In less than half a second, Ruan Xiaoyue sprinted from the center of the vast and deep crater to its edge. Once at the rim, she attempted to activate her footwork technique to reach the area where the enormous dark sword qi cluster was about to descend, hoping to save her junior sister and her friend as quickly as possible.

However, before she could activate her technique, the purple qi enveloping her entire body—greatly enhancing her cultivation, senses, strength, reflexes, and more—suddenly dissipated. This abrupt loss reduced her power back to the Peak Golden Core stage, significantly slowing her down and making the time to rescue her junior sister and friend even tighter.

Undeterred and resolute, Ruan Xiaoyue disregarded the potential consequences, even the possibility of dying again under the falling swords from the sky, now unprotected by the purple qi. Her overwhelming concern for her junior sister and friend drove her to try using her footwork technique again, determined to save them both.

Upon reaching the center of the area—a stone village under an expansive, dark sky where the massive dark sword qi cluster was poised to strike—Ruan Xiaoyue, in her desperation, frantically looked around. In her haste, she unintentionally ignored the resigned villagers awaiting death in the flattened village, focusing solely on finding where her junior apprentice and friend might be waiting.

“Damn it! Where are they? Why aren’t they in the village?!” Ruan Xiaoyue exclaimed in frustration.

Failing to find her junior sister and her friend in the stone village, Ruan Xiaoyue, undeterred even as the enormous dark sword qi cluster above descended dangerously close to the ground, resolutely continued her search. She dashed through the surrounding areas—the stone village, the riverbanks, and the Death Forest—desperate to locate them.

Despite her frantic efforts, she still couldn’t find them. With no time left, as the massive dark sword qi cluster was mere moments from hitting the ground, Ruan Xiaoyue had no choice but to activate her footwork technique to flee from the impending destruction.

Unfortunately, even with her enhanced speed, she couldn’t escape the range of the descending sword qi cluster in time. Finding herself on the edge of the affected area, she made the difficult decision to unleash all her remaining power to try and deflect the deadly force heading her way.

But before she could summon her full strength, her body was suddenly immobilized, pressed down by an unseen force. The same mysterious force that slowed the descent of the enormous dark sword qi cluster above her head left her no time to react. Instead, it pulled her with immense power, hurling her violently out of the disaster zone.

SHUNK!! SHUNK!! SHUNK!!... BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!!...

Saved by the invisible force that forcibly pulled her out of the now devastated area, where the enormous dark sword qi continued to rain down, Ruan Xiaoyue, still being flung through the air, collided with what appeared to be someone. The person she collided with immediately wrapped her in a tight embrace without saying a word.

“Phew, good thing I managed to pull Senior Sister out of there with my telekinesis. That was seriously chaotic. If I’d made even the slightest mistake, Senior Sister would’ve died again,” Luo Xianxiu said with a relieved expression, grateful that she had successfully extracted her senior sister from the disaster zone.

Hearing her junior sister speak so close to her, Ruan Xiaoyue, who wanted to ask where they had been hiding earlier, tried to first free herself from the person hugging her—Long Linglu. However, as soon as she managed to loosen Long Linglu's grip, the latter immediately hugged her even tighter, as though she had no intention of letting go.

“Long Linglu, stop hugging me. Let me go—” Ruan Xiaoyue began, but when she looked at Long Linglu’s face while speaking, she noticed her red eyes, seemingly holding back tears. Seeing the sadness on her face, Ruan Xiaoyue softened her tone and asked gently, “Why do you look like you’re about to cry? It’s rare to see you like this, not acting arrogant as usual. Could it be that you were worried about me?”

As soon as Ruan Xiaoyue said that, Long Linglu released her embrace, turned away, folded her arms, and responded in a manner befitting a tsundere—a demeanor only her close master would recognize if they were present.

“Hmph! I wasn’t holding back tears… Besides, if my eyes look red, it’s probably because you crashed into me and brought sand that got into them. Anyway, how are you even alive again? Didn’t the robe our master gave you have a skill that only activates when you’re near death? I was sure that back then, you weren’t just near death—you were actually dead after your head was severed, and I felt your heartbeat stop. So, how exactly did you activate the master’s robe’s ability?”

Recalling the painful sensation of death when her head had been severed, Ruan Xiaoyue, unwilling to relive the memory, answered weakly.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“Ugh, well… it turns out, back when we fought the owner of that alternate realm, I didn’t activate the robe’s ability because I was near death—I actually had to die to activate it. So it’s the same as now. The robe’s ability only activates when I die. What I said before about it activating when I was near death… that was just a misunderstanding on my part.”

“Hmm, I see…” Satisfied with Ruan Xiaoyue’s explanation, Long Linglu turned to face her again, her expression now curious as she asked another question.

“Ruan Xiaoyue, why were you inside the area where that massive dark sword qi cluster was falling? I’m fairly certain the last sounds of your battle came from a location far from that dangerous zone. So why were you suddenly in there?”

