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Novel: [The Primordial Law]
Volume 1: [Nether Realm of the Dead]
Chapter 25: [The Evil Camel Bell (E Tuoling) and The Guardian Wife]
(25th of Volume 1)
Translator: Shadow Knight AK
Editor: Shadow Knight AK
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The red-robed woman, sitting cross-legged, seemed to have foreseen this.
As Li Weiyi's sword descended toward her head, her body split in two. The halves stood up on either side of her, and then she casually struck out with a palm.
Li Weiyi's all-out surprise attack had only shattered the afterimage of her sitting form, leaving a deep gash in the ground beside the blood pool.
Before he could even react in shock, his face was struck by a wave of palm wind that swept over him like a tidal wave.
In his haste, he could only muster seventy percent of his peak strength. He formed a palm seal with his left hand and met her strike head-on.
"Boom!"
Li Weiyi felt as if his left hand had slammed into a metal wall. Pain shot from his wrist up to his shoulder.
He was sent flying backward, landing ten feet away. He planted his sword in the ground to regain his balance and avoid tumbling.
The red-robed woman also took a half-step back, causing soil to crumble into the blood pool.
She exclaimed in surprise, "In just a few days, you've broken through and opened the second spring in the Yongquan (Surging Spring) Realm? Your cultivation speed is astonishing!"
Li Weiyi's left arm ached and felt numb. He secretly channeled the qi flow from his feet to heal and recover. His eyes, filled with disbelief, turned to Qi Shanshan standing by the blood pool.
She wore the robes of a White Bone Demon, with bone wind chimes hanging from her waist. Her hair cascaded to the ground, and her gaze was entirely different from before - cold and aloof, with an air of disdain for all living things.
"You drank the Golden Crow Blood... No, you're not Doctor Qi. You're the skeleton from the tomb," Li Weiyi realized, seeing the Golden Crow flames flickering around Qi Shanshan's red robes. He guessed she had consumed the Golden Crow Blood to strengthen her physical form.
She hadn't undergone the transformation into an immortal, but she exuded a different kind of eerie aura.
Li Weiyi suspected that Doctor Qi had likely been possessed or consumed by her.
Legends said these undead monsters were masters of such techniques.
"White Bone Demon?"
Qi Shanshan in red robes murmured to herself, then spoke in an unnervingly calm voice: "I can sense your hostility, but I believe there's no need for us to become mortal enemies. Why not talk first? Perhaps we can each get what we need and achieve mutual benefit."
Her voice was subtly different from the Qi Shanshan Li Weiyi knew - more ethereal, more distant.
"You are clearly stronger than I am, yet you propose negotiation first. It seems you harbor some fear, which is why you hesitate to act rashly," Li Weiyi observed.
He believed Qi Shanshan in red robes was afraid of the Dao Ancestor's Tai Chi Fish.
But she didn't know that, even now, Li Weiyi still had no idea how to activate it.
Li Weiyi felt uneasy, but forced himself to remain calm: "But I'm curious. What do you want, and what can you offer me in return?"
Qi Shanshan in red replied, "Isn't that obvious? I want the blood in your body."
"How much?"
Li Weiyi was puzzled by her "Isn't that obvious?" remark, suspecting she might have misunderstood something.
"A lot."
"Would half a bowl be enough?"
The half-bowl of blood Li Weiyi had previously spilled was still there.
"Not nearly enough. Besides your blood, I also want your soul," Qi Shanshan in red said.
Li Weiyi realized she wasn't negotiating at all, but merely toying with him: "Then I want your entire skeleton. Will you give it to me?"
Qi Shanshan's eyes narrowed, radiating a chilling light. She saw no sincerity in Li Weiyi's words. This young descendant of the Ancient Clan was utterly disrespectful, having only just begun his cultivation journey, yet showing her no reverence whatsoever.
It seemed necessary to teach him a lesson now, or else he might enslave her in the future.
She slowly raised her palm, her aura instantly reaching its peak: "Very well. I'll take it myself! Young Li, summon your Guardian Wife. With your current meager cultivation, facing two opponents shouldn't be too difficult."
