Chapter 221 Cultivation Path A (15) Path A's combat power is maxed out...
Hearing this, Ayao's anger flared, and she retorted angrily, "No way! Months ago, I begged you, senior, to save your junior brother's life because I didn't want him to suffer a terrible death. Not only are you ungrateful, but you repay kindness with enmity. What kind of logic is that?"
"Old man." Murong He's eyes sharpened, and he gestured for the wrinkled old man behind him to step forward. "I'll have to trouble you today."
"Alright! I, Podahai, will help you with this today!"
Old Po shouted, a strange smile playing on his lips, "I just wonder, do you want me to cripple their cultivation directly, or capture these two and bring them back to the Burning Star Sect for punishment?"
Murong He smiled indifferently and replied coldly, "Since these two have injured the young sect master of my Burning Star Sect, they should give an explanation. Today, I will trouble you to take them back to the sect and await the young sect master's judgment!"
The old man chuckled twice and said in a gloomy tone, "What's so difficult about that?" With that, he stepped forward, stretched out his right hand and pointed to the sky. Instantly, a sharp, purple giant sword phantom condensed in the air and slashed down with soaring killing intent!
"Piercing through the sky, Thunderstrike Sword—"
Upon seeing this, A Yao's pupils contracted slightly. She could feel the spiritual energy fluctuations emanating from the old man, which were more than a hundred times stronger than the pressure from Murong The earlier! The mere suppression of spiritual energy from a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator was enough to make her almost unable to breathe.
"Senior, please step back." Ayao bit her lip tightly and stepped aside to block Song Ce. "What happened today has nothing to do with you. I asked you to save that person. I've dragged you into this!"
"Ayao!" Song Ce called out in a low voice, "It's alright, step back!" As soon as he finished speaking, a soft blue light shot out from his fingertip, protecting Ayao and Mingyue.
The thunderous sword energy struck the azure light barrier mercilessly. Upon seeing this, Ayao reached out and hugged Mingyue tightly, then closed her eyes.
The next moment, the old man frowned, and the smile on his face suddenly froze.
The immense spiritual power, powerful enough to split mountains, collided with the azure light barrier, yet only stirred a faint ripple before vanishing silently, like a clay ox sinking into the sea.
"How...how is this possible?"
A young cultivator who can effortlessly neutralize a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator's deadly spells—there are hardly any like him in the entire Northern Territory of Kyushu! Murong He dropped his nonchalant expression and stared intently at the azure light swirling around Song Ce's fingertips. "Speak! Who exactly are you?"
Song Ce's expression remained unchanged, completely ignoring Murong He's question.
"Fine! Fine! Since you refuse to surrender, then don't blame my Burning Star Sect for overwhelming you with numbers!" Murong He knew that things would likely end badly today, and a ruthless glint flashed in his eyes. "Elder Po, please hold this brat back for a moment. I'll deal with that little girl first, and then I'll come back to help you!"
"Don't worry, leave this kid to me. You can go ahead and do your thing!"
Hearing their conversation, A Yao felt a chill run through her body. Just as Murong He and the Burning Star Sect disciples transformed into red shadows and pounced on A Yao with swords in hand, Song Ce suddenly moved.
He casually raised his right hand and lightly tapped the air. The next second, the Burning Star Sect members were violently struck by an invisible wall of energy, freezing in mid-air. Immediately afterward, a massive surge of spiritual energy flowed through their limbs and bones into their dantian. With a few soft "crackling" sounds, the spiritual energy of all the Burning Star Sect disciples present instantly vanished.
"This... how could this be... how could this be?" Murong He's face drained of color. He clearly felt that the spiritual energy of his Golden Core, which he had cultivated for many years, was firmly locked by this power, and he could not mobilize even a trace of spiritual power.
Upon seeing this, Po Lao's pupils constricted sharply, and he quickly formed hand seals, attempting to block Song Ce's attack. However, with his currently sealed Nascent Soul spiritual power, trying to stop Song Ce, who had already cultivated to the Great Perfection of the Incarnation Realm, was like an ant trying to shake a tree—laughable and overestimating his own abilities.
