Chapter 66: This… Can Also Be Called Pain?

“Heh…”

“Hehehehe…”

“Haha, hahahahaha!!”

Ning Xuan suddenly laughed wildly, so wildly that tears were streaming down his face.

He only had sixteen breaths of time left.

He had already counted clearly, no more, no less, sixteen breaths.

After sixteen breaths, he would either die or be imprisoned for eighty-four years.

So even though he was laughing wildly, he was also taking action.

His action was to draw his saber.

The Ruyi Saber split, one turned into a thousand, and became a hundred-zhang-long saber. It danced with the movement of his arm. Wherever the saber went, everything was destroyed and razed to the ground.

The huge sound, the shock, and the energy waves were intertwined, and the smoke and dust filled the sky.

The trees and rocks were secondary. His target was… the houses.

All the houses in the village.

He had to do his best to destroy all these houses in sixteen breaths!

Scenes of the past flashed through his mind.

Outside Shanyang Prefecture, outside the Frozen Hell, Tianyouzi was in the sedan chair and did not get off. Except when Immortal Aunt Yaozhen called him, he would only lift the curtain a little and show his appearance. At all other times, he was confined in the cramped carriage, not seeing anyone, not speaking, and even when he used the Heavenly Master’s Seal, it was the same.

In the first of eleven, he was suppressed. Tianyouzi opened the door of a village house and walked in, and he was in there for eighty-four years. A full eighty-four years. Ning Xuan had been listening all along, but he had never heard the sound of Tianyouzi coming out even once. Could this be said that in the nightmare world, Tianyouzi had no secluded carriage, so he began to look for a closed house?

He didn’t die for eighty-four years…

This could only mean that Tianyouzi’s skin was just a skin, and had nothing to do with his real body.

In the second of eleven, he was about to be suppressed. Tianyouzi’s skin was destroyed, but he still stubbornly walked into a closed house and closed the door tightly.

Why?

Ning Xuan didn’t know.

How could he know?

But he knew that in a life-and-death battle, the more the opponent wanted to do, the more he liked to do, the more he could not let him do it.

So, he had to destroy all the houses and caves that could hide people, and do his best to destroy them in these sixteen breaths. In this way… Tianyouzi would have no house to enter.

Then, he had to try and see what would happen if he was suppressed again in this situation.

After all, he had already tried. In the short time from the appearance of the Heavenly Master’s Seal to its descent, even if he destroyed Tianyouzi’s skin, Tianyouzi would not die. If he repeated it over and over again, he would only waste his chances.

The village houses were like building blocks, and were overturned by the giant’s big hand. The rolling smoke, the rumbling sound, the sky and the earth were torn apart. This momentum was even three points worse than an earthquake and a mudslide.

When the sixteen breaths were about to end, there were still some scattered houses in the forest in the distance.

Ning Xuan’s pupils shrank slightly, and he swung the Ruyi Saber. One saber turned into a thousand, and like a meteor shower, it shot out for several li. Each of these fragments contained Ning Xuan’s power, and each one that fell was not a simple slash, but an explosion.

The consumption was great, but the effect was very good.

It was like a large metal seal full of sharp blades and gunpowder smashing into that place.

Boom!!

The last house was also gone.

The dense forest and the houses were all razed to the ground.

Ning Xuan had been controlling his trajectory of action all along. He had circled around in sixteen breaths, and the end of this sixteen-breath trajectory was the place where Tianyouzi had appeared.

When he slashed out the last saber and destroyed the last house regardless of the consumption, he was just standing at the place where Tianyouzi had appeared.

His eyes were red, as if they were about to split. After all, he knew that this time… he was very likely to be suppressed for another eighty-four years.

That kind of pain…

That kind of pain, as long as it could be avoided, even if he had to exchange it for being crushed to pieces, he was willing.

But if he wanted to go back alive, he had to be patient and hold back from going crazy. He was clearly terrified to the extreme, but he still had to maintain the most cruel and sharp calmness to boldly imagine, carefully verify, and step by step… walk on, and live on.

The saber was flying back, and when it was still in mid-air, the pale white sun suddenly disappeared, as if it had been swallowed by some evil and strange ghost beast. The ghost beast then opened its mocking and dark black single eye, and hung high in the sky, turning into a dark… full moon, looking down at the earth.

