A mere ant

Liu Xiu was shocked and froze in place, her legs going weak.

She badly wanted to investigate for herself just what was inside Ling Qiuzi's basket.

But she did not dare at all.

Despite herself, a sheen of cold sweat broke out on Liu Xiu's face.

Ahead, seeing that Liu Xiu had stopped pestering her, Ling Qiuzi felt relieved.

"Thank you for intervening, Senior Sword."

She spoke softly, but received no response from the Heavenly Sword.

"Whew."

Inside the house.

Lin Tian stretched out his arms, then pressed them down before his chest.

The Heavenly Sword shared one mind with him.

In other words, the Heavenly Sword was like another Lin Tian.

Naturally, Lin Tian knew what had just happened to Ling Qiuzi.

Naturally, that burst of Sword Qi had also been released under Lin Tian's control.

By now, he had completely absorbed the Kui Bull's spirit essence.

All that remained was to absorb the ancient presence within the Kui Bull's spirit essence.

Now, only the final wisp remained.

He was now at the Mystic Core Ninth Layer.

His swordsmanship was superb.

And he had One Sword to the Ends of the Earth, which he had nurtured for an entire month.

A single sword thrust would surely possess terrifying power.

At Mystic Core, he could slay a Void Insight cultivator.

Outside the room, a small, thin figure sat on the stone steps.

Her little face was turned toward the sky.

From time to time, she looked toward the tightly shut door behind her.

Outside the courtyard, hurried footsteps rang out.

Cultivators with powerful presences kept appearing in the alley.

They were all heading in remarkably the same direction.

At the same time.

At the exit of Blood Town.

A man dressed in white descended from the sky.

He had handsome features, but his overly flat nose somewhat spoiled their beauty.

His white robes bore patterns of mountains, rivers, and flying cranes, and his long hair was tied into a topknot.

A feathered crown with a pale golden sheen was tucked into it.

It was none other than Li Musheng.

His gaze reached into the distance, as though he could already see the Blood Town martial artists swarming toward him.

An inscrutable smile lingered at the corner of his mouth.

On the street, several martial artists with low cultivation immediately noticed Li Musheng's arrival.

Their expressions instantly turned excited.

Like madmen, they fell to their knees before Li Musheng.

However, because of the runic formation.

Fear flickered in their eyes, and they kept a meter away from Li Musheng.

"My lord, please give me a pill."

"My lord, if my child doesn't take a Sub-Pill, he'll surely die today."

"Immortal Li, I don't want to die! Please spare me and let me out."

They kept wailing, when suddenly a clamor came from behind them.

Hundreds of figures came rushing over, blotting out the sky and earth.

Li Musheng chuckled, seemingly searching for something among the crowd.

"Senior Brother, it's been so long. I've missed you terribly."

Hongyu wore her usual long-sleeved red silk robes, which barely concealed her graceful figure, revealing and concealing it at once.

She walked quietly up to Li Musheng.

Her fair, jade-like feet trod upon the filthy ground, yet not a speck of dust clung to them.

Across the pale red runic formation, Hongyu's eyes beneath her brows were like pools of clear water.

She gazed at Li Musheng with tender affection.

Li Musheng chuckled.

"Junior Sister, after so many days apart, you've become even more seductive. I imagine you've already become a woman any man in Blood Town can have, and absorbed the vital essence of quite a few cultivators."

Hongyu cast Li Musheng a coquettish glance and waved her red sleeve.

"Nothing of the sort. All you ever do is tease me, Senior Brother."

Then she looked at Li Musheng, tears welling in her eyes as though she were about to cry.

"Senior Brother, I was your intimate Dao companion, after all. I served as your cultivation furnace for so many years. Please just let me out."

Li Musheng slowly shook his head, then looked at the people behind Hongyu.

After a long while, he frowned and said:

"The person I brought here last month-is he already dead?"

Hongyu froze.

Among the crowd, North Saber's eyes darkened, and he cursed inwardly.

Li Musheng was paying attention to Lin Tian.

He simply did not know what relationship Lin Tian and Li Musheng had.

And behind everyone else.

Ling Qiuzi, hidden inside a shop, also trembled.

Hongyu smiled and said:

"I do remember that boy. He's exceptionally good-looking. I invited him to dual cultivate with me, but he never agreed. I suppose he doesn't dare come now."

