Kill

The main competition stage at the Qinglan Sect's main peak was enveloped in three layers of rosy light. Seven-colored banners fluttered in the mountain breeze, their pinnacles refracting tiny shimmers of light, which fell upon the densely packed spectator seats below.

When Yunxiu stepped onto the bluestone slab, the soles of his shoes were still stained with dew dripping from the nanmu bamboo last night, but the moment they touched the defensive runes on the edge of the platform, they were evaporated by the condensed spiritual power.

She clenched the iron sword at her waist - the crooked little flower on the scabbard was now trembling slightly with her heartbeat.

The northeastern seat was occupied by someone else—Yan Xiu hadn't come today. His injuries were so severe that when Yun Xiu went to see him this morning, Yan Xiu's condition had worsened and he was unconscious. Wu Yi stayed in the guest house to look after him.

As soon as the referee raised the token above his head, a clear sound of footsteps came from the other side of the stage.

When Yunxiu raised his eyes, he happened to meet a pair of familiar eyes.

The man was wearing a moon-white suit with delicate cloud patterns embroidered on the collar. His black hair was loosely tied behind his head with a silver ribbon, and a few strands of hair hung beside his cheeks, making his jawline look even more handsome.

He walked in the light, his figure straight and tall as a pine tree, his skirt sweeping across the bluestone slabs. But his eyes—they were as gray as a cold pond, and in the sunset glow they would reveal a very pale blue.

"In the finals, the independent cultivator Huanqing faced Yunxiu from Yaoxi Mountain."

As soon as the referee's voice fell, there was a commotion in the audience. Some casual cultivators gathered together and muttered:

"This final... there are so many dark horses, all the seeded players are buried..."

The disciple from Baicao Valley nearby also frowned: "I've definitely never seen one... It's really desolate..."

Soon, Huanqing was standing in the center of the stage.

He raised his hand to the hilt of his sword, but didn't draw it immediately. He simply smiled at Yunxiu. The smile was very light, a touch of nonchalance at the corner of his mouth, but the scrutiny in his eyes was like a fine net, sweeping from her bleeding bandage to the pendant around her neck, and finally settling on her heart.

When he spoke, his voice was as clear as a mountain stream, yet shrouded in a barely perceptible chill:

"Yunxiu, nice to meet you."

Yunxiu's heart skipped a beat and she frowned slightly.

This voice... unexpectedly sounds familiar. Where have I heard it before?

"Yunxiu is ashamed to have not heard of your name."

Huanqing didn't answer. Instead, he flicked his wrist, and the sword at his waist unsheathed with a hum. It was a silver-white longsword, its blade gleaming with a faint, cold glow, yet devoid of any trace of immortal energy, as if it were merely an ordinary piece of iron.

With the tip of his sword pointing downward, he made a starting gesture towards Yunxiu, his movements so relaxed that it looked like a sword dance rather than a duel.

"That's fine. Since we can meet on the final stage, we'll have plenty of time to interact in the future."

He approached with a technique, without any sword flash, and took the opportunity to say to Yunxiu in a voice that only the two of them could hear:

"I won't have murderous intentions like Qingya did—I'm here to take you away."

Yunxiu suddenly drew his sword, seemingly oblivious to the attack. Huanqing's gaze remained fixed on Yunxiu. He tapped the tip of his sword lightly against the bluestone slab, leaving a faint scar that spread instantly. It carried no spiritual energy.

"The power within you is the divine essence of the ancient gods, right?"

His voice lowered a little:

"Didn't your good senior brother tell you? They kept you just to use you as a shield, a life-saving talisman..."

Zhi Huan had said this in the inn, and Sect Leader Bai Luo had also vaguely mentioned it, but to hear it coming out of this strange mouth in front of me... How presumptuous!

She gritted her teeth and took a half step back, the sword drawing a semicircle in front of her:

"Fellow Immortal Huanqing, could you please focus on the competition? You talk too much."

Huanqing smiled, the tip of the sword lightly swept across the ground, and he took two steps towards Yunxiu.

"There's more to it than that... I know it all. Tell me, why has no living being been able to transform in Yaoxi Mountain since you? Why did Yan Xiu avoid you? Why did your master just change the subject when you asked about the Ancient Gods?"

