Chapter 1163: Self-Inflicted Suffering

"Pfft..."

Blood splattered, covering Zhou Jia's face.

The scalding blood jolted him awake, snapping him back to reality.

His eyes bulged wide, still unable to believe what he was seeing.

Xue Yu, as powerful as he was, was taken down in a single encounter?

Just moments ago, they had been gloating, and Xue Yu had said he could handle it.

But now, what was this?

"Li'er! Where is Li'er!"

Ye Yuan's icy voice pierced his ears, making Zhou Jia shudder again.

Once upon a time, he thought that by breaking through to Void Profound, he could finally make Haori City dominate the region.

Yet now, before Ye Yuan, he was still as weak as a toddler learning to walk.

"Whoosh!"

The moment Zhou Jia hesitated, Ye Yuan vanished.

Before he could react, blood splattered on the walls of Mingyue City!

"Ah!"

A scream rang out.

With Xue Yu dead, everyone fled in all directions.

When Zhou Jia came to his senses, every hair on his body stood on end.

"Yan'er!" Zhou Jia felt as if his entire being had been drained, shouting hoarsely.

The one watching from the city wall was none other than his son, Zhou Yan, the divine domain prodigy who once trampled Ye Yuan underfoot!

And now, he had finally died by Ye Yuan's sword.

Zhou Yan thought he was well hidden, but under Ye Yuan's perception, nothing could escape.

And now, Ye Yuan was nothing but a killing machine, acting purely on instinct.

His last shred of reason told him that Zhou Jia, the instigator of this war, should know where Li'er was.

Perhaps Li'er was not dead yet.

But these were all subconscious thoughts.

So, he instinctively killed Zhou Yan, thinking it would frighten Zhou Jia into telling the truth, completely unaware of the relationship between Zhou Yan and Zhou Jia.

In Ye Yuan's eyes at that moment, Zhou Yan was nothing but an ant.

An ant crushed underfoot!

Back when Zhou Yan descended upon the Boundless Realm, he had repeatedly called Ye Yuan an ant.

He must never have imagined that he would be crushed like an ant by Ye Yuan today.

So casually.

Of course, Ye Yuan was completely oblivious. He moved and returned to stand before Zhou Jia.

"Tell me, where is Li'er!" Ye Yuan asked coldly again.

"Li'er? You mean Li'er? Hahaha... That ungrateful wench is dead as dead can be! Yan'er had feelings for her, yet she was indifferent! Before she died, she was even..."

Zhou Jia's voice cut off abruptly; he could no longer speak.

With Zhou Yan dead, Zhou Jia had nothing left to live for, and he fell completely into madness.

Since Ye Yuan had already fallen to demonic influence, let him fall completely!

Zhou Jia knew that his words would be the final straw that broke Ye Yuan!

From then on, the genius Ji Qingyun would be reduced to a killing machine.

Even more bloodthirsty and savage than the demons.

Before dying, a cold smirk flickered at the corner of Zhou Jia's mouth—a smirk of a successful scheme!

"Ah...!"

A狂暴 killing intent, nearly solid, surged into the sky like a massive storm.

Ye Yuan... was completely degenerating into a demon!

At that moment, a figure in green appeared.

"Young master!" Lü'er's voice was filled with deep concern.

Ye Yuan spun around abruptly, his eyes filled with icy killing intent!

Those bloodshot eyes were utterly foreign to Lü'er.

Was this... still the gentle and considerate young master?

"Young master, wake up, please!" Lü'er said, tears in her eyes.

Facing Lü'er, Ye Yuan surprisingly did not kill her outright!

He was now at the critical point of falling to demonic influence, with only a last shred of reason deep in his heart.

Lü'er was the one Ye Yuan had always cherished most.

Protecting her was almost instinctive for Ye Yuan.

So, he did not strike.

Yet the nearly tangible killing intent made it almost impossible for Lü'er to breathe.

"Whoosh!"

Ye Yuan vanished, and the next moment, the Exorcism Sword was at Lü'er's throat.

"Drip!"

A drop of blood oozed from Lü'er's fair skin, trickling down the Exorcism Sword.

On Ye Yuan's ferocious face, a look of struggle appeared.

Clearly, his instinct was battling the inner demon.

If the Exorcism Sword advanced another inch, Lü'er would meet her end!

Time passed second by second, yet seemed frozen.

But on Lü'er's face, there was not a trace of fear.

From start to finish, her gaze never left Ye Yuan's face.

She trusted her young master; she believed Ye Yuan would not kill her.

Even if Ye Yuan had fallen to demonic influence!

"Young master, it's me, Lü'er!"

"Young master, do you remember teaching me the 'Heavenly Illusion Ice Soul'?"

"Young master, do you remember when you killed Lin Tiancheng and traversed the Nine Heavens Path to save me?"

...

Lü'er recounted the past, hoping to bring back Ye Yuan's reason.

Her delicate neck kept rubbing against the Exorcism Sword, and more blood flowed out.

Yet she seemed oblivious.

"Young master, how could you be so foolish! Their attack on Mingyue City was definitely aimed at you! If they really caught Sister Li'er, how could they not use her against you? Without seeing Sister Li'er with your own eyes, how can you be sure she's dead? If she's fine, and you fall to demonic influence, wouldn't she be heartbroken?"

"Young master, you have more people who care about you than just Sister Li'er. Me, Grandpa Longteng, Ao Qian, Jiang Taicang... We all care about you deeply. You... can't let yourself degenerate like this!"

...

Each word struck Ye Yuan's heart.

The instinct to kill and his true self clashed fiercely.

Gradually, the surging killing intent finally began to subside.

And the bloodshot hue in Ye Yuan's eyes slowly faded.

"Lü... Lü'er?" Ye Yuan called out hoarsely.

Seeing her young master finally regain his senses, Lü'er's tears flowed like a spring.

"Young... young master, you... you've come back to your senses!"

"I... what happened to me just now?"

Ye Yuan suddenly realized that his sword was pressed against Lü'er's throat.

Lü'er's throat was already bleeding profusely from the sword's edge.

This shock was no small matter.

He shuddered and finally woke up completely.

"Young master, you... you just now..."

Before Lü'er could finish, her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed.

Startled, Ye Yuan quickly caught her.

The distance between Lü'er and Ye Yuan was no more than the length of a sword.

Lü'er had borne the full brunt of Ye Yuan's Great Perfection Killing Intent.

Such a level of killing intent would be unbearable even for a Divine King.

How could Lü'er withstand such a fierce killing intent at such close range?

Until now, she had held on purely by sheer will. If not for her young master, she would have collapsed long ago.