Chapter 598: You Want to Save, Then Save

The Golden Armored Warrior's departure was quite impactful; his single step made the ground tremble slightly. Only after the warrior left did Ji Yuan suddenly realize something, gently shaking his head and patting his forehead. Ji Yuan had forgotten to specify who Wei Xuan was. However, judging solely by the evil aura, there shouldn't be any mistake. Besides, the little paper crane had already flown out, and Ji Yuan planned to confirm with a quick glance at the sky that the little fellow was indeed with Wei Xuan, so he stopped worrying.

Ji Yuan's gaze returned to the area around the house. Apart from the immobilized Wei family members, only Wei Ming was exempt from the immobilization spell. He knelt on the ground, his face pale. Judging by the several knee prints on the ground, this person had likely tried to stand up and escape multiple times when Ji Yuan seemed momentarily distracted, but he had managed to restrain himself.

"Immortal Master, have mercy! From the very beginning, I, Wei Ming, opposed exchanging our Wei family's precious Heavenly Book for that demon's peerless cultivation method. I also opposed practicing such an evil art... That demon was indeed deceiving people again, claiming that our Wei family's own arrogance led to its downfall and that the Immortal Master would not return to the Wei family. Fortunately, you have come, Immortal Master. Please see the truth of my words!"

Ji Yuan said nothing, walking step by step to Wei Ming and speaking to him in a calm tone.

"Since you claim to have a good heart, I can believe you..."

Wei Ming was ecstatic internally, and a grateful expression appeared on his face. He was about to express his thanks when Ji Yuan continued.

"However, given the state of your body, the refining process has gone too far to reverse. I can believe that your heart leans towards goodness, so perhaps you can also trust me. Allow me to incinerate your physical body with true fire; perhaps I can still save your soul, allowing you to live on in the underworld."

Wei Ming's scalp tingled, and he stared blankly at Ji Yuan, speechless for a long time. His expression twisted for a moment, shifting between fear and struggle, but it was only for an instant. The next moment, tears welled in his eyes, and he knelt, repeatedly kowtowing towards Ji Yuan.

"Thump!" "Thump!" "Thump!"...

"Immortal, Immortal Master, I truly have a good heart, I..."

"Thump!" "Thump!" "Thump!" "Thump!"...

"Please, Immortal Master, have mercy! Please, Immortal Master, save me!"

As he spoke, Wei Ming's head suddenly could not drop further, as Ji Yuan had propped up his forehead. Ji Yuan lifted Wei Ming's face, observing his forehead covered in small stones and dust. There were no abrasions, no broken skin, nor any redness or swelling.

"Immortal Master, I really..."

"You've absorbed a considerable amount of vital energy from experts, haven't you?"

Ji Yuan's pale eyes gazed at Wei Ming, making the latter feel as if all his innermost thoughts had been seen through. A chilling sensation of terror surged through him.

"I have just explained how to save you, so how can you say I am not saving you? Given the state of your body, if you continue like this, even if you do nothing, in a little over a decade you will become a living corpse mingling among the living. After another ten or twenty years, once your physical body is completely dead, you will be a complete zombie, perhaps a very formidable one, capable of harming many, many people. You wouldn't want that, would you? While there's still time, I can save your soul, but you won't be able to remain a person of the mortal realm. I do not possess the old beggar's abilities or his treasures that can allow someone to be reborn as a human."

Wei Ming gasped, his mouth slightly agape as he stared at Ji Yuan. The more he looked into Ji Yuan's pale eyes, the stronger his fear grew. The Immortal Master was serious.

'I don't want to die! I don't want to die!'

"Immortal Master, I don't want to die! There are still decades, fifteen, twenty years, several decades to live! Immortal Master, I don't want to die! I... don't want..."

Wei Ming began to struggle violently, his knees lifting from the ground as his hands tried to support him, but he simply could not stand up. His forehead also remained stuck to Ji Yuan's two fingers, as if glued there and pressed down by an immense weight.

"Immortal Master... I don't want to die. My martial arts are so strong now, and I still have more than a decade to live. I don't want to die..."

Wei Ming struggled fiercely, grabbing Ji Yuan's arm, trying with all his might to stand up and shake off Ji Yuan's hand. But he couldn't get up at all, and even when he tried to grasp Ji Yuan's arm, his fingers just slid over the fabric, unable to get a grip.

"As the saying goes, a life for a life, a debt for a debt. You have been a great master for a long time, enjoying years of reverence from thousands. That is enough. I have not deceived you; now, depart."

Having said this, Ji Yuan gently blew out a faint reddish-grey wisp of smoke from his mouth, scattering it directly onto Wei Ming. At the exact same moment, Ji Yuan withdrew his hand.

"Ah... ah..."

Wei Ming leaped up, his entire body glowing red as if covered in fine embers. He crashed around, screaming repeatedly.

"Bang!" "Boom!" "Boom!"...

"Ah... it's burning me... Immortal Master, spare my life!"

The walls of several houses were smashed, and multiple courtyard walls were breached. Finally, he ran wildly and leaped directly into the nearby river.

"Splash!" Water scattered everywhere.

"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle..."

A large amount of steam rose, not from the True Samadhi Fire itself, but from the water being superheated by contact with Wei Ming's body. Yet, Wei Ming, thrashing in the water, still couldn't extinguish the burning sensation on him and continued screaming in agony.

