CHAPTER 166: SHE’S WEAK...

Even though Ling Yu seemed weak, her breath ragged and her limbs trembling, in reality, it was nothing but a ruse, a carefully laid trap.

Her silver lashes fluttered as her chest rose and fell, feigning exhaustion, her sword half-buried in the soil beside her. The faint shimmer of sweat on her skin made her look vulnerable, like a lone warrior on the verge of collapse.

But her eyes, which were sharp and calculating, never once lost their focus.

Ling Yu knew too well that the corruption wasn’t so easily destroyed. The dark spirits were like carrion birds, patient, and cunning, waiting for weakness to reveal itself before devouring their prey. And she, standing alone in the heart of the corrupted clearing, was giving them exactly what they wanted to see.

Her voice was steady, though faint, as she whispered under her breath, "Come closer."

The black fog that had seemed to dissipate moments ago began to churn once more.

Low, guttural noises echoed through the trees, the sound of spirits reforming, coalescing, the air thickening with malice.

Dozens of shadowy figures crept out from the fissures in the roots, each of them moving with jerky, insect-like movements.

They hissed and whispered in voices that sounded almost human.

"She’s weak..."

"She bleeds..."

"The vessel... take the vessel..."

"Ahehe..."

Their laughter was like shards of glass.

Ling Yu lowered her head, letting her long hair fall over her face, her breathing slowing to a shallow rhythm. She could feel the pull of the curse in her veins, the sigil on her hand flickered erratically, like a pulse struggling between light and dark.

Her body was screaming from within, but she remained utterly still, waiting.

The first spirit approached cautiously, its form rippling like smoke as it reached for her shoulder. Its fingers were made of shadow, sharp, claw-like tendrils that curved towards her neck.

The moment they brushed against her skin—

Ling Yu’s eyes snapped open.

In that instant, her pupils gleamed crimson, the sigil on her hand igniting like a black sun.

The air around her cracked with sound, the sudden release of compressed energy, and her sword shot upward in a single blinding motion.

The spirit didn’t even have time to scream before it was cleaved in half.

The cut was clean, the motion fluid, deadly. The halves dissolved into smoke that her curse immediately devoured, leaving behind a lingering echo of pain.

The others froze for a split second, then shrieked in rage.

Ling Yu stood slowly, her figure straightening with unnatural calm, and she exhaled softly, a cold smirk curving her lips. "You thought I was your prey? Haha, me? The one who once ended up becoming the apocalypses’ greatest disaster?"

Her voice was soft, dangerously soft, but it carried through the clearing like a blade through silk.

Then she moved.

The forest lit up with the clash of silver and black. Her sword danced through the air, each slash followed by the hiss of shadow melting away.

The spirits tried to surround her again, but she was no longer fighting defensively, she was hunting.

Her movements were no longer the graceful arcs of a disciplined fighter; they were raw, feral, and fast, pure instinct and control blending into something primal.

Every time her sword connected, dark energy burst outward in waves. Her curse mark pulsed violently, absorbing the released corruption, feeding off it like fire consuming oil.

But Ling Yu ignored it all.

She could feel the corruption trying to seep into her body, the tendrils of darkness wrapping around her heart, whispering temptations of power, of release. But she pushed it down, burying it under layers of cold determination.

She didn’t care about purity, about balance, not right now.

All she cared about was destroying the filth that threatened this forest and completing her mission.

’I’ll deal with this damned curse later.’

Her blade tore through another spirit, then another.

She leapt from one root to another, her body twisting midair, slashing downward in a perfect arc. The black energy that sprayed out from her cut disintegrated into motes before touching the ground.

Fluffy, who had retreated to a nearby branch, was watching anxiously, its golden eyes wide, its little body trembling. The golden light surrounding it flickered, reacting to the surge of corrupted energy filling the air.

Even from afar, it could sense the shift in Ling Yu’s aura, the calm, steady resonance she usually carried was changing.

Now, it pulsed with something darker, sharper, and something hungry.

The ground cracked under her boots as she slammed her sword downward, a wave of energy radiating outward. The spirits scattered, hissing, but it was too late. The sigil on her hand expanded again, and this time, it consumed the air itself.

Black mist spiraled into her palm, drawn into her veins.

The curse mark glowed violently, spreading further up her arm, past her wrist, crawling toward her shoulder like living ink.

Her breathing hitched, but her face showed no pain, only cold focus.

"Is that all you’ve got?" she whispered.

The spirits screamed louder, forming a massive cluster in the air, a grotesque amalgamation of shadow and bone, its shape twisting into a monstrous figure resembling a tree with multiple faces.

It roared, the sound shaking the canopy. The very roots of the forest trembled as if in fear.

Ling Yu didn’t flinch.

Instead, she reached behind her, touching the small vial that the elves had given her, the Spirit Dew. The glass glowed faintly, resonating with the Tree’s energy.

She closed her fingers around it, channelling her curse energy into the liquid.

The vial cracked.

The Spirit Dew and the curse energy merged, light and darkness colliding, and a burst of violet light exploded from her hand, coating her sword. The blade transformed, its silver sheen now laced with streaks of shadow and gold.

Ling Yu lifted it slowly, her expression unreadable.

"I’m bored playing for soooo long! It’s so boring, I don’t feel like playing anymore. Let’s end this."