Slaughter Sword Intent (Making Up Yesterday's Missed Chapter)

Senior Sister Yuan Xi put enough force into that slap that a red handprint instantly bloomed across the young Rogue Cultivator's face.

His eyes went bloodshot with fury, and he struggled to strike back.

Senior Sister Yuan Xi shot him a cold glance. With one arm, she held Lin Qi close and blocked her view. She tossed out the long sword in her hand, then casually swept two fingers through the air.

A streak of cold light dragged an afterimage through the air.

In the blink of an eye, the Beast Child, who had been choosing whom to attack, was pierced through the body. Before it even had time to struggle, its breath was gone.

Bright red blood spread beneath her.

That move had been clean and decisive, as well as cold and ruthless.

It revealed a resoluteness and tenacity utterly at odds with Yuan Xi's youthful appearance.

The young Rogue Cultivator immediately calmed down.

Yuan Xi could kill a Beast Child comparable to a Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivator with a wave of her hand. Killing him, a Great Perfection Foundation Establishment cultivator, would not be difficult either.

He had cultivated bitterly for many years. He had no intention of losing his life over a moment of rashness.

Still, he would remember this debt!

Held protectively in Senior Sister Yuan Xi's arms, Lin Qi vaguely caught a fleeting trace of killing intent. When she opened her eyes again, she saw the child who had already been dealt with.

Worry now tinged Senior Sister Yuan Xi's face, which had just been icy. "Little Qi, did that scare you?"

Lin Qi stared at the child's corpse for several seconds before shaking her head. "Senior Sister, what exactly is going on?"

If she were going to be frightened, she would have been frightened the moment she first saw that headless corpse on the ground. She was not about to put on an act now.

Senior Sister Yuan Xi recalled her sword, her gaze landing on the Affairs Hall steward.

"I would also like to know exactly what happened."

"A senior brother informed me that a Dao Ming Beast had appeared on Anding Street. I immediately rushed over with my junior brothers and sisters. As soon as I entered, I saw a Rogue Cultivator holding a sword and preparing to kill the child on the ground. I thought he was the culprit behind this matter, so I fought him."

Steward Lin wiped the sweat from his forehead and sighed. "It was all a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding! I never expected you to arrive so quickly."

Steward Lin then explained the identities of the young Rogue Cultivator and the middle-aged man beside him.

The middle-aged man was the current City Lord of Ming City, while the Rogue Cultivator beside him was a task-taker he had recruited by posting a gold-listing to deal with the Dao Ming Beast.

This Rogue Cultivator had accepted the task nearly half a year ago. By chance, he passed this courtyard today and heard the frightened cries of the neighbors. He immediately came to investigate and provided the City Lord's Manor with information.

After the Affairs Hall received word from the City Lord's Manor, they notified Yuan Xi at once.

They had originally assumed that Yuan Xi and the other children were new arrivals who did not even know the roads, so they would probably only arrive once the matter was nearly resolved.

No one had expected Yuan Xi to come so quickly, or to happen upon the Rogue Cultivator attacking the child, with a corpse whose head had been gnawed off lying on the ground.

At a time like this, it would have been difficult not to misunderstand.

Senior Sister Yuan Xi had never been one to put on airs. After learning what had happened, she held her sword and bowed to the Rogue Cultivator, Mu Jin, in apology.

Mu Jin turned his head aside. The redness and swelling on his face were obvious, and coldness filled his eyes.

"No need! I have nothing to say about today's humiliation."

Yuan Xi straightened, looking at him with an indifferent expression. "I am apologizing for misunderstanding you, not because I slapped you."

"Provoking someone stronger than you while posing as the weaker party—if I killed you, who would dare say anything?!"

"Take today's slap as a lesson. When you lack the strength, keep your mouth shut!"

Mu Jin's face immediately flushed red with rage, his fists clenched tight.

He had clawed his way up step by step, and though he was proud, he could still swallow this insult at a time like this.

Lin Qi lifted her little chin, nearly dumbfounded by what she saw.

Her gentle-as-water senior sister actually had such a cool, domineering side?!

Even so, Lin Qi keenly sensed that something was off with Senior Sister Yuan Xi's mood.

