Chapter 209
A deafening roar erupted, shaking the earth. The Mingguang Hall teetered on the brink of collapse amidst billowing smoke, its glazed tiles shattering on the ground.
The sound waves echoed far and wide, the trees trembled, and the pavilions and towers swayed, startling several birds into flight, which fled in panic, leaving not even a trace behind.
"Did it work?"
"Go and take a look!"
The disciples covered their mouths and coughed, fanning the foul air as they walked into the hall.
“Not enough,” Man Jiangxue said, standing outside the window looking at the piece of black iron inside. “Add more.”
Meng Jing gave his disciples a look, and the disciple in charge of detonating the explosives brought over several more bundles, piling them up like a small mountain in the sleeping quarters.
"Get away! Everyone stay far away!"
Everyone retreated, keeping a safe distance. An archer wrapped an arrow tip in oil-soaked cotton, lit it with a tinderbox, and then shot it through the window into the sleeping quarters. The next moment, a series of explosions rose from the ground, deafeningly loud, and black mist surged towards the dome like a tidal wave, changing the color of the sky and earth.
Tiles flew everywhere, walls collapsed, and Mingguang Hall was reduced to a scene of utter devastation amidst the billowing dust, never to be seen again. Man Jiangxue was the first to rush forward, followed closely by her disciples, who hurriedly helped clear away the debris. The progress was too slow, and Man Jiangxue, unwilling to have them dig by hand, gestured for her disciples to step aside. She then channeled her inner energy into her palm, leaped into the air, and unleashed a powerful strike. The force of her palm strike was fierce and unstoppable, sending the remaining debris flying like sand, revealing a space where people could stand.
"Huh? That black iron is too hard, it can't be broken at all!"
Upon closer inspection after parting the smoke, the black iron sealing the entrance was merely deformed, not broken. This material was excellent for forging swords, extremely precious, and famously something that money couldn't buy. Xie Yijun's backup plan was truly well-prepared, buying her considerable time. Man Jiangxue had once smashed a door in front of Wen Chaoyu at the Ziwei Sect, but that door was made of refined iron, no stronger than black iron, and only a finger's width thick, making it naturally easier to break.
Meng Jing, with his sharp eyes, immediately noticed that a black hole had been blasted into the edge of the black iron. He exclaimed with delight, "Never mind the black iron, let's go in through that hole!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Man Jiangxue leaped into the cave entrance before everyone else. The disciples quickly followed suit. Meng Jing hurriedly picked up his medicine chest and was about to follow when he suddenly heard a girl behind him shout, "Damn it! Yin Qiu and the others are fighting tooth and nail to defend the city down the mountain, and you guys are just blowing up your own nest!"
Upon hearing the familiar voice, Meng Jing turned around and indeed saw it was Miss Duan. Meng Jing asked, "What are you doing here? How are Yin Qiu and the others?"
Upon seeing her, Duan Ning immediately beamed with joy and exclaimed, "They're doing well! They were just cornered and beaten by Mingyue Tower and Jiuxian Hall!"
Meng Jing said, "Is this good?" After saying this, he was about to send some people down the mountain, but when he thought that if the people in the palace left, wouldn't that give the thieves an opportunity to take advantage of him? So he only instructed his disciples to look after the place and hurriedly went down into the cave.
"What are you doing?" Duan Ning pulled her back and glanced down. "Do you know how deep this hole is? What if you fall and die?!"
"The sect leader has already escaped. She has the Holy Sword, so if she hurts my martial uncle, I can heal him in time!" Meng Jing said, pressing Duan Ning down and climbing onto her back. "Quick! Carry me down!"
Duan Ning felt a light weight press against her back and stammered, "You...you have no shame! What are you doing climbing on me like that, you big man!"
"You know perfectly well whether I'm a man or a woman, so why are you being so shy!" Meng Jing urged. "I'll apologize to you another day, let's go!"
At this tense moment, Duan Ning burst into laughter, carrying Meng Jing on his back as he leaped into the cave. Along the way, he didn't forget to bargain, saying, "No need for apologies, but please consider what I told you last time!"
Meng Jing ignored these words. The two leaped through the air and landed on the ground. The disciples who had jumped down earlier were still blocking the way, but Man Jiangxue was nowhere to be seen. Meng Jing looked down and found that there were actually eight doors below, each leading to a passage, the destination of which was unknown.
