Chapter 2271: Chapter 2318: Slaughter

Jiang Fan walked alone into the depths of the Void. His pace was neither fast nor slow, and his expression held neither joy nor sorrow. With every step, fragments of his past flashed through his mind. He remembered being a mute in the past, contrasting with his current status as the Champion Marquis. He recalled living under another’s roof, a far cry from his present fame across the heavens. Everything felt like fleeting clouds and smoke, flashing through his mind like a passing montage before fading away.

Several two-hour periods later.

He stopped and landed on a randomly drifting meteorite, picking a flat rock to sit cross-legged.

"I have not let anyone down in this life. Even if I die, I have no regrets," he murmured to himself. "There are only some people I cannot let go of, and promises left unfulfilled."

He thought of the beautiful faces of the women in his life. He remembered the white-haired Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion Master and the Xingyuan Venerable, whose fate remained unknown. He recalled his promise to marry Yue Mingzhu and the True Word Venerable, thought of the unborn child in Gong Caiyi’s womb whom he had yet to meet, and remembered his wife silently waiting for him in the Hell Realm.

"It seems I have quite a few reasons not to die," Jiang Fan said, a faint smile gracing his lips. "Alright... I will give this battle everything I have!"

He raised his eyes and looked into the depths of the Void. At the far end, a faint crimson hue spread like a ring of fire, igniting the surroundings.

"Oh? I’m surrounded?" Jiang Fan muttered in surprise. "So he’s finally stopped charging straight at me with his spear and resorted to tactics instead?"

The Chaotic Ancient Blood Marquis was now taking Jiang Fan seriously as an opponent, no longer treating him as easy prey to be casually slaughtered.

With a faint smile, Jiang Fan closed his eyes. The crimson ring of fire encompassing the world grew brighter, gradually turning a deep blood-red. Churning waves of the Blood Sea surged forward with a heaven-devouring momentum.

Not long after.

The Blood Sea arrived before him. Heaven and earth were dyed entirely red, obscuring all directions. Bathed in the crimson glow, even Jiang Fan, dressed in his black robes, looked like a man drenched in blood. The monstrous Blood Sea whipped up towering waves that crashed down, threatening to swallow him whole.

Jiang Fan slowly opened his eyes and lightly tapped his toe. A time-freezing ripple surged outward like an opposing tide, instantly plunging the world into temporal stasis. The world-destroying Blood Sea froze in an instant, completely motionless. Even the dust and debris swirling in the Void became as still as a painting.

However, the crisp sound of hooves echoed unaffected through this time-frozen world.

Focusing his gaze, Jiang Fan saw a White Bone Warhorse treading over the towering Blood Sea. Wherever it passed, the frozen blood resumed its motion, gathering beneath the steed to reform into a small blood moon. As the bloody water continued to converge, the moon rapidly expanded, ultimately transforming into an unprecedentedly massive blood moon. Within it, countless corpses and bones could be faintly seen tumbling about.

The warhorse unhurriedly trod upon the waves. The Chaotic Ancient Blood Marquis sat as unmoving as a mountain, his cold eyes looking down at Jiang Fan. "They died because of you. Do you feel guilty?"

In his relentless pursuit of Jiang Fan, the Chaotic Ancient Blood Marquis had slaughtered untold numbers of worlds and living beings.

Jiang Fan chuckled. "You’ve changed. The old you would have just attacked with your spear without a word.

"To think you’re actually playing mind games this time.

"But it won’t work on me.

"Even if you didn’t kill for me today, you would kill for someone else. I won’t take the blame for your slaughter."

The Chaotic Ancient Blood Marquis slowly raised his spear and pointed it at Jiang Fan. "Stand up and accept your death."

He didn’t believe Jiang Fan had given up on surviving. After dealing with him for so long, he understood the man’s sheer tenacity all too well. Even if there was only a one-in-ten-thousand chance, Jiang Fan would never resign himself to fate.

"It’s hard to say who will die today," Jiang Fan said evenly.