She tugged at Senior Sister Yuan Xi's sleeve, bent over, and pretended to feel unwell.

"Senior Sister, I feel a little uncomfortable. Let's go into the courtyard and look for clues first, and rest for a bit while we're at it."

Before Lin Qi could finish, Yuan Xi had already crouched down in front of her.

"Little Qi, get on. I'll take you to see a physician!"

Before Lin Qi could refuse, she was already on Yuan Xi's back.

She tugged at Senior Sister Yuan Xi's clothes in reminder. "Senior Sister, you still have a mission."

Senior Sister Yuan Xi said solemnly, "The City Lord of Ming City and the senior brother from the Affairs Hall are both here. There is only so much I can do. What matters more now is taking you to see a physician!"

Her attitude brooked no refusal as she carried Lin Qi straight out of the courtyard.

Luo Ci, who was clutching the front gate and vomiting violently, dearly wanted to make a sound and get someone's attention. Unfortunately, his beloved eldest senior sister had eyes only for Lin Qi and simply passed right by him.

Luo Ci wanted to catch up, but at the sight of that headless female corpse, his legs went weak.

He grabbed the sleeve of a Foundation Establishment cultivator and said with difficulty, "Carry me. Follow them!"

Lin Qi's little face rested lightly against Senior Sister Yuan Xi's not-so-broad shoulder. A gentle breeze brushed past on either side, making her eyes sting.

She had never imagined that one day, she would be so fiercely protected by a twelve-year-old girl.

Sometimes, if you kept pretending long enough, you couldn't help but become a child yourself.

By the time they reached Ming City's most renowned medical hall, Lin Qi had already collapsed from exhaustion and fallen unconscious.

Yuan Xi felt her pulse. The spiritual energy within Lin Qi's meridians was still a complete mess.

If this continued, Lin Qi's Cultivation Level might even regress.

After taking her pulse, the physician stroked his beard and asked, "Your junior sister's aura is in disarray. A mass of killing intent is roiling through her body, crashing about wildly—it vaguely resembles Sword Qi. Has she recently practiced any sword technique with especially potent killing aura?"

Yuan Xi frowned. "My junior sister practices the sect's Tai Chi Swordplay. Her path is one of calming the spirit and stilling the heart, using softness to overcome hardness. How could she have practiced a technique with such powerful killing aura?"

Luo Ci silently raised a hand from the side. "I know what happened."

"Eldest Senior Sister, do you remember when we had just arrived on Anding Street, and a Sword Qi shot into the sky from the courtyard? Second Senior Sister started acting strangely after seeing it. Her eyes had even turned red then."

"What?!" Yuan Xi and the physician cried out in shock at the same time.

The physician quickly guessed the reason.

"The person who used that sword technique must have possessed a profound understanding of Slaughter Sword Intent. Your junior sister's talent is exceptional as well; after witnessing a single strike, she was drawn into a state of enlightenment. Unfortunately, Slaughter Sword Intent is utterly opposed to the tranquility of Tai Chi. The two cannot coexist, so they began battling within your junior sister's body... This is difficult!"

This was already beyond the physician's scope of treatment. Lin Qi's condition was purely a cultivation problem; what they needed was a cultivator with profound mastery of the Dao.

The physician said, "There are two ways now. One is for your junior sister to completely comprehend the Slaughter Sword Intent herself. The other is to find a cultivator with profound Cultivation Level—at the very least, a Nascent Soul Cultivator—to help your junior sister expel this Sword Intent from her body."

"For now, all I can do is help your junior sister temporarily suppress the rampaging spiritual energy."

With that, he administered acupuncture and prescribed medicine for Lin Qi.

After the acupuncture, the physician discovered that Lin Qi's physique was extraordinarily robust.

He reassured Yuan Xi, "Things are much better than we imagined. Your junior sister's physique is strong, and her comprehension ability is excellent. Who knows—she may truly be able to completely comprehend this Slaughter Sword Intent."

Many readers have had questions about the part where Lin Yun returned her blood essence to Lin Qi, so this author wrote an explanation and pinned it in the community. Those who are curious can take a look; there is only so much the author can write in the author's notes.

...It is still under review. No idea when it will be approved.