Crescent Moon Illuminates Killing Intent (Part 2)

Cheng Xi suddenly looked up!

Not far ahead, beneath the shadow of a gnarled old tree, a figure stood quietly, as if it had always been there.

At some point, a gap had opened in the lead-gray clouds, and a crescent moon hung in the sky, stingily casting a sliver of cold light that outlined the person's silhouette. A loose, moon-white robe adorned with star patterns flowed like water, concealing their form. Their face was covered by a similarly moon-white mask devoid of any features, revealing only a pair of eyes.

What kind of eyes were those?

Cold! Ethereal! As if reflecting the unchanging river of stars from eternity, so deep they could draw one's soul in, yet without a trace of human warmth. Deep within the pupils, a point of silver moonlight seemed to be slowly rotating.

The Yin Yang School! Moon Goddess!

She stood there quietly, as if merged with the shadows of the forest. The fatal needle from before was clearly just a prelude, a probe. Now, this was her true killing move.

"A fine performance of 'fighting poison with poison,' a magnificent 'Sky-Severing Sword Intent'," Moon Goddess's voice came through the mask, as cold and devoid of worldly concerns as could be, yet each word was clear and pierced the soul. "Lord Chang'an, Cheng Xi... the 'surprises' you carry are becoming more and more numerous. No wonder... even the Sect Master has taken an interest in you."

Her gaze swept over the horrific, healing wound on Cheng Xi's back, then fell upon the Qingping Sword Sheath, now devoid of its light, before finally settling on Cheng Xi's pale but exceptionally bright eyes.

"A pity..." Moon Goddess slowly raised a hand as fair as frost and snow, her five fingers slender, surrounded by a faint, dreamlike silver moonlight. "Your 'surprises' end here. Lord Eastern Emperor dislikes variables beyond his control."

Before her words had even faded, the silver moonlight swirling around her fingertips surged violently! There was no earth-shattering commotion, only an ultimate, soul-freezing coldness! The moonlight condensed before her, twisting, instantly transforming into a phantom, star-edged... ancient bronze mirror!

The mirror's surface did not reflect reality, but distorted light and shadow! Within the light and shadow, the stern, profound face of Ying Zheng, imbued with imperial majesty, was clearly visible! However, his eyes were now filled with merciless killing intent, staring fixedly at Cheng Xi through the illusory mirror! Simultaneously, a terrifying pressure, heavy as a mountain and carrying the aura of war and slaughter, descended through the mirror like an emperor's judgment!

"Traitorous brother Cheng Xi! Colluding with Demonic Evils, sowing chaos at Mount Li, coveting the imperial tomb! His crime—death!"

The voice of "Ying Zheng" in the mirror, cold and majestic like heavenly decrees, struck Cheng Xi's mind like a hammer!

An illusion! And a top-tier illusion that targeted the soul's vulnerabilities, invoking primal fear! Using moonlight as a guide and the human heart as a mirror, it reflected the target's deepest fears and judges! Moon Goddess intended to use Cheng Xi's apprehension of Ying Zheng and the secrets of his trip to Mount Li to destroy him mentally!

The terrifying Imperial Dao Pressure, mixed with the chilling illusionary power of the moonlight, wrapped around Cheng Xi's recently wounded and extremely weak soul like invisible shackles! The merciless gaze of "Ying Zheng" in the mirror and the cold words "death" struck deep into his consciousness like heavy blows!

Cheng Xi trembled violently, his pupils instantly unfocused! The residual Corpse Fiend Qi he had just suppressed seemed stimulated, stirring restlessly in his meridians! The pain from his back wound became sharp and clear again! Ying Zheng's suspicion, the Empress Dowager's jade pendant, the secrets of Mount Li, the bronze giant skeleton in the Secluded Valley... countless dark thoughts and fears were amplified infinitely by this illusion, threatening to drown him like a tidal wave!

Beneath Moon Goddess's mask, the corner of her mouth seemed to curve into a cold arc. The moonlight at her fingertips intensified, the phantom bronze mirror's light flowed, and "Ying Zheng" in the mirror slowly raised his hand, holding within it a Son of Heaven's Sword, coiled with purple-gold dragon energy! The sword's edge pointed directly at Cheng Xi's soul!

The true killing blow had arrived! Physical wounds could heal, but if the soul were destroyed by this Imperial Heart Reflecting Moon Sword, there would be no hope of salvation!

Just as his soul was about to be annihilated by the phantom imperial sword at the critical moment—

Buzz!

From Cheng Xi's embrace, the Qingping Sword Sheath, devoid of its light, emitted a faint, yet unyielding and furious hum!

Immediately after, a weak but incredibly pure sword intent, capable of severing all illusory thoughts, erupted not from the sheath itself, but... seemingly from the depths of his damaged meridians, which had just been "baptized" by the Sky-Severing Sword Intent. Stimulated by this life-or-death crisis and Moon Goddess's illusion, it burst forth!

This newly born sword intent was extremely weak, far inferior to the one left by Lord Tongtian, but it carried a nascent "Break Delusion" attribute belonging to Cheng Xi himself! It was like a tiny spark suddenly igniting in the darkness, small but filled with the determination to burn away all falsehoods, fiercely colliding with the imperial pressure illusion and the cold moonlight shackles enveloping his soul!

Simultaneously, the unconscious Yan Lingji seemed to sense the fatal crisis Cheng Xi's soul was facing. The brilliant white Witch Fire within her, which had just subsided, flickered faintly under instinctive compulsion. This faint spark, transmitted through her tightly clasped sword sheath, was like a candle in the wind, not for attack, but more like a warm resonance from the depths of her bloodline, carrying a sense of protection.