"Our martial aunt left too quickly. She was already gone when we came in, and we don't even know which door she went through!"
Duan Ning took the lead, randomly choosing a door and saying as he walked, "I'll go check it out!"
Meng Jing was about to tell her not to act recklessly when Duan Ning leaped inside. The tunnel was lit with lamps throughout, so it wasn't completely dark; the visibility was fairly good. Meng Jing called to Duan Ning a few times, and then heard a tinkling sound coming from inside the door, followed by flickering lights. Not long after, Duan Ning returned, covered in mud, shouting, "There are traps in there! Not only did they get me covered in mud, but they almost buried me alive!"
Meng Jing said with slight impatience, "If you're going to come along, don't make decisions on your own. Who will take responsibility if something goes wrong?"
After saying this, Meng Jing noticed that Duan Ning was covered in yellow mud, and there was a trail of her footprints in the passage behind her. Meng Jing had a sudden thought. He realized that this place was deserted for many years, and the ground was covered with a thick layer of dust. Anyone who passed through would leave traces. He immediately looked at the other doors and soon saw a series of messy footprints inside one of them. They might have been left by Man Jiangxue and Xie Yijun.
Meng Jing decisively said, "This way!"
·
Xie Yijun sped through the passageway.
Her heart was pounding, and she heard constant tremors behind her, which shook the ground violently. She was covered in dust, panting heavily, and had to look back every now and then.
Gradually, the violent shaking disappeared. It was unclear whether the black iron had been blown apart or whether Man Jiangxue had given up chasing her and was going to intercept her from another direction. Although Xie Yijun was not relieved, she could not bear the waves of darkness before her eyes and stopped, leaning against the wall.
The dosage of her medication last night was a bit too high. The drug could raise her body temperature and create the illusion that she was seriously ill. Although some time had passed since she drank the antidote, the effects of the drug had not yet worn off. She was terrified, fearing that Man Jiangxue might kill her at any moment during her conversation. Afterwards, she ran wildly, not knowing whether Man Jiangxue had caught up with her. She was ultimately afraid, and with her mind in turmoil, she became even more like a frightened bird, her legs trembling.
The Buddhist prayer beads on her wrist emitted a pleasant sandalwood fragrance. Xie Yijun lowered her eyes to look at the beads, her ashen face revealing a complex and unreadable expression.
Why kill Shen Mandong?
Xie Yijun has thought about this problem for many years.
Back then, she was young and impetuous, harboring resentment in her heart. When she saw Nangong Min destroy the Ruyi Sect for her, she thought to herself, "With the Ruyi Sect gone, Shen Mandong will definitely return to Yunhua Palace. Once she returns, my master will surely pass the position of sect leader to her. Then Xie Yijun will never have another chance."
Looking back now, she realized that Shen Mandong knew the truth about her father and brothers' murder. If she had told Shen Mandong that she wanted to be the sect leader, Shen Mandong would have defered to her and never competed with her. But what she understood now hadn't even crossed her mind back then. All she knew was that with Shen Mandong gone, the sect leader position would inevitably fall into her hands.
However, only now has she realized that Shen Mandong was completely innocent and had no reason to die.
All we need to do is kill our master... Once our master is dead, none of our three junior sisters will compete with her for the sect leader position!
But it was all too late to undo the damage.
Blinded by hatred, she made the wrong decision. If she hadn't killed Shen Mandong, she could have become the sect leader just as well, and wouldn't be in this situation today. All these years, she kept this secret, watching Man Jiangxue feel guilty about what happened back then, watching Yin Qiu grow up day by day. Did she never regret it? Of course she regretted it!
If you don't want others to know, then don't do it in the first place. If you do something wrong, there will always be a day when the truth comes out. And one wrong step leads to another. She lived in fear and anxiety for half her life, and that day finally came. But she still wanted to live on. No one wants to die.
Nobody wants to die!
The underground was chillingly cold, like being in an ice cave. The cold seeped into her body, causing her to shiver uncontrollably. Xie Yijun circulated her inner energy to expel the remaining medicine from her body, which alleviated her dizziness considerably. She stood up, and suddenly a star-like cold glint appeared in her peripheral vision, illuminating the corner of her eye. The point of light approached from afar, carrying a powerful killing intent. Even as the distance between them shortened, it forcefully stimulated the blood within her body, causing it to boil, yet also containing a bone-chilling coldness.
