Breaking the Formation

The surroundings were still deathly silent.

Yan Jue was slightly taken aback. She exchanged a look with Qi Xianqing, then glanced at the rice on the table.

Qi Xianqing gave a slight nod, so Yan Jue picked up a bowl of rice and walked over, crouching in front of the camels to feed them.

Just as before, the camels dully leaned their heads forward and slowly ate the rice.

Yan Jue frowned and went over with the water jug, letting the camels drink.

The camels drank the water with glassy, dazed expressions, then looked up at her.

In an instant, thick black mist suddenly rose around them. It curled and coiled, gradually swallowing their forms until they could no longer be seen clearly.

Yan Jue stared at the dark haze, her heart nearly leaping out of her throat. When the black mist finally dispersed, the five camels were gone, and in their place stood five women with vacant eyes.

The scorpion-demon proprietress who had been killed yesterday.

The taciturn tea-drinker.

The Daoist leading the five camels.

Everything was exactly the same as yesterday.

Wait.

Yan Jue suddenly noticed something wrong.

Yesterday there had been six camels; today there were only five.

She jerked her head up and looked toward the painting on the wall. In the painting there were only… five beauties.

Just as she thought.

Yan Jue : “Look; the number in the painting has changed.”

The painting still showed the inn in the bamboo grove.

Only now, the six beauties from yesterday had become five.

Everyone’s gaze turned to the painting.

Qi Xianqing said thoughtfully, “The gate to breaking the illusion should be here.”

Yan Jue : “But these five women… why only five? Where did the other one go? Yesterday we sent the six women away in the Hundred-Step Carriage, but if this is an illusion, they shouldn’t have been able to leave. There should still be six women here today.”

As she spoke, she glanced at the women in front of her, whose eyes remained dull and lifeless.

Their mouths had split into grins; they were smiling foolishly.

“Yesterday they still had some life in them, but now they’re…” Yan Jue paused. “They’re just like corpses.”

Qi Xianqing said slowly, “This isn’t just an illusion that suppresses cultivation. It should also be an illusion that refines women’s yin essence. The reason these women have become so foolish is probably because the yin essence in their bodies has already been corroded away by the illusion.”

Yin essence was a special setting in this world. It included not only the fluids a woman released during intimacy, but also her own spiritual energy.

In ordinary circumstances, yin essence would be consumed in normal amounts; for example, every breath and exhale would use some of it, but the loss was generally negligible.

But if one’s yin essence was drained dry, the consequences were terrifying.

At best, a person would become dull-witted. At worst, they would descend into utter madness. Even more horrifying was this:

If someone mastered all of a woman’s yin essence, then that woman would spend her life at that person’s command, entirely at their disposal.

Back in Nanxing Town, the women whose yin essence had been drained by the monkey demon were in exactly this state as well.

Qi Xianqing frowned and drew out the compass in her hand.

The compass needle was shaking violently.

Qi Xianqing’s gaze fixed on the painting. “Tianchong, Rest, Qian. This painting is the key.”

She glanced at Yan Jue. Yan Jue stood up, braced a hand against the table, and leaped upward; her toes lightly tapped the wall.

Dust fell in a fine shower as Yan Jue removed the painting from the wall.

Holding it in her hands, she couldn’t help but freeze slightly.

Somehow, her body had become this light.

Yan Jue didn’t think much of it and simply handed the painting to Qi Xianqing.

If they had confirmed that the gate was on this painting, then destroying the painting would solve everything.

Qi Xianqing had once entered the illusion that Yun Zhenzi had set for her. Sometimes the gate was a teacup; sometimes it was an odd stone.

As long as the “gate” was destroyed, the illusion would naturally collapse on its own.

Fire and thunder were inherently connected, and fire-type divine abilities were also a required lesson for Thunderflame Sect disciples.

Qi Xianqing took out a dark yellow talisman from her Qiankun bag and placed it on the painting.

She murmured a mental incantation; at once, the talisman burst into a series of red lights.

Yan Jue only felt a wave of heat brush across her cheek, as though a raging inferno had erupted before her eyes.

The talisman’s red glow quickly faded.

The painting still lay intact on the table.

Duan Luxi’s face went pale. “It can’t be burned.”

Duan Luxi also drew her giant sword and slashed fiercely at the painting, but the material the painting was made of was unknown; even an immortal sword couldn’t cut through it.

Somehow, the sky had turned overcast again.

