Volume One: The Celestial Palace of Mist Chapter Thirty-Four: The Night Palace

Chapter Thirty-Four: The Palace of Night

A full moon, bright as a jade disc, hung high in the night sky, surrounded by countless crimson webs. Below was an immense altar.

The third vertical eye of the man in white shot an eerie red beam straight toward the moon. Instantly, the six thousand six hundred sixty-six girls on the altar reacted abnormally.

Blood burst from their seven orifices, streaming toward the icy coffin. Before long, the girls would surely die from blood loss.

With a sharp hiss, Yu Nan and Su Qing—rarely united in action—struck together. A beam of red and another of silver immortal light flared, and their graceful figures rushed at the man in white to cut him down.

Zhou Hao unleashed his Grand Solar Palm, aiming to sever the man's connection with the moon. At that moment, his hands shone with dazzling golden brilliance, as if forged from molten gold, exuding an oppressive force that pressed upon the heart.

Boom!

Two palm prints, carrying unparalleled power, soared toward the man in white, their target the full moon above.

Meanwhile, the two women were nearly upon him, but the man in white seemed utterly unconcerned. He hadn't even glanced at the three, as if he had long anticipated their assault.

Whoosh...

Suddenly, a cold wind swept in, swirling snowflakes through the air. The two women were flung far back in an instant, while Zhou Hao's Grand Solar Palm was intercepted midair by an icy wing.

Crack...

Yet the icy wing began to melt rapidly; the palm prints almost pierced through. The assailant thickened the wing's ice, and two enormous wings blocked the attack and then swept the Grand Solar Palm aside, preventing the man in white from losing his connection to the moon.

"I've waited for you long enough. How dare you intrude upon Snow Wolf Mountain? You're courting death!"

The owner of the icy wings was a colossal wolf demon, but Zhou Hao and his companions recognized it as the very creature that had stolen their immortal ship earlier.

This wolf demon was extraordinarily robust, as large as a house. Typical Snow Wolves were merely larger than normal wolves and possessed four icy wings, as seen in the previous wolf pack. But this one was not only massive but also capable of speech, marking it as an exceptional force.

In this immortal domain, not all beings are considered lower immortals; countless exist below that rank, and calling them mortals would not be unreasonable. Their lifespans are generally much longer than true mortals—on this frozen star, even ordinary humans like Xiao Lai could live three or four hundred years. Simply because this is the immortal domain, even without cultivation, one enjoys prolonged life.

"So it's you! Return our immortal ship!" Yu Nan rebuked the wolf demon.

"That black ship is extraordinary. Even my full-strength attack couldn't scratch it. Such a treasure belongs to me now. If you want it, you'll have to pay with your lives," the wolf demon sneered, baring sharp fangs.

"This is bad—we're running out of time! You two, stop the blood sacrifice; I'll deal with him!"

Seeing the blood streaming from the girls' seven orifices grow finer and finer, Zhou Hao knew he had to act fast. He summoned all his immortal power in haste.

Su Qing and Yu Nan, recognizing the gravity of the situation, unleashed their strongest sword techniques.

Howl!

The wolf demon threw back its head and roared at the sky, then launched its attack. It spread its four immense icy wings, attempting to sweep the two women aside, but was immediately stunned.

A silver sword and a red sword shone with dazzling brilliance, drawing all eyes in the dark night. The two women transformed into streams of light, sword energy enveloping their bodies as they stabbed straight toward the third vertical eye of the man in white at the altar's center.

The mountain peak erupted with thunder and fire, rainbow lights illuminating the night—an omen of the two immortal swords.

One was forged from blazing fire and silver essence, the other from radiant flowing silver—both peerless treasures of the immortal domain.

The four gigantic icy wings formed a wall before the women, but it was futile. Their simple, unadorned thrusts pierced the wings easily. Blue blood streamed from the wings—that was the true blood of the Snow Wolf demon, whose wings were both its strongest weapon and its reservoir of true blood.

The wolf demon howled, its voice chilling to the bone, but Zhou Hao's ruthless Grand Solar Palm met it head-on.

The searing, sun-bright palm struck the wolf's head. Though its skull was hardest, blood gushed forth, and one of its scarlet eyes burst.

On the other side, the women's swords neared the man's head. Suddenly, two slender hands seized the silver and red beams, gripping the swords tightly despite the blood that streamed, even as the swords continued to pierce forward, mangling the hands in an instant. Yet, the grip did not slacken.

"Why... why do you obstruct me? Why?" the man in white spoke for the first time to Zhou Hao and his companions.

"You intend to save one person by sacrificing all life on this planet, sending these girls to hell. Of course we must stop such a demon!" Yu Nan shouted in anguish.

"Demon? You call me a demon?" The man in white laughed, a deep scorn in his voice.

"You kill without blinking—if you're not a demon, who is?" Yu Nan cried.

"I advise you to stop now, before you make a greater mistake!" Su Qing said calmly.

"Demon? Stop? Hmph!" The man in white stomped fiercely, sending the women flying hundreds of meters away.

"I'll tell you sword-bearing saints of the Immortal Palace: in my eyes, Xiao Lai is everything. The masses, the innocent, others' feelings—what do they mean to me?"

"I only wanted to live an ordinary life with her, yet even this simplest wish is shattered and trampled. The masses—are they truly so heartless and selfish as you say? If so, it's better they all perish. Their existence only breeds more hatred and pain!"

His rage grew; his once-black pupils turned crimson and ferocious, releasing terrifying waves of immortal energy.

