"My lord is no ordinary martial artist, but I am no ordinary cultivator either."
Lady Liu's voice was ethereal.
As she spoke, blood-red pillars of light sprang up around Chen Mo, trapping him like the bars of a cage.
He raised a hand and touched one. His fingers instantly charred black!
His flesh corroded, eaten away to the bone!
"Since you insist on meddling, my lord, then you can leave your life behind."
Lady Liu's wives and concubines stepped forward, taking up the Seven Stars formation and pinning Chen Mo between "Heaven Pivot" and "Heaven Authority."
The blood-red light blazed brighter, and the pillars steadily drew inward.
They meant to grind Chen Mo to death!
"This man's True Essence is abundant. He doesn't seem like a sixth-grade cultivator, and his saber arts are astonishingly powerful. We can't meet him head-on."
"But a martial artist is still a martial artist. His methods are limited; he definitely can't break my Blood Prison."
"As long as we wear him down before midnight, let the demon transform, and use him to offer the grand array its sacrifice, our great plan will succeed!"
Lady Liu muttered to herself.
Her voice shifted between that of a young girl and a mature woman.
Ratty, perched on her shoulder, squeaked excitedly, unable to wait to feast.
It had no idea that it, too, was one of the sacrifices.
Bang!
Just then, a figure dropped from the roof and landed heavily on the ground.
Leaning on her Mo Blade, Li Yuan rose to her feet, seething inwardly.
That lecherous bastard had hit way too hard. She could barely walk straight...
"..."
Lady Liu's brows lowered.
"Another nuisance. Kill her first!"
Lady Liu's wives and concubines leaped toward Li Yuan!
Li Yuan took one look and grasped the situation. A spark of excitement flashed in her eyes.
Just what I needed!
I've been sitting on a bellyful of rage with nowhere to let it out!
She swung her Mo Blade, its strokes sweeping over them like splashing water, engulfing them all.
The Chaotic Chopping Blade was a battlefield assault technique, especially suited to fighting many opponents while outnumbered!
She faced seven foes alone and held her ground!
Lady Liu's brows knitted even tighter. She had been focused on Chen Mo and hadn't expected this woman to be so troublesome too!
But it was no problem.
There was still time. She just had to keep Li Yuan occupied, then slowly refine Chen Mo...
Whoosh!
A shrill whistle cut through the air.
A signal arrow streaked across the night sky and exploded with a bang!
In the flare of its light, a dozen figures raced toward them. At their head, a portly man shouted:
"Protect the chief constable! Follow me and slay the enemy!"
Following Chen Mo's instructions, they had gathered at the county yamen at the hour of the pig.
But after waiting a long while, Constable Xing had brought word that the two chief constables had decided to spend the night at Liu Mansion...
Qin Shou knew Chen Mo wasn't the sort to lose his head over a pretty face. Sensing something was wrong, he led his men toward Liu Mansion.
On the way, they had seen saber energy soar into the sky, and then stumbled upon the scene before them.
Constable Xing trailed behind, his face turning pale.
He realized he had misunderstood Chen Mo.
"Lady Liu was the culprit all along!"
"My lord stayed at the Liu Family's estate not to indulge in beauty... but to exterminate the demon!"
"Pathetic nobodies, you dare join the fray!"
Lady Liu spread her arms, her robes snapping in the wind. Endless black mist poured from her sleeves, swallowing everyone.
They immediately lost their bearings. Though they were close enough to touch one another, they could see nothing and were trapped, blundering around in circles within the mist.
"Midnight is almost here. We can't delay any longer. Kill that woman first!"
Lady Liu spoke, but her voice issued from all seven wives and concubines at once.
Demons and ghosts followed their own rules. One person had to die every three days, and the dead had to wear wedding robes... Now that Chen Mo had been chosen, not even a ghost cultivator like her could change the target.
She would deal with that wretched woman first, then devote all her strength to refining Chen Mo!
"Years of plotting, and we're only one step from the end. How could we let all our efforts go to waste?"
"Finish this quickly, before we attract a grandmaster from the capital!"
Lady Liu opened a tiny mouth like an eagle's beak. The corners split all the way to her ears. She sucked in sharply, drawing the black mist into her belly as her body swelled several times over.
Then she swallowed all seven concubines whole!
After consuming them, her aura surged higher and higher. The black mist billowing around her grew thicker than the night!
Boom!
Two red lanterns lit up in the black mist. A monster over ten meters tall strode forth!
Its eyes were as scarlet as lanterns, and seven pairs of arms sprouted from its sides. Its flesh writhed all over, revealing several human faces from time to time. Its appearance was horrifyingly grotesque!
Even Li Yuan's nerves couldn't withstand the sight of such a monster. She shuddered with terror!
"Die!"
Eight voices rang out together as gigantic palms crashed down one after another, blotting out the sky!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The street caved in, houses collapsed, and the earth split as though the world were falling apart!
Li Yuan darted and dodged, striking back with her Mo Blade at every opportunity.
But even when she hacked off the monster's toes, black mist surged from the wounds, and they were restored in an instant! She couldn't inflict any real damage!
"If this keeps up, it'll wear me down sooner or later!"
"I have to risk it!"
Li Yuan's gaze turned resolute.
She stopped and drove her saber into the ground.
Gripping its hilt with her hands, she braced both feet against the blade. The nearly two-meter-long Mo Blade bent like a crescent moon!
The moment all seven pairs of hands came crashing down, the blade sprang straight. Li Yuan shot up, shoulders hunched and body curled tight, slipping through a gap between the monster's fingers by the narrowest margin. In a flash, she was before its enormous head!
Beneath the vast night sky, with the full moon at her back, she was like a tiger pouncing beneath the moon.
Gripping her saber with both hands, Li Yuan unleashed an overbearing, unstoppable blade intent at the monster's neck!
Chaotic Chopping Blade: Ten Thousand Army Decapitation!
This was her only chance!
But a sly glint flashed in the monster's scarlet eyes. Its chest split open, and another pair of enormous hands emerged!
"Damn it!"
Suspended in midair, with nowhere to brace herself, Li Yuan was caught cleanly!
"I'll kill you first, then deal with him..."
The monster clenched her between its hands. Its mouth yawned like a bottomless chasm, ready to swallow her whole!
The stench was overpowering. Darkness swelled in her vision, and Li Yuan's face went pale as despair washed over her—
Was she going to die?
She had skirted the edge of death countless times, but had always survived in the end.
This time, though, she really might die.
It was hard to accept.
She hadn't fulfilled her father's final wish. She hadn't reached the pinnacle of the saber path. She had never been in love, or defeated that bastard Chen Mo...
Was it... over?
Suddenly, the monster froze.
As if it had sensed something, it slowly turned around.
Li Yuan followed its gaze and stared, dumbstruck.
Chen Mo, still trapped inside the Blood Prison, was gripping the red pillars of light with both hands. Wisps of smoke rose from him, carrying the smell of charred flesh.
"Don't underestimate me. You think this thing... can hold me?!"
His palms had been burned down to the bones, yet he still strained to force the pillars apart.
The red light in the monster's eyes blazed brighter. The Blood Prison tightened rapidly, almost swallowing Chen Mo whole!
But Chen Mo kept moving forward, slow and steadfast.
The blood-red light ate away at him. His flesh peeled off, revealing gleaming white bones; even his heart could be seen beating inside his chest!
"Is this guy trying to get himself killed?"
The monster stared at him in bewilderment.
Chen Mo took one final step and at last walked free of the Blood Prison.
Only half the skin remained on his face, yet he broke into a smile of utter relief.
"Damn this miserable world's dying glow. This really fucking hurts!"
He sheathed his Horizontal Blade, and his aura receded.
A nameless dread seized the monster's heart, as though some vast presence were watching it.
In the blink of an eye, a dazzling blade arc swept down like the Milky Way turned on its head!
A surging tide of life essence poured into the strike. A blue-green dragon took shape within it, lightning coiling around its body as it rapidly swelled in the monster's scarlet pupils!
"Roar!"
The Hibernating Dragon awoke; the first spring thunder rang out!
The instant it struck the monster, the blue-green essence eradicated every trace of death energy!
The monster's enormous body crumbled to dust, and its black mist was utterly annihilated by the force of life!
The world seemed to fall silent.
The moon shone pale in the clear night air, when suddenly a fine drizzle began to fall.
Li Yuan landed on the ground. Through the delicate veil of rain, she gazed at the man covered in wounds...
Before she knew it, she was entranced.
Before you continue