Obtaining Essence Blood

Most of the light had already faded from Zuo Qianshan's eyes, but the last trace of clarity left in them made him stare fixedly at Li Xiao.

His lips trembled. With every word he spoke, bloody froth spilled from the corners of his mouth, and his voice was hoarse and venomous:

"You... won't come to a good end... You're an outsider, yet you've learned the Sword Sect's cultivation method...

"You'll definitely be hunted to death... The Sword Sect won't let you off..."

Li Xiao turned a deaf ear.

He crouched down and extended his right hand, pressing his five fingers against Zuo Qianshan's dantian.

A stream of True Qi surged in, like invisible chains that completely sealed away the last trace of True Qi remaining within Zuo Qianshan.

His meridians were blocked, his dantian imprisoned. Zuo Qianshan became like an empty sack stripped of its final breath, collapsing limply into the dirt without even the strength to twitch a finger.

After doing all this, Li Xiao picked up Zuo Qianshan as though lifting a tattered sack and, with a flicker of his body, left the city.

Shi Xin stood where he was, watching Li Xiao's retreating figure vanish into the night. He pressed his palms together and softly uttered a buddhist chant.

A trace of complicated emotion filled his eyes.

A moment later, he turned and swept off in the direction opposite Li Xiao's. His monk robe snapped in the night wind, and before long, he disappeared into the darkness.

Carrying Zuo Qianshan, Li Xiao raced onward until he was dozens of li beyond Bright Yin Commandery before stopping in a secluded mountain valley.

Mountains surrounded the place on all sides, with not a soul in sight. There was only the mournful wail of the night wind passing through the