Chapter 132: A Tragic Life Story

"Master, she is the artifact spirit of this secret realm!" Xiao Yan was suddenly alarmed, hurriedly conveying this information to Qu Yiqiu.

Qu Yiqiu’s expression shifted instantly. Before her, the Ice-Colored Jade Ribbon moved with the agility of a dragon, severing the nine heads of the giant python in an instant. Taking advantage of the moment the python’s heads were regenerating, Qu Yiqiu turned to look at the woman drifting toward her at high speed.

"What is the Dead-Lock Spirit Array?"

Yan Xi’s figure faltered. Seeing the nine tongues that had fallen to the ground, she looked at Qu Yiqiu in astonishment and replied, "The Dead-Lock Spirit Array is the only exit left in this secret realm."

"Master, the aura emitted by this artifact spirit is very strange." Xiao Yan coiled the gray-white chains into his space and slipped into the center of Qu Yiqiu’s brow in a flash.

Yan Xi felt a flash of white light before her eyes, and the gray-white chains that had been bound to the tomb vanished. Suddenly feeling a sense of release, she said in disbelief, "You actually broke the Shackling Demon Chains!"

"So that’s what they’re called—the Shackling Demon Chains. No wonder the baleful energy was so heavy." Qu Yiqiu’s expression remained indifferent, as if the matter were of no consequence.

Yan Xi found her reaction strange. Seeing the nine-headed python revive once more out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly opened her blood-stained mouth and bit down on the giant serpent. Qu Yiqiu was startled by the woman’s sudden transformation, but she soon realized that the woman was no match for the nine-headed python. Within a single breath, the aura radiating from Yan Xi’s body grew noticeably weaker.

Seeing this, Qu Yiqiu immediately cast out the Ice-Colored Jade Ribbon. However, the nine-headed python had already devoured Yan Xi’s power, growing even more formidable. In an instant, a thick, massive tail lunged from behind, shattering the shimmering, iridescent Ice-Colored Jade Ribbon into two pieces.

Qu Yiqiu retreated a few steps, her slender hands turning to recall the two severed pieces of the ribbon into her storage ring.

"This nine-headed python is truly formidable!" Xiao Yan, sitting firmly in the sea of consciousness, remarked in praise.

Qu Yiqiu’s artifact was damaged, and she felt a pain in her divine sense as if pricked by needles. Yet, it lasted only for a moment. She regained her composure and said, "You are right, but why can this artifact spirit not control the nine-headed python herself? Instead, she is the one having her power drained!"

Yan Xi was entangled at the center of the serpent’s heads, her complexion deathly pale. Her body was gradually becoming faint and transparent. Qu Yiqiu exchanged a few quick words with Xiao Yan in her consciousness, then flicked a blinding ball of fire from her palm.

"Clang—"

The sharp, resonant cry of the Dark Purple Phoenix Fire instantly drew the attention of the nine-headed python. Its nine pairs of sinister, cold triangular eyes flickered with the brilliance of the scorching flames.

"Hiss—"

Slender red tongues flicked out from their mouths, suddenly transforming into small snakes that attempted to confront the raging Dark Purple Phoenix Fire. But the outcome was cruel. Before these small snakes could even touch the fire, they were scorched to ash by the intense heat.

A look of disbelief flashed through Yan Xi’s desperate eyes. Immediately after, Qu Yiqiu tapped the tips of her toes and leaped up, looking down at the massive nine-headed python from above. She summoned the two severed pieces of the Ice-Colored Jade Ribbon once more, causing them to transform into streams of colorful spiritual light that shimmered and danced around her.

"Go!"

As her incantation was spoken, countless beams of light from the ribbon solidified into arrows, raining down upon the python’s body. They pierced its clumsy, colossal form, causing it to rear its heads and roar in pain.