Li Musheng nodded, showing no anger at his former Dao companion saying such things to his face.

Then he took out a jade bottle and said:

"There are forty-nine Sub-Pills in this jade bottle."

As he spoke, a hint of amusement appeared in his eyes.

He looked at a man beside Hongyu and said:

"Here, take it."

The man was overjoyed. He held both hands out below and looked pleadingly at Li Musheng.

Li Musheng gave it a light toss, and the jade bottle landed in the man's hands.

Boom!

In an instant, waves of violent presence surged throughout Blood Town.

Nearly several hundred people attacked the man.

A vicious gleam flashed through the man's eyes.

He opened the jade bottle, raised it, and prepared to pour its contents into his mouth.

With a swish.

Hongyu's sleeve swept across his arm.

Splat!

A jet of blood instantly spurted from the man's severed arm.

"Ah!"

The man screamed, and two people beside him sank their teeth straight into his neck.

"I don't have the Sub-Pills!"

Shouting, he pointed toward Hongyu, who had already flown a hundred meters away.

"Hongyu, put down the Sub-Pills!"

Someone roared and unleashed a sweeping band of white light that slashed toward Hongyu.

Hongyu was struck, and a bloody gash appeared across her back.

"Chen Yu, you're actually attacking me!"

Hongyu roared with a savage expression and hurled the jade bottle toward the ground.

In an instant, the man named Chen Yu who had just attacked rushed over and caught the jade bottle.

At once, the crowd that had been frenzied moments ago stopped in its tracks.

A few newly arrived Body Opening Realm martial artists failed to react.

They lunged madly toward Chen Yu.

Whoosh!

Streaks of white light flashed, and all of their legs were severed.

"Ah!"

Screams rang out, and Chen Yu coldly glanced at the surrounding crowd.

He opened the jade bottle, took out a Sub-Pill, and tossed it into his mouth.

Then he took out another Sub-Pill and tossed it to North Saber, whose hand was already resting on his saber hilt.

"Thanks."

North Saber swallowed the Sub-Pill, then left without delay.

The remaining hundreds watched North Saber like wolves and tigers, yet not one dared to attack.

North Saber sneered and smashed the jade bottle onto the ground.

In an instant, the jade bottle shattered.

Dozens of Sub-Pills scattered outward.

Some fell into pools of blood, while others flew into the crowd.

"Grab them!"

"Get the hell out of my way! I kill without blinking!"

"Get away! That Sub-Pill is mine!"

Roaring savagely, they lunged toward the Sub-Pills one after another.

In the crowd, Ling Qiuzi froze.

A pill appeared in her palm.

One of the Sub-Pills that had scattered just now had happened to fly toward her.

Still not enough!

Ling Qiuzi bit her red lip, her delicate hand closing around her sword hilt.

She needed one, and Qingcheng needed one.

Young Master Lin had protected her for an entire month.

Naturally, she had to fight for one for Young Master Lin as well.

With that thought, she drew her longsword and slashed toward a cultivator who was sprinting away.

That cultivator held a bloodstained Sub-Pill and was fleeing for his life.

As he ran, he was preparing to swallow it.

"Nineteen Swords of Autumn Leaves!"

Ling Qiuzi thrust her sword, a faint glow spilling from the longsword in her hand.

The sharp Sword Qi instantly caught the attention of the cultivator who was in the midst of swallowing the Sub-Pill.

"Little girl, your greed knows no bounds!"

The cultivator grinned savagely and reached out.

He grabbed the tip of Ling Qiuzi's thrusting sword.

"A mere Body Opening Realm cultivator dares attack me?"

Sneering, he gave a fierce tug.

Ling Qiuzi gritted her teeth slightly, and the sword in her hand embroidered a streak of sword light, spinning into a slash.

"All flash and no substance!"

The cultivator scoffed and struck Ling Qiuzi on the shoulder with his palm.

Pfft!

Ling Qiuzi was instantly driven back, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

The cultivator's expression turned vicious as he moved toward Ling Qiuzi while preparing to swallow the Sub-Pill in his hand.

No!

Ling Qiuzi was horrified, waves of anguish rising in her heart.

With a bang.

A burly man grabbed the cultivator's arm, interrupting his attempt to swallow the Sub-Pill.

