Mind Sword

"Sect Leader, save us!"

Behind Xuan'ai Daoist, thousands of disciples cried out in unison, their wails tearing at heart and soul, deeply moving.

Qingyu Daoist couldn't tell whether Xuan'ai Daoist had momentarily released control, or if she was directing the disciples to cry like this.

"What do you want? The Sect Leader position? Take it. I'll give you anything, just spare these disciples!" Qingyu Daoist ground out through clenched teeth. Circumstances forced her to bow to Xuan'ai Daoist.

Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth—spat up from sheer rage.

Xuan'ai Daoist struck Qingyu Daoist flying with a single palm, sneering, "The Sect Leader position? I wanted it once, but now? I only wish to stay by Hongchen Ancestor's side."

"Jiang Human Emperor has likely sensed something amiss. I need to control the Sect Protecting Array to block him and Pure Heart Saintess, so hand over the array core obediently."

"Jiang Human Emperor, Pure Heart Saintess, you're too late." Xuan'ai Daoist stood with Qingyu Daoist crushed underfoot, her face a mask of mockery.

The Sect Protecting Array unfurled, a bubble enveloping the entire Red Dust Pure Land. It seemed fragile enough to pop at a touch, yet was unyieldingly hard. Founded ten thousand years ago, Red Dust Pure Land was famed for mystery and peerless beauty. Countless had coveted its women, and it had weathered several crises, but all had been stopped by the Sect Protecting Array. None had ever breached it.

Xuan'ai Daoist had no fear that Jiang Li could shatter the Sect Protecting Array. This was a formation Hongchen Ancestor had brought from the Immortal World. Even an ordinary Immortal's full-force attack wouldn't make it tremble.

She refused to believe Jiang Li could break it! He was merely a Great Ascension Stage cultivator with a Mortal Body, not some Immortal World sovereign. How could he compare to an Immortal World formation! Pure Heart Saintess, though often overstepping her authority, saw her master so humiliated and her eyes reddened as she bombarded the Sect Protecting Array.

A peerless Green Lotus spun and bloomed in the Void, space rippling as if unable to bear its weight. Pure Heart Saintess pointed forward, and the Green Lotus slammed into the array, shattering space itself.

Seeing the array unscathed, dozens more Green Lotuses blossomed in the Void, all crashing into the formation together.

The violent explosion and heat flattened the surrounding area, but the Sect Protecting Array remained unaffected.

Jiang Li stepped forward and patted the panting Pure Heart Saintess.

"My turn."

Those two simple words radiated Jiang Li's confidence.

Xuan'ai Daoist laughed as if she'd heard the funniest joke, throwing her head back. "Jiang Human Emperor, I respect your contributions to the Nine Provinces and don't wish to shame you. Withdraw now, or your undefeated legend ends today!"

Jiang Li ignored her and called out to Qingyu Daoist, crushed underfoot, "Qingyu Sect Leader, I'll save your life today. You can stop holding a grudge against me—let's call it even, how about it?"

Before Qingyu Daoist could even say "yes," Jiang Li swung his fist down. The Sect Protecting Array, unblemished for ten thousand years, cracked like a mirror and shattered.

Xuan'ai Daoist stared dumbfounded, terror surging in her heart. Seeing Jiang Li approach hand in hand with Pure Heart Saintess, she frantically pointed at the thousand-plus disciples and shrieked, "Don't move! I've planted Mind Control Gu in all these disciples. With a single thought, they'll all kill themselves. Can you move faster than a thought?!"

Jiang Li indeed stopped walking, gazing at her calmly as he drawled, "I really can't be sure I'm faster than a thought."

Xuan'ai Daoist breathed a sigh of relief. Her life was safe for now. Then she couldn't help but sneer inwardly.

Whether it was the haughty Qingyu Daoist or the invincible Jiang Human Emperor, they still had to obey her because they cared about the lives of a bunch of Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and Spirit Transformation disciples.

To Xuan'ai Daoist, this was utterly ridiculous.

