Chapter 40 (Part 2)

Immediately afterward, the same voices rang out from every corner. Very soon, one thousand people had been gathered.

Song Yuanxi looked toward Song Miao and smiled. “That’s what I wanted to do earlier. I’m not stupid. Rather than walk out and throw my life away for nothing by getting eaten by that demonic creature, I might as well fight with everything I have. I believe evil cannot triumph over righteousness.”

Song Miao took a step forward and nodded heavily. “Song Yuanxi, I’m willing to support the array for you too. You’re right. Evil cannot triumph over righteousness. We can definitely do this.”

Song Qian had already begun rearranging the manpower once more. When Song Yuanxi entered the array eye, Song Qian shouted directly, “Song Yuanxi, our Jin City Song family has three thousand disciples in total, and all of us are prepared. We can support the array for you at any time. Just go. If the blood of one thousand people still isn’t enough, the rest will immediately take their place.”

The corners of Song Yuanxi’s mouth unconsciously lifted. This kind of family cohesion made his heart surge.

It was as if, in this instant, he had been filled with abundant energy. He was willing, for their sake, to brave fire and water.

“Good. Then we will live and die together.”

The demonic creature’s third strike did not succeed. Song Yuanxi, together with one thousand people, strengthened the Heart-Linking Array and blocked that strike directly. Although they had only barely held on, this was like a signal telling everyone that they still had the ability to resist.

“We held it off. We can save ourselves.”

One after another, they had been struck until their blood and qi churned and their bodies swayed unsteadily, yet they smiled brilliantly, as happy as children.

Song Yuanxi had not expected that using his own blood as the guide, with one thousand clansmen supporting the protective array, would produce such a great effect.

“Demonic creature, we’re not afraid of you. Come and fight!” His will to battle instantly grew even stronger.

All this time, he had always upheld the principle of preserving his life above all else. This was the first time he had clashed head-on, and this feeling was actually not bad!

Song Yuanxi even began to imagine it. As long as they held on until people from the main family arrived, he would become a hero. Then shouldn’t the main family head give him a little golden crown? It would be best if he also received an award as a model figure among the Song family’s younger generation. He wondered if the cultivation world had a trend of giving honorary banners…

The demonic creature struck three times in succession, yet still could not break through the Song family’s protective array. Its patience was exhausted along with that, and its mood for toying with the humans vanished. It directly revealed its bloody true nature.

The skull instantly separated from the body and lifted its head to inhale a great breath. Then it charged at the defensive barrier before its eyes. Gnawing, tearing, swallowing whole—this was the demonic creature’s most direct method of breaking the array, without any technique to speak of. Standing in the array eye position, Song Yuanxi could most clearly feel that evil power. The teeth formed from demonic energy tore at the defensive barrier, making a grating sound that set his hair on end.

“Not good. The protective array can’t hold!”

Song Yuanxi cried out inwardly. He did not even have time to react before his vision abruptly went black. When he opened his eyes again, he was already outside the protective array.

He had been bound by the demonic creature’s demonic energy and was suspended in midair. Before his eyes was the enlarged skull head, its empty eye sockets facing straight toward him.

“Hee hee hee! I was only playing with you before. Human cultivators really are easy to fool.”

“My food truly is fragrant and delicious.”

The skull moved closer to the person before it. Just smelling his scent was enough to leave it entranced and intoxicated.

Goose bumps instantly rose all over Song Yuanxi’s body. From the inside out, he was thoroughly disgusted. But what was even harder for him to accept was the demonic energy’s restraint on him.

Spiritual energy and demonic energy were natural counters to each other. Now that demonic energy continuously coiled around him, the spiritual energy around his body was completely blocked. Even the spiritual energy inside his body was being constantly consumed in order to resist the demonic energy’s invasion.

If this went on, just this demonic energy alone could kill him outright!

“Demonic creature, let me go, you disgusting thing!”

Seeing Song Yuanxi captured, the Song family disciples below also shouted one after another, “Let him go! Hurry and let him go!”

The demonic creature listened to the panic in the human cultivators’ voices and looked at the expressions they forced themselves to hold even though they were clearly terrified. Its mood was extremely pleasant.

As expected, the human realm was still best. Humans had the freshest blood and the richest expressions. The taste of devouring them was indescribably wonderful.

“I will first enjoy the sweetest food. As for all of you… no rush. I will eat you one by one. All the cultivators in this city will become my possessions.”

The skull opened its bloody maw and bit toward Song Yuanxi, preparing to rip the tiny human before it apart in one bite.

Yet before it could touch him, the skull felt a piercing pain.

The demonic creature retreated. The skull stared ahead and finally saw clearly what had caused it pain.