Song Ce didn't even glance at the old man, but simply turned his head slightly to A Yao and whispered, "A Yao, you..."
Before Ayao could respond, she felt a chilling killing intent suddenly surge from behind her. She instinctively turned around, only to meet Mingyue's clear, smiling eyes. He had somehow drawn a gleaming blue dagger from his sleeve and, without hesitation, plunged it into Ayao's back!
"Watch out!!"
Song Ce's voice and the sound of a dagger cutting through the air exploded in A Yao's ears at the same time. The next moment, she felt her arm tighten, and she was suddenly pushed forward by a gentle force. She staggered and fell to the ground. When she looked back, she saw that the dagger was deeply embedded in Song Ce's shoulder blade.
"Senior!" A Yao's face went blank for a moment, then she scrambled over and hurriedly caught Song Ce, who was about to fall.
Seeing that her attack had succeeded, Mingyue burst into maniacal laughter: "Hahaha! You dared to harm my young sect leader, I will make you pay with your lives! Die! Die, all of you!!"
A sharp pain shot through A Yao's heart, and tears welled up in her eyes. She stared intently at Mingyue beside her, gritting her teeth as she said, "I kindly saved you, gave you medicine to heal your wounds, and led you away from danger... Why did you have to hurt me?"
"Save me?" Mingyue seemed to have heard a joke. "Your pitiful charity doesn't deserve to be called for help. If you and this person hadn't delayed the young sect leader's best rescue time, how could he have suffered this calamity and become a cripple?"
He paused, his gaze sweeping over the dagger on Song Ce's shoulder, his smile growing even more cruel: "Sister, do you know what this dagger is called?"
Upon hearing this, Ayao's hand trembled, and she shook her head with tears blurring her vision.
"This thing is called the Soul-Snatching Spirit-Devouring Blade. Any living being pierced by this thing will have their soul scattered within half an hour, never to be reincarnated again! No matter how high your cultivation level is, you will still lose all your spiritual power and die in agony and torment!"
"No...no!" A Yao knelt beside Song Ce, like a small animal trapped in a desperate situation. With trembling hands, she took out all the healing pills from her storage bag and stuffed them into the young man's arms.
Song Ce smiled gently, pressed her wrist lightly, and said with a vacant look in his eyes, "A Yao... there is no cure for this, it's... useless."
Ayao choked back tears helplessly. She began to recall the words Song Ce had taught her, her stubborn insistence on saving Mingyue, and his selfless act of shielding her from the back... All those actions she had regarded as "good" had now become sharp blades piercing Song Ce, each one drawing blood.
"Senior...Senior, it's all my fault..." A Yao gave a bitter laugh, slowly raised her head, stared straight at the people of the Burning Star Sect in front of her, and said sadly, "It's me...it's me who harmed you..."
Seeing Song Ce and A Yao's miserable state, Mingyue laughed until tears streamed down her face. "Sister, you look so pitiful right now, like a poor dog abandoned by its owner."
At this moment, Ayao's tears were still on her face, but her eyes had completely changed. The previous softness was gone from those bright eyes, leaving only a deep, lifeless chill.
"Sister, why aren't you saying anything? Are you filled with regret? Regret saving this venomous snake, only to have your beloved senior's life come to naught..."
Ayao gently helped Song Ce sit against the tree trunk. As she watched his breathing become shallower and shallower, she suddenly smiled.
Startled by her laughter, Mingyue involuntarily took a half step back and shouted angrily, "What are you laughing at?"
Without hesitation, Ayao pierced her chest with her spirit sword, then formed a hand seal and uttered in a hoarse voice, "With blood as the catalyst, with my body as the sacrifice, the Heavenly Heart Secret Technique, open—"
"It's...it's the Heavenly Heart Fairy's famous secret technique, the Heavenly Heart Technique! Quick! Stop her!" Old Po staggered backward, roaring at Mingyue.
The Xuan Tian Sect members present were horrified to discover that the spiritual energy surrounding A Yao was visibly surging at an astonishing rate. Her cultivation, which had previously been only at the late Foundation Establishment stage, had suddenly broken through its bottleneck and directly reached the Great Perfection of the Golden Core stage!
