Chapter 142 Taking His Life

Amidst the mountain forest, a gentle breeze rustled through, carrying with it a wordless, chilling aura of slaughter. Dressed in hemp robes and making his re-entry into the pugilistic world, the Corpse Daoist appeared right before Gao Siyuan.

"The Corpse Daoist, it's actually you..."

Recognizing the identity of the newcomer, the murderous intent in Gao Siyuan's heart grew even more intense.

Facing such a reaction, Jiang Chen, disguised as the Corpse Daoist, maintained an expression of utter indifference while secretly channeling his incantation.

It was precisely at this moment that the white-bone sword emitted a shrill hum, and a profound, deadly sense of crisis suddenly surged within Gao Siyuan's heart.

"Not good..."

Realizing something was amiss, Gao Siyuan mounted a defense almost by instinct. At the same time, the white-bone sword shattered, and the blood-red malevolent true fire that had been suppressed for so long violently erupted from within his body, surging forth like a tidal wave and sweeping across all directions.

Caught completely off guard, Gao Siyuan's figure was instantly swallowed by the flames.

Ah! With blood and fire scorching his body, his flesh and blood felt as though they were being rendered for grease. Gao Siyuan experienced excruciating pain. What was worst of all was that the chilling qi dormant within his body was also triggered at this very moment, erupting once more. For a time, the dual torment of ice and fire caused him to suffer grievous injuries instantly.

"Go!"

With his condition deteriorated to the absolute limit, he forcefully summoned a breath of true qi, drove his magic to protect his body, and tore through the blood and fire. In an extremely disheveled state, Gao Siyuan fled toward the depths of the mountain forest.

Witnessing this scene, Jiang Chen narrowed his eyes slightly.

"He is indeed injured to the extreme, but he might still have some hidden trump cards..."

With this thought flashing through his mind, while keeping his true body stationary, Jiang Chen summoned his combat corpse.

Roar! Corpse qi surged everywhere, surrounded by crackling black electric arcs as the four-armed golden body manifested. The combat corpse descended from the sky, pursuing Gao Siyuan with terrifying speed.

Ahead of them, sensing the disturbance behind him, Gao Siyuan's already pale complexion darkened by another shade.

His current state was indeed terrible to the extreme—first heavily battered by the mist flood dragon, and then plotted against by the Corpse Daoist. However, he was not entirely devoid of means to fight back. If the Corpse Daoist had dared to pursue him directly, he would have been confident in executing a counter-kill.

"No other choice. I must deal with this corpse first..."

Corpse qi closed in from behind. Knowing he had no further options, Gao Siyuan formed a hand seal.

At that instant, wisps of cyan-colored energy flowed beneath his skin like nimble little snakes, looking rather bizarre.

"Cyan Serpent Bane, go!"

With his eyes completely bloodshot, Gao Siyuan unleashed the Cyan Serpent Bane hidden within his body.

Hiss! Cyan serpents hissed as malevolent qi flooded the forest. In that very fraction of a second, the trees spanning a radius of several hundred meters seemed to spring to life. Thick, massive tree roots burst through the soil, hissing like serpents and sprouting eerie cyan scales as they swarmed to encircle and crush the combat corpse.

Roar! Sensing extreme danger, the yin-absolute true qi within the combat corpse erupted, driving the four-armed golden body technique to its absolute peak. Yet, it was to no avail; within mere moments, it was tightly bound. As more and more tree roots converged to strangle it, a massive vine ball formed, and the corpse quickly went still.

Not far away, witnessing this outcome, Jiang Chen knew his caution had been entirely justified.

"It is time."

With thoughts shifting, Jiang Chen's true body moved. Riding the wind, he rapidly closed the distance to Gao Siyuan.

In truth, after unleashing the Cyan Serpent Bane, Gao Siyuan had not attempted to flee any further.

Watching Jiang Chen catch up, a flash of resolute defiance crossed Gao Siyuan's aged features. Matters having reached this juncture, he had no other choices left; he could only make a desperate final stand. Today, he and Jiang Chen were destined for only one to survive.

"Hundred Serpents Slaughter!"

Driving his true qi to its limits, Gao Siyuan employed his ultimate killing move.

Though this Cyan Serpent Bane had brought him excruciating agony and eroded his lifespan, through the prolonged struggle against such baneful qi, he had also managed to fathom certain profound mysteries—which was precisely the origin of the Hundred Serpents Slaughter.

Rumble! The Cyan Serpent Bane stirred once more, causing over a hundred tree roots to burst from the ground and grow wildly, writhing like gigantic serpents to crush Jiang Chen from all directions.

Seeing this, Jiang Chen remained fearless and undeterred. With a wave of his sleeve, a flash of silver light abruptly manifested—it was none other than the Crane Cry Immortal Needle.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh! Sword radiance crisscrossed the air. Under Jiang Chen's precise manipulation, the Crane Cry Immortal Needle reached the absolute pinnacle of agility. Resembling an immortal crane dancing amidst a swarm of serpents, it would occasionally extend its claws, flap its wings, or peck lightly. Wherever it passed, the tree roots transformed into serpents were cleanly severed, utterly incapable of putting up any resistance.

