Chapter 139: Fate Cannot Be Measured
Ji Hongli nodded in satisfaction.
"To have taken one strike of my Blood Lotus Heart-Eroding Palm and still live for several thousand years before falling—he can be proud of that."
Hong Chenji's pupils shrank, his whole body trembling violently.
It really was her!
He stared hard at the woman before him who looked so young, but a chill surged up his spine from the soles of his feet.
The Blood Lotus Heart-Eroding Palm—that was recorded in the Hong clan's ancient texts as the direct cause of their ancestor's death!
That scroll, the Hong Ancestor's Notes, had been treasured by generations of clan masters. When Hong Chenji served as patriarch, he had naturally read it. Even now he remembered clearly the words written in blood by the ancestor, each stroke trembling with agony:
"Battle in the valley… I alone took one palm strike. In her palm bloomed a blood lotus, its petals ninefold… She named it Blood Lotus Heart-Eroding. At first I only felt my blood roil, nothing serious. Yet three days later, a crescent-shaped mark of blood appeared on my heart meridian. Each midnight it felt as though ten thousand ants gnawed at my heart…"
"This palm force is utterly vicious. The victim's heart meridian will be slowly eroded until all that remains is a pool of blood. Only with the power of the sun can its onset be delayed."
"But with every full moon, the mark upon my chest spreads further. At first it was but pain of flesh, yet later even the soul itself began to dissolve. I tried countless antidotes, even severing my cultivation, but none could cleanse it…"
On the final page, the ancestor's handwriting had trembled violently: "The most terrifying part of this palm lies in how it forces the victim to remain conscious, to watch as life drains away bit by bit… My end is near. I leave this record so descendants will remember: should you meet one who wields the Blood Lotus Heart-Eroding Palm… flee at once!"
…
At this moment, Hong Chenji finally understood why his ancestor had carved such deep finger marks into the words "flee at once."
Looking at the calm, indifferent woman before him, his back was already soaked in cold sweat.
…
Yet Hong Chenji still stared at the black-clothed woman with a last shred of desperate hope. Could it really be possible that the same peerless powerhouse who had brought his ancestor to ruin had appeared before him now?
And even more absurd—that one of his clan's bloodline descendants had become her disciple?
But as this thought arose, a long dragon's roar echoed across the heavens.
The black-clothed woman lifted her head toward the Nine-Dragon Locking Heaven Formation coiling in the sky.
"How annoying."
She spoke softly, then parted her lips. From her mouth emerged a small crystalline sword, no longer than an inch.
The tiny sword met the wind and instantly grew into a cold, gleaming blade three feet long. Its body flowed with an ominous aura that made the heart quiver.
"Break."
The black-clothed woman casually swung her sword.
In that instant, the world went still. It was as though even time itself had frozen.
A cold sword light, clear as moonlight, split across the sky. Of the nine golden dragons woven from the great formation, five were severed before they could even cry out. The remaining four dimmed instantly.
The entire formation shook violently, its lines cracking apart piece by piece, golden light scattering through the air like falling snow.
Hong Chenji's eyes were filled with horror.
The Nine-Dragon Locking Heaven Formation was the Hong family's clan-guarding array. His ancestor had once declared that even a Saint Realm powerhouse could be held back by this formation for ten days, even half a month.
But before him, this woman had destroyed more than half of its strength with a single casual sword strike!
Such a sword… even as a Saint Sovereign, he could not imagine anyone capable of resisting it so easily.
In that moment, he was finally certain—the woman before him was exactly as he had feared. She was no ordinary Saint. She stood at the peak of the Saint Realm, at the realm of true essence without flaw!
The very existence who had caused his ancestor's downfall now stood right in front of him!
How laughable—only days ago, he had thought he had glimpsed part of heaven's secrets.
Yet in just a few short days, the heavens had given him this bitter gift.
As if mocking him with a truth—fate cannot be measured.
Could it be… that the Hong family would end today?
Would it be destroyed by his own hands?
No—there was still a chance!
Hong Chenji took a deep breath, his cloudy eyes locking firmly onto the black-clothed woman. "You… are not human, are you?"
At his words, Ji Hongli let out a cold laugh. Her red lips parted. "And what makes you say that?"
"If you were human, with power like yours, your name on the Heavenly Stele ranking should not be below that of the Great Ancestor of the Zhou dynasty, Ji Wuque," Hong Chenji said in a heavy voice, his withered fingers trembling slightly.
A trace of amusement flashed through Ji Hongli's eyes. "And who says I cannot be the one ranked first on the Heavenly Stele?"
"Please, do not jest," Hong Chenji shook his head. "Though the identity of the one ranked first remains a mystery, it is known that figure only appeared in recent centuries. But you… you were strong enough to fight my ancestor. Your lifespan must already be over a hundred thousand years…"
"Whether I am or not—what difference does it make?" Ji Hongli cut him off impatiently. "If you do not wish to take my third palm, then cripple your cultivation and kneel to apologize. I have no desire to waste time with a man at death's door."
As the standoff grew sharper, Hong Chenji suddenly stood tall and tore open his upper garments.
"Ah!" Chen Xingcai, who had been enjoying the fight, gave a startled cry and quickly covered her eyes.
Ji Hongli's expression, however, shifted slightly as she stared at Hong Chenji's exposed body. His thin frame was covered in strange gray spots, and in the center of his chest was a fist-sized hollow, within which his heart could be seen faintly beating.
"The Five Declines of Heaven and Man!?" Ji Hongli's pupils contracted, her voice showing rare surprise. "And you have already reached the stage where the body itself begins to decay…"
Hong Chenji's hollow eyes fixed on the woman before him, his frail body leaning slightly forward. "To have provoked you by accident, and brought calamity upon the Hong family, is my fault." His voice was hoarse but steady, carrying grim resolve. "But since I was already nearing my end, I am willing to trade two matters for the survival of my clan. You may choose either."
Ji Hongli's red lips parted, her voice cold. "Not interested."
"You should at least hear them before deciding," Hong Chenji said calmly, a flash of light in his murky eyes.
At this moment, Chen Xingcai tugged at her master's sleeve, her eyes shining as though she had discovered something entertaining. "Master, why don't we hear him out?"
Ji Hongli turned her head, seeing her disciple's eager gaze sparkling with gossip. For the first time, she felt regret for ever giving her those strange storybooks when she was young.
With a soft sigh, she finally gave a small nod. "Very well. Speak."
…
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