A long sword, as long as a rainbow piercing the sun, suddenly appeared before them.
Xie Yijun's heart skipped a beat. She was terrified and hurriedly summoned her holy sword to block. With a "clang!", Ning Shuang was violently knocked away and fell into a hand with well-defined bones in the next moment.
Without a second thought, Xie Yijun almost reflexively turned and ran. She didn't even dare to look back at Man Jiangxue, and she really hadn't expected her to catch up so quickly. The two chased each other for a while in the passage. Sensing that the person behind them was catching up, Xie Yijun gritted her teeth, raised her hand, and slapped a lamp on the wall. A heavy iron door suddenly slammed down from above, blocking Man Jiangxue behind her.
"Go back!" Xie Yijun's heart pounded wildly. Even with the Holy Sword in her hand, she dared not confront Man Jiangxue head-on. She could only shout, "For the sake of our sisterhood, spare my life!"
There was no warmth in Man Jiangxue's eyes as she coldly said, "You want me to spare your life? Then why didn't you spare my senior sister and master's lives back then?"
"I was indeed too heartless, but I regret it now!" Xie Yijun said, her eyes red. "But it's too late, and there's no going back. Even if you kill me, Mandong and Master won't come back to life!"
The iron gate was also made of black iron. Man Jiangxue tried to break it twice but failed. She said coldly, "I said I have no right to take your life by going past Xiao Qiu and Meng Wugui. Since you know you have made a big mistake, you should give them an explanation in person. Besides, where can you run to? After such a big incident, not only Yunhua Palace, but the entire Central Plains martial arts world will no longer tolerate you. If you still have a conscience, you should take the initiative to stand up and apologize to all the victims for what happened back then."
Xie Yijun staggered a few steps, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably. Looking at Man Jiangxue, she seemed to have aged considerably in an instant. Xie Yijun said, “I do feel remorse, but I wasn’t foolish enough to surrender. Jiangxue, you are the youngest among us, and your life has been filled with hardship. When Mandong and Master brought you back, I cared for you! I hated Master, I was jealous of Mandong, and I rejected Wen Chaoyu, but I never intended to harm you! Haven’t I been good to you all these years? I have no relatives or friends; you are my only close person. Ask yourself honestly, how have I treated you?”
“Your kindness to me is nothing more than having people monitor me on Jingyue Peak for so many years,” Man Jiangxue said. “Don’t be so self-righteous. You’re just trying to project your guilt towards Master and Senior Sister onto me. If you really wanted to be good to me, you wouldn’t have attacked Xiao Qiu time and time again. You know I value her, yet your actions are no different from Zhilan’s! Senior Sister and Master were both killed by you. That’s an indisputable fact, and it’s not something that can be erased by how kind you are to me.”
"I beg you!" Xie Yijun pleaded, backing away. "If you spare my life, I'll leave this world, change my name, and never appear before you again! Don't worry, once I'm safe, I'll secretly deliver the Holy Sword to you. With you and Wan Shu here, Yunhua Palace won't collapse, and you won't be afraid of Nangong Min with the Holy Sword. How... how can I face Yin Qiu and Wan Shu? That would be worse than death! Please spare me!"
"If only you had known this would happen!" Man Jiangxue thrust out her long sword, leaping over the gap in the iron gate and heading straight for Xie Yijun. Xie Yijun turned around in a panic, only to see Ning Shuang bend in mid-air, her sword hilt striking the lamp with remarkable agility. The iron gate immediately rose rapidly, and Man Jiangxue caught Ning Shuang, arriving in front of Xie Yijun in the blink of an eye.
The two drew their swords simultaneously, one slashing and the other parrying, sparks flying. The whistling sword wind was even stronger than a cold wind, cutting like a knife as it grazed their faces. Xie Yijun felt a burning pain on her cheeks. Although the Holy Sword was powerful enough to block the Frost Condensation, the force of Full River Snow still spread from the blade. Xie Yijun's hands went numb, and her entire arm felt as if it had been smashed by a giant hammer. The pain was so intense that she almost lost her grip on the sword.
