After My Rebirth, I Ended Up Happily Ever After with the Saintess - Chapter 45

The earth shook and the mountains swayed! The entire palace relic seemed to be fiercely clutched by an invisible giant hand and then violently yanked downwards! The stone slabs underfoot shattered inch by inch, and enormous cracks spread out like a spider web. Scalding air currents, mixed with the sickening smell of sulfur and an ancient, deathly stillness, spewed forth from the abyss deep underground!

“Ah!” “Run!”

The two disciples Li Hao had brought with him were scared out of their wits. They no longer cared about finding Ye Li and fled in terror towards the entrance. However, the speed of the collapse far exceeded their imagination. One of the disciples, at the Spirit Awakening Realm, lost his footing, let out a desperate scream, and was instantly swallowed by the tumbling rubble and scorching magma!

The other disciple, at the initial stage of Vein Condensation, narrowly escaped. He scrambled towards the exit, but his path was blocked by a falling giant crossbeam, trapping him on a small, precarious piece of broken wall, his face devoid of color.

Li Hao’s face was equally pale. His cultivation was the highest, and his reaction was the fastest. The moment the collapse began, he forcibly stabilized his body, wielding his Blazing Flame Saber to cut through the falling debris, attempting to rush towards a relatively safe area. But he had previously ventured deep into the palace center to search for Ye Li, and now the ground was collapsing on all sides, almost cutting off his retreat!

As for Ye Li, she had been wary of this place since the first sign of geological change. Furthermore, she had been using her Shadow Step technique to move between the relatively sturdy supporting stone pillars and remnants. Consequently, she was in a relatively advantageous position—atop a massive, not yet completely toppled, coiling dragon stone pillar!

She gripped the cold stone pillar’s carving with one hand, her body pressed against the column, coldly overlooking the disaster below and Li Hao’s distress. Chaos and disaster, for her, were the best cover and opportunity!

“Ye Li! You bitch! This is all your fault!” Li Hao also spotted Ye Li on the pillar top. His eyes erupted with monstrous hatred, believing Ye Li had led him into this dead end. He roared, disregarding the ever-expanding magma pool and falling stones beneath him. He stomped fiercely on a massive boulder that was about to fall, using the leverage to leap into the air. His Blazing Flame Saber carried a suicidal madness as it fiercely slashed towards Ye Li at the top of the stone pillar!

“Die for me!”

The scorching saber energy tore through the air, as if it intended to cleave the entire stone pillar in half!

Facing this furious, desperate blow, Ye Li’s eyes were as cold as ten thousand years of ice. She chose not to dodge, as there was nowhere to hide at this moment! Nor was she afraid, because the more desperate the situation, the more required were calm and decisiveness!

Exactly at the moment Li Hao was airborne, his old strength exhausted and new strength yet to arise, when his entire body was at its most vulnerable—

Ye Li moved!

The left hand that had been gripping the stone pillar suddenly released, and her body dropped as if weightless, perfectly evading the fatal blow! At the same time, a crimson talisman that radiated an extremely dangerous aura, long prepared in her right hand, was instantly activated!

The medicinal power of the Blood-Boiling Spirit-Burning Liquid erupted within her body! A furious power, far exceeding her own cultivation realm, instantly flooded her limbs and bones! Her eyes were even covered with a faint bloody sheen!

But this power brought not only strength but also excruciating pain, as if her meridians were tearing, and a burning sensation in her spirit! She was risking her life!

“Profound Ice Blast Talisman! Maximum output!”

She did not throw the talisman at Li Hao, but rather—slapped it onto the base of the giant stone pillar beneath her! Simultaneously, another Shadow Needle Talisman silently shot towards the vital point in Li Hao’s armpit, which was exposed due to his saber swing!

Boom!!!!

A deafening explosion sounded! The extreme cold force of the Profound Ice Blast Talisman clashed violently with the stone pillar’s structure! The already precarious base of the stone pillar let out a groan of unbearable strain under this internal and external assault, suddenly fracturing and tilting!

At this moment, Li Hao had just swung his saber into empty air and was in a downward trajectory, with no place to leverage himself! He watched helplessly as the giant stone pillar crushed down towards him, his eyes filled with despair and disbelief!

He could never have imagined that Ye Li would be so vicious and resolute, launching an attack through this self-destructive method!

