, the barrier shrouding Water Controlling City contracted rapidly and dissipated into nothingness.

“Excellent!”

“Haha! Truly worthy of Senior Sister Ye!”

“So strong!”

The red-haired cultivator wore a look of utter shock. He could hardly imagine a Foundation Establishment cultivator displaying such astonishing attainment in the Dao of the Sword.

But the Incense Path cultivators and Eastern Sage Sect disciples had no time to celebrate their survival.

High in the sky, a gentle voice suddenly rang out.

“Finally lured you out!”

Before the voice faded, a gigantic blood-colored skeletal hand descended straight from the clouds with inconceivable speed, completely engulfing Ye Lingyu below!

“Not good!”

“Senior Sister Ye, run!”

Sensing the horrific aura radiating from the skeletal hand, the expressions of the surrounding Eastern Sage Sect disciples changed drastically.

Without a shred of hesitation, they charged forward, swords in hand!

However, against the colossal skeletal hand, their desperate attacks failed to leave even a single scratch. Instead, the immense pressure generated by the descending hand overwhelmed them, the shockwaves blasting their bodies away uncontrollably.

“Heh… mere Foundation Establishment cultivators dare to contend with the ‘Blood Bone Holy Venerable’? Even if it is merely a hand bone…”

Bai Yu’s figure finally materialized amidst the clouds.

His body trembled slightly, looking extremely strained. Yet, he firmly pressed his single hand downward. In mid-air, the gigantic blood-colored skeletal hand mimicked the motion, clenching tightly around Ye Lingyu.

Under the grasp of the Nascent Soul-level ‘Blood Bone Holy Venerable,’ Ye Lingyu had no power to resist. She was crushed within the palm!

“Now that I’ve captured you… I don’t believe your Sect Master won’t come to save you!”

“Senior Sister Ye!”

“No!”

Below, the Eastern Sage Sect disciples watched in despair.

The red-haired cultivator’s face twisted in horror. He swept the area with his Divine Sense, then immediately barked a low order: “Go!”

He didn’t hesitate for a second, taking the lead to shoot toward the south, away from Water Controlling City and the Eastern Sage stronghold.

The remaining four Incense Path cultivators followed suit, burning their essence to retreat at full speed.

They had to run. If even the Eastern Sage Sect’s trump card couldn’t last a single exchange, what hope did they have?

“Damn it, those cowards!”

The Eastern Sage Sect disciples watched the retreating backs of the Incense Path cultivators, gnashing their teeth in fury.

However, they could neither flee nor save Ye Lingyu. They were paralyzed by the situation.

In the sky, the trembling of Bai Yu’s body gradually eased. Just as he was about to check if Ye Lingyu was dead or alive, an extremely terrifying fluctuation erupted from within the skeletal palm.

The subsiding tremors instantly became violent!

Under the strain of full exertion, the spell concealing Bai Yu’s face quietly vanished. Within his dark, empty eye sockets, a flicker of struggle seemed to jump!

But soon, Bai Yu’s entire body hunched over, convulsing.

The next second.

Hum!

A dazzling, peerless sword light—one that stunned the entire city—erupted from within the blood-colored skeletal hand, shooting straight into the heavens!

The massive skeletal hand instantly shattered into fragments!

“A Third-Grade Top-Quality Dharma Sword!!!”

Deep within the Eastern Sage stronghold, inside a cold, gloomy palace, a hoarse and sinister voice rang out, filled with pleasant surprise and naked greed.

The next moment, a figure stepped out of the palace.

One step.

When he appeared again, he was already outside the stronghold’s perimeter.

After a few flashes of movement, he closed in rapidly on Water Controlling City.

Meanwhile, in the sky above the city.

After that stunning sword thrust, visible cracks appeared on the blood-colored bones covering Bai Yu’s body.

Although his face was stripped of flesh and incapable of expression, his involuntarily gaping jawbone betrayed the immense shock and fear consuming him.

After a brief, stunned silence, he turned without hesitation and stumbled back toward the Eastern Sage stronghold!