“A phoenix fledgling? I didn’t expect that after the phoenix clan fell, a phoenix fledgling would still survive in the human realm.”

The demonic creature was very interested in the little thing that had suddenly appeared. It carefully sniffed the other party’s aura and finally identified it. “So it’s a Dafeng. A phoenix fledgling that hasn’t grown up yet can’t be considered delicious.”

Compared to devouring a phoenix fledgling, the demonic creature preferred the blood of the human before it. Song Yuanxi was far more attractive to it.

But Little Yellow refused to back down. Flapping its short little wings, it firmly guarded Song Yuanxi from the front.

“Demonic energy… bad thing… eat it! Eat it all!”

“Little Yellow, why did you suddenly run out? Hurry and burrow back into the spirit beast pouch and seal it with your unique seal. There’s a monster outside. Be careful, or you’ll get stewed!”

Song Yuanxi had never counted on the still-infant Dafeng. This little chick could barely even fly without stumbling. How could it possibly beat a demonic creature at late Golden Core cultivation?

“Daddy, scared.” Little Yellow refused to leave, its black sesame-like eyes rolling around.

Song Yuanxi said, “If you’re scared, then hurry up and hide!”

But Little Yellow shook its head and said again, “Daddy scared. Little Yellow not scared. Little Yellow protect Daddy.”

Song Yuanxi’s heart shook. Was this the telepathic connection from forming the contract seal?

Although he appeared fearless on the surface, he was actually terrified inside. And this fear had been transmitted so directly to his contracted beast, so Little Yellow knew he had been afraid all along?

So that was why it had run out to protect him?

The little brat who usually slacked off and played tricks had suddenly stepped forward when he was in danger, standing at the very front and using its thin, weak body to block everything for him.

Song Yuanxi’s heart instantly felt warm. He had not doted on it for nothing.

Yet the words he spoke were the opposite. “Little Yellow, go back! Your feathers haven’t even grown in. Who allowed you to come out and fight? As your master, I order you: right now, immediately, this instant! Get back into the spirit beast pouch!”

His words were sharp and his tone severe. Little Yellow had never experienced such a fierce host before.

For a moment, Little Yellow felt wronged and bewildered. As a contracted beast, wasn’t protecting its master only natural?

Why was Daddy still being fierce to it?

“No! Little Yellow eat demonic energy!”

The little yellow chick looked pitifully wronged, yet it was extremely stubborn. No matter how Song Yuanxi ordered it, it simply refused to listen. A chick that weighed barely ten catties somehow had nine catties of rebellious bones.

The Dafeng had inherited the phoenix bloodline. The phoenix governed yang and was the natural nemesis of demonic creatures. Even though Little Yellow was still only a fledgling, it could still harm demonic energy.

At the very least, the demonic energy entangling Song Yuanxi had almost been completely eaten away by it.

Seeing that its food was about to break free of its restraints, the demonic creature immediately developed killing intent. “In that case, I’ll send you on your way first. I’ll summon your soul, then enjoy you.”

As soon as it finished speaking, the demonic creature split into two. One half transformed into a long whip, filled with pressure and carrying demonic energy so dense it had reached the extreme.

“Soul-Summoning Whip, go!” the demonic creature shouted. The long whip lashed straight toward Song Yuanxi.

Little Yellow, which had still been working hard to eat the demonic energy, instantly sensed danger and lunged forward without thinking. The tiny chick immediately burst with a golden light.

Song Yuanxi vaguely saw the pattern of a phoenix. The force of the Soul-Summoning Whip was absorbed by the golden light for the most part, and only a small portion fell.

Yet a fledgling was still a fledgling. How could an immature Dafeng withstand a full-power strike from something at late Golden Core cultivation?

Once the Soul-Summoning Whip passed, half of Little Yellow’s wing was cleaved off directly, leaving only a tiny bit of flesh and skin still connected.

“Cheep!”

Little Yellow let out a shrill cry and instantly fell from midair, crashing straight to the ground.

“Daddy… hurts… it hurts so much…”

In his sea of consciousness, Little Yellow’s voice trembled. Song Yuanxi could barely sense the contract seal between himself and the other party anymore.

Once a demonic beast formed a contract, unless it died, the seal would exist forever. Yet he could hardly sense Little Yellow’s contract seal now. What that meant went without saying.

His little chick’s life was hanging by a thread!

“Daddy… hurts… it hurts so much…”

Little Yellow only repeated that it hurt, its voice in his sea of consciousness growing weaker and more powerless.

When Song Yuanxi saw this scene, his eyes nearly split with fury. His chick. The one he had spent a year personally hatching, then painstakingly raised all these years!

“Bastard! You dared hurt my Little Yellow? I’ll fight you to the death today!”

