When Jiang Huai finally woke up, Wen Wanwan was already sprawled on top of him, her body so limp that she couldn’t muster an ounce of strength.
Jiang Huai opened his eyes and looked at Wen Wanwan’s flushed cheeks. Seeing that he had opened his eyes, her tired gaze flickered with a hint of light. “Senior Brother Jiang Huai… are you feeling okay?”
“Mm, I’m alright,” Jiang Huai said softly. He gently picked up Wen Wanwan and walked towards the spirit spring behind the secret realm. He carried Wen Wanwan into the water and entered the spirit spring with her, bathing themselves clean before emerging.
Xu Qing, with her back turned to the two, dared not look back, her fingers tightly gripping her skirt hem, her heart still in turmoil. It wasn’t until she heard Jiang Huai call her name that she finally turned her head to look at him. “You…”
“I’m fine,” Jiang Huai said with a wry smile. “Earlier, I killed Mo Dan’s original body, but he attached his consciousness to the Refined Yin Demon Gu and rebuilt his physical body, his cultivation reaching Void Refinement. Even if you broke through the lightning pool of the Thunder Cloud Cauldron, it would only take Mo Dan a few breaths to kill them. The Yening Sword has limited space, so I could only take you with me. I hope you don’t blame me.”
Xu Qing bit her lower lip tightly, her gaze lowered. “I don’t blame you… Thank you for saving me.”
Even as she said these words, Xu Qing’s eyes were deeply red. Now that she had survived, her junior brothers and sisters had likely become little more than dried bones in the forest.
Jiang Huai and Wen Wanwan sat down on a bluestone. Wen Wanwan leaned against the edge of the bluestone to rest, while Jiang Huai closed his eyes, beginning to ponder their next course of action.
If he couldn’t kill Mo Dan, all he could do was hide in True Person Qingxuan’s legacy secret realm and wait for the Daoji Ancestral Land secret realm to open, then escape from there.
He had gambled with his life once already, and he had done his best. Even if he had to hide this time, he would have a clear conscience.
The atmosphere in the cave suddenly became a little oppressive. At this moment, a vague sense of regret slowly bloomed in Jiang Huai’s heart. If only he had completed more system missions earlier, if only he hadn’t used those experience scrolls to save those children… facing Mo Dan now, things might not have turned out so miserably, and he might have had a fighting chance.
A moment later, he tapped his forehead. Such thoughts were not helpful.
The dim cave was a little cold. The firefly stones on the wall cast a warm glow. Jiang Huai embraced Wen Wanwan, gently soothing her emotions. Wen Wanwan leaned against him, as obedient as a little rabbit.
It wasn’t until a flash of light appeared in the legacy secret realm that True Person Qingxuan returned.
“You’re awake,” True Person Qingxuan said, looking at Jiang Huai with a slightly complex expression.
“Mm,” Jiang Huai nodded softly and stood up. “Earlier, I cut Mo Dan’s original body in half, but his bone dust condensed into another body, and his flesh and blood turned into red worms. After crawling onto the skeleton, he came back to life, and his cultivation also entered Void Refinement.”
“That’s the Refined Yin Demon Gu. It’s a Gu artifact he refined using the bone powder of powerful individuals before they died. It’s his second life. You managing to do this much is already exceptionally厉害,” True Person Qingxuan said. After a moment of silence, she raised her hand, and a light screen appeared before Jiang Huai.
The light screen showed the dense forest. The Thunder Cloud Cauldron still hovered in mid-air, maintaining the lightning pool barrier. Within the barrier, a blood-red thread connected the hearts of the cultivators still alive. All these blood-red threads converged, and at their center was a blood-red fetus, which seemed to be slowly growing.
“What is this?” Jiang Huai asked, confused.
“He is refining a new Chaotic Blood Body. You killed his body earlier, and the body he attached to the Refined Yin Demon Gu had a Void Refining first layer cultivation, but it couldn’t improve. To continue cultivating, he naturally needs a body that can cultivate. He is using Gu worms to slowly devour the flesh and souls of the remaining hundred people to create a new physical body for himself.”
“Are they still salvageable?” Xu Qing, standing nearby, saw her junior brothers and sisters on the light screen. Their bodies had only become slightly thinner and had not yet turned into mummified corpses. True Person Qingxuan slowly replied, “Within six hours, if those blood threads can be severed, they can still be saved.”
“But his Refined Yin Demon Gu currently has a Void Refining first layer cultivation.”
As True Person Qingxuan spoke, Xu Qing’s now bright eyes dimmed again.
Void Refining was already the sixth realm. With her Late Stage Foundation Establishment cultivation, the other party could kill her with a single thought.
“Jiang Huai,” True Person Qingxuan’s gaze suddenly fell on Jiang Huai. “What’s going on with your Qi Sea?”
“Hmm?” Jiang Huai asked, looking up. Why was she suddenly asking this?
“If your Qi Sea hadn’t been shattered, with all the Heavenly Way spiritual Qi and Spirit Treasures in our legacy secret realms, we could have raised your cultivation to Void Refinement third layer. But I see your Qi Sea is shattered…”
Jiang Huai smiled wryly. “My Qi Sea was shattered earlier while saving a group of children from Evil Cults. I still haven’t found a way to restore it.”
