As he watched the flames split in two against the sword's edge, Su Qing's heart lurched, and his composure shattered.
No way?
Did I just cut Nine Nether in half?
I'm screwed!
Although his father's late-stage Divine Soul Realm cultivation was enough to handle Liu Jing at the peak of the Divine Soul Realm, Liu Qing was also at the late stage, and Uncle Zhou, who was only at the early stage, was no match for him.
And without Nine Nether, how are we supposed to fight that eagle inside Ji Xuan's body?
Ah! Shibal! What the fuck!
While Su Qing was inwardly ranting, one of the two separated masses of flame suddenly changed course and hurtled toward his body.
Within those flames, a soul essence flickered with faint light.
Huh?
You're still alive!
Thank goodness.
Wait, that's not right!
Why are you coming at me?! Mu Chen's over there!
Take a good look! That weakling lying on the ground coughing up blood is Mu Chen!
By then, Su Qing had no time to do anything-not that there was much he could have done anyway. He could only watch as the smaller mass of flame merged into his body.
Scorching heat and stabbing pain instantly spread through Su Qing's body.
With a low growl, Su Qing dropped to one knee, bracing his sword against the ground with his right hand. Cold sweat instantly soaked his clothes.
It hurts so much!
How did Mu Chen endure this back then?
Oh, Mu Chen passed out. Well, that explains it.
Wait, why am I still conscious?!
"Brother! Are you all right?" Mu Chen climbed up from the ground and asked anxiously.
"I'm-I'm fine!" Su Qing forced out a faint smile.
Before long, the heat and pain slowly receded. Su Qing breathed a sigh of relief and tried to stand, only to stumble.
Fuck, my leg cramped up from the pain.
Afterward, everyone set off back to the Mu Domain. Along the way, seeing that Nine Nether was still lying dormant, Su Qing was in no mood to deal with her and decided to leave it until they returned.
Two days later, Mu Feng's party arrived back in the Mu Domain.
Dust-covered and travel-worn, they gazed at the familiar city. Thinking back on the dangers and rewards of their journey, they were overwhelmed with emotion.
Mu Feng then dismissed everyone and told them to get some proper rest. After washing off the dust of the road, Mu Chen and the others went straight to bed.
Su Qing, however, entered the cultivation room. He sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and examined his body internally, searching for the Nine Nether Sparrow hidden within him.
His inward gaze began at his dantian, passed the Divine Seal, crossed the Spirit Ruins, emerged from the Yu Mansion, then turned downward toward the Third Vertebra.
At last, in a secluded meridian, Su Qing discovered the Nine Nether Sparrow's dim soul essence, with faint black flames drifting around her.
Within those black flames, the Nine Nether Sparrow noticed Su Qing's gaze and gave a clear cry.
Seeing that Su Qing had discovered her, the Nine Nether Sparrow stopped hiding. She beat her wings and unleashed a vicious surge that raced along his meridians toward his mind.
Su Qing immediately directed the spiritual energy in his meridians to collide with it.
Dong!
A bell-like toll rang out inside Su Qing, and a trickle of blood ran from his nose.
Su Qing was suffering, but the Nine Nether Sparrow was inwardly lamenting her plight as well.
After failing her tribulation, she had resolutely detonated herself, intending to preserve her soul essence, seize another body, and then rise again.
Among those present at the time, she had singled out two people: Su Qing and Mu Chen. Both possessed exceptional talent.
Mu Chen's cultivation was lower, making his body easier to seize, but Su Qing's talent was a cut above his. In the end, she had succumbed to temptation and chosen Su Qing.
Yet she had never expected that a single slash from Su Qing would nearly kill her, leaving her plan dead in the womb.
Although she had ultimately shifted her soul essence in time to evade it, that slash had still sheared away half her remaining power.
Now, after clashing with Su Qing's spiritual energy, a trace of surprise appeared in her eyes. It had gone too smoothly. Judging by the slash he had unleashed, things should not have been this easy.
Still, the Nine Nether Sparrow did not dwell on it. Having gained the upper hand in their clash of spiritual energy, she immediately pressed her advantage.