"Die!"

The cultivator roared, preparing to attack.

Rip!

The burly man grinned savagely and tore off the cultivator's arm, which held the Sub-Pill.

He opened his mouth wide, taking in the cultivator's hand that gripped the Sub-Pill along with it.

He swallowed the Sub-Pill, chewing as the cultivator's blood spilled from his mouth.

Watching this, Ling Qiuzi turned deathly pale with fright.

Meanwhile, not far away.

Liu Xiu had just snatched a Sub-Pill. Before she could swallow it, someone of exceptional strength seized it from her by brute force.

At this moment, Liu Xiu's hair hung loose and disheveled, her entire face twisted with ferocity.

Suddenly, she caught sight of Ling Qiuzi.

With a cold laugh, she pointed straight at Ling Qiuzi and shrieked:

"Ling Qiuzi! That woman has a Sub-Pill in her hand. She hasn't swallowed it yet!"

Ling Qiuzi's expression changed drastically as she looked at Liu Xiu.

The other woman was sneering right at her.

Naturally, Liu Xiu did not know that Ling Qiuzi had a Sub-Pill.

If she really knew, she would certainly have rushed over to snatch it at once.

She had said that entirely to use others against Ling Qiuzi.

Sure enough, after Liu Xiu shouted.

More than a dozen people turned toward Ling Qiuzi, their expressions hostile.

Ling Qiuzi was aghast, all color instantly draining from her small face.

Then she prepared to flee.

"Big sister, that Sub-Pill in your hand is an extra one, isn't it?"

An eerie voice sounded behind Ling Qiuzi.

Startled, Ling Qiuzi hurriedly turned around.

It was a little girl with an unusually sinister expression.

Though she was a child about the same age as Qingzhi, her expression was that of an adult.

Sensing that strange smile of hers.

Alarm bells rang in Ling Qiuzi's heart.

Without the slightest hesitation, she immediately prepared to flee.

"Big sister, where are you running off to?"

The chilling voice sounded again.

The girl's bone-chilling hand closed around Ling Qiuzi's wrist.

"Big sister, where are you going?"

She smiled, revealing a row of snow-white teeth.

In an instant, icy cold invaded her body, and Ling Qiuzi was about to draw her sword.

But her gaze met those eerie, blood-red eyes, and her mind abruptly crashed.

"I'm going to die."

Ling Qiuzi spoke in despair.

Her past surfaced in her mind.

The senior brother she had been waiting for seemed to whisper in her ear.

But her senior brother's figure gradually grew indistinct.

A tall, slender figure replaced the senior brother Ling Qiuzi thought of day and night.

He held a sword, his expression cold and utterly murderous.

"Young Master Lin, I'm sorry."

Ling Qiuzi murmured, a clear tear slipping from the corner of her eye as she awaited death.

Hum!

A sword's ringing cry resounded.

In an instant, a sharp presence spilled from the basket on Ling Qiuzi's back.

That presence was keen and mighty, carrying a suffocating sense of danger.

It instantly startled everyone fighting over the Sub-Pills.

They all looked toward Ling Qiuzi.

They saw only a streak of sword light.

Like an endless crimson river, the dazzling sword light illuminated all of Blood Town.

"You, you, you!"

Shock appeared on the little girl's face, and she hurriedly released Ling Qiuzi's wrist.

Slash!

But her arm had already been severed.

Blood instantly sprayed out.

Everyone was stunned.

The vast majority of them had not even seen clearly what had happened.

Yet this eerie little girl had already lost an arm.

All at once, hundreds of gazes turned toward Ling Qiuzi.

Ling Qiuzi froze.

To be honest, she herself was not quite sure what had just happened.

But then Ling Qiuzi figured out the reason.

At once, she was even more shaken.

She had always known that Lin Tian was very strong.

But she had never expected Lin Tian's sword to be this powerful as well.

It truly lived up to being a spirit sword.

Unfortunately, this sword was not something she could use at all.

She wanted to fight for two more Sub-Pills.

She just did not know whether this sword would help.

"Young Master Lin, you've saved my life again."

Ling Qiuzi murmured, all manner of complex feelings flickering in her beautiful eyes.

And just then.

A figure appeared before Ling Qiuzi.