As if responding to him, a giant skeletal foot suddenly emerged from the surging lava. Its nail alone was as wide as a wheel, and as soon as its foot landed in the lake, half of the lake was filled instantly. Immediately after, another foot stepped into the lake, crushing countless orange trees on the shore.

     A gigantic skeleton roared as it stepped out of the huge crack in the sky. It turned its stiff skull and howled to the heavens, then slammed down on the shore with a sharpened axe in chains. The giant axe sank into the earth, sending waves of heat, tumbling mud, and crushing rocks.

     The place Xue Meng was standing was about to cave in when a blue light suddenly appeared. Nangong Liu stood, wielding two swords and using his spiritual energy to fight against the giant skeleton. With a loud clang, the two forces collided, causing the soil and crushed trees to explode. At his side, Xu Shuanglin supported the water barrier and barked, “Hit him between the ribs, did you see it?!”

     “I saw it.” Nangong Liu gritted his teeth as he swept away his usual meek and submissive appearance and attacked the skeleton’s chest and ribs.

     Upon closer inspection, Mo Ran saw that there was a cluster of flames burning on the giant skeleton’s chest. In the flames, there was a faint shadow of a human figure that was hanging and bound. He wanted to get a better look, but because of the flashes of fire from the fight between the skeleton and Nangong Liu, he couldn’t see clearly.

     Nangong Liu had clearly gone to great lengths to summon this fiend from hell. No matter how he looked at it, he should have ordered it to wreak havoc on earth. But now, Nangong Liu seemed to be willing to risk his life to fight this thing to the death.

     This really was strange…

     But Mo Ran didn’t have time to think about it. Xue Meng and the others were still standing in place. If they continued to fight like this, they might be injured.

     Recalling Chu Wanning’s technique, Mo Ran shouted, “Jiangui, Ten Thousand Coffins!”

     Dozens of red willow vines rose from all directions like flying snakes, wrapping up all of the puppets and retreating to the shore.

     “Good, you used it well.”

     Chu Wanning’s words warmed Mo Ran’s chest, and at that moment, with the person he loved close by, and the people he wanted to protect under Jiangui’s protection, Mo Ran’s mind was much more at ease as he watched them fight.

     He found that even though Nangong Liu’s attacks were not up to par, his evasion and defense techniques were first-class. Mo Ran wondered if this person had taken a liking to this type of spell since childhood. It was no wonder that when he massacred Rufeng Sect in his previous lifetime, this illustrious Sect Leader had fled faster than a rabbit.

     Although the giant skeleton’s attack was ruthless, because of its huge body and slow movements, it couldn’t hit Nangong Liu at all.

     Nangong Liu moved higher and higher along the skeleton, his robe fluttering and the red tassel of his bamboo hat flying up. He walked on the skeleton’s ribs, and through the white bones, he could see the person hanging over the skeleton’s heart.

     Nangong Liu shouted loudly, like a person who was relieved from a deep torment. His voice twisted ferociously as he laughed facing the sky, “Haha… hahahahaha! I found it! I finally found you!”

     Wrapped within the flames was a man with his eyes tightly closed, looking thin and frail. He didn’t have any very striking features; it was a face that could be easily forgotten.

     Nangong Liu kept muttering, almost manically, “I found you… Hahahaha… I found you, I found you…” He suddenly raised the flowing blue-light sword in his hand and fiercely stabbed towards the sleeping man in the giant skeleton’s core!

     But at that moment, the sleeping man suddenly raised his head and opened his eyes. Xu Shuanglin shouted angrily from below, “Don’t look at his eyes! I told you not to look at his eyes!”

     However, Nangong Liu was too close to the man. He was caught off guard, and met the man’s eyes. He only had enough time to see the pupils in those round eyes turn red, with tears of blood flowing from them, before he felt a sharp pain tearing all over his body. He let out a loud scream, “Ah!” and fell down from the sky to the ground. If it weren’t for Xu Shuanglin supporting him with a barrier, his bones might have been broken.

     Xu Shuanglin rushed over quickly, his bare feet stomping on the ground, “What are you doing looking at him?! Didn’t I tell you that when you look at him, you would feel the suffering of his soul?! You…”

     Halfway through his sentence, Nangong Liu staggered to his feet, his bamboo hat falling off to reveal his messy hair and a pair of panicked eyes beneath.

     “Ahh! Ahhhhh!”

     The moonlight shone unobstructed on his face. Immediately, his fingers spasmed as he painfully covered his face, but it was no use. All of the skin exposed to the moonlight began to crack and burst open rapidly, revealing red flesh and blood that flowed down uncontrollably.