A cold wind swept by, stirring the skirts of the women standing foolishly in place.

Yan Jue hurried over and pulled the dazed women inside the inn.

Qi Xianqing frowned at the painting for a long time before saying, “There are three possibilities now.”

Everyone’s gaze fell on her at once.

Qi Xianqing : “First, my spiritual power has been sealed, so the flames from the talisman didn’t reach a temperature high enough to destroy this painting.”

“Second, this painting needs to be destroyed with something else.”

“Third.” Qi Xianqing paused. “The gate isn’t here.”

Duan Luxi : “Impossible. One woman has already disappeared from the painting—”

Before she could finish, a piercing shriek suddenly rang out from outside the inn. It was sharp and grating, sounding like a woman’s voice.

A gale swept through, and every candle in the inn was blown out at once!

Yan Jue looked inside the inn. The beautiful women she had just settled were now showing fear on their dazed faces; all of them had their eyes wide open, staring out the window.

Faint footsteps drifted in from outside.

That should have been the only sound in the surroundings.

Qi Xianqing : “She’s here.”

After a brief pause, she said, “I told you; in just one day, no matter how much a woman’s yin essence is drained, her body shouldn’t have evaporated. So she was here all along.”

Duan Luxi was startled. “Senior Sister means…”

“The sixth one is there.”

Yan Jue frowned and quickly understood what Qi Xianqing meant.

This illusion not only naturally suppressed Immortal Spirit Physiques; before an Immortal Spirit Physique even arrived, it also served as a weapon to refine women.

In other words, this illusion could absorb a woman’s yin essence dry.

And when a woman’s yin essence was absorbed by another, she would, in effect, become that person’s furnace without realizing it; once the yin essence was drawn to a certain extent, she would be used by them.

Footsteps sounded outside the inn, drawing closer and closer—

Suddenly, a tall, thin shadow appeared on the window lattice!

The figure had a slender waist and a fine build, but the nails on her hands had grown to a horrifying length. Even through the window paper, one could see just how sharp they were.

If an ordinary person were scratched by her once, they would surely die.

Duan Luxi : “Is she being controlled by someone and sent to kill us?”

Perhaps because her cultivation was sealed, Qi Xianqing’s face was somewhat pale, but her expression showed no trace of panic.

She slowly sat down at the table, then looked up at Yan Jue. “I can only try with my remaining spiritual power now, and see whether I can destroy this painting.”

“Next, I’ll have to trouble Junior Sister Yan.”

Yan Jue naturally understood what Qi Xianqing meant.

Even if Qi Xianqing hadn’t ordered it, she would still do her best to stall outside.

“Boom!!”

The window over there was blasted open by a surge of enormous spiritual power, and the woman’s shriek pierced straight through the eardrums.

Beyond the shattered window, a woman’s face emerged.

It was indeed the missing woman among the six.

Amid rolling smoke, a pale-faced woman slowly walked in.

Yan Jue stood in front of Qi Xianqing. “Senior Sister, don’t worry.”

The gale swept past, making the young girl’s robes whip and flutter.

Yan Jue’s expression was cold as she looked ahead, her gaze steady. Then she suddenly smiled. “I’ve almost finished practicing the Summoning Ice Art.”

Before she even finished speaking, Chu Fu’s face hardened. A terrifying burst of qi erupted from his entire body; he drew the long sword all outer-sect disciples used at his waist and rushed out.

The woman’s eyes lit red. With her slender claws, she lunged viciously toward Chu Fu. With a wet tearing sound, she left a bloody gash on the boy’s shoulder. Then she flipped a kick, let out a shrill howl, and directly kicked Chu Fu out of the inn.

This illusion’s master was probably more interested in yin essence.

As for the yang essence on Chu Fu’s body…

A scream from Chu Fu rang out beyond the window.

Clearly, it wasn’t very useful.

At the same time, Qi Xianqing had already begun to sit down and meditate with her eyes closed; faint electrical energy spread from her body.

She took out a Fire Escape Talisman from her Qiankun bag and stuck it onto the painting.

Hellfire; the ghost fire said to devour everything in the world, blazed across the painting.

Yan Jue formed a hand seal and took up her stance. In an instant, dragon roars and phoenix cries echoed in her ears; the gold thread around her neck shot forward.

Yan Jue followed closely behind, but the woman showed no fear of her gold thread; she spread all ten claws and reached for her.