"This...this is impossible..."
Looking at Mingyue, who was slumped on the ground in a daze, Ayao raised her hand to wipe away the tears on her face and curled her lips: "Didn't you just say that you wanted me and the senior to pay with our lives? Well, now it's your turn."
Mingyue staggered backward in a disheveled state. "No, you can't kill me... I am from the Burning Star Sect..." Before he could finish speaking, a spiritual force filled with killing intent pierced straight through his heart!
Without hesitation, without mercy.
Mingyue's expression froze. He looked down at the bloody hole in his chest, his eyes filled with confusion. He opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he only managed to utter a faint breath before his body went limp and he collapsed, lifeless.
Without pausing, A Yao swiftly and decisively slaughtered all the Burning Star Sect members present, leaving none alive. Only after the last disciple fell did she slowly toss aside the spirit sword in her hand.
"senior……"
Ayao stood there, stunned. Her wounds continued to bleed, and her cultivation, which she had forcibly increased using a secret technique, was declining layer by layer until it finally stopped at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage. She stared intently at Song Ce, who seemed to be asleep, and walked over step by step, squatted down, and gently took his hand.
“I’ve avenged you… Hold on, there will be a way, there will be… I’m going to find Mother, yes, I’m going to find Mother…” A Yao murmured, but unexpectedly remembered what Song Ce had told her a few days ago.
"You...you want to save him?"
"Ayao, if I weren't here today, with your late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation, would you be confident in fighting two opponents and successfully saving that child?"
"Just for a child whose morality is unknown, you're willing to put yourself in danger based on your hot-blooded enthusiasm?"
"Ah Yao, the cultivation world is a dog-eat-dog world. Only those with absolute power are qualified to recklessly help the weak and punish the strong..."
...
Overwhelmed with grief, Ayao could no longer hold back and suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.
Seven days later, with a blank expression, A Yao, dressed in a plain white dress, returned to the Xuan Tian Sect in her flying boat without rest or sleep. However, her once jet-black and lustrous hair had turned frost-white overnight.
After passing through the sect's layers of stone steps, A Yao led Song Ce all the way to the secluded cultivation place of Fairy Tianxin—Jingxin Peak.
"Mother!" Ayao knelt down with a thud, her forehead hitting the ground heavily. "Daughter begs you to save Senior! Please! You must have a way, right? You are the most powerful cultivator in the Xuantian Sect, you must... you must be able to save him, right?"
Looking into her daughter's hopeful eyes, Fairy Tianxin's expression changed drastically as she was about to enter the pass. She never expected that the training that Fellow Daoist Song mentioned would actually involve her entering the trap herself to lure A Yao into it!
If only I had known... Fairy Tianxin sighed softly. Now that the platform was set up, she had no reason to give up: "Ayao, your mother only asks you, Fellow Daoist Song is highly skilled and reliable, how could he have suffered such serious injuries?"
Ayao didn't react much, and her voice was as light as a feather: "Mother, it was my foolishness that led me to save the villain, which caused my senior to suffer such a fate."
Fairy Tianxin remained expressionless and did not respond to her at all, but simply watched the images recorded in the memory stone.
After a long while, Ayao gave a sorrowful smile: "Tell me, why wasn't it me who died?"
"idiot!"
Fairy Tianxin sneered, slowly walking over and looking down at Ayao kneeling on the ground: "To protect you, you clueless girl, Fellow Daoist Song was even willing to sacrifice his cultivation at the Great Perfection of the Transformation Stage. But what about you? Besides crying and sobbing, besides impotent rage, besides indiscriminately killing with the secret techniques you know, what else can you do?"
"When you were so kind as to save Mingyue, did you ever think about whether he would pose a threat to you? You dared to act like a hero and a good person in the Nine Provinces Continent just because you had Fellow Daoist Song's protection. Did you never think about the consequences back then? Now that he has taken the blame for you, you ask why it wasn't you who died—Ayao, do you deserve to be asked?"
"It's time for you to wake up."
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Author's note: [Keep it up!][Keep it up!]
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