The End of the Calamity
Golden light rained down from the sky, and wherever it touched, the black mist seemed to be pierced by a sharp blade, disappearing completely after a piercing howl.
The once indestructible small barrier seemed to sense something and gradually melted away. The lush branches overhead slowly curled up, and the light from outside slowly shone in, casting dappled shadows on the stone forest and black soil.
The powerful beings were filled with panic as they watched the small barrier suddenly dissolve, fearing that the black mist inside might take the opportunity to escape.
But one person's exclamation drew their attention. "My foot!"
The others instinctively looked over, only to see the elder suddenly stand up, carefully lift one foot, and take a step forward.
The previously petrified calves had long since returned to normal, and even the Spiritual Qi in the Dantian, which had been completely depleted, was slowly recovering.
Seeing this, the others no longer cared about the black fog and immediately began to move their legs, which had been stiff for months.
The soreness made them grimace in discomfort, but they were relieved to be able to return to normal.
Moreover, after the petrification faded, the Demon Beast that had been constantly emerging from the ground all turned to sand and disappeared the moment the sunlight fell.
A few strands of golden light drifted out from the small barrier and landed lightly on the stone pillars surrounding Fu Shuangjiang.
Soon, the outer shell of the stone pillar began to peel away layer by layer, and the crowd rushed forward, their eyes filled with undisguised hope.
The loose stones were scattered all over the ground, and the "crackling" sound echoed throughout the stone forest.
Fu Shuangjiang headed straight for the two stone pillars at the very front of the stone forest, but as soon as he got close, his breathing suddenly became lighter.
The stone pillar had shattered completely, and those two familiar faces finally reappeared before them. Fu Shuangjiang looked at their tightly clasped hands, and her eyes involuntarily reddened.
"Elder Haojing, Elder Linyin, it's been a long time." Fu Shuangjiang sighed softly.
The two people in front of him slowly opened their eyes, their gazes as gentle as they had been for centuries.
Outside the forest, a large number of Demon Beast turned into sand. Just when everyone thought they would be buried by the white sand, a gust of wind blew from somewhere and blew the white sand all over the ground into the wind, where it disappeared.
The boy from the temporary residence recklessly crawled out of the defensive magic Law Artifact and pounced straight on the female cultivator. He didn't care about the Demon Beast blood on her body and buried his head in her hands.
The female cultivator, panting heavily, patted his head, her fingertips touching his hot tears.
"It seems our junior brother is much smarter than me, his senior brother. He actually guessed right!" The male cultivator struggled to climb out of the white sand pile, the teeth marks of the Demon Beast still remaining on his shoulder.
If he had arrived any later, he would probably have already been swallowed by the Demon Beast.
Seeing his expression, the female cultivator arrogantly raised her chin. "Of course, our junior brother is a lucky star!"
The male cultivator laughed heartily and scooped the boy up onto his shoulder, "That's right! This is our little lucky star!"
As the two spoke, more and more people emerged from the white sand. The camp, which had been like a living hell, seemed to come alive again amidst their laughter.
The boy, lifted up by his senior brother, gazed at the endless white sands in the distance, but inwardly he disagreed with his senior sister's statement.
He was no lucky charm; others might not know, but he knew that it was the sister who saved him who brought all this tragedy to an end!
He just didn't know when he would be able to see her again.
Meanwhile, Sang Ying, who was being thought of by the boy, was also troubled by something.
The wound on her hand had healed at some point, and the broken sword she had finally managed to pull out transformed into starlight and merged into her body the moment it saw the light of day again.
Sang Ying stared at her empty hands, utterly bewildered. "Where's my sword?"
She had originally intended to fuse the broken sword into the Floating River, thinking that perhaps this would also give the Floating River Sword the power to Cleanse Demons.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the broken sword was pulled out, it pierced directly into his body.
Sang Ying had never encountered anything so strange before.
Gu Shu, who had been quite lively just moments before, now seemed mute, not daring to utter a single word. It was only after Sang Ying took the initiative to ask him that he managed to utter a few words:
"I don't know the answer to this either. All I know is that Sever the Heavenly River underwent the tribulation of lightning along with Gu Wangchuan, so it's no longer an ordinary being. But why did it merge with you...? Have you considered that this might be your problem?"
Sang Ying paused for a moment; in fact, she felt the same way. After all, before the broken sword merged into her body, it left Sang Ying with its last words. "Welcome back."
Coming back? Had she ever left?
Sang Ying had a headache. She felt like she had gotten herself into a lot of trouble, and this Sever the Heavenly River probably had a deep connection with her.
"Perhaps, you were once the sword spirit of the Sever the Heavenly River," Gu Shu joked, seeing Sang Ying's worried expression.
But his joke startled Sang Ying.
The gaps between the branches and leaves overhead grew wider, allowing the sunlight to stream down freely.
Sang Ying suppressed her surprise and composed herself before Jiang Zhuoxue and the others arrived.
The powerful figures had long since recovered their cultivation and were no longer in their previous dejected state. Even Fu Shuangjiang had been healed by her master, and the worry between her brows had completely disappeared.
"Fellow Sang Ying, my junior brother has sent word that all the Demon Beast outside have disappeared! The beast tide has completely stopped! Our Black Tortoise Realm is saved, all thanks to Fellow Daoist Sang Ying's help!" With that, Fu Shuangjiang bowed to Sang Ying.
Jiang Zhuoxue, who had been worried outside for a long time, quietly moved closer to Sang Ying while Fu Shuangjiang was still making polite remarks, showing a close relationship.
Fu Shuangjiang glanced at him but didn't say anything more.
Aside from Fu Shuangjiang, the other powerful figures also stepped forward to chat with Sang Ying. However, the questions they asked most were what Sang Ying had obtained from inside, and how she had resolved the matter and cleared away the black mist inside.
Sang Ying knew what they were thinking. If these people weren't afraid of death, they certainly wouldn't have given up the broken sword inside the small barrier so easily, even if they didn't know what it was.
"This junior isn't quite sure either." Sang Ying raised her head, her eyes revealing confusion. "This junior simply rushed in with her sword and fought with that black mist. During the fight, this junior accidentally spilled blood on a broken sword, and the broken sword suddenly radiated light, dispelling the black mist."
Broken sword? The eyes of the people in front of them immediately lit up.
"Where is that broken sword now?!" The elder of the Limitless Sect was the first to step forward.
Sang Ying replied, "After dispelling the black mist, the broken sword transformed into golden light and disappeared."
"Really? Are you sure it disappeared, or that you took it?" The Limitless Sect elder stared at her, scrutinizing Sang Ying from head to toe, as if trying to see right through her.
Before Sang Ying could speak, Elder Zhou frowned and stepped in front of her, saying, "What do you mean by that? This time, thanks to this young fellow Daoist, our Black Tortoise Realm escaped a calamity. Even if that was some kind of treasure, it should belong to Sang Ying. Besides, that treasure has already disappeared to resolve the calamity posed by the Demon Beast."
"What, you want that little girl to conjure up a treasure for you?!"
Elder Zhou grew angrier as he spoke. If the sect leader hadn't been there to stop him, he probably would have fought with that Limitless Sect elder.
"Alright! You two should say less." Before anyone knew it, a middle-aged male cultivator with an imposing presence walked up to the group. As soon as he appeared, the previously Limitless Sect elder of the Wuji Sect immediately bowed.
The elder whispered "Sect Master," and received a barely perceptible nod from the other party.
Then, the man's extremely imposing gaze fell on Sang Ying.