Witnessing this, Gao Siyuan's expression altered drastically.

Though his condition had plummeted to rock bottom and his true qi was nearly exhausted—greatly diminishing the power of this technique—it should have been more than enough to deal with a mid-stage Qi Condensation cultivator. Yet, the current turn of events completely defied all expectations.

"How is this possible? Every single one of his sword strikes hits precisely at the weakest spot of the wooden serpents, effortlessly dissolving the Cyan Serpent Bane..."

Discerning the profound subtleties of Jiang Chen's swordsmanship, a chilling dread began to creep through Gao Siyuan's heart.

"Who on earth are you..."

He had originally believed he possessed a thorough understanding of the Corpse Daoist. But looking at him now, Gao Siyuan felt as though that pockmarked face was shrouded in an impenetrable layer of mist, making it impossible to see through or comprehend.

At the same time, with his sword following the dictates of his mind, effortlessly severing the wooden serpents, Jiang Chen experienced an unprecedented sense of seamless harmony.

With his spiritual soul volume having reached tenfold, coupled with that trace of secondary-tier essence, his perceptive abilities had vastly improved compared to before. There was a faint sensation of spiritual awareness beginning to sprout. Under such conditions, his conventional sword-control via qi naturally evolved to imbue a hint of sword-control via spirit. His sword followed his mind, operating with complete fluidity and natural harmony.

It was precisely because of this that he could effortlessly and casually dismantle Gao Siyuan's spells.

By this point, Gao Siyuan, unwilling to give up, forcibly squeezed out another burst of true qi to once again deploy the Azure Phosphorus Poison Fire. However, it remained entirely useless. Whether it was the wooden serpents or the Azure Phosphorus Poison Fire, neither posed any threat in the face of Jiang Chen's astonishingly nimble sword radiance; each was dealt with in no more than a single strike.

"It is time to end this."

Lowering his gaze to observe Gao Siyuan's death throes, Jiang Chen had no intention of dragging the battle out any longer.

In the next instant, a clear, crisp crane cry resonated through the clouds. Gao Siyuan, already severely injured and mentally exhausted, instantly lapsed into a daze. Following that, he beheld an immortal crane descending from the heavens, gently pecking him right between the eyebrows. By the time his consciousness snapped back, his vital life force was already draining away at a terrifying speed.

"Who... exactly... are you..."

With grievance blinding him in death, Gao Siyuan continued to suspect Jiang Chen's identity to his final breath. In truth, as the crane cry echoed, the thought of Jiang Chen, the Master of Taiping Sect, had crossed his mind, but it was merely a fleeting notion. He simply refused to believe that Jiang Chen, who had only recently achieved Qi Condensation, could possess such terrifying prowess—it defied the very laws of immortality.

To this question, Jiang Chen naturally had no intention of offering a reply.

"With this, the threat from the Gao family is preliminarily neutralized."

Confirming that Gao Siyuan had completely breathed his last, Jiang Chen let out a sigh of relief in his heart. Being targeted by a late-stage Qi Condensation cultivator was by no means a good thing for him currently; as long as the enemy lived, he could never rest easy. It was precisely for this reason that he was willing to take certain risks to ensure Gao Siyuan remained dead right here.

However, just as Jiang Chen prepared to approach Gao Siyuan's corpse, his formidable perceptive abilities suddenly detected an anomaly. He hastily withdrew and retreated. At that exact moment, vine seeds sprouted instantly, and thorny poisonous vines burst forth from Gao Siyuan's flesh, dancing wildly like spirit serpents in an attempt to tear everything in the vicinity to shreds.

Observing this, Jiang Chen's gaze shifted slightly.

"Not even in death will he let his enemy off easily? Quite ruthless indeed. I must be more vigilant against such methods in the future."

Seeing Gao Siyuan's physical body completely turn into nourishment for the growth of the thorny poisonous vines, ripples formed in Jiang Chen's heart. Had his perception not been sufficiently sharp, he might well have suffered a minor setback here due to being caught unprepared.

Swoosh! A flash of sword light obliterated all the thorns. Capturing Gao Siyuan's soul and briefly tidying up the battlefield, Jiang Chen departed the mountain forest along with his heavily battered combat corpse.

The might of Gao Siyuan's final technique had been formidable. Had he not deliberately held back some of his strength in anticipation of dealing with Jiang Chen earlier, the combat corpse might genuinely have been destroyed this time.

And thus, the creator of the Gao family's glory, the hegemon in the eyes of countless people, and the head of the Gao family, Gao Siyuan, fell here, quietly buried within this nameless mountain forest. In life, his name had shaken the realm; in death, however, he departed in absolute silence.