Amid the ruins of the collapsed barren mountain, Lingyun staggered out, blood staining his white robes, carrying Second Brother Spring Ghost's head in one hand and his broken sword in the other.
Ren Ye stared at him, his eyes blank, shock and conflicting emotions filling his heart. "Brother Lingyun, you... why did you do this? If you'd just waited a little longer, the two of us...!"
Thud!
The bloody head slipped from Lingyun's hand and landed heavily in the dust.
His great vengeance fulfilled, endless regret, resentment, and reluctance came surging through him. It was as though all his strength had vanished in an instant.
Thump!
His hair disheveled, Lingyun slumped limply to the ground. Facing the cold wind, he said hollowly, "He wanted to run. I wanted to kill him. There was no reconciling the two... That evil ghost was Super Grade, and I, this treasured sword so carefully nurtured by an ancient clan... couldn't even keep him here."
"You fought the leader of the Five Ghosts in the northeastern wilderness... I sensed your violent spiritual energies, and I knew he couldn't defeat you. He was certain to die today."
"With four of the Five Ghosts gone, how could I let the last one escape my hands? I had to kill him, for Yue'e, and... for myself."
"I've cultivated since birth, forging my sword through the years. Yet my title as a Heavenly Pride of the Eastern Continent was empty. In the end, I couldn't even protect the woman I loved... Over twenty years wasted, with neither my cultivation nor a family established. Truly, no one has failed more than I have."
He sat cross-legged, murmuring to himself, his face turned into the cold wind, his eyes as dim as the dust of a collapsed mountain.
Ren Ye stood