The quiet room fell into a deathly silence. After a long while, Xuan Yuan Chen slowly stood up and took out an ancient sword talisman from his robes.
"This is..." Xuan Yuan Chen said in a low voice, "The key to open the Sword Tomb." He solemnly placed the sword talisman in Murong Jin's palm, his fingertips trembling slightly. "That place... is extremely dangerous. For thousands of years, no one has ever come out alive. You... must be careful."
As the passage to the Sword Tomb slowly opened before Murong Jin, countless sword cries echoed from the dark vortex, as if thousands of souls were wailing.
Xuan Yuan Chen suddenly grabbed Murong Jin's shoulder: "Come back alive." These four words weighed heavily.
Murong Jin didn't turn around, but simply nodded slightly. His figure appeared exceptionally slender at the entrance of the passage, yet it exuded a resolute air.
The next moment, his figure was completely swallowed by darkness.
Murong Jin will always remember Bai Ying's last glance back as she stood in front of the teleportation array.
The girl, who was always calm and composed, revealed a relieved smile at the critical moment of life and death.
Sunlight streamed through her blood-stained hair, casting a golden halo around her. Her slender figure stood before the crowd, facing alone the combined attack of Patriarch Huayang and eighteen Nascent Soul cultivators.
"Go!" Those were her last words.
At that moment, Murong Jin frantically pounded on the teleportation array's light screen, oblivious to the blood and gore streaming down his knuckles. He longed to break through the barriers and stand beside Wang Miaomiao, just like she had.
It's hateful that he couldn't even do this much; even going to his death with her became a luxury!
"I'm such a useless piece of trash..." Murong Jin knelt at the entrance of the Sword Tomb, tears falling onto the sword talisman in his hand. The talisman, dormant for many years, suddenly lit up faintly, as if responding to his deep-seated hatred.
And, there was the affection he himself dared not express to Bai Ying...
What death by a hair's breadth? What eternal imprisonment? These threats were utterly laughable to Murong Jin. He should have died that day; Bai Ying had sacrificed her life to give him a chance to live. Now, this life should be used to avenge her blood debt!
And Wang Miaomiao, that always smiling junior sister... also left with Bai Ying. He wouldn't let them die in vain!
Meanwhile, Wang Qi trekked alone across the northern wilderness.
The biting wind, whipping up snowflakes, cut streaks of blood across his face. This once carefree and unrestrained cultivator now possessed only a chilling stillness in his eyes.
He watched his beloved younger sister and Bai Ying die before his eyes, unable even to collect their bodies. Wang Miaomiao's last smile and Bai Ying's back as she stood in their way became nightmares that tormented him.
"What kind of elder brother am I..." Wang Qi slammed his fist into the rock wall, blood trickling down the cracks and blooming into a glaring red plum blossom on the snow. But soon, he wiped away his tears, his gaze becoming more resolute than ever before.
From then on, a fearless figure appeared in the most dangerous secret realms of the cultivation world. Wang Qi specifically chose those terrifyingly difficult training grounds, always teetering on the edge of life and death. Some said he was insane, but they didn't know that on that rainy night, with the departure of his sister, half of his soul had already died.
"Just you wait..." Whenever he was on the verge of despair, Wang Qi would recall his sister's last radiant smile, and Bai Ying's resolute back as she stood in front of them. "Brother will definitely get justice for you..."
He used to be too lazy, thinking he had good talent, so he didn't work hard to cultivate. But now he regretted it deeply.
I only regret that I didn't seize every second to make myself stronger.
Deep within the forbidden territory of the demon race, Yan Chiling was enduring inhuman torture as the demon king's bloodline awakened. His roars shook the entire valley, and blood seeped continuously from his cracked skin. But whenever he was about to give up, Bai Ying's figure would appear before his eyes—she looked so calm and gentle, as if saying, "It's alright."
"Ruan Xinrou... Ancestor..." Yan Chiling grinned cruelly despite the excruciating pain, "None of you... will escape..."
Several seeds of revenge are taking root and sprouting in different soils. One day, they will grow into towering trees and crush their enemies to dust!
—
However, what no one knew was that Bai Ying had not truly died. She was sent to the distant Eastern Continent by an ancient teleportation talisman activated by Wang Miaomiao at the cost of burning her soul.
In a simple, elegant room, Bai Ying had been unconscious for a full month. On the exquisitely carved wooden bed, her face was as pale as paper, her brows tightly furrowed, and fine beads of sweat constantly seeped from her forehead. Her slender fingers unconsciously gripped the brocade quilt, her knuckles turning white from the force.
"Miaomiao...no..." she murmured painfully in her unconscious state, tears streaming down her face from beneath her tightly closed eyelashes, soaking the pillow.
In her dream, she returned to that moment of despair once again.
Wang Miaomiao could have left safely, but she resolutely turned back. She saw Miaomiao burning with the light of her soul, a resolute smile on her lips, using her last strength to push her into the teleportation array.
"You must live well..." Miaomiao's last words were so clear in my memory.
"No! Miaomiao!" Bai Ying cried out in her dream, desperately reaching out with both hands, but only grasping at nothingness.
Her heart felt like it was being ripped apart, a pain more intense than any other injury. She would rather die herself than see the person she called "sister" sacrifice herself for her.
"No...please...no..."
In the midst of this extreme pain, Bai Ying suddenly opened her eyes.
The blinding sunlight made her instinctively raise her hand to shield her eyes, but tears still flowed uncontrollably.
She was greeted by unfamiliar roof beams, and a faint scent of medicine wafted in the air. She struggled to sit up and realized that her body was covered in bandages, every wound bandaged.
"Where...is this?" she asked hoarsely, her voice so weak it was almost inaudible.
Impatient footsteps suddenly came from outside the door, accompanied by a low, disgusted whisper.
"Could she be faking it? Pretending to be hurt so everyone will feel sorry for her. How annoying! My parents even made me come to see her! I clearly like Yuwei, why did this damn Xia Qingdai have to come back!"
The door was pushed open roughly, and a young man in fine clothes walked in reluctantly. When he saw Bai Ying, who was already sitting up, he was clearly taken aback, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.
"Xia Qingdai, you're awake?" He frowned, his tone strained.
Bai Ying frowned instantly. Why would he call her Xia Qingdai?
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