"I'll risk it!"
Zhao Guangyi's death brought a sense of shared misfortune to Wu Li. His body erupted with radiance, unleashing his innate divine abilities against the dense sword aura surrounding Su Qingjiu. Both were at the peak of the twelfth realm, and Wu Li, being a demon and possessing a formidable physique, actually had a slim chance of exchanging lives with Su Qingjiu if he had been more decisive.
If the exchange had succeeded, Wu Li, a peak twelfth realm demon immortal, trading blows with Su Qingjiu, one of the strongest sword cultivators of humanity and the Lord of Changming Mountain, the Ancestral Mountain of the demon race would surely favor the Xi Jian tribe to which Wu Li belonged.
However, Wu Li could not bring himself to commit, his movements showing a hint of hesitation. After a dozen exchanges, he was struck by Su Qingjiu's sword thrice, his body already riddled with wounds under the dense sword energy.
Zhao Sui Guang piloted the verdant treasure cauldron, circling continuously, focusing more on defense than offense. At this moment, he regretted his decision to come to the Snow Region Heavenly Pond. Had he come here to court death?
Just then, a telepathic message from Su Qingjiu echoed in his heart: "Zhao Sui Guang, I'll give you a chance to live, do you want it?"
"Ah?!"
Zhao Sui Guang trembled in his heart, "Please... please, Great Sword Immortal Su, speak your mind directly."
Su Qingjiu chuckled, "I can completely kill both you and Wu Li, but I will inevitably sustain injuries. I haven't seen my Brother Lin Zhao in a hundred years, and I don't want him to see me in such a sorry state, nor do I want him to worry about me. Therefore, I hope you can cooperate with me. I'll launch a flying sword attack on Wu Li, and you can sneak attack, how about that?"
"This..."
Zhao Sui Guang's expression wavered.
It wasn't that he was unwilling, but rather that he was afraid. Wu Li was a member of the demon race, and Qingliang Sect, the foremost sect in the northern human territories, had considerable dealings with the demon race. Ever since they imprisoned Huang Tingyu in Qianlong Abyss, Qingliang Sect had been working for the demon race. However, the one who handled dealings with the demon race had always been Ancestor Zhao Jingyu. He, the sect leader, had always been marginalized. Now, if he truly killed Wu Li, neither the demon race nor Ancestor Zhao Jingyu would let him off.
Su Qingjiu narrowed her beautiful eyes, pressing Wu Li's attack with her sword while smiling, "Don't worry, within my sword dao's sealed heaven and earth, no one can perceive what is happening here. No one will blame you for Wu Li's death, and it can also create the illusion of you being heavily injured and escaping. The demon race and Zhao Jingyu will only blame Wu Li for poor planning and not you, Zhao Sui Guang."
"If that's the case, alright!"
Zhao Sui Guang gritted his teeth and said, "As a human, who would willingly cooperate with the demon race unless absolutely necessary?"
Su Qingjiu smiled. This was just talk. Did Zhao Sui Guang really take her for a naive young girl to be easily deceived?
...
The next moment, Su Qingjiu's sword intent surged violently. Her two innate flying swords shot out in unison, and a torrent of sword light instantly bombarded Wu Li. Wu Li cried out in dismay and immediately retreated, simultaneously summoning his most resilient innate scales to block Su Qingjiu's assault. Lightning flashed and thunder roared as countless sword energies struck the scales, like ten thousand thunders besieging a city.
Wu Li gritted his teeth, blood spraying from between them. It was too difficult. He had never fought such a challenging twelfth realm opponent in his life. In just twenty exchanges, he was bleeding. Was this still a twelfth realm sword cultivator? He would have believed it even if she were a thirteenth realm.
He desperately held on, while also searching for an opportunity to escape.
But just then, a whistling sound of wind approached from behind. It was Zhao Sui Guang piloting the verdant treasure cauldron, descending from the heavens and striking Wu Li squarely on the head. For a moment, Wu Li felt dizzy and spat out blood. His innate origin was also damaged, a crack spreading down from his skull. It was already difficult to resist Su Qingjiu, and now being ambushed by the twelfth realm Zhao Sui Guang, the severity of his injuries was unimaginable!
In an instant, Wu Li plummeted to the eleventh realm!
There was nothing more to be said.