Man Jiangxue had never seen the true power of the Holy Sword, so she was not careless. She twirled her sword and tried to challenge it, but Xie Yijun was no pushover either. She quickly dodged and the two of them fought for a while in the passage. Xie Yijun did not want to hurt Man Jiangxue, so she had to seize the opportunity to continue to flee.
Xie Yijun had initially thought that with the Holy Sword in hand, she might be able to use the advantage of her weapon to suppress Man Jiangxue to some extent. However, since ascending to the throne, she had been burdened by daily paperwork and had little time to practice her swordsmanship. Although her skills had not deteriorated, they had not improved either. Meanwhile, Man Jiangxue had never missed a day of her studies at Jingyue Peak, making her even more formidable than before. After many years, when they clashed again, Xie Yijun found that she was actually not as good as before. In the past, she could fight Man Jiangxue for a long time with her own strength, but now she could not. She could not even last a few dozen moves against Man Jiangxue and could only run for her life.
Not to mention that deep down she didn't actually want to fight Man Jiangxue to the death.
After dodging and weaving for a while, Xie Yijun was in a sorry state, forced into a corner by Man Jiangxue. She had no choice but to steel herself and unleash her inner energy to fight back. The holy sword emitted a low hum, and the luminous pearl on its hilt shone brightly, stinging the eyes. Sensing Xie Yijun's intention to attack, Man Jiangxue advanced instead of retreating, meeting the intense, cold light head-on. The two swords clashed, tearing apart with a sharp sound. Xie Yijun gritted her teeth, showing no mercy, wielding the holy sword with ferocious power, unleashing a flurry of slashes and thrusts. Suddenly, Man Jiangxue's ears twitched; she heard an extremely faint cracking sound.
She flipped over to avoid the attack, and before landing, she quickly glanced down and saw that there were two small cracks on Ning Shuang's sword and many nicks on the blade.
Man Jiangxue frowned slightly, only then realizing the power of the Holy Sword. Zhu Bing and Ning Shuang were fine swords forged by the master swordsmith at his request. They had been through countless battles over the years and their sharpness had not diminished. However, Ning Shuang was so fragile in front of the Holy Sword, and she had become like this after only a short time.
In that brief moment of thought, Xie Yijun nimbly leaped away, creating some distance between them. Just as Man Jiangxue was about to give chase, Xie Yijun suddenly stomped her foot. Man Jiangxue's foot went light, and the ground instantly cracked open. She fell downwards without warning, and just as she was about to leap back up, a square boulder happened to crash down on her head.
A shadow loomed over her, and the light suddenly dimmed. Everything happened so fast that Man Jiangxue had no time to react. As she fell, she heard the sound of flowing water below and knew that this was not a safe place to land. Who knew what that water was? Maybe if a person fell in, they would be dissolved into dust.
Man Jiangxue grunted, instinctively stepping on a nearby wall to propel herself into the air, intending to shatter the boulder with a single blow. However, before she could strike, at the critical moment, a long whip wrapped in golden thread suddenly swept in from the side, perfectly entangling the boulder. At the same time, a ghostly scream was heard, and the boulder, before it could cover the breach, was forcefully pulled to the side by the whip, preventing it from falling.
Man Jiangxue flipped over and landed steadily. Looking back, she saw Duan Ning slumped on the ground, crying out to Meng Jing, who was running behind her at full speed, "Come quick! My hand is broken! It hurts so much!"
·
"Uncle-Master!"
The disciples came running up, panting. Man Jiangxue didn't have time to pay attention to Duan Ning and chased after Xie Yijun's figure without saying a word.
Duan Ning was in so much pain that tears streamed down her face. She rolled on the ground, and Meng Jing held her down. After checking her over, he breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Don't move! It's just a dislocation. I'll put it back in place!"
"No, no, no!" Duan Ning cried out in terror, gesturing for his disciples to follow Man Jiangxue before yelling, "Knock me out first!"
Meng Jing hesitated for a moment, then delivered a karate chop to Duan Ning's neck. Duan Ning screamed in pain and yelled, "How can you be so useless! Didn't you eat?!"
"I've never knocked anyone unconscious!" Meng Jing exclaimed anxiously, then quickly realized something was wrong. "Oh no, something's up behind you!"