Yan Jue gave a soft snort and silently recited the incantation. A sharp ice spike appeared instantly in front of her!

The ice spike shot out like a bullet. The woman lifted her hand to block it, only to find the spike sinking into her arm as though it were an extremely sharp dagger.

The woman cried out in pain; at the same time, however, her shoulder took a heavy blow!

The gold thread flew in from afar and lashed hard across her shoulder.

Blood gushed out, only to be instantly frozen by the frost scattered from the gold thread!

This piece of black iron, tempered with thousand-year ice crystals, was not to be underestimated. The chill of absolute zero was almost enough to freeze the woman’s arm solid.

The woman threw back her head and let out a bloodcurdling wail, then came after them like a mad thing.

Yan Jue leaped and dodged, with the woman hot on her heels; before long, they were outside the inn.

At a time like this, of course, the farther she could lure the woman away, the better!

But this woman was still flesh and blood; Yan Jue knew that very well, so she didn’t use lethal force. Instead, she kept drawing her away with the gold thread, gradually leading her to a brook outside the bamboo grove.

The woman suddenly sprang upward, her ten fingers bent like hooks as she clawed at Yan Jue!

Yan Jue called back the gold thread and met her head-on, only to suddenly feel a pain in her back foot.

Her foot had twisted on a protruding stone by the brook.

The woman seized the opportunity and lunged. Her long fingers slashed across Yan Jue’s chest; blood seeped out and soaked through her clothes.

Yan Jue hissed in pain. In the panic of the moment, she leaped straight into the river beside her.

“Splash—”

Yan Jue sat on the uneven stones in the brook, grimacing in pain as she looked up at the woman on the bank.

The woman paced back and forth on the shore, seeming hesitant.

Looking at her, Yan Jue suddenly froze.

This brook was very shallow; the water only reached her waist.

Yet the woman wouldn’t come down.

Yan Jue stared at the woman circling on the bank, and a bold thought suddenly occurred to her.

Was this woman unable to swim… or was she afraid of water?

Since she had already been transformed into this state, she shouldn’t have any clear-minded reason left. Fear of everything around her should have been instinct alone. After quickly analyzing the situation, Yan Jue arrived at a conclusion.

This woman was afraid of water.

To test her guess, Yan Jue raised a hand, and the gold thread immediately transformed into a bowl.

Yan Jue scooped up a bowl of water and flung it fiercely at the woman.

The woman let out a scream and retreated again and again.

The gold thread trembled in midair, instantly turning into a golden rope. It stretched several feet, binding the woman tightly.

Wherever the woman had been splashed with water, red light actually began to flare. Her skin also started to rot away, and black blood streamed down.

Yan Jue’s mind went numb, and she shouted, “Senior Sister, they’re afraid of water!!”

Qi Xianqing suddenly opened her eyes, and then she saw a slender figure rushing into the inn.

Yan Jue was soaked through, stumbling as she ran back inside. Bright red blood trickled down from her shoulder, making her look rather disheveled.

Behind her, she was dragging… that woman with the gold thread?

The woman was already exhausted, and her arm had been injured as well. She staggered after Yan Jue, reaching out her claws to grab her.

Yan Jue shouted, “Quick, try splashing that painting with water! The way to break this gate might be water!”

Qi Xianqing murmured, “It can actually be this simple…”

She suddenly raised her hand and threw the water from her teacup onto the painting.

In an instant, the earth shook and the mountains trembled!

The illusion around them faintly began to show signs of breaking. The ground started shaking violently; then suddenly, a huge wooden plank dropped from above!

Yan Jue rushed over and stopped beside Qi Xianqing. With a sharp lift of her left hand, a protective barrier appeared above them and forcefully knocked the plank away.

In the chaos, Yan Jue’s hand accidentally brushed against the back of Qi Xianqing’s hand.

The girl’s hand was warm. Qi Xianqing froze for a moment.

Right now, in Yan Jue’s eyes, she was not a strong cultivator, but an ordinary person in need of protection.

Then the inn above them actually began to crack apart; bits of thatch and broken wood fell down from above. The illusion was collapsing completely.

-

In the early morning, Yan Jue woke up in the purple bamboo grove.

She was startled; a wave of stabbing pain ran through her shoulder blade.

Faint birdsong drifted into her ears.

Her thoughts gradually returned. Recalling what had happened in the illusion, Yan Jue forced herself to sit up.