Ning Xuan’s right hand’s five fingers clenched fiercely, and the green veins bulged. The powerful control over the Ruyi Saber made the broken blades suddenly turn into a cage of stars. The cage was not dense, and there were large gaps between the blades. It was definitely not closed, but a living person would definitely not be able to squeeze out of it.

Then, a middle-aged man with a purple robe, a purple face, and a goatee suddenly appeared in his saber cage.

Tianyouzi looked at Ning Xuan, but did not recognize him.

This was the “root of life and nature,” not an entity with memories.

This was refining the record, not refining a person.

The two “people” looked at each other at close range.

Tianyouzi suddenly spoke.

Except for speaking in the “whisper chain,” he had never spoken. Even when he faced his junior sister Yaozhen who was excitedly shouting “Senior Brother,” he did not speak directly, but responded in the “whisper chain.”

And now, he spoke.

It was like the mechanical voices of men, women, old people, and children mixed together, and then a terrifying voice line formed by screaming and roaring together.

“A mantis… trying to… stop a chariot…”

The man was shouting.

The woman was shouting.

The old man was shouting.

The child was also shouting.

With one mouth, it made the sound of many people shouting.

Ning Xuan finally understood why he did not speak. It turned out that he could not make a normal sound at all.

Then, the corner of Tianyouzi’s purple face suddenly curled up, and it curled up in a creepy way.

He raised his hand and pressed down.

There was no great seal.

At this point, there was no need to pretend.

A dark halo surged from his body, like a mist but not a mist, like a smoke but not a smoke. It was like a giant sea beast in the deep sea abyss suddenly spitting out ink. The ink spread quickly, causing everything in it to begin to decay, wither, and mold.

And in the ink, one after another, dark human figures flew out and crawled out. They ignored Ning Xuan’s saber cage and quickly pounced on Ning Xuan, pressing his feet, hugging his legs, tying his waist, and pressing his shoulders, one after another, one after another, until only Ning Xuan’s eyes could still see outside.

But the eyes were also quickly covered.

This time, he could not move again.

These human figures, which could already be called “ghosts,” had trapped him in layers.

It made him unable to move, unable to speak, and all his power remained the same.

But this time, it was different from the first time.

Because he was not the only one who could not move.

Tianyouzi had trapped him.

He had also trapped Tianyouzi.

If it were in the outside world…

Tianyouzi could completely order the human demons to kill him, but now there were no human demons here.

One day…

Ten days…

Half a month…

On this day, Ning Xuan sensed a cutting touch from his saber cage, and also heard the sharp and sour sound of flesh and bones being cut by a smooth blade.

Swish swish swish…

Creak creak creak…

Tianyouzi came out of the cage.

The way he came out was to cut himself into strips, just like a butcher on a chopping board swinging a bone-chopping knife, and cutting the skin, meat, and big bones into smooth strips with one slash. Even his head was not spared.

But even so, he still had to come out.

Why did he have to come out?

And what happened after he came out?

Ning Xuan didn’t know.

He couldn’t see.

Ning Xuan only knew that Tianyouzi had to go out even if he had to abandon his skin.

But this time, there were no closed houses for Tianyouzi to enter in the mountains and fields. What variables would there be this time?

Maybe there were no variables at all.

And he had to endure eighty-four years in the “embrace” of the ghost tide, unable to live, unable to die.

Half a month, which felt like a year, passed again.

Ning Xuan suddenly found that his body seemed to be “unbound.”

His five fingers moved.

His arms moved.

The ghosts that were pressing on his body were scattering, and then turning into a strange smoke and disappearing. The speed of their disappearance was the same as the speed of their generation.

Soon, Ning Xuan’s body was empty.

Why was it suddenly unlocked?

Ning Xuan was quite glad and also quite curious.

He did not understand the reason, but the only two differences between this time and the first time were: Tianyouzi had no skin, and he could not enter a closed house.

He scanned the surroundings, but did not find Tianyouzi.

While he was observing, he couldn’t wait to twist his neck, stretch his body, jump around, and even do a few push-ups, one-finger handstands, and frog jumps. The movements of his body made him full of happiness.

Then, he raised his hand, and the saber cage “swooshed” back, and once again became the Ruyi Saber in his hand.

The saber was… a hundred zhang long.

He casually swung the hundred-zhang-long saber, and slashed and smashed randomly on the land covered by the black moon.

But, there was nothing.

