"Hmph!" A cold snort containing the fury of raging waters sounded.
"Second tribulation: Sky River Reversal!"
The River God's giant hand jerked upward!
BOOM—!!!
The tranquil surface of the Tongtian River abruptly erupted into world-ending waves! This was not a localized surge. As far as the eye could see, the entire vast expanse of azure water seemed to be scooped up by an invisible bowl of heaven, then violently overturned!
The heavens had collapsed!
Endless azure river water, carrying the force to shatter stars, formed an indescribably enormous circular wall of water connecting heaven and earth! The water wall crashed down at a speed beyond comprehension toward the tiny riverbank, toward Cheng Xi and Yan Lingji! This was not water—it was the overturning of the heavenly river! It was the manifestation of the Primordial Law of Water! It would utterly crush and wash away every living being daring to covet the immortal domain, reducing them to the tiniest dust between heaven and earth!
A catastrophic deluge! A true catastrophic deluge!
Before this world-destroying Sky River Reversal, the barrier formed by the sword intent that shattered delusions and Jianmu Vitality was as insignificant as a candle flame in a gale!
The shadow of death had never been so clear!
"No—!" Yan Lingji stared at the azure wall of water that blocked her entire view and devoured all light, screaming in despair! The witchfire within her instinctively blazed wildly, attempting one final struggle, but before such great power of heaven and earth, it was no different from a mantis trying to stop a chariot!
Cheng Xi's eyes nearly split apart! The system issued frantic warnings, yet there was no viable solution! The gap in power was simply too great! He abruptly looked at the still-silent Qingping Sword Sheath in his arms and roared with all his will, "Come, sword!!!"
He was not summoning sword intent, but calling out! With the will of someone on the brink of death, he called to the sleeping Sky-Severing Edge! This was his only, final hope!
Just as the destructive azure wall of water was about to swallow the riverbank—
Buzz!!!
The silent Qingping Sword Sheath suddenly erupted with an unprecedented radiance! It was no longer a cool green glow, but an incandescent white brilliance so intense it seemed capable of tearing apart heaven, earth, and the cosmos! A Supreme Will that could sever all things and Seize a Thread of Life awoke with a thunderous roar, carrying the arrogance and fury of endless ages!
The sword sheath did not move, yet a white sword light condensed purely from will, refined to the extreme, shot up from its mouth! The sword light was not large, only around ten feet long, yet it carried an edge that made the primordial world tremble!
The sword light did not slash towards the reversing heavenly river. Instead—it viciously struck the riverbank ground before Cheng Xi and Yan Lingji!
Screech!
The earth was silently sliced open by a bottomless black fissure! Along the edges of the crack, space shattered inch by inch like fragile glass! An irresistible suction force surged forth in an instant!
Cheng Xi and Yan Lingji had no time to react before the Spatial Rift instantly swallowed them!
RUMBLE—!!!
Almost at the exact moment they vanished, the enormous reversing wave of the heavenly river descended with the force to destroy everything, smashing viciously onto the riverbank where they had just stood!
Hundreds of millions of tons of azure river water crashed down. The earth underwent a violent tremor, the five-colored pebbles turned to powder, and the riverbank was instantly flattened and depressed! Torrential currents mixed with fragments of space raged madly, creating a chaotic field of destruction!
The River God's projection hovered silently in the sky, its body formed of azure river water rippling faintly. Its blurred "gaze" pierced through the destructive current and settled on the Spatial Rift that was swiftly closing, remaining silent for A Long Time. A cold thought flowed through the vast Primordial Law of Water:
"Sky-Severing Sword Intent... breaking open space to flee? These two people... were not fated to perish in this tribulation? Or was this... the sect leader's will?"
The Water Giant slowly sank, merging once more into the vast Tongtian River and disappearing. Nourished by dense Water Spirit Qi, the destroyed riverbank was reforming and recovering at a speed visible to the naked eye. Only the faint, almost imperceptible edge of Sky-Severing Sword Intent left behind when the Spatial Rift closed remained like an invisible brand upon this ancient riverbank.
Deep beneath the riverbed, an enormous black stone tablet that had been washed for billions of years loosened slightly under the violent energy impact from before. Several ancient Dao Script characters, neither metal nor jade and visible upon contact with water, Vaguely appeared upon its surface beneath the reflection of the azure river water:
"A thread... of... life..."
An unknown place, within a spatial crevice.
The sensation of being torn apart as the world spun around them struck again, Far more violent than any previous teleportation! Cheng Xi felt as if he had been thrown into a raging Chaos Storm, his body and soul about to be completely torn apart!
He and Yan Lingji clung tightly to each other as they were hurled wildly through the extremely unstable Spatial Rift created by the Qingping Sword Sheath's final power! The emerald-green light erupting from the Jianmu Fragment formed a thin cocoon of light, barely resisting the slicing force of Spatial Turbulence. Yan Lingji's eyes were tightly shut, her pale complexion as white as paper. The violent heat within her body, forcibly soothed by Jianmu Vitality, began stirring once again beneath the savage spatial tearing, while dark-gold patterns flickered madly beneath her skin.
No one knew how much time passed. It seemed like only an instant, yet also like ten thousand years.
