“Your Soul World?” Jiang Huai slowly spoke. He looked down and found he could still draw his sword. This meant his Mirror Flower had also restrained the opponent, and he could sense that he still held some sovereignty in this world.
“Yes,” Mu Yao replied unhurriedly, her voice gentle and soft. A moment later, countless ink-black spirit swords reappeared behind her, stabbing at him one by one. Jiang Huai waved his hand and drew his sword, suddenly realizing that drawing his sword here consumed not his physical strength, but his soul power.
The same applied to Mu Yao.
Jiang Huai had heard of such secret cultivation techniques, forcibly opening a bridge to communicate with the opponent’s Soul World, and dragging the opponent’s soul into her Soul World. What was consumed now was each other’s soul power. Whoever won in this realm would be the ultimate victor.
Jiang Huai knew he could not just block endlessly. If it were about consumption, he definitely couldn’t outlast Mu Yao. So, he found the right moment and, during a pause in his sword strikes, his soul power erupted. He moved almost instantaneously to Mu Yao’s front and swung a silver ray, the blade aimed directly at Mu Yao’s heart.
But Mu Yao stood unmoving, not dodging at all. The white chess pieces around her transformed into shields, blocking all of Jiang Huai’s sword strikes. Even as Jiang Huai shifted his aim the next moment and unleashed the thirteenth strike of the Heaven Profound Thirteen Swords, “Silent Profundity,” the white pieces around her seemed to have anticipated it, automatically appearing the moment he swung his sword, blocking him once again. Meanwhile, the black swords were already pursuing him.
Damn it, she was a more troublesome opponent than Mu Jiaoyang.
To be precise, Jiang Huai had never taken Mu Jiaoyang seriously. Mu Jiaoyang was only at the Spirit Transformation tenth layer, his soul cultivation only a bit stronger than ordinary cultivators, but he didn’t focus on soul cultivation. Jiang Huai only needed to use a few High-level Experience Scrolls to raise his cultivation to Spirit Transformation seventh layer. With the spiritual energy reserves of his Five-Pattern Heavenly Way Spirit Pill and his extensive sword technique experience, he could defeat Mu Jiaoyang. Jiang Huai had long seen through all of Mu Jiaoyang’s sword technique flaws.
But facing Mu Yao now, Jiang Huai felt a sense of difficulty for the first time.
Her spiritual energy cultivation was at the Spirit Transformation ninth layer, but her soul had definitely entered Void Refinement. Moreover, the spirit sword cultivation method she practiced was incredibly effective in their Soul Worlds. Jiang Huai had to divide his attention to destroy the pursuing black swords, while also looking for an opportunity to strike. But the white pieces around Mu Yao seemed to possess absolute defense. No matter from which angle he attacked, she could block him instantly. With this imbalance, it seemed his defeat was inevitable.
The moment Jiang Huai’s mind wandered and he lost focus, a black sword, like a lurking snake, pierced his chest. Although there was no pain, Jiang Huai could sense that his soul power had been significantly depleted by this attack. He hurriedly pulled out the black sword and retreated, gathering his strength to strike again.
Through his experiments, Mirror Flower could still function in this world, at least temporarily blinding Mu Yao’s soul. So, he used Mirror Flower to deceive Mu Yao into thinking he was attacking from behind her. The moment Mu Yao turned, his actual attack was from the front. But this time, the white shields once again blocked his sword blade.
He had no choice but to create another sword. A moment later, he saw the smile at the corner of Mu Yao’s mouth. “No matter where you attack from, it will block for me. Even if I’m distracted and not paying attention, it’s useless. You can trick my senses, but you can’t trick my world.”
“Your world?” Jiang Huai was confused.
“I am the ruler of this world, and you are the outsider. You can only influence a small part of this world, but you cannot change the basic rules. The rule in this world is that before your soul power is depleted, even if I’m distracted, those white pieces will turn into spirit shields to protect me.”
The moment Mu Yao spoke, countless black arms suddenly emerged from beneath the surface of the lake, tightly binding Jiang Huai’s legs. Jiang Huai couldn’t move even an inch, only watching as Mu Yao trod on the water and walked up to him.
Mu Yao gently tapped his chest with her finger. “Because you healed the evil spirit in my acupoints, my soul was finally able to break through the bottleneck. Before, I was always affected by the pain and the evil energy of the evil spirit, which made it difficult for my soul to enter Void Refinement. So, I should thank you.”
“You’re too kind,” Jiang Huai tried to struggle, but it was futile. The black arms from the bottom of the lake gradually covered his entire body, immobilizing him. Mu Yao cupped his face with both hands. “So, have you surrendered?”
“No,” Jiang Huai shook his head.
But the voice did not come from in front of Mu Yao, but from behind her. Mu Yao turned her head, and at that moment, Jiang Huai’s sword fell. Even though the white shields appeared again to block, this time, Jiang Huai’s sword had become a spear. He raised both hands, gripped the spear tightly, and directly pierced through those white shields, stabbing into Mu Yao’s chest.