Qingyu Daoist and Jiang Human Emperor were merely strong in cultivation. They couldn't abandon others, lacked mental fortitude, and weren't true powerhouses. Only someone like her—ruthless, self-centered, and highly cultivated—counted as a true strong one! She believed that one day she would surpass Jiang Li and rule the world! "My demands are simple. Let me leave with Hongchen Ancestor, and all of you must swear by heaven..."

"...But why must I be faster than a thought?"

Jiang Li pulled a sword from his Storage Ring. Xuan'ai Daoist sensed danger and immediately ordered some disciples to kill themselves, to intimidate Jiang Li.

Jiang Li swung his sword once. No Sword Qi even emerged, but the Gu worms inside those thousand-plus disciples were sliced in two and died on the spot!

The disciples who had been about to kill themselves instantly broke free from control and stopped!

"My swordsmanship is crude. I only know this one move." Jiang Li continued walking toward Xuan'ai Daoist, who collapsed to the ground in terror, her legs too weak to stand. She frantically kicked backward, trying to retreat.

"This move is called the Mind Sword. It rises within a thought and falls within the Sea of Consciousness. In that rise and fall, Sword Qi forms inside the body."

"Originally, this move was meant to sever meridians and strip flesh from bone. But it seems cutting Gu and saving people suits it well too."

"Wait, I still have—" Xuan'ai Daoist saw Jiang Li raise his sword, its cold gleam shining in the moonlight. Her heart nearly burst with fear, her soul fleeing her body. She hurriedly tried to explain her value to Jiang Li.

But Jiang Li didn't even listen. He swung his sword down, and her head flew high. Xuan'ai died with her eyes wide open.

"Killing you doesn't require any sword technique."

With that utterly ordinary swing—one that didn't even qualify as a technique—everything was settled.

Jiang Li had originally wanted Pure Heart Saintess to handle this herself, but since it exceeded what she could manage alone, he had to step in.

"Thank you, Jiang Human Emperor, for helping Red Dust Pure Land through this calamity. This humble girl Pure Heart has no way to repay you but to offer myself in marriage."

"..."

Seeing that Pure Heart Saintess could still joke, Jiang Li judged her Dao Heart was unharmed. He didn't take her bait but walked over to Qingyu Daoist instead.

"Your entire sect nearly became the Joyous Union Sect because of scheming. Red Dust Pure Land needs to be more careful. I'll keep this secret for you and won't spread it."

Qingyu Daoist knelt sincerely and bowed deeply to Jiang Li. Just as he had said before saving her, past grudges were wiped clean. She no longer saw Jiang Human Emperor as the murderer of her former lover, but as the savior of Red Dust Pure Land.

Without Jiang Li, her sect would have become a laughingstock, and she herself would have been nailed to the pillar of shame in Red Dust Pure Land's history.

"For what Jiang Human Emperor has done tonight, Red Dust Pure Land will remember it forever."

"...Big Brother Jiang, am I going to die?" In Lower River Town, Du Xiner's gaze was unfocused, unable to see who had come, only sensing by instinct that it was Jiang Li.

In truth, not only Jiang Li had come, but also Pure Heart Saintess. Yet she deliberately concealed her presence, unable to face this simple-minded junior sister directly.

With the death of Xuan'ai Daoist, the Gu worms' master, the worms all died as well. Now, Upper River Town and Lower River Town were littered with corpses, thick with death aura. Du Xiner, a Golden Core cultivator in life, could still hold on a little longer, but not for long.

Jiang Li narrated everything to Du Xiner in a dejected tone, while the Pure Heart Saintess hid to the side, silently wiping her tears.

"So that's it... I was already dead long ago. No wonder I could never cultivate..."

Du Xiner smiled, but even she herself didn't understand why she was smiling.

"Senior Sister Pure Heart didn't come? I really wanted to see her one last time..."

Upon hearing this, the Pure Heart Saintess no longer concealed her aura. She rushed forward immediately, grasping Du Xiner's ice-cold little hand. "Junior Sister Xiner, Senior Sister is here. Senior Sister is right here!"

But Du Xiner was unresponsive, her head drooping limply to one side.

She was dead.