Chapter 178: Race to the Finish

Translator: Midasthefloof

In that instant, the Ninth Spirit's face changed.

Although Wu Yu could not see where the golden light had pierced the Ninth Spirit's body, he immediately sensed that the Ninth Spirit's Yaodan had been pierced.

And that was why her expression had become so tortured, even twisted. It twisted so badly that even her beautiful face had become ugly.

Time seemed to stop.

In the next moment, what Wu Yu did not expect was for the Ninth Spirit to spew hot flow from her mouth, that rushed into his own. The hot flow was both scalding hot and icy cold. It contained the Ninth Spirit's own fresh blood, and Wu Yu swallowed it all.

The Ninth Spirit's body seemed like it was exploding. The flow of energy flooded forth all at once, almost like she had gagged on something from Wu Yu's body. Now she retched it all out, along with part of herself.

Suddenly, Wu Yu heard the sound of something shattering.

"Her Yaodan is broken!"

Wu Yu was stunned. He could not believe it.

To him, this was a miraculous accident. Even after it happened, he still did not react. As the Yaodan tore, he consumed a portion of the spiritual power; the reversal of the Sky Fox Forging; Jindan Immortality Art. Otherwise, even if the spiritual power dissipated, it would not have rushed into Wu Yu's body.

Pa!

The Ninth Spirit's face contorted, and she thrust Wu Yu away from her. She had also lost control of her spiritual power on the Argenti Chain, which fell away from Wu Yu, granting him his freedom.

Thump, thump!

Both fell to the floor.

Wu Yu struggled to a cross-legged position. His body had gone crazy. The bursting of her Yaodan had flushed his body with a torrent of spiritual power. This was not a good thing in itself. Although the Sky Fox Forging; Jindan Immortality Art was in play, it was out of the Ninth Spirit's control. It very quickly rampaged through Wu Yu's body. It was the feeling of swallowing dozens of spirit concentration pills at the same time and being unable to expel them.

Wu Yu was in danger again!

At this moment, the Ruyi Jingu Bang disappeared.

However, the only consolation was that the Ninth Spirit's situation was worse than Wu Yu's. She had shifted into the Beautiful Fox of the Nine Heavens, and her nine fox tails had curled around herself as she shook. The well of spiritual power within her had formed a vortex that surrounded her.

"Her Yaodan must have been pierced! Normally, the rupture of the Yaodan is a very serious affair. It might cause one to regress to the Qi Condensation Realm, or even worse! But a portion of her spiritual power has entered my body. Even if she manages to stabilize the chaotic spiritual power, she won't have enough spiritual power to complete her Jindan condensation again!"

Wu Yu immediately realized both of their situations.

"It must’ve been the Ruyi Jingu Bang that saved me! I will definitely live on!" Back when Wan Qing had not killed him, it had allowed him to walk the path of cultivation. This time, he had again narrowly escaped death. His will to live was stronger than anyone else's. And he glared back at the Ninth Spirit, who was in pitiful agony at this point.

Ming Long appeared before him, staring mouth agape. "Damn me! It saved you? Why was it quiet as a mouse when Granny died? Not fair! Not fair!!"

She had given up as well, and the incidents had stunned her.

Seeing her maddened state, he could not help laughing. "I know why."

"Why?" Ming Long pricked up her ears.

"It's because the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal and I are both male. You're female," Wu Yu said.

"Up yours. You dare to look down on women? You almost got done in by a woman." Ming Long rolled her eyes. She was also checking Wu Yu's body. After stealing life from the jaws of death itself, she was also excited. "This is a tricky situation. She used her demon technique to suck out your yang essence to fuse with her yin essence, forming her new spiritual power. And now the Ruyi Jingu Bang forced her to spit out your power, which also dragged hers out. After all, that part had already been fused with yours through the demon technique."

The chaotic energy was naturally not Wu Yu's Immortal Power of the Great Way, but rather formed by the Sky Fox Forging; Jindan Immortality Art. Only half belonged to Wu Yu, and it clashed aggressively with the Immortal Power of the Great Way. It was not under Wu Yu's control, and it was ripping him up.

"What should I do?" Wu Yu had to ask.

Ming Long must have felt like she had let Wu Yu down previously when she had been helpless, and was now forthcoming with the answers. After all, Wu Yu had not yet escaped danger. She said, "The power has entered your body and is trying to conquer it. It's not realistic to expel it; after all, a portion of it belongs to you. Try to use the Great Way of Immortality Art to see if you can use them to fashion spiritual sources, and convert them into Immortal Power of the Great Way."

"This is a risk, but it's also the only way." Wu Yu thought this over, and concurred.

Looking over at the Ninth Spirit, the fox demon was consumed by a vortex of power. She was in agony, but would occasionally lift her head to glare balefully at Wu Yu. Evidently, she had not given up, and her hostility was tinged with bloodthirst!

