Chapter 76: Coffin of Netherbloom Virgin

Chapter 76 - Coffin of Netherbloom Virgin The torment was unbearable—an excruciating blend of pain and itch, a near-supreme torture that stretched endlessly. Lordi Payne could only muster screams in his mind. His voice splintered, cracking like dried bone. Each desperate wail scraped his vocal cords thinner, until the sound was no longer human—just a jagged rasp, the death rattle of a broken instrument. Oxygen-starved, Lordi Payne's vision pulsed with encroaching darkness. His throat and gut burned with agony, yet itched maddeningly—worse than pure pain. The relentless tickle deep in his trachea was like countless spider legs tap-dancing on raw nerves. Then, suddenly—silence. The numbness, the itching, the pain—all vanished. In its place, an unprecedented ease washed over him. It was as if he had plunged into a cool spring, every inch of his body bathed in the soothing relief of a long journey's end. "Junior Brother Payne has reached the sixth layer of the Qi Refinement Stage!" Nearby, Fang Jit observed with surprise. "The Ice Pith Fire truly lives up to its name as an eighth-tier Dao Flame! Its boosting effect is remarkable." Oen Shinae allowed herself a faint smile. But then— A sudden blue flash erupted from Lordi Payne's body. The azure glow, which had just faded, reappeared—this time thinner than before. Yet in an instant, it surged, engulfing him in merciless flames. Oen Shinae's breath caught. This was the final stage of Pyro Fusion Art—the expulsion of excess Dao Flame that the body couldn't contain. This was the last step of the Pyro Fusion Art, and under normal circumstances, the easiest to pass. For cultivators with high cultivation bases or robust physiques, the entire Dao Flame fusion process would end here, with full absorption. But Lordi Payne's cultivation was too low, and the Ice Pith Fire's potency too great. Even after Oen Shinae had weakened the Ice Pith Fire repeatedly, his fifth-layer Qi Refinement body couldn't fully absorb it. The overflow—far more than anticipated—now raged against him in a final, defiant assault. If he failed to endure, the consequence was clear: he would be reduced to ashes. Oen Shinae watched as her junior brother stood unwavering within the flames, his cultivation unbroken. Suppressing a flicker of admiration, she gave a curt nod of complement and was about to order Fang Jit to begin restorative treatments— When, in a blur of motion, a phantom-like figure materialized beside Sharky Ink. "Bloodline Lord Miu?!" Sharky Ink, still gagged by the bone chain, nearly wept with relief at the sight of the towering, long-haired figure clad in indigo robes. He had hoped the Wraithbone Bloodline would send aid—but never in his wildest dreams had he expected Miu Tyanh himself to appear. Yet the Bloodline Lord paid him no mind. Instead, his sharp gaze locked onto the Siege Array, his expression darkening. "The Ice Pith Fire... is truly being absorbed by this brat?" Though Miu Tyanh had received Sharky Ink's earlier message—"Kinson Wexford aims to seize the Ice Pith Fire for Lordi Payne."—he had dismissed it as trap deception. A mere fourth-layer Qi Refinement cultivator, fusing with an eighth-tier Dao Flame? Impossible. Wait— "What!" Miu Tyanh's eyes widened in shock. "Sixth-layer Qi Refinement?! Already?!" "Who's there?!" At this moment, Oen Shinae glimpsed the intruder suddenly appeared beside Sharky Ink, heart lurching, she was shocked. With a flick of her wrist, she spelled the Bone Bloom Curse once binding Sharky Ink. The chains slithered free, morphing into a storm of spiking bones, lashing toward Miu Tyanh with lethal intent. Miu Tyanh snapped back, head tilting. The Bloodline Lord didn't flinch. A crimson gleam flickered in his eyes— CRACK! Like thunder striking iron, the bone chains convulsed, then collapsing uselessly before snaking back onto Sharky Ink's body. At the same moment, inside the siege array— Oen Shinae's vision swam black. A choked gasp escaped her as she spat a mouthful of dark blood. "Senior Sister?!" Fang Jit jolted, his focus snapping away from Lordi Payne's cultivation. When he turned, his blood ran cold, eyes widening in horror. "Bloodline Lord Miu?!" Oen Shinae wiped black blood from her lips, her face a death-mask, the last shred of color leached from her ghostly pallor. She rammed her bone dagger back into the trembling black coffin, her hand clenching chains that rattled like a hangman's noose. "One of the thirteen Bloodline Lords, Miu Tyanh, stooping to snatch the Ice Pith Fire from us mere inner sect disciples?" Her voice rasped, low like grinding stone. "Pretty fucking low, don't you think?" As Oen Shinae spoke, her mind flicked an urgent voice transmission to Fang Jit: "I'll hold him for a while—take Junior Brother Payne and run!" "..." Fang Jit's eyes flickered when he heard this, but he didn't answer it immediately. Oen Shinae had no time to notice his hesitation. Her glare locked on Miu Tyanh, unyielding. The black coffin at her back shuddered violently, chains slithering like awakened serpents. Something inside thrashed against the lid. "Oen Shinae," Miu Tyanh's voice slithered, cold as the mire's frost, his stare a blade of disdain. He didn't budge, just sneered. "Your Coffin of Netherbloom Virgin hasn't completed five zodiac cycles of nourishment. Open it now, and your twin sister's soul might just claw you out of your own skin someday. You'd gamble your life, your future, for this outer sect trash?" "Bloodline Lord Miu, save your words." Oen Shinae snorted coldly. With a deafening BAM, the black coffin tore free, slamming into the muck heavily before her. Corpse qi billowed out in a rancid, gray shroud that choked the air. At the same time, countless bone chains erupted from the earth and surging and