Chapter 93

Pain?

There was a little, as she had said.

But it wasn't severe, so Lin Xunzhen shook her head and repeated, "We can continue."

Seeing her insistence, Bai Su had no choice but to close her mouth and silently heal her injuries.

Since the duel had been interrupted, Chen Lianqing's plan to surround Ruan Mingzhu was completely thwarted. Both sides returned to their original positions, and he let out an almost inaudible sigh.

Those little girls he had seen back then, still wet behind the ears, had now improved by leaps and bounds, even overshadowing him at every turn. Experiencing this feeling was truly strange.

"Aren't you embarrassed to lose to a junior sister younger than us? We even taught her swordsmanship back then." Chen Lianqing glanced sideways at Xiao Hong, who shrugged. "As they say, thirty years on the east bank, thirty years on the west—you have to beat up little brats while they're young."

"..."

"Brother Lian, forget that. It's rare to have a proper fight." He drew his sword again, muttering, "You know, back then, there were few in the whole sect who would fight us heartily."

Earlier, Ruan Mingzhu had been entangled with the three of them, phoenix fire swirling around her for protection, and she hadn't fallen too far behind. Yi Xing had even taken a cut from her blade on his waist, though thankfully the wound wasn't deep.

Looking around, apart from Chen Lianqing, one opponent was out, and two of the three were injured. On Qing Zhouxue's side, Ruan Mingzhu had light injuries, Lin Xunzhen was probably hurt more seriously, while Qing Zhouxue and Bai Su were almost unscathed.

Moreover, Bai Su hadn't even entered the fray; with her present, they faced a group of enemies who were practically immortal and had formidable vitality.

They had to speed things up.

Xiao Hong, however, did not advance with his two junior brothers. Instead, they stood together, and their swords flew out, forming a sword array—

The three spirit swords suddenly vanished, and behind them, over a dozen sword projections began to spin, shifting back and forth between black and white, yin and yang.

Faster and faster.

Qing Zhouxue was a sword cultivator. Although she had never seen such a technique, she had a vague, uneasy feeling.

They quickly huddled together. Lin Xunzhen erected several water barriers in front of her, and Qing Zhouxue turned them into layers of thick ice, standing before them. Still not reassured, she used her move "The Full Moon Waxes, Then Wanes" to summon a heavy snow that swirled around her, ready for anything.

Because the ice's biting cold was easier to defend with, Ruan Mingzhu shivered from the chill and suppressed some of her flames, lest they melt the ice.

A spirit sword seemed to fly out, quickly followed by chaotic shadows and clanging sounds. Then she saw cracks spreading across the ice like a spider's web.

After a clatter, web-like cracks appeared at various points, spreading rapidly. In no time, the entire ice layer was covered with fissures.

Qing Zhouxue tried to reinforce the cracks, but the foundation was crumbling; the ice cracking continued on its own. The piercing power of the metal spirit root was formidable—seeing it now, it was not just a reputation.

It couldn't hold.

She gave up and, at the moment the ice shattered completely, the swirling snow swallowed them protectively. Several phantom sword intents slashed through the air. Although the soft, flexible snow absorbed most of the force, a few inevitably cut through.

"When will their sword array end?" Ruan Mingzhu felt as if she were trapped in a blinding white chaos; from time to time, her face still stung. She touched it and found cuts from the leaked sword wind, with blood flowing.

"Without interference, why would it end easily?"

Ruan Mingzhu's eyes widened. "If we stay here, we'll slowly be sliced into mincemeat. No, we have to get out."

Lin Xunzhen said softly, "Their sword array is fierce and can slice through metal like mud, but any technique or formation needs spiritual power to sustain it, and spiritual power is always limited."

"But we've already used a lot of spiritual power on our side, and those sword cultivators opposite have been taking hits directly! They must be waiting for this moment. How can we outlast them?" Ruan Mingzhu frowned, then heard Bai Su say, "Junior Sister Qing's face is so pale."

Qing Zhouxue was a sword cultivator, but today was different; she had continuously used large-scale techniques—that is, the defensive move she had comprehended. About three times. She had also condensed a thick layer of ice just now, and despite Lin Xunzhen's help, it had still drained her.

Within her dantian, spiritual power was nearly depleted. The sensation was subtle. It was as if a burning feeling always lingered in her belly, but when she focused, it was merely boundless emptiness.

She had felt the same during the inner sect competition back then, when her cultivation was lower; after forming ice a few times, she had felt it.

Indeed, they could not delay any longer. Lin Xunzhen frowned in thought, then slowly closed her eyes. "Sword cultivators aren't good at long-range, but at this distance, it's to my advantage."

A trickle of water silently emerged from the snow, as agile as a swimming snake.

As she channeled spiritual power from her dantian, Lin Xunzhen felt another pang of pain in her chest. She endured it. She was at the rear, so the chance of being hit was actually smaller. A healer's spiritual power wasn't inexhaustible; if she could save it, she would.

