He Qing's eyes widened in astonishment.
She felt it—the moment Yu Ci's words faded, a wondrous intent began to sprout within the dim shadows of light. However, it was merely intent, lacking the force of vital energy control, ineffective in altering the situation at hand.
"There must be something unusual... but it's not faster than me!"
Once He Qing made a decision, she acted decisively, not giving Yu Ci any chance to recover. Her mind spurred her power into motion, her arm descended, and the force of a True Immortal crushed down without reservation. The Inner Void of the Heart could no longer parse and depict such power, manifesting only a blindingly bright light.
The weakened Demonized Yang Spirit couldn't withstand it, violently distorting and scattering. Before that happened, the Inner Void of the Heart had already been stretched to its limits and had shattered first.
He Qing's Heart-Mind retracted, returning to the real world, and unsurprisingly, she saw Yu Ci before her, bleeding from his seven orifices, with every bone and muscle in his body emitting a fine crackling sound. His blood, flesh, and Divine Soul structure were on the verge of disintegration.
The fact that he hadn't immediately fallen apart was unexpected to the female cultivator. Still connected to the Inner Void of the Heart and its Aura, she focused slightly and "saw" clearly that the Inner Void of the Heart hadn’t completely collapsed. It was because, in the depths of the dark sea, the towering icebergs barely propped up that piece of heaven and earth.
"The Great Mysterious Prohibition? Indeed, there is a trace of fortune..."
She shook her head slightly, then looked at Yu Ci, who was still conscious and glaring at her furiously. The female cultivator remained indifferent, not entangled in the moment, and pointed directly at Yu Ci's forehead.
Just then, she saw Yu Ci's lips move, barely uttering the same phrase: "... too shall meet a fitting end!"
Was he referring to me?
A sense of absurd joy flashed through the female cultivator's heart, but what followed was a sudden realization that she might have misunderstood the expression.
Within the Inner Void of the Heart, which could collapse at any moment, Yu Ci's intent was weak but stable and clear. Driven by this intent, a barely formed human silhouette of light wielded a sword, slashing diagonally from above, aiming not at her celestial dragon Aura, but at the other.
Without warning, the celestial dragon Aura that Yu Ci had gathered was severed in two by a sword!
Inside the Inner Void of the Heart, dazzling Blood Light splattered, the manifestation of the great and mighty Heavenly Dragon's essence. As the essence dispersed, the Fish-Dragon's connected vitality was extinguished in an instant, undoubtedly hastening the destruction of the Inner Void of the Heart. The fragile Inner Void of the Heart could no longer bear even the slightest weight of He Qing's divine intent and severed the connection, its fate unknown.
In the physical realm, Yu Ci had become a bloodied figure. The celestial dragon Aura was intertwined with every aspect of his blood, flesh, and Divine Soul. This blow was truly a fundamental and severe injury. To the discerning eye, it was clear that his life's flame was about to be extinguished. At this moment, He Qing's fingertip was about to touch his forehead, but the female cultivator wondered if there was any point.
At that very moment, He Qing caught sight of Yu Ci's eyes.
But it wasn't Yu Ci!
This was the female cultivator's first thought, but she quickly realized her mistake. Indeed, it was him, only now his pupils were like the purest colorless Colored Glaze, channeling the strange and wondrous light within with minimal loss. This was the manifestation of the peculiar incantation Yu Ci murmured, the intent born of nothingness. Yet as it cleaved through the Aura of the celestial dragon, rolling in the splattered blood of the Heavenly Dragon, it suddenly solidified into reality.
"To witness my ultimate skill, you too shall meet a fitting end!"
These words had echoed thrice, but only now did they pierce the heart, chilling to the core.
It was then that He Qing's pointed finger finally struck true, hitting Yu Ci squarely between the brows. She had expected his head to explode on impact, but just as her force was about to be unleashed, the void before her cracked open. From the rift surged dark, chilling 'tides,' overwhelming her!
Was this not the image of the Inner Void of the Heart?
Another might be confounded, but He Qing immediately recalled a similar scene she had witnessed: "Inner landscape becomes outer reality?"
This was the very sign of the Primordial Root Qi Method mastered in its depths. Within the whole Lichen Sect, many practiced this technique, yet only Elder Jie Liang, the creator of the method, could achieve this. The blurring boundaries between illusion and reality were indeed a headache, but what was truly fatal was the distinct, piercing intent within the 'tide's' chilling assault.
This had materialized from the blood of the Heavenly Dragon...
She struggled to describe it, but she knew this was what had breached the boundary between the inner and outer void. The 'tide' had already flooded the vast skies, projecting certain rules of the Inner Void of the Heart into this realm, and her Aura of the celestial dragon suddenly became visible. Though it failed to devour its "kin," the Aura of the celestial dragon, with scales piercing and horns ascending and eyes shining with light, still exuded an awe-inspiring divine might, an unassailable presence, and an upward surge of vitality.
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Yet He Qing instinctively sensed something amiss. She wanted to parry, but the manifestation of killing intent was abnormally swift. In the next instant, a simple line traced through the void, and the Aura of the celestial dragon was abruptly cleaved in two, just like its "kin," with the Qi and Blood of the Heavenly Dragon spraying forth, its life force extinguished in a flash.
The female cultivator's reaction was swift, her arm already in position to retract, but her movement seemed to occur in another world. She watched, helpless, as the Aura of the celestial dragon appeared, then split in two, and finally disintegrated. Suddenly, a piece was missing from her flesh and Divine Soul!
The sudden turn of events left even He Qing, with her keen mind, stunned.
Only when the True Form and Physical Body along with the Yang Spirit simultaneously cried out in severe pain, and the Primordial Qi within her became utterly chaotic, did she snap out of her daze. Her chest was filled with a boiling, violent killing intent. Forsaking the concern for her already injured state, she swung her hand in a sweeping slash, determined to kill Yu Ci on the spot.
Ahead, Yu Ci staggered precariously, barely able to sustain the wear of the "Void Divine Travel Talisman," and seemed on the verge of collapse at any moment. In such a state, he was in no position to withstand He Qing's resentful strike, yet, as if by fate, someone intervened. Amidst the drifting smoke, the long-absent Tie Lan suddenly appeared, brandishing his sword to take the blow.
Within the void, a clanging sword resonance echoed. Tie Lan, a practitioner of the Vacuum Walking Cultivation, astonishingly caught her heavy strike and, with a fluid retreat, whisked Yu Ci away with him.
He Qing, adept in curse techniques and less so in fleshly combat, found her aura of the celestial dragon severed by a single sword stroke, her blood and divine soul grievously wounded. When she attempted to utter her curses, her mind was anything but steady, her agitation surging to her crown. This turmoil slowed her subsequent attacks, allowing Tie Lan, with increased speed, to escape into the distance with Yu Ci.
Watching Yu Ci vanish into the night sky, the female cultivator stood in a daze, her eyes gradually igniting with fury, until she unleashed a piercing howl and chased after them with relentless fervor.
***********
Atop the Star Plucking Tower, Old Master Zhu spoke intermittently, his mind clearly elsewhere.
He had once been a Tribulation Cultivator, with an aura that pierced through thousands of miles as easily as reading the lines on his palm. But now, with his cultivation level dissipated, his robust physique was his only advantage over the average person, and he remained oblivious to the events outside the tower. Initially, he managed his ignorance, but as time passed, concern inevitably crept in.
Across from him, Fang Hui appeared much more composed. With his strength, he could discern most matters within and without the Mountain Gate of the Lichen Sect if he so desired. It seemed that everything was under his control. Old Master Zhu had prepared for the worst; he believed Yu Ci would likely avoid a fatal fate, but the impending punishment was what truly mattered. The thought of how to mitigate it was perplexing.
Lost in thought, he noticed a change in Fang Hui's expression.
Then, the Lichen Sect's Big Boss, who had remained seated all this while, slowly rose to his feet.
***********
Yu Ci, carried by Tie Lan, shot through the clouds like lightning. Within a few breaths, they were already hundreds of miles away, their speed not only unflagging but also increasing. Tie Lan, despite his considerable cultivation level, did not possess such ability. In fact, including the earlier act of blocking He Qing's vengeful strike, it was Xing Tian who maneuvered from behind the scenes, using Tie Lan merely as a diversion.
Yu Ci was gravely injured, and Xing Tian considerately mitigated the intense pressure of their high-speed flight. Even so, along the way, Yu Ci vomited blood profusely, and his physical state was so precarious that one might fear shaking him would cause parts to fall off.
Yet, even in such dire straits, a mysterious warmth began to emanate from his limbs, weaving through him in a growing network, initiating the repair of his shattered flesh. Yu Ci knew this to be the effect of the Vacuum Energy Life Extension Pill. Back at the source of the Boundary River, Yu Zhou had administered the pill to him while he was unconscious. Its potent medicine, too overwhelming to be absorbed at once, had dispersed into his limbs, becoming the latent potential for his growth.
Thus, after a year in the Star Plucking Tower, he made rapid progress to the bottleneck of the Initial Stage of the Golden Elixir. At this time, under the strain of severe injuries, the remaining potency of the 'medicine' was also stimulated, easing his wounds with still considerable effect.
"Based on this alone, it's only right for you to seek justice for Yu Zhou," Xing Tian sighed, then asked, "The technique you used was the God Slaying Sting, wasn't it? From the Dragon Slaying lineage?"
"Yes, it's from the Dragon Slaying Transforming Radiance Veil."
"No wonder. This Dragon Slaying lineage, in the Heretic Technique of the God-Slaying Sting crafted by Miss Hao Dian, is already the closest to the original form of the God Slaying Sting. It's remarkable that you could actually perform it!"
Yu Ci smiled silently, for there were some things involved that were not good to discuss with Xing Tian. He himself had barely glimpsed the threshold of the Ten Yin Transforming Radiance Veil's method, so how could he execute this even more advanced sword technique? To achieve this, he owed much to the germinated and grown seed of the Cloud Tower Tree, and to Qu Thunderbolt-Free.
Qu Thunderbolt-Free had sealed the spiritual 'marks' of the seventeen sword immortals who fell into the Eternal Abyss into the seeds of the Cloud Tower Tree, turning it into a beacon for the return of old friends. The last time the Cloud Tower Tree seed suddenly sprouted was actually equivalent to awakening those spiritual 'marks'. This time, Yu Ci borrowed the mark belonging to Hao Dian, combined it with the experiences in Return Village, and used his own Qi of the Heavenly Dragon True Form as a sacrifice, aligning it with the True Meaning of the Sword Secret, turning illusion into reality, and accomplishing his feat in one fell swoop.
"It's just that it destroyed the True Essence of the Heavenly Dragon..." Xing Tian felt sorry for him.
"There's the Life Death Talisman," Yu Ci calculated clearly. Without that experience of reshaping his inner vision in the sword garden, using the Aura of the celestial dragon as a sacrifice this time would truly be a Pyrrhic victory, and whether he could survive was still in question. But now, with the Life Death Talisman as the foundation, the Qi of the Heavenly Dragon True Form was merely an External Appearance of Divine Power, having transformed into the corresponding Talisman Pattern Fractal, residing outside the Core Talisman Pattern. As long as this Rune Patterns remained intact, there would eventually come a day when the True Essence of the Heavenly Dragon could recover.
Moreover, he had an unexpected gain.
"You've made a good bargain there. Your sword strike has nearly destroyed He Qing's Dao foundation, almost putting an end to her path of advancement..."
Yu Ci responded indifferently, "It may not be just that."