Duan Ning's expression changed, thinking that Xie Yijun had set some kind of trap to kill them again, and he quickly turned around and said, "Where are you looking for ghosts—"
When Meng Jing saw her turn around, he quickly grabbed Duan Ning's arm and snapped her bones back into place. Duan Ning was caught off guard, first letting out a scream, then rolling her eyes and fainting.
Fortunately, he had brought a medicine box with him before coming in, which was fully equipped. Meng Jing quickly took out a medicine bottle and let Duan Ning smell it. Duan Ning gasped and woke up with a pale face, angrily saying, "You lied to me!"
"Stop talking nonsense!" Meng Jing grabbed her and dragged her away. "Go protect your martial uncle!"
Duan Ning was in so much pain that he was drenched in sweat, but he didn't forget to use his other hand to hold Meng Jing and use his lightness skill. When the two arrived, the place had triggered some kind of mechanism. The disciples were in front of them, waving their long swords to cut off stray arrows. In the midst of the chaos, Man Jiangxue struck Xie Yijun's left shoulder with a palm, causing her to vomit blood and fall to the ground hastily.
Duan Ning was overjoyed at the sight and hurriedly tiptoed over, intending to snatch the holy sword with her whip. However, her bones had just been set, and she only raised her hand halfway before crying out in pain and pulling it back. Xie Yijun rolled to the side as soon as her back touched the ground. Man Jiangxue closed in, not foolish enough to use Frostbite to clash head-on with the holy sword. Instead, before Xie Yijun could regain her footing, she thrust at the hand holding the sword.
In a flash, Ning Shuang, swift as lightning, pierced Xie Yijun's wrist with unstoppable force, blood splattering everywhere. Unexpectedly, Xie Yijun seemed unaffected by the severe injury, not even uttering a sound. Gripping the holy sword tightly, her face deathly pale, she pulled her wrist away. A fierce glint finally flashed in her eyes as she endured the excruciating pain and swung her sword back with all her might.
With a crisp clang, Ning Shuang could not withstand such a heavy blow and broke apart. The broken sword flew out and fell limply to the ground after hitting the wall.
"No matter how skilled you are in martial arts, you can't defeat this sword!" Xie Yijun's eyes were bloodshot as she leaped and slashed Man Jiangxue's arm, saying hatefully, "You've forced me to this point!"
Blood spread, quickly soaking through the fabric, and an indescribable, excruciating pain spread throughout, like burning fire or crackling lightning. Man Jiangxue's eyes were icy cold; she didn't care about the small wound. Even without her weapon, she had no intention of letting Xie Yijun go and would continue her relentless pursuit.
The disciples behind him dealt with the stray arrows on both sides and rushed to the scene. Meng Jing drew one of the swords and threw it at Man Jiangxue. Man Jiangxue caught it, but in one fell swoop, the sword was cut in half by Xie Yijun and was completely useless.
Man Jiangxue paused, nodded, and saw that in the blink of an eye, her entire arm was covered in blood. She wiped the wound with her sleeve and discovered that it was silently festering and becoming a bloody mess.
“This sword was forged in the most poisonous fire, and if you are injured by it and it is not treated in time, your whole body will rot!” Xie Yijun’s chest heaved, and her voice trembled slightly. “Even Ning Shuang is so vulnerable, let alone you who are unarmed! Jiang Xue, let’s stop here. I really don’t want to hurt you!”
Duan Ning spat, "Stop pretending! If you kill someone, are you going to say you really didn't want to kill them?"
"Uncle-Master!" Meng Jing exclaimed upon seeing the wound, "Let's bandage it up first!"
Man Jiangxue glanced at Xie Yijun, snorted coldly, and without saying a word, drew a disciple's sword. Seeing her actions, Xie Yijun opened and closed her lips twice, but Man Jiangxue had already placed the sword on her arm without changing her expression and scraped off the festering flesh in front of everyone.
A faintly visible skeleton came into view.
"You..." Xie Yijun looked shocked, her lips trembling as she said, "Why did you do this!"
“I won’t kill you,” Man Jiangxue said, sword in hand, approaching Xie Yijun step by step. “I just want you to confess and give Xiao Qiu and Meng Wugui an explanation. You had some reason for killing your senior sister, but you killed Meng Wugui’s parents on the spur of the moment. You keep talking about revenge, but in the end, you only harm innocent people. You’re not seeking revenge; you’re maliciously committing murder. You’re no different from Sect Leader Shen; you’ve done the same thing!”
