The one-armed man had no choice and prepared to put out the sword fire when a giant fireball flew out of the flames and into the sky.
What was it?
Everyone was taken aback as they followed the ball with their eyes. However, none of them expected a sword awn to emerge from the lake until it illuminated the entire wood. Long Feiye quickly turned to the side and blocked the sword awn from Han Yunxi as they beat a hasty retreat. The one-armed man also backed away while protecting the proprietress. Xu Donglin and Baili Mingxiang were one beat late and got injured by the sword qi, leaving scars on their bodies.
The strong sword awn didn’t linger on the lake for long before it rapidly assembled in the center and drew in all the flames burning its surface. The white sword awn and black flames rose and fell in waves like a brilliant painting unfolding on a magnificent scale! Everyone was so enraptured by the sight that they forgot all about their injuries.
Han Yunxi looked up at the fireball and muttered, “Long Feiye, could that be Little Qi...is Little Qi still alive?”
As soon as she finished speaking, the flames overpowered the sword awn and rose towards the fireball in the sky! As tongues of flames entered the ball, it grew in size until it was shining upon them like a blazing sun. Everyone was stunned by the sight, but soon enough the sword awn and the waves suddenly rose into terrifying waves. Like peals of thunder, they gathered in the center of the lake and rushed up towards the fireball in a water column! It was so fast that no one had time to react, the force so strong that none could block it, the phenomenon so strange that everyone could only look on in awe. As soon as the sword awn hit the fireball, another unexpected event occurred: all of the flames extinguished!
Despite this, there was no Gu Qishao in sight. Instead, only a giant ball of tightly wound vines sealed up whatever was inside. It was impossible to tell whether the person within was alive or dead. More unbelievably, the vines were growing verdant green leaves without any sign of damage from the flames! The Qi Sha dagger had stuck right into the vines, but it was unclear whether the weapon had pierced any person.
How could this be?
“How…” the one-armed man was greatly alarmed. He had clearly slashed at the vines, so shouldn’t they have stopped protecting Gu Qishao? Even if he hadn’t, shouldn’t the flames have burned them away? Why was it still guarding him?
Just what was going on?
To destroy the killing intent of the Moye sword spirit, he forged a sword to absorb its essence using bones of extreme yin, flesh and blood of extreme killing aura, and metal of extreme yin. He had found all of the necessary ingredients and used them timely right after Long Feiye lured the Moye sword spirit out of the lake. But why did he still fail?
The swordfire had already ignited and burned through the entire lake! It was supposed to keep flaming for 49 days so it could dissolve the Qi Sha dagger and Moye’s killing intent. Then he’d just need to add iron essence to create a new sword and absorb the Moye sword spirit within it. Even if he couldn’t tame its nature then, it would at least be contained within a medium he could control in his hands.
The plan had been perfect even with Long Feiye and the rest interfering. He had smoothly obtained seven female skeletons and found a body with extreme killing aura. So why did it fail at the last step? Had the Qi Sha dagger missed stabbing Gu Qishao?
Impossible!
He was sure he hadn’t missed. Gu Qishao had bled so much just then that he had to be injured. The one-armed man held tightly to the proprietress as he looked blankly at the scene. Despite his loss, he still didn’t run. He wasn’t going to accept this without a clear answer!
Han Yunxi and Long Feiye were surprised as well. Long Feiye knew Gu Qishao couldn’t die, but he never expected the man’s vines to be so powerful. They could even block swordfire! Han Yunxi immediately activated her detox system, but she couldn’t tell whether Gu Qishao was poisoned. Very soon, the sword awn took the place of the flames and surrounded Gu Qishao’s ball of vines. Beneath its white glow, the plant looked full of vitality. How could a sword full of killing intent change into that? Instead of death and destruction, they only saw life and new hope. Inexplicably, all of the killing intent had vanished.
“Long Feiye, Little Qi won’t die for sure, right?” Han Yunxi asked.
Long Feiye wanted to say “yes,” but changed his mind when he saw the shining sight in the skies. “Han Yunxi, would you cry if Gu Qishao died?”
“I would,” Han Yunxi didn’t think twice. “Long Feiye, I’ll cry if any one of our friends died.”
“Then what about me?” Long Feiye turned to look at her.
“I won’t,” Han Yunxi muttered, “Because I’d die instead. That’s why you have to live well.”
Long Feiye smiled wryly. He was helpless to do anything else beyond that. At the same time, the sword awn nurtured the vines until they bloomed into countless seductive red flowers! From a distance, they looked like spots of flame or blood, a beautiful sight! Under everyone’s dazed stares, the surface of the lake soon filled with a fiery red, flittering light. Unlike the cutting edge of sword qi, it was gentle and warm as it flowed leisurely up amidst the sword awn.
