Heavens' Laughter-Chapter 122: Last Breath

Standing up, Feng Shen dusted himself off, a sly snicker escaping his lips. His expression was one of amusement.

He began to walk toward the Ancestor and the Phoenix, both of whom now looked far less formidable.

Their once-mighty flames were now flickering faintly, dying out like the embers of a once-raging fire.

"Ah~ such a pity," Feng Shen drawled, his tone dripping with mock sympathy. "If only I had been stronger earlier... I could’ve played with you both properly." Discover stories at novelbuddy

He shook his head, clicking his tongue. "But alas, here we are, and I must be like this…"

Dark Qi began to seep out of Feng Shen, oozing like a sinister fog that tainted everything it touched. The energy coiled and writhed around him.

The ground beneath his feet darkened and cracked, unable to withstand the weight of the energy.

Suddenly, both of Feng Shen’s arms began to shift. The dark Qi poured out more intensely, enveloping his limbs entirely.

His arms turned pitch black, glistening with a slick, shadowy ooze that seemed to pulse as if alive.

The ooze hardened and sharpened at the tips.

"Look at me now," Feng Shen murmured. "No longer bound by the petty limits of regular Qi... I’ve ascended to something far greater."

Feeling the overwhelming surge of energy, both the Ancestor and the Phoenix abruptly ceased their flames.

Leaving them in their original forms, their bodies battered and weary. Slowly, they turned their attention toward the source.

When their gazes landed on the young man, who was steadily approaching, they froze.

The Ancestor’s expression twisted with disbelief and disdain. "What in the… How did you…" He stumbled over his words, his voice faltering for a moment before regaining its strength:

"No cultivator would dare use Dark Qi! It’s a poison! A curse upon the body and soul!"

The Phoenix remained silent as it simply stared with wide eyes.

The Ancestor laughed weakly, though his amusement was laced with a hint of hysteria:

"Are you dumb, boy!? Do you even understand what you’ve done to yourself? Dark Qi devours everything! It depletes your life energy until nothing remains! Are you so desperate for victory that you’d sacrifice your own life just to kill me!?"

Feng Shen stopped in his tracks, tilting his head slightly as if pondering such words. Then, his lips curved into a grin, and a chuckle escaped him.

"Oh, old man, you misunderstand," he said, his voice dripping with mockery. "Desperation? Sacrifice? Those words don’t apply to me."

Feng Shen raised one of his pitch-black, clawed arms, letting the dark ooze drip from its sharpened edges.

"I’m not like you," he continued, his grin widening as he took another step forward:

"You cling to your life, your empire, your pride — pathetic little things. I’ve discarded those shackles long ago. So, Dark Qi doesn’t deplete my life energy... Though you’ll never comprehend why I can wield such power…"

Feng Shen sighed. Without a word, he used Shadow Step, his form vanishing in an instant.

Before the Ancestor could react… "Wha—!?"

Feng Shen reappeared — not behind him, as the Ancestor expected, but directly in front of him.

The Ancestor’s eyes narrowed slightly, the faintest flicker of surprise crossing his face.

’So, he’s bold enough to appear right in front of me? Foolish.’ He thought to himself.

"You fool!" the Ancestor roared, his voice thunderous, shaking the air around them. "You’re wishing for death!"

With a powerful swing, he launched his fist forward, aiming to crush the young man’s chest.

But then—

"Huh?"

The Ancestor’s fist never connected.

A strange sensation — or rather, a lack of sensation — crept up his arm. His momentum faltered, and confusion filled his expression.

The Ancestor’s gaze instinctively lowered, and his eyes widened. His arm was no longer attached to his body.

It lay on the ground at his feet, severed cleanly at the elbow. Blood gushed from the wound in torrential streams.

"What the…?" The Ancestor gasped, staggering backward, clutching at the bleeding stump with his remaining hand.

His legs felt weak as shock spread through his body. His mouth opened and closed, his voice trembling with disbelief. "I didn’t even… How did you cut through my physique!?"

Feng Shen stood there, composed, his blackened claws dripping with blood:

"Your physique? This pathetic excuse for defense you call a physique?"

"You… Little… Bastard…" Grinding his teeth, the Ancestor finally snapped, his rage reaching its boiling point.

