The wind howled.
A meteor streaked across the sky.
Their chase had not exceeded the borders of Red Tail County.
For Jiang Wang, his determination to kill the Holy Sovereign of White Bone needed no further emphasis. Taking this opportunity, every bit of weakening counted.
As for Jiang Yan, weakening the Holy Sovereign of White Bone was also a welcome outcome, so he continued to assist in tracking the traces left by the Holy Sovereign.
The Holy Sovereign's weakness was plain to see, evident from the speed alone.
Jiang Wang burst forward repeatedly, finally catching up.
The Star River Vortex churned like a boiling furnace, ready to unleash all his killing moves. But just then, he saw the Holy Sovereign's body suddenly collapse—right before his eyes, exploding into chunks of flesh that fell to the ground.
The Holy Sovereign hadn't even attempted a single act of resistance, simply abandoning this flesh puppet body!
Something abnormal was definitely amiss.
Jiang Wang would never be so arrogant as to think he had the qualifications to make the Holy Sovereign flee without a fight. Wariness immediately filled his heart.
Looking ahead from where the Holy Sovereign's flesh puppet had collapsed, he saw a White Bone Gate.
Two bone dragons bit each other's tails, forming an arched portal that revealed a dark, rotating gateway. The aura flowing within it was something Jiang Wang would never forget—he had once used the White Bone Escape Technique.
This gateway likely led to where the Holy Sovereign was hiding.
But why, upon reaching this gate, would the Holy Sovereign simply dissolve the flesh puppet instead of trying to pass through?
It was puzzling and unsettling.
Regardless, Jiang Wang had no intention of crossing this White Bone Gate.
His pursuit of the Holy Sovereign was only possible because of Jiang Yan's knowledge of the creature and the Holy Sovereign's own weakened state. As for charging into the Holy Sovereign's lair and tearing through the White Bone Path, he simply didn't have that confidence.
Drawing Longings, Jiang Wang was about to cleave the gateway apart.
But suddenly, he froze.
Because...
Directly above the White Bone Gate, a graceful silhouette descended from the sky.
A black dress enveloped her tightly, yet the rolling landscape beneath it was all the more pronounced.
A black veil covered her face, revealing only a pair of eyes.
That single glance toward this place—unspeakable storms and waves churned within those flowing, shimmering depths.
How could Jiang Wang fail to recognize those eyes?
He was even quite familiar with that night veil.
"Do you want to watch me drink it? Want to know... what I look like?"
"Help me remove the veil..."
Jiang Wang's gaze sharpened like a sword unsheathed, its edge suddenly erupting to shatter the reverie: "Miaoyu!"
Standing before the White Bone Gate was none other than Miaoyu, the Holy Maiden of the White Bone Path!
The night veil fell away, revealing a face of supreme allure.
"Long time no see..."
She greeted in a soft, velvety voice, murmuring as if countless unspoken emotions melted within it.
But in the very next instant, her eyes turned cold, and a slender jade hand extended, cloaked in white light!
"I said, the next time we meet, I'll kill you!"
Her voice had just risen when she was already lunging down.
Clang! Clash!
Longings swept across, clashing with that beautiful palm cloaked in white light, producing the sound of metal grinding.
Jiang Wang moved with his sword, in the next instant raising it to summon sun, moon, and stars. But he didn't strike at Miaoyu—instead, he used the sword to briefly disengage from the battlefield.
Halfway through, he suddenly turned, executing a sword strike of mountains and rivers!
The sword tip met Miaoyu's finger, which had already shot across horizontally, releasing a clear, crisp ring.
This sword was for defense!
Jiang Wang retreated with his sword, and flowers bloomed around him, quickly filling and covering the entire space.
Having retreated with momentum, Jiang Wang directly unleashed the Sea of Flame Flowers.
"You're worth the time I've given!" Miaoyu laughed lightly.
Then, with one hand pushing forward, a pale white flame flower bloomed in her palm, advancing steadily.
Boom!
Illusory flowers shattered, flame flowers withered.
Miaoyu's pale white flame flower had burned straight through the entire Sea of Flame Flowers.
She leaped from the shattered sea of flowers, her dress fluttering, so beautiful it defied description.