"On the path of cultivation, barring direct contests of strength, victory often favors the calm and the brave."

This dramatic fight for his life was a huge blow to Wu Yu's state of mind, but he very quickly calmed down. After this near-death experience, he understood the meaning of life even better and became even more determined to win this struggle!

Without question, this would be a bold and torturous process! Even while he condensed spiritual power, he would have to endure the crumbling and tearing of his body.

Luckily, a part of this power belonged to Wu Yu, and he could control it nominally. Otherwise, if it was all Spirit Concentration Pills, his flesh would really have been torn asunder.

After all, his Inner Vajra Buddha had not been fully completed.

No matter what, Wu Yu gritted his teeth and persevered.

"This is a life and death struggle. If I give up and let the Ninth Spirit recover, the one who dies will be me!

"The Ruyi Jingu Bang has given me this chance. I must seize it!"

Freshly back from the gates of hell, Wu Yu's will to live far surpassed the Ninth Spirit's. Even Ming Long was nothing but praise, saying, "You brat. Your endurance surpasses mine tenfold."

Within his pain, Wu Yu spluttered a laugh. "Who was it just now who said that she would call me ‘Daddy’ if I survived this time?"

Ming Long's face paled, then she roared with laughter. "You must have been mistaken. I heard no such thing."

"I must be right. Just that the person refuses to acknowledge it."

Ming Long was quite a lovable character, although she was an avaricious one at times.

"Do you believe that I will cook you and eat you if you say another word?" She puffed up her chest indignantly.

Wu Yu was entering a crucial phase, so he ignored her. The Great Way of Immortality Art was truly a gift that none but the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal could have bestowed on him. It did not grant Wu Yu the most almighty of spiritual powers, but the immortality art was unbelievably strong nevertheless. In terms of suppressing other powers, it had surpassed his wildest dreams.

Ming Long herself had regretted not having this Great Way of Immortality Art, which would have saved her from death.

Given the solid foundations of the Great Way of Immortality Art, Wu Yu's foundations were more robust than anybody else's.

Time flowed by.

As Wu Yu began to deal with the chaotic energy, converting it through his immortality art, he began to feel more and more relaxed as the amount lessened.

And when he occasionally opened his eyes to meet the Ninth Spirit's baleful red eyes, he could see that she was giving him a pervasive and lustful look. Although neither spoke, both were locked in a life and death struggle at this time. It was highly possible that whoever first regained mobility could spell doom for the other.

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The Ninth Spirit had to stabilize the spiritual power that had spilled after her Yaodan had ruptured. That was even more difficult than Wu Yu's situation, but she was confident that she could still regain her Yaodan if all went well. She would surge forth to the fourth tier of the Jindan Realm!

Her eyes had become even wilder than before, especially after glancing at the ice sculpture by her side. Perhaps this was just her faith. After her sister had been deceived by humans, this had been her only pursuit. Only when she had fulfilled the childhood dream of the sisters could she take revenge!

Even in her dreams, the Ninth Spirit longed to take a knife to her antagonists.

That was why her will had not wavered all this time.

Five days later, she had still not been able to take control of herself, but she could feel that Wu Yu had actually condensed another spiritual source! He had succeeded, and he had used her spiritual power to do it. This stunned the Ninth Spirit. She had never heard of someone being able to convert the spiritual power of others into their own before!

Although part of it belonged to him, it had been merged with her own through the Sky Fox Forging; Jindan Immortality Art. But this was still inconceivable.

In this instant, she saw the composure in Wu Yu's eyes, and felt a tinge of fear. She was recalling Wu Yu's exceptional progress that had constantly outdone himself. He had even killed Tian Yijun. Would she be next?

But even though Wu Yu had surged to the ninth tier of the Qi Condensation Realm, the restless energy within his body had still not let up. As long as it had not been completely purified, Wu Yu could not move, let alone attack. It was as if there was a bomb buried within their bodies that would explode at the slightest movement.

The Ninth Spirit was not aiming to immediately form her Yaodan. She, too, was condensing qi. She was using the chaotic energy to reform a demon essence core. In truth, there was no difference between demon essence cores and spiritual sources, besides that they were in different positions.

And when Wu Yu had condensed one spiritual source, she had already stabilized half the energy within her body.

The struggle continued!

They stared at each other, one calm, the other frenzied.

Subsequently, the gap appeared. Wu Yu got faster and faster, far outdoing her speed. After nine days, although he had not completed his 10th spiritual source, at least Wu Yu had completely expended the tumultuous energy within his body and regained mobility. And he was stronger than he had been before.

Wu Yu picked up the Onyx & Pearl Dao Swords and walked towards the Ninth Spirit.