She remembered what she heard outside Yan Xiu's door last night...

"Kill her... or just let her go?"

Senior Sister Yingtang's panicked back as she turned around; Senior Brother Yuwei's words, "Don't trust anyone"...

The divine power in my heart suddenly began to heat up, like a lit fire, rushing along the blood vessels to my fingertips.

"bite!"

Huanqing's sword suddenly stabbed forward, but it didn't go to the vital part. It just brushed past her scabbard, temporarily blocking the hot divine power.

His movements were swift, yet he left room for maneuver everywhere: "Look, you can't stop me with just your immortal power."

He turned his wrist and his sword moves suddenly became faster. The silver-white sword light covered her like a net, but it was always half an inch away from her wound.

"But if you tap into the divine power within you, it's different—that power belongs to you, not Yaoxi Mountain, nor to those so-called 'immortals'."

Yunxiu was forced to retreat again and again.

She gritted her teeth and mobilized her immortal power, trying to use the "Guarding the Heart Style" to condense the sword and shield, but as soon as a light blue light appeared on her palm, it was lightly touched by the tip of Huanqing's sword, and most of the immortal power dissipated.

"It's useless." Huanqing's voice was filled with regret. "With your meager immortal power, you can't even stop Qingya's Piercing Cloud Formation. How can you fight me?"

He took a step forward, with the tip of the sword only three inches away from Yunxiu's throat, but he suddenly stopped, and the coldness in his eyes faded a little.

"Come with me? I'll take you to find the truth. The divine power within you shouldn't be working for those ants here—they didn't even tell you who you are, did they?"

The referee in the audience suddenly stood up and seemed to be talking to the elders, but Yunxiu could not hear anything.

Before she could feel strange, she saw an invisible barrier blocking all the elders' shouts - Huanqing didn't even look back, but just flicked his sleeve lightly and set up a ban in front of everyone.

"Sorry, I don't want to be disturbed." Huanqing said with a smile.

Yunxiu's chest was getting hotter and hotter.

Although Huanqing's sword did not hurt her, it seemed to have a suction force. Every time the tip of the sword touched her immortal power, the divine power in her body would tremble, as if it was about to be pulled out.

She subconsciously pressed her chest, and the moment her fingertips touched the pendant, the burning sensation suddenly intensified, and even her breathing became sluggish.

——"What do you want to do?"

——"I want you to give it your all."

Huanqing lowered the tip of his sword slightly, and said calmly:

"If you don't use divine power, you will never know who you are."

As soon as he finished speaking, his sword moves suddenly became fierce, and the silver-white sword light went straight to Yunxiu's left shoulder wound.

"For example, who do you think hurt Yu Wei?"

"Shut up!"

Yunxiu suddenly raised her voice, and the divine power in her body could no longer be suppressed. A cold white light surged out from her heart and instantly enveloped her entire body.

She raised her hand and swung her sword, a ray of divine power gathering at the tip of the sword, stabbing towards Huanqing's sword—

This was the first time she actively mobilized this power, but at the moment the sword tips collided, she felt a suction force coming along the sword body.

Huanqing's fingertips pressed against the blade, and Yunxiu felt a sense of emptiness in her chest. She frowned, but assumed it was due to her own lack of control. She gritted her teeth and increased her divine power output.

Yunxiu's arms began to tremble. She could feel her divine power rapidly draining away, but Huanqing's sword was like a magnet, firmly absorbing her strength and preventing her from withdrawing it.

She looked at Huanqing's increasingly bright eyes and suddenly remembered what Zhihuan said in the inn -

"You are the last vessel of the Ancient God's power, and the only hope for his revival."

"You are Zhihuan!"

Yunxiu reacted suddenly and wanted to take back his divine power, but found that the power had been entangled by Huanqing's sword and could not be withdrawn at all.

Huanqing... perhaps we should call him Zhihuan, the villain whose mask was unmasked the fastest in history. He looked at Yunxiu and just smiled:

"Oh, I thought you recognized me the first time you saw me."

Before he could finish his words, Yunxiu suddenly turned, tapping the bluestone slab with her toes and charging toward the edge of the stage. But Huanqing was faster than her, and her silver-white sword instantly blocked her path, the cold white light from its tip growing even brighter.

