Chapter 256 - Unexpected

In an instant, a golden spell seal a hundred zhang wide appeared in mid-air, its blinding light dazzling as the sun.

The colossal sword slashed down, distorting the void and ripping open countless fine, pitch-black cracks.

The aftershock alone was enough to topple ancient trees on the nearby mountains, leaving swaths of destruction in its wake. Meanwhile, a thick layer of frost transformed the entire mountain range into a frozen forest.

The glowing runes on the golden seal distorted as Cheng Yun’s vital force domain pressed against them.

Pfft!

You Daozi spat a mouthful of blood essence onto the spell seal and thrust his hands upward. In a flash, the glowing sigil crashed into the icy longsword.

A thunderous explosion split the heavens.

Boom!

The explosion shattered the entire barrier, damaging everything within a thousand zhang.

Even from hundreds of zhang away, the shockwave sent Li Guanqi flying. He tumbled through the air a few hundred zhang, like a kite with a broken string.

Pfft!

Li Guanqi coughed up blood. The impact nearly knocked him unconscious.

Just then, Sword Spirit’s urgent voice rang in his ears.

“Don’t pass out! That woman’s not dead. She’s coming for you!”

Her words jolted his blurred consciousness into focus. Through his heart’s eye, he saw a blood-drenched woman racing toward him from behind.

She was covered in wounds, her ornate magic robe in tatters. The old man’s presence had completely vanished inside the barrier.

The woman’s face was deathly pale, still bearing the golden imprint of the spell seal.

Her lifeless eyes stared coldly at Li Guanqi.

“Stop!”

Her proud voice struck him like a death knell.

Li Guanqi bit his tongue, the metallic taste of blood flooding his mouth. He fought to stay conscious. He could hear her, but he just wanted to flee.

Stop? Not a chance. I don’t want to die.

As the saying goes, a starved camel is still bigger than a horse. Despite Cheng Yun’s severe wounds, she still moved much faster than Li Guanqi. Within just a few breaths, she had already caught up.

Without hesitation, Li Guanqi drew the Red Lotus Sword and unleashed the Seven Killings Sword Sutra.

Boom!

That was just about the most powerful strike he could manage. Purple lightning erupted, and the terrifying sword light tore through space itself, warping the air in its wake.

Through the curtain of her disheveled hair, Cheng Yun’s eyes flickered with surprise. She shifted and countered with her own sword.

Her icy blade cleaved apart the Seven Killings Sutra and slashed into Li Guanqi’s tendons with chilling force.

Hngg!

Li Guanqi groaned in pain, his sword falling from his hand.

At that same moment, Cheng Yun let out a muffled groan of her own, coughing up blood. A deep gash had opened across her neck. Had she been even a breath slower, it would have killed her outright.

Both of them froze. Li Guanqi hadn’t expected his strike to wound her at all.

A powerful surge of frost energy surged through his body, freezing his dantian completely. Before he could react, Cheng Yun collapsed against him, an ice-blue sword suddenly pressing to his throat.

Her emotionless voice rang out beside his ear, “Find... a secluded place. The frost poison... only I... can remove it. If you... don’t want to die... let me... live...”

She went limp in his arms, unconscious.

Li Guanqi’s expression twisted. This was the last situation he had imagined—and he could already sense several unfamiliar auras rapidly approaching.

That towering pillar of energy had drawn countless greedy eyes. Despite the heavy casualties, human greed remained insatiable.

With no time to hesitate, Li Guanqi quickly hoisted Cheng Yun onto his back and fled at full speed. He didn’t dare go back to check the old man’s corpse. What if he wasn’t truly dead?

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

Not even thirty seconds after he left, multiple figures descended into the valley. Soon after, several black spatial rifts opened, and some people with terrifying auras emerged from them.

Li Guanqi escaped into the forest. He smeared both their bodies with demonic beast dung to stop others from tracking them. He had to suppress his disgust while applying it to Cheng Yun.

Cultivation might refine beauty, but it could not save everyone, like the old witch on his back. She had lived for thousands of years, and he didn’t have any further thoughts about her.

Finally, relying on his strong divine consciousness, Li Guanqi evaded several waves of pursuers and arrived at a hidden cave several hundred li away.

The cave seemed long abandoned, tucked into a crevice in the mountain and overgrown with vines and weeds. If he hadn’t stumbled upon it by chance, he would never have found it. It was a perfect hiding spot.

He set Cheng Yun’s limp body on the ground, then concealed the cave entrance before collapsing against the wall, gasping for breath.

Every exhale froze into shards of ice. The frost poison had reached a critical level in less than two hours. Circulating his vital force did nothing to suppress it.

He turned to the unconscious woman, his face darkening. He didn’t know what he would face when she woke up, but he knew it wouldn’t be good.

Sword Spirit appeared at his side, frowning in disgust at the woman. “Why’d you bring her along?”

Li Guanqi lifted his stiff, frozen arms. “You saw it. Only she can cure the frost poison. What choice did I have?”

Sword Spirit shrugged. “She’s a mid Divine Transformation Realm cultivator. You really think you’ll survive when she wakes up?”

Li Guanqi glared at her. “So what, lie here and wait to die?”

Sword Spirit pointed at Cheng Yun. “Then stab her in the heart! It’s only frost poison, isn’t it?”

Before she finished, Li Guanqi seized Cheng Yun’s sword and drove it straight into her chest.

Suddenly, a golden illusory divine soul burst out of Cheng Yun’s body.

Her eyes widened in shock, fear, and confusion. She opened her mouth to speak.

But before she could, Sword Spirit grabbed her with one hand. With the lightest squeeze of her slender fingers, Cheng Yun’s soul shattered into nothingness.

Sword Spirit smiled faintly. “She probably died still wondering why.”

Li Guanqi gave a helpless shrug. If it had been him, he wouldn’t have understood either.