After Jian Xingzhi closed the coffin lid, thinking he still needed to observe what was happening outside, he quietly drilled a hole in the side of the coffin and looked sideways toward where “Hundred Years Worry” was standing.
He saw this “Hundred Years Worry” sweep a glance around and smile slightly: “So many people have come. Then you all fight. This venerable one won’t keep you company.”
As the words fell, Jian Xingzhi saw the “40” above that person’s head instantly disappear. It seemed this “Hundred Years Worry” had only attached his divine sense to this person’s body—his actual self wasn’t here at all.
Once “Hundred Years Worry” left, the young man’s demeanor immediately changed. The appearance on his face returned to its original ordinary features, and his body became more robust.
He seemed like someone with a blank expression, showing no emotion whatsoever. With a flick of his hand, a large blade appeared in his grip. He looked calmly ahead, his tone carrying not the slightest emotional fluctuation: “You all—leave now, and you can live.”
“How amusing.” Liu Feixu held a talisman paper between her fingertips, looking askance at the blade-wielding youth. “With just you, a mere Nascent Soul cultivator, you think you can kill us?”
The youth said nothing. He looked down at the formation beneath his feet: “Perfect. You all,” he raised his eyes, his long blade suddenly slashing down viciously, “will be sacrificed to the Linglong Jade!”
The long blade charged toward Liu Feixu with violent force. Liu Feixu nimbly dodged. A long vine covered with flowers and leaves appeared in Liu Feixu’s hand. He raised his hand and whipped it around the blade-wielding youth. At the same time, Shen Zhiming and Ning Buyan joined forces. Sword intent tore through the air, Jun Shu’s jade flute played an impassioned tune. Four people joining hands to gang up on a single Nascent Soul cultivator should logically be effortless. Who would have thought the blade-wielding youth’s blade light would surge violently? They felt vast spiritual energy suddenly burst forth from the blade light, instantly sweeping all four of them away!
Fresh blood flowed from the four people’s bodies onto the ground. Below the formation, countless tentacles sprouted, attacking these high-level cultivators as if they possessed consciousness.
Everyone was greatly alarmed and began frantically dodging. But the tentacles beneath the formation were densely packed—there was no way to land on the ground. The four people could only hide everywhere in midair while simultaneously seeking opportunities to attack the youth in the center.
The youth’s cultivation wasn’t particularly high, and his blade technique couldn’t be called first-rate either. But strangely, his spiritual power was boundless. Each time they attacked, he used spiritual power to forcefully resist. After several exchanges, everyone sensed something wrong.
Spiritual power wasn’t inexhaustible. This person could barely withstand one of their attacks, or two attacks—how could he act as if nothing happened, maintaining this kind of powerful output? If this person truly had this level of strength, everyone here would probably meet their end.
Cultivators cherished their lives, and the higher-level the cultivator, the more so.
Having worked hard for over a thousand years and faced countless precious opportunities and treasures, although the Linglong Jade was valuable, it wasn’t worth risking their lives over.
After a brief consultation, Liu Feixu was first to speak: “Forget it. This lord doesn’t want the Linglong Jade anymore. Farewell.”
With that, Shen Zhiming immediately informed Jun Shu: “Let’s go.”
Ning Buyan sighed: “Young Friend Jian, this one did his best. I’m leaving now.”
The four came hastily and left even faster.
However, the formation seemed to have absolutely no intention of letting them go. As the four ran toward the exit, the tentacles immediately grew excited. Countless tentacles chased after them. Before they even reached the door, the cave entrance suddenly dropped shut. After only a moment’s hesitation, the four were grabbed by tentacles and dragged back!
“Once you’ve bled,” the blade-wielding youth’s expression was calm, “the formation won’t let you leave. Originally, Ghost City’s citizens were to be sacrificed to summon the Linglong Jade’s manifestation. Now that we have you all, there’s no need for that.”
As he spoke, the blade-wielding youth raised his hand. Those tentacles all surged with vast spiritual power, beginning to strangle the four bound people like giant pythons.
The four used their own spiritual power to block these giant pythons’ strangulation. With both sides at a stalemate, the blade-wielding youth walked to Jian Xingzhi’s coffin holding his blade. He raised his hand to touch Jian Xingzhi’s coffin lid, his eyes carrying some mockery: “Didn’t you say you came to rescue someone? Why are you running away?”
“Release us.”
Shen Zhiming’s voice was very cold: “In this matter, this venerable one can spare you from death.”
“You righteous path people are all so pretentious. At a time like this, you’re still telling me whether you’ll spare me or not? Didn’t you want to protect this Young Friend Jian? I’ll kill him right in front of you.”
