"Heh heh heh—Well, sweetheart, how do you like my Soul-Hunting Melody? Relax, your boyfriend’s not dying just yet. I wouldn’t let him croak so easily—he’s the perfect candidate for my ritual! I’m still gonna yank out his soul and whip up a killer Soul Chaser Hex! Heh heh heh—" Grandmaster Zenith, seeing his dirty trick work, cackled and slowly strutted toward Jade Swann.
"You damn old freak! Hand over the antidote, now!" Jade Swann stood up, her eyes blazing with fury, her delicate face twisted in anger as she glared at Grandmaster Zenith. Her hands surged with true energy, itching to blast him to the heavens with a thunder spell—she looked like she wanted to cut him into a thousand pieces!
"Hehehe—Little lady, do you really think I'd give you the antidote?" Grandmaster Zenith sneered coldly, his voice dripping with malice.
"Damn it! If you won't give it to me, I'll just beat you to death and take it myself! Go to hell!" Jade Swann shouted, channeling her true energy into her hands. A surge of crackling lightning instantly enveloped her body.
But Grandmaster Zenith was ready. With a wave of his wide monk's robe—"whoosh—whoosh—" a mass of white mist swept toward Jade Swann. Her thunder spell didn't even have time to activate before the mist engulfed her, making her body go numb and her limbs weak. In moments, her joints stiffened up.
Soon, the white mist settled onto the floor and transformed into a mass of roots, rapidly growing into a patch of milky-white vines. These vines crazily sprouted upward, twisting and climbing until Jade Swann was completely bound and wrapped up tight.
"Ugh—you, you old bastard! What kind of freaky spell is this?!" Jade Swann struggled and cursed in terror.
"Heh heh heh—Sweetheart, this is my Soulroot Hex! And those vines? They’re called Soulroot Vines. You look like a pretty tough cultivator, so I’m planning to seal your soul in the Soulroot Vine and use you as my Curse Catalyst. You and that punk—first I’ll squeeze out your souls and corpse oil, then fuse you into a killer Yin-Yang Demon Hex! Heh heh heh—this hex is a hundred times nastier than the Twin Demon Infant Hex! You should be thanking me for the privilege!" Grandmaster Zenith cackled, feeling totally in control. Shawn Young and Jade Swann were both caught in his dark magic, helpless on the chopping block.
"You—you old freak, you pervert! You'll get what's coming to you!" Jade Swann was furious, cursing at Grandmaster Zenith to vent her rage.
"Hehehe—You got it wrong, little lady! If I master the Primeval Spirit Fusion, I won't die at all! So, good or bad, not even the heavens get to decide my fate! Hehehe—" Grandmaster Zenith cackled again, and with a flick of his right hand, a white vine quickly wrapped upward, sealing Jade Swann's mouth so she couldn't curse him anymore.
"Heh—Looks like I've had a pretty good haul today! Two perfect materials! Heaven's really smiling on me—let's seal your soul first!" Grandmaster Zenith rubbed his hands in excitement, his wrinkled face blooming like an old chrysanthemum, preparing to cast his hex and shatter Jade Swann's soul, sealing it inside the Soulroot Vine.
"Oh, is that so? Old man, you're getting ahead of yourself! Ever heard of 'joy turns to sorrow'?" Suddenly, a cold laugh rang out behind Grandmaster Zenith—Shawn Young's voice.
Grandmaster Zenith's scalp tingled. He spun around in panic, only to see Shawn Young staring at him with a cold smirk. Zenith's jaw dropped in shock, "Huh—how did you—?!"
Shawn Young didn’t bother with chit-chat. This old creep was way too slick, always scheming. With a quick burst, Shawn sprang right up to Grandmaster Zenith, blocked his retreat, and with both hands unleashed the Avalanche Breaker from Xingyi Quan—bam!—straight into Zenith’s chest.
"Bang—bang—" Two muffled thuds, and Grandmaster Zenith's body shot back like a kite with a broken string, flying ten meters before crashing into a rock. He screamed, blood spraying from his mouth, then collapsed, twitching on the ground, his monk's robe soaked in blood, his face deathly pale—he looked doomed.
The Avalanche Breaker is one of the most brutal killing moves in Xingyi Quan, relying on explosive force to devastate its target—like being hit head-on by a speeding truck. Since Shawn Young attacked at close range, Grandmaster Zenith had no time to defend with his hexes and took the full force of Shawn's deadly blow. Poetic justice for a guy who loved dirty tricks!
With his sneak attack successful, Shawn Young strode over to the still-twitching Grandmaster Zenith, flipped him over with his toe, and saw the agony on his face—his chest and back bones shattered, pain twisting his features, eyes wide, limbs trembling and convulsing, unwilling to die.
"Heh heh heh—Old man, you love playing dirty, now it’s your turn to eat it! Hahaha—feels good, doesn’t it? Satisfying, huh?!" Shawn Young mocked, showing zero mercy to the nearly-dead Grandmaster Zenith.
Grandmaster Zenith rolled his eyes, mouth open and trembling finger pointing at Shawn Young. Though his gaze was dim, it burned with hatred—he clearly wanted to curse, but had no strength left. Blood bubbled from his lips as he suddenly sucked in a breath, his head swelling up like a balloon.
"Bang!" Seeing this, Shawn Young didn't hesitate—he kicked Grandmaster Zenith's whole body into a pile of rubble. As Zenith hit the ground, his swollen head—"Boom!"—exploded like an overripe watermelon, blasting a bloody crater into the rocks and shattering stones all around!
"Damn! Soul Bomb! That old bastard was vicious—he wanted to take me down with him! I almost got screwed! Shit!" Shawn Young broke out in a cold sweat. If he hadn’t reacted fast enough, Grandmaster Zenith’s last-ditch move would’ve blown him to bits too!