"Where do you want to go?"

The cold white divine power flowed along the sword into Yunxiu's body. She felt a sharp pain in her heart, as if she were being stabbed by countless needles.

The spiritual power of the people below the stage transformed into a blade of light, stabbing towards Zhi Huan's back - but Zhi Huan just flicked his sleeve, and the blade of light shattered into light fragments.

"I told you, stay out of the way."

Zhi Huan seemed a little impatient: "Wait until I'm done with her, then it'll be your turn."

Yunxiu's vision began to blur. The power within him... "divine power"? It was being drained away bit by bit, making even breathing difficult.

But she couldn't fall yet... at least she couldn't expose all the remaining disciples to this person. Zhi Huan's actions in Yaoxi Mountain were still vivid in his mind.

She gritted her teeth, raised her hand and held the iron sword across her body, using her last bit of strength to charge towards Huanqing's sword tip.

"Want to die?" Huan Qing sneered, and the divine power at his fingertips suddenly surged.

"If you die, your divine power will only dissipate faster. I have plenty of ways to keep you alive until I absorb every last bit of divine energy."

His sword suddenly moved forward half an inch, and the cold white divine power penetrated into Yunxiu's wound along the tip of the sword, causing her to lose her strength instantly, and the iron sword fell to the ground with a "clang".

At this moment, the voices from the audience finally broke through the barrier, and an angry shout was heard: "Zhi Huan! Stop!"

The figure of the Bailuo Sect Master appeared at the edge of the stage, and his pale green spiritual energy transformed into countless vines, which instantly broke through the barrier and entangled Zhihuan. Huanqing had to withdraw his divine power to resist.

Yunxiu took the opportunity to fall backwards, but was caught by someone and did not fall - it was Wu Yi.

Wu Yi acted as if nothing had happened, pursed his lips and stood in front of Yunxiu:

"I'm late."

Zhi Huan was entangled by the vines and took two steps back. The careless smile in his eyes was instantly torn apart, leaving only the icy murderous intent.

He jerked his wrist violently, and the silver-white sword hummed and erupted with cold white divine power. The vines wrapped around his arm were instantly burned to ash, and even the spiritual barrier of the Bailuo Sect Master began to crack. "With this little ability, you dare to stop me?"

Before he finished speaking, he had already emerged like a ghost. His longsword swept across, the cold white blade slashing towards the nearest Qinglan Sect elder. The elder didn't even have a chance to block, his protective spiritual energy shattering like paper, his body snapping in two. Blood splattered on the seven-colored banner, staining the spirit bead a deep crimson.

The audience erupted in an uproar. The independent cultivators tried to escape, but were trapped by the divine restrictions Zhi Huan had casually cast. The Baicao Valley disciples unleashed poison needles from their medicine bags, only to be reduced to ash the moment they came into contact with the cold white light. The Qinglan Sect disciples formed a sword formation, but as soon as their swords touched the corners of Zhi Huan's clothes, the divine power jarred their knuckles, cracking their swords and sending them flying into the air, only to be severed by Zhi Huan's counterattack.

"Whoever stands in my way will die."

With every word Zhi Huan spoke, another figure fell. He seemed to be harvesting something. Wherever his sword passed, blood flowed over the lines of the bluestone, trickling down the edge of the arena and forming dark red puddles at the foot of the mountain.

Yunxiu lay on the ground, digging his fingertips into the cracks of the bluestone slabs, trying to pick up the iron sword that had fallen at his feet, but the divine power in his body was lost so much that he didn't even have the strength to raise his hand.

She watched as the leader of the Bai Luo Sect was pierced through the chest by Zhi Huan's sword, and the light green spiritual energy dissipated from the wound like bamboo leaves blown away by the wind; she watched as the wandering cultivator who was still muttering "dark horse" just now was twisted into a bloody mist by the divine power in the blink of an eye - those living people became cold corpses in just a moment.

"Xiao You! Don't just stand there!"