And her jade fist, cloaked in white light, was already hurtling toward his face!
A crown of thorns flickered briefly atop Jiang Wang's head. Simultaneously, within Miaoyu's body, five qi spontaneously arose, forming five cords that bound her from the inside out.
Five Qi Binding Tiger!
But in less than half a breath, the cords of five qi had only reached halfway before they collapsed and dissipated like smoke.
The five qi had shattered!
Miaoyu's control over her own body was far beyond the comparison of someone like Song Guang, a cultivator with depleted vital energy and blood in the Inner Palace realm.
The fist was already close.
Jiang Wang's long sword also struck—a sword strike where the sea of men stretches boundless.
"Is your hatred for me really only this much?"
The fist rose, advanced, and hammered down.
One punch shattered the sky full of sword light, and Miaoyu drove straight through.
Chirp chirp chirp, chirp chirp chirp!
Countless flame sparrows burst outward with Jiang Wang at their center.
Even as he deployed the Sea of Flame Flowers, he had been forming hand seals to prepare the explosive flame sparrows.
Moreover, this technique had originally covered even himself.
It almost looked as though Miaoyu's white-clothed fist had smashed out tens of thousands of shrieking flame sparrows!
Even though Jiang Wang deliberately controlled the technique, he still couldn't help being injured by the exploding sparrows, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
But before him, a massive lotus bud materialized out of thin air.
The flame sparrows struck and exploded one after another, yet the bud remained utterly still.
Petals unfurled in succession as the lotus bloomed. From within the enormous white lotus, a delicate, boneless, slender white hand emerged.
The hand cloaked in white light seized a flame sparrows directly and crushed it bare-handed.
Such powerful flame sparrows, yet between her fingers, they merely flashed with a spark of fire.
"You're getting better."
Miaoyu's gaze turned somewhat distant, murmuring softly.
Her voice was like a dream, weaving a beautiful fantasy as it drifted in.
Illusory Voice into Dreams!
But the moment that beautiful dreamscape reached Jiang Wang and before it could take effect, it was rapidly channeled into the Heaven Connecting Palace, where the Nether Candle dissolved it.
"Heh, Illusory Voice into Dreams." Jiang Yan's voice echoed within the Heaven Connecting Palace.
Miaoyu had been closing in, but suddenly retreated. Before Jiang Wang's sword light could erupt, she had already drifted back.
Jiang Wang had actually been feigning falling into the dream, intending to launch a surprise attack.
But Miaoyu was extremely alert too. Sensing something wrong, she withdrew first. A strange light flashed in her eyes: "So that's why the Nether Candle fell into your hands back then... It has its own thoughts!"
The words seemed laden with meaning.
Meanwhile, Jiang Yan's voice continued from within the Heaven Connecting Palace: "Her openings are far too many. Her mastery of the White Bone Path's secret arts is not perfect. If it were me, exploiting these openings, I could kill her within ten breaths."
Jiang Wang's sword struck empty air. He executed several consecutive backward leaps, creating distance from Miaoyu.
At the same time, he responded coldly from within the Heaven Connecting Palace: "Then you leave the Heaven Connecting Palace yourself and kill her!"
Jiang Yan fell silent.
The conversation within the Heaven Connecting Palace was naturally unknown to Miaoyu, but after Illusory Voice into Dreams failed, she seemed to lose her passion for battle.
She didn't pursue the retreating Jiang Wang. Instead, she turned and flew back, landing atop the White Bone Gate.
Jiang Wang seized this opening and, without hesitation, transformed into a flame meteor and streaked away.
He truly was no match for Miaoyu yet—he had been completely suppressed throughout.
But the gap was already visible!
The next time they met...
Jiang Wang severed his idle thoughts. In a few breaths, he had vanished into the distance.
And Miaoyu only quietly watched the trail of flame fade away, without uttering a single word.
Aside from that one word—"Miaoyu"—he hadn't said a single thing to her.
After a while, the night veil once again covered her face.
Miaoyu tapped her toe downward.
The two dragons biting each other's tails let out a sharp shriek. The soul fire in their hollow eye sockets abruptly extinguished, their bodies collapsed, and bone fragments rained down like a downpour.
The dark, rotating gateway in the air vanished as if it had never existed.