There wasn’t any inn here at all.

Only a painting, a bamboo grove, and a dead scorpion smeared all over with blood.

The painting that had been impossible for them to burn inside the inn yesterday was hanging quietly above the scorpion.

The breeze moved through it, making the painting sway gently with an unspeakably eerie feeling.

Yan Jue froze; her palm suddenly touched something sticky. She looked down at her hand.

It was blood!!!

Yan Jue practically shot upright at once and turned around, only to freeze when she saw Qi Xianqing sitting cross-legged under a large tree not far away.

Her eyes were half-closed, her face somewhat pale, and a dark green sword lay across her knees.

Behind her, blood flowed like a sea.

Yan Jue was startled, but quickly calmed down.

That wasn’t Qi Xianqing’s blood.

Beside Qi Xianqing lay a Daoist priest. His neck had been slashed with a heavy blow, and he was already dead.

It was the Daoist from last night, the one with the strange expression who had been crouched outside Qi Xianqing’s window.

Qi Xianqing opened her eyes and saw Yan Jue staring at her with a bizarre expression. She said, “When I woke just now, this Daoist happened to be here.”

“…”

Qi Xianqing said indifferently, “He was injured a little. Before I could interrogate him, he took poison and died.”

Qi Xianqing had woken early.

When she woke, she found the Daoist lying nearby, unconscious. It was very likely that after the illusion collapsed, he had been suffering backlash from the illusion he had created.

She used cold water to wake him, and was just about to question him when the Daoist drew his sword and attacked her.

Qi Xianqing traded three moves with him and severely wounded him. She had originally wanted to ask him a few questions, but the Daoist suddenly took poison and killed himself on the spot.

As for where the Daoist came from, and who had ordered this conspiracy, all of it was forever buried underground.

Yan Jue suddenly remembered something. “Last night in the inn, I heard him talking. He was from Qingyu Taoist Temple.”

Qi Xianqing was slightly taken aback.

“Senior Sister, have you ever heard of Qingyu Taoist Temple before?”

Qi Xianqing frowned, apparently unsure as well.

The world was full of sects and factions; no one had the leisure to memorize every one of them.

“In any case,” Qi Xianqing said, using her sword to brace herself as she slowly got up, “the important thing is to return to the mountain first.”

Yan Jue looked behind her and suddenly saw the five women.

The five women were sitting on the ground, their gazes no longer as dull as before, but all of them had their heads lowered as they cried softly.

Yan Jue froze, then suddenly thought of something and hurried to the lonely grave to pick up the painting and examine it carefully.

The painting still showed the purple bamboo grove and the inn.

But the five originally charming, smiling beauties in the inn had been reduced to only one!

The woman was sitting on the inn’s window, her face deathly pale.

“…”

Yan Jue stared at the eerie painting, not knowing what to say.

Had the woman who fought with her in the inn yesterday, the one who had lost all her yin essence, been trapped in the painting forever now?

As Yan Jue was in a daze, she suddenly heard Qi Xianqing say, “This painting should be an illusion artifact.

An illusion artifact can also be used as a storage artifact, so naturally it can store people inside the illusion as well.

Besides, that woman’s yin essence has already been lost.

If a woman is drained of yin essence, she becomes another person’s appendage.

Since this painting is the Daoist’s magical treasure, after the Daoist died, there would naturally be no one left who could control it. So the woman inside the painting will never be able to come out.”

Yan Jue frowned. “Then what do we do?”

Qi Xianqing : “Take the painting back up the mountain. I’ll ask my master to look at it. Perhaps he’ll have a way to save her.”

Chu Fu and Duan Luxi woke up one after another not long later.

Just like yesterday, Chu Fu again took the Hundred-Step Carriage out of his bag. The yin essence of the five women had not been drained too severely, and after a night of recovery they were basically all right.

According to them, they had been walking on the streets of Nanxing Town when, for some reason, they were drawn into this purple bamboo grove and could never find their way out.

Yesterday, after they got into the Hundred-Step Carriage, it had kept circling in the bamboo grove. Later they only felt their vision go dark, and then they were locked by a Daoist into a cramped room.

The room was very dark. They couldn’t see anything; they could only feel their vitality seeming to slip away bit by bit.

One of them lost her sanity first, and was then taken away.

The remaining ones were turned by the Daoist into camels and dragged to the inn.

