Two Realms Mountain, Cloud-Parting Valley.
Directly beneath the mountain that concealed the Ancient Sword, dozens of late Foundation Establishment stage Devil Cultivators sat in a circle.
Their eyes were tightly shut, Demonic Qi and Spiritual Qi surging around them and pouring ceaselessly into the formation flags before them.
The light shone brightest at the center of the Magic Array. Blood-red runes writhed, extending several thick, sticky chains of blood-colored light upward, coiling tightly as they pierced a human body suspended above the array.
His eyes were wide open and bloodshot, his gaze vacant. His mouth hung slightly open, but he could not make a sound.
The vitality and spiritual essence within his body were slowly draining away, flowing into the array.
As the great array's black-red blood light intensified, the power of the Restriction surrounding the Ancient Sword weakened a little.
The entire mountain trembled gently with it.
In the valley, Shi Yunhao stood with his hands at his sides, his handsome face looking all the more uncanny beneath the blood-colored light.
Beside him, the girl named Ku Qian sat on the ground without the slightest regard for appearances, looking rather bored.
Her slender legs swung back and forth, and she held a half-eaten dried fish in her hand.
She asked indistinctly, "Is this Flying Sword some kind of treasure? Why go to all this trouble? Besides..."
She tilted her head. "I don't think I've ever seen you practice the Sword-Controlling Technique. What do you want it for?"
Although he had long known that this girl was a chatterbox, Shi Yunhao still shook his head helplessly.
Such matters were taboo not merely in the Demon Ruins, but throughout the Mortal World's cultivation world.
Still, since she remained very useful to him, Shi Yunhao answered her.
"A gift."
"A gift?