288 The Black Frost Qi of the Snow Mountain Sect, a Slap on the Face, and Poison in the Blood

Just like how Xu Yourong had forgotten about the unconscious Chen Changsheng,Bai Hai had never paid any attention to that young cultivator whose body wascaked with frost. Moreover, he was currently reveling in the rapturoushappiness induced by the Heavenly Phoenix's true blood, and so he did not putup any sort of guard. Thus, that hand managed to push him away.  In the quiet of the cave, Bai Hai stared at Chen Changsheng with a stunnedexpression. Only after a while did he realize that something had happened, thatthere was something amiss.  Right now, there was a still a drop of blood at the corner of his lips. Whenpaired with his rather twisted and elderly face, it created a grotesque image.Just as that drop of blood was about to drip down, he suddenly sobered up, thensomewhat confusedly used his tongue to bring that drop of blood back into hismouth. In order to cultivate the secret method of the Setting Sun Sect andbreak past Ethereal Opening, every drop of Xu Yourong's blood was exceptionallyprecious for him, but he could not help but make the picture even moregrotesque.  For some reason, he felt that while he could taste sweetness at the back ofhis tongue, the tip of his tongue was somewhat numb. He thought to himself, isthis the flavor of the Heavenly Phoenix's blood?  While this was happening, Chen Changsheng used the support of the cave wallto laboriously sit up. He was at present very weak. It seemed like he would beknocked over by a passing gust of wind, so how could he subdue this opponentand obtain victory?  Bai Hai felt a dull pain on his face and used his hand to rub it. He realizedthat his face was covered with water, then he looked at Chen Changsheng's handand realized that it was also covered with frost, and he could not help butsquint his eyes.  Without any warning, he pointed his finger at Chen Changsheng, then fired astrand of Qi imbued with terrifying earthfire at him.  Chen Changsheng seemingly subconsciously slapped his palm in the air, causinga mirror of ice to instantly form in the air in front of him.  When the earthfire Qi collided with the mirror of ice, they both evaporatedwith a hiss.  Bai Hai narrowed his eyes even more, then he made a weird smile. "Actually asecret disciple of the Snow Mountain Sect. You think you can use the BlackFrost True Qi to block me?" The Snow Mountain Sect was a sect located in the northwest of the continent.Tradition has it that the founder of the Snow Mountain Sect possessed the bloodof the Black Frost Dragon and created a brand-new method of cultivation, thusfounding his monastery on the frigid lands of the northwest. At its peak, thesect was incredibly powerful. Neither the demons nor the Orthodoxy in theCentral Plains would lightly provoke it. Yet with the passage of time, theblood of the Black Frost Dragon grew increasingly thin, and the power of theSnow Mountain Sect gradually waned. It had already been several hundred yearssince it had been placed under the authority of the Li Palace, and it had alsobeen many years since it had produced a true expert or promising young disciple.  No one would underestimate a once-glorious sect. Just as the South StreamTemple was divided into an inner and outer sect, many powerful figures knewthat the Snow Mountain Sect also had a secret sect, only it very rarelyrevealed itself to the world. The Setting Sun Sect cultivated earthfire, sothey were natural enemies of the Snow Mountain Sect which cultivated the cold.In the past, they had clashed with each other many times. As an elder of theSetting Sun Sect, Bai Hai naturally had a deep understanding of the SnowMountain Sect. He saw the frosty aura being released by Chen Changsheng's bareddagger for him, and with one sentence had seen through his origins.Simultaneously, the killing intent in his heart also suddenly increased severaltimes.  As Xu Yourong looked at Chen Changsheng's face, she thought to herself, so hewas actually a secret disciple of Snow Mountain Sect—no wonder his method ofcultivation was so special.  Her vision was somewhat blurry, and yet she could clearly see the tranquilityin Chen Changsheng's eyes. The situation was still clearly desperate and ChenChangsheng was still weak and heavily injured, and yet for some reason, shesuddenly felt that she could relax, that she could hand over all the mattersthat weighed on her to this young cultivator.  "I didn't think that I would actually meet my old friend, the Snow MountainSect, in the Garden of Zhou. Nor did I think that just as I was about toachieve a miracle, I would still have to kill one more person."  Bai Hai looked at him and gave a strange chuckle. "It's a good thing thatthis won't be too hard to take care of."  With these words, he wielded his palm like a blade wreathed in fire andruthlessly chopped at Chen Changsheng.  Chen Changsheng seemed to have little chance in his current weak and heavilyinjured condition; even if he was healthy and full of energy, he still wouldnot be any match for this Setting Sun Sect elder.  His awakening seemingly had no meaning. One could even say that he woke up atthe worst possible time.  The true essence in his body was still exhausted. He did not even have thestrength to hold his dagger, much less summon the Yellow Paper Umbrella.  He had no way to block this fire palm. The only thing he could do is lift uphis palm and hit that elder's face.  When he had just woken up, he had no idea what was going on, nor did he knowwho this old man was. He only knew that this old man was doing a verydisgusting and cruel thing. The old man's face was somewhat stiff and weird,and the sound of his laughter was sinister and terrifying. He could immediatelytell that this was not a good man, so… he wanted to hit him.  In the very next moment, he could be turned into slag by this old man's firepalm, but he still wanted to hit him. As long as he could score a hit on thatold man's sinister and terrible old face, then he would not have woken up fornothing.  Chen Changsheng thought this way, so that is what he did.  However, he had never imagined that his palm was actually able to strike theold man's face.  A crisp slap echoed through the cave.  His palm had struck Bai Hai's face.  Although he waved his palm around like a feather, like there was not a singlestrand of strength in it, the sound it produced was very clear.  Slap.  Bai Hai was at a loss. He had no idea of what just happened.  His palm still hung in the air, separated from Chen Changsheng by one foot.The terrifying earthfire at the edge of the palm was gradually dissipating,seeming rather miserable.  How was the palm of this Snow Mountain Sect disciple able to land on hisface? How had his body become so stiff? Why did the true essence in his bodysuddenly vanish? In an instant, endless questions entered his mind, making himconfused and terrified.  In the next moment, that fear expressed itself in his eyes. With greatdifficulty, he lowered his neck to look at Xu Yourong, then said his last words.  His voice was abnormally hoarse and dry, his words intermittent and hard toform into sentences, full of fear and despair. "Demon… demon… demoness… bloodhas… poison!"  With these words, he died.  Setting Sun Sect elder, peak level Ethereal Opening expert Bai Hai died inthis cave like that.  When he died, his body was already completely stiff. His right hand remainedsuspended in the air, and even his eyes could not close. His eyes were suffusedwith a tranquil green. It was just like carving a sculpture made out ofordinary rock and finding jade within.  This picture was very bizarre, and very sinister.  Soon after, his skin began to fester. This festering did not extend to hisbones and muscles, only his skin. The surface of his skin gradually began toshow a plethora of multi-colored spots.  Some of the spots were beautiful, while others were disgusting.  Chen Changsheng thought all of them were very disgusting.  Only now did he realize that this old man had already been poisoned. He justdid not know what it was that he was poisoned by.  The weird smile on the old man's face was the poison's doing. At that point,his spiritual sense had already begun to gradually separate from the body.  The poison was really too brutal.  He then realized that there was still someone else in this cave and turned toher.  That young lady's dress was covered with bloodstains, almost obscuring theoriginal white. Her normally delicate features were also almost covered up byher weakness and exhaustion, and yet her eyes were still clear and cold.  He stared blankly at her, then asked, "Are you okay?"