Chapter 118: Great Courage Between Life and Death

The Supreme Elder of the Seven Spirits Sect had already died on the spot. A master who had surpassed the limits of the human body and reached the Middle Three Heavens had perished right here.

The remaining three masters witnessed this transformation, and a sense of "the rabbit dying and the fox grieving" instantly took hold of them.

"Join forces to resist!" Gan Huan shouted suddenly.

The Red River White Night Yin Spirit Carriage was almost unstoppable. After colliding with and killing Daoist He, it continued to charge forward with the momentum of a collapsing mountain, striking fear into the hearts of all who beheld it. Although Daoist He was a master who could not save himself and had lost his life, his desperate resistance had delayed the carriage for the duration of a single breath.

A single breath is but an instant to an ordinary person, but for the three masters, it provided a moment of respite.

They were in the middle of the stone bridge; it was too late to retreat. The bridge was only about a zhang wide, making it difficult to dodge, so they had no choice but to face the onslaught head-on. With this moment of respite, the three were able to combine their strength.

Gan Huan thrust out both hands, unleashing two palm prints. They were jade-green in color and suddenly swelled in size, blocking the path ahead. Sun Yu unleashed the Green Dragon Essence-Converting Technique, and a single-horned green dragon followed, winding forward with a roar. Han Yu took out a shell that was blood-red in color, shaped like a tortoise shell, and covered in eerie, ominous runes.

"Go!"

At Han Yu’s command, the tortoise shell flew forth, also expanding in size to stand at the very forefront. Gan Huan’s palm prints, cast by his Essence-Spirit Grabbing Hands, pressed against the blood-red shell, while Sun Yu’s single-horned green dragon coiled alongside it, its horn braced against the front.

Though the three had never fought together before, once they joined forces, their movements—guided by the split-second of thought—became seamless.

Boom!

The Red River White Night Yin Spirit Carriage slammed into the center of the tortoise shell. An explosion erupted, shaking the mountains and the earth. Large ripples of bloody red light scattered in all directions. Flames surged around the stone bridge, and the air currents were so violent that cracks appeared in the ground on both sides, with magma occasionally erupting upward. The spectacle was immense, as if it would shatter everything in its path.

Yet, the unstoppable Red River White Night Yin Spirit Carriage was finally held back.

Before the three masters could let out a sigh of relief, they saw cracks appearing on the tortoise shell. With a series of sharp cracking sounds, the fractures began to spread. The expressions of all three masters changed.

Han Yu, in particular, was distressed. He had obtained this shell from the East Sea; it was left behind after an ancient tortoise had died. That tortoise had a long lifespan and, though dull-witted, had reached the level of a Great Demon through years of breathing and refining essence. After obtaining it, he had used many human lives and blood-refining rituals to forge it. That such a Great Demon shell, which was incredibly sturdy, could not withstand this evil treasure was truly alarming.

The three dared not be careless, exerting their magic power to the limit. The Essence-Spirit Grabbing Hands, the Green Dragon Essence-Converting Technique, and the Great Demon tortoise shell each contributed, complementing one another’s weaknesses, just barely managing to hold the line. However, the cracks on the shell deepened, and the shell, the green dragon, and the two palm prints were being constantly pushed back by the carriage.

The three masters did not move their feet, yet their bodies were forced backward, leaving deep indentations in the stone bridge.

"What on earth is this treasure?" Both Sun Yu and Gan Huan felt a tremor in their hearts.

That young man had somehow broken free from the constraints of Han Yu’s medicinal pill. That would have been one thing; no matter how formidable a Third Heaven cultivator might be, he could not turn the tables against four masters. But no one had expected that his tattered bag—which they had barely bothered to look at—contained such a treasure.

Logically, even if a magic treasure fell into the hands of a Third Heaven cultivator, while it might unleash great power, the cultivator’s lack of true magic power meant their ability to wield it should be limited. Yet, how could this treasure compete with three masters and gradually gain the upper hand?

"Han Yu, that wretch, is completely useless," the two thought with resentment. "His pills failed, and even this tortoise shell is inferior goods?"

In Han Yu’s eyes, however, there was both shock and joy. He was shocked by the power of the treasure before him, but he was joyful because he recognized it. If he could obtain it, his own abilities would surely undergo a earth-shattering transformation; he would have no need to fear even the ancestor of the Sun family.