The blade-wielding youth spoke. Jian Xingzhi’s heart skipped a beat, but he knew that right now those outside hadn’t fought to exhaustion yet. He still needed to wait until this batch of people fought to mutual destruction before going out for the kill.
So he continued hiding inside, only condensing a sword technique in his hand, ready to move at any moment.
“I enjoy hearing your pleas. If you’re willing to say ‘I beg you,’ this person can be spared.”
The blade-wielding youth placed his blade on top of the coffin, sweeping a glance at everyone. His gaze fell on Shen Zhiming’s face: “Heart-Searching Sect Master, Daoist Lord Shen, how will you choose between your ‘I beg you’ and a person’s life?”
“The Immortal Alliance will never bow our heads,” Shen Zhiming spoke with a face full of righteous integrity. “Young Friend Jian is willing to sacrifice himself.”
As soon as the words fell, the blade suddenly stabbed into the coffin. Jian Xingzhi was so frightened he twisted to the side. The blade-wielding youth looked up at Shen Zhiming with a smile: “Tell me, did this blade hit him? Did he dodge it?”
Shen Zhiming said nothing. The blade-wielding youth pulled out the blade and inserted it again. This strike was right in the center, at an extremely tricky angle. Jian Xingzhi immediately dodged it.
The youth frowned, somewhat dissatisfied that two strikes had missed. He began rapidly inserting the blade into the coffin from different angles. Jian Xingzhi twisted and turned inside the coffin, simply refusing to let him strike true.
The youth immediately grew angry, letting out a low shout: “I don’t believe it.”
With that, his blade light moved like shadows. In an instant, he stabbed eighteen strikes simultaneously at different positions!
Blade in, blade out, blade out, blade in, blade after blade, every blade lethal.
However, after all eighteen stabs, the coffin was riddled with holes everywhere, yet still no blood could be seen inside!
The youth became obsessed with this activity. For a moment, he actually forgot about the four bound people. He pulled out over a dozen blades from his storage pouch and began selecting good angles to insert them one by one.
“I don’t believe my blind stabbing can’t kill you!”
The youth began inserting blades like performing circus tricks. But Jian Xingzhi’s muscles and bones were extraordinarily flexible. He contorted his body, coordinating with the blade positions, surviving with difficulty in the gaps between blades.
Blade after blade was inserted. Jian Xingzhi knew this would go on endlessly. He began rummaging through his storage pouch. After finding a water bag and some things that could dye color, he dyed the water red and poured it down along the blade edges.
The youth was finally satisfied to see blood flowing out from the coffin. He laughed loudly: “He’s dead! Your Young Friend Jian is finally dead! Jian Xingzhi, he’s dead!!”
The formation below drank the water without moving. But the youth was completely oblivious to this problem. He was filled with the joy of victory. The four people nearby looked at him with expressions that were difficult to describe.
But before they could think further, the youth raised his hand and turned.
“Now,” the youth’s voice was cold, “it’s your turn!”
With that, the tentacles began strangling with all their might. Shen Zhiming and the others were finally enraged. Their life-bound swords suddenly flew out, severing the tentacles with one strike and shouting: “Seeking death!”
A group of people fought magnificently and inseparably in the mountain cave.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Qin Wanwan was at the critical moment of Nascent Soul formation. She continuously absorbed spiritual energy. The spiritual energy flowing from far to near grew increasingly thin. She no longer had any way to think about anything—all her actions were completely subconscious movements.
She could vaguely see that inside her body, there seemed to be a small figure. The figure was pure white, slowly beginning to have hands, to have feet…
It became clearer and clearer, more and more refined. Spiritual energy filled its body. But for some reason, it still couldn’t possess facial features.
The spiritual energy was simultaneously moving in two directions—one was toward one end of the cave, which should be the direction of the formation eye. The other was her body. She felt her body had reached its limits everywhere. Whether her spiritual roots or her golden core, both seemed to have been depleted to the extreme.
Not a single part of her body didn’t hurt. The speed of spiritual energy absorption slowed due to excessive pain. Xie Gutang frowned, unable to help but speak: “Miss Qin, persist a bit longer. Nascent Soul formation is most difficult at the very last moment. Endure through it, and everything will be fine.”
Qin Wanwan couldn’t speak. Her brain began finding her countless reasons to stop. Her jaw trembled. Her entire body had no strength whatsoever.
Sounds of combat came from the distance. After a while, they quieted down. After a moment, Qin Wanwan suddenly heard a mad laugh.
“He’s dead! Your Young Friend Jian is finally dead! Jian Xingzhi, he’s dead!!”