Jiang Huai had never stopped activating Mirror Flower. He had merely created a decoy to continue deceiving Mu Yao’s senses while he worked out a solution. The white shields around her seemed impenetrable, but Jiang Huai noticed that every time they appeared, they covered every angle. Since they had to cover his entire body, using the force of a single point to break through one side was better than just swinging his sword.
Mu Yao lowered her head slightly, looking at the spear piercing her chest. But she was not angry; she calmly raised her head and showed Jiang Huai an innocent smile. “It’s not over yet.”
The next moment, everything in front of Jiang Huai went black.
…
Chu Xianning’s figure appeared before Jiang Huai first.
But his mind was chaotic, and for a moment, he forgot where he was. He only saw Chu Xianning’s eyes, so cold. This time, it wasn’t intentional but a deep, inherent coldness and disgust.
“Despicable, selfish, greedy, and fickle. Why did I choose to take you in as my disciple back then? From today onwards, you are expelled from the sect.”
“Master…” he mumbled.
“I am no longer your Master.”
Chu Xianning’s sword was at his neck, and the coldness of the blade made him tremble all over.
The next moment, Luo Yueguan appeared before him again. Luo Yueguan, in a purple dress, laughed freely and happily. “Me? You thought I loved you? Never. Jiang Huai, never… You were just a dog I kept around to entertain me. When I no longer need you, you can only tuck your tail and leave.”
Jiang Huai took a step back in a fluster, but at some point, Luo Qingyu was standing behind him, her sword piercing his chest. He heard Luo Qingyu’s whisper, “I never agreed to share Jiang Huai Gege with anyone. Every day I wished I could kill Wanwan. I hate this fickle and promiscuous Jiang Huai Gege, so… please die, Jiang Huai Gege.”
Jiang Huai ran forward in a panic, almost bumping into Wen Wanwan, who had suddenly appeared. But Wen Wanwan’s expression was not as gentle and obedient as before. Instead, she looked at him with playful amusement and sneered, “Wanwan was just using Senior Brother Jiang Huai. Now that her goal is achieved, Wanwan is the Saintess of the sect, and Senior Brother Jiang Huai is no longer useful. Please stay away from Wanwan, or else…”
Wen Wanwan drew her spirit sword, and Jiang Huai hurriedly fled again. But before he could take a step, a large white snake suddenly coiled him high up with its tail. He widened his eyes and looked into the golden pupils of the white snake before him. It flicked its forked tongue and said coldly, “You never truly liked me. You were just infatuated with the feeling of me liking you, deliberately pretending to not know, and turning a blind eye to my heartache.”
“Fortunately, I no longer love you either, Jiang Huai. I am now the Princess of the Western Region Monster Clan, and you are just a cripple. The love I once had for you is the only shame of my life. So… I will personally wash it away.”
With that, the great snake opened its gaping maw, about to swallow Jiang Huai whole. Jiang Huai was already screaming in terror. Pain instantly spread through his limbs and bones. Everything he saw turned black. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a vast expanse of white snow.
He stood in the snow, building a snowman.
“Gege.”
The girl in the down jacket looked up. The snowman beside her was already taking shape. Her hands were red from the cold. Although her eyes were slightly unfocused, the smile on her cheeks was bright.
“My illness is gone. I won’t hurt myself anymore.”
The girl suddenly threw herself into his arms, hugging his neck. She looked into his eyes. “Gege… you understand, you know. You’re not allowed to pretend you don’t know…”
But as the girl’s lips drew closer, he pushed her away in a panic. The fragile girl lost her balance and fell into the snow. Her eyes were red, and tears streamed down her cheeks.
“Gege… you pushed me and it hurt…”
The scene shifted again without warning. When he pushed open the door, the girl in the bathhouse had pale skin all over. The bathtub was stained with blood, and she had stopped breathing. Those eyes would never open again. A suicide note on the side was still stained with blood.
“Gege… I don’t blame you.”
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
Everything before him vanished. It was as if only he remained, holding his head and screaming miserably. Tears fell from his eye sockets, forming snot bubbles. The pain made him lose his sense of perception. When he opened his eyes again, he was back on the Sword Discussion Platform. Mu Yao stood not far away, looking at him with a slightly worried expression.
His soul power had been depleted by nearly ninety percent, while Mu Yao clearly had much left. It seemed the outcome of the battle was decided. Jiang Huai took a deep breath, and he finally came back to his senses.
He could accept defeat, but being disgusted like this made him feel like he had eaten a dead fly. His chest felt incredibly stuffy.
Trying to disgust me, huh?
“I’m blowing up with you!”
Jiang Huai looked up at True Person Qingmu not far away and said softly, “Please, True Person Qingmu, grant me one request.”
“What?”
“When I strike my next sword, protect her. Don’t let her die.”
Everyone present was stunned for a moment. True Person Qingmu nodded slightly, a hint of curiosity showing in his eyes. Jiang Huai then took out Night Condensation and gripped the hilt.
He silently chanted in his heart and used a high-level experience scroll. The spiritual energy of the Spirit Transformation first layer filled his body.
“Water Moon.”
He whispered softly.
