Practicing Swordsmanship Until the Sword Qi Became a Thread

After a long while, the slaughter finally stopped.

Azure Sky Ghost Venerable's long hair streamed high in the air. The Crimson Breeze in her hand sliced through the head of a vicious ghost, whose face was still etched with deep terror even in death.

None of them had expected things to end this way today.

Even Fei Luo hadn't expected things to end this way.

This woman's heart must have been aching all along, even after becoming a ghost, even after a hundred years, Fei Luo thought as he watched Azure Sky Ghost Venerable, who seemed to have gone mad with rage.

At that moment, Fei Luo thought of something.

If such a miserable fate had befallen him, would he have been able to keep his sanity?

This woman had been ahead of her time.

She had wanted to choose whom she loved freely. She had wanted to break through the shackles of feudal society and tear down its barriers.

From beginning to end, apart from wronging Butcher Zhang, she had wronged no one.

Not even the childhood sweetheart with whom she had pledged eternal love beneath the flowers and moonlight.

Even knowing she would be deceived, she had still rushed forward like a moth flying into a flame.

Fei Luo asked himself the question, but even he wasn't sure whether he could have kept his sanity if he had suffered one misfortune after another.

After killing many ghosts, Azure Sky Ghost Venerable turned to Fei Luo. "Human, even if it costs me my life, today I'll gouge out your eyes."

Whoosh!

Azure Sky Ghost Venerable moved. The solidified yin energy behind her shot up into the sky as the sharp sword in her hand thrust toward Fei Luo's throat.

She had put all her strength into that strike.

"Alas." Fei Luo sighed softly. "Azure Sky, you're no match for me."

As his words fell, Azure Sky Ghost Venerable's attack arrived.

Without even looking, Fei Luo casually raised the Flowing Cloud Sword to parry.

Clang!

The clash of metal rang out, sending countless sparks flying.

The pupils in Azure Sky Ghost Venerable's bloodshot eyes contracted. Her first strike had failed, and she swiftly retreated.

"How is this possible? How can his strength be so great?" Though Azure Sky Ghost Venerable was furious, she had not lost her reason. That strike had sent shock waves through her heart.

"Azure Sky, humans have their path, and ghosts have theirs. I advise you to stop struggling in vain. Though you have suffered a tragic fate, you killed those who deserved it—and those who didn't. You also committed many evil deeds for your own selfish desires. You brought this upon yourself, and you have no one to blame."

Fei Luo spoke softly as he looked at Azure Sky Ghost Venerable, whose face was filled with shock.

"What do you know?" Azure Sky Ghost Venerable's forehead veins bulged. Her voice was almost a scream. "What makes someone deserve to die? What makes someone not deserve to die? All the men in this world are alike. They're driven by their lower halves—filthy and despicable. And those gossips who wag their tongues deserve death even more. What business is it of theirs what other people do? Why can't I kill them?"

"Isn't this world all about the strong devouring the weak? Look at these ghosts. When their lives are on the line, do you think they still regard me as their king? Didn't you see how they insulted me?"

Azure Sky Ghost Venerable's delicate body trembled. Her voice brimmed with indignation and hatred.

She was deeply hostile toward the whole world. In her eyes, there wasn't a single good person in it apart from her husband—not even among the ghosts.

"Foolish child."

Fei Luo's calm voice rang through the air, and his figure suddenly vanished.

"Hm?" Azure Sky Ghost Venerable's pupils contracted as a deep sense of danger rose in her heart.

Fei Luo's feet traced the Star-Plucking Steps, his figure as elusive as a ghost. A faint chill glimmered along the Flowing Cloud Sword in his hand as its boundless killing intent locked onto every trace of Azure Sky Ghost Venerable's presence.

Void-Breaking Sword Art, Moon Embracer.

Whoosh!

A dazzling silver gleam, bright as moonlight, flashed through the air. Its razor-sharp sword energy swept over Azure Sky Ghost Venerable, shredding her clothes layer by layer. Even the night sky was cleaved into several pieces by the sword's edge, then vanished into thin air.

The strange sword gleam was as fleeting as lightning and flint. In an instant, it reached the space between Azure Sky Ghost Venerable's brows.

At the brink of life and death, Azure Sky Ghost Venerable condensed her yin energy until it became solid. Black markings spread across her face and down her entire body, while ghostly power gathered over the ghost weapon in her hand to shield her forehead.

Bang!

In that instant, Azure Sky Ghost Venerable seemed to have been struck by an ancient mammoth. The terrifying force and razor-sharp sword edge cleaved her ghost weapon in two. Her body was sent flying like a cannonball into the Ghost Mansion, where it brought down several buildings.

"Pfft—"

In midair, Azure Sky Ghost Venerable spat out a mouthful of blood. Her face was as pale as paper.

"Practicing swordsmanship until the sword qi becomes a thread—how is that possible?"

"This, this, this..."

In the distance, the two Underworld Envoys trembled all over, too shocked to speak.

"What does it mean to practice swordsmanship until the sword qi becomes a thread?" Green Bird transformed into a small bird and perched on a branch, speaking in human words to the two Underworld Envoys.

"Practicing swordsmanship until the sword qi becomes a thread means condensing thousands upon thousands of sword qi into a single strand. That dazzling sword gleam the young master just unleashed was the manifestation of that realm. Even hundreds of years ago, very few people could reach it. Its sharpness far surpasses what people can imagine. They say it can sever all things."

As Green Bird listened to the Underworld Envoy's explanation, her pupils shrank sharply. She gazed at Fei Luo's figure with admiration.

She didn't understand what it meant, but she knew the young master was the most powerful.

Having landed a successful strike, Fei Luo drove the Star-Plucking Steps to their utmost limit and launched his second attack.

Whoosh!

Another brilliant sword gleam appeared in the air, carrying that terrifying killing intent toward Azure Sky Ghost Venerable, who lay in the ruins.

Azure Sky Ghost Venerable hadn't even steadied herself yet. She felt as though her insides were burning and churning like a river turned upside down.

Her condition was now terrible. She was filthy from head to toe, and her red dress had been reduced to rags, leaving her body exposed.

She had no time to think. The threat of death had already settled over her.

In the air, the moonlight-like sword qi swept toward her once more.

"Husband... I can't stay with you anymore. I'm sorry." At death's door, Azure Sky Ghost Venerable knew she could never dodge this strike. Her ghost weapon was broken, and beneath that unimaginable force, she was already at the end of her strength.

In resignation, she took out the crystal ball and gently stroked it, wanting to remember her husband's face.

Suddenly, Azure Sky Ghost Venerable's pupils contracted, and shock appeared on her face. The crystal ball in her hand flashed, and an unexpected change occurred.

"Young master, please spare Yu'er."

Fei Luo approached with sword in hand. Suddenly, a nearly transparent soul appeared in front of him. It belonged to a burly man with a square face and thick eyebrows. He wasn't especially handsome, but he had a pleasant, solid appearance.

More importantly, there wasn't a trace of evil about this man's soul.

"Hm?" Fei Luo furrowed his brows. In one fluid motion, he redirected his Moon Embracer strike and sent it toward the distance.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

A single burst of sword qi brought down three palaces in succession, sending up clouds of dust.

"Husband, husband!" The moment Azure Sky Ghost Venerable saw the figure, tears burst from her eyes like a broken dam. She struggled to her feet, then crawled toward the soul.

"Young master, please spare Yu'er. She's had a hard life. If you must kill someone, kill me instead." The soul's eyes were clear and sincere. He bowed deeply to Fei Luo from afar.