"This is bad—we're out of time! The girls' blood is nearly drained!" Yu Nan, barely back on her feet in the snow, cried out.

On the altar, the girls' faces, once rosy, had turned pale, their bodies emaciated. Controlled, they had stood expressionless, but now had collapsed in droves, clearly beyond saving...

Beside the man in white, the icy coffin had become a coffin of blood. The girl named Xiao Lai was submerged in the blood of the girls, a sight disturbingly strange.

Howl!

The Snow Wolf demon attacked Zhou Hao, Yu Nan, and Su Qing again. The Grand Solar Palm was ferocious, but couldn't kill it so easily—the wolf was a Golden Immortal.

The difference between Lower Immortal and Golden Immortal was vast. To defeat a Golden Immortal as a Lower Immortal was almost impossible, no matter how powerful one's martial arts or how exceptional one's talent. At best, they could hold their own, but to kill was nearly unthinkable.

Bang!

Relying on its massive body, the wolf demon hurled all three aside. Their immortal power was depleted; Yu Nan and Su Qing's earlier sword strike had drained them, but the man in white had caught their swords barehanded, demonstrating the gulf between Golden Immortal and Lower Immortal—even with swords forged from divine materials, to a Golden Immortal, they were nothing.

"Cough..." Blood dripped from Zhou Hao's lips. He struggled to rise from the icy rocks, only to fall again, powerless as the innocent girls collapsed in pools of blood, never to rise.

"Damn it... damn it, our strength is still too weak. Without reaching Golden Immortal, we're not counted among the truly strong!"

The two women nearby, their dresses stained with blood, faces smudged, gazed helplessly at the massive wolf demon before them.

"Are we really going to die here?" Yu Nan said, unwilling to accept their fate.

"The Immortal Summoning Jade won't work; the Immortal Palace won't know we're in danger, and the sky is sealed. With our strength, we can't escape," Su Qing replied.

"You're still pouring cold water on me at a time like this, Su Qing! You're so annoying!" Yu Nan glared unhappily.

Struggling to stand, Zhou Hao staggered but managed to stay upright. He looked at the women, who also tried to rise, and said, "Listen, you two must hurry and restore your immortal power. I'll lure the wolf demon into battle!"

"No!"

"No!"

Both women objected in unison, knowing Zhou Hao was courting death. The wolf demon might devour him outright—it was far too dangerous to let him fight alone!

"Trust me, I know what to do. The man in white and this wolf demon are beyond us. I only fight the wolf to reclaim the immortal ship, so we can leave this star and report back. You must restore your power to take over from me against the wolf—I can't retake the ship alone!"

He vanished before their stunned eyes, moving at incredible speed.

"How is that possible? Zhou Hao is so weak, yet still moves so fast?" Yu Nan finally reacted.

"Hurry and restore your power—we must not waste Zhou Hao's good intentions!" Su Qing glanced at the battle between Zhou Hao and the wolf demon, then immediately took immortal pills to heal.

Meanwhile, on the altar, Zhou Hao and the wolf demon clashed fiercely, though it seemed more like a game of chase. Zhou Hao never attacked, his movements ghostly and unpredictable, his speed astonishing. The wolf, being huge, couldn't catch him.

"The immortal ship must be on its body—I'll search it!"

The Void Immortal Step was now second nature to Zhou Hao, after three years of mastery. In such dire straits, he yearned to find the ship and escape, then enlist Elder Chang to save the star.

"Little immortal, you're as timid as a mouse. Do you think you can delay me like this? Before a Golden Immortal, you can only die in despair!"

The wolf demon roared, its body trembling and sending out waves of spatial distortion. Zhou Hao was flung aside, and before he could rise, a giant wolf paw descended from above...

"Xiao Lai, soon you'll be revived, soon!"

The man in white gazed at the girl lying in the blood-red coffin, speaking softly, joy overflowing from his face.

The vertical eye at his brow opened wider, almost bursting forth; the full moon seemed to dim.

"The moon's brilliance is absorbed by my blood eye; now comes the final step. Awake, my Xiao Lai!"

With a hum, the third eye shot a blood-red beam at the girl in the coffin. The light entered her brow and flowed through her body. Instantly, the blood in the coffin boiled, and the girl's face turned from deathly pale to rosy.

"Blood of the Yin Maiden cleanses the body, light of resurrection ignites the soul lamp—return!"

The man in white intoned devoutly, eyes filled with anticipation. In this moment, nothing else in the world mattered—his gaze held only the girl in the coffin, even forgetting himself...

Spurt!

Blue blood streamed silently over the white robes, so hauntingly beautiful. The man's pupils widened in disbelief as he looked at the familiar girl before him—she truly returned to life, truly opened her eyes again!

But why... must she kill me...

The girl's face was expressionless. Somehow, a black dagger appeared in her hand, blade and hilt alike pitch black. She silently drove the dagger into the man's throat, seizing the moment as he bent expectantly to watch her awaken.

"Why...?"

Even with his throat pierced, the man in white did not die immediately. His eyes brimmed with disbelief and unwillingness.

Heh heh heh...

"Snow Wolf King, since you helped me lure the prodigies of Cloud Veil Immortal Palace here, I ought to spare you. But your soul is so intoxicating that my Palace of Night must claim it!"

A swirl of black mist rose, and a figure emerged from its depths, voice hoarse and sinister, holding a peculiar black chain studded with spikes. At one end hung a barbed hook, the entire chain gleaming darkly, exuding murderous intent, as if freshly drawn from the underworld—the soul-catching chain.