Veins bulged across his face and neck, pulsating as though ready to burst from the sheer force of his fury:

"Don’t you dare look down on me!"

In an instant, the Ancestor propelled himself forward with blinding speed, his body a blur of motion.

As he closed the distance, he swung his leg high into the air, pouring every ounce of his remaining strength into the attack.

Burning even more of his dwindling life energy, the Ancestor’s Qi surged violently, coating his leg in blue flames so intense they warped the very air around them.

The heat was suffocating, distorting the ground below and scorching the clouds above.

Feng Shen, however, remained unimpressed. He rolled his eyes, his expression one of exasperation. "Really?"

He raised his right arm, which shifted mid-motion. The dark ooze enveloping it seemed to solidify, forming a twisted yet strangely refined claw-like hand.

With precise timing, Feng Shen caught the leg mid-swing, his fingers gripping tightly around the flaming limb.

"Wha—!?" the Ancestor gasped. Before he could react.

Feng Shen’s grip tightened with unimaginable force. A sickening snap echoed as the leg broke cleanly, the bone shattered like brittle glass.

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The Ancestor’s scream of pain tore through the air as he crumpled to the ground, clutching his mangled limb.

The blue flames that once engulfed his leg sputtered and extinguished, leaving behind only a faint wisp of smoke.

Writhing on the ground, the Ancestor bit down hard on his lip, his teeth drawing blood as he fought to suppress another scream.

He glared up at the young man.

"How…?" the Ancestor rasped, his voice trembling:

"How did you not get burned!? Nobody has ever withstood my flames! They are the hottest in the entire Nine Skies! Even the heavens themselves bow to my fire!"

Feng Shen looked down. A faint smirk tugged at the corner of his lips as he held up his darkened arm, still coated in the ominous ooze.

"Your flames?" he said mockingly. "The so-called hottest flames in the Nine Skies?" He chuckled, shaking his head:

"What you fail to understand, is that Dark Qi isn’t just a force — it’s a void. It doesn’t burn, it consumes. Your flames, your strength, your pride — they’re all just fuel for the darkness."

The Ancestor’s breath hitched, his body trembling.

"You’ve burned your life energy for this… and for what?" Feng Shen said, stepping closer:

"You’re nothing more than a flickering flame, fated to be snuffed out."

"I… You… Wh…" The Ancestor’s jaw trembled as he struggled to form words, his voice a broken whisper.

His body quaked under the unbearable agony surging through him. It had been countless years since he had bled, since he had truly felt pain.

The shock of it was almost as overwhelming as the pain itself.

Feng Shen tilted his head slightly, as though looking at a dying insect. The faint sound of his tongue clicking.

"Pitiful," he muttered, shaking his head:

"To think a cultivator with such arrogance would end up like this. How very… sad of you."

Without sparing another glance, Feng Shen turned on his heel. But as he moved, a sudden flash of dark Qi crackled in the air.

In an instant, the Ancestor’s head was severed cleanly from his body.

The cut was so precise, so swift, that his expression remained frozen in wide-eyed disbelief. His lips parted slightly as if still attempting to form words.

The Ancestor’s headless body slumped to the ground, blood pooling around him.

Feng Shen’s footsteps were the only sound as he approached the Phoenix, who lay collapsed.

Its once-majestic feathers, now dulled, barely fluttered in the faint breeze.

The Phoenix’s breathing was labored, its chest rising and falling with visible effort. It was clear that it could barely cling to life, let alone fight back.

"Well, little bird…" Feng Shen said, "I did say I was going to make you my bitch."

The Phoenix’s glowing eyes flickered weakly, too drained to even respond with a screech, let alone resist.

Feng Shen tilted his head upward:

"Don’t worry. It’ll be quick… Just close your eyes and let your soul be consumed by darkness."

Without hesitation, Feng Shen leapt into the air, his body propelled by that of dark Qi.

As he arced through the air, his darkened arm morphed into a blade. With a single, fluid motion, he slashed forward.

The Phoenix’s throat was severed cleanly, its massive head separated from its body.

The lifeless head fell to the ground with a sickening thud, followed by the immense body crashing down moments later.

Feng Shen landed back on the ground:

"Ah~ how utterly pathetic! I was hoping they’d scream until their last breath... Such a waste…"