“Well, I ended up in the area where the massive dark sword qi cluster was falling because I was worried about both of you. That bastard’s final attack seemed to be targeting you, so I recklessly charged in to save you. But besides that, where exactly were you two? I searched all around the village, yet I couldn’t find you. Where were you hiding?”

"Foolish! With so many massive dark qi swords falling, of course the two of us would run away to save ourselves. How could you think we were so powerless that we couldn’t escape, especially when we were carrying a divine fruit that could heal all wounds?" Long Linglu retorted with an expression as if looking at an idiot.

"Uh, yeah. At that time, I couldn’t think clearly."

After Ruan Xiaoyue admitted her weak excuse in a small voice, rendered speechless by Long Linglu's sharp response, Luo Xianxiu, who had been silently listening to their conversation, finally joined in and asked Ruan Xiaoyue.

"Senior Sister, aside from us, did you also rescue the villagers from the dark qi swords falling in the village? Earlier, we were so panicked by the sheer number of those swords that we forgot about the villagers who were still there. So, did you save them?"

"Oh no! I was so worried about you two that I completely forgot about the villagers. Damn it! Damn it! I should’ve gotten them out of there too. I’m such an idiot, why—"

"Senior Sister, please don’t blame yourself. It’s clearly my fault for forgetting about them in my panic while escaping with Miss Linglu. The dark qi swords were still quite far from hitting the ground at that time. I should’ve saved them," Luo Xianxiu interjected with a sad face, blaming herself.

"But Junior Sister, it’s still my fault for not rescuing them while I was running through the village. I was so close to them at that time. If only I had been clear-headed enough, I would’ve noticed them and could’ve helped."

Frustrated by the two of them blaming themselves, Long Linglu, unable to hold back any longer, raised her voice as she spoke to them.

"You two! Why are you blaming yourselves? It’s absolutely clear that those people died because of that wretched human who was hiding his cultivation! Besides, we were in complete panic trying to save ourselves. It’s only natural that we forgot about everything else during such a catastrophe. So stop blaming yourselves over those people!"

"… You’re right…"

"Even though Miss Linglu’s words are a bit harsh, unfortunately, they’re true…"

Although Long Linglu’s statement was correct—that it was impossible to save all the villagers while they were in a state of panic over the falling dark qi swords—both of them still felt uneasy, as they hadn’t even managed to save a single villager.

"If you still feel guilty, once we find Master, you can ask her to save the villagers in this place. Since the villagers know her, perhaps she’ll agree to bring them back to life. How about that?"

"… Alright."

"Alright…"

"In that case, let’s get moving! I’ll use my sense of smell to the fullest so we can find Master more quickly!"

"Wait a moment. Before we leave, follow me to that bastard's location so we can kill him."

"What! You haven’t killed him yet? How reckless of you, Ruan Xiaoyue! Are you sure that wretched human hasn’t escaped after you left him like that?"

"I’m fairly certain he couldn’t escape after I crushed every bone in his body with my attack. But since I carelessly left him alive, it’s better if we hurry back to ensure he doesn’t get away."

They sprinted at full speed toward the massive crater where Liang San lay. When they arrived, they were relieved to find him still there. However, his condition was pitiful—he was dragging himself out of the crater with his chin, clutching a sword in one hand and a monster core in the other.

As they approached Liang San, they heard him mumbling incoherently while struggling to crawl.

"I can’t die here… As someone reincarnated with my memories intact, I will survive… Just watch, after I get out of here, I’ll cultivate with everything I have to take my revenge, both for my past life and this one. Especially that wretched immortal woman and her disciple—how dare they reduce me, a former Half-Immortal cultivator, to this pathetic state… I’ll kill them. I’ll repay them a hundredfold… Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill… I’ll kill them all—"

SPLAT!

"How dare this wretched bastard insult my beloved Master!"

SPLAT! SPLAT!

"Ruan Xiaoyue, don’t just crush his head with a simple stomp. Use your qi, like you did against the owner of that alternate realm, to destroy his soul as well as his body. From his incoherent ramblings earlier, it’s better to completely annihilate his soul!"

"Alright!"

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

"T-that’s enough, Senior Sister! Look at his body—it’s already nothing but a few scraps of flesh. There’s no way he could survive now."

"Huff, haah... Linglu, use your sense of smell. It’s time we left to find Master. Staying here any longer will only make me more irritated. Let’s go!"

"Of course!"

"Wait! Don’t leave just yet! What about this divine-grade sword and mysterious-grade monster core? Aren’t we going to take them?" Luo Xianxiu said, pointing to the sword and core lying on the ground, remnants of the now-deceased Liang San.

Hearing this, Ruan Xiaoyue stopped in her tracks. She gave a brief glance at Luo Xianxiu and said, "Take them, Junior Sister. We’ll give the sword to Master once we find her." Then she resumed walking, following Long Linglu, who was leading the way ahead.

Since her Senior Sister had instructed her to collect the divine-grade sword and mysterious-grade monster core, Luo Xianxiu quickly stored the two items in her storage ring. She then hurried to catch up with her Senior Sister and Long Linglu, who were already at the edge of the massive crater, leaving behind the unrecognizable remnants of their defeated enemy.