Bang! Bang!
The two of them slammed heavily onto hard, icy ground, rolling a long distance before stopping. The violent impact worsened their already severe injuries. Cheng Xi's vision darkened, sweetness and fishiness rose in his throat, and he nearly passed out again. Yan Lingji, meanwhile, directly spit out a mouthful of blood, curling up on the ground and trembling in pain.
The tearing sensation of Spatial Turbulence disappeared.
Cheng Xi struggled to raise his head and inspect his surroundings.
This was a huge, naturally formed stone cave. High above, massive stalactites emitting a soft white light hung from the ceiling, illuminating the cave as brightly as day. The air was unusually fresh, containing dense yet gentle Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, purer even than that by the Tongtian River. Every breath made his dried-up meridians release a pleasant groan.
At the center of the cave was a crystal-clear pool shrouded in faint spiritual mist. At its center floated a huge green lotus flower, its bud still unopened! Its petals were like jade, its veins distinct, emitting an aura of tranquility, profundity, and spiritual purification.
Directly above the lotus flower, at the highest point of the cave ceiling, a slender natural crack, as though cleaved open by a sword, let down cold celestial light. The light fell perfectly upon the bud of the green lotus.
What made Cheng Xi's pupils contract even more was the ancient black stone tablet standing on the poolside beside the green lotus. It bore no words, yet it emitted a Dao Rhyme of the Shangqing lineage that shared the same origin as the Qingping Sword Sheath, though it was even vaster and deeper—Shangqing Dao Rhyme!
The richness of spiritual qi here and the mystery of its layout were absolutely extraordinary! The green lotus and the wordless stone tablet in particular faintly pointed toward a possibility that made his heart race!
"Cough, cough..." Yan Lingji struggled into a seated position, wiping the blood from the corner of the mouth. Her flame-like eyes were filled with shock as she looked around the cave. "Where... is this? Such dense spiritual qi..."
"I don't know..." Cheng Xi said between breaths, his gaze fixed firmly on the green lotus and the wordless stone tablet. "But this place... is likely deeply connected to the Jie Sect... and to Lord Tongtian!" He recalled the phantom of Biyou Palace and the earth-shattering final strike of the sword sheath.
Just then!
Another change arose!
After sensing the dense Shangqing Dao Rhyme within the cave and the aura of the wordless stone tablet, the Qingping Sword Sheath in Cheng Xi's arms unexpectedly began to hum again, faintly yet clearly! This time, it was no longer anger or an eruption, but something like... a wandering child returning home: yearning and calling!
Amid the hum, the sword sheath grew slightly warm, and a faint yet clear thought entered Cheng Xi's mind—pointing toward the pool, toward the green lotus!
"It... is guiding us?" Yan Lingji also felt the sword sheath's unusual movement and asked in surprise.
Cheng Xi's heart stirred. The green lotus was brimming with spiritual qi, and the pool water was shrouded in powerful vitality. Perhaps... this was their only chance to heal and recover? Yan Lingji especially needed to soothe the violent power within her.
"Let's go take a look." Cheng Xi forced himself to stand, helped the weakened Yan Lingji up, and the two of them staggered toward the spiritual pool.
The closer they came, the denser the spiritual qi became. Even the pain in their bodies seemed to be soothed. The pool water was clear to the bottom, where warm spiritual jade could Vaguely be seen covering the floor.
Just as they were about to reach the poolside, only a few steps from the floating green lotus—
Whoosh!
Without warning, a figure appeared out of nowhere atop the enormous green lotus like a phantom!
The newcomer was not standing on the Lotus Platform, but sitting cross-legged in the air above the unopened green lotus flower, as though the lotus itself were his Dao platform.
He wore a simple green Daoist robe, faded almost white from washing. He was tall and upright, with a lean, refined face and three long strands of beard flowing down his chest. He looked to be middle-aged. His eyes were half-open and half-closed, his gaze calm and undisturbed like an ancient well or deep pool, reflecting no emotion whatsoever. No trace of magical power leaked from all over his body, yet he was perfectly integrated with this grotto-heaven, the green lotus, the stone tablet, and even the spiritual qi of this world. It was as if he were not an outsider, but part of this blessed land that had existed since time immemorial.
The green-robed Daoist's gaze slowly swept across Cheng Xi and Yan Lingji, who were in miserable condition and covered in Blood Filth, before finally settling on the humming Qingping Sword Sheath in Cheng Xi's arms.
His gaze remained calm, but Cheng Xi keenly caught the slightest ripple deep within those ancient-well-still eyes, like a pebble falling into a deep pool.
A peaceful, warm voice carrying unquestionable majesty sounded within the silent stone cave, clearly entering the ears of both of them:
"Bearing the Qingping Sword Sheath, stirring the Sky-Severing Sword Intent, breaking open the River God's Water Tribulation, and finding your way here..."
The green-robed Daoist paused slightly. His gaze fell upon Cheng Xi as though it had substance, as if he intended to see through him inside and out.
"You are the anomaly, Cheng Xi?"
The instant his words fell, an invisible pressure—gentle yet boundlessly vast—enveloped Cheng Xi and Yan Lingji like the entire world slowly closing around them, soft yet impossible to resist!
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