Tianyouzi had disappeared.

However, he knew that Tianyouzi was still there, because his “Heavenly Demon Record” had not even moved forward a bit, which meant… he had not hurt Tianyouzi at all.

This was a battle that was beyond his comprehension.

He knew that the enemy was Tianyouzi, but he did not know where Tianyouzi was. He did not even know why Tianyouzi suddenly could not use the “Heavenly Master’s Seal” just now.

Ning Xuan stopped swinging his saber.

The entire village in the nightmare world had been chopped to pieces by him, and had become a complete ruin, a ruin where not a single brick, tile, or piece of wood was intact.

He stood on such a ruin, and his body was covered with a faint and transparent film of incense fire.

He looked around vigilantly.

Suddenly, he felt a yin and cold feeling in his ear.

He instantly used the Swallow’s Cry Power, and the power came from his ear and scattered in a square inch.

Bang!

“Aooo~~~”

An explosion, a strange and miserable scream.

Ning Xuan’s gaze swept, and he saw a wisp of thick smoke scattering by his ear. Before the thick smoke scattered, it revealed a terrifying and wooden face.

In an instant, the face was torn to pieces and turned into ashes.

‘Human-headed demon?’

‘No…’

‘This thing is more terrifying than a human-headed demon.’

‘But, no matter how terrifying it is, it was still blown up. Is this Tianyouzi’s new attack method?’

Ning Xuan stood on the ground and waited for a long time, but there was no movement.

But it was obvious that the development of things had now entered a strange and new stage—the second stage.

He sat cross-legged, and the Ruyi Saber turned into a saber cover and covered his body. He circulated his power and closed his eyes to rest.

A day later, a cloud of thick smoke exploded under his nostrils, and it was still that wooden face…

Another day passed, and a cloud of thick smoke exploded in front of his mouth, and it was still that wooden face…

One day, one day, and another day…

A month passed in a flash.

In this month, the strange “enhanced version of the human-headed demon” visited every day.

One month, one month, and another month…

A year later.

There were no new changes.

Ning Xuan still had not found Tianyouzi, and the “enhanced version of the human-headed demon” still visited every day, wanting to possess his body.

This made Ning Xuan unable to help but guess: could this “enhanced version of the human-headed demon” be Tianyouzi’s real body?

If it was…

Then, was Tianyouzi completely unkillable?

He had been killing for a year, and Tianyouzi still appeared every day.

What the hell was this thing?

If not…

Then, where was Tianyouzi?

Because the “enhanced version of the human-headed demon’s” visits were very regular, Ning Xuan even had time to reflect on his own strength.

He spent three months to make his generation of “Swallow’s Cry Crushing Power” and “Swallow’s Tail Cutting Power” more proficient, so proficient that even a single hair could be sent out, but he could not use the power above “two layers of power.”

The move was one layer of power, which was produced by the movement of the body; the flesh and blood was the second layer of power, which was produced by the wriggling of the flesh and blood. These were two different kinds of power.

If you wanted to turn one of the layers into two layers, it was impossible. What you could turn it into was just “two waves,” and the effect of these “two waves of power” was not as strong as the “one layer of power” that you used with all your strength. It was purely flashy.

He tried to improve his constitution again.

He did a lot of training.

But, his body’s constitution had long been developed to the extreme. No matter what he did, his constitution could not be improved by a single bit.

In this way, three years passed in a flash.

On this day, the “enhanced version of the human-headed demon” arrived as scheduled, and once again buzzed and hit the side of Ning Xuan’s ear, creating ripples on the incense fire cover, trying to drill into his body.

Ning Xuan did not use his power to kill it again, because he really could not think of any other way.

Letting this “enhanced version of the human-headed demon” enter his body had become the only choice.

There were no other variables.

If this was not a nightmare world, he would definitely not dare to try and make a mistake like this, but here, as long as he died, he would be reborn and come again.

As this “enhanced version of the human-headed demon” entered his body, Ning Xuan’s consciousness was also pulled into a strange space.

In front of him stood a creepy and wooden-faced giant.

Compared to the giant, he was a child.

This giant was obviously the “enhanced version of the human-headed demon” that had drilled into his body, and this world was the world of the spirit.

The other party was so strong, which meant that the other party’s spirit was very strong.

At this moment, Ning Xuan was basically sure: this was Tianyouzi.

