“Squelch.”
The dull sound of a blade sinking into flesh was exceptionally clear amidst the shrieking that filled the hall.
In the next instant, Qiu Feng slowly lowered his head, casting his gaze down at his chest.
The sword he had just forced into the hands of the person before him was now firmly embedded in his body. It had happened so fast that he had not even realized how it had occurred.
The resentful spirits that had been wildly darting and howling throughout the hall seemed to have been hit by a pause button, freezing mid-air.
The hall fell into a sudden silence. Everyone's eyes were pinned on the two figures above.
Amidst the silence, Song Yao applied a slight force to her wrist, pulling the sword out with a sharp shhhk.
Dark purple demon blood splattered along the cold, bright blade onto the snow-white soft carpet, blooming into dark spots.
She rubbed her eyes, lazily stretched with the sword in hand, and smiled. “In all my years, this is the first time I've seen a demon actively hand me a sword.”
Qiu Feng: “...”
She was clearly so weak that she had only a breath left. Even now, her physical condition seemed no different from a critically ill person hanging on by a thread.
Yet, this single stab had dealt him more damage than all the cultivators below combined.
His pupils suddenly dilated, his entire eyes turning pitch black. Evil energy surged violently from his body, and countless feathers pointed at her as he demanded, “Who on earth are you?”
“Hold on.”
Song Yao interrupted his gathering momentum. She hopped down from the table, leaning on her sword as she walked down under his wary gaze. Walking to a pillar in the corner of the hall, she lay down. “I'm going to faint for a bit longer.”
Before closing her eyes, she said to the Ninth Elder and the Twelfth Elder, “Hang in there, you two. I'll definitely wake up in a bit.”
The Ninth Elder: “?”
The Twelfth Elder: “?”
Qiu Feng: “? Are you courting death?!”
Driven by extreme unease, the feathers all over his body suddenly stood on end. Like a torrential downpour, they shot rapidly toward Song Yao.
“Careful!”
The Ninth Elder reacted the fastest. He quickly scooped up his long sword from the ground and leaped in front of Song Yao.
His sword light condensed into a shield, barely blocking the incoming feathers. A dense clatter of metal clashing against metal rang out.
At the same time, the Twelfth Elder pinched a hand seal. The remaining threads of the array, wrapped in tiny sparks, surged upward, coiling toward Qiu Feng like fiery serpents.
In the corner, Jingyu forced himself to climb up. He drew his coral bow tight, pulling the string into a full moon. A silver arrow wrapped in flames pierced through the air, aiming straight for Qiu Feng's old wound. The remaining cultivators who could still move also brandished their swords and formed seals, blasting all kinds of spiritual energy toward him.
“Nuisances.”
Qiu Feng curled his lips, and his dark purple wings flapped violently.
A majestic wave of air exploded from his wings, shattering the incoming sword lights and arrows inch by inch.
Everyone felt a massive force slam into their chests. Before they could even cry out in pain, they were sent flying like broken kites. Some were even thrown straight out of the hall.
Qiu Feng changed direction. His broad wings slowly folded behind his back. Stepping over the shattered jade cups and bricks, he walked up to the collapsed crowd.
Sweeping his gaze over the messy ground, his tone carried a playful cruelty: “Let Us guess. If she wakes up and sees you all dead here, how will she react?”
With everyone either injured or unconscious, no one had the strength to reply.
Only the Twelfth Elder caught her breath. Lying on the ground, she pulled her robes together, refusing to let herself look too pathetic. She glared at him and said, “If you want to kill or torture us, just come at me.”
Qiu Feng's attention was drawn to her. He bent down and pinched the Twelfth Elder's neck, lifting her into the air with a slight exertion of force. “You say she is your daughter? Then We would like to ask—where on earth did your daughter learn this swordplay? Has she also seen Song...”
His voice came to an abrupt halt.
A sudden, dull pain shot through his throat.
A clear, soft voice sounded from behind him, her tone hoarse and sleepy: “Self-taught. Is there a problem with that?”
The blade precisely ran through his neck and was pulled back out. Dark purple demon blood sprayed violently from the wound, drenching the Twelfth Elder.
The intense pain forced a scream from Qiu Feng. His grip loosened, and the Twelfth Elder fell limply to the ground.
He staggered back two steps. With great difficulty, the sword wound on his throat slowly healed, leaving behind a long scar.
He turned his head slowly in disbelief.
She had actually woken up again.
She stood right behind him, her head drooping slightly. Her eyelashes were lowered, damp with moisture, and her body was splattered with blood. In her hand, she still held the sword stained with demon blood.
Seeing him look over, she walked back to the corner of the hall, taking a deep breath. “No, I really can't hold on anymore. I need to faint for a bit longer.”
Qiu Feng: “?!”
Is she playing a joke on him?!
Every time she wakes up, she stabs him once and then runs back to sleep?!
What does she take him for? An object to vent on?!
The veins on his temples throbbed violently, and his lips thinned into a straight line.
The demonic energy around him surged wildly once more. His wings flapped violently, and in the next second, he swept in front of Song Yao. His talon-like hand tightly gripped her slender neck. With a sudden burst of strength, he slammed her hard against the stone pillar behind her.
With a loud bang, brick and stone debris cascaded down.
Pressing her body against the stone wall, his dark purple eyes stared straight at her. “There is no one in this world who dares to toy with Us like this!”
Song Yao's back went numb from the impact, her internal organs churning with pain. A suffocating feeling crawled up her chest.
She was forced to open her eyes and tilt her head back, the corners of her eyes flushed red from physiological reflex. Her lips had long lost all color.
She turned her head and coughed up a mouthful of blood. Her voice was incredibly hoarse, yet she remained calm. “If we really fight, I might not survive, but you will die too. Are you sure about this?”
“Do you want to trade your life for mine?”
Qiu Feng let out a low chuckle, the amusement not reaching his eyes.
He tightened his grip by another fraction, squeezing her neck until it turned a shocking shade of purplish-blue. Half of his face, covered in feather patterns, leaned close, his sinister breath brushing past her ear. “Whether We will die is yet to be seen, but you will certainly not live... This swordplay of yours looks familiar. Did Song Yao teach it to you?”
Before his words could fade, a clear sword hum suddenly echoed through the hall.
Shring—
A light green sword light soared into the sky from behind Song Yao. Carrying a sharp, peerless sword qi, it pierced straight through Qiu Feng's chest.
With its momentum unabated, the blade pushed him backward in a rapid retreat. With a dull thud, it pinned him firmly to the white jade stone wall in the distance.
Dark purple demon blood snaked down the blade. Qiu Feng's pupils suddenly shrank to the size of needlepoints.
He looked down in disbelief at the Bishui Sword piercing through his chest, then suddenly snapped his head up to look at the figure kneeling by the stone pillar. Sensing the soaring pressure of spiritual energy from her body, he was filled with utter bewilderment and horror.
No.
Something was wrong.
Just moments ago, she clearly only had the aura of a Golden Core. How could she now...
Nascent Soul?
No.
It was even higher than the Nascent Soul.
Who on earth was she?!
Song Yao wiped the blood from the corner of her lips, using the stone pillar to support herself as she stood up shakily.
Unhurriedly, step by step, she walked toward him. Finally, she stopped in front of him, meeting his near-terrified gaze with a smile. “Can't you recognize me, little Qiu Feng?”
Rate on N.U.
