Above, sword intent and flute music clashed, stirring up a hurricane.
The demonic cultivators who were a bit closer were instantly turned to cannon fodder.
Who could have guessed that the savior they’d been longing for would become one of the culprits responsible for their deaths? Although Qu Wu hadn’t meant for them to die, he was already exhausting himself just to withstand the terrifying sword intent from the other side—how could he possibly have the strength to save anyone else?
Who would have thought that what was supposed to be a simple mission would end up with him running into a monster? No, no, no, this kind of pressure—he’d only ever felt it from the Demon Lord himself.
How could this be? How could a tribulation-stage cultivator show up in a place like this?
Qu Wu’s precious face was now covered in several fine cuts.
Normally, he’d have flown into a rage and made the area run red with blood, but right now he didn’t even have time to deal with his wounds, letting dust and sweat sting them.
This damned place was limiting his strength, but maybe he should be grateful for this secret realm.
If it weren’t for the suppression here, the other party could probably kill him with a single glance.
That’s just how big the gap is between the tribulation stage and the integration stage.
The other two, who were completely lost after Wen Jiayin fell into an unknown trap, were knocked over by the shockwaves from the distant battle before they could even react.
“Jiayin—Jiayin fell down!” Zhi Chang’an was so flustered she couldn’t even speak properly, panicking for the first time in her life.
“What do we do? What do we do…”
Li Youxi was just as stunned.
Wen Jiayin had just helped her out of danger, only to fall into an unknown trap herself.
She’d never imagined she’d be saved by Wen Jiayin one day—after all, the two of them had never gotten along since they were kids.
Hearing Zhi Chang’an’s voice, tinged with tears, Li Youxi snapped out of it, shivering.
“Let’s go check again, see if there’s some kind of mechanism over there that made Wen Jiayin fall.”
Right now, both of them were so worried about Wen Jiayin that neither noticed Bai Hansu drawing her sword, missing the chance to see her exposed.
Zhi Chang’an thought Li Youxi made sense.
Wiping her tears, she braved the aftershocks of the battle ahead and went to the spot where Wen Jiayin had fallen, searching hard for any possible mechanism.
But it was just a patch of ordinary, flat grass.
Li Youxi gritted her teeth and tried to dig up the ground, but even if she tore up the turf, it was useless.
The place where Wen Jiayin fell was actually a small space connected to this one.
Zhi Chang’an bit her lip, but her sobs only grew worse, tears falling one by one.
She rarely cried in front of Li Youxi, because she really didn’t like this spoiled girl who used to bully her.
Even though she was a crybaby, she was stubborn in some ways and hated showing weakness in front of people she disliked.
But the moment she thought about her best friend—her pillar—Wen Jiayin, and what might happen to her… she just couldn’t hold back the tears.
Li Youxi had no idea what to do about Zhi Chang’an’s tears.
She’d always been most afraid of her crying, ever since they were little.
Back then, she’d only known how to yell and threaten her to stop, but as she grew up, she realized that was wrong.
But even though Li Youxi now knew it was wrong, she still didn’t know a better way to stop Zhi Chang’an from crying at a time like this.
“She’ll be fine, she’s got a million tricks up her sleeve, and little Martial Uncle dotes on her—he’s given her tons of protective treasures!” As she said this, Li Youxi suddenly remembered: Wen Jiayin was covered head to toe in artifacts from little Martial Uncle.
If it weren’t for the rules of this place, she could probably blow the whole area up and be just fine.
There was no need for them to worry about her safety at all.
“Don’t panic, she’ll definitely be okay.
The treasures little Martial Uncle gave her are enough to protect her until the secret realm ends, so…” Li Youxi raised her hand, wanting to wipe Zhi Chang’an’s tears, but some tangled emotion made her shrink back and lower her hand.
“Really? She’ll be okay?” With Li Youxi’s comfort, Zhi Chang’an’s hands weren’t shaking as badly.
