IVYSCP - Chapter 26
Chapter 26
Shangtianqiong Sect, Sword Pavilion.
Lou Wudu stood with her hands behind her back before a stone wall lined with countless sealed dharma swords. At regular intervals along the wall rested a dust-laden dharma sword. The masters of these swords had all, without exception, fallen. Though a dharma sword could seek a new master after its wielder perished, in the past hundred years not a single sword on this wall had ever unsealed itself and departed. They had sealed themselves away entirely, as if following their masters into death.
Lou Wudu lifted her gaze to the top of the wall. The highest sword belonged to the founding grandmaster of Shangtianqiong, Sui Yang. Below it were the swords of past sect leaders, elders, and disciples.
Her eyes traveled slowly downward and stopped on a sword near the front.
That sword was slender and light, its blade faintly gleaming with cold light. Near the hilt were carved intricate crimson patterns, infused with the blood of a golden-winged bird. Thin red lines extended all the way to the tip, a hint of bewitching beauty amid its fully revealed sharpness.
"Sword-Holding Elder, did you just say Jiuge has been stirring recently?" Lou Wudu tilted her head slightly, the corner of her eye on the person behind and to the side. Her tone was calm and unruffled.
"Yes."
The Sword-Holding Elder could not read her expression and slowly reported the recent disturbances in the Sword Pavilion.
Since half a month ago, the sealed dharma swords in the pavilion had begun trembling without cause, their sword cries unceasing, as if answering and encouraging one another. The Sword-Holding Elder had kept watch for several days and found the source of the commotion: the Jiuge Sword.
The Jiuge Sword seemed about to unseal.
"A dharma sword unseals either because its master summons it or because it wishes to seek a new master." Lou Wudu narrowed her eyes. "Sword-Holding Elder, what do you think is the reason Jiuge is unsealing?"
The Sword-Holding Elder's breath caught.
The former master of the Jiuge Sword was the sect leader's junior sister, Ling Qingyue. But Ling Qingyue's soul had been extinguished a century ago. How could it be a master's summons?
"Jiuge has a spirit. Perhaps it does not wish to gather dust here."
A soft, cold snort reached her ears. The Sword-Holding Elder looked up and found a trace of a smile on the sect leader's face.
"The day my junior sister's soul was destroyed, Jiuge sealed itself. The sword follows its master. My junior sister valued loyalty and sentiment deeply, and her sword is the same."
"Set a restriction here. Jiuge must not be allowed to leave the Sword Pavilion."
The Sword-Holding Elder raised her hand in salute. "Yes."
After Lou Wudu left, the Sword-Holding Elder finally looked up at the Jiuge Sword and sighed softly.
The sect leader and her junior sister truly shared a deep bond. In the past, if a sword in the pavilion wished to seek a new master, the sect leader never obstructed it. Now, to keep her junior sister's sword here, she was even willing to forcibly place a restriction.
"Liu Qingtang!"
Ling Qingyue stared in shock at the person who had suddenly appeared before her, blade raised.
The Piaomiao Sect disciples nearby all widened their eyes. Another Elder Liu.
After the shock came the fear of wanting to retreat and flee. The wooden-carving Elder Liu from before had already been vicious enough. Even Senior Sister Yu Ting could not defeat her. This one... looked just as ferocious.
Ling Qingyue instinctively looked at Liu Qingtang's eyes. The place where a cultivator corrupted by demonic influence most easily revealed their demonic qi was the eyes.
But this Liu Qingtang before her had eyes that were clearly black and white. Not a trace of demonic qi could be seen anywhere on her.
"This one is the real Liu Qingtang."
Pei Si reached out and pulled Ling Qingyue behind her.
"Then we're done for." Ling Qingyue grabbed Pei Si's wrist in return. "We need to run!"
She was only at Qi Condensation. She had barely managed to come back to life. She did not want to be hacked to pieces by a single blade strike.
"We can't run." Pei Si pressed her lips together. "The killing intent on her is too heavy. She probably wants to kill all of us."
Ling Qingyue: "Ah?"
The Liu Qingtang in her memory was not someone who slaughtered the innocent.
The faces of the Piaomiao Sect disciples went pale when they heard this.
And it proved to be true. Liu Qingtang seemed to have gone mad. She did not care whether they were Piaomiao Sect disciples or not. Every blade strike aimed for vital points, seeking to kill with a single blow.
Lu Yao was the closest. The blade's edge came so fast she could not possibly evade it. At the last possible moment, a golden thread wrapped around her waist and yanked her violently away.
The other Piaomiao Sect disciples were similarly dragged to a distance.
