Jun Moxie instantly realized: Could what I’ve been lacking be this very medium?!

The look Jun Moxie gave Zhan Kuang was akin to Zhu Bajie gazing upon the Ginseng Fruit. This gaze made even the Fourteenth Young Master of the Nine Nethers feel goosebumps erupt across his skin...

Too intimate, wasn't it?

However, Jun Moxie dared not act rashly.

After all, Zhan Kuang’s soul still resided within this form! If he brought the entire entity into the Hongjun Pagoda, who knew what unforeseen consequences might arise. This fellow was a textbook agent of chaos...

Better to proceed with caution.

But precisely how to be cautious, and how to separate the two entities?

Jun Moxie furrowed his brow, watching the smoke in mid-air, continuously pondering. How exactly could he extricate that soul?

Seeing Zhan Kuang’s body slowly reforming in the air, clearly about to coalesce into a human shape again, Jun Moxie suddenly steeled his resolve, flickered, and vanished. He disappeared so swiftly that even the Blood of Yan Huang didn't have time to be recalled, still swimming about outside.

The Fourteenth Young Master of the Nine Nethers and Gu Han stared wide-eyed, unsure what Young Master Jun was up to. Had the brat fled in fear because the thing looked too monstrous? Surely not?!

In the next instant, a sheet of mist abruptly materialized in the air, spreading across an area spanning more than ten zhang, then gradually condensing, completely enveloping the mass of cyan smoke that Zhan Kuang had formed. It then transformed into water droplets and rapidly froze over.

Yet, the cyan smoke did not change despite the shift in ambient temperature; it continued to churn and float within the ice, seemingly unaffected.

Jun Moxie’s body reappeared. He pointed a finger, and a blast of extreme cold shot forth from his fingertip. Right before the dumbfounded eyes of the Fourteenth Young Master of the Nine Nethers and Gu Han, the previously formed block of ice transformed from ordinary ice into solid ice in the blink of an eye, and then, after a mere blink, it had turned into Profound Ice!

The Fourteenth Young Master of the Nine Nethers had never witnessed such a shocking transformation and instinctively rubbed his eyes! He couldn't quite believe what he was seeing, but when he reopened his eyes, he couldn't help but gasp in astonishment again.

Because the Profound Ice before him no longer existed; the Profound Ice had become Ice Marrow!

Ice Marrow!

It was actually Ice Marrow?!

The Fourteenth Young Master of the Nine Nethers felt like he was about to faint!

This miraculous treasure, sought for a hundred lifetimes and rarely seen through ages, was forming right before his eyes so easily?

And formed by human hands, in an instant!

The Fourteenth Young Master of the Nine Nethers certainly didn't know that at this moment, Jun Moxie had once again activated the power of the Hongjun Pagoda! To condense water into Ice Marrow instantaneously—relying solely on his own power, it would be impossible even if he died trying!

The Ice Marrow before them was entirely transparent. Although the cyan smoke within it could still move slightly, and even a small portion had successfully drifted out, it was evident that its movement had slowed considerably under the extreme cold emitted by the Ice Marrow.

Jun Moxie summoned with a wave, and the Blood of Yan Huang, shimmering with an icy glint, came into his hand. Jun Moxie did not hesitate, nor did he delay. Just as the cyan smoke paused slightly, he instantly poured his entire spiritual energy into the Blood of Yan Huang, raised his long sword high, and brought it down in a single slash!

The sound of wind and thunder erupted! This sword strike launched at such close range possessed a might as devastating as collapsing heaven and splitting earth!

Jun Moxie’s target was one corner of the block of Ice Marrow before him.

The faint cyan vapor contained within this corner was meager, accounting for no more than one-twentieth of the total volume!

With a swish, the blade made undeniable, direct contact with the Ice Marrow, instantly erupting in a strange, multicolored radiance in the air—yet producing not a single sound. That targeted piece of Ice Marrow chipped off and fell.

Inside the severed piece of Ice Marrow, the extremely small amount of cyan smoke emitted a strange hissing cry, and a thread of white light instantly shot out; behind it, the bit of cyan mist imprisoned within the larger block of Ice Marrow seemed to struggle desperately to flee outwards.

Jun Moxie casually pointed, and the Blood of Yan Huang swished as it struck that faint white light; simultaneously, Jun Moxie waved his hand, and the piece of Ice Marrow he had just cleaved off vanished completely in the blink of an eye, collected by Young Master Jun into the world of the Hongjun Pagoda.