Right, she knew how much little Martial Uncle loved Jiayin—he’d never skimp on protective treasures.
She’d be fine! She should have calmed down, but instead, Zhi Chang’an’s tears just flowed even harder.
Li Youxi: “…” Help! Wen Jiayin, get your butt back here!
Just then, a shockwave from one of Qu Wu’s big moves swept over.
“Watch out!” Li Youxi grabbed Zhi Chang’an and rolled backward, dodging a blast of sound that exploded where they’d just been.
Attacks from sound cultivators didn’t just hurt the body—they also affected the soul.
Li Youxi instinctively covered Zhi Chang’an’s ears, not even noticing that the sharp flute notes had made her own ears bleed.
Xinyun just glanced over at them.
Seeing the two kids were still alive, she didn’t bother with them.
“…Senior, let’s talk this out.
If I said anything wrong before, please forgive me.
As long as you let this go, I’ll smooth things over for you with the Demon Lord, and I’ll keep quiet about that girl’s existence.
How about it?” Qu Wu knew when to bow to the situation—he’d never been the loyal type.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t be working for Chi Di Demon Lord while secretly contacting Ji Hun Demon Lord, even trying to stir up a war between the two.
The moment he started to suspect this unfamiliar female cultivator’s identity, he lost all will to fight.
Bai Hansu’s identity wasn’t hard to guess.
There were only two female sword cultivators at the tribulation stage in the whole cultivation world—one was still missing, fate unknown, and the other was the Sword Sovereign of Jingdao Sect.
Qu Wu thought, if he had another chance, if he’d known a bit earlier that True Lord Xinyun had entered this secret realm, he wouldn’t have set foot in this damned place even if it killed him! And if he had, he’d have stayed as far away as possible!
Bai Hansu—no, Xinyun—her sword was now wrapped in a red aura of blood.
If she closed her eyes, she could see the scene from her past life: carrying a battered, ice-cold Ayin out of the alchemy furnace.
Clearly a fire spiritual root cultivator, but from then on, Ayin was colder than she was, suffering a lifetime of torment…
The demonic cultivators had gotten their hands on a poisonous immortal herb.
According to its properties, only righteous cultivators with pure spiritual roots could filter out the poison, and the better the root, the better the effect.
They’d force righteous cultivators to take the poison, let the medicinal properties fuse with their flesh, let the toxins settle in their spiritual roots, then dig out the roots and refine their flesh into pills.
By the time Xinyun fought her way to Duyie Sect, it was already too late.
The poison and Wen Jiayin’s spiritual root had completely fused and couldn’t be separated.
She could never forget Ayin, tormented by the cold poison, quietly sobbing in her arms: “Master, I’m cold.”
She was an ice spiritual root cultivator—she couldn’t warm Ayin up, and even after searching all the ancient texts, she couldn’t find a cure.
All she could do was the stupidest thing: slowly draw out the cold from Ayin’s body, bit by bit.
But that was just a temporary fix.
And the person in front of her was one of the culprits who’d kidnapped Ayin and made her suffer for a lifetime.
How could Xinyun possibly let him go?
“This isn’t your real body.” Xinyun pointed her sword at him.
“But I’ll kill you.” No matter where you are.
Far away in the demon lands, Qu Wu’s real body suddenly opened his eyes and spat out a mouthful of blood.
He tried to wipe it away with a handkerchief, but his hands were shaking so badly he couldn’t hold it steady.
That puppet body was destroyed, but that wasn’t the point—the point was, a tribulation-stage cultivator was now after his life!
The last thing he saw was True Lord Xinyun’s gaze, full of undisguised killing intent.
He had no idea what he’d done to make her want to chase him into the demon lands and kill him.
He was sure he’d never had any dealings with Jingdao Sect before.
Was it a grudge from a past life? Qu Wu’s handsome face twisted into a forced smile.
No! He had to find a way to save himself!
