Chapter 228: Chapter 223: The Crumbling Mental World

The palm strike was too fast, too sudden. In an instant, Mu Chen had already judged his opponent’s Martial Artist Realm. He could feel a solidified Primordial Power forming a sharp spike around the attacker’s palm. If that hand struck him, it would undoubtedly pierce straight through his chest.

"A Martial Emperor Strong Person!!"

The moment Mu Chen cried out in alarm, the surrounding Ice Attribute Elemental Power rapidly gathered behind him, instantly forming two ice walls. But a Profound Ice Wall that could only block a Martial Spirit was like fragile paper before a Martial Emperor Strong Person. They shattered in a single blow!

CRACK! CRACK!

With two sharp cracks, the ice walls failed to slow the attacker in the slightest. Feeling a faint, sharp pain at his back and hearing the ambusher’s crazed laughter from behind, Mu Chen parted his lips and murmured, "It’s over..."

"How dare you!!"

A sharp cry came from the distance. Mu Chen recognized the voice—it was Qin Garden’s. But he had no mind to wonder why she was there. Even with her shout, there was no possibility of escape. ’Am I doomed to die here?’

Just then, a slender figure moved with a speed that defied belief, inserting themselves between Mu Chen and the palm wreathed in materialized Elemental Power...

SQUELCH.

The sound of flesh being pierced rang out. Mu Chen felt a sudden warmth on his cheek, as if some warm liquid had splashed onto his face. By the light of the moon, an exquisitely beautiful and delicate face came into view. Mu Chen’s eyes flew open, his unfeeling, vertical pupils dilating to their widest. The entire scene seemed to freeze in that instant, and Mu Chen could finally see the figure clearly.

A long, ink-splatter-patterned, purplish-brown dress clung to a perfect figure. Her gentle, watery eyes showed not pain, not suffering, but a faint sense of bliss. Her long black hair was splayed out by the force of the palm strike, but at her left breast, a faint purple crystal of Primordial Power had pierced straight through her, leaving the entire left side of her chest a mangled mess of flesh and blood. It was... Mo Qing.

At that moment, Ye Shuangshuang was stunned. Little Tiger was stunned. Qing Lei was stunned. Qin Garden and Lingyun were stunned. Even the black-robed ambusher was stunned. Blasted by the force of the palm, Mo Qing’s body fell directly into Mu Chen’s arms, and the immense impact sent them both flying far, far back...

"Cough, cough..."

Lying in Mu Chen’s arms, Mo Qing began to cough violently, spitting out mouthful after mouthful of crimson blood that stained her fair, beautiful cheeks. As Mu Chen felt the warm liquid constantly touching his left hand, an extremely twisted power began to surge within him.

Mo Qing’s ragged breathing and nearly-faded Life Aura continuously battered Mu Chen’s last shred of sanity. ’The left side of the chest... where is that? It’s where the human heart is. Her entire left chest has been pierced through. What about her heart...?’

"Mo... Qing... Why?" Mu Chen’s pupils were lifeless, like those of a heartless Puppet. His words were like a summons from an Asura in hell, devoid of any human emotion...

Mu Bingling stared at Mo Qing in Mu Chen’s arms, feeling a surprise and shock more intense than anyone else’s. She had been only a single step away from Mu Chen’s original position. If things had gone as expected, she would have been the one to block the blow for him. But she never imagined that in that instant, a powerful, unknown energy would erupt from within Mo Qing’s body. The sheer might of this power was in no way inferior to that of a Martial Emperor Strong Person, which was how Mo Qing had managed to appear before Mu Chen in a flash, as if teleporting. ’Just what was that power...?’

Hearing Mu Chen’s question, the pallor of Mo Qing’s face suddenly gave way to a flush of color, and her faint Life Aura seemed to find a new spark of life. She stubbornly raised her trembling arms and wrapped them tightly around Mu Chen’s waist, speaking softly in a voice only he could hear. "Yesterday... when I heard all the stories about you and Sister Bingling, I was so envious, so jealous... I wish we had grown up together... But, I appeared too late... much too late... so late that I could no longer enter your heart... But, from the first moment I saw you... I knew... you were the one I, Xuan Moqing, was searching for in this life... I don’t want to give up... I can’t give up..."

Mu Chen’s remaining sanity told him that Mo Qing was only able to say all this because of the final resurgence of life before death. But this state could only last for a minute at most. Sure enough, Mo Qing’s voice grew fainter and fainter... and the strength in her arms gradually waned.

"Originally... I didn’t know how long... those days would last... I wanted to slowly... enter... your heart... But there’s... no chance now... I was afraid if I didn’t... say it... it would be... too late... too late. Cough, cough... cough, cough, cough..."

At this, Mo Qing’s body began to tremble violently. Mu Chen could feel that the life force within her gradually chilling body had been completely drained. A mist instantly filled Mu Chen’s eyes. His unfeeling, indifferent gaze actually revealed sorrow, grief, and pain—a look of profound contradiction...

