Chapter 182
Chapter 182: Advancement
Murong Xiao Ya stood expressionless. With a subtle lift of her hand, the molten iron chains on the cave floor transformed into a blazing python made of fire. Carrying searing waves of heat, it crashed violently into the tightly sealed stone door.
With a thunderous boom, the door instantly shattered into dust, and the fiery python surged onward, flooding through the opening. The intense blaze illuminated the hidden chamber within.
Now Murong Xiao Ya could clearly see what lay behind the door—a torture rack forged from black iron, suspended by chains in midair. Its surface was rusted dark red, and bound upon it was a figure.
It was none other than her brother.
He had once committed a grave mistake, punished by Murong Hong and imprisoned deep within the dungeons. It had been several years since she’d last seen him, yet she never imagined they would meet again like this.
In a flash, Murong Xiao Ya turned into a streak of flame, appearing instantly before the iron rack, her gaze fixed intently upon her brother.
He was covered from head to toe in wounds. Beneath his tortured skin, grotesque lumps writhed restlessly—sometimes bulging like fist-sized spiders climbing toward his throat, other times slithering like centipedes beneath his flesh.
Murong Xiao Ya sensed clearly that dozens of powerful, alien martial Qi surged chaotically inside him, violently clashing within his body. Under their relentless assault, his skin cracked open, revealing purplish sinews beneath.
Sharp ivory-colored bones jutted through his limbs, dried blood crusted on their tips, turning him into a figure barely recognizable as human.
Murong Xiao Ya frowned slightly. She reached out through the air, plucking a chunk of ironstone from her brother’s mouth and casting it aside.
In the next instant, a heartrending cry of agony filled the chamber.
“Please…kill me… Kill me now…”
Realizing someone was present, her brother began screaming desperately, begging for release as the pain tore him apart.
“I am Xiao Ya,” she replied coldly, her voice emotionless yet steady. “Brother, why are you here?”
At her words, his screams grew even more frantic. “Xiao Ya? Is it really you…?” he gasped. “I’ve waited…so long… Please…end my suffering quickly!”
His ruined body twisted weakly on the rack, summoning a feeble strength from who knows where, struggling hopelessly to free himself.
Murong Xiao Ya said nothing. She knew her brother’s pleas were genuine. His desire for death was utterly real.
Enveloped in swirling crimson flames, Murong Xiao Ya hovered silently in the air. The molten-gold whirlpools in her eyes faded away, yet her presence remained fiercely imposing.
“Tell me everything,” she demanded calmly. “And what does Second Uncle have to do with this?”
Hearing her question, her brother clenched his teeth against the agony. Abruptly, he burst into wild laughter filled with bitterness.
“Second Uncle…is nothing but a demon cultist!” His laughter turned savage, his eyes blazing with hatred. “He promised me peerless martial arts…a chance to escape Father’s prison…but he deceived me! He used me as a human cauldron!”
“He stole the cultivation of countless martial masters…and forced their Qi into my body—even the two family ancestors weren’t spared. Every day he made me endure these conflicting energies…this endless torment—all of it…was meant for you, Xiao Ya!”
Suddenly, he stopped speaking, seeming to want to see his little sister one last time. But no matter how he tried, he couldn’t lift his head.
After a long silence, he murmured, “I…I am Second Uncle’s gift for you…”
Then he began laughing again, a laugh filled with rage, jealousy, pain, resentment, and bottomless despair.
Murong Xiao Ya remained quiet, calmly watching his madness. Finally, she asked softly, “Why?”
Her brother’s laughter ceased abruptly. In a tormented voice, he said, “Second Uncle said…all the martial power inside me…belongs only to you. Only by absorbing my martial Qi…can you achieve what you desire. But…I’m curious…what exactly is it that you want?”
Murong Xiao Ya hesitated briefly, and for the first time, emotion flickered across her face as she slowly said, “The Murong Family is no more.”
Upon hearing this, her brother’s agony paused sharply. Suddenly, he cried out furiously, “Murong Hong was a fool! I knew he would ruin our family eventually! I only killed a few people to practice—”
But before he could finish speaking, he felt an invisible hand grasp his heart tightly. At the same moment, Murong Xiao Ya’s indifferent voice echoed coldly in his ears:
“Brother, your sins are deep. Let me help you find peace. Also…Second Uncle, I’ve already killed him.”
As soon as her voice fell silent, his heart shattered into misty blood, and the unbearable pain swiftly faded away.
At last, truly freed, he managed a final whisper:
“Be careful…Second Uncle…”
In an instant, the mist of blood became a slender stream of vital essence, flowing gently toward Murong Xiao Ya’s heart.
Unlike when she had slain Murong Fu, the dozens of martial Qi streams within her brother also flowed through this blood essence, rapidly merging into Murong Xiao Ya.
Observing quietly, Murong Xiao Ya’s gaze darkened slightly, but she did not resist. Instead, she fully embraced the blood essence and the powerful martial Qi.
Immediately, Murong Xiao Ya’s spine cracked explosively, countless surges of martial Qi coursing violently through her meridians and muscles, splitting open countless wounds across her body.
But quickly, a dazzling golden-red radiance erupted from her heart, flooding her entire form. Crimson veins appeared where the wounds had opened, swiftly absorbing and harmonizing the raging martial energies.
As the powerful Qi continuously poured into her body, Murong Xiao Ya’s aura skyrocketed.
Golden-red mist seeped through her skin, drifting outward, scorching countless tiny holes into the surrounding stone walls.
Around her, flames roared crimson and gold, as if to consume heaven and earth itself, shaping into two enormous wings of molten fire behind her back.
A mere flutter of these blazing wings shook the entire cavern, scattering rocks and dust throughout.
Finally, as all martial Qi was fully absorbed, Murong Xiao Ya’s power rose to an unimaginably terrifying level.