“It’s the sword spirit. Moye’s sword spirit has shown itself,” Long Feiye muttered.
As soon as the red light touched the vines, they relaxed and fell away, scattering flower petals into the air. At last, everyone saw Gu Qishao! He hadn’t been burnt or stabbed, but looked completely unharmed. However, the bones that were hanging off his body had all disappeared. Now the gentle red light was slowly flowing into his own body. Once all of the vines fell away, the Qi Sha dagger dropped as well.
But then!
The one-armed man flew into the air with the proprietress and sword in tow. Long Feiye’s lips rose in a cold smirk as he rose into the skies with Han Yunxi. The one-armed man seemed to be in abject pain, but he gritted his teeth to slash with his sword again, aiming to propel the Qi Sha dagger back at Gu Qishao’s body. Long Feiye’s ferocious sword qi soon blocked the dagger, so the man tried once more. Caught between two sword qi, the dagger was left hanging in mid-air.
Before Long Feiye could strengthen his energy, the Qi Sha dagger suddenly vanished! Collective alarm rose in the crowds. The one-armed man was completely lost and glanced towards Gu Qishao, but there was no sign of Qi Sha there. Long Feiye only chuckled and said, “As expected, it’s Metal of Ten-Thousand Poisons. You should have made your move long ago.”
Han Yunxi smiled helplessly. So much had happened that she completely forgot about their mission. Now that she’d finally opened the second level of the poison storage space, she could only take in poisons that directly threatened her safety. However, that didn’t apply to any of the Ten-Thousand poisons. After all, she had absorbed the Water of Ten-Thousand Poisons without trouble even before she knew she had the poison storage space! Logically speaking, that meant the Qi Sha dagger had to be Metal of Ten-Thousand Poisons if it could be taken into her space too!
Han Yunxi muttered back, “It really is it. We finally got it.”
Without the Qi Sha dagger, the one-armed man had already given up to despair. He glanced at Gu Qishao before his eyes filled with murderous intent. However, he’d hardly moved when Long Feiye landed in front of Gu Qishao while still protecting Han Yunxi in his arms. He stared back coldly while Xu Donglin, Baili Mingxiang, and a team of shadow and poison guards all charged forward to surround the man and the proprietress.
The proprietress was still smiling indifferently, but the one-armed man finally gave up on Gu Qishao when he realized they were hard-pressed to escape.
“All of your bones must be in pain by now,” Hna Yunxi drawled.
The one-armed man remained calm. “What will it take for you to give me the antidote?”
“Tell me what all this is about,” Han Yunxi replied.
The one-armed man really was feeling pain in all his bones, including his skull. He knitted his brows and finally had to land back on the ground. Despite his agony, he didn’t release the proprietress.
“Save me first. I’m not demanding terms, it’s just impossible to tell you the full story in such a short time,” the one-armed man finally showed traces of anxiety.
“That’s your problem. I don’t care how much time you use as long as you tell me the story clearly to a point where I’m satisfied. Then I’ll naturally save you,” Han Yunxi said mercilessly. Although the one-armed man had no way to escape now even if she treated his poison, she had to be vicious to get the truth.
The longer the one-armed man dawdled, the more time he would waste. He didn’t fear death, but he didn’t want to leave the person in his arms defenseless.
“The Qi Sha dagger is a metal of extreme yin. Those who die by its blade become corpses of extreme yin with yin bones. That red-robed man holds a strong killing aura in his lifeline that means he must have been born on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month at midnight in a year of the element Fire. His body is thus a body of extreme killing aura. Using swordfire to burn the metal of extreme yin, supplemented with bones of extreme yin and body of extreme killing aura can eliminate Moye’s killing intent. Then one could forge a sword for its spirit anew. Now the red-robed man didn’t die, the Qi Sha dagger didn’t melt, the bones of extreme yin were destroyed, the swordfire extinguished, and Moye’s killing intent dispersed, I have no idea where its sword spirit will go!” the one-armed man explained.
Han Yunxi was stunned. She never thought the one-armed man was capable of divining Gu Qishao’s birthday. Completely unsatisfied with his answer, she asked, “Tell me, what’s Gu Qishao’s situation now?”
Moye’s sword spirit was streaming into Gu Qishao’s body at this instant. He was a human, not some sword. Could he take it?
The man was about to reply Han Yunxi when his legs gave way and sent him tumbling to the ground. His bones already hurt too much to support his weight. Very soon, they would start breaking apart. The proprietress simply kept laughing, but the one-armed man had given up all struggle to piteously plea for mercy. “Miss, I’m begging you….save me, I can’t die. I promise I’ll tell you everything, trust me.”
Han Yunxi knew that the poison had just about ran its course. She was about to save him when Long Feiye…