As for that thread of white light, the moment it was struck by the Blood of Yan Huang, it let out a scream so close to silence yet so profoundly soul-shattering. In an instant, it split into three segments. Two segments desperately tore away from the sword tip, while the final segment, only just touching the blade’s tip, caused the Blood of Yan Huang's body to suddenly blaze with light, instantly devouring all traces of that tiny white spot!

The cyan smoke imprisoned within the larger block of Ice Marrow, along with the smoke outside, churned violently at the same time. Then, a terrifyingly high-pitched shriek trembled forth. With a bang, the large block of Ice Marrow was forcibly blasted apart. A plume of cyan smoke gathered together with a speed utterly different from before—swift as lightning and impossible to intercept. Then, with a piercing screech, it shot into the air and fled!

Before anyone could blink, this streak of cyan light vanished into the horizon!

Its momentum was like lightning; even the Fourteenth Young Master of the Nine Nethers and Jun Moxie didn't have time to stop it!

As the three stood staring at each other in bewilderment, the Blood of Yan Huang’s blade suddenly erupted with an unusual light, so dazzling that it nearly forced the three of them to shut their eyes. It then let out a sword cry filled with evident pain, and the entire body of the sword suddenly began to tremble!

That small point of light just now, though seemingly minute, was in fact a fractional point of Zhan Kuang’s entire soul. His soul was scattered and hidden within all the Nine Illusory Flowing Sands; once frozen by the extreme cold, it naturally dispersed everywhere.

The sword strike Jun Moxie had risked just now had precisely exploited the brief moment when the soul consciousness couldn't retract due to the instantaneous sealing by the Ice Marrow—a perfect strike.

Ultimately, it managed to forcibly cleave off a small portion of Zhan Kuang’s soul from the whole!

And the attack of the Blood of Yan Huang had hit the crucial point!

It accurately intercepted that tiny piece of Zhan Kuang’s soul and immediately began to devour it, thoroughly cutting off any chance of escape!

But Zhan Kuang, the Half-Saint, possessed a formidable soul. The instant he sensed mortal danger, he decisively adopted the method of soul combustion, spurring all his residual potential to blast open the Ice Marrow and flee for his life.

Although the Blood of Yan Huang had only devoured less than one percent of his soul just now, this injury was permanent for Zhan Kuang! While Zhan Kuang could temporarily escape with lightning speed, once the power stimulated by this secret art faded, he would plummet, and his strength would regress significantly!

“Now that he’s gone, who knows when we’ll get another chance to corner him!” Gu Han sighed, “If he manages to absorb too much vital essence and blood, regenerating his human organs and restoring himself to complete normalcy, then Zhan Kuang’s strength could return to his absolute peak across all his lifetimes! By then... the continent will plunge into crisis again, perhaps even more severe than the one we face now...”

The Fourteenth Young Master of the Nine Nethers nodded in deep agreement.

Jun Moxie’s mood also grew heavy. “No matter what, we can only take things one step at a time. Dealing with the current great battle must be the priority; future matters can be settled in the future!”

Yet, he secretly mused: With his soul incomplete now, could he truly recover to his peak?

Gu Han and the other sighed simultaneously, conceding that it seemed so!

Inside the Hongjun Pagoda, Jun Moxie had just tossed the entire block of Ice Marrow into the sixth layer. It was now undergoing slow decomposition...

Within the Hongjun Pagoda, countless wisps of Primordial Chaos Qi churned, surrounding it. Following Jun Moxie’s will, they were gradually decomposing the Ice Marrow bit by bit. Furthermore, the Primordial Chaos Qi was continuously infiltrating the smoke mass...

Jun Moxie waited, filled with anticipation: Could the Hongjun Pagoda truly restore this small patch of cyan smoke back to its original form as Nine Illusory Flowing Sand?

(I really can’t write anymore today... My nerves have been stretched tight continuously these past few days; I haven't relaxed at all. Since starting to make up for arrears, it’s been nearly a month of continuous explosive output... Thanks to the brothers for your support. Thank you for all the monthly passes and recommendation tickets, and thanks to brothers like Ironclad Feng Huo, Young Master Fei Fei, and others for your generous rewards! Thank you all; you let me know that I am not alone!)