Xie Yijun said, "Because I'm not reconciled! Even if Nangong Min attacked Ruyi Gate, it doesn't mean I took revenge with my own hands! I'm the only one left in the Xie family. If I hadn't survived by the skin of my teeth, do you think that old thief surnamed Shen would have let me go? He wiped out my whole family, and I won't let him get away with it!"
“So now it’s your turn,” Man Jiangxue said. “You’ve survived by chance, as have Meng Wugui and Xiao Qiu. According to you, it’s understandable that they want to kill you this time. It’s also only right for me to clean up the mess for my master.”
Both were injured. Xie Yijun's hair was disheveled, and blood flowed continuously from the wound on her wrist. She could see that although Man Jiangxue was forcibly enduring the pain, her body was trembling uncontrollably from the excruciating agony. Hearing her words, any lingering affection Xie Yijun felt vanished completely. She sneered, "You think scraping the bone and tearing the flesh will make things alright? Look at your wound, it's still festering and getting worse. You must be in a lot of pain. I've already shown you enough mercy. If you keep pestering me, I'll have to be ruthless. Don't blame me for being heartless when you're about to die!"
A sudden gust of wind blew, ruffling Man Jiangxue's long hair. Without another word, she lunged forward and attacked Xie Yijun's face. Xie Yijun, relying on the Holy Sword, managed to get close but couldn't touch her. The disciples watched from the sidelines, unable to find an opportunity to help, and all were afraid of the Holy Sword, so they could only stand by anxiously.
Duan Ning tried swinging the whip with his left hand. Xie Yijun wasn't hit, but he managed to lash out at several disciples around him. Duan Ning yelled, "Go outside and fight! Don't accidentally let that holy sword fly over and kill us! We've done nothing to you!"
Xie Yijun was eager to leave this place as soon as possible. Having lingered for so long, if someone outside found the exit, even with the Holy Sword, she could still be trapped and attacked to death. Without hesitation, Xie Yijun sheathed the Holy Sword, retreated, and fled.
Man Jiangxue's movements were already hampered, and she was not as swift as before. Her wounds were gradually widening, and she was in great pain. But she didn't have the energy to deal with it at the moment, nor did she know how to deal with it. So she chased after Xie Yijun all the way to the exit of the passage, with Meng Jing and Duan Ning chasing after her desperately.
The group moved quickly, getting closer and closer to the exit. Before leaving, Xie Yijun turned around and unleashed a sword aura, then decisively pressed the switch at the door and slipped away as if her feet were greased.
The sword energy was terrifying, seemingly transforming from formless to tangible, like a meteor streaking across the night sky, accompanied by a wave of fiery energy. Even before it got close, it made one's face burn.
Man Jiangxue instinctively tried to dodge in mid-air, but then remembered that Meng Jing and the others were still behind her. She had no choice but to stand in front, gather her true energy, and unleash a fierce palm strike that collided head-on with the sword energy.
In an instant, a dazzling white light exploded, the shockwave spreading outwards and causing deep cracks to appear in the walls on both sides. The disciples were shaken so badly that they lost their footing and fell to the ground uncontrollably. The aftershocks still lingered, their power still present. Man Jiangxue, having just received the sword energy, felt her blood surging in her chest. Seeing the aftershocks approaching, she stepped forward again and blocked them all.
The disciples behind her were unharmed. Man Jiangxue staggered back a few steps, and Meng Jing quickly reached out to help her. However, Man Jiangxue waved her hand and ran forward. Before Xie Yijun left, she closed the stone door at the exit. Man Jiangxue pressed the switch, but the stone door did not respond and did not move.
Seeing that the wound on her arm had festered to the size of a palm, Meng Jing quickly opened his medicine box, found a bottle of the best hemostatic medicine, and sprinkled it on her arm. However, as soon as the powder touched the wound, Man Jiangxue broke out in a cold sweat, and the bleeding increased even more.
Meng Jing's expression changed, and before she could apologize, Man Jiangxue slapped the stone door three times. The stone door did not move, but she lowered her head and spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Uncle-Master!"
