Qingping Sword Sheath

"Yan Lingji."

Her name was like a dancing flame, carrying the unique rhythm of the Witch Clan.

Cheng Xi retracted his finger, and the light from the Jianmu Fragment also receded. He looked at the woman before him, who called herself Yan Lingji and possessed the bloodline of a Fire Witch, his mind racing. Zhongnan Mountain, remnants of the Witch Clan, being hunted... and the Witch Script on the tree trunk behind her... none of this was a coincidence!

"Cheng Xi," he stated his name, his gaze sweeping over the corpses of the black-clothed figures on the ground. "Who was chasing you?"

Yan Lingji pushed herself up, tore off a piece of her tattered red clothing, and hastily bandaged the wound on her shoulder with a wild, efficient movement. She looked at the corpses, flames flickering in her eyes, hatred sharp as a knife. "Dogs of the Yin Yang School! And... demonic creatures in human skin!" She pointed to the partially charred, scaled monster corpse she had burned. "These 'Mountain Specters' were their minions, created with dark arts and demonic blood! They want to capture me, use my blood... to open a 'door' somewhere!"

A door? Another door! The "door" guarded by the cave ruins, the "door" Yan Lingji spoke of... Cheng Xi's heart pounded. He immediately thought of the Jianmu Fragment with spatial coordinates from Ying Xi's chest!

"What door? Where is it?" he pressed, his tone urgent.

Yan Lingji shook her head, a flicker of confusion and deep hatred flashing in her flame-like eyes. "I don't know... they didn't have time to say. I only remember... fire! A huge fire! And an altar... my people's blood..." She clutched her head in pain, as if touching fragments of deliberately forgotten bloody memories.

The clues seemed to have run cold again. But the Yin Yang School, demonic creatures, the blood of the Witch Clan, opening a portal... these fragments were enough to piece together the outline of a massive conspiracy.

"This place is not safe," Cheng Xi suppressed his thoughts, looking in the direction where the Sky-Severing Sword's mark had disappeared. Although the sword intent that had severed space had dissipated, the energy fluctuations here were too astonishing. It was hard to guarantee it wouldn't attract other beings. He also needed to rendezvous with Ying Zheng as soon as possible.

He reached out to help Yan Lingji. However, Yan Lingji stubbornly pushed herself to her feet, staggering slightly but with an unusually firm gaze. "I... can walk."

The two had barely left the messy clearing and walked less than a hundred paces when...

[High-dimensional energy residue detected! Location: directly ahead, distance: ten zhang... Attributes: lingering sword intent/spatial coordinates... Energy level: faint...]

The System's prompt made Cheng Xi stop. Lingering sword intent? Left by Lord Tongtian?

Following the System's guidance, he found something at the root of an ancient pine tree, its crown half-severed by the sword energy's aftermath.

It wasn't a divine weapon, but a sheath...

It was a lustrous, jade-green color, about two feet long, with a simple, ancient design and no ornamentation. Only at the mouth of the sheath was there a naturally formed cloud pattern that seemed to flow like water. The sheath itself had no sharpness, but it exuded a cold, detached Daoist charm that was out of place with its surroundings, as if it could isolate all earthly disturbances. A faint but incredibly pure trace of... Sky-Severing Sword Intent... remained on its surface!

[Target scan: Unknown Sword Sheath (empty)... Material: Innate Azure Jade Marrow... Attributes: Spatial Anchor (single use)/Sword Intent Carrier/Faint Protection... Associated Law: Supreme Clarity Immortal Light... Internal detection: trace spatial coordinate imprint detected (pointing to: East Sea · Golden Ao Island)...]

East Sea! Golden Ao Island! Lord Tongtian's dojo!

Cheng Xi's heart leaped! This sword sheath... was it left by Lord Tongtian? A spatial coordinate leading to Golden Ao Island? Was it an opportunity? Or... a trial?

He carefully picked up the jade-green sword sheath. It felt warm and slightly cool to the touch. The lingering Sky-Severing Sword Intent seemed sentient; it didn't reject him but instead sent a faint ripple, like a gentle breeze.

Just then!

"Buzz!"

The Jianmu Fragment and Xirang Crystal he kept close to his body both emitted a slight tremor! As if they had established some subtle resonance with this jade-green sword sheath!

