On the city wall, cold in the winter night, the moon shone bright. Its chilly light slanted across Su Qing, and the Kunwu Sword in his hand reflected his blood-smeared face.
Su Qing sat at the edge of the wall, silently gazing at the moon above, as though he were already dead.
His body, once translucent as white jade, was now covered in cracks and stained with patches of blood. From a distance, he looked like a broken jade sculpture.
Liu Jingshan was dead-truly dead. The moment Su Qing brought down that sword strike, there had been no hope of his survival.
Among the shattered walls not far away, Mu Feng's features were twisted together in pain. His eyes remained tightly shut, carrying a faint trace of sorrow.
"Ah..."
A long sigh sounded atop the wall. With it, a crack appeared on the Kunwu Sword.
Crack!
Snap!
Blood welled from the cracks across Su Qing's body. He raised his hand and watched it flow down with an indifferent gaze.
"You madman! Madman! Madman!"
The Nine Nether Sparrow shouted incessantly within the depleted Qi Sea in Su Qing's dantian.
Meanwhile, fine cracks spread across the Kunwu Sword as well. As Su Qing's bonded spirit sword, it would naturally follow him into the grave when he died.
The Nine Nether Sparrow finally stopped her incessant shouting. After a brief silence, she spoke.
"Do you regret it? You're going to die."
"Regret it? No." Su Qing shook his head. Even that slight movement tore open a crack along his neck.
"Maybe I could have run, but if I'd run, I wouldn't be me anymore."
"That old fellow treated me pretty well. I'm not his biological son, but there's really no difference. I couldn't watch him die. I'd spend the rest of my life carrying that guilt."
Su Qing tugged gently at the corner of his mouth and continued.
"Besides, if I ran this time, what about next time? Would I run again? Sooner or later, there'd be a day when I couldn't escape."
"Hahaha." Su Qing suddenly chuckled under his breath.
"What are you laughing at?"
"Nothing. I just remembered a story I read before."
"What story?"
"There was a man..." Su Qing had barely begun when he suddenly lost interest and sighed, waving his hand. "Forget it. I won't tell it."
"You!!!" the Nine Nether Sparrow snapped indignantly.
"Ah... forget it. Could you let me out before you die?"
"No. I'm useless now. There's nothing I can do. Once I die, the Kunwu Sword will shatter too, and you'll be able to leave on your own."
Su Qing spat out the bloody foam in his mouth as he spoke.
"All right."
Silence followed. The whimpering winter wind stirred Su Qing's tattered clothes, and the blood flowing over the masonry soon seeped into the cracks.
Before long, the Nine Nether Sparrow's clear, cool voice broke the silence. "Something doesn't seem right."
"Your sword is breaking, but the seal hasn't changed."
Su Qing froze for a moment, then thought it over. "I suppose this seal isn't fused with my sword. It's just fitted over it."
"You probably won't be able to get out," Su Qing said, a trace of pity in his eyes.
The Nine Nether Sparrow froze.
"Who placed this seal?"
"A Grandmaster of Spirit Arrays."
"..."
The Nine Nether Sparrow fell silent.
Crack!
Crack!
Crack!
As Su Qing's life ebbed away, the Kunwu Sword gradually broke apart. Every cracking sound seemed to stab the Nine Nether Sparrow in the heart, heralding the sunless existence that awaited her-a life sealed away until death.
"Su Qing."
"Hmm?"
The Nine Nether Sparrow spoke calmly. "I don't want to die with you."
"I don't want to die either," Su Qing said, pursing his lips.
A flicker of inner struggle crossed the Nine Nether Sparrow's eyes. Then, as though smashing her cauldrons and sinking her boats, she made a momentous decision. "I have a way for both of us to survive."
"What way?"
"A bloodline link. Using a special method, we connect our bloodlines."
The Nine Nether Sparrow explained.
"Afterward, our bloodlines will complement each other. Normally, it's the human who gains the spirit beast's abilities."
"But if the human has extraordinary talent and exceptionally high cultivation, they can nourish the spirit beast in return."
"From then on, our lives will be linked. We'll live and die together, sharing glory and ruin alike."
Su Qing considered this for a moment, then asked, "So how does this keep me alive?"
"I may still be able to talk, but this is only the final flare before death. With my body in this state, the power supplied by your bloodline would be no more than a cup of water against a cartload of burning firewood."
"Then we really would die together."
The Nine Nether Sparrow answered, "I carry the bloodline of the Ancient Undying Bird. One of its innate divine abilities is 'Nirvana.'"
"It's the very ability that let me be reborn beneath the lightning tribulation when I failed my first attempt to overcome it."
"Once our bloodlines are linked, you can possess that ability too."
"Is that so..." Su Qing lowered his head in thought.
"Hey!" the Nine Nether Sparrow roared. "You're practically dead, and you're still dithering! Why didn't you drag your feet like this when you drew your sword, huh?"
"If you don't want to live, fine, but once you die, I'll have to grow old and die in boundless darkness!"
"I agree. Thank you. I'll owe you a favor after this," Su Qing said.
The Nine Nether Sparrow fell silent for a moment. She was not someone who clung greedily to life and feared death, but the prospect of spending the rest of her days in boundless darkness truly sent a chill down her spine.
Besides, this man's sword heart was straight and clear. It was hard not to feel a trace of admiration for him, which was why she had offered the bloodline link herself.
"All right. Leave the bloodline link to me. If you resist or feel unwilling in the slightest, the link will fail."
"And we only have one chance. Let's begin."
"All right," Su Qing said, signaling that he was ready.
Seeing this, the Nine Nether Sparrow beat her wings. Streams of black flame drifted down, forming a black patterned diagram between them.
"Pour your blood essence into it."
At her words, Su Qing fell silent for a moment. He forced what little blood essence he had left through the cracks in his fingertips and onto the diagram. It flowed slowly, occupying half of the pattern.
A solemn look flashed through the Nine Nether Sparrow's eyes as well. A drop of dark blood essence flew from between her brows and merged into the black diagram, occupying its other half.
Once the Nine Nether Sparrow's blood essence merged into it, the black-flame diagram began to turn slowly. As it turned, the two streams of blood came into contact.
At that instant, both watched the diagram with a hint of nervousness. Fortunately, their blood essence fused quite smoothly within it.
It seemed neither of them harbored any resistance to this.
As the two streams of blood essence fused completely, light rippled across the diagram. Then a black flame rose and set it alight.
Under the flame's scorching heat, the blood essence on the diagram gradually grew paler, turning platinum.
Before long, two streams of platinum blood essence shot out of the black flames, striking their chests and merging into their bodies.
A wondrous sensation welled up in both their hearts. Their bloodlines were connected; they would live and die together.
Their gazes grew complicated, and both involuntarily sighed.
The moment the bloodline link succeeded, streams of platinum flame rose around Su Qing, enveloping him like a lotus blossom.
It was rebirth through nirvana.