The radiance shrouding the Wuyou Sword dimmed, and the seal was broken.

Gu Baiying rushed in, and Tian Fangfang shouted: “Junior Sister! How are you?”

Zanxing bent down to pick up the long sword that had fallen to the ground. Meng Ying said in surprise: “The sword spirit on this…”

“Has disappeared,” Zanxing said in a low voice.

The Wuyou Sword had forever vanished from this world. That father who had longed to avenge his daughter had finally been liberated from purgatory after all these years.

Would someone killed as a sword spirit have an afterlife? No one knew. Perhaps there was one – he might still reunite with his daughter at some moment in the future.

Gu Baiying grabbed Zanxing’s arm: “How did you do it?”

Zanxing was startled.

The young man’s gaze was sharp, so much so that the concern contained within was overlooked. He asked: “The Wuyou Sword’s spirit was evil. Even Meng Ying couldn’t subdue it – how did you subdue it?”

Mendong nodded: “Right, Yang Zanxing, when did you become so powerful?” He suddenly realized, “Did you secretly work hard behind our backs?”

Everyone looked at her inquiringly. Zanxing’s fingertips couldn’t help but curl, but soon she sighed: “Haven’t you noticed I’m missing something from my hand?”

She opened her palm. Seeing everyone staring at her in confusion, she said unhurriedly: “The ring that the Serpent Witch gave me – the one that could peer into people’s memories – is gone. Just now, I was desperate and snatched the sword from Senior Sister Meng. That serpent ring swam into the sword body by itself, and then I saw the Wuyou Sword’s memories…” She paused: “The Wuyou Sword’s spirit was born from Chai Sang sacrificing his soul.”

Zanxing told them everything she had seen in the sword spirit’s memories, finally speaking half-truthfully: “After I saw Chai Sang’s memories, the Wuyou Sword briefly regained consciousness. Chai Sang suppressed the evil sword’s yuanli and begged me to kill him for liberation. So I used my yuanli to erase the sword spirit.”

“That young master from the general’s mansion was too much of a bully! Debts should be repaid and lives should pay for lives – he committed crimes, yet was so arrogant! If not driven to desperation, how could Chai Sang possibly sacrifice his soul? He was so pitiful!” Mendong was young, and after hearing the whole story, he was immediately filled with righteous indignation, wiping tears while saying hatefully, “Dying like that was too easy for those people from the general’s mansion!”

“But are there diagrams in the world that can nurture sword spirits?” Mu Cengxiao’s focus wasn’t on this. “If this diagram accidentally fell into the hands of the cultivation world and everyone imitated Chai Sang, wouldn’t it cause chaos?”

“I’ve never heard of such a swordsmithing method before,” Meng Ying frowned slightly. “I suspect this diagram is from the demon realm. When we return to the sect, we should still inform the sect leader about this to prevent future disasters.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. Gu Baiying didn’t speak, only stared at Zanxing as if he had already seen through her lies. Zanxing felt somewhat guilty but calmly met his gaze. Her own identity was delicate now, and with the Xiaoyuan Pearl on her body, it wasn’t a good time to be honest, given the suspicious circumstances.

After a moment, Gu Baiying looked away and said, “Forget it, just be more careful next time.”

“Exactly,” Mendong said unhappily. “Just now, you rushed in without a word. I thought you were going to die – it scared me to death. Even if you want to sacrifice yourself for others, you can’t ignore the consequences. If something happened to you, how would we explain to Sixth Uncle?”

Zanxing was speechless. She really couldn’t tell everyone that just now it wasn’t her wanting to rush forward and play hero – who knew the Xiaoyuan Pearl would suddenly become interested in the yuanli inside the Wuyou Sword?

“Everyone, let me interrupt,” Tian Fangfang waved his axe with a beaming smile. “The sword spirit on the Wuyou Sword has disappeared, but even without a sword spirit, this sword is still a supreme-grade spirit artifact. How about we sell it to Huajin Tower and split the spirit stones equally?”

Zanxing: “…That’s not good.”

Tian Fangfang steeled his heart: “Then how about you take sixty percent and we split the rest?”

Seeing Zanxing did not react, he gritted his teeth: “Then seventy? Seventy should be fine, right?”

“The sword spirit was erased by Yang Zanxing, so this is her opportunity. The Wuyou Sword belongs to Yang Zanxing.” Before Tian Fangfang could continue, Gu Baiying interrupted him.

“Uncle-Master, Junior Sister uses a staff – having a sword isn’t suitable either!” Tian Fangfang was still unwilling.

Gu Baiying glanced at him and said coldly: “What’s unsuitable about it? Just melt it down and reforge it into a staff.”

He seemed determined to give this sword to Zanxing.

Meng Ying thought about it and also nodded in agreement: “Since the Wuyou Sword actively asked Junior Sister to erase the sword spirit’s existence, it recognized Junior Sister and has a connection with her. Moreover, Junior Sister Panhua’s Stick can no longer be used, and we haven’t found suitable weapons in the sect’s spirit artifact treasury. Melting and recasting this sword into a staff might better suit Junior Sister’s preferences. Junior Brother, do you have any objections?” She asked Mu Cengxiao.

Mu Cengxiao shook his head: “No.”

“I don’t either,” Mendong quickly added.

“I do,” Tian Fangfang muttered quietly, “but it’s useless.”

The matter was decided just like that.

Zanxing thought about it and didn’t decline. After all, her barely-glued-together Panhua Stick was indeed unsightly when carried around daily, and there weren’t many suitable staff weapons in all of Pingyang Town. It would be better to use the one in her hand.

She had just put the Wuyou Sword into her Qiankun Bag and hadn’t yet spoken when she suddenly felt a pain in her palm. That red mark hadn’t shown signs of growth recently, but at this moment it suddenly began writhing, as if something was about to break through the earth from her palm.

Zanxing couldn’t help but hiss.

Gu Baiying paused and looked at her, asking: “What’s wrong?”

Zanxing’s face was pale with pain. Before she could speak, there was a “rumbling” sound, and the sword mountain piled with spirit artifacts in front of them seemed to be violently slashed open by something from within. The entire Sword Tomb began collapsing from the inside out.

“Watch out!” Gu Baiying grabbed Zanxing with one hand and lifted Mendong with the other, retreating backward.

The sound of “crash crash crash” was incessant. The Sword Tomb’s surface was covered with spirit artifacts discarded by cultivators, but underneath were piled white bones – probably all remains of cultivators who had died under the Wuyou Sword. Now, like a collapsing city wall, they all came tumbling down.

“There’s something here!” Mendong suddenly pointed beneath that pile of bones. As soon as he finished speaking, a crack suddenly appeared where he was standing. Zanxing’s eyes sharpened as she grabbed his hand: “Be careful!”

Mendong had just steadied himself when Zanxing felt herself slip. She instinctively tried to grab the nearest person, not looking, only feeling her body plummet downward. Wind rushed past her ears, then her vision went dark, and she couldn’t see anything.

The Sword Tomb stopped collapsing.

Those flowing bones slowly solidified and stopped falling. But one person was missing from the scene.

“Junior Sister Zanxing is gone!” Tian Fangfang said urgently. “She fell from here!”