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"After all, they don't possess the cultivation technique that complements the Underworld Sword Mantra."
Qing Xuanling sighed upon hearing this. She wasn't particularly surprised—it was something she'd half-expected. She looked at Cheng Yogun with curiosity.
"You must be quite lucky… You must have stumbled upon the complementary cultivation technique by chance, right?"
He nodded, his face regaining some color after taking the pill. "The Underworld Sword Mantra was discovered in the Scarlet Forest, so the Ink Sword Sect has always been secretly searching for it. Unfortunately for them, it was a nine-year-old boy—just looking for food—who ended up finding such an opportunity."
Chance and fate were mysterious things. What some sought for decades, others obtained without even trying. Strangely, Qing Xuanling thought those who stumbled upon treasures by accident were precisely the ones best suited to wield them.
One only needed to look at Cheng Yogun: barely at the eighth layer of Qi Refinement, yet capable of fighting both a dual cultivator and Qing Xuanling simultaneously. She doubted his achievement was solely due to the Underworld Sword Mantra.
Her killing intent intensified as she thought this over.
"As I thought—I have to kill you. Someone like you will only bring death and massacres wherever you go. I don't want to play the righteous hero, but I can't allow a walking catastrophe for mortals to roam freely."
Qing Xuanling pointed her sword at Cheng Yogun, who simply watched her calmly. His expression had returned to its former eternal indifference.
It seemed he'd only shown emotion when speaking of the Ink Sword Sect.
He raised his sword and slowly lowered it, murmuring, "Sixth Movement: Earth-Destroying Dragon."
Cheng Yogun's slash transformed into a menacing ink dragon. Qing Xuanling and Qing Linxi leapt aside, watching in disbelief as the dragon crashed into the spot where they'd stood moments before.
The earth cracked as the ink dragon thrashed its claws and tail, causing devastation wherever it moved. A crater several meters wide appeared once the dragon finally dissipated.
Qing Xuanling took a deep breath at the sight. The power was devastating. Her eyes hardened as she made a decision. She pulled two pills from her tunic pockets—pills she'd saved specifically for a dire situation.
She tossed one to Qing Linxi.
"It's a mid-grade blood-burning pill. Your body will start using your blood's vital energy to boost your power for five minutes. The lost vital energy won't recover easily, and you'll fall into weakness afterward, but…"
Qing Linxi smiled. "That doesn't apply to us. Our bloodline regeneration isn't like ordinary people's. Hehe, you're quite clever for preparing something like this."
Both swallowed the pill. They didn't care about the post-effects—they planned to end this battle in under five minutes.
Cheng Yogun watched their exchange and didn't bother interrupting. At this distance, they could easily dodge any attack he launched. Instead, he assessed his own condition.
He reached a conclusion within seconds.
'As I thought, I'm in bad shape. I won't last more than ten minutes… Hmm, yes—that's enough time.'
Cheng Yogun's eyes gleamed faintly. He kicked off the ground and charged at Qing Linxi at high speed, swinging his sword and unleashing dozens of ink rivers toward her.
Qing Linxi grinned wildly and swung her warhammer recklessly in every direction, like a child waving a toy. Yet when she did this, it was as if a human-shaped tornado appeared, destroying everything around her.
Winds howled as smoke clouds rose, obscuring vision. In that precise moment, Cheng Yogun exploited the chaos and slipped behind Qing Linxi.
"Seventh Movement: Deep Point!"
Cheng Yogun's sword turned pitch-black, as if vanishing from reality. Without hesitation, he thrust it toward Qing Linxi's lower back.
Qing Linxi's face startled. For some reason, she couldn't sense Cheng Yogun's sword despite its proximity!
She spun around instantly, shocked to see the sword—so dark it clashed with the dawn-lit surroundings. She gritted her teeth and swung her warhammer, but it was too late!
Clang!
"You didn't forget about me, did you?"
Qing Xuanling mocked as she struck the pitch-black sword, deflecting it from its path. The blade only managed to tear the side of Qing Linxi's tunic.
"I never could."
Cheng Yogun replied briefly, slashing horizontally with indifferent expression and creating a several-meter-long black slash in the air. Both women ducked to evade.
But he didn't stop, unleashing rapid attacks without giving them space to dodge.
Qing Xuanling and Qing Linxi exchanged glances at Cheng Yogun's sudden assault and acted immediately. Qing Xuanling positioned herself behind Qing Linxi, who extended her warhammer forward.
The warhammer began glowing, emitting visible waves of energy.
"Wind-Sundering Hammer!"
Qing Linxi thrust her hammer forward like a spear, sending energy waves surging ahead!
The energy waves collided with the black slashes midair, creating explosions that shook the air.
Cheng Yogun frowned—and in that fleeting moment, a figure wreathed in pink fire appeared before him!
His eyes filled with surprise. Qing Xuanling hadn't shown such potent fire control before. His expression turned serious as he dodged the kick aimed at his head, feeling dizzy from the heatwave despite not touching the flames.
He retreated quickly, but Qing Xuanling was flawless. Using her movement technique and boots—which let her vanish from her opponent's perception—she caught up to Cheng Yogun each time he pulled away and struck when he was off-guard.
Still, he was a tough opponent. He dodged whenever possible and blocked her kicks with his sword when he couldn't dodge, only appearing slightly flushed.
Meanwhile, Qing Xuanling was drenched in sweat, her skin reddening by the second. It seemed she was the one under attack.
Annoyed, she performed a spinning kick midair, launching a fireball from her foot!
It was something she hadn't tried until now.
This unprecedented move caught Cheng Yogun off guard. He raised his sword to block the fireball, but the pink flames didn't fully dissipate—instead, tongues of fire landed on his clothes and skin, burning him.
Qing Xuanling smiled and kept attacking this way. She'd never expected her pink fire to be so effective in combat. Their close-quarters clash continued, with Qing Xuanling denying Cheng Yogun any chance to use his sword.
Their duel dragged on, slightly frustrating Cheng Yogun. Normally, he'd hold the advantage in close combat against Qing Xuanling—even with her blood-burning pill. But now, thanks to the pink fire, he was at a disadvantage.
Yet there was nothing he could do. The pink fire was simply too potent—even its wielder, Qing Xuanling, was starting to show burns on her skin.
Still, he remained calm. After all, he knew how long the blood-burning pill lasted. Nearly four minutes had passed—they had only one minute left, while he still had about six.
Clearly, he held the advantage.
'Yet why is there no panic on her face…?'
Cheng Yogun studied Qing Xuanling's calm expression and felt a bad omen. He quickly scanned his surroundings, finally noticing Qing Linxi had vanished from her previous position.
She'd been pale and trembling after using that warhammer technique earlier, so he hadn't paid her much attention. But it seemed he'd been mistaken!
He turned back to Qing Xuanling and examined her closely, immediately spotting a crucial detail.
"What happened to the lasso on your left hand?!"
The lasso on Qing Xuanling's left hand had disappeared at some point!
Suddenly, a smooth, slick sensation wrapped around his left arm. He looked down, shocked to see a lasso coiling around his limb and slowly spreading across his body.
"Bet you didn't expect this, bastard!"
Qing Linxi roared with laughter, appearing behind him—Ghost-Catching Lasso in her left hand, warhammer in her right. She leapt high, flying toward Cheng Yogun, her hammer wreathed in Qi radiating unparalleled destructive power.
Cheng Yogun's expression turned solemn as he weighed his limited options. He sensed he couldn't break the lasso quickly—and with it, Qing Linxi could easily reel him in and strike him effortlessly. Therefore…
He didn't hesitate.
Cheng Yogun, face grave, gripped his sword with his right hand and channeled most of his remaining Qi. His pupils contracted as he thrust his sword toward Qing Linxi's warhammer.
"Final Movement: Staining Heaven and Earth with Ink!"
Space around Cheng Yogun's sword rippled as ink stains spread through the air, resembling squid ink dispersing in water.
The source of this ink—Cheng Yogun's sword—was pitch-black. The Sword Qi surrounding it gave it an immortal appearance as it clashed with the warhammer!
BAMMM!
The shockwave sank the earth and dispersed all surrounding smoke. Qing Linxi and Cheng Yogun stood facing each other in the slightly sunken ground.
"Cough—damn it… I really hate talented people. You're decades younger than me, yet you forced me into this state."
Qing Linxi smiled bitterly, a thin line of blood trailing from her lip. She glanced at her shoulder—where a sword was deeply embedded—before closing her eyes. Cheng Yogun said little, simply withdrawing his sword and letting her fall.
"You're not the only one in bad shape…"
Cheng Yogun murmured, staring at his bloodied, bruised arms. He sighed and turned—but froze instantly.
Several meters away, Qing Xuanling pointed her sword at him, glowing as brightly as a star. Her body trembled violently, streams of blood pouring from her mouth, yet her eyes remained clear and bright.
She said nothing and simply swung Memory horizontally, releasing all the energy she'd accumulated through Soft Block during their clashes—a reservoir she'd struggled so hard to control.
The several-meter-long pure-white slash shot forward at blinding speed, reaching Cheng Yogun in an instant.
He watched the slash about to strike his body as his blank expression shifted. But it wasn't despair or regret—it was… a smile.
The slash cleanly cut through Cheng Yogun's waist before extending several meters and dissipating.
Qing Xuanling watched Cheng Yogun's upper body slide off his waist to the ground—and she threw herself to the ground.
Or rather, her body crumpled. Exhaustion from the grueling battle and the blood-burning pill's side effects struck her simultaneously, draining all strength.
Yet she didn't faint. She simply stared at the blue sky as she let her body rest. She suddenly called out:
"Sister Linxi—you're not dead, right?"
The battlefield fell silent for several seconds before a hoarse voice replied.
"Tsk, of course not. I was just scared that bastard would kill me if I stayed standing. My acting was pretty good, huh?"
Qing Xuanling smiled and relaxed, feeling the morning rays warm her face.
"You're a complete old fox."