Twelve golden threads darted about as if alive, soon settling around Liu Qingtang. In the blink of an eye, formation patterns emerged. A formation descended. Liu Qingtang raged with terrifying intensity, her eyes fixed dead on Pei Si, not far away.
To cast a formation in an instant and even trap Liu Qingtang... just who was this person?
At this moment, Ling Qingyue and the gathered Piaomiao Sect disciples shared the same thought.
But Ling Qingyue quickly noticed something wrong. Pei Si's face was very pale.
Liu Qingtang's blade hammered against the formation blow after blow. The power was so immense that even with the formation restraining it, everyone felt the mountain beneath their feet tremble.
"Lu Yao." Ling Qingyue thought for a moment and then asked, "Did you send for reinforcements from the Heavenly Gate?"
The Heavenly Gate stood between the Immortal and Mortal Realms and would be guarded by immortal realm cultivators.
Lu Yao froze. Then her expression turned complicated. It was unclear if it was disappointment or anger. "The signal arrows for reinforcements are all with Senior Sister Yu Ting."
"It's useless." Pei Si's voice held an almost imperceptible tremor. "The restriction on the barrier above can isolate spiritual energy and information transmission. Whether it's the Heavenly Gate or the Immortal Realm, they won't receive it."
"How could this be..." Lu Yao murmured in a daze. "Senior Sister Yu Ting... did she want to trap us all here to die? Why would she do this?"
Since entering the sect, she had admired and looked up to Yu Ting. Right now, the image of that attentive, thorough senior sister who treated her juniors with warmth and patience completely shattered in her heart.
Yu Ting had not only abandoned them but also severed their path to survival.
"Now is not the time to grieve." Ling Qingyue warned. She watched Liu Qingtang warily inside the formation, then spread her palm open and pulled the sword from the dual-sword cultivator on the other side through the air.
Then she added, "Borrowing this."
The cultivator had no objections whatsoever. "Senior, please use it!"
"All of you, get far away."
Ling Qingyue's voice was not loud, but it was enough for everyone present to hear.
The golden light flowing through the formation grew increasingly faint. It could not hold Liu Qingtang much longer.
After Lu Yao and the others withdrew and formed the Piaomiao Sect sword array, Ling Qingyue gripped the sword in her hand and stood beside Pei Si. She had just steeled herself for a blade-and-sword clash with that madwoman Liu Qingtang when a voice reached her ear: "You get far away too."
Ling Qingyue slowly turned her head. "?"
Looking down on her?
Pei Si laughed lightly. "Your cultivation has only recovered to Qi Condensation. If you can't beat her, you'll get angry again."
Ling Qingyue: "..."
Wait.
"How do you know my cultivation is recovering?"
The words had just left her mouth when her vision blurred. The formation was shattered by a single blade strike from Liu Qingtang. Ling Qingyue was pulled aside by Pei Si, dodging the blade aura. The blade aura slashed across the sky, shaking the ancient trees on both sides until they were uprooted. A deep trench was left in the ground.
Ling Qingyue frowned. If that blade had landed on a body, it would have scattered it into pieces.
This blade strike from Liu Qingtang was even more vicious than when they had fought for the top rank.
Most of the Piaomiao Sect disciples who had come with Lu Yao had only entered the sect a little over a decade ago. Their cultivation was still shallow. The sword array they formed was nothing more than a drizzle before Liu Qingtang. It could not harm her in the slightest.
Pei Si was just about to tell Ling Qingyue to stay still when she turned her head and found the person had already charged out.
Pei Si: "..."
A frown of displeasure creased her brow. At the same time, she raised her hand and cast formations, sending them chasing after Ling Qingyue.
The effectiveness of a formation, whether weak or strong, was inextricably linked to both the caster and the location where it was cast. If the location was rich in spiritual qi, the caster could put all their focus into the formation without needing to expend extra mental energy on spiritual power. But if the location's spiritual qi was thin, the caster would need to divert their own spiritual power to fuel the formation's operation.
Before, dealing with a single Liu Qingtang would never have imposed so many limitations. But now, they were in the Mortal Realm, and her seven gates and three acupoints were sealed due to the Emotion Transference. She simply could not bring her formation techniques to bear.
Ling Qingyue knew she stood no chance in a direct confrontation with Liu Qingtang. Her figure darted lightly before Liu Qingtang's eyes, and she soon spotted a fatal opening.
Liu Qingtang was fierce and vicious right now, but her blade technique was extremely chaotic. It was nothing like the fluid, cloud-like flow of their past exchanges.
"Liu Qingtang!" Ling Qingyue deliberately used a Shangtianqiong sword move to close in, then asked in a low voice, "You don't recognize me?!"
