Pain Well Worth It

The monster that burst from the ground was so imposing that it attracted almost everyone's attention.

Its roar soared into the sky, dispersing all the dense dark clouds.

"What the hell is this?!"

Ao Yu's pupils contracted slightly as he stared in horror at the monster that had completely emerged from the ground.

Its body is covered with layers of overlapping dark scales, each scale ending in a sharp thorn, a feature most evident in its thick yet slender tail, which resembles an iron whip covered in spikes.

It's like a giant rat, clad in intimidating armor, but no one would mistake it for a rat, because it's far more ferocious and terrifying than a rat.

It glared angrily at everyone on the battlefield, its sharp mouth opening and closing, its breath as hot as fire, its huge pupils like burning fireballs, making everyone want to retreat.

"That's Fire Armadillo!"

Even the usually calm and collected Ao Yunlie showed a look of panic at this moment. He roared loudly, as if to warn everyone present.

Many people here had never heard of this name, but the sheer power of this behemoth was enough to crush their resolve. Some of those lurking in the mountains were already clutching their invitations and fleeing in all directions, desperate to save their lives.

"Run!" a cultivator shouted at the top of his lungs.

Ao Yunlie was about to lead everyone away when he keenly noticed a cold glint suddenly appearing on the horizon!

Ming Dao, whose swordplay had been interrupted by the Fire Armadillo, actually managed to regroup his Tingyu Sword Intent!

Ao Yunlie was stunned and lost in thought. Faced with this Divine Beast that even he himself felt fear, Ming Dao's first thought was not to flee, but to swing his sword at it?!

You must know that such a huge Fire Armadillo, coupled with its almost crimson eyes, must be stronger than a human at the Feather Transformation Realm!

Its scorching breath could even carbonize and turn grass leaves black. Ao Yunlie boldly guessed that this was at least a Fire Armadillo equivalent to the mid-stage of the Feather Transformation Realm.

Seeing Ming Dao's overwhelming sword strike, Ao Yunlie felt a surge of respect. A strong person dares to wield their sword against an even stronger one, even if he is an enemy, he is still a worthy opponent.

Etc...

His target... didn't seem to be the Fire Armadillo... but Ji Xueruo, who was running away with her back to him!

It's over! Too late! That shameless scoundrel!

Ao Yunlie suddenly felt a strong sense of humidity; the moisture in the air condensed into raindrops on its own.

A morbid resolve flickered in Ming Dao's eyes, and every raindrop carried a faint trace of the Tingyu Sword Intent.

With a whoosh, the rain poured down.

As a magic practitioner Ji Xueruo suffered far more severe aftereffects from having her spellcasting interrupted than a Sword Cultivator, especially since she had only just mastered the Humanoid Transformation Technique and was forced to transform twice in a short period of time.

Her internal energy was in complete disarray, and by the time she noticed the overwhelming downpour, it was already too late.

She looked back, her mind blank. Resentment, longing, hatred—all sorts of emotions welled up naturally, like stomach acid rising from a sore stomach.

That invitation was indeed Law Treasure, but only if there was a chance to tear it up.

She didn't even have time to recall her past, nor to remember the faces of her silly sister and the stubborn blind man, because she never imagined her death would come so quickly.

She was completely unprepared for death, just as she was facing this unstoppable rain of swords.

But just as the rain was pouring down, someone held an umbrella for her.

A black lotus flower appeared in the night sky, catching all the falling raindrops.

Ji Xueruo stared blankly at the boy's back, lost in thought. She had always thought that she was the one who held an umbrella for others, but now someone was holding an umbrella for her.

"This is the Lotus Birth Sword..."

Ao Yunlie, well-versed in the strengths of various schools of thought, could no longer conceal his astonishment.

The black lotus spun endlessly, constantly regenerating, and had actually begun to exhibit a faint trace of Lotus Birth Sword Intent, which happened to coincide with Ming Dao's dense, rain-like Tingyu Sword Intent.

If You Su's level of skill allows him to grasp even a trace of sword intent, Ao Yunlie feels that this is nothing unusual for any Way of the Sword genius.

But he clearly remembered the sword intent the boy used when he killed those two outsiders... completely different from the Lotus Birth Sword Intent, which was both gentle and firm, and continuous!

You Su possesses two sword intents!

The Fire Armadillo was enraged once more, and the crimson in its eyes deepened, resembling magma about to erupt.

It roared as it tried to tear apart the two insects that dared to swagger in front of it. It brandished its massive, razor-sharp tail, and a jagged trench suddenly appeared in the ground.