     “AHHHHH!!!”

     Nangong Liu screamed and tried to use his sleeves to cover his face. However, in his panic, this caused his hands and forearms to be exposed. His skin and flesh began to tear, and his body was mottled with blood.

     Mo Ran and Chu Wanning watched from afar in disbelief. What was happening to Nangong Liu?

     He actually… couldn’t stand in the moonlight?

     Xu Shuanglin took off his outer robe and threw it over Nangong Liu’s face, covering him completely. He himself stood in the middle of the winter night with only a snow-white inner robe, not feeling the slightest chill. His robe was slightly open, and his chest was rising and falling faintly.

     When he saw Nangong Liu sitting limply on the ground, he was so angry that he picked up his bare foot and kicked him in the head, showing no respect for the Sect Leader, “Why are you sitting there?! Get up! If you still can’t kill it after gathering that much spiritual energy, you can forget about living the rest of your life!”

     Who would’ve thought that Nangong Liu would actually become a good-for-nothing and sit on the ground crying with snot and tears, “I’m in so much pain… It’s better to die than live like this… My face is covered with blood… my hands also… Shuanglin, I can’t stand it anymore… you take my place…”

     “I’ll take your place, I’ll take your place. I’ll do everything for you!” Xu Shuanglin flew into a rage, kicking him in the face, “Why don’t you just give me the position of Sect Leader and let me do it for you?!”

     “Do you think I don’t want to?” Nangong Liu was kicked to the ground, and he howled, “Do you think I don’t want to?! I’m tired of it! Luo Fenghua’s curse will affect me for a lifetime! He made it so I can’t ever leave this position for the rest of my life! Come on! I can’t wait for someone to take my place! I only hate that I can’t take this ring off my finger!”

     “Luo Fenghua?” Mo Ran asked in a low voice. “That name sounds very familiar, I think I’ve heard it before.”

     “...He was the Sect Leader of Rufeng Sect before Nangong Liu.” Chu Wanning listened to the conversation between the two and frowned, “After only two years, he died from a terrible illness.”

     Mo Ran was stunned, “Rufeng Sect has been inherited by the Nangong family for generations. How can there be a Sect Leader with the surname Luo? Shouldn’t it be Nangong?”

     “Normally, the surname would be Nangong. But Luo Fenghua became the Sect Leader by usurping the throne and taking power.”

     Hearing this, Mo Ran suddenly recalled that he had read about this person in a book that recorded the history of Rufeng Sect. However, because the history of Rufeng Sect was very chaotic, there were too many grudges involved. Mo Ran really didn’t have any interest in reading the book, so he just flipped through it casually, and didn’t delve too deeply into it.

     His eyes widened slightly, “Rufeng Sect was usurped?”

     “Mm. Because this matter is shameful, and involves the current Sect Leader, very few people bring it up,” Chu Wanning said. “Nangong Liu’s position as Sect Leader was not easy to come by. When he was young, his father had a qi deviation and died. Although he was appointed as successor before his father’s death, he had a younger brother. That brother was proud and arrogant, and his spiritual power was unparalleled. He refused to accept this decision, so on the night of his father’s death, he seized the Sect Leader’s ring and replaced Nangong Liu as the Sect Leader of Rufeng Sect.”

     “Then the usurper should be his brother, and should also have the surname Nangong. How come his surname is Luo?”

     “Let me finish.” Chu Wanning looked at Nangong Liu, who was trembling as he crawled up from the ground. Nangong Liu tightly wrapped himself in the clothes Xu Shuanglin gave him, and once again ran towards the flames on the giant skeleton’s chest.

     Chu Wanning continued, “Nangong Liu’s younger brother was bloody and brutal. In just three months after seizing the position, he had already killed two high lords of the upper cultivation world. He said it was because they had made things difficult for him during the Spiritual Mountain Competition. They awarded someone else with the victory, only because he was the bastard son of Rufeng Sect. They didn’t judge the outcome fairly. Later on, he was even more vicious. He captured anyone who denounced him, dragged them to the square of Rufeng Sect, and gouged their eyes out one by one. I didn’t see the disaster myself, but there are records that the number of eyes he dug out needed to be carried away in three carriages.”

     Mo Ran’s heart trembled, but he remained silent.

     At this time, it would have been normal for him to curse, but what right did he have to do so?