spiking towards Miu Tyanh frantically. "I, Oen Shinae, always keep my words! Death won't make me flinch!" To everyone's shock, Oen Shinae—a mere Mid-Phase Foundation Stage cultivator—took the initiative to attack, hurling herself at a Bloodline Lord with reckless fury. Mid-charge, she shot Fang Jit another desperate voice transmission: "Run—NOW!" Fang Jit's face twisted, a kaleidoscope of doubt and dread. He glanced at Lordi Payne—flesh seared to a charred, reeking ruin by the Dao Flame—then at Miu Tyanh, a towering figure radiating cold, unshakable might. His jaw clenched, resolve hardening into something dark. His hand snapped up, flinging a salvo of golden needles—their tips gleaming a sickly green, dripping with venom— —they flew true with determined fierce. Straight for Oen Shinae's spine. In a heartbeat, the air turned traitor. The betrayal struck like a blade through the dark. Lordi Payne, still locked in the throes of AllFullOS system-bound cultivation, felt his eyes nearly burst from their sockets. Even Sharky Ink, bound and gagged outside the siege array, jolted in his chains, let out a muffled cry of shock. Shock slammed into Oen Shinae, but her icy calm held—a predator's poise amidst the storm. The bone chains sprouting from her flesh quivered, then erupted in a savage flare—like a peacock's tail forged of jagged ivory. They fanned behind her with a deafening crack, slashing the air, swatting Fang Jit's venom-tipped golden needles into the mire's muck with a hiss of shattered metal. She whipped around, eyes blazing with frostbitten fury, teeth bared in a snarl. "Fang! Jit!" Fang Jit met her gaze without remorse, he smirked, unshaken, his gaze cold and unrepentant. "Don't pin this on me, Senior Sister. Kinson Wexford's a biased fool, and you're his blind lapdog—but I see clear as fucking day." A shrug, casual as a man discussing the weather. "If it were just Wraithbone Bloodline lackeys, I'd stand with you. But against Bloodline Lord Miu Tyanh?" His laugh was a razor dragged over bone. "Even Kinson Wexford himself would crumple here. I'm not choosing the winning side like a traitor. I'm just merely ditching the shadows for the light." "Bloodline Lord Miu, your honor!" Fang Jit's boots thudded toward Lordi Payne as he spoke, voice slick with calculated respect. "Your quarrel with Kinson Wexford got nothing on me. Your brother's death? Nothing to do with me either. Now I pledge your mercy. If I hand over Lordi Payne, could you spare this humble junior's life?" Miu Tyanh could've slaughtered them all with a thought. His power eclipsed theirs like a tsunami over pebbles. But death was too kind for Lordi Payne. His brother, Toanh, had died screaming. He would choke Lordi Payne with betrayal's bile—witness every ally turn knives, every hope rot—then flay him slow with venom and steel, before the real torment began. Miu Tyanh determined each torment on Lordi Payne a hymn to vengeance. "Good." A sneer split Miu Tyanh's lips, and he clapped—slow, mocking. "Well played. Toss Lordi Payne over here, and you're free—scurry off while you can." Fang Jit's face lit with a glee, triumph curling his lips, his hand clawing toward Lordi Payne. "Bloodline Lord Miu, rest assured—" CRACK! His words choked off as the earth ruptured beneath him. Bone chains—jagged and slick with corpse qi—exploded upward, lancing toward for his chest like spears of ivory. Fang Jit twisted, barely dodging, the tips grazing his robe with a hiss of deathly frost. "What the fuck—Senior Sister?!" His voice cracked, shock morphing into a snarl as his face darkened. "Look! I'm touched, really! I admire your loyalty to the Deathveil Bloodline, but must you drag me to the grave with you? Can't you let me fucking live?" Oen Shinae didn't spare him a glance. Her will was iron, her focus a blade. The next instant, dozens of bone chains surged from the mire, a writhing cage of ivory spines that encircled Lordi Payne—fencing him in, shielding him with a skeletal embrace. Her stance screamed defiance: as long as she drew breath, Fang Jit wouldn't peddle Lordi Payne's life for his own skin. Fang Jit's jaw tightened. He knew this stubborn bitch—Oen Shinae's resolve was a wall no plea could crack. A faint black qi slithered over his face, his palms darkening to an inky black within a heartbeat. He and Sharky Ink had cowered under her shadow too long, fear choking any spark of rebellion. But now? With Miu Tyanh towering beside him, a Bloodline Lord's might fanning his spine, fear morphed into fury courage, as Fang Jit roared! "Five Poison Palm Art!" He struck the bone chains with a force that should've shattered boulders. The torrent of venomous Qi and power crashing against the chains with a thunderous— CLANG! However, to Fang Jit's surprise, the bone chains didn't shiver a bit. As for the poison in the palm art? Oen Shinae's natural constitue is odd special. Although she is not immune to all type of poison, the venom bites from Fang Jit's cultivation level has no effect on her at all. Seeing this, Fang Jit's sweat turned icy. "No—this wasn't part of the plan." Miu Tyanh, patience frayed, had no taste for Fang Jit's dance. With a sneer, he swung a fist—casual as a man swatting a fly—yet the air screamed as his punch connected with the siege array. With heart-ghoul whispers, the entire Siege Array trembled. KRKKK— Next moment, the barrier of the formation exploded like glass under a hammer! BOOM! SHATTER! Before the shards hit the ground, the mire under Miu Tyanh's boots quaked under his charge, the surrounding swamp splashing tower high. Miu Tyanh vanished—then reappearing beside Oen Shinae in an instant as lightning-wreathed his blurring phantom, his strike aimed to pulp her skull. Sharky Ink and Fang Jit grinned like starving jackals, delight sparking in their eyes.