Liu Qing's head slid from his neck, profound terror frozen on his face.
Moments later, the head hit the ground like a rotten watermelon, its juices splattering everywhere.
Su Qing steadied himself in midair, then took several jade medicine bottles from his sleeve and tipped all the red pills inside into his mouth.
Only after regulating his breathing for a while did a little color return to Su Qing's deathly pale face.
Meanwhile, Mu Feng and Zhou Ye had driven Liu Ming into a corner. A few exchanges later, Mu Feng shattered Liu Ming's spirit with a palm strike, ending the battle.
"Uncle Zhou, go to the Northern Spiritual Academy and find Mu Chen. Keep him safe. The Liu Domain won't dare do anything there."
Su Qing spoke to Zhou Ye as he watched an arc of light sweep toward them from afar.
"Yes, young master!" Conflict showed on Zhou Ye's face, but he finally took a deep breath and agreed.
Once Zhou Ye had left, Su Qing turned to Mu Feng, the corners of his mouth tugging into a smile.
"Dad."
"Yes."
Mu Feng answered.
"Brothers stand together when hunting a tiger!"
"Father and son march together into battle!"
While Liu Jingshan was on his way, Su Qing did not sit waiting for death. He sat cross-legged atop the city wall, holding his sword as he regulated his breathing.
Mu Feng and the Mu Domain guards had finished clearing out the remaining Liu Domain forces, but the Mu Domain Main City was already reduced to shattered walls and ruins. Their forces had suffered grievous losses, and there was no time to transfer troops from elsewhere.
Thus, they could only smash their cauldrons and sink their boats, staking their lives on one final struggle.
Within the Qi Sea in Su Qing's dantian, the Nine Nether Sparrow sat cross-legged in the air, trailing her chains. Sensing the situation outside, she gave a derisive scoff.
Su Qing ignored her. Bored, the Nine Nether Sparrow could only settle back down, though a strange gleam lingered in her eyes as she pondered something.
Steadying his mind for the moment, Su Qing drew a mass of Heartfire from his heart and sent it flowing down into his dantian's Qi Sea, gathering before his Divine Soul.
At the same time, strands of gold were drawn from his lungs and flowed into the Heartfire-the very Sharp Metal Qi Su Qing had forcibly dispersed years ago.
The Heartfire forged those golden strands into one, which coiled around his Divine Soul. Flecks of bloody light clung to it, exuding an oppressive baleful aura.
Before long, a thunderous roar sounded in Su Qing's ears, drawing closer from afar. Liu Jingshan appeared in their sight, his eyes bloodshot and his presence menacing.
At the sight of Liu Qing's and Liu Ming's mutilated corpses, the anguish in Liu Jingshan's eyes grew fiercer. Without a word, he gave a strange howl and lunged at Su Qing like a wild dog.
Su Qing no longer had any inclination to mock him. He raised his sword to block Liu Jingshan's attack, then used the momentum to retreat.
Without thinking, Liu Jingshan stepped forward in pursuit.
Just then, a spark of lightning exploded beneath his feet. The masonry of the city wall behind him shattered, and Mu Feng emerged from the rubble.
In the brief instant Liu Jingshan faltered, Mu Feng repeated his earlier trick, rushing forward to lock down Liu Jingshan's limbs.
Su Qing pivoted as well. His face first flushed a vivid red, then instantly turned as pale as withered white wood.
A golden gleam blazed in his savage black eyes, and a point of white light flashed. The Kunwu Sword in his hand thrust toward Liu Jingshan with the roar of thunder, lightning, blood markings, and golden radiance appearing together along its edge.
Clang!!!
A black storm swept across the ground, streaked with patches of fierce flame. Two figures were hurled backward one after the other by the storm-Su Qing and Mu Feng.
When the storm dispersed, a Two-Headed Demonic Hound stood in place, drool slipping from the corners of his mouths and pain showing on his faces. The Kunwu Sword was embedded between his chest and shoulder, half its blade buried inside.
Su Qing struggled to rise from a heap of rubble, his face smeared with blood and his right arm hanging at an unnatural angle.
As soon as he found his footing, he spat out a mouthful of blood.
On the other side, Mu Feng had already fallen unconscious, all four limbs covered in wounds and twisted unnaturally.
Atop the city wall, the Two-Headed Demonic Hound Liu Jingshan had become turned his head, clamped his teeth around the Kunwu Sword, and pulled it free. Then he flung it hard, sending it whistling through the air toward Su Qing.
Su Qing beckoned with his left hand. The Kunwu Sword, which had been hurtling toward his head, traced a circle and flew into his hand.
"Why keep holding out? Run. If you escape, there's still a sliver of hope. Don't misunderstand-I just don't want that old man capturing me after you die."
Inside him, the Nine Nether Sparrow spoke coldly.
"Is there any difference between being inside me and being captured by him?"
Su Qing asked in return.
The Nine Nether Sparrow fell silent for a moment, then spoke with certainty.
"You won't refine me."
"Oh?"
"You're too proud. Prouder than I am-far prouder."
"Your talent is one in ten thousand, and your techniques are exquisitely ingenious. Both that golden strand and that escape technique prove it."
"You disdain refining me because your future achievements will never be limited to this." At this point, the Nine Nether Sparrow gave a wistful sigh before continuing.
"So I can safely rest and recuperate inside you."
"Let's make a deal. I'll lend you my power and help you escape. In exchange, you'll help me recuperate and let me leave once I take human form."
"Don't ask why I won't help you kill him. You know the state of your own body."
"With it shattered and riddled with holes like this, I'm already astonished you can stand."
Seeing Su Qing remain silent, the Nine Nether Sparrow urged him on.
"As long as the green hills remain, you needn't fear running out of firewood. With your talent, in a year-no, half a year-you can return for revenge. Go."
Su Qing slowly drew a breath, then exhaled. "No. I refuse."
Then he chuckled. "You said it yourself. I'm proud. So..."
"Laying down my cards and admitting defeat will never be an option."
With that, Su Qing gathered his breath, looked at the wild dog atop the city wall with a storm building in his mouths, and took a step forward.
The golden radiance in Su Qing's eyes completely overwhelmed their original black. Cracks instantly spread across his skin, blood welling from them only to seep back inside.
When Su Qing took another step, blood flowed from beneath his nose, and a clear, blood-colored glow lit up the Kunwu Sword.
After that, with every step Su Qing took, the cracks in his skin grew denser. Threads of blood seeped from his seven orifices, the rust on the Kunwu Sword gradually peeled away, and the golden radiance in his eyes blazed ever brighter.
With a casual swing of his sword, Su Qing cleaved apart a storm-wreathed pillar of fire spewed from Liu Jingshan's mouth. Then he took his tenth step.
"A man should be like water, flowing without fixed form, following the current downward without contention. Thus, no strength can overcome him, no sharp edge can harm him. What say you?"
"Not so. My heart is like the bamboo of the southern mountain. This heart is no stone; it cannot be turned. This heart is no mat; it cannot be rolled up."
"And if you face a trial of life and death, what then?"
"My heart is not water. I will neither retreat nor evade. I shall raise my sword and cleave it."
At that moment, Su Qing's razor-sharp aura reached its peak. This was Ten Steps, One Sword, a life-staking technique that burned jade and stone alike.
A stream of clear radiance swept forth, flashing before Liu Jingshan in an instant. A sword light, cold and blue-green as frost, slid down, the utmost expression of metal and sharpness.
The three-foot Kunwu Sword severed Liu Jingshan's dog heads from his neck.