The enormous whip tail howled towards them. Ming Dao only wanted to kill the demon, but that didn't mean he didn't value his life. He couldn't possibly withstand this whip head-on. Realizing this, he condensed all the raindrops into a bundle. With the sword he swung out, the torrential rain followed the Tingyu Sword and transformed into a roaring water dragon!

The surging water dragon collided with the black lotus, bursting forth with a blinding white light and creating a huge vortex around them. Both of them were sent flying backward, crashing dozens of meters away.

The Fire Armadillo was at the center of the explosion, which completely enraged the Divine Beast hidden underground. Its whip missed its mark due to the two people's retreat, but it did not intend to give up. Instead, it roared and attacked again!

However, its goal is to Ming Dao!

Ming Dao struggled to his feet from the dust and mist, looking utterly disheveled, his sinister eyes bloodshot.

Seeing that the Fire Armadillo had chosen him from the two options, he couldn't help but curse, feeling utterly unlucky. Why did this beast have to chase him and not the blind man?

He mustered all his strength to escape, but he didn't expect that someone would arrive even faster than the Fire Armadillo!

It's You Su!

Ming Dao stared blankly for a moment at the gaping maw following closely behind You Su. He really didn't understand what You Su wanted to do by rushing over like that. Wasn't he afraid of being eaten?

At this moment You Su's muscles bulged and throbbed as if countless hearts were beating together. His spiritual platform was also spinning rapidly, and the liquid Mystic Qi accumulated in the spiritual platform was boiling, bringing him extraordinary spiritual and physical power.

You Su's mind was completely clear as he focused intently on wielding the Ink Pine Sword. It was the simplest sword technique, but all people could perceive was a dark sword shadow, like a wound torn open in space.

You Su seemed to recall the time when he faced True Man Ling. Back then, just like now, he had only one thought in his mind—to kill the person in front of him.

Don't Cower Sword Intent fears neither the road ahead nor the pursuit of the culprit.

Ming Dao couldn't even muster the thought of raising his sword again, because he felt it was pointless. He could block You Su, but he couldn't block the giant mouth behind You Su.

He is doomed.

Smoke and dust billowed back, Sword Qi soared into the sky, and the sword intent, seemingly intent to annihilate everything, crashed onto the ground with a thunderous roar.

A thousand miles away, in the Qiming Sect.

The refined middle-aged man held the extinguished life tablet in his hand, then crushed it into dust.

Heaven Awakening Island has restrictions on the transmission of voice and messages, but the Fate Talisman can ignore all restrictions in the world because the production of the Fate Talisman is particularly complex, the requirements are extremely strict, and the cost is still very high.

From the moment it is made, the life tablet is like an organ that the person is born with; when the person dies, the tablet is destroyed, and it remains unbreakable.

The middle-aged man looked out of the attic and saw that the rain, like beads, had gathered into a white curtain of water, as if the sky was weeping.

"These eyes like to see things they shouldn't... they should just go blind..."

You Su felt a hand gradually cover his vision in his blurred vision. After a moment, his world went completely black, as if it were nothingness.

But he hadn't seen that ethereal blackness like it did when he was a child for a long time. He had Tai Sui, the True God, and a higher realm. The light could now pierce through this ethereal fog, allowing him to vaguely see the outline of the world.

He even felt that the day when he could see again with his natural eyes was not far off, so how could he be plunged back into darkness now?

He woke up instantly, feeling a cold sweat on his back.

Fortunately, there was light in his field of vision, and even with his near-severe myopia, he could make out that it was a burning fire.

A huge weight lifted from his heart, and he breathed a sigh of relief, still shaken.

The darkness just now was simply because I had closed my eyes...

That aged sigh, like a basket of water that could not be scooped up, gradually disappeared into the depths of memory.

"You're awake?"

A soft, pleasant female voice rang out, waking You Su from her reverie.

You Su immediately recognized Ji Xueruo's voice.

Inside the dimly lit cave, the fire crackled and popped.

You Su wanted to answer, but suddenly realized that even the slightest movement of her throat was extremely painful. Not only her throat, but all the muscles in her body were in the same state, making it impossible for her to make any sound.

However, this wasn't the first time he had experienced this feeling of exhaustion after overworking himself, and he had actually gotten used to this state of fatigue.

Ji Xueruo's exquisitely beautiful face had lost some of its arrogant nobility, and gained a softer, more docile quality. It was as if she had guessed what You Su was thinking:

"You've been asleep for almost a day and have already escaped. We're currently hiding in a cave. I've personally set up Formation Technique outside the cave, so it's safe for now."