Yan Xi seized the opportunity to escape from the entanglement. She stood weakly to the side, looking at the person before her in disbelief. The nine-headed python turned its fury toward Qu Yiqiu, revealing its fangs, which dripped with black, venomous liquid. Qu Yiqiu glanced indifferently at the ground being eroded by the poison; though her heart was ringing with alarm, her expression remained unchanged.

She stood poised in mid-air, palms pressed together, drawing out a dense cluster of five-colored spiritual power. As the python’s attack closed in, Qu Yiqiu struck. The ball of five-colored spiritual energy collided with the nine-headed python, instantly erupting with terrifying force, forcing Yan Xi—who was watching from the side—to retreat several yards. Her eyes widened, unable to believe the scene before her.

"Is she truly at the late stage of Foundation Establishment?"

Qu Yiqiu calmly retracted her palm force, suddenly closing her eyes to meditate on the Ancient Yellow Star Immortal Technique. Yan Xi was extremely nervous; seeing the headless nine-headed python regenerating again, she worriedly asked, "What is she doing now?"

A moment later, Qu Yiqiu opened her eyes. Behind her, the faint image of a divine statue appeared, shifting into a complex, rotating array that emitted innate divine light and flowed with the rhythm of the Dao.

Yan Xi was stunned into speechlessness: "This is... this is...!"

Xiao Yan suddenly stood up from his round eyes, his gaze gleaming as he said, "The Master has awakened the power of space!"

Qu Yiqiu was already immersed in the technique, oblivious to everything else. With her slender hands, she pushed out a palm, like a mountain breeze or a surging tidal wave, directly facing the terrifying, gaping mouth of the nine-headed python. The thick, dripping venom was about to touch her, but it was shattered, along with the very roots of the fangs, by a gentle palm wind that drove the force deep into the python’s body.

In an instant, the heavens changed color, and thunder rumbled. The grass beneath Qu Yiqiu’s feet withered and dried up as if a river had run dry. Divine, multi-colored light surged and rolled within the nine-headed python’s body, the Dao’s rhythm eroding its flesh until it decayed.

A shrill, agonizing scream erupted from the nine-headed python as it thrashed its massive tail, smashing all the grave mounds into dust. Qu Yiqiu had already vanished to a safe distance, watching the python’s death throes with cold eyes, devoid of a shred of pity.

She shifted her gaze to a blood-colored stone coffin exposed beneath the nine-headed python. With a light flick of her sleeve, she opened the lid. The body of a woman, pinned down by red copper nails through her four limbs, chest, and brow, came into view.

Xiao Yan’s expression shifted drastically. "This is the Blood Prohibition Art that refines souls into spirits!"

Even if Qu Yiqiu had never heard of this forbidden art, she could roughly grasp its cruelty. She turned her head toward the stranger beside her, who was lost in a trance. The woman wore a half-smile, tears streaming from her eyes, her arms wrapped around herself as she trembled.

"Refining souls into spirits, sacrificing souls to become artifacts. For all eternity, denied the cycle of reincarnation! Hahaha, hahaha!"

Yan Xi cried and laughed as she roared at the sky, where blood-red clouds churned. Qu Yiqiu felt a tremor in her heart, suddenly overcome with a sense of profound sorrow.

"Zhang Bifu, what a cruel heart you have!" Yan Xi squatted down miserably, her weak, misty form curling into a ball, blood-red tears flowing from her eyes.

Qu Yiqiu had seen many horrific scenes over the past few years and was not frightened by this.

"No wonder I couldn't lock onto her location; it turns out she was a human refined into an artifact spirit by the Blood Prohibition Art," Xiao Yan remarked with a hint of emotion.

Qu Yiqiu was moved by her plight and asked with concern, "The blood prohibition has been broken. Are you free now?"

Yan Xi wiped away her tears, her body flickering unsteadily. She sobbed and knelt on both knees. "Thank you, Fairy, for saving my life. Yan Xi is willing to be your slave for all eternity, and I will never forget your kindness!"