Swish.
The silver longsword intercepted the incoming attack. The residual force erupted from Qiguan Shang as the epicenter, the massive shockwave causing Ruan Xuanxin to stagger and fall to the ground. Yet, he felt no pain whatsoever; his eyes were even shining brightly, fixed on Qiguan Shang’s sword.
Senior Master, what a sword!
Suddenly, an aura that sent chills down one’s spine abruptly descended behind the two. Ruan Xuanxin then saw Qiguan Shang in front of him freeze in place as if under a paralysis spell.
He had just scratched his head, about to go up and remind him: Senior Master, we’re still fighting, don’t zone out!
But then he heard Yuan Ji’s slightly anxious call from behind, “Ah Shang!”
Ruan Xuanxin turned his head, his brow lifting, a look of joy spreading across his face as he intended to greet Yuan Ji. He saw the latter flash past like lightning, appearing directly behind Qiguan Shang without sparing him a single glance.
Ruan Xuanxin: “…”
He gave an awkward, scrunched-nose smile. “Well… at least Master woke up!”
Yuan Ji strode forward directly. Seeing Qiguan Shang’s ghastly pale face before her and the increasingly prominent black thorns on his body, she pressed her lips tight and, allowing no refusal, placed her hand over his chest, releasing divine power.
Tiny points of white light sank into his heart. The black thorns, as if encountering something terrifying, rapidly retreated to their original positions, not daring to cause further trouble.
A genuine smile surfaced on Qiguan Shang’s face. He raised his hand and grasped Yuan Ji’s. “I’m fine.”
“…” Yuan Ji didn’t say anything, just gave him an inscrutable look, which inexplicably made Qiguan Shang’s heart flutter with unease.
How much did Yuan Ji remember?
Qiguan Shang cautiously scrutinized Yuan Ji’s expression, his heart uneasy. “Really, Yuan Ji, the moment your power enters my body, all pain vanishes.”
The coldness in her eyes dissipated like mist in a spring breeze. Her clear gaze now mirrored the timid yet expectant eyes under the tree shade long ago. For a moment, Yuan Ji found she couldn’t stay angry.
She withdrew her hand from Qiguan Shang’s grasp, giving a soft, meaningful hum. “I never imagined you were this formidable now.”
As soon as the words fell, Qiguan Shang knew Yuan Ji had recalled the things he’d kept from her. He immediately adopted a pitiful expression, trying to muddle through.
Ruan Xuanxin, however, oblivious to the subtext in Yuan Ji’s words, bounced over cheerfully to join them. “Master is right! You didn’t see how incredible Senior Master was! One swing of his sword, and he sliced through a whole mountainside! Hahaha…”
Ruan Xuanxin laughed heartily, but his laughter gradually faded as he noticed the two staring at him in silence. Utterly baffled, he looked left and right.
“Master, are you… not happy?”
Qiguan Shang remained silent, but his desire to silence this witness for good reached its peak.
“Ha.” Yuan Ji let out a cold laugh, forming a shimmer of cold light in her hand. “What did you call me?”
Ruan Xuanxin: !!
“River God!” he amended sheepishly.
“You people…” A voice, suppressed and squeezed from the throat, filled with rage and discontent, interrupted them. “You truly do not take me seriously!”
Why, even after reaching this position, am I still being ignored?!
Guan Su stepped forward, one deliberate step at a time. Wisp after wisp of deathly energy seeped from him, his sinister expression a far cry from his previous ethereal, immortal-like demeanor.
He glared venomously at Yuan Ji, forcing the words through gritted teeth, “You are the cause of it all.”
“Fortunately, the dragon bone is complete. And you, River God, are no longer necessary.”
With that, countless streams of death energy fell from his body, burrowing into the ground and instantly surrounding Yuan Ji and the others.
Yuan Ji’s brow furrowed slightly, her lips curling down in distaste. She weighed the weapon A Tong in her hand a couple of times, finding the situation almost laughable.
“How can this person be so arrogantly confident?”
A Tong woke up groggily. Hearing Yuan Ji’s words, it gave Guan Su across the way a once-over and said seriously, “Probably because he has a big face!”
“The palace intrigue system next door loves sticking flowers all over its head, making it huge, and it’s very confident too.”
Yuan Ji couldn’t help but look up at Guan Su. She nodded. Indeed, it was quite large.