Song Yuanxi’s rage had already been ignited. At this moment, he could not care about anything else. As soon as he thought of how Little Yellow had nearly been whipped to death protecting him, he wanted to kill this demon!

“I can’t kill you myself right now, so I’ll call in my backing. Demonic creature, today, you are definitely going to die without a burial place!”

Song Yuanxi directly drew his sword and stabbed it into his own heart. At the cost of burning his blood essence, he began a summoning.

And the person he summoned was the Song family ancestor!

This was an unpassed secret of the Song family’s direct line. Back then, Song Qing had racked his brains for his eldest son and shamelessly gone to beg the ancestor, which was how he had obtained one chance to summon him.

Song Yuanxi had never dared to use it. This was even more precious than a Ten-Thousand-Li Teleportation Talisman. But now, at this very moment, he could no longer care about anything!

He had only one thought.

Die!

He wanted the demonic creature before him to die!

A single drop of blood essence burned away. Song Yuanxi immediately lost more than half his vitality. His vision went black, and he directly fainted.

…

When he woke again, he was lying in bed. Before his eyes was a familiar environment. He was inside his room in the Song family’s small courtyard.

“Still alive? Not dead?”

“As expected! I still have a little bit of luck on me. Burning blood essence to summon an ancestor—my old dad didn’t lie to me!”

Song Yuanxi’s thoughts ran wild. As he thought and thought, he grinned foolishly.

Then he remembered something and called for Little Yellow in his sea of consciousness. But no matter how he called, Little Yellow did not respond. Song Yuanxi immediately panicked.

Song Qing pushed the door open and came in. Seeing that his son was awake, he stepped forward and checked his pulse. “Your vitality hasn’t completely drained away. Your life is not in danger.”

“Dad! Where’s my Little Yellow? No matter how I call it, there’s no reaction.” Song Yuanxi asked anxiously.

“The Dafeng was severely injured. Fortunately, Lord Baiyan’s thought-essence protected its heart meridian. It is currently recuperating beside the family head.”

“The Song family head?” Song Yuanxi thought he meant Song Dongyou, and could not help asking with concern, “The Song family head and the others are back? Were all the demonic creatures wiped out?”

“All three demonic creatures have been destroyed. Jin City’s various families are currently reorganizing and recuperating on their own. The casualties are still within a controllable range.”

“What about Yuanruo? Is Yuanruo back? Was he injured?” Song Yuanxi immediately followed up with another question.

“Yuanruo is fine. He wasn’t injured.”

Song Yuanxi let out a heavy breath. His whole person settled, and he lay in bed with a giggly smile. “That’s great. Everyone’s okay.”

Song Qing looked at his eldest son’s expression, his mood extremely complicated.

He had always thought that his crafty eldest son cherished his life the most. What usually hung on his lips was the saying, “Fighting is no good. Staying alive comes first.” Something like risking one’s life and forgetting death should not have happened to him.

Yet it was precisely this child, who sometimes lazed around and sometimes joked with a cheeky grin, who had saved the three thousand disciples of the Jin City Song family at the cost of burning his blood essence.

“Yuanxi.” Song Qing’s heart tightened. Slowly, he said, “You burned your blood essence to summon the ancestor, and more than half the vitality in your body has already drained away. Your lifespan is now nearing its end.”

Song Yuanxi froze. His eyes blinked and blinked. His brain crashed.

“My lifespan is nearing its end? So you’re saying I’m about to die?” Song Yuanxi had completely failed to expect that he would kick the bucket this early. This was an even shorter life than living to ninety-nine in the original book!

Reluctance immediately welled up in his heart. He had only just developed feelings for this world, and now he had to say bye-bye to the family and friends around him?

Why was it so depressing?

“Dad, if I die, don’t be too sad. After all, my younger brother is still alive. He’ll support you in old age and send you off at the end.”

Song Qing had just taken out a jade box when he heard that line. He laughed from anger and slapped his eldest son directly, making Song Yuanxi cry out in pain.

“Dad, I’m about to die and you’re still hitting people!”

“You won’t die. Take this Longevity Fruit, and it can extend your life by a hundred years.”

Song Qing opened the jade box. Inside lay a fruit that was entirely blood-red. Its fragrance was enchanting. Just smelling it made one feel refreshed and delighted.

Song Yuanxi stared until his eyes went straight. A Longevity Fruit. A naturally grown fruit of the Canglan Realm. Eating one could increase one’s lifespan by a hundred years. Moreover, this miraculous fruit had no limit at all. In other words, cultivators could eat it without restriction.

Eat one, live a hundred years longer. Eat another, live another hundred years longer.

As long as someone had a fruit tree, they would have an inexhaustible supply of Longevity Fruits, which was basically immortality in disguise!

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