The disciples were shocked and terrified by the shocking scene. The sword energy unleashed by the holy sword was beyond the resistance of ordinary people. In addition, Man Jiangxue had already been injured by the holy sword. When the sword energy struck her, the two combined and aggravated her injuries.
Meng Jing tried his best to calm down and found several more bottles of external medicine that could stop bleeding, but none of them worked. In fact, they made the wound of Man Jiangxue fester and grow bigger.
"Alright, alright, stop trying!" Duan Ning was so anxious he was jumping up and down. "Let's think about how to open this door first!"
Man Jiangxue glanced at the switch by the door and realized that Xie Yijun had destroyed it. She coughed twice, waved for her disciples to step back, then focused her energy in her dantian, gathered all her true energy in her palm, and slammed her palm down hard on the center of the stone door. With such a powerful strike, the stone door began to crack. Man Jiangxue struck a few more times, finally shattering the door. When she emerged from the underground passage, she found herself in a quiet, lush forest. Xie Yijun was nowhere to be seen.
However, her trail was not impossible to find. Man Jiangxue calmly looked around and saw bloodstains dripping on the path to the west. She then led Meng Jing and the others in that direction to chase after her. The group leaped onto the hilltop and flew through the air for a while, but they still couldn't see Xie Yijun. Unexpectedly, after a short while, Xie Yijun appeared on her own. For some reason, she flew backward and crashed hard into a branch, falling to the ground along with the broken tree trunk, crawling on the ground and unable to get up.
Man Jiangxue immediately swooped down towards her, and just as she was about to succeed, a silver-white longsword pierced through her eyes. Man Jiangxue immediately did a somersault in mid-air, and after regaining her footing, she looked up and saw a woman in fiery red clothes standing opposite her with a radiant smile.
“Man Jiangxue, one of the Twin Swallows of Yunhua,” Nangong Min said with obvious scrutiny, “even you are no match for the Holy Sword of my Ziwei Sect. You look quite pathetic.”
Man Jiangxue never truly intended to kill Xie Yijun; her goal was to capture her alive. Under the Holy Sword, Xie Yijun was naturally at a disadvantage. Ignoring her taunts, and having already anticipated her arrival, Man Jiangxue didn't waste any words and asked, "You want to protect her?"
Nangong Min lowered his eyelids, watching Xie Yijun gasp for breath, struggling to stay conscious. Nangong Min laughed, "Why would I protect her? I only want my Holy Sword."
After speaking, she bent down to retrieve the long-lost holy sword. Xie Yijun had just been struck by her palm and was seriously injured. Seeing this, she still tried to block with her sword, but the fierce sword energy turned into a gentle spring breeze in Nangong Min's hands and did not hurt her at all.
Nangong Min said, "This sword can hurt anyone, but it can't hurt me. Sect Leader Xie, you brought this upon yourself. It seems that our struggle can finally come to an end."
If she obtains the Holy Sword, she will be even more powerful and difficult to deal with than Xie Yijun. Man Jiangxue was fully focused and was about to make her move when someone was faster than her. A figure in purple suddenly descended from the sky, causing the fallen flowers and leaves in the forest to rise rapidly and fill the sky. They then stopped in mid-air and, like hidden weapons, all fell back and rushed straight towards Nangong Min.
Nangong Min narrowed his eyes, feeling a chill on the back of his neck, but he did not stop, determined to take back the Holy Sword. However, the flying flowers and fallen leaves came with great force, making his blood boil and his body shiver. In addition, Xie Yijun saw that the situation was not good, so she quickly rolled backward with the Holy Sword in her arms. Nangong Min missed his target and had to avoid vital points, landing lightly to the side.
She and Man Jiangxue turned around at the same time to look at the person who came. Meng Wugui stood still, his expression cold.
The four men looked at each other, and before anyone could speak, another group of people emerged from the woods to the east.
Yin Qiu was the first to appear, followed closely by Ji Wanshu and Wen Chaoyu. Bai Ling led a group of disciples, not wanting to be left behind. Everyone came to the open space and showed surprise in unison.
"Uncle-Master..." Seeing Man Jiangxue covered in blood, Yin Qiu's breath caught in her throat, and she rushed to her side. "You, how did you get injured like this?"
Author's Note: I've changed the title, everyone. I finally have a normal book title.
The cover will not be changed during the serialization period; it will be changed after the series concludes.
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