The Last Request

"He... is not Bai Heng." Jingliu's dark red pupils sank, and she gripped the nearly shattered Zhili Sword once more.

The Ancient Dragon seemed to have heard her words, tilting its head slightly and squinting:

"Of course I'm not him, but you should be happy about that. After all, my symbiosis allows this body to avoid being eroded by time, decaying with age, and even ascend to a higher dimension. Their short-lived lives are but waves crashing against black reefs, fragile and laughable. Wouldn't you agree, Sword Champion of the Luofu? Or should I call you... Shifu?"

Jingliu was instantly enveloped in bone-chilling cold. She bit her lip, her blood-red eyes trembling with rage:

"You are not worthy to call me that."

She lowered her stance, emptying her heavy body, and swung the Zhili Sword, like ten thousand points of cold light mixed with blade energy, towards the Ancient Dragon.

At this moment, her body was like a taut string, ready to snap at any moment.

But her sword speed did not diminish in the slightest. Ice lotuses bloomed amidst the sword light, their ice petals unfurling like sharp blades.

The Ancient Dragon merely casually wielded the weapon in its hand, meeting her strikes.

"I inherited his memories, devoured his emotions, why am I not worthy?" the Ancient Dragon retorted, a mocking smile still on its face.

Jingliu's sword techniques were like a sudden ice storm, and even with their imposing momentum, they could hardly harm it.

It raised its hand, and a black sun, like a black hole, roared, spewing out torrents of black flames that devoured the frost.

In the distance, Bai Heng raised his curved bow, drawing the string, and a violent gale gathered on the bow.

But the several arrows that were shot out turned to ashes the moment they touched the black flames.

The Ancient Dragon had no intention of continuing this meaningless game. It lightly pinched a seed of the Abundance Emissary, Shuhuo, and sent it into its mouth.

After successfully swallowing the seed, a surge of heat came from its lungs, like molten lava pouring into its mouth, wild and domineering.

The Ancient Dragon felt the stamina lost in the previous battle with Shuhuo gradually returning.

The death energy of Destruction intertwined with the golden branches of Abundance.

It was an interweaving of life and death.

The Ancient Dragon's crimson golden pupils seemed to deepen. It held the Soul Severance Sword in one hand, dragging it forward from where it was embedded.

The blade easily cut through the scorched earth, withering vegetation and drying blood wherever it went.

Before Jingliu could react, the Ancient Dragon's figure disappeared.

She turned abruptly, only to feel a tremendous force in her abdomen.

Jingliu protected herself with the Zhili Sword as quickly as possible, but the force brought a strong sense of weightlessness to her body.

Her body shattered countless severed ice pillars before finally kneeling on one knee, one hand supporting the Zhili Sword embedded in the ice.

The fragile body was kicked by the Ancient Dragon, and blood spilled from her pale lips, clinging to her still-unfading, cold face.

Jingliu gritted her teeth, wanting to stand up again, but she felt her bones breaking apart, unable to rise. It seemed that the last taut string had also snapped.

Tears of blood streaked her face as she looked at the familiar yet strange figure before her. Finally, she slowly released her fingers from the tightly gripped sword hilt.

The Ancient Dragon's footsteps became clearer in her ears, each step drowning out the beating of her heart.

The black sun churned above Jingliu's head, and the Ancient Dragon stopped, its crimson golden pupils filled with only indifference.

"Sword Champion, allow me to repay your teaching with this one move."

It raised its hand.

The light of the black sun became more and more blinding, to the point of being unbearable to look at directly. The transparent ice released white mist, gradually melting into liquid. Jingliu could feel her internal organs boiling, the scorching temperature pressing on her nerves.

Is it finally over...?

Jingliu subconsciously closed her eyes. A suffocating heatwave rushed towards her, but what followed was the sound of bones breaking and that familiar tone:

"Old geezer... you've had enough fun... cough..."

In a daze, a crisp snap of fingers rang in Jingliu's ears, and the energy complex wrapped in death energy instantly disappeared.

She slowly opened her eyes, only to find Bai Heng holding a lacquered golden dragon horn in his hand.

Bai Heng's slender fingers were holding the broken dragon horn, and at the same time, a mouthful of blood spurted from his mouth, landing on the still-unmelted snow.

"Bai Heng?" Jingliu's voice was hoarse, her dark red pupils constricted.