CLANG! The Nine Dragon Demon Tripod appeared before him, and its lid burst open. Countless Fire Bees swarmed out with a deafening BUZZ, forming a dense black cloud. Immediately after, Jiang Fan waved the Light God Command Banner, drawing all the surrounding light to converge solely on the Chaotic Ancient Blood Marquis. Other than him, the surroundings were plunged into an impenetrable, pitch-black darkness.

Seeing this, the Fire Bees surged forward in a frenzy!

These were the mysterious Fire Bees that had struck terror into the hearts of the Bone Struggle Sage and his two companions. The flames within their bodies could melt right through the physique of a Three Calamities Realm expert! Finding the surroundings completely devoid of light save for the radiance emitting from the Chaotic Ancient Blood Marquis, they swarmed out of their nest and lunged at him.

The Chaotic Ancient Blood Marquis’s eyes remained completely unfazed. "Heaven-Stealing Fire Bees. The legendary bees cultivated by the Imperial Family of the Daqian Divine Kingdom.

"To think they haven’t gone extinct even after ten thousand years.

"But is this the extent of your tricks?

"How disappointing."

With a swing of his spear, the Chaotic Ancient Blood Marquis unleashed a terrifying Qi Force that pierced through the surrounding darkness, shattering the concentrated light around his body. Under the might of that single strike, the vast majority of the diving Heaven-Stealing Fire Bees were instantly reduced to blood mist, splattering in all directions. A few splashed onto his dark armor, but they only managed to leave behind faint scorch marks.

In the end, only a handful of Fire Bees fled back in panic, diving into the Nine Dragon Demon Tripod.

However, the moment the Chaotic Ancient Blood Marquis shattered the darkness, a tiny, fiery-red Fire Bird also shot out from the shadows. It was the wisp of Holy Fire given to Jiang Fan by Du Xiyuan—a Pill Furnace flame originating from the era of the Daqian Divine Kingdom. Its temperature was absolutely terrifying!

This strike was timed with impeccable precision, launching right as the Chaotic Ancient Blood Marquis dispersed the Fire Bees and was unable to unleash a second attack!

Rather than being angered, the Chaotic Ancient Blood Marquis laughed. "Now this is more interesting!"

His warhorse reared its hooves. The massive blood moon below instantly transformed into a giant hand, snatching the tiny Fire Bird in its grasp.

SIZZLE—

A hole was melted right through the giant hand of the Blood Sea, but the Fire Bird was ultimately snuffed out by the churning mass of flesh and blood.

Meanwhile.

Without missing a beat, the giant hand slapped down toward Jiang Fan. The attack was so vicious and fast that Jiang Fan didn’t even have time to react before he was caught in its grip!

A sharp glint flashed in the Chaotic Ancient Blood Marquis’s eyes. Seizing the opportunity while Jiang Fan was trapped, he hurled his raised Blood Spear straight into the giant hand.

BOOM—

Heaven and earth quaked violently, and the entire Void trembled under the might of the spear. The impact shattered the giant hand into a sky full of blood mist, while the long spear shot with unerring accuracy toward Jiang Fan trapped within!

However, Jiang Fan, who had been sitting cross-legged, was now standing. Eighteen black Array Stones spun continuously in front of him, and a nine-colored Dragon Ball hovered ahead, flawlessly blocking the Blood Spear.

The scene outside the Martial Vault was replaying itself once more.

The Chaotic Ancient Blood Marquis sneered in contempt. "Would this Marquis make the same mistake twice?"

RIP—

It was as if the Chaotic Ancient Blood Marquis had already anticipated Jiang Fan’s defense. Just as the Blood Spear was about to strike the Dragon Ball, the spearhead suddenly flicked to the side. It brushed past the Dragon Ball and pierced through time itself, denying Jiang Fan any chance to react as it impaled his body on the spot.

POOF—

In an instant, Jiang Fan’s body dissolved into a drifting mist of blood, leaving only the eighteen Array Stones floating scattered in the Void.

The Chaotic Ancient Blood Marquis frowned and wondered, "Did he die just like that?"

He felt that something was wrong. Jiang Fan had yet to use those two most terrifying Life-taking Boundary Artifacts. But if the person he had just skewered wasn’t Jiang Fan, then who was it?

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