Even stranger, the natural cloud pattern at the mouth of the sheath faintly glowed with a pale green aura. As the aura flowed, it subtly pointed towards... Yan Lingji's direction?

Yan Lingji also seemed to sense something, looking at the sword sheath in Cheng Xi's hand with confusion, a flicker of bewilderment in her flame-like eyes.

"Take it," Cheng Xi handed the jade-green sword sheath to Yan Lingji, his decision made. This sheath contained spatial coordinates and was a carrier of Sky-Severing Sword Intent. Perhaps it could temporarily mask the fluctuations of her Witch Clan bloodline.

Yan Lingji hesitated for a moment before reaching out to take it. The instant her fingertips touched the jade-green sword sheath--

"Ding..."

A faint, pleasant sound, like the gentle chime of a jade bell, emanated from within the sheath!

Yan Lingji trembled! She felt a cool, pure energy surge into her body, and the burning pain in her shoulder seemed to lessen. The faint Sky-Severing Sword Intent on the sheath actually produced a strange... fusion... with the even purer, blazing white Witch Fire that had just been activated within her?

No rejection, but a subtle balance!

A sharp glint flashed in Cheng Xi's eyes. Witch Fire and Sky-Severing Sword Intent... this combination seemed promising?

"Let's go! We need to leave here first!" He wasted no more time, taking Yan Lingji and heading rapidly towards the direction of their camp.

At the makeshift camp, the bonfire blazed, and the Elite Guards stood watch vigilantly. Ying Zheng stood by the fire, his black robes like solidified shadows in the firelight. He looked up at the gradually fading, yet still shocking, green sword mark in the western sky, his expression as calm as water, but within the depths of his abyss-like eyes, waves churned.

When he saw Cheng Xi return with a strange woman in red, Ying Zheng's gaze instantly locked onto Yan Lingji like a hawk's, lingering for a moment on the jade-green sword sheath she held tightly.

"Royal Brother," Cheng Xi stepped forward, speaking concisely. "We were attacked en route. I rescued someone. Those chasing her were from the Yin Yang School and demonic creatures."

"Yin Yang School? Demonic creatures?" Ying Zheng's voice betrayed no emotion. His gaze swept over Yan Lingji's shoulder wound and her flame-like eyes, finally settling on the jade-green sword sheath. "Where did this come from?"

"Found where the sword light fell," Cheng Xi replied frankly. "It seems related to the sword immortal who annihilated the demonic star."

Ying Zheng was silent for a moment, no longer questioning Yan Lingji's origins. He simply said to the commander of the Elite Guards, "Treat her wounds, and prepare horses." He turned towards his mount, his black cloak forming a sharp, cold arc in the night wind.

"Return to Xianyang."

His voice was not loud, but it was like the clash of metal, carrying a resolve that cut through all obstacles. The blood-red demonic star hanging beside the Emperor Star was no longer a celestial omen in his eyes, but... a stain that must be erased!

The entourage set off that night, galloping towards Xianyang.

Inside the carriage, Yan Lingji leaned against the wall, falling into an exhausted sleep, still clutching the jade-green sword sheath tightly. The cool aura within it and the faint Witch Fire inside her glowed in tandem.

Cheng Xi closed his eyes to meditate, the System's light screen flowing in his sea of consciousness, repeatedly analyzing the spatial coordinates pointing to Golden Ao Island within the jade-green sword sheath.

Suddenly!

The black wooden fragment he kept close, obtained from Ying Xi's wooden chest and embedded with Witch Script, began to heat up violently without warning!

[Alert! Spatial coordinate resonance detected! Source: Unknown Witch Script Wooden Fragment... Target Coordinates: East of Mount Xiao · Secluded Valley... Resonance Intensity: Rapidly increasing!... Warning! Spatial channel shows signs of being forcibly activated!...]

What?!

Cheng Xi's eyes snapped open!

Almost simultaneously!

The Jianmu Fragment in his arms also erupted with emerald green brilliance! And on the Qingping Sword Sheath in Yan Lingji's hand, the cloud patterns around the opening suddenly lit up!

Hum!

Inside the carriage where the three of them were, the space distorted violently without any warning! Light was pulled into grotesque colored lines! A powerful, irresistible tearing force descended instantly!

"Not good!" Cheng Xi only had time to let out a short exclamation!

His vision went black! The world spun!