"Su Ming! I'm sorry!"

A crisp sound.

Jian Yi's long sword nearly slipped from his hand.

He tightened his grip.

His knuckles creaked.

The second strike.

Still a straight thrust.

The Bizarre Immortal Sovereign tilted its head and caught the blade between two fingers.

Jian Yi couldn't pull it free.

"Ant."

The Bizarre Immortal Sovereign spat out the word.

Then it flicked the blade with force.

Jian Yi and his sword flew backward, crashing into a boulder. The stone shattered, but he didn't.

He stood up again.

Blood hung at the corner of his mouth. The bone in his left shoulder was out of place, but he stood up again.

He walked back to where he'd been.

He returned to the spot in front of Ye Chuxue and Luo Yiyi.

In front of you.

"What are you holding on for?"

A trace of confusion entered the Bizarre Immortal Sovereign's voice.

It didn't understand.

Knowing they couldn't win, why stand there?

Knowing they would die, why stand in the way?

The Abnormal Clan had no such logic.

The weak had only two choices before the strong.

Submit, or die.

There was no third option.

But Jian Yi gave it a third.

Stand in the way.

Just stand in the way.

Even if he couldn't win, stand in the way.

"I have to... protect them for Master..."

Jian Yi finally spoke.

His voice was hoarse, as if his throat were full of sand.

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

You heard those words.

Suddenly, you remembered the last words Jian Lingtian had spoken before he vanished.

"I entrust the future of Immortal Sword Manor to you."

He hadn't meant you alone.

He meant everyone.

Including Jian Yi.

The Bizarre Immortal Sovereign said nothing more.

It raised its hand, and a mass of