     In this lifetime, Chu Wanning had no idea of what Mo Ran had done in his previous life. He had killed almost everyone in the seventy two cities of Rufeng Sect because of a personal grievance. He even used lingchi and tortured one of the city lords for a whole year before letting him die. In fact, even when he came to Rufeng Sect this time, Mo Ran tried to avoid meeting that city lord as much as possible. The hatred between him and that person was too deep. He was afraid that if he saw him, he would do something crazy again.

     Even now, he still had a fierce nature. Who was he to call others bloody and brutal?

     On the other side, Nangong Liu approached the core of the giant skeleton step by step, and once again raised his sword towards the burning flames. He drew closer and closer, the sword in his hand glinting with a cold light.

     Chu Wanning said, “Luo Fenghua, as that person’s Shizun, could not tolerate his atrocities, so he rebelled together with Nangong Liu. The two of them raised an army and, in one night, succeeded in driving him from the position of Sect Leader. However, under the temptation of power, Luo Fenghua held the Sect Leader’s thumb ring, but refused to hand it over to Nangong Liu.”

     Mo Ran was shocked, “He wore it himself?!”

     “That’s right. Every Sect Leader’s token is supplemented with powerful spiritual energy. These tokens recognize their master, and Rufeng Sect’s ring is the same. Whoever wears it will own it. Unless the sect changes masters, the only way to break it is death.”

     “...That Luo Fenghua died after being in power for only two years. Could it be that Nangong Liu killed him in order to take back the Sect Leader position?”

     Chu Wanning shook his head, “The official history of Rufeng Sect says that Luo Fenghua died of illness, and afterwards, Nangong Liu took back the Sect Leader’s ring. But no one can say for sure. Nangong Liu went to great lengths to lure this monster out to fight, even shouting curses… I’m afraid what happened back then wasn’t that simple.”

     Mo Ran also felt that things couldn’t be that simple, but had another question on his mind, “What about the little brother? What happened to Nangong Liu’s brother after he was driven out of power?”

     “He died,” Chu Wanning said. “On the night of the rebellion, Luo Fenghua cleaned up and personally took the life of his own disciple. It was said that he was chopped into pieces with ten thousand cuts.”

     Mo Ran: “...”

     Mo Ran couldn’t help but feel weak. If what he did in his previous life would ever become known to Chu Wanning, would his Shizun clean up the mess and chop him into ten thousand pieces as well?

     Just as he was lost in his thoughts, he suddenly heard a loud cry. Nangong Liu’s sword had pierced through the man bound in the giant skeleton, causing the skeleton to instantly grimace and let out a pained roar. Its huge, bony feet stomped deep craters in the ground one after another, and it angrily waved its hand, crushing another large patch of orange trees. The golden fruits rolled all over the ground and were crushed by the giant skeleton.

     In this strange scent of blood and fruit, the giant skeleton suddenly stopped moving. It stood still for a moment, then abruptly slammed to its knees, splashing lava and turning its white bones to ashes in an instant.

     Nangong Liu pulled out his sword and caught the man who fell from the giant skeleton. He said ecstatically, “I did it! I’m free! The curse is broken! The curse is broken! Hahahaha!” He flew down with the wind and landed on the ground.

     At this moment, a group of cultivators from Shile Hall who had also noticed that something was amiss, rushed over to Ganquan Lake.

     When Guyue’ye’s Sect Leader, Jiang Xi, saw the bubbling lava, his handsome and arrogant face revealed a look of surprise, “Infernal Earth Fire?”

     He immediately waved his sleeve and sprinkled a layer of water type spiritual powder on the people behind him. Every sect had different defensive techniques. Most of them used enchantments and barriers, but Guyue’ye used spiritual powder to resist the scorching flames.

     After doing this, Jiang Xi spun back around and snapped sternly, “Nangong Liu, what’s going on?!”

     Nangong Liu did not answer, and only tightly held the man who was pulled out of the giant skeleton. The flames surrounding the man’s body had disappeared, along with his strength and consciousness. He did not open his eyes again, his corpse falling powerlessly between Nangong Liu’s claws.

     When Xue Zhengyong saw Mo Ran and Chu Wanning, he immediately rushed over to them, shouting anxiously, “Ran-er, Yuheng, are you alright? Meng… where’s Meng-er?!”

     Mo Ran quickly reassured him, “Xue Meng is fine, he’s over there—”

     Xue Zhengyong looked towards where he was pointing and saw Xue Meng wrapped in a giant vine, only revealing his pale face.

     Xue Zhengyong’s expression changed, and he couldn’t help but stagger as he rushed towards Xue Meng in a panic.