Pfft!

The invisible venomous needle, formed by the Shadow Needle Talisman, accurately shot into his armpit at that very moment! The potent poison instantly numbed half his body!

“No—!”

Amidst Li Hao’s horrific scream, the massive stone pillar crashed down with the force of ten thousand tons, smashing him and the churning magma below!

Rumble!

Smoke mixed with scorching steam shot up into the sky! The entire collapse area shuddered!

The instant Ye Li slapped the talisman, she had already used the recoil force, swinging backward like a nimble ape, narrowly landing on another high wall that had not completely collapsed. Her face was ashen, and a trace of blood spilled from the corner of her mouth. Forcing the activation of the Blood-Boiling Spirit-Burning Liquid and overloading the use of the talisman had caused her serious internal injuries.

But she couldn’t spare a thought for recovery, her cold gaze fixed on the direction where the stone pillar had fallen.

The smoke slowly cleared.

The giant stone pillar was seen slanted into the edge of the magma pool, a small portion submerged, emitting sizzling sounds. Beneath the pillar, most of Li Hao’s body was crushed, with only his head and one arm exposed. His body was charred and bloodied. The Blazing Flame Saber had flown out of his grasp, falling nearby. His vitality was extremely weak, and his eyes were unfocused, clearly hanging onto his last breath.

The Vein Condensation disciple trapped on the broken wall was terrified out of his wits by this sight, completely losing any will to resist.

Ye Li endured the weakness and severe pain in her body, her figure flashing as she arrived in front of Li Hao.

Seeing Ye Li, Li Hao’s eyes were filled with endless malice and terror. He opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to say something, but could only spit out blood mixed with fragments of his internal organs.

Ye Li’s eyes were completely emotionless, as if she were looking at a dead object. She leaned down and unceremoniously pulled the storage ring from Li Hao’s finger. Her spiritual sense forcibly broke through the faint mental imprint on it, scanning the contents.

It indeed contained quite a few good things! In addition to several hundred low-grade spirit stones, there were several bottles of decent pills, some refining materials, and… several spirit herbs radiating not weak spiritual power fluctuations, evidently his gains within the secret realm.

“A good haul,” Ye Li said flatly, pocketing the storage ring.

Then, she lifted her foot and stepped on the only arm of Li Hao that was exposed.

“Next life, keep your eyes open.”

Crack!

A grating sound of bone breaking echoed.

Li Hao’s eyeballs bulged. His last trace of life was completely extinguished, and he died with his eyes wide open.

Ye Li didn’t even glance at his corpse, turning her attention to the Vein Condensation disciple trapped on the broken wall.

That disciple was already sprawled on the ground in fear, tears and snot streaming, kowtowing repeatedly: “Ye… Senior Sister Ye! Spare me! Please spare me! Li Hao forced me! It has nothing to do with me! I don’t want anything, please let me live!”

Ye Li looked at him coldly, quickly weighing her options. Killing him would be easy, eliminating a witness. But the commotion here was too big; it might not truly be concealed. Leaving him alive might allow her to use his mouth to spread her ruthlessness, deterring others with malicious intentions? After all, a dead Li Hao, plus a terrified survivor, was more convincing than simple disappearance.

“Get lost,” she spat out a single cold word. “If I ever see you again, you die.”

The disciple felt as if he had been granted a great pardon. He scrambled away, almost crying, fleeing the collapsed ruins without daring to look back.

Ye Li did not leave immediately. She quickly checked her own injuries, swallowing a few pills for healing and restoring spiritual power. Then, she walked to the Blazing Flame Saber and picked it up. The saber was a good one, high-grade human level, but she wasn’t used to it, and it was too conspicuous. She casually tossed it into the still-churning magma pool to destroy the evidence.

Having done all this, she dared not linger. This place’s great change would surely draw attention, both from dangers within the secret realm and from other disciples.

She forced a breath, activated the Shadow Step, and her figure swiftly disappeared into the deeper, more shattered and ancient parts of the old city, leaving behind only a messy ruin and Li Hao’s corpse, gradually being swallowed by the magma, witnessing the brief and cruel counter-attack that had just occurred.

After this battle, Ye Li’s ruthlessness and decisiveness were bound to quietly spread throughout the Cloud Mist Secret Realm, carried by the mouth of the surviving disciple.