"The Red River White Night Yin Spirit Carriage!" Han Yu took a deep breath.

Snap!

Another crack appeared on the tortoise shell. Only then did his face turn pale. If he could not resolve the current predicament, let alone obtaining this evil treasure, his very life would be in jeopardy.

"How does this brat possess such a treasure?"

...

While the three masters were terrified, Qing Yuan’s heart was not at peace either.

Though he had killed the Supreme Elder of the Seven Spirits Sect in one blow and was gradually suppressing the combined strength of the three masters—seemingly holding the upper hand—only he knew that the Red River White Night Yin Spirit Carriage was a damaged treasure. Though it was not visible from the outside, its internal mechanisms were fading, and the circulation of true energy was far from smooth.

They were currently in a stalemate. From the perspective of the situation, the three masters were losing ground, and the blood-red tortoise shell was constantly cracking. In reality, however, the hidden flaws of the carriage were also expanding, pushing it to the brink of ruin. If the shell shattered first, the three masters would be crushed to death by the carriage. But if the carriage gave out first, Qing Yuan, as a Third Heaven cultivator, would have to face three Fourth Heaven masters alone.

Snap!

At that moment, a sound emanated from the Red River White Night Yin Spirit Carriage itself.

Although the sound was very faint—hardly noticeable amidst the roaring of the geothermal magma and the massive impact of the two forces—to the ears of Qing Yuan, Sun Yu, Gan Huan, and Han Yu, it was as loud as a thunderclap.

This sound signaled the state of the carriage, and it symbolized the life or death of Qing Yuan and the three masters!

Qing Yuan’s expression shifted slightly. The three masters looked delighted, though Han Yu’s joy was tainted with worry; he felt pained at the damage to the carriage.

"Damn..."

Qing Yuan held his breath, gritted his teeth, and shouted, "Rise!"

Boom!

The Red River White Night Yin Spirit Carriage swerved upward and soared into the air. The three masters felt the pressure vanish entirely, but before they could rejoice, they saw the carriage vanish into the sky.

"Damn it!" Even Han Yu, the poison master who usually presented a refined and elegant facade, turned pale with terror. "Are you trying to kill us all?"

Sun Yu and Gan Huan were ashen-faced. "Mutual destruction?"

Qing Yuan took a deep breath and shouted, "Fall!"

Following his command, he channeled his true energy. The Red River White Night Yin Spirit Carriage erupted with intense blood-red light, filling the entire fire chamber and overpowering the raging flames. The carriage turned and slammed down with devastating force!

Boom!

The middle section of the stone bridge shattered upon impact!

With the bridge destroyed, the Eight Trigrams and Nine Palaces formation was completely ruined. The residual force of the carriage did not dissipate, slamming into the ground of the fire chamber and plunging into the geothermal magma. The ground shattered, and vast waves of magma surged up like a raging sea.

The magma contained geothermal fire—a heat capable of melting rock into liquid!

Roars echoed endlessly as the three masters fled for their lives, only to be submerged by the waves of magma.

Qing Yuan fled backward as well. He glanced back, but had no time to check the fate of the three masters, continuing to run along the path behind him.

The magma surged forward. Qing Yuan felt the unbearable heat. Suddenly remembering the ice-silkworm silk robe he was wearing, he tore it off while running and, channeling his true energy, threw it backward.

Under the influence of his energy, the robe unfurled in the air, blocking a large portion of the passage. But within an instant, the robe was like paper scorched by fire, tearing down the middle as the magma destroyed it and rushed toward him.

Qing Yuan’s face changed dramatically, and he pressed forward. Inside the "Condensation Hall," the manifestation of "Qing Yuan" turned toward the north.

The three energies of the north gathered, and the Black Tortoise materialized, wrapping his entire body in water vapor. He suddenly remembered an object and pulled a map from his chest, unfolding it in the air, intending to use it to seal the passage behind him, but he saw that the magma had already reached his back.

The flesh on his back was nearly cooked.

He dared not hesitate. He wrapped the map around himself, curled his body, and let the essence of water flow through his entire being.

In the next moment, the magma engulfed him.