Tianyouzi had no desire to communicate. He suddenly pounced forward, and forcibly pounced on Ning Xuan, and bit Ning Xuan fiercely.

Ning Xuan was pressed down and could not move, but when the other party approached and bit him, he also suddenly twisted his neck and bit back.

This… was the third stage.

The next moment…

Ning Xuan felt that a piece of his memory was lost, and was replaced by a newly added memory: a dark room, a closed window. He ran around in fear, knocking on the walls and the door, but he could not get out. A feeling of fear of being confined was transmitted from that memory.

He savored it and smiled.

This was also called fear?

And Tianyouzi, who had taken a big bite of him, was obviously the same as him. He had lost a piece of memory, and also had an extra memory, a… deep memory.

Tianyouzi froze, and his wooden pupils showed a stunned and dazed look, as if he had just eaten a mouthful of shit, which was extremely difficult to digest. Even if his teeth and appetite were much better than Ning Xuan’s, and his spirit was much stronger than Ning Xuan’s, he still had a hard time digesting it.

Ning Xuan took a bite, and then proudly raised his head, and took another fierce bite.

The new memory rushed in: it was many angry roars. He was pushed into a pig cage. He struggled desperately, shouting “It’s not me, it’s not me,” but no one paid attention to his voice. He entered the pig cage, and soon, a few large stones were thrown into the pig cage, and then the pig cage door was closed. A strong fear of confinement rose from the bottom of his heart.

He savored it again.

This…

Was it okay?

Could it be called fear?

After he had eaten two mouthfuls, he glanced at the Tianyouzi who was pressing on him.

Tianyouzi’s iron-blue face was full of pain and fear, and he was still frozen there.

Ning Xuan began to eat the third mouthful.

The new memory once again made him substitute into it: “plop,” the pig cage was pushed into the water. He paddled his hands desperately, but the heavy stones dragged the pig cage and him down, and he sank to the bottom of the water. The light on the surface of the water was getting farther and farther away, and the water plants at the bottom of the water were twisting and swaying. The dark and confined feeling, along with the pain of drowning, rose up…

This kind of pain and the previous feeling of confinement echoed each other, producing a very strong spiritual impact.

But…

Ning Xuan quickly recovered.

He had already confirmed that Tianyouzi was really a ghost.

And this ghost, Tianyouzi, was possessing him and merging with him.

However, the direction of things seemed a little strange.

Wasn’t it just drowning?

He would die soon.

Was this… really so painful?

This… he had already died a very clean death, okay?

Was the requirement too high?

Ning Xuan could completely accept this way of dying.

Not only could he accept it, but he even began to look forward to it, looking forward to every nightmare being this way of dying. Then… how happy would that be?

Ning Xuan digested Tianyouzi’s memory again.

And after the memory was digested, it would not produce memory interference, but would become a pure spiritual power to make his soul stronger.

In this process of digestion, wisps of black smoke flowed out from Tianyouzi’s body and came towards him. He began to grow bigger, and Tianyouzi began to grow smaller.

Tianyouzi seemed to have noticed that something was wrong, and his face showed more and more pain. It was obvious that Ning Xuan’s memory made it hard for him not to be in pain.

Finally…

When Ning Xuan bit him for the fifth time, Tianyouzi digested the first mouthful.

Then, Tianyouzi fiercely bit down for the second time. He tore off a large piece of memory from Ning Xuan and swallowed it.

Suddenly, Tianyouzi’s expression froze in a rather strange way. He froze there without moving, as if he was enduring something with great difficulty.

After a few breaths, he could not endure it anymore. He suddenly vomited wildly, and vomited out the second mouthful of memory that he had just bitten, and even the first mouthful of memory that he had digested before, and vomited it back onto Ning Xuan’s body.

Ning Xuan immediately felt that his memory had returned.

Tianyouzi quickly let go of his hand, and he wanted to run.

But Ning Xuan did not let go.

Ning Xuan held on tightly, and at the same time, he took the opportunity to take another fierce bite.

Tianyouzi struggled wildly. He was after all spiritually strong, and after using all his strength, he still managed to throw Ning Xuan away.

He fled outside.

He already understood that even if this soul was weaker than him, he could not possess it, because this soul was too strange…

Ding!!

He hit the incense fire shield and was bounced back heavily.

Ning Xuan pounced on him again and began to… gnaw.