Witnessing this rapid reversal, the Heavenly Gate Sect Qi Refining cultivators below scattered in disarray. The Eastern Sage Sect disciples were so completely immersed in the shock of Ye Lingyu’s impossible comeback that they didn’t even think to chase the enemy down.

“Think you can escape?”

This was the first thing Ye Lingyu said after reappearing. Her crisp voice was saturated with ice and killing intent.

The next moment, the Third-Grade Dharma Sword, ‘Evil-Asking’, erupted with astonishing radiance. It shot from her hand, striking the fleeing Bai Yu with unerring accuracy!

The man who was considered the strongest in the Heavenly Gate Sect beneath the Elders and the Steward stiffened mid-air before plummeting straight down.

Seeing this, the Eastern Sage Sect disciples finally reacted, wild joy flooding their eyes. They opened their mouths to cheer.

But the cheers caught in their throats.

They stared in horror at a hunched, elderly figure approaching from above, his hands clasped behind his back.

The old man emitted no fluctuation of spiritual energy, yet the moment they saw him, an instinctual urge to bow and beg for mercy overwhelmed them.

“Golden Core!”

“It’s a Golden Core True Person!”

The moment she saw this elderly figure, Ye Lingyu’s frost-cold expression changed for the first time.

It was a look of extreme wariness.

Without a second thought, she activated her Dharma Sword.

Whoosh!

She turned into a streak of light, fleeing into the distance.

“Heh heh. If you were also a Golden Core, even just at the early stage, holding a Third-Grade Top-Quality Dharma Sword… this old man might not be able to catch you. But… heh heh.”

The hunched elder watched Ye Lingyu fly away without a hint of anxiety.

He simply opened his mouth and spat.

A beam of blood-red light shot out. Though it was launched later, it arrived first, slamming directly into Ye Lingyu’s back!

“Senior Sister Ye!”

Ye Lingyu spat out a mouthful of blood, her body instantly swaying unsteadily. She seemed unable to control her Dharma Sword, wobbling as she careened southward.

The hunched elder smiled with satisfaction.

He prepared to take a step forward to seize the sword.

But his smile vanished instantly.

Beside him, the air suddenly rippled!

Immediately, five figures radiating Golden Core auras stepped out from the void with lightning speed—Sword Qi, thunder light, and avian strikes descended all at once…

The hunched elder’s eyes widened to the point of splitting. “You—”

In a fraction of a second, under the combined ambush of five Golden Core cultivators, the elder didn’t even have time to dodge. He was blasted into fine powder!

The change was too sudden, too shocking. All the cultivators watching the situation were left completely stunned.

After a brief, deathly silence, an earth-shaking roar of rage finally erupted from the Eastern Sage stronghold:

“Ji Lan! YOU DESERVE TO DIE!”

The moment the small Bone Boat lost its spiritual energy support, Wang Ba immediately pulled a flying magic tool from his storage bag and fled outward with all his might!

Too terrifying!

Whether it was Ye Lingyu or Bai Yu, both had displayed power far exceeding Wang Ba’s understanding of the Foundation Establishment realm.

And even then, Bai Yu had fallen to Ye Lingyu’s sword.

Wang Ba smelled the thick scent of death.

He ignored the consumption of his essence and pushed the magic tool to its limit.

However, a First-Grade Top-Quality flying tool could only operate at a standard altitude. Any higher, and the gale winds of the upper atmosphere would make stability impossible. Furthermore, the consumption of spiritual energy increased exponentially at high speeds.

Feeling his reserves draining rapidly, Wang Ba had no choice but to hug the terrain.

Eventually, his spiritual energy exhausted, he was forced to land on a small hillside that seemed to offer decent cover.

The only consolation was that he was now over 10 li away from Water Controlling City.

“Phew… Although I haven’t completely left the danger zone, I should be safe for the moment. Foundation Establishment cultivators wouldn’t necessarily chase me down specifically…”

Wang Ba wiped non-existent cold sweat from his forehead.

Then, he froze.

On the shaded side of the hillside, the red-haired cultivator and two other Foundation Establishment cultivators were staring at him, equally frozen.

In an instant, eight eyes met.

(End of Chapter)