Chapter 68: We’re Even Now

Chapter 68: We're Square Now

Yan Huaixuan was staring straight into those eyes, yet there was nothing in them—no love, no hate. It was like he'd completely walled himself off.

Yan Huaixuan's fingers curled, then went slack, and he undid the Spirit-Locking Bracelet from Shen Lian's wrist.

"I've already unlocked your Spirit-Locking Bracelet, Shen Lian. Go ahead, try it—your spiritual power should be back now."

Shen Lian still didn't react.

Yan Huaixuan pressed his lips together, his eyes shifting slightly. He held out his palm, and a small black serpent coiled around his hand.

He stared hard at Shen Lian's face, like he was trying to catch even the faintest flicker of emotion.

But there was nothing. Not a damn thing.

Even Shen Mo couldn't get any reaction out of Shen Lian.

For a second, Yan Huaixuan felt like Shen Lian could just blow away like a gust of wind.

He slowly lowered his head, resting his chin on Shen Lian's hair.

"Is staying by my side really that miserable for you?"

But even then, Shen Lian didn't curse at him like he normally would.

Yan Huaixuan didn't notice that, in his arms, Shen Lian's eyes twitched ever so slightly.

Yan Huaixuan had no idea how long he held Shen Lian like that before he finally picked him up.

A formation to expel demonic energy would inevitably draw the attention of the Tianheng Sect, so there was no way Yan Huaixuan could do it inside the sect.

He picked the Snow Domain as the spot.

With one arm wrapped around Shen Lian, Yan Huaixuan used the other hand to rapidly form seals and set up the formation. Before long, a massive frost-colored formation slowly materialized beneath the entire Snow Domain.

The formation gave off an icy, murderous aura.

As the formation appeared, Yan Huaixuan's life force was visibly draining away, and the blood-red mark on his forehead kept getting darker and darker.

Just then, several powerful spiritual auras suddenly showed up in the distance.

"Huaixuan, you're sheltering a demon clan member—what about the safety of human cultivators?"

He looked at the Tianheng Sect Master and the Ten Elders.

Yan Huaixuan didn't look surprised at all. He just lowered his head to look at the person in his arms. "He's not demon clan."

"Bullshit!" Xie Ren's voice came out hoarse as he stared at Yan Huaixuan. "Huaixuan, let go now, and it's not too late. You cultivate the Heartless Dao—you know damn well that once you catch feelings, you're dead, body and soul!"

"Your talent is one in a million years. Are you really going to throw it all away?"

Yan Huaixuan gave a slight nod, his face blank. "Enough."

With a wave of his hand, the massive formation slowly started to spin.

Xie Ren's face went dark. "Yan Huaixuan, are you out of your mind? Do you know that once this formation kicks in, you're screwed beyond redemption!"

Yan Huaixuan acted like he couldn't hear them at all. Holding Shen Lian, he stepped straight into the formation.

The second they stepped in, Shen Lian's body started trembling.

Yan Huaixuan gently brushed Shen Lian's cheek. "Don't be scared. It'll be over soon."

All the frost surged into Shen Lian's body, but his eyes stayed shut tight, like he felt nothing at all.

Yan Huaixuan's eyes went dry and hollow in an instant.

Even with pain like a thousand arrows stabbing through his heart, Shen Lian still didn't react?

At the same time, a massive heavenly tribulation started gathering above their heads.

A human could easily fall into the demon clan, but going from demon back to human was harder than climbing to heaven—you had to take nine bolts of Heavenly Thunder, each one packing the terrifying power of the True Immortal Realm!

If it were just Shen Lian at the Spirit Transformation stage, he'd be wiped out before the tribulation even came down!

Xie Ren's face shifted. "Break the formation!"

But to his shock, even with the Ten Elders joining him as they slammed into the formation, it didn't budge an inch.

Yan Huaixuan held Shen Lian and lifted his gaze. He raised one hand to brace against the formation, and the second his eyes left Shen Lian, they went ice-cold.

"I still recognize you as Tianheng Sect members. I'll give you one more chance—leave now."

"What the hell is going on?"

Xie Ren and even the Ten Elders were all staring at Yan Huaixuan.

He'd always known Yan Huaixuan was strong—that the whole "don't challenge above your rank" rule meant jack shit to him.

Sometimes, just looking at Yan Huaixuan, he'd feel this terrifying dread.

But he never expected that Yan Huaixuan, an Earth Immortal, could hold off eight Earth Immortals and two Void Immortals.

Suddenly, one elder thought of something, his lips parting. "Yan Huaixuan—that day, when all the sect elders attacked the small secret realm's barrier and it didn't move an inch—that was you."

Yan Huaixuan lowered his eyes, saying nothing—which was as good as admitting it.

Even Xie Ren's eyes went wide in shock.

All the sect elders—how many people was that?! And back then, Yan Huaixuan was only a Void Immortal!

And he held them all off.

Around Yan Huaixuan, the rules of the world just became a joke.

But the more he saw, the more Xie Ren couldn't stop himself. "Yan Huaixuan, you're walking straight to your own death."

Yan Huaixuan acted completely deaf to their voices. Instead, he looked up at the heavenly tribulation.

As the demonic energy was ripped out of Shen Lian's body, the bowl-thick tribulation lightning took shape. With a thunderous roar, it came crashing down, wrapped in pure destructive force.

Xie Ren and the others could only watch as the tribulation lightning slammed into the barrier above Yan Huaixuan, tore straight through it, and was about to hit Shen Lian in his arms.

But then, Yan Huaixuan caught the tribulation lightning with his bare hands and ripped it apart.

What kind of heaven-defying bullshit was this?

Inside Shen Lian's body, Chen Xue's eyes flew open in shock. "Just how terrifying is Yan Huaixuan's power, exactly?"

Shen Lian couldn't answer it at all. His whole body screamed with searing, stabbing pain—thousands of icy needles stabbing into his flesh, like a knife scraping off, inch by inch, the demonic energy clinging to his bones.

Shen Lian felt his skin and flesh being ripped apart.

Yet he betrayed no sign of distress, unwilling to let Yan Huaixuan notice anything amiss.

Boom—another tribulation thunderbolt crashed down. Yan Huaixuan took it again, but this time blood seeped from the corner of his lips.

Even Yan Huaixuan's forehead broke out in a faint cold sweat.

He lowered his head and shot a quick glance at Shen Lian.

Then came the third.

The fourth. And with the ninth bolt of Heavenly Thunder falling, the last wisp of demonic energy inside Shen Lian was yanked out.

Yan Huaixuan finally smiled.

Ignoring his own battered, disheveled state, he helped Shen Lian up. "Shen Lian."

But to his shock, Shen Lian seized the moment—his eyes snapped open, and his hand drove straight through Yan Huaixuan's abdomen.

Yan Huaixuan let out a muffled grunt, coughing up a mouthful of blood as he stared at Shen Lian in disbelief.

Shen Lian's face was expressionless. "We're even now. We'll never see each other again."

Yan Huaixuan had stabbed him twice, and he had run his hand through Yan Huaixuan's heart twice in return.

As those words faded, a black serpent slowly wound around Shen Lian's body.

Its eyes gleamed with an eerie green light, and a faint smirk curled at the corner of its mouth. With a single glance at Yan Huaixuan, it vanished, taking Shen Lian with it.

"Shen Lian!"

Yan Huaixuan lunged desperately, reaching out to grab him, but all he caught was a scrap of fabric slipping through his palm.

The world stretched vast and empty around him—there was nowhere left to search for Shen Lian.