“…”

After the remaining five women tearfully got into the carriage, they were sent back to Nanxing Town amid repeated thanks.

Yan Jue and the others sat in the purple bamboo grove to rest and recover.

About two hours later, the Hundred-Step Carriage returned, and the four of them got on.

Looking at the slanted bamboo shadows around them, exactly as they had been yesterday, Yan Jue was still somewhat worried at first.

But this time, the Hundred-Step Carriage swayed along for a while and soon drove out of the purple bamboo grove smoothly.

Yan Jue quietly let out a breath. So the illusion really was related to that painting.

Her heart truly couldn’t take any more fright.

-

Five Dragons Sect, mountain gate.

In the small pine grove, who knew when so many people had already lain in ambush.

A group of Five Dragons Sect disciples in various Daoist robes crouched in the grass, waiting for a big shot to arrive.

That big shot was Lord Meng Heng.

Long ago, there had already been rumors that Lord Meng Heng had gone down the mountain to handle a mission.

More recently, people had said they had seen Qi Xianqing’s figure in Qingye Town at the foot of the mountain; it seemed Lord Meng Heng was about to return after completing her mission!

Kongqing Prefecture had sent everyone out at once. A crowd of disciples had been lying in ambush since this morning and still wanted to get some gossip.

After all, the famous Lord Meng Heng, Qi Xianqing, was known in the Five Dragons Sect as Immortal Lady Qi. Not only was she beautiful like a fairy, her cultivation was also among the best of the younger generation of cultivators.

Qi Xianqing had always had many supporters in Five Dragons Mountain. As for her various deeds, they were even more valuable gossip material to Kongqing Prefecture.

In truth, Lord Meng Heng had never been particularly warm toward others; she was polite, but there wasn’t much to dig into.

But word had it that this mission was very unusual.

Not only was Lord Meng Heng involved this time, but also Chu Fu, a Watercloud Sect reserve disciple who had always been rumored to have ties with Lord Meng Heng.

And then there was Yan Jue, said to be hopelessly infatuated with Chu Fu.

How could that not be exciting?

One of the Kongqing Prefecture disciples had even prepared a whole speech in advance, imagining a good drama of two women fighting over one man!

Of course, Du Ying, one of the Kongqing Prefecture disciples, was also among them.

She wore a troubled look and didn’t know what expression to make.

Although she was one of Kongqing Prefecture’s members, she too wanted gossip from the bottom of her heart.

But this time the lead was her neighbor after all…

After spending some time together, Du Ying truly felt that Yan Jue was a decent person.

Sigh… she knew exactly what her colleagues were like.

She couldn’t stop them, so she could only silently wish Yan Jue luck in her heart.

It was all because Yan Jue had such a good face, and because she had entanglements with Chu Fu, the most promising new disciple of Five Dragons Sect.

The crowd waited at the mountain gate while suppressing their excitement; suddenly, a few blurry figures appeared ahead.

As they looked closer and closer, all of them widened their eyes in unison.

A small carriage made with exquisite craftsmanship slowly approached.

Several people were seated in it.

Qi Xianqing sat on the far left side of the carriage, her expression blank as she looked toward the roads on both sides.

Beside her was actually… Chu Fu!

Aaaaaah! At that instant, all the Kongqing Prefecture disciples widened their eyes.

Chu Fu had turned his head and was looking at her earnestly, seemingly asking her something.

Everyone present knew that this mission involved several heavyweight figures capable of igniting public opinion at once; that alone was rare enough, so in everyone’s minds they had already imagined a whole drama.

When they saw Yan Jue sitting at the very edge of the carriage, as if she had been pushed aside by the other three, all of them smiled knowingly at once.

It looked like the winner of this contest was Senior Sister.

As for what had happened during the mission, no one could know.

Before Qi Xianqing had even approached the mountain gate, she had already noticed the group of Kongqing Prefecture disciples hiding in the pine grove nearby.

She frowned almost imperceptibly.

Yan Jue had deliberately chosen a seat far from Qi Xianqing because her chest had started aching faintly again for some reason just now.

Maybe it was because this time she had really stolen too much of the male lead’s spotlight.

So this Heavenly Dao was punishing her.

After thinking it over, Yan Jue could only come up with this possibility.

She was a little timid and afraid of pain, so naturally she didn’t want to get close to the male and female leads again.

But for some reason, there was a faint feeling of melancholy in her heart.