Moreover, internal injuries couldn't be healed quickly under such harsh conditions.

Yi Xing caught sight of a patch of red in the vast white snow. It was as brilliantly tragic as red plum blossoms blooming in the snowfield.

"It's working," he said smugly. "In the end, you couldn't block it—oof!"

A water thread silently coiled around his neck. The sword in Yi Xing's hand nearly slipped, and the sword array was disrupted for a moment, but luckily Xiao Hong, with keen eyes and quick hands, took over and maintained the balance of the array.

Yi Xing clawed at his neck with one hand. The water thread soon turned to frost and continued to tighten, crushing his air supply.

A mound of earth rose from between the two sides, like a low mountain. Above, a streak of red swooped down, lightly tapping the top of the mound, surrounded by flames like the feathers of a fire phoenix, folding in and diving.

What is she doing?

Before Yi Xing could react, the ground beneath his feet blazed with fire, the suffocating chill around his neck melted into slush, but at the same time, it was so hot he almost jumped.

Behind the mound, Qing Zhouxue had stopped the swirling snow, sat down cross-legged, and closed her eyes, as if meditating to regulate her breath.

The sword array, disturbed, was weakening; the fierce sword wind was gradually slowing.

Blood kept streaming down Ruan Mingzhu's face, which looked rather terrifying. But she never cared about losing a piece of flesh when fighting; she had always been like that. She took on three opponents alone, and even at a disadvantage, she fought recklessly, which made Chen Lianqing and the others somewhat intimidated.

Xiao Hong's sharp eyes spotted Qing Zhouxue meditating. He thought, this shows she was pushed to her limits. If they allowed her to recover... no, then they wouldn't stand a chance at all.

Why had Ruan Mingzhu suddenly come here? She surely wasn't arrogant enough to think she could take down all three alone. If he thought carefully, she was probably buying time for Qing Zhouxue to recover!

He dodged Ruan Mingzhu's blade and was about to leap over the earth mound, but as expected, Ruan Mingzhu turned and chased him.

"Deserting in battle, what kind of hero does that?" Ruan Mingzhu taunted, trying to provoke him, but Xiao Hong had no shame at all. He clicked his tongue. "A coward. Your little one is a coward."

Seeing that he seemed to have figured something out, Ruan Mingzhu grew anxious and slashed at his back. Unexpectedly, Xiao Hong didn't dodge; he took the blow, gritted his teeth, and thrust his long sword straight at Qing Zhouxue's throat.

It was over.

Xiao Hong was like an arrow off the string, stabbing toward Qing Zhouxue. Ruan Mingzhu was still entangled by Yi Xing and Chen Lianqing behind her and couldn't stop him for a moment.

She bit her lip. Senior Sister Lin had released that earth mound, giving instructions and masking her as the last barrier, but she had already fallen unconscious.

At this moment, Bai Su was supporting her, quietly channeling her power to heal her. Because they were far away, others couldn't tell for the time being.

But in truth, if Qing Zhouxue fell, only a healer with no combat power would be left at the rear.

Ruan Mingzhu was anxious. Her spiritual power was more than half depleted, but she still summoned her fastest speed. Her blade moved faster than her body and intercepted Xiao Hong with a slash.

Xiao Hong didn't fight her; he dodged sideways, rolling over the long blade. Ruan Mingzhu would not let up. Yi Xing's sword seemed to pierce half her shoulder, and Chen Lianqing also seemed to stab a few times, the fierce sword wind cutting several long gashes.

She couldn't bother with that; half her body was numb. If not for a breath of will holding her up, she would surely have collapsed.

Elder Zhong sighed. Although he usually complained that this girl was the most troublesome, she was after all his disciple of many years. He glanced at Ruan Mingzhu, whose body was soaked in blood, then looked away, unable to bear watching.

"Doesn't this girl feel pain?" Elder Yue frowned slightly, reaching for the teacup beside her. "What is your disciple doing? Why isn't she healing her? Poor thing."

"She's young, with insufficient cultivation. And Ruan Mingzhu is too far away."

Liu Xunqin's hands were properly resting on the armrests of her chair when she suddenly felt warmth. She looked down; a slender, fair hand had covered the back of hers.

Yue Changge was staring intently at the training ground, but fumbling around and failing to find her teacup, she suddenly found the touch felt wrong—supple and delicate, with distinct knuckles, warm yet cool.

Her phoenix eyes blinked, and she turned her head in shock, meeting Liu Xunqin's expressionless face.

"You're molesting me!" she cried first.

Liu Xunqin glared at her coldly.

Yue Changge snatched her hand back and stroked it with great pity, as if about to cry. "Did you deliberately place your hand where the teacup was? Now my hand is no longer pure; you've defiled it."

"Silence."

The Sect Leader's brows furrowed.

Yun Shuchen glanced at the two of them, languidly shifting to another position.

The world has indeed fallen into decay.