Chapter 352: Trail of Heaven Deceiving Pendant - Final

They had already paid a heavy price for the chance to enter the Underworld Palace. Who would be foolish enough to throw away their own lives for the sake of their competitors?

As for the three severely injured experts, they had paid the highest price of all. They had suffered grievous injuries just to reach this point, and they desperately wanted to secure their positions. There was absolutely no way they would sacrifice themselves for any of the bastards standing beside them!

Besides, Chu Liang was right. Even if they managed to kill him, they might die in the process. Of course, they wouldn’t mind if someone else was the one who died.

But now... there were only nine of them left, and this bastard Chu Liang was confident enough to claim that he could take four of them down with him. Well... that might have been a bit of a boast. They were experts in their own right, after all, and each of them had confidence in their own strength and skills.

But there was a catch.

They were injured. Three of them had even lost limbs, while their internal injuries were so severe that they had to channel most of their spiritual qi into preserving their life force and protecting their vital organs.

In other words, they were now at their weakest.

What guarantee did they have that this bastard could only take down four of them? What if he could take down even more?

What if those four happened to be them? What if some of the others decided to sit back and let them serve as bait or meat shields?

Sacrifice the three most severely injured experts?

As if!

Those three were already well aware of their predicament. They wouldn’t be caught off guard so easily. What if they decided to stake everything on one final gamble and self-detonate?

These three were experts of the same cultivation realm as the rest of them. If they self-detonated, the resulting destruction would be far more devastating than what those Dead Squad warriors had unleashed when those bastards had sacrificed themselves to buy Chu Liang time.

The others wouldn’t merely suffer a few injuries. They wouldn’t survive the destructive force unleashed by the self-detonation of someone at their own cultivation level!

After a long silence, one of the experts finally gritted his teeth.

"Fine! We’ll agree to your terms. But don’t think this means we’ve forgiven you!"

"Of course, of course!" Chu Liang replied cheerfully. "Once we enter the Underworld Palace, we’ll all be fellow disciples. There’s no need to hold grudges over such trivial matters!"

The experts glared at him, their faces dark with resentment.

Trivial matters?

This bastard had tried to kill them just moments ago! If they hadn’t been lucky, they might not have survived the blast from the Demonic Fire Blood Talisman. If that was the case, this bastard might have walked away with all the rewards for himself!

But despite their anger, they ultimately swallowed their resentment and grudgingly accepted the deal.

After all, a position in the Underworld Palace was worth far more than their pride.

Hearing the agreement among a group of wicked villains, Chu Li wanted to curse them, but he couldn’t utter a single word because his voice had already been sealed.

After reaching an agreement, the group wasted no time. They hauled Chu Li along as they flew above the vast forest, heading toward their previous camp.

Their objective was a flying ark they had left there.

The land between them and the Thousand Treasure Pavilion was simply too vast to cross on flying swords alone. Even with their cultivation, reaching Thousand Treasure City in such a short time would be impossible.

And time was of the essence. They had no idea whether Wei Chen’s offer would still stand after years of traveling. The flying ark was therefore something they absolutely needed.

With Chu Li in their hands, they needed to reach the Thousand Treasure Pavilion as quickly as possible. The sooner they delivered him, the sooner they could secure their promised positions in the Underworld Palace.

None of them wanted any more unexpected complications.

Unfortunately, the heavens seemed determined to make a mockery of their wishes.

They had barely traveled halfway through the forest when the temperature suddenly plummeted.

A biting chill swept through the air.

The experts immediately sensed that something was wrong. Their expressions changed as they slowed down and scanned their surroundings, spreading their spiritual senses outward in search of the source of this... interruption!

"Who goes there? Show yourself!"

Their shouts echoed through the forest, but the only answer was silence... an eerie silence.

Then...

It was as if responding to their shouts, a thin layer of frost began spreading across the treetops beneath them. Leaves that had been swaying gently in the breeze turned white, their surfaces covered in a sheen of ice crystals. The moisture in the air froze, and tiny snowflakes drifted lazily through the sky.

In the blink of an eye, the warmth of the forest vanished, replaced by a vast expanse of crystalline woodland. It was as though this place had suddenly become a frozen land in the far north, where nothing existed but endless snow, rows of crystal-covered trees, and fierce snow beasts lurking in the wilderness.

The experts exchanged uneasy glances.

This was no ordinary change in the weather.

Someone was approaching, and whoever it was possessed an astonishing mastery of ice-based techniques.

"Stay alert!"

Chu Liang had barely finished speaking when a streak of white light flashed through the air.

It was so fast that none of them had time to react.

A thin line of frost appeared across Chu Liang’s neck as he flew at the rear of the group.

His eyes widened. He instinctively reached for his neck as a thin line of red blood seeped out, mingling with the spreading frost.

He tried to say something, but before a sound could escape his throat, his head toppled from his severed neck. At the same time, a layer of ice spread rapidly across his entire body.

Crack!

His frozen body shattered into countless fragments of red-stained ice.

As for his severed head, it remained frozen in midair for a brief moment, Chu Liang’s eyes still wide with horror as he stared at the spot where his body had been.

As his consciousness faded into darkness, Chu Liang never imagined that his bright future, along with all his dreams and ambitions, would end like this!

Then the frost crept across his face, encasing his head in ice.

Fine cracks began to spread across its frozen surface.

Then...

Crack!

Just like his body, his head shattered into countless fragments, scattering into the air like fine ice crystals.

The remaining experts stared in horror.

"An expert!"

One of them blurted out.

The next moment, all of them hurriedly gathered together and formed a protective barrier around themselves, with Chu Li trapped among them.

Yet, despite his predicament, Chu Li had a look of wild satisfaction in his eyes.

This damn Chu Liang had finally gotten what he deserved!

Now, even if he were to die here, he would have no regrets!

A graceful figure in a hooded white robe appeared amidst the snowflakes drifting down from the sky.

Chu Li recognized this figure. It was the Matriarch of the Nether Dark Palace, that mysterious woman dressed in white with her hood pulled low!

Before anyone could react, the Matriarch of the Nether Dark Palace rushed toward them, wielding a pair of ice swords.

The experts braced themselves for the incoming attack. Some summoned their treasures to defend themselves, producing shields, bells, swords, and even coffins. A bewildering assortment of strange treasures materialized around them.

But...

With a single sweep of her sword, the frost froze their treasures solid. Before they could even react, her second slash shattered them all into pieces.

"She’s... She’s definitely a Void Transformation expert!" one of the experts blurted out, convinced that he had finally figured out the woman’s cultivation realm.

Unfortunately, it was already too late.

The Matriarch of the Nether Dark Palace swept past them.

In the next instant, all of them, except Chu Li, who lay paralyzed on the ground, had turned into ice sculptures. Before their frozen bodies could even fall, they shattered into countless fine ice crystals and were scattered by the cold wind.

The Matriarch of the Nether Dark Palace crouched beside Chu Li and unsealed his acupoints to check whether he was still alive and capable of functioning.

The moment his acupoints were unsealed, Chu Li sprang up and immediately kowtowed.

"Thank you, Matriarch of the Nether Dark Palace, for saving me! I, Chu Li, will..."

Before Chu Li could finish speaking, his acupoints were sealed once more, freezing him in the middle of his kowtow.

"Who told you I came to save you?" the woman asked as she slowly lifted her hood.

If Wei Chen or Ximen Hao had been there, they would have recognized her. She was Han Zhiyue, the Saintess of the Ethereal Frost Palace, the renowned sect of the far north!

"You are my ticket into the Underworld Palace," Han Zhiyue said with a smirk as she hauled Chu Li away like a sack of potatoes.