Li Weiyi grew increasingly confused as she spoke: "Wait a moment," he said, "You seem to have misunderstood something."
"Legend says that disciples of your Ancient Clan are taken by elders to famous mountains, ancient tombs, and ancestral gravesites in infancy to find a Deceased Spirit with a terrifying status in life to become their Guardian Wife, hidden within their bloodline. Is the legend wrong?"
Qi Shanshan in her red robes couldn't understand. She thought Li Weiyi's identity had already been exposed, so there was no need to hide anything.
Li Weiyi suspected a trap.
She was deliberately saying strange things to distract him.
He raised the Yellow Dragon Sword in front of him in a defensive posture, his gaze growing increasingly sharp and focused.
Qi Shanshan in red said no more.
'First, I'll capture him.'
"Whoosh!"
With a whoosh, she transformed into a crimson blur, striking like lightning.
"So fast!"
Even with the scripture belt's enhancement, Li Weiyi's speed still fell short. He had no choice but to retrieve the Black Iron Seal and strike its top with the Yellow Dragon Sword's hilt.
Then, he channeled both cold and hot qi into the seal.
This was a technique he had developed, which amplified its power without harming himself.
"Boom!"
Thunder roared and lightning flashed.
Qi Shanshan in red was forced back, and bolts of electricity struck her.
But her red robes, which had remained unblemished for a thousand years, were clearly extraordinary. The lightning failed to truly harm her.
Seizing this rare opportunity, Li Weiyi pressed his attack, channeling cold and hot qi into his silver silk gloves. Silver light shimmered around his hands, amplifying his strength.
He unleashed over a dozen sword strikes in rapid succession, each one delivered with his full might, carrying the force of an immense weight.
Qi Shanshan in her red robes retreated as she fought, cracks appearing on her arms, blood continuously flowing.
Ultimately, her flesh and skin were merely mortal, unable to withstand such intense clashes.
As the two were locked in fierce combat, unable to stop...
"Clang! Clang!"
A dense, black Nether Mist erupted from the depths, swelling and surging forward like a raging tide.
Within the mist, a dense, rhythmic jingle of camel bells accompanied its advance.
It arrived with terrifying speed.
In less than a breath, the black mist had spread across the sky, its bone-chilling coldness severely limiting visibility.
Li Weiyi and Qi Shanshan in her red robes paled, both sensing the danger and preparing to retreat. But before they could react, the camel bells were already ringing in their ears, their thunderous sound shaking the very ground.
From the Nether Mist, the first Camel Ghost Shadow materialized - a towering, three-to-four-meter-tall specter, half-solid, half-illusory, with a hunched, withered humanoid figure perched atop it.
The humanoid figure brandished a Ghost Banner, unleashing a frigid wave of qi that sent Li Weiyi and Qi Shanshan flying backward like fallen leaves, unable to brace themselves in time.
"Boom! Boom!"
Both crashed to the ground, coughing up blood, their internal organs clearly damaged.
In an instant, Li Weiyi flipped to his feet, sword in one hand and the Black Iron Seal in the other, assuming a defensive stance. He wouldn't give his opponent another chance to strike.
The bell hanging from the Camel Ghost Shadow was utterly bizarre. Each chime triggered a surge of negative emotions within him, a relentless tide of murderous intent that he could only resist by practicing the Jade Void Breathing Method.
Qi Shanshan, in her red robes, was physically weaker than Li Weiyi and suffered even more severe injuries. Her face was deathly pale.
Slowly, she rose to her feet, muttering in a strange language: "When the snipe and clam fight, the fisherman reaps the reward."
"Zen Sea Guanwu, it's been too long, haha!"
The figure riding the Camel, sometimes solid, sometimes ethereal, raised a Ghost Banner and laughed loudly.
First a White Bone Demon, now an even more ferocious Ghost?
Li Weiyi had heard some scientific expedition members claim to have seen a camel caravan enter a tombstone within the Tomb Forest, but he'd dismissed it as exaggeration. Later, he'd faintly heard camel bells several times, but he'd assumed they were hallucinations and hadn't paid much attention.