"Don’t say any more! Mo Qing, stop talking! You won’t die! How could you possibly die!" Mu Chen’s voice filled the silent night sky, carrying far, far into the distance, as if the sound wave had washed over the entire Xuanling Empire.

"Mu Chen... I really... really love you so much..." By the end, Mo Qing could barely hear her own words, but Mu Chen heard them with perfect clarity. Those three words echoed endlessly in his mind.

"Love you..."

"Love you..."

"Love you..."

With a SPLAT, tears Mu Chen could no longer control spilled from his eyes, splashing onto Mo Qing’s blood-stained cheeks and rolling down with the blood. The completely twisted power inside him instantly erupted. The Elixir Field World within his Dantian had already descended into chaos. Nine crystals of different colors became entangled with one another, following an extremely complex trajectory. Among these nine Dantian, only the black-and-white Chaos Dantian shot to the apex of his Elixir Field World with a WHOOSH, emitting a terrifying fluctuation of Primordial Power with a HUM.

The moment this fluctuation appeared, the Attribute Dantian below, which had been buzzing about like headless flies, suddenly fell still, as if they had seen their ruling King.

"Why... Why... Why..." Mu Chen’s sanity finally shattered as Mo Qing’s body turned completely cold. Tears mixed with crimson blood streamed from his eyes.

As Mu Chen’s mental world collapsed, the black-and-white Chaos Dantian began to tremble violently. Immediately after, the black half of the crystal rapidly encroached upon the white half. In an instant, the black-and-white Chaos Dantian was completely covered in black—an ultimate, absolute black!

As the Chaos Dantian turned black, the eight Attribute Dantian below were also covered in a layer of that same ultimate black. In a flash, Mu Chen’s once-colorful Elixir Field World transformed completely into a pitch-black space, with only nine crystals, darker even than the black space around them, spinning violently within.

Laying down Mo Qing’s cold body, Mu Chen’s face twisted completely. His crimson eyes, combined with the blood Mo Qing had splattered on his face, made him look like a life-reaping Asura that had climbed out of hell. A black Primordial Power, mixed with suppression, fear, frenzy, and evil, erupted from his body, instantly enveloping him. At the same time, his crimson eyes were covered by a thick layer of black. His ice-blue hair, as if melting snow, instantly transformed into a dazzling, blood-red color. Perhaps dyed by this power, even Mu Chen’s snow-white robe was stained pitch-black by the black Primordial Power.

A wide grin split his lips, revealing pearly white teeth. Mu Chen let out a sinister, bizarre laugh. "Everyone dies! Hehehehe... All of you will die! AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

Following Mu Chen’s furious roar, everyone present felt the space tremble. A violent shockwave of air, mixed with countless wisps of black aura, swept out in all directions with Mu Chen at its center, leveling everything within a ten-thousand-meter radius. With a WHOOSH, five pitch-black Martial Rings appeared at his feet. At the same time, four pure-black Ice Crystal Petals materialized behind him and began to spin rapidly.

"Black Martial Rings!!" In the air, Qin Garden and Lingyun glanced at each other, both seeing the same disbelief in the other’s eyes.

They were actually black Martial Rings. On the entire Extreme Martial Continent, black Martial Rings had never appeared before. But today, everyone present had witnessed them.

Inside the Library Pavilion, Elder Mu’s tightly shut eyes suddenly snapped open. His sharp gaze held an unprecedented gravity as he muttered under his breath, "This is bad. Such pure, evil power... what on earth happened?!"

The moment he spoke, Elder Mu’s figure, who had been sitting upright at the counter, vanished. When he reappeared, he was already in the sky above Mu Chen and the others. Upon recognizing the figure below, who looked like an Evil God incarnate, as Mu Chen, a deep sense of apprehension appeared in Elder Mu’s eyes. ’It’s him...’

’So that’s what happened? Huh? The position of this little girl’s internal organs is a bit strange. It seems there’s still hope. As for that boy, he’s rather peculiar. To take on this form after going berserk... Well, since he’s already lost control, let him rampage for a bit. Otherwise, if he suppresses it without release, his body will explode and he’ll die.’

With that thought, Elder Mu waved a single hand, and a transparent golden barrier of light covered the entire ten-thousand-meter radius.

’This way, even if he tears the sky down, it won’t matter. As for these children... hmm, with that girl Qin Garden here, they should be fine. I’d better hurry and take this young lady away for treatment. Otherwise, not even an Immortal could save her.’ After this thought, Elder Mu clenched one hand, and Mo Qing’s body instantly vanished from where it lay. Aside from the crimson blood on the ground proving she had once been there, no other trace remained.

Mu Chen’s roar slowly died down. The black cyclone surrounding him rapidly converged, and the massive figure of a Black Dragon appeared behind him. A sinister laugh escaped Mu Chen’s lips. He suddenly raised his left arm out in front of him, palm up, and clenched his fist. He chuckled darkly, "Broken Ring!"