Wu Yi's voice suddenly exploded in his ears. The bandage on his left arm was soaked with blood. He bent down, yanked Yunxiu up, and turned to run towards the bamboo forest behind the arena. Zhi Huan seemed to have anticipated their escape. A cold white blade grazed Wu Yi's back, tearing a deep wound in his shoulder that was visible to the bone.

Wu Yi groaned, but ran even faster. He knew he couldn't look back—that move was just a warning. If he was a step slower, they would both die here.

He carried Yunxiu into the bamboo forest, using the intertwined bamboo trunks to avoid the light blades chasing him from behind. The bamboo leaves were swept all over the sky by the divine power, and the sharp bamboo pieces scratched his cheek, but he didn't even have time to raise his hand to wipe the blood.

"Put me down..." Yunxiu's voice was as weak as a mosquito's hum.

"Shut up!"

Wu Yi was unusually calm: "Survive first, and we'll think about other things later."

He staggered, and blood oozed from the wound on his left shoulder, dripping onto Yunxiu's clothes, hot as fire.

The sounds of killing behind him gradually faded away, and Zhi Huan did not seem to chase after him immediately - perhaps he was cleaning up the remaining people, or perhaps he was sure that they could not escape from Qinglan Mountain.

Wu Yi didn't dare to stop. He carried Yunxiu into a secret cave deep in the bamboo forest. He had discovered that cave while looking for herbs. The entrance of the cave was covered by vines and could not be found without careful observation.

Only after entering the cave did he dare to gently place Yunxiu on the ground, leaning against the stone wall, breathing heavily. Blood from his left shoulder dripped down his arm, forming a small puddle on the ground. Yunxiu leaned against the cold stone wall, watching the shadows of the bamboo forest outside the cave sway in the wind. The screams from before still echoed in his ears, and his heart felt like it had been hit by a heavy hammer, dull and painful.

"He... killed so many people again..."

Yunxiu's fingertips still had a lingering feeling of emptiness after the loss of divine power.

Wu Yi wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes as dark as ink:

"He doesn't just want your divine essence, he wants everyone who has come into contact with the remaining power of the ancient gods. The Qinglan Mountain spiritual vein is connected to the ancient divine vein. These people have more or less absorbed some divine power. If he kills them, he can absorb the remaining power and gather the last bit of strength to revive the ancient gods."

Yunxiu raised his head suddenly: "Then...then Senior Brother Yanxiu..."

"Zhi Huan can't find it for the time being." Wu Yi interrupted her, took out a porcelain bottle from his arms, poured out two brown pills and handed them to her.

"This is the Qinglan Sect's Spirit-Concentrating Pill. First, stabilize your divine power. After he leaves Qinglan Mountain, find a way to return to the guesthouse to pick up Senior Brother."

Yunxiu took the pill and put it in her mouth, the bitter taste spreading. She also put two pills into Wu Yi's mouth and leaned back to rest.

She looked at the sky outside the cave which was gradually getting darker, and thought of the corpses piled up on the competition stage, and suddenly her heart tightened.

She was a little dazed and silent for a long time, then suddenly asked:

"Wu Yi, if...if I give him the divine essence..."

Wu Yi raised his head abruptly and said sternly, "Absolutely not!"

Yunxiu was stunned.

Wu Yi seemed to have been struck by something: "Absolutely not! Don't even think about it! If you want to do this, you might as well fight me first and step over my dead body!"

Yunxiu didn't know why the conversation had reached this point and was quite confused. She tentatively nudged Wu Yi:

"I'm just saying if... you don't have to react so strongly, right?"

Wu Yi dodged and then slowed down his words:

"If he gets the divine essence and the ancient god is revived, everyone in the world will become his food! Do you think he will stop?"

He reached out and pressed Yunxiu's shoulder: "Xiaoyou, we survived not to compromise, but to fight back - so that everyone can live well."

The wind from outside the cave blew in with the smell of blood. Yunxiu looked at the wound on Wu Yi's shoulder that was still bleeding, and thought of Yan Xiu's pale face before he fell unconscious, and finally nodded slowly.

She clenched the pendant around her neck; the amulet made from tail feathers still retained some warmth.

The night gradually spread over the bamboo forest. The only sounds left in the cave were the breathing of the two people and the occasional fluctuations of divine power from outside the cave, which were the result of Zhi Huan's search.