Only now did he realize how truly wrong those bells were.
Many of the strange events on the ship might have been connected to them.
Li Weiyi gazed at the endless Sea of Tombstones, a deep worry gnawing at him.
What kind of people were buried here?
How many were still clinging to life within their graves?
Qi Shanshan, clad in red, glared coldly: "I never expected you to have a soul fragment lingering in the Evil Camel Bell, clinging to life. The events on the ship were all your doing, weren't they? Using the Evil Camel Bell to bewitch minds, incite slaughter, and gather evil thoughts to strengthen your soul fragment."
"You're mistaken! Evil thoughts originate from within oneself - what does the bell have to do with it? Besides, if I didn't gather evil thoughts to solidify my soul fragment quickly, I wouldn't even be able to escape the Evil Camel Bell."
The gaunt figure on the Camel stopped laughing and continued, "That treasure around his neck - I must obtain that treasure. Out of respect for our past acquaintance, I'll spare your life today. You may leave! You're severely injured; don't make a fatal mistake."
Qi Shanshan straightened her body and laughed: "Do you think you're fooling a three-year-old? Your sneak attack failed to kill us both in one blow, forcing you to split us up. If I left now, I'd be dead for sure."
"Very well. If you seek death, I'll grant your wish."
The Camel charged forward like a galloping horse.
The bell jingled as the gaunt figure swung the Ghost Banner down at her.
Already injured, Qi Shanshan couldn't risk a direct hit. She immediately used her agility to dodge.
Strangely, before the Ghost Banner could land, it changed direction mid-swing, moving even faster toward Li Weiyi on the other side.
He was utterly cunning, his true target from the very beginning had been Li Weiyi.
Li Weiyi had been on guard, and when the Ghost Banner surged forward like a raging storm, he immediately drew his sword.
A contemptuous snort echoed from the Camel's back.
"Hiss!"
Instead of a direct clash, the Yellow Dragon Sword moved like a coiling dragon, sliding along the Ghost Banner's surface, leaving an arc of sparks in its wake.
All the banner's force was deflected.
Li Weiyi had already sidestepped six paces away. With his defenses up, harming him would no longer be so easy.
"Yu Tuonan, you people from Xiao Yao Capital - besides arrogance, what else do you have? With such meager strength, if the two of us joined forces, your mere soul fragment would likely be scattered and annihilated here."
Qi Shanshan's words, spoken in Earth language, were clearly meant for Li Weiyi to hear.
Compared to the White Bone Demon, Li Weiyi now wanted nothing more than to see the figure on the Camel's back utterly destroyed, to eradicate this source of evil.
His resolve burned fiercely.
Enraged, the figure on the Camel's back unleashed an even denser Nether Mist from the Ghost Banner, using the flagpole as a spear to thrust at Li Weiyi's heart.
At that moment, a bizarre scene unfolded before everyone's eyes.
"Whoosh-"
The blood Li Weiyi had spat out earlier began to evaporate, transforming the surroundings into a shallow crimson world of blood mist.
The ground decayed and mildewed inch by inch.
A slender figure in a red wedding gown, her head veiled with coins, stood in the blood mist world, directly in front of the charging Camel.
She raised a jade hand and swept it downward with a forward flourish.
What unsettled Li Weiyi most was that he was simultaneously raising his sword to strike.
Why did it feel as though they had become one?
"Whoosh!"
The half-real, half-illusory Camel was split in two.
With a mournful cry, the gaunt Ghost Shadow and the Ghost Banner he held dissolved into a tide of black Nether Mist that retreated like a flood, vanishing into the deep, vast Tomb Forest.
In a flash, the bride vanished as well!
Appearing from nowhere, disappearing into nothingness.
"What's going on... Guardian Wife?"
Li Weiyi's mind conjured this absurd thought, and he immediately searched for Qi Shanshan in her red wedding gown, only to find she had long since fled without a trace.
Li Weiyi hurried back to the medical tent, fearing she had gone there.
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END OF CHAPTER
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