After moving stealthily until now, staining the sword with blood several times, and managing to sweep away all the obstacles, she finally vaguely saw her in the distance.
Gong Tianqing seems to have escaped the place she has been held captive on her own.
Great! She’s really here! I just have to pick her up and leave, and everything will be over! Xue Qilin, who drew a beautiful scenario in her mind, breathed a sigh of relief, itching to rush out of the dark.
Excited as she was, she focused all her attention on Gong Tianqing, which slowed down her reaction by half a beat. It was only when Qi Qiqi asked her to wait that she discovered that Gong Tianqing was surrounded.
Dozens of guards formed a semicircle and drew their bows, blocking Gong Tianqing in front of a wall. Behind her — there is even a Heaven Realm practitioner dressed as a Daoist.
Is that what Little Yun called a “sword guard”? I was careless! In fact, Xue Qilin should have noticed the existence of the Heaven Realm practitioner earlier. But because she was so focused on Gong Tianqing, she failed to discover him in the first moments.
Even so, Xue Qilin didn’t retreat.
She doesn’t want to wait anymore.
Seeing that the lass has no intention of thinking things through and is ready for action, Qi Qiqi and Guan Qi had no choice but to keep up and give support if necessary.
Naturally, the Heaven Realm Daoist was the first one to discover the three uninvited guests.
His eyes fell straight on Xue Qilin, who took the lead without hesitation, and he accurately met her gaze.
Evidently, he judged that Xue Qilin is the most difficult person to deal with from the group. After all, Xue Qilin hasn’t restrained her breath at the moment, fully exposing her late-stage Heaven Realm cultivation base.
The guards who surrounded Gong Tianqing gradually noticed the threat coming from behind and turned around.
When they realized that the enemies are a late-stage Heaven Realm and two Earth Realm practitioners, they couldn’t help but panic and exclaim, “Heaven Realm!”, “Where did they come from?”, “Call for backup!”, and so on. The omen of collapse appeared in the formation that surrounded the lass.
“Get out of my way, you wretches!”
Xue Qilin shouted, slashed with the sword in her hand, and unleashed a ray of sword qi.
Looking like a crescent moon, the ray of sword qi knocked into the formation. Even though the strike was ultimately resisted by an Earth Realm guard, but the explosion of true qi still rocked several guards nearby, leaving them in a sorry state.
With just one blow, a crack appeared in the formation.
From between the crack, Gong Tianqing, whose figure was previously blocked by the guards, suddenly became distinct.
Seeing that the lass she has been looking for is close at hand, the excitement Xue Qilin experienced nearly materialized into a shout.
As long as she saves Gong Tianqing and lets her return to Qi Qiqi, the latter won’t show that sorrowful, heartbreaking expression in front of her and won’t shed tears again.
So, she must save her.
This time, she must take her back to Qi Qiqi, to herself. She cannot let the thing that happened last time repeat itself, she cannot let Gong Tianqing be taken away under her nose again — this is the only desire spiraling in Xue Qilin’s mind.
Then —
The desire turned into power.
Suddenly, all sounds disappeared and the scenery disappeared. The whole world seems to have disappeared at this moment.
An intense burning sensation came from her left chest, giving off the misconception that she fell into a sea of fire.
Xue Qilin’s spiritual center stirred and issued sounds that faintly resembled a heartbeat. As if molten iron, a current of heat poured into the meridians from her left chest. The astonishing heat spread to her whole body in an instant and burned her.
“… ah ah!”
What’s the matter? Xue Qilin can’t help groaning.
She didn’t realize that the meridians crisscrossing inside her are shining, drawing complex patterns on her skin. Nor did she realize that the cloak she used to cover her figure has been blown away by the true qi gushing out of her, that her hair, which is shining faintly at the moment, threw off the headband binding it and scattered in the air.
At this moment, she only thing on her mind is to release the current of heat — or in other words, the pure and violent mana — raging inside her.
However, how does she release it?
She can’t even control this power that came from god knows where- She can’t breathe, speak, or raise her hand to draw a spell model — she has a premonition that all that power will dissipate if she does anything or speaks. As a result, she could only watch the distance between herself and Gong Tianqing shorten.
What now? What now! When Xue Qilin was panicking, the scene of Qi Qiqi demonstrating “that move” streaked across her mind.
— sword.
She needs a sword.
A sword that unlike the sword in her hand can bear all her power and emotions.
If Phecda were here, if she… Xue Qilin longs for, longs for her sword and sword spirit.
“– Young Ancestor, she is here.”
Xue Qilin appeared to hear the voice she hasn’t heard for a long time.
Not knowing whether it is an illusion or not, she felt that person suddenly appear behind her, bring a warmth she hasn’t felt in a long time, and gently caresses the back of her hand. For a split second, she seemed to see the green figure.
It was at this moment that the world responded to her desire.
“Qilin!”
A pure white dragon rushed up to Xue Qilin from behind. Before she could realize that it’s Phecda, her right hand subconsciously extended towards the white dragon.
Next, light fluttered.
The white dragon shattered as if it was made out of glass.
Countless chips of light formed a spiral, quickly converged on Xue Qilin’s right hand, and finally — a sword ray flickered.
As if a valve was finally opened, the power churning inside her poured into the sword “Empyrean Universe”. In response to this change, Phecda unleashed the power.
Xue Qilin grasped the sword with both hands.
In the next moment, a pale blue radiance engulfed the world.
A sword composed of light dispelled the darkness, ran through the clouds, and reached the other end of the sky. The world seems to have gone silent.
Gong Tianqing looked back because of a feeling. But due to the frightening light released by Xue Qilin, she covered her face with her sleeve at once.
“Little Qing, to the left!”
Even so, Gong Tianqing was still able to respond to Xue Qilin’s warning, and jumped to the side.
Perhaps aware of the destructive power contained in the giant sword ray, the Daoist, with a dignified expression on his face, stepped forward, arrived in front of the guards, and drew a taijitu [1] with his hands, looking like he intends to meet the attack head on.
“Just by yourself!”
He wants to block the attack that I have gone nearly all out to execute just by himself? He’s looking down on me! Driven by surging emotions, Xue Qilin finally clenches her teeth and unleashed a sword strike.
— merely a sword strike.
“Sky Cascade!”
The light of destruction fell from the sky.
Then —
Light engulfed everything, blotted out everything, and dyed the world in pale blue.
[1] – taijitu