You Su made a few more "ah" sounds, then replied, "It was Ao Yunlie who saved you. Of course, I also deserve credit. When the Fire Armadillo saw that Ming Dao was dead, it didn't try to kill you anymore, but instead went back inside. Last night's commotion was too great, and more and more people gathered, so I used magic to escape with you first."

You Su frowned. The girl knelt on the ground, unable to resist rubbing her eyes. Her powerful attack last night had been interrupted, and her physical condition wasn't very good. She still hadn't fully recovered from her injuries, but she remained very patient with You Su.

"Ao Yunlie said that the Fire Armadillo likes earth and fire, but it hates water the most. It must be that Ming Dao used the Tingyu Sword Intent, which gathered too much water and forced the Fire Armadillo out. That's why the Fire Armadillo hates Ming Dao so much."

"Then... where is he...?" You Su struggled to squeeze out a few words.

He was clearly extremely weak, yet he still recklessly raised his voice, conveying a sense of relentless struggle.

Upon Ji Xueruo pursed her thin lips and her eyelashes trembled slightly. "You're dead? You probably passed out after swinging that sword, and you couldn't even tell if the enemy was alive or dead."

To everyone's surprise, when You Su heard the news, his brows furrowed even deeper. He clenched his fist forcefully, as if unwilling, but he still couldn't help coughing.

"You've already killed him, aren't you satisfied?" Ji Xueruo quickly tried to appease You Su, her hidden worry also showing.

"I couldn't... see... it with my own eyes..." You Su managed to squeeze out a few more words.

The girl paused in her attempt to catch her breath, lost in thought. After a long while, only a soft murmur escaped her lips:

"What a blind man thinks... You have no idea how much of an impact this will have. If Ming Dao had been eaten by the Fire Armadillo, I would have felt relieved. But you insisted on killing him before it, and of course, so many people witnessed it..."

Two of his followers tore up the invitation after witnessing that scene. Now we're on the island, they're off the island, and we can't do anything about what they say about you. The Qiming Sect and the Xuanxiao Sect aren't exactly on good terms to begin with, vying for the title of the number one sect in the world, and you were traveling with the Demon Race, so the reason for killing him is... In short, killing him will trigger a series of problems, and your sword could very well be the spark that ignites the fire."

This young woman, who had long held a position of power, was usually sparing with her words, but she became quite talkative in front of the boy, her tone somewhat reproachful, as if she were blaming You Su, or perhaps herself. Little did she know then that her words tonight would come true.

You Su curled his lips into a smile, a trickle of blood seeping from his chapped lips. He didn't make a sound, only moved his lips slightly.

Ji Xueruo could tell that it was something he had said twice before:

He wants you to kill him, so I will kill him.

"It's all that Fire Armadillo's fault. My move in my true form wasn't necessarily inferior to his Listening to the Tingyu Sword Intent, yet it insisted on interfering with our duel... And Ming Dao is shameless too, accusing others of sneak attacks, but he himself resorted to underhanded tactics. Otherwise, how would you have had the chance to play the hero?"

Ji Xueruo pursed her red lips, giving You Su a reproachful look.

"Okay... armadillo..." You Su forced a smile.

Upon hearing this, the girl sighed softly, rubbing her forehead, speechless at the boy's childishness. "Hero saves the beauty"—what a clichéd plot!

"You don't think that a bear has to repay a damsel in distress with his body, do you?"

The girl retorted mercilessly, but her thin, delicate lips were the only part of her body that remained firm.

The appearance of the Fire Armadillo was so shocking that no one noticed Ming Dao, who was hiding in the shadows and continuing to prepare her sword strike, not even herself.

But there was one person who saved her in time. This blind man could not see anything, but it seemed that you were the only thing in his world, so he could focus all his attention on the dangers you might encounter.

Will there ever be another person like that in this world?

This sword strike pierced through the rain of swords, cut through the night, and also shook the composure she had built up over two hundred days.

The responsibilities she carried, the constraints of her identity, the barriers of her race... Ji Xueruo suddenly felt exhausted, her eyelids drooping, envying her carefree younger sister.

You Su struggled to move his finger and gently hooked it onto the girl's slender little finger.

The firelight flickered, but the shadows of the boy and girl on the wall were connected by their interlocking fingers.

Ji Xueruo's neck flushed a pale pink, and her eyelids drooped, but she didn't pull her jade-like fingers back. After the boy woke up, the fatigue she had been trying to suppress washed over her like a tidal wave.

Her situation is no better than You Su's.

In an instant, she collapsed into You Su's arms, her breathing even.

You Su was in excruciating pain from the pressure, but he still endured the pain and reached out to stroke the girl's hair, feeling that the pain was worthwhile.