As soon as these words were spoken, Xie Gutang instantly turned around. Qin Wanwan suddenly opened her eyes.
Impossible. Jian Xingzhi would die?!
Qin Wanwan couldn’t believe it. In that very instant, the spiritual power throughout her body instantly went into chaos and was about to explode. Xie Gutang quickly raised his hand to press points on her body, guiding the spiritual power within her.
“Qin Wan!” Xie Gutang shouted loudly. “Unite mind and thought! Do not act rashly!”
“They said…” Qin Wanwan stared at Xie Gutang, her jaw trembling. “My master is dead.”
“If he truly is dead,” Xie Gutang’s expression was calm. In that instant, Qin Wanwan saw Jian Xingzhi’s shadow on his face. This inexplicably gave her some peace of mind. Xie Gutang’s voice fell on her ears like a great bell: “Then you will avenge him.”
She should avenge him.
Qin Wanwan clenched her fists. Sounds of fierce combat came from nearby, earth-shaking. In that moment, she no longer cared about all the pain on her body. She let out a low cry and no longer offered any resistance, letting the spiritual energy flood in.
The spiritual energy that had originally been flowing toward Jian Xingzhi’s direction suddenly turned toward her, exploding around her. Xie Gutang was sent flying. When he climbed back up, he saw this spiritual energy had already formed a huge vortex, like a tornado. And Qin Wanwan sat in the eye of the wind, her expression serene and calm, like a divine statue standing amid violent winds and torrential flows.
The small figure inside her body gradually gained facial features. At precisely this moment, the blood on the formation gradually filled completely. Just as she formed her Nascent Soul, dozens of brilliant rays of light converged beneath Jian Xingzhi’s coffin.
“Linglong Jade!”
Jun Shu cried out excitedly.
As soon as the words fell, he was tackled by Liu Feixu. Liu Feixu turned and shouted loudly at Ning Buyan: “Brother Ning, take the Linglong Jade. This piece belongs to you. Next time we’ll take it together—the next piece belongs to me!”
Right now, all four of them had suffered severe cultivation depletion. If he didn’t ally with Ning Buyan, he feared he wouldn’t be able to obtain the Linglong Jade with Shen Zhiming and Jun Shu joining forces.
“Scram!”
Jun Shu raised his hand to strike at Liu Feixu. Ning Buyan and Shen Zhiming rushed toward the Linglong Jade together. The blade-wielding youth shouted loudly: “Don’t even think about it!”
In an instant, the five fought in a tangled mass, inseparable. Jian Xingzhi peeked from the hole at the outside situation, quietly opened the coffin lid, and when no one was paying attention, popped his head out, grabbed the Linglong Jade in one motion, sealed it into his storage pouch with a technique, then covered the coffin lid and lay back down.
The blade-wielding youth had originally been evenly matched fighting Shen Zhiming and Ning Buyan. His spiritual power was endless. Even with Shen Zhiming and Ning Buyan joining forces, it was somewhat difficult. Seeing another blade coming with thunderous momentum, unexpectedly when the blade fell, the spiritual power didn’t keep up. It was like a large tiger running over with imposing momentum, then giving a soft “meow.”
The blade struck the center of the crossed swords formed by Shen Zhiming and Ning Buyan together. The three looked at each other. Shen Zhiming and Ning Buyan’s sword light flourished without hesitation, both stabbing into the youth’s abdomen. The youth retreated quickly, raising his hand to summon spiritual energy again. The formation overhead sizzled and crackled. Spiritual energy came to his blade tip again.
Clutching his wound, he laughed madly: “Go to hell!”
As the words fell, he viciously slashed down with one blade. A violent wind rushed toward Shen Zhiming and Ning Buyan. The two assumed defensive stances. Who knew when the wind reached them, it brushed past gently like spring.
All three were stunned. Shen Zhiming sneered coldly. Ning Buyan raised his sword.
The blade-wielding youth didn’t hesitate, turning to run immediately. But when he turned around, he saw the coffin where Jian Xingzhi lay was still in place. The light was still that same light, the coffin was still that same coffin, but—
“Where’s the Linglong Jade?!”
The youth roared in fury. Everyone finally reacted. They looked at each other, all suspiciously eyeing one another. At that very moment, they heard a thunderous boom. Wind mixed with spiritual energy swept in, sending everyone flying.
Everyone climbed up and looked into the distance. They saw not far away a woman in red robes and a youth in purple standing at the collapsed portion of the cave.
The woman held a long sword. Her entire long dress was stained with blood. Dust pervaded her sword. She slowly raised her head, her gaze like a wolf’s.