With a clear cry laden with ruthless intent, the Nine Nether Sparrow wrapped herself in black flames and plunged toward the Qi Sea in Su Qing's dantian.
She was clever, too. Once she shattered his Qi Sea, Su Qing would have no way to resist her.
All the spiritual energy Su Qing mustered to block the Nine Nether Sparrow along the way was vaporized by her black flames. Soon, she entered his Qi Sea.
A hint of triumph appeared in the Nine Nether Sparrow's eyes. Once inside the Qi Sea, she charged straight toward Su Qing's Spirit Wheel, intent on destroying it.
Su Qing saw that the Nine Nether Sparrow had entered his Qi Sea with an arrogant air, already believing victory was within reach and letting down her guard.
He immediately picked up Kunwu from across his knees, gripped it in both hands with the point downward, and aimed it straight at his dantian!
At the same time, streams of spiritual energy in Su Qing's Qi Sea condensed into golden threads that bound the Nine Nether Sparrow. Even the scorching black flames could not melt them.
Though the golden threads withstood the black flames, their light gradually dimmed as the Nine Nether Sparrow struggled. Clearly, they could not hold her for long.
But that was already enough time.
As the golden threads bound the Nine Nether Sparrow, another stream of spiritual energy flowed into Kunwu.
With a ringing cry, Kunwu blazed with red light, wisps of slaughtering aura surging across its surface. Yet formation patterns flashing with blue light emerged, suppressing and sealing that aura against the blade so it could not escape.
When Su Qing saw the blue formation patterns appear, a ruthless look crossed his face. He thrust Kunwu into his dantian, setting its tip squarely against the Nine Nether Sparrow's soul essence.
Then several more golden threads appeared, hooked the outer formation patterns near the sword's tip, and pulled them outward, draping them over the Nine Nether Sparrow's soul essence.
Panic had already begun to flicker in the Nine Nether Sparrow's eyes when the golden threads bound her. It reached its peak when the blue formation patterns enveloped her.
The Nine Nether Sparrow struggled violently, trying to break free of the golden threads. She had no idea what they were, but the black flames that had always swept everything before them had lost their effect. She could only rely on her own strength to escape.
When the Nine Nether Sparrow twisted her wings again, she discovered to her delight that nothing was restraining her anymore. The golden threads had vanished.
Just as she prepared to smash Su Qing's Spirit Wheel in revenge, joy and fury mingling in her eyes, that familiar sensation returned. Blue formation patterns coiled around her body.
Spirit Marks tugged at the Nine Nether Sparrow, dragging her from the surface of the seal into its depths.
The Nine Nether Sparrow shrieked in defiance and struggled with all her strength, but it was as though she had stepped into a mire. Little by little, she sank.
At last, the blue formation patterns on Kunwu faded, and its slaughtering aura returned to the seal. Su Qing had successfully sealed the Nine Nether Sparrow inside Kunwu.
The sealing was complete, but Su Qing did not pull Kunwu out of his dantian.
Su Qing bit the tip of his tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood essence. The bloody mist condensed in midair into crimson runes that settled onto the sword.
At the same time, strands of blood seeped from his dantian and spread along Kunwu, linking the crimson runes on the blade and tracing out blood-red patterns.
As the final stroke fell into place, a cluster of golden threads burst forth from the center of the Spirit Wheel inside Su Qing's dantian and Qi Sea, driving into Kunwu.
The blood-red patterns on Kunwu's surface suddenly lit up. The golden threads pulled taut, drawing Kunwu into Su Qing's dantian.
"Hah, hah... hah!"
Beads of sweat the size of beans slid down Su Qing's temples. His face was pale, veins bulged at his temples, and he endured the immense agony brought on by this act.
An ancient-looking longsword floated above the Spirit Wheel in Su Qing's dantian and Qi Sea, connected to it by golden threads.
Once Kunwu had entered his dantian, the wound it had pierced in his body vanished. The blood-red patterns on the sword's surface disappeared without a trace as well.
Until that day, Kunwu had always appeared dark red, like thick blood and aged copper.
Now, the deep red of Kunwu gradually receded, and a cold blue-green gleam flashed along its edge.