"Shifu, don't worry... we'll be home soon." Bai Heng gave her a comforting smile, his smile still the same as before, without a trace of change.

With that, he placed his hand on another dragon horn, exerting force in his palm. A pain that pierced his bones and engraved itself on his heart spread throughout his body along the dragon horn.

But Bai Heng felt happy, elated, and exhilarated by the pain—he increased his strength, and the sound of shattering came. The dragon horn, perhaps harder than any metal in the world, was broken off.

For him, the dragon horn at this moment was like a bone in his body.

Breaking the dragon horn was tantamount to tearing flesh from the bone, but precisely because of this, Bai Heng was able to regain brief clarity.

"I knew you old geezer wouldn't have good intentions. Fortunately, I learned the technique of dividing the mind from Dan Feng before, otherwise I would have really let you succeed... Be honest... You've been arrogant for so long, it's my turn now."

Bai Heng's voice was as weak as a thread, and the color had already drained from his face.

The Ancient Dragon's voice rang in his ears.

[Boy, even if you regain control of the body now, we are in a symbiotic relationship, and you will never be able to get rid of my shackles.]

"I know."

[Though the universe is vast, for us, it's merely a confined space. Even if you were to run to the ends of the world with this body, I can return again; destruction is the Xianzhou's destiny after all. I will still make those who have imprisoned me for thousands of years taste the fruit of destruction.]

"I know."

[So, what do you hope to accomplish with this little time? A final farewell to her? Hahahaha, I'm increasingly looking forward to the wonderful emotions you'll experience when you witness her death at my hands in your sea of consciousness.]

"You probably won't get to see that." Bai Heng lowered his gaze slightly and bent down to pick up the Soul Severance Sword floating in front of him.

[What do you intend to do?]

The Ancient Dragon began to have a bad feeling.

And reality truly confirmed the worst suspicion in his heart.

Bai Heng gripped the hilt of the Soul Severance Sword in his hand and said:

"You should know that this sword, after being tainted by Destruction, can affect lifeforms of energy. And you Suiyang are just a higher form of energy."

[Boy, unless you kill yourself with your own hands, you won't be able to harm my origin in the slightest.]

"I know." Bai Heng's voice was unusually calm, but this calmness made the Ancient Dragon feel dread for the first time.

[Even if you control this body now, I have ways to prevent you from acting!]

"Who said I had to do it myself?" Bai Heng suddenly revealed a faint smile, but that smile looked so sad, so lonely.

In a daze, the Ancient Dragon remembered something and roared in the sea of consciousness:

[Bastard, madman! Think carefully, if you really do that, not only will you die, but even your soul may be annihilated, eternally suffering the erosion of karma, with no possibility of reincarnation!]

"I know," Bai Heng replied softly.

[Stop now! You're just trapped in the sea of consciousness. When I unlock the shackles of this world, you will transcend with me! I can promise you, I won't touch the people of the Xianzhou, I can leave this place immediately!]

This time, Bai Heng didn't respond at all.

The Ancient Dragon tried his best to influence his mind, wanting to regain control of the body.

But Bai Heng had already arrived next to Jingliu.

He knelt on one knee, almost maintaining eye level with Jingliu, with that carefree smile still on his face:

"Master, can I ask you for one last favor?"

Jingliu wanted to speak, but at such a close distance, she could perceive the emotions flowing in Bai Heng's eyes.

For some reason, her throat seemed to be stuck with something, unable to make a sound, and she could only nod in silence.

Seeing this, Bai Heng still smiled and gently pried open Jingliu's slender fingers.

His movements were very slow because he noticed that these hands were already covered with wounds.

Although her hands were wrapped in blood-stained black silk ribbons, Bai Heng could still feel the coldness of her fingertips.

When that fair hand gently opened, Bai Heng placed the Soul Severance Sword in her hand, his voice dry:

"Kill me, Master."

The dark red pupils beneath Jingliu's long eyelashes trembled constantly. She pressed against the hilt, wanting to push Bai Heng away with all her might.

But Bai Heng remained motionless, quietly watching her.

He seemed to recall many things, like every time he delivered candied haws, or when he got special treatment...

Taking a deep breath, Bai Heng reached out and pinched Jingliu's pale face, saying:

"Master."

"Please kill me, okay?"