“Which of you,” Qin Wanwan’s voice was very cold, “killed my master?”
Hearing these words, Jian Xingzhi raised his head.
The coffin had long been stabbed by that fool with the blade until it looked like a winnowing basket. Light fell in through the holes. Through the narrow openings, Jian Xingzhi saw Qin Wanwan in the distance.
She had such a beautiful face. With her entire body stained with blood, she looked like a blade that had just been sharpened.
All his life, he had been obsessed with swords, believing that the beauties of this mortal world were all withered bones—no matter how beautiful, they couldn’t be more beautiful than the gleam of a long sword stained with blood.
But in that instant, for the first time in his life, he realized that a person could be as beautiful as a blade—sharp and brilliant, stunningly magnificent.
Everyone stared blankly at Qin Wanwan. In Jian Xingzhi’s mind, the system lit up frantically:
[Emphasis! Emphasis! The critical point of Task Eight has arrived. Master must absolutely follow the role’s essential meaning—be the perfect hostage! Leave the spotlight moment to the female lead!!]
“What does ‘perfect hostage’ mean?”
Jian Xingzhi was bewildered. 666 quickly told him: “Just, lying flat is enough.”
“Oh.”
Jian Xingzhi nodded. He observed the spiritual energy around Qin Wanwan, sensing her spiritual power was in turmoil and urgently needed to be regulated. He frowned, thinking about how to regulate her spiritual energy, when he saw her walk over holding her sword and stop beside his coffin.
“Where’s my master?”
Her voice was very cold. Everyone finally reacted. Liu Feixu quickly pointed at the coffin beside them: “He’s inside!”
Qin Wanwan turned around and saw the coffin with over a dozen swords inserted into it. Her heart ached. For a moment, she actually didn’t dare open the coffin.
Thinking that Jian Xingzhi had actually been sealed in a box and stabbed to death with blades like a circus act in this small world, her heart ached.
At this moment, spiritual power throughout her body was running rampant. Her thoughts couldn’t calm at all. It was very difficult to think about anything.
Trembling, she raised her hand and placed it on the coffin.
“My master, though not exactly a very good person,” she spoke hoarsely, “he was domineering, selfish, not smart enough, bullied people with his sword, always hit me, never cared what I wanted, never considered my inner feelings, broke my bones at any time to teach me techniques, never gave me time off, carried me on his back when walking forward, grabbed me to continue hitting when he woke up…”
Qin Wanwan began listing his shortcomings. The more Jian Xingzhi heard, the more guilty he felt. The others listening showed expressions of sympathy.
Liu Feixu couldn’t help but advise her: “Young lady, this kind of master—why not just forget about him.”
“But he’s still my master!”
Hearing these words, Jian Xingzhi was somewhat moved. He suddenly felt that even if he couldn’t complete the task, he couldn’t deceive her like this. This disciple was softhearted and kind, and even a little filial. Look how heartbroken she was right now.
So he extended his hand through the hole he’d dug out earlier and tugged at her sleeve.
Qin Wanwan remained unmoved, shouting loudly: “Even if he had to die, he should die by my hand! What right did you have to kill him! And killing him was one thing—how could you put him in a coffin and stab him like this?!”
Jian Xingzhi continued tugging at her sleeve.
Xie Gutang advised Qin Wanwan: “Miss Qin, why not open the coffin first to look? What if Fellow Daoist Jian isn’t dead?”
“Dead…” Qin Wanwan’s brain couldn’t quite process things. Pain and spiritual power intertwined together. Her mind was in chaos. She was about to say something when she felt someone tugging at her sleeve.
“Stop tugging!”
Impatiently, she went to push away that person’s hand. But with one push, not only did the other party not let go, they even took advantage of the situation to grasp her hand.
The other party’s hand was very warm, carrying a few thin calluses developed from long-term sword use.
Jian Zhiyan’s body didn’t have any calluses at all. But after Jian Xingzhi arrived, practicing skills and practicing with the sword daily, he quickly developed calluses.
At the moment their hands clasped together, a familiar spiritual power transmitted from where their palms met. That spiritual power guided and cleansed the violent spiritual power in her body. At the same time, Jian Xingzhi’s voice fell in her ears.
“Your spiritual energy is in turmoil. Regulate it first. Master is fine. Don’t panic.”
—
**Author’s Notes:**
There’s another update this afternoon, around 6 PM (yes, around)
**[Mini Theater]**
Jian Xingzhi: “Wanwan was so scared by the news of my death that she lost her mind. Proud.”
Qin Wanwan: “Sacrificing the male lead for the female lead’s ascension really is true.”
Jian Xingzhi: “…”