Chapter 134 Yi An: "I won't let go!"

Master? Betrayed?

Jiang Yuhuo looked at Bai Hui.

On the cascading lake surface, the sealed golden threads and black demonic energy swirled around her, and a deep-seated hatred was reflected in the white-haired fairy's eyes, which were almost bloodshot.

Jiang Yuhuo said, "Your husband is already dead."

On Mount Kunlun, everyone knows that Mu Yi'an, the most virtuous and upright senior disciple of the sect a hundred years ago, died. In the great battle between immortals and demons on the Moyu River, he slayed demons until his last breath, before succumbing to exhaustion. But few know that he was once the Daoist partner of the owner of the Dingchun Sword. This is because, until his death, the two had only been bound by a vow of marriage for a little over a month.

If it weren't for Wen Yizhan, Jiang Yuhuo wouldn't have known any of this.

The moment the owner of the Dingchun Sword stepped out of her meditation room after completing her seclusion, she received the life-saving sword that her husband had never parted with. The female cultivator, devastated by the loss of her Daoist partner, refused to believe it and rushed to the site of her deceased husband's burial. She wandered for many days through the battlefield, where the dust had already settled. When she returned to her sect, everything was as usual, as if she had merely gone on a long journey. She brought nothing back except for her head of frosty white hair.

The sect's core strength was severely depleted in the great war. When she returned, she was one of the few remaining immortal elders in the sect. Naturally, the task of teaching disciples and rebuilding the sect fell to her. She did this for many years. Gradually, few people mentioned what happened back then, and they forgot that the highly respected immortal elder had once had a Daoist partner. They simply regarded her as a carefree senior who liked to drink.

But one day, she suddenly resigned from the sect and said she was going to Moyujiang.

One of the younger disciples asked, "What kind of place is Moyujiang?"

The days when demons ravaged the world a hundred years ago are long gone for them; they simply consider the peace and tranquility of the world today to be the norm.

From then on, the world no longer had the master of the Kunlun Mountain Dingchun Sword, only Bai Hui, the guardian of the Moyu River, remained.

Jiang Yuhuo said coldly, "He died a hundred years ago."

The bloodshot in Bai Hui's eyes intensified, and she roared, "You're talking nonsense! What do you know? He's down there. His soul is imprisoned by the Demon-Sealing Seal. I clearly heard his voice!"

As if remembering something, her bloodshot eyes suddenly turned sorrowful. "He said he was in a lot of pain... and asked me to save him."

Looking at the person before her, Jiang Yuhuo suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu. Long ago, a pair of similar crimson and sorrowful eyes had fallen in the mountains, dying at the hands of the one they had been guarding. That was also the beginning of her nightmares over the years.

Jiang Yuhuo looked at Bai Hui with a hint of pity, "If he really wasn't dead, he wouldn't want to see you like this."

Bai Hui's expression froze, and he slowly raised his head. "What... do I look like now?"

Madness and paranoia then vanished from her, and she seemed to have transformed back into the gentle and kind fairy she once was.

Jiang Yuhuo felt uneasy. She didn't answer Bai Hui, but instead asked her, "Who gave you the Spirit-Summoning Wood? Did that person tell you that you could use it to break the seal?"

“Yes…” Bai Hui slowly began to speak.

At this moment, a beast-like roar suddenly came from under the spirit-summoning tree. As the overflowing demonic energy grew deeper and deeper, distorted human faces appeared in the black mist, and many faces scrambled to escape.

Before he could finish speaking, Bai Hui rushed forward in a frantic manner, crying out, "Yi An, Yi An, is that you? Which one is you?"

"I'm here, I've come to get you, I didn't abandon you..."

Unfortunately, the moment her sword approached, the demonic energy was shattered by the chilling sword intent and vanished without a trace. In a panic, she quickly withdrew Dingchun and plunged alone into the demonic energy.

As she sheathed her sword, Jiang Yuhuo immediately flashed toward the Spirit-Subduing Wood.

The wood, shrouded in demonic energy, was now in Jiang Yuhuo's hands. The moment he pulled it out, the flow of demonic energy would immediately cease, and all efforts to break the formation would fail.