Whether due to the excessive death energy around him, Guan Su’s entire body was swollen and bloated to nearly twice its size, a sight both startling and grotesque.
Yuan Ji silently turned her head away, the disgust in her eyes palpable. This action deeply stung Guan Su’s pride.
He flailed his arms in frenzy, scattering even more black specks in all directions.
Warm, gentle hands covered Yuan Ji’s eyes. A warm presence pressed against her back as Qiguan Shang leaned down and whispered:
“Dirty. Don’t look.”
Yuan Ji reached up and took his hand. “It’s alright. If it gets dirty, we’ll just wash it.”
Yuan Ji glanced up at the overcast sky, her fingers making a quick calculation. “Come.”
Instantly, several bolts of lightning descended from the heavens.
Little Thunder chomped down on a strand of death energy in front of it, which instantly disintegrated and vanished under the thunderous force.
It, along with its kin, weaved through the masses of black energy before darting straight toward Yuan Ji. Its golden serpentine pupils narrowed into excited slits.
Such a powerful aura! Just being near Yuan Ji felt immensely comfortable.
Eagerly, Little Thunder sped up its charge toward Yuan Ji.
The next moment, a merciless barrier blocked its path. It looked at Yuan Ji, tilting its head in confusion.
“…”
Seeing it had rallied other thunder serpents to aid her, yet also seeing its body tainted by contact with the death energy, Yuan Ji was deeply moved but still politely declined its approach.
Little Thunder took two shocked steps back, its golden pupils suddenly widening. It was about to wail pathetically when it felt a surge of immense power flooding into its body.
It watched as Yuan Ji nonchalantly withdrew her hand, divine power still lingering on her fingertips. Instantly moved to tears, it decided to forgive Yuan Ji and, as repayment, bite that foul-smelling man a few times for her.
In an instant, thunder and light erupted.
Yuan Ji flicked away the residual warmth from her fingertips, her gaze sweeping over the people lying haphazardly on the ground nearby. She frowned and asked Ruan Xuanxin, “Didn’t they take the antidote?”
Ruan Xuanxin watched Hall Master Guan being besieged by thunder serpents, swallowing hard. The River God can even command thunder serpents born of heavenly tribulation?! What kind of power is this?
Master is too strong!
Heart surging with excitement, Ruan Xuanxin nodded hurriedly in response. “The seniors, upon hearing the River God’s instructions yesterday, took the divine medicine sent by Cultivator Lan in advance. However…”
He glanced at the few who had protested most vehemently the day before. “A few believed their own strength was exceptional, so they didn’t take it.”
Yuan Ji understood, raising an eyebrow slightly but saying no more.
She had no obligation to beg everyone to listen to her. Calculating the time, it was about right.
Sure enough, two figures suddenly appeared before Yuan Ji: Guan Rou and Xiang Yizhi.
“River God! We have returned.” Xiang Yizhi bowed respectfully. Earlier, following Yuan Ji’s instructions, they had gone to investigate the cave and indeed discovered something.
“That Guan Su is nothing but a beast!” Xiang Yizhi, recalling what he saw, couldn’t help but curse.
“The cave was full of demons he captured from who-knows-where, a dense, uncountable mass!”
The cave entrance looked small, but inside held a hidden mystery. Upon entering, they were sucked into a secret realm.
Within this small world-like realm were cages upon cages, densely packed with countless demons.
At a glance, even newly-born demon pups were among them.
They were sallow-faced, listless, crammed together with not even enough space to lie down and rest.
Guan Rou remembered when she first walked in. Out of the thousands upon thousands of demons, only one or two still had the strength to look up and see who had come. The rest simply waited for death with resigned acceptance.
She couldn’t help but shed tears.
Her eyes red, Guan Rou glared at Guan Su, who was being harried and bitten by the thunder serpents, and couldn’t restrain a sharp rebuke:
“Guan Su, do you still remember father’s teachings?”
“Benevolence, magnanimity, diligence—which have you upheld?”
The death energy around him diminished considerably. Guan Su stumbled a step, then sneered, resentment filling his stare at Guan Rou. “Father? Did he ever show me a shred of care?” he spat through gritted teeth. “He knew I wanted to learn mechanical arts. Did he teach me?”
“He tossed me aside at Tianji Sect like garbage.”
“So why should I listen to him?”
