?
"I never imagined the day would come when I'd actually have to cultivate the One-Armed Demon Blade."
Liu Yue’s severed right arm dissolved into a streak of crimson light, merging seamlessly into the golden saber in his remaining hand. The blade instantly turned a horrifying, blood-drenched red.
Countless tendrils of blood Qi ignited around his body, and his aura surged, recovering a significant portion of his strength in an instant. With renewed ferocity, he entangled Wang Laoxie, refusing to let the old man advance a single inch.
Watching from the Celestial Ladder, Xiao Yifeng was speechless. No wonder you were known as the One-Armed Tyrant Blade in my past life. With a secret technique that requires you to chop off your own limb, it’s a miracle you kept both hands this long.
"I never thought the 'Tyrant Blade' Liu Yue would be such a romantic fool. I took you for a blade-obsessed maniac who'd die a virgin," Wang Laoxie mocked, parrying a strike. "But look at you, sacrificing everything for Fairy Luo Yun. Too bad she doesn't give a damn about a blockhead like you."
"Shut your mouth! My affairs are none of your business!" Liu Yue roared, provoked into a frenzy. Every slash was suicidal, trading defense for offense, aiming to drag Wang Laoxie down to hell with him.
However, this chaotic, desperate fighting style had its limits. Wang Laoxie sidestepped a heavy cleave and countered with a brutal hook punch to Liu Yue’s ribs.
Bang!
Liu Yue was sent flying, coughing blood. But instead of crashing, he used the momentum to accelerate backward, landing directly in front of a Celestial Ladder.
Wang Laoxie’s expression shifted. This guy... he looked crazy, but he was calculating every move. He waited for me to lower my guard to get close to the ladder.
Liu Yue spun around and threw himself at the stairs.
Boom!
A barrier of light materialized instantly, bouncing him back with tremendous force.
Liu Yue froze. Wang Laoxie froze.
"Hahahaha! It seems even the heavens are helping me!" Wang Laoxie burst into maniacal laughter. "The ladder recognizes its master! You need a Reincarnation Stone Stele to enter. The Fairy Luo Yun you fought so hard to save is trapped too! You’re both dead!"
Hearing this, Liu Yue looked toward the ladder Luo Yun had fled to. She had just reached the entrance. His heart filled with infinite bitterness. After all this sacrifice... I still couldn't protect her?
He took a step forward, eyes burning with resolve. "Wang Laoxie! If that's the case, then die with me!"
Wang Laoxie, momentarily shaken by Liu Yue’s imposing aura, hesitated.
Suddenly, a massive pillar of light shot into the sky from the distance. Another Celestial Ladder had been activated.
Wang Laoxie and Liu Yue whipped their heads around. It was Luo Yun’s ladder.
Luo Yun stood atop the steps, her zither cradled in her arms, eyes closed in serene meditation, looking like a descended goddess. Floating before her was a stone tablet inscribed with four characters: Higanbana Sea.
"How?" Wang Laoxie gasped in astonishment. "She didn't have a stone stele!"
Liu Yue was equally baffled. It turned out that Luo Yun had quietly obtained the Higanbana Sea stele at some point and had kept it hidden from everyone—including him.
Seeing the woman he loved safe, Liu Yue threw his head back and laughed heartily, tears mixing with the blood on his face.
"What are you laughing at, you fool?" Wang Laoxie sneered mercilessly. "She had the token all along and didn't tell you a word. She watched you chop off your arm for nothing. She doesn't care about you at all."
"I don't care! Seeing her safe makes me happy!" Liu Yue shouted heroically. He thrust his blood-red blade into the ground, standing tall as if death were of no consequence.
"Then die like a dog," Wang Laoxie spat, raising his hooks.
"Catch!"
Suddenly, a black streak of light shot toward Liu Yue like lightning. Reflexively, Liu Yue snatched the object out of the air with his remaining hand. It was a jet-black stone inscribed with three large characters: Yellow Springs Road.
"I respect you as a true man. Take this," Xiao Yifeng called out from his ladder.
Xiao Yifeng felt a pang of sympathy seeing the man’s devotion. Furthermore, Liu Yue was one of the few top-tier combatants among them who wasn't an enemy. He tossed his spare Yellow Springs Road stele, which surprisingly flew out of the formation without resistance.
Liu Yue stared at the stone, stunned. He looked up at Xiao Yifeng and laughed. "Brother Wuchen! I never expected you to be a man of such character! I, Liu Yue, acknowledge you as a friend! If we survive this, I must drink with you!"
Before Wang Laoxie could react, Liu Yue clamped the stone between his teeth, grabbed his blade, and leaped backward onto the Celestial Ladder.
Buzz!
A pillar of light erupted, sealing him inside.
Five ladders were now active. Wang Laoxie turned his furious glare toward Xiao Yifeng. "Meddlesome brat! You're courting death!"
"What does that have to do with you?" Xiao Yifeng sneered.
"I'll remember this debt," Wang Laoxie hissed. Worried that all the treasures inside would be taken if he delayed any longer, he prepared to find his own ladder.
Just then, two streaks of light flew out from the wilderness in the distance. Wang Laoxie turned in surprise and saw Su Miaoqing and Lin Xiao emerging from the fog.
"Hahaha! Kid, the heavens really are helping me! I'm going to kill your delicate Junior Sister right now!" Wang Laoxie laughed viciously, glancing back at Xiao Yifeng. "No... I'll humiliate her a hundred times in front of you first! That is the price of offending me!"
"Such a peerless beauty exists in the mortal world?"
The trapped eccentric’s eyes lit up with manic excitement upon seeing Su Miaoqing. "Old man, if you dare touch her, I'll crush you! She is mine!"
He had thought Mo Shuiyao was beautiful, but Su Miaoqing was a true fairy, untouched by the dust of the world.
"Pah! A freak who's neither human nor ghost dares to speak wild words? Later, I'll twist your head off and use it as a chamber pot!" Wang Laoxie retorted.
Xiao Yifeng’s face turned extremely ugly.
He hadn't expected Su Miaoqing to emerge this early. His calculation was that she would need more time to navigate the fog, during which he would force Wang Laoxie onto a ladder by playing on his greed for the treasures.
He hadn't anticipated that the golden light would guide her out so quickly.
Wang Laoxie grinned ferociously and flew toward the newcomers, his aura surging as he prepared to strike. Su Miaoqing spotted Xiao Yifeng standing on the ladder, his expression grim, and her face lit up with relief—until she saw the old man charging at her.
"Little girl, blame your courting-death Senior Brother for offending this old man," Wang Laoxie laughed, his eyes roaming over her. "But a beauty like you... I've never had the pleasure. Today, I'll have a taste."
Su Miaoqing’s expression changed. She shouted sharply, "You shameless old man! My father is the Hall Master of Wuya Hall in the Wentian Sect! Dare to touch me and see what happens!"
"This junior also advises Senior not to target Fairy Su." Lin Xiao stepped forward, placing himself firmly between Su Miaoqing and the enemy.
"What is this? Everyone likes playing the flower protector today?" Wang Laoxie sneered, his voice dripping with malice. "If I want her, what can a pretty boy like you do? Today, I'll show you the difference in power!"
Wang Laoxie launched his attack, his twin hooks tearing through the air.
Lin Xiao showed no fear. He flicked his folding fan open, meeting the charge head-on.
"A flower protector?" Lin Xiao said calmly, his voice steady amidst the killing intent. "That is what I have always been. Always."