Pfft!

A soft sound, audible only to Cheng Xi, like a bubble bursting!

The seemingly unbreakable imperial pressure illusion and moonlight shackles were torn open by a minuscule crack under the combined assault of internal and external forces, the extremely weak but attribute-opposing new sword intent, and the resonance of Witch Fire!

Cheng Xi's unfocused pupils snapped into focus! A surge of unwillingness and rage from the depths of his soul erupted like a volcano!

"Break!!!"

He let out a beast-like roar from his throat! Not relying on strength, but a pure cry of will! Using the crack that had been torn open, he gathered all his remaining mental energy, combined it with the faint, nascent Break Delusion sword intent within him, and fiercely slammed into the phantom bronze mirror!

Crack!

On the mirror's surface, centered on the wrist of "Ying Zheng" within the mirror as he raised his sword, a fine crack suddenly appeared! The entire illusionary realm shook violently!

Beneath Moon Goddess's mask, her cold starlike eyes revealed a subtle fluctuation for the first time! Was that... a hint of surprise?

"Hmm?" a barely audible sound of doubt.

She clearly hadn't expected that a person on the verge of death, with a soul so weak it was at its limit, could unleash such tenacious willpower under her "Imperial Heart Reflecting Moon" illusion, even igniting the nascent form of his own sword intent and the resonance of that witch's bloodline!

It was this momentary surprise and the wavering of the illusion!

Cheng Xi seized this fleeting opportunity, biting his tongue with the last of his strength! The sharp pain mixed with the strong scent of blood rushed to his mind, clearing his hazy consciousness! He stopped trying to resist the powerful illusion and instead poured all his focus into the Qingping Sword Sheath in his embrace!

Not to activate the sword intent, but to... resonate! To call out! Using his body, which had just undergone sword intent cleansing and was imbued with a trace of the Sky-Severing aura, as a medium, with the faint new sword intent as a guide, and his boundless will to survive as fuel, he called out... calling out to the supreme sword intent imprint from Biyou Palace, which had once severed the heavens, deep within the sword sheath!

Buzz... Buzz buzz buzz...

The Qingping Sword Sheath began to vibrate violently! This time, it wasn't a clear sword hum, but a low, angry buzz, like a slumbering dragon disturbed by an ant! On the sheath's surface, the dim cloud patterns suddenly lit up with dazzling green light! A terrifying sword intent, far more ancient, more vast, and more defiant than when Yan Lingji had activated it, like a slumbering volcano, was forcefully awakened by a sliver!

Even if it was only a sliver, that supreme will belonging to Lord Tongtian, which seized a thread of life, instantly soared into the sky!

Boom!

The imperial pressure illusion and moonlight shackles enveloping Cheng Xi's soul shattered like glass struck by an invisible giant hammer! The phantom bronze mirror let out a mournful cry and instantly dissolved into specks of silver light!

"Ugh!"

Moon Goddess's figure flickered imperceptibly, and a faint groan came from beneath her mask. Clearly, the forceful and overbearing shattering of the illusion had inflicted some backlash on her. In her cold starlike eyes, for the first time, a clear look of solemnity appeared, along with a hint of... disbelief!

A flash of green light, and the sword sheath fell silent again, as if it had exhausted its last spark of spirituality. Cheng Xi could no longer hold on, his vision went completely black, and before his consciousness sank into boundless darkness, he vaguely saw Moon Goddess still standing in the moonlight's shadow, her cold starlike eyes gazing deeply at him, and at the seemingly ordinary Green Jade Sword Sheath in his embrace, which now emanated an aura that even she found daunting.

A clear, ethereal voice, as if descending from the heavens, imprinted itself clearly into his consciousness as it began to fade:

"Qingping... Sword Intent? Tongtian... Sect Master? Lord Chang'an, your destiny is indeed an anomaly among anomalies... It seems, Lord Eastern Emperor, will need to re-evaluate you..."

The voice faded into the distance.

In the final moment before Cheng Xi's consciousness plunged into complete darkness, an extremely faint yet incredibly clear emerald green point of light, as if traversing endless time and space, abruptly ignited deep within his consciousness. The light point rapidly expanded, and indistinctly, it seemed to outline a magnificent and grand phantom image of Biyou Palace, suspended above endless waves and chaotic energies!

The phantom image flashed and vanished, yet it carried an ineffable sense of summons.

Immediately following was Moon Goddess's final words, tinged with a peculiar fluctuation, like a stone dropped into a deep pool, sending the last ripples through his sinking consciousness:

"Sect Master... wishes to see you."

Icy moonlight, filtering through sparse branches, dappled the two unconscious figures and the dormant Qingping Sword Sheath. The forest was deathly silent, save for the mournful night wind. Moon Goddess's white silhouette had, at some unknown point, silently vanished, as if she had never been there. However, the lingering icy killing intent, the remnants of the shattered illusion, and the whispered words, "Sect Master wishes to see you," became like invisible shackles, pressing heavily upon the cold night of Mount Li.

The grotesque wound on Cheng Xi's back slowly writhed and healed under the lingering sword intent and the vitality of Jianmu, his breathing faint but steady. Yan Lingji, in her unconscious state, unconsciously traced the cold cloud patterns on the Qingping Sword Sheath with her fingertips. A faint, blazing white spark flashed and vanished beneath her pale skin. Deep within her pupils, an extremely faint, ancient dark gold pattern, not belonging to her, quietly appeared and then quickly disappeared.

In the silence, only the seemingly ordinary Green Jade Sword Sheath, under the clear light of the waning moon, flowed with an inner, heart-stopping sharpness.