Su Qingjiu's sword light flashed downwards. With the divine sword dao of a peak twelfth realm cultivator, she unleashed a sword strike from above. At this moment, Wu Li was immobilized, his entire body restrained by the opponent's sword dao restrictions. He could only gather a breath of demonic energy and spew it towards the sky, but it was futile. Su Qingjiu's sword split the dense demonic energy and directly pierced Wu Li's heart, passing straight through his body.
"Ahhh~~~~"
Wu Li's body recoiled, screaming in agony.
Su Qingjiu raised a finger, and a wisp of sword energy shot out from Wu Li's brow, piercing his skull and directly destroying his spiritual void. With this, even the most formidable physique could not survive.
...
"Plop!"
Wu Li knelt on the ground, slowly falling, his breath ceasing.
"..."
Zhao Sui Guang hovered in mid-air, his face ashen. He glanced at Su Qingjiu and asked, "Now... how?"
"Want me to take a sword strike?"
Su Qingjiu raised an eyebrow. "Otherwise, you won't be able to explain yourself when you return to Qingliang Sect."
"You won't kill me, will you?"
Zhao Sui Guang gritted his teeth.
"No."
Su Qingjiu smiled, "Do you think I would need to do this if I wanted to kill you?"
"Understood."
Zhao Sui Guang slowly landed and said solemnly, "Zhao Sui Guang, receive the sword!"
A wisp of sword light descended from the heavens. Zhao Sui Guang's body swayed. The sword energy, from his shoulder to his leg, was a perfectly straight cut, splitting his skin and flesh, appearing terrifying but not damaging his bones or his great dao cultivation.
"Thank you, Great Sword Immortal Su..."
Zhao Sui Guang clasped his hands and asked, "Can I... leave now?"
"Don't be in a hurry."
Su Qingjiu pointed her finger. "Leave your treasure cauldron. It looks quite nice. Brother Lin Zhao should like it very much."
"Ah?!"
Zhao Sui Guang was taken aback. "This... this is my innate object!"
"So what?"
Su Qingjiu raised an eyebrow. "Do you think one sword strike settles everything? Don't forget, you came up the mountain this time to kill my Brother Lin Zhao. Letting you live is already utmost benevolence!"
"Since that is the case..."
Zhao Sui Guang gritted his teeth and detached the verdant treasure cauldron. The moment the innate imprint within the treasure cauldron was severed, Zhao Sui Guang's realm immediately dropped from the mid-twelfth realm to the early twelfth realm. His complexion turned pale.
"Scram."
Su Qingjiu dispersed her small world, and the restrictions on the empty mountain outside also vanished. It seemed that the magic artifact had been damaged during the battle, causing it to disappear on its own.
Zhao Sui Guang, bleeding and disheveled, flew away hastily on the wind.
...
The moment Su Qingjiu's small world dispersed, her figure also appeared at the mountain gate. Beside her lay Wu Li's corpse, which had transformed into its true form as a large black carp and was collected into Su Qingjiu's storage bag. She looked up at the small hut nearby, where a disheveled man was leaning on his long sword, holding a bowl of noodles, slurping his breakfast. Upon seeing Su Qingjiu look at him, he immediately put down his bowl and slowly clasped his hands. He no longer concealed himself.
"Twelfth realm sword cultivator of the Military School, Tang Guangjun, pays his respects to Sword Immortal Su!"
Su Qingjiu was somewhat surprised. "You're here?"
"Ah... Hahahahaha..."
Tang Guangjun scratched his head, speaking with considerable awkwardness. "I committed a minor offense in the Ancestral Court of the Military School and was punished by the Sect Leader to be the gatekeeper for Junior Brother Lin Zhao for ten years in the Snow Region Heavenly Pond. Please, Sword Immortal Su, do not suspect me. My loyalty to Junior Brother is as genuine as the sun and moon, as evident as heaven and earth! Furthermore, I have already resolved some troublesome individuals for Junior Brother that were inconvenient for him to handle. Please, Sword Immortal Su, see this clearly."
"Oh..."
Su Qingjiu nodded. This person was respectful towards Brother Lin Zhao and seemed like a good person. She decided not to strike him.
She brushed past Tang Guangjun.