Guan Su raised a hand, controlling a Tianji Sect disciple. The latter, like a marionette, clambered up from the ground and stumbled to his side.
Guan Su spread his fingers, pressing them against the disciple’s crown. A steady stream of life force poured into Guan Su’s body, replenishing the death energy destroyed by the thunder serpents.
Yuan Ji’s expression turned stern, her face showing clear revulsion.
What a truly nauseating method.
She raised a finger. Zhijie flew out from the storage ring. Sensing its master’s aura, it excitedly circled Qiguan Shang twice.
“Zhijie.” Yuan Ji grasped the sword, her divine power enveloping it, imbuing it with a sacred radiance.
A sharp sword energy shot forth, cleanly severing Guan Su’s hands—those hands stained with who-knows-how-much blood.
“Ah!” Guan Su screamed, watching his severed hands fly through the air and instantly shrivel into dried, withered remains. His eyes nearly bulged from their sockets.
“River God!”
The next moment, a sky-shattering pressure descended from above, pressing him heavily into the ground.
Yuan Ji stood above, looking down at him quietly, as if observing an insect.
Ptui. Guan Su spat out a mouthful of black fluid, his body rapidly shrinking and withering. He glared furiously at Yuan Ji, seemingly surprised that she was truly this overwhelmingly powerful.
But that was just fine.
He grinned, beginning a maniacal laugh. The laughter from his pitch-black mouth grew increasingly shrill and piercing, inhuman. “Hahahaha, dragon bone! I want the dragon bone! It’s all mine!”
“You!” Guan Rou, seeing him still unrepentant, burned with fury. She immediately pulled out a piece of dark iron armor from her robes and began whacking Guan Su with it clang clang clang.
Dark iron armor was incredibly hard. Each strike left deep dents on Guan Su’s body.
“You actually dared to commit such cruel acts! You truly shame our Guan family’s ancestral teachings!”
“You even dare disrespect the River God! Have you grown tired of living?!”
Xiang Yizhi, hearing the series of dull thuds, felt phantom pains himself. He swallowed hard and edged half a step away to avoid accidental injury.
I always said this cousin of mine is the most terrifying.
Yuan Ji, however, observing her fierce display, gave an approving nod.
“Hah, ancestral teachings?”
Guan Su let out a cold laugh, struggling to lift his head. He stared at Guan Rou with the sinister gaze of a venomous snake, feigning sudden realization.
“Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten. When I sent people to cut off their heads, I even recited the teachings to them.”
Guan Rou’s hand, mid-strike, froze abruptly. Crimson instantly flooded her pupils.
“It was you!”
The mastermind behind the massacre of the Guan family.
Xiang Yizhi’s throat tightened. He whirled to stare at Guan Su, as if unable to comprehend. “The Guan family’s kindness in raising you… how could you bring yourself to do it?”
Guan Su spat in contempt. “Ptui.“
The next moment, the dark iron armor smashed down heavily.
Guan Rou rose to her feet, her expression blank.
She respectfully bowed deeply to Yuan Ji. “Thank you, River God, for granting me the chance to avenge my family with my own hands. Guan Rou has no way to repay you. I am willing to follow you, life after life.”
“Rise.” Yuan Ji raised a hand, a gentle force lifting her up.
“Thank you, River God.”
Xiang Yizhi also bowed. But out of the corner of his eye, he caught a flash of bloody light. A sense of foreboding instantly arose.
“Careful!”
A blood-red array, intricately drawn, slowly manifested beneath their feet.
Guan Su’s body, which had already lost all signs of life, suddenly emitted several pops and began to swell once more.
“Guan Su” slowly rose, a strange, unfamiliar voice issuing from his throat.
“Good child. You have done well.”
“Yuan Ji, if you obediently offer your dragon bone, I can spare the lives of these tens of thousands of demons and the people of Tianji Sect.”
Yuan Ji looked at “Guan Su’s” aged and wizened expression, demanding coldly, “Who are you?”
He merely shook his head, not answering, and pointed at the array beneath them.
“This is the Sacrificial Heaven Array. You cannot escape.”
“You die, or they die. Choose.”
The unhurried, deliberate tone carried a smug confidence, pushing Yuan Ji’s inner annoyance to its peak.
She slowly took a step forward, golden light flashing in her eyes.
“You think you’re worthy of threatening me?”