Liu Qingtang's eyes snapped up.
Ling Qingyue felt a surge of joy.
She recognized her!?
If she could recognize her, that would naturally be good. They could avoid a fight if possible.
The next instant, a palm wind brushed past her shoulder. The woman's voice was violent and erratic. "The irreverent, die!"
A small formation under her feet, Ling Qingyue's movements became even faster. This palm strike grazed past dangerously, making Pei Si's heart leap with fright.
Pei Si flashed to Ling Qingyue's side. One arm wrapped around her waist while the other hand rapidly formed seals. The moment before Liu Qingtang's blade descended, she arrived behind her.
"Mirror Flower, Water Moon, bind!"
A place of mountains and water, where the power of heaven and earth's living spirits was strong. Even in the Mortal Realm, this could be used.
In an instant, it was as if the countless mountains and waters received a summons. The water converged into a winding giant dragon that roared and shot straight toward Liu Qingtang, like a celestial river pouring down.
The sight was soul-stirring. Ling Qingyue was about to marvel when she turned her head and saw traces of blood seeping from the corner of Pei Si's lips, a look of pain between her brows.
Under the crushing pressure, Liu Qingtang used her blade to block the water dragon's force.
Ling Qingyue's eyes turned sharp. With a turn of her wrist, sword qi shot through the air.
Compared to the colossal water dragon, this strand of sword qi was utterly insignificant. Liu Qingtang raised a palm and dispersed it.
The instant the sword qi scattered, a long sword pierced through Liu Qingtang's palm and then plunged straight into her left shoulder.
Liu Qingtang's eyes were bloodshot. She vomited a mouthful of black blood. The water dragon let out another ringing cry and pressed down, forcing her to one knee.
"Liu Qingtang!" Ling Qingyue scolded through gritted teeth. "How did you become like this?!"
"Bloodthirsty slaughter, unable to tell right from wrong. Is this the path you walk? Is this the blade you've learned?!"
"What did you say to me back then?!"
After that match all those years ago, Ling Qingyue had drunk two cups of light wine at a friend's invitation. She felt a little dizzy on the way back, but her mood was excellent. A flash of inspiration came to her, and she grasped a new sword move.
She had just been about to try it out when she ran into Liu Qingtang, who had come looking for her.
At the time, she thought Liu Qingtang had come to challenge her. She waved her hand and said, "No fight, no fight. Even if you beat me now, it wouldn't be a fair victory."
Liu Qingtang held her blade, looking extremely happy. "I didn't come to fight you. I wanted to say a few words to you."
"I'm very happy I lost today."
Ling Qingyue frowned. "Huh?"
Happy to lose?
"Oh, no." Liu Qingtang raised a hand to rub her hair and rephrased. "I accept my defeat wholeheartedly! You're very impressive!"
Ling Qingyue raised her chin and smiled. "I think so too."
"I'm very impressive too." Liu Qingtang's eyes were clear and bright. "I'll definitely win next time."
These words displeased Ling Qingyue. She raised a finger and wagged it. "Impossible. You're not as impressive as me."
Her head grew dizzier. Ling Qingyue could not quite remember what else Liu Qingtang said. She only remembered her arranging future matches.
And that one line—
"My blade and I will grow sharper day by day. I want to cross blades with the many masters of the world and make them all acknowledge me and my blade technique!"
After that, Ling Qingyue never saw Liu Qingtang again.
"Liu Qingtang!" Ling Qingyue shouted angrily. "I'm telling you, the you right now will never get my acknowledgment, never get anyone's acknowledgment!"
After roaring this out, Ling Qingyue saw Liu Qingtang's eyes tremble. Then her arms suddenly lost all strength. The water dragon slammed her hard into the ground, smashing a crater.
Ling Qingyue jumped clear in time.
Liu Qingtang vomited several large mouthfuls of blood. The pierced hand, heedless of the pain, directly pulled the sword out.
"No, I can't..." Her eyes were bloodshot. Two trails of bloody tears slowly slid down. The depths of her eyes were full of struggle and grief.
Ling Qingyue frowned at the sight.
What had happened to her? Was she delirious?
Pei Si came to Ling Qingyue's side. Liu Qingtang slowly raised her eyes to look at her.
Ling Qingyue instinctively tensed and grabbed Pei Si's hand, afraid Liu Qingtang would raise her blade and hack at them again.
Pei Si glanced down at it, the corner of her lips lifting.
Black blood began to seep from Liu Qingtang's nose and mouth. She lifted her own blade and crawled over, practically on all fours.
She was in agony, every word dripping with blood. "I beg you, I beg you, kill me."
She did not know who the person before her was. She only wanted to die.
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