Tang Guangjun breathed a sigh of relief. Damn it, when he was in the Ancestral Court of the Military School, he was arrogant, believing his swordsmanship was second only to the Sect Leader. Now that he was in the mortal world, he encountered individuals who were one more monstrous than the last. Despite being a twelfth realm sword immortal, he felt as if he couldn't defeat any of them. This Lord of Changming Mountain, with her divine sword heart, was truly formidable.
Tang Guangjun was confident. If they fought with all their might, within a hundred exchanges, he, Tang Guangjun, would surely die!
...
Su Qingjiu stepped into the small town.
The stone bridge was the same stone bridge, similar to the one from her childhood, but more finely crafted. The stone bridge from her childhood was dilapidated but held so many childhood memories. The town had changed greatly. The front street was no longer filled with grand houses, and the houses in the back street were also well-built. The ancestral home of Brother Lin Zhao's family now had a small courtyard, better than before, but it was not yet occupied.
Passing by the former site of the bookstore on the front street, there was now a large academy, capable of accommodating hundreds of children. Mr. Qin, whom young Jiu'er often walked past his house, sometimes even giving a piece of candy to the taciturn scholar. Later, she learned that Mr. Qin was a Confucian Sage, and he was Brother Lin Zhao's teacher.
She looked at the appearance of the academy, her lips curving upwards, her heart filled with warmth.
Passing through the town, she headed towards the back mountain.
On a stone bridge, two people stood there: one was Chuzhi, and the other was Mu Zha.
"Xiao Jiu'er!"
Chuzhi called out with a smile, her eyes already welling up with tears as she uttered the name.
Su Qingjiu naturally recognized them. Her nose stung, and she walked forward, taking Chuzhi's hand. She then gently tugged at her empty sleeve and said softly, "Sister Chuzhi, I've always heard of the name of the strongest eleventh realm Sword Immortal Chuzhi, but you were never here whenever I came to the Snow Region Heavenly Pond for ancestral worship. Now I finally see you..."
"Yes!"
Chuzhi smiled and nodded.
Mu Zha scratched his head. "Xiao Jiu'er!"
"Yes!"
Su Qingjiu smiled and nodded. "Brother Mu Zha, your Heavenly Origin realm is so stable. I feel like you won't break through even after another hundred years."
Mu Zha continued to scratch his head. This little girl still doesn't know how to speak properly!
Chuzhi smiled. "Let's go and see the Lord."
"Yes."
...
Among the entire high echelon of the Snow Region Heavenly Pond, Lin Zhao had the lowest cultivation. As a sword cultivator of the lower five realms, and with zero perception as a player, he had not noticed anything when Su Qingjiu killed Wu Li in her small world. He was still sitting in front of the graves of his parents, Su Liang and his wife, chattering away.
"Sigh... It's a pity I started too late. By the time I became a martial artist of the middle five realms, Uncle and Aunt had already died in battle. Otherwise... perhaps Lin Zhao could have served under you!"
"Our Heavenly Pond Army's establishment is gone now."
"The legion I formed on the Snow Region Heavenly Pond is called the Snow Region Legion. I dare not call it the Heavenly Pond Army. Firstly, I fear gossip from the Great Shang Dynasty, and secondly, I fear that other human talents will be hesitant to come if it is confined to the Great Chen Dynasty."
"The Snow Region Heavenly Pond is just starting. Everything is difficult now, with a hundred things needing to be done. There are no weapons, no provisions, no warhorses. There are so many things to worry about..."
He scratched his head and smiled, "Forget it, I won't talk about it anymore. I still have to chat with Father and Mother. When Xiao Jiu'er returns, she and I will come to see you together."
He tidied things up and stood up, carrying his basket.
...
When he turned around, he saw a woman of unparalleled beauty standing under the peach tree not far away. She wore a red skirt and white blouse, holding a sword exuding immortal aura, and was gazing at him blankly. In Lin Zhao's eyes, he almost instantly connected her with another pretty, cute little face.
"Xiao Jiu'er?"
Lin Zhao's voice trembled. He had been anticipating this moment, but he never expected it to arrive so soon.
"Brother Lin Zhao..."
Tears streamed from Su Qingjiu's eyes. With a "thud," she dropped her sword and rushed forward, throwing herself into Lin Zhao's arms, crying uncontrollably. "Brother Lin Zhao, I miss you..."