     Mo Ran pulled him back and said, “Uncle, it’s only temporary, he’ll be fine soon. He’s safer in the willow vine, don’t go over there. Stay with us.”

     Xue Zhengyong said urgently, “What happened?! We saw evil spirits coming from afar. Sect Leader Nangong…” He turned around and saw Nangong Liu standing in the lava, as well as the lifeless corpse in his arms. He suddenly felt that something was wrong with the corpse. Why did it look so familiar? It seemed like a long, long time ago, too long ago really, that he had seen this man’s face before…

     The man’s features were so ordinary that he could have easily been submerged in the past, and Xue Zhengyong could not recall it at the moment. But he felt that something was wrong.

     At this moment, Nangong Liu suddenly raised his head. His face was covered in blood, but the corners of his mouth were pulled into a wide grin. Nangong Liu was laughing, and his eyes were shining with a strange light. It was completely different from his usual flattering appearance.

     Among those who had rushed over was Ye Wangxi and Nangong Si. Nangong Si murmured, “Father…”

     Ye Wangxi then saw Xu Shuanglin standing to the side, and exclaimed in shock, “Yifu?!”

     Xu Shuanglin glanced at Ye Wangxi for a moment and shook his head, gesturing for her not to come over. Standing in the fiery lava, his loose white robe fluttered in the wind. There was a lazy smile on his face as he raised his chin slightly and looked at the bustling scene in front of him. His bare feet hit the ground, causing sparks to fly. Then, he lowered his head as if waiting for something. The light of fire reflected in his eyes, like a golden-red carp swimming in a dark pool.

     “AHH!!”

     Suddenly, a female cultivator cried out in alarm from the crowd. Xu Shuanglin didn’t raise his head, but only smiled. He knew what was happening, of course; he had heard the sound of chewing flesh and blood.

     Behind him, Nangong Liu grabbed the man in his arms and bit into his neck, greedily drinking his blood. After that shout, no one made a sound; no one said anything, and no one denounced him. For a moment, no one understood what was going on, too shocked to react.

     The number one scholar, Rufeng Sect Leader Nangong Liu, was actually chewing on a corpse…

     This… how was this possible…

     “Father!”

     Nangong Si was the first to react, and he ran frantically towards Nangong Liu. Ye Wangxi wasn’t able to stop him, so they ran together towards him.

     “Father, what are you doing? What are you doing?!”

     “Sect Leader—”

     Nangong Liu turned a deaf ear and continued to chew. The veil he had used to cover his face had long since fallen off, exposing his flesh to the moonlight and causing him even more suffering. The more he suffered, the more he madly chewed on the flesh and blood of the corpse, as if it was a sweet spring, a medicine for suffering, relief he could not obtain.

     Some of the nearby cultivators couldn’t take it anymore, and the sound of harsh vomiting came from the crowd. Everyone was in such a shock that they could only mutter weakly, “How could this happen…”

     “Madman… madman…”

     “How disgusting…”

     As the moonlight slowly moved and shone on Nangong Liu’s body, he lowered his head in spasms, saliva and blood flowing from the corners of his mouth. Then, he suddenly raised his head and opened his bloody mouth, shuddering and yelling with a trembling voice, “AHHHH!”

     The flesh on his face didn’t heal after eating the man’s corpse; instead, it remained torn and bloody in the moonlight. His face was covered in blood, and only his eyes were still white. He threw the corpse on the ground and stepped on it, turning around and tugging on Xu Shuanglin’s lapels, hissing and snarling like a beast, “What’s going on?! Why is it useless?!”

     His meridians were bulged, his hands trembling nonstop, and his eyes were bloodshot. Ugly tears poured from his eyes from the agonizing pain.

     “It hurts… it hurts so much… I wish I could die… I wish I could die!” He let out a low growl, increasingly desperate.

     Suddenly, he thought of something and let go of Xu Shuanglin, lowering his head to dig out that man’s heart, “Spiritual core! His spiritual core must be powerful enough! I have to eat his spiritual core! Spiritual core, spiritual core… spiritual core…”

     He reached into the sword wound on the man’s chest and dug for his core erratically, his hands full of blood, and madness creeping into his crazed features.

     Unexpectedly, at this moment, a sharp claw suddenly pierced into his back and fiercely stabbed through his chest!

     Blood spilled furiously.

     Nangong Liu was stunned for a moment, as if he couldn’t react to what had happened. He did not feel any pain, and just looked back in a daze. He opened his bloodshot eyes, and Xu Shuanglin looked up with a smile on his elegant face, “What do you want to eat? For someone like you, it’s a waste to eat anything.”