The entire process lasted for over ten breaths before Wei Ming's screams finally ceased. A layer of charred black powder floated on the river, slowly drifting away with the current.

Ji Yuan stood still, observing Wei Ming's entire struggle. He had not deceived Wei Ming; Ji Yuan was indeed using the True Samadhi Fire to refine his physical body. Unfortunately, Wei Ming's heart was not as purely good as he claimed. His soul had become deeply intertwined with the evil energy of his physical body, making it impossible for Ji Yuan, despite his highly proficient control over the True Samadhi Fire, to separate his soul in the end.

In fact, Ji Yuan had a rather good impression of Wei Ming back then. What he did could be considered an act of kindness, yet the outcome seemed to have made Wei Ming's death even more agonizing.

Ji Yuan looked up at the bright moon in the sky. The moon tonight was exceptionally luminous, precisely the kind of weather favored by zombies and other evil creatures of the Corpse Dao.

Meanwhile, the Golden Armored Warrior had already caught up with several targets. His speed far surpassed that of these so-called Wei family experts. The first two only saw a flash of golden light before a divine general, shimmering with golden radiance, appeared before them.

They had no time to react. After two "boom" sounds, they were slammed into the ground where they stood, their upper bodies completely shattered. There was no need to confirm; they were certainly dead.

The Golden Armored Warrior did not stop, continuing his pursuit forward. Wei Xuan, Wei Xing, and others ahead heard the commotion and turned back, horrified by the sight. Besides using all their strength to flee madly, someone shouted.

"Split up! We can only escape if we split up! Quickly, run in different directions!"

As that shout faded, the remaining individuals instantly split into several groups, fleeing in different directions. At this moment, they even resented why the estate was so large yet so remote, and why Luning City was so far away. They instinctively wanted to hide among crowds to avoid disaster.

The Golden Armored Warrior's speed was incredibly fast; sometimes, flashes of lightning would flicker around him. Killing these so-called Wei family experts was like crushing a bug. With heavy steps, he could instantly catch up to a person, either directly stomping on them, delivering a hand chop, or striking with a fist or palm. A second blow was never needed, nor was a pause; once an attack landed, there was no survivor.

Since the Venerable Master had said that the others' fates, apart from Wei Xuan, didn't matter, it was better for them to be dead; at least they wouldn't jump around wildly. This was the Golden Armored Warrior's simple and pure logic, and it was effective.

Wei Xing spared no expense of his true qi and physical strength, fleeing with all his might. However, he soon noticed that there was no longer any movement behind him. A sensation of his hair standing on end grew stronger, followed by a whistling sound of air being torn apart, accompanied by ground-shaking footsteps. He turned his head and saw the Golden Armored Warrior already right upon him.

At this fatal moment, Wei Xing, utterly terrified, had a flash of inspiration and quickly roared.

"I know the Immortal Master! I know the Immortal Master! I was the one who received the Immortal Master! I received the Immortal Master!"

He hadn't finished speaking.

"Boom!"

Wei Xing felt as if a wild ox had slammed into his chest. His limbs instantly flung forward, and a tearing sensation suggested they were about to separate from his body. His entire torso arched backward, and he was sent rapidly flying backward through the air.

"Cough..."

As large mouthfuls of blood mixed with shattered internal organs were coughed out from his slightly caved-in chest, Wei Xing was sent flying a hundred zhang by a single blow, finally crashing with a "thud" into a large tree.

"Crack... creak, creak..."

The large tree suffered an unprovoked disaster; its trunk snapped directly, and a small portion of its roots was pulled up with the stump. Wei Xing sat before the stump, his chest stained with blood, convulsing and spasming.

Wei Xuan was already running for his life, but he knew he was now alone. As he fled, his face was contorted in a grimace, yet he had not given up his desperate desire to survive.

'Even if I'm caught, I'm not without a fight. I've long surpassed the limits of mortals. Even if it's a divine general, I'm not guaranteed to lose!'

He thought this to himself, but Wei Xuan did not have the courage to turn and fight until the whistling sound of rushing air grew closer and closer.

"You wretch, halt!"

The Golden Armored Warrior's voice boomed like thunder from the heavens, echoing powerfully. This was the first time he had spoken today, and the sheer force of that thundering voice completely stripped Wei Xuan of the courage he had mustered.

"Whoosh..."

The whistling of air grew louder, and a frantic warning surged in Wei Xuan's heart. In an instant, he leaped up, his fingernails elongating dramatically, and he viciously clawed backward. But when he turned to see what was behind him, he was stunned...

"Screech..."

His fingernails scraped against the golden armor without even producing a spark. Behind Wei Xuan, the Golden Armored Warrior, now ten zhang tall, held Wei Xuan, who had attempted to leap up and resist, as if he were a small toy.

At this point, the Golden Armored Warrior finally stopped, glancing back in Wei Xing's direction to confirm he was not dead.

At this moment, the little paper crane fluttered its wings and landed on top of the Golden Armored Warrior's head. It looked down, originally intending to see if Wei Xuan was dead. The Golden Armored Warrior, meanwhile, turned his eyes upwards, looking above his own forehead, and saw the little paper crane peering down. Although the warrior appeared to have no eyes, their gazes met.