Chapter 39: Crystal at the Last Moment

Description

The last sword hum faded across Medicine Manor, and the enchanted blades, no longer guided by talisman intent, clattered to the ground one after another. From a distance, it looked like a sword graveyard.

As the words fell, the blood energy scattered among the ruins suddenly surged backward.

The formation lines beneath the earth were already shattered beyond repair, no longer able to support the blood formation that had once shrouded the entire manor.

The Daoist forcibly drew in the residual baleful aura and channeled it all into his body.

His chest robe was torn, several sword wounds marred his gaunt frame, and his aura was far less refined than before.

Yet when that oppressive pressure belonging to the mid-Crystallization stage truly coalesced, it remained awe-inspiring.

The Daoist let out a sharp cry, and his figure abruptly vanished from the formation’s center.

Xu Ning only saw a flash of blood light before that gaunt silhouette had already crossed the field of broken swords, appearing mere fathoms away.

Five fingers spread wide, reaching straight for the crown of his head.

Before the strike even landed, the ground around Xu Ning collapsed with a thunderous crash under the weight of that aura.

A frost-white sword light tore across the sky.

Clang!

Zhaoxue’s blade slammed hard against the blood barrier in front of the Daoist’s palm, and the resulting shockwave kicked up a great swath of bloody mud.

Lu Hanyi stood before Xu Ning, her bloodstained white robes billowing from the impact.

She slid back several feet, the wrist of her sword hand trembling slightly, yet she did not retreat.

” What are you standing there for! Fall back!”

Her voice was cold.

The Daoist looked at Lu Hanyi blocking his path, and the killing intent in his eyes burned even brighter.

“You truly don’t know when to quit.”

He raised his palm and struck.

Boom!

Crystallization-stage spiritual power crashed down.

The frost light before Lu Hanyi shattered in an instant, and her whole body was blasted backward.

But before she could land, she tapped the tip of her foot against a half-broken beam, forcibly halting her momentum.

Zhaoxue let out a sharp, urgent ring.

The next moment, Lu Hanyi was already soaring into the air on her sword.

She no longer stayed guarding Xu Ning.

If she let the mid-Crystallization Daoist bear down on her from above while she protected him, Xu Ning couldn’t survive even a single shockwave.

Only by intercepting the man in midair could she buy a sliver of room for those below.

The Daoist snorted coldly, his sleeves rolling as blood energy lifted him slowly into the sky.

Lu Hanyi struck with incredible speed.

Zhaoxue dragged a blinding trail of frost-white sword light as she slashed head-on at the Daoist.

The Daoist tilted his head to dodge, the blade grazing past his shoulder. The tattered robe split open on the spot, and beads of blood seeped from his withered flesh.

He glanced down at the wound on his shoulder.

“Fine sword.”

“A pity the hand that wields it is too weak.”

Lu Hanyi wasted no words with him.

With her strike landed, she twisted her wrist, and Zhaoxue’s sword light suddenly split apart.

A tapestry of frosty radiance fell in crisscrossing arcs, