Why Didn't You Dodge!?

Sword Qi pierced Gu Han's chest in an instant.

His body stiffened, but he could not stop his momentum. He stumbled and fell at the cave entrance.

His fingers kept clawing forward, again and again, his knuckles scraping furrows through the gravel.

After who knew how many attempts, he stopped moving.

Xue Chong lay gravely wounded, watching helplessly as Gu Han collapsed at the entrance. Immense sorrow filled his eyes, along with a vast measure of relief and release.

He had been unable to sever their bond as master and disciple. He had let Gu Han commit such a vile act, failing both his martial niece and his sect.

Good that he's dead... Let us all die here...

Inside the cave, the Sword Mantis withdrew its gaze and walked toward Xu Qinglan once more, step by step.

Its feet tapped against the bluestone, neither hurried nor slow.

Leaning on her sword hilt, Xu Qinglan had watched everything unfold.

She suddenly smiled, then drew in the air one last time with something close to greed.

There was no way back.

She knew how severe her injuries were. Less than three-tenths of her spiritual power remained, and she still had to divide her attention to protect the Sword Embryo in her arms.

Before a Core Condensation Great Demon, fighting meant death; fleeing meant death too.

But the Sword Embryo could never fall into its hands.

The Sword Embryo was the foundation of Sword-Hiding Mountain, passed down by its founding patriarch. If it ended up in that demon's belly, what a mockery its thousand-year legacy would become!

That left only one path.

Xu Qinglan slowly closed her eyes. When she opened them again, nothing remained in them. They were as still as an ancient well.

The spiritual power in her Apertures began