Yan Jue knew that once the mission was over and they returned to Five Dragons Sect, it would mean Qi Xianqing would go back to Thunderflame Sect, while she would return to Watercloud Sect; there would be no more intersection between them.

After this expedition, Yan Jue had discovered that although Qi Xianqing seemed rather cold on the surface, she was very good to her junior brothers and sisters.

And next time they met, it might be when Qi Xianqing came to kill her.

“…”

It was fine; she’d just run away before then.

Yan Jue turned her head and saw that Qi Xianqing’s expression was faint as she walked forward without looking back.

…After going through life and death, Qi Xianqing really had recovered her usual indifference.

Yan Jue sighed and slowly walked forward with her hands behind her back, only to stop abruptly.

Qi Xianqing, who was walking in front, had been blocked by Chu Fu.

Yan Jue froze.

Chu Fu : “Senior Sister, I still have a few questions I want to ask you… about controlling the Spirit-Summoning Mirror.”

In a sense, Chu Fu was also a very stubborn person; when there was something he didn’t understand, he wanted to grind it out to the end. Under the original author’s pen, this was also counted as one of the male lead’s strengths.

Qi Xianqing gave a faint “Mm” and continued forward.

Chu Fu walked beside her and asked earnestly.

A breeze passed by, lifting the hems of both their robes, one black and one white.

At first glance, the two of them seemed to have no romantic thoughts at all; it looked as though it were simply a junior brother asking his senior sister a question.

But Yan Jue knew very well that was not the case. Qi Xianqing was someone who admired the strong, and it was in the process of Chu Fu constantly asking questions and constantly growing stronger that she came to like the male lead.

Yes, the female lead, from beginning to end, belonged to the male lead.

It was like a girl who already had a boyfriend; no matter how good your relationship with her was, and even if sometimes you were secretly pleased by a hint of ambiguity between you, you still hadn’t thought about how she and her boyfriend might be doing more intimate things where others couldn’t see.

What’s more, her relationship with Qi Xianqing… wasn’t all that good to begin with.

Yan Jue couldn’t help but think again of the original setup of this book.

A genius cultivator who was a little wolf-dog, and his cold senior sister.

Qi Xianqing liked earnest, studious people the most; perhaps she had quite a bit of goodwill toward Chu Fu now.

Although Chu Fu had made so many foolish mistakes before, in Qi Xianqing’s eyes, they might just amount to a junior brother being immature.

“…”

Yan Jue had originally wanted to say goodbye to Qi Xianqing. She had always been a relatively warm person; she had gotten along quite happily with Qi Xianqing this time, so saying goodbye wasn’t strange at all.

But seeing this scene now, she naturally no longer wanted to go over.

Forget it. Better keep her distance from the two of them.

-

Jingang Sect, inner-sect dormitory.

A disciple walked into the room and stopped beside Li Hao. “Big Brother, she’s back.”

Li Hao sat in the chair, stroking the long sword in his hand.

“She’s finally… back.”

It was an extremely sharp silver sword.

There was a shallow seam in the center of the blade, and traces of repair could faintly be seen.

When Refining Hall sent the item over, Li Hao had people repair this immortal sword at once.

This had originally been the immortal sword named Count, which his father had told him to personally choose from the Ten Thousand Swords Tomb as a birthday gift; it was then forged together with a thousand-year ice crystal, so every slash and swing carried frost power.

Unfortunately, it had been split in half by some Foundation Establishment Realm trash.

That day, Li Hao went to Refining Hall to choose a new magical treasure and happened to see two flintstones being sold there that looked extremely familiar.

To his surprise, he discovered that the two stones being sold by Refining Hall were actually made of exactly the same material as his sword!

After asking around, a junior disciple from Refining Hall said they had been brought in some time ago by a girl.

At first, they had been two broken sword segments.

Li Hao was furious enough to have his lungs explode! So not only had that person broken his sword, she had also sent it to Refining Hall to be sold!

In short, Li Hao paid to buy back his two broken sword halves, and then had fifty-six thunderbolts’ worth of talismanic inscriptions added to them, making the blade even sharper.

“I heard she’s been cultivating for so long and is only at the middle stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm. Under my Thunderbolt Count Divine Sword, she won’t be knocked to the ground eating dirt?”

“And she even injured my Infernal Hound. I’m going to make her pay!”

TL Note:

little wolf-dog (小狼狗) is a common romance trope: means a younger, energetic, fiercely devoted romantic type