Bai Hui knew that Jiang Yuhuo had already figured out the mechanism of breaking the formation. Seeing that she was about to ruin everything, she was shocked and became even more frantic. She pressed one hand on the spirit-summoning wood and gathered frost with the other hand to press down on her opponent.

"Let go!"

"I won't let go!"

Jiang Yuhuo's body was already churning with fire, and now she released flames directly, melting all the frost into water vapor. "What's that person's name? What does he look like?" she asked urgently. "Tell me!"

Bai Hui was completely consumed by rage, her bloodshot eyes filled with ferocity. She channeled all her spiritual power, and with a tremor of her palm, countless ice blades imbued with soul-damaging power pierced into her other hand that was holding the Spirit-Subduing Wood. "Will you let go or not?"

With her soul cut by the ice, Jiang Yuhuo could barely feel the hand anymore. She shouted, "I won't let go! You won't break the seal!"

She came to investigate the spirit-summoning wood, but she was also following her master's orders to perform a purification ritual to protect the river. With her here, no one can harm this river!

With a roar, a golden flame shot out from her palm. The pure flame not only melted the ice blade, but even set the spirit-summoning wood, which was impervious to water and fire, ablaze.

Bai Hui grew increasingly shocked and furious. She had used all her spiritual power, but she hadn't expected that this young junior could resist.

Two powerful and surging spiritual energies, ice and fire, converged on a piece of wood that guided spiritual energy. The stronger the spiritual energy they channeled, the more power the spirit-devouring wood absorbed. As a result, the cracks in the lake beneath the wood continued to widen, and the seal woven with golden threads was pushed open by the spiritual energy channeled by the spirit-devouring wood, and a vortex gradually formed at its center.

"Tell me, is that person named Jia Qianyang?" Jiang Yuhuo resisted the spiritual pressure from the person opposite her, almost gritting her teeth as she pressed for the answer.

"Let go!" Bai Hui was also in a bad way. She hadn't met her match in many years, and the fire on the spirit-summoning wood was burning her hands.

The water was continuously drawn into it, the vortex grew larger and larger, and the high ground in the lake had long been washed away. Two figures, one black and one white, hung in the air, each gripping the wooden body, neither willing to let go. Spiritual energy surged, water splashed everywhere, the self-repairing mechanism of the Demon-Sealing Seal was activated, and a burst of golden light appeared, irresistibly drawing the Spirit-Subduing Wood into the vortex. Along with the two figures locked in a stalemate, they were both submerged at the bottom of the water.

...

In the dense forest.

Wen Yizhan finally pierced Jiao Chongyuan's body with his sword.

This surprise attack was a move that Jiao Chongyuan had once taught him: breaking through enemy lines, concealing the edge, and delivering a thunderous strike silently.

Jiao Chongyuan, exhausted, collapsed to the ground, looking at the junior who had once cheerfully sought his guidance, his gaze now filled with admiration. In terms of cultivation, the junior might not match his own years of accumulated experience, but in swordsmanship, Jiao Chongyuan had never encountered another who could rival him. His skill was divine and unpredictable; the sword in his hands was practically an externalization of his consciousness, moving at will, achieving whatever he desired.

"Senior Jiao, you flatter me."

With a slight movement of his fingers, Wen Yizhan's sword automatically returned to its sheath.

Jiao Chongyuan glanced helplessly at Wen Yizhan. Although he could control his spiritual energy freely, the slight delay in his sword strike betrayed him. Jiao Chongyuan could tell that Wen Yizhan was not in good condition at the moment.

The two had no grudges against each other; in fact, they were quite close. Wen Yizhan did not kill him, and Jiao Chongyuan was only unable to move, but he could still speak.

Wen Yizhan was indeed born with a sword-wielding spirit, but he overlooked one thing.

Jiao Chongyuan said, "She will be reunited with that person tonight. Yizhan, don't disturb her."

Wen Yizhan was slightly taken aback. He glanced at the senior on the ground, whose expression was unusually gentle.

After realizing who he was referring to, Wen Yizhan stood frozen in astonishment. These seniors were actually after the Demon-Sealing Seal; how could they act so recklessly?

As if to confirm his conjecture, a white sword light suddenly appeared in the night sky, piercing through heaven and earth—it was Bai Hui's Dingchun Sword!

It could force Bai Hui to offer his sword...

His junior sister was in danger; he had to get there quickly!

“Yizhan, you can’t leave.” Jiao Chongyuan said weakly from behind him.

As soon as he finished speaking, Wen Yizhan felt dizzy and almost knelt on the ground. "What kind of poison did you give me?"

Jiao Chongyuan laughed, holding a fragment of the wine gourd in his hand. "You forgot, it was you who wanted to drink her wine."

Once he drank her wine, she had complete control over when the effects of the alcohol would take hold. With the wine vessel broken, control fell into his hands.

"She's clearly making a huge mistake, why... are you still helping her?" Wen Yizhan bit her tongue, trying to clear her head, but the dizziness kept coming in waves, each wave stronger than the last. "If she meets with that person, you... will never have another chance. What's the point?"

Over the years, it's clear to everyone that he came to Mo Yujiang for Bai Hui. The so-called deceased fiancée is just an excuse. He and this fiancée, arranged by his family elders, had barely met a few times back then, so how could he have harbored such deep feelings for her all these years?

What he could never let go of was the owner of the Dingchun Sword in the Kunlun Mountains, who had knocked his hairpin off with a single sword stroke.

In the arena, the female cultivator used the tip of her sword to lift the chin of her defeated opponent, her elegant and charming eyes smiling warmly as she asked, "You're quite good-looking. How come I've never seen you before?"

The young, yet rigid and mature swordsman was clearly furious, but he dared not look the female cultivator in the eye. He could only utter a harsh threat: "One day, I will defeat you."

That day never came. Only when the old-fashioned young man finally realized his own feelings and, with a restless heart, didn't know what to do, did he stumble into the sunset where she and another person were walking hand in hand.

Until news of that person's death arrived, he thought he had finally gotten his chance. But a century of companionship was a century of despair; no one had expected that beneath the seemingly passionate and unrestrained exterior lay a heart of unwavering loyalty. That heart she gave to another, and it was gone forever.

Thinking of the past, Jiao Chongyuan's smile became ethereal. "I used to be a step behind in everything. Now, I won't be slow anymore."

Even when she thought she was being kept in the dark, he had already figured out how to help her.

Abandoning his mission, betraying his sect, and killing his disciples... If she could free herself from this obsession, he would be satisfied with his life.

He was just one step too slow, and ended up with a lifetime of regret. He wanted to make up for his past self.

He suddenly turned and stared intently at Wen Yizhan, saying out of the blue, "A single step behind, even if it's just a difference of a moment, is a difference of an eternity."

Wen Yizhan didn't understand for a moment whether Jiao Chongyuan was talking to him or to him. He tried to get up from the ground with difficulty, but his spiritual power and strength seemed to have been drained away. He cut his hand, and his heavy lips and tongue could finally move a little. His thoughts had become sluggish.

Wen Yizhan spoke haltingly, "Untie me... Junior sister... can't be hurt, I need to..."

"You're going to find her?" Jiao Chongyuan looked up at the night sky. "No, once Ah Hui makes up her mind, no one can survive the Dingchun Sword. If you go, you'll just be another person going to die."

"You shouldn't have helped her leave."

These words terrified Wen Yizhan. He struggled to his feet, clinging to his last shred of consciousness, and tried to rush toward Jiang Yuhuo.

Jiao Chongyuan ran his finger along the fragment of the wine gourd, and the young swordsman collapsed to the ground. This time, he didn't struggle at all and immediately fell into a deep sleep, unconscious.

"Sleep well, her wine is good wine, it will give you sweet dreams and allow you to see the person you want to see."

Jiao Chongyuan stopped the bleeding and forced himself to get up from the ground. Although Wen Yizhan's sword had seriously injured him, it had not been a fatal blow.

"When I woke up, everything was over."

The unconscious young swordsman was left behind, and Jiao Chongyuan stumbled and walked deeper into the forest.

The night sky was completely illuminated by the sword light, as if it were daytime. The earth trembled, and golden lines of the Demon-Sealing Seal appeared on the ground, with all the myriad rays of light pointing to one place.