“Then how did you manage to kill the original body of that Refined Yin Demon Gu inheritor?”
“By relying on Sword Intent and some secret techniques that temporarily boosted my cultivation, but those techniques are all used up now.”
Xu Qing, overhearing this, hesitated for a moment. She then raised her head slightly and looked at True Person Qingxuan. “True Person Qingxuan… I am willing to fight Mo Dan. Can I have that cultivation-boosting inheritance?”
Xu Qing’s gaze was serious and exceptionally pure. Jiang Huai believed she wasn’t coveting the Void Refining first layer cultivation but genuinely wanted to save her junior brothers and sisters. However, True Person Qingxuan sighed softly. “Even if I gave you that inheritance, the Refined Yin Demon Gu has many tricks. You only possess Sword Intent; you are not qualified to defeat him.”
Xu Qing’s face turned red, but she couldn’t say anything.
Jiang Huai stood up. “Are there any other immortal inheritances within the secret realm?”
“Besides me, there are three others.” True Person Qingxuan gazed at Jiang Huai’s face for a moment before saying, “There are two choices before you now, Jiang Huai.”
“Please tell me.”
“One is to hide in my legacy secret realm. I will do my utmost to protect you. When the secret realm ends, you must spread the news of the Refined Yin Demon Gu throughout the Eastern Region, making cultivators at the Eighth Realm and above immediately search for his whereabouts and kill him. With the Refined Yin Demon Gu, he has likely already prepared escape routes for after he leaves the Daoji Ancestral Land. It will be extremely difficult to find him again later.”
“What is the second choice?” Jiang Huai asked.
“You’re not choosing the first one?”
“Not necessarily. I just want to hear both…” Jiang Huai couldn’t quite explain what he was thinking at the moment. Perhaps the first option was the best.
“I will take you to the remaining two legacy secret realms. I want you to obtain their inheritances. After obtaining them, the four of us will use our final remnant souls’ strength to draw upon the spiritual Qi within the Daoji Ancestral Land and gather it into you, forcefully raising your cultivation and soul to Void Refining first layer.”
As Jiang Huai hesitated, True Person Qingxuan added, “However, since your Qi Sea is shattered, forcibly raising your cultivation like this will greatly consume your lifespan. Even if we prepare a Spirit Fruit that can extend your lifespan by a thousand years, after your cultivation dissipates, your lifespan will be almost gone, not exceeding five years.”
“I have told you both choices. Whichever you choose, we will not blame you,” True Person Qingxuan said calmly, then quietly waited for Jiang Huai’s answer.
“Regarding lifespan, I’m not too worried…” Jiang Huai’s expression showed a hint of hesitation. He carried the Primordial Life and Death Sword, so he genuinely wasn’t worried about lifespan. Even if he only had five years left, he could find heinous Evil Cults to kill and seize their lifespans. What worried him was whether, even if his cultivation was raised to Void Refining first layer, he would truly be able to kill the Refined Yin Demon Gu without fail.
Many people in the Eastern Region thought that Jiang Huai of the Tian Xuan Sect was a reckless fool, a moron full of saintly compassion. But Jiang Huai wasn’t. The reason he saved those children last time was because he thought there was only a Late Nascent Soul cultivator at the Evil Cult’s altar, so he could use an experience scroll to instantly defeat them without any repercussions. But he had faced a Spirit Transformation tenth layer cultivator then, which was how his cultivation was crippled. It had certainly taught him a lesson.
So, what about this time? Should he hide in the cave like a scared turtle, Pussy, or accept the inheritance and go all out?
Jiang Huai lowered his head slightly and looked at the Yening Sword placed beside him. The Yening Sword sensed his gaze, and its Sword Spirit flew out.
Yening’s Sword Spirit, Xiao Ning, looked like a charming girl of fifteen or sixteen, wearing a cute black dress. Her body was hazy like a ghost. She was currently sitting on the floating Yening Sword, swinging her fair, tender legs. She knew Jiang Huai had something to say, so she waited quietly.
“Xiao Ning, which one do you think I should choose?”
Yening blinked innocently. “Master, when you asked, didn’t you already have an answer?”
Jiang Huai smiled wryly. “Actually, I’m a little scared.”
Yening nodded gently. “I know.”
“But if I’m scared now and act like a coward, then I’m not Chu Xianning’s disciple.”
“I guess it’s not just that, is it?” Yening’s eyebrows curved, and a smile played on her lips. “There’s also hatred.”
Jiang Huai looked at Xiao Ning’s charming smile and smiled helplessly. “Yes, there’s also hatred.”
He never seriously practiced his sword because he knew his Sword Intent had reached its limit. No matter how hard he practiced, he wouldn’t improve any further, not because he was lazy. For so many years, he seemed to not care about winning or losing because he was always the winner, or perhaps the outcome wasn’t crucial to him; it didn’t affect anything.
But this was truly the first time in his life he had been forced into such a miserable situation, even making his sword-wielding hand tremble slightly.
Fear and anger coexisted. Jiang Huai seemed to hear his heartbeat pounding, like flames crackling and burning. He raised his hand, and all the hesitation on his face slowly disappeared. His previously hesitant eyes quietly became resolute.
“I choose the second one,” Jiang Huai said, looking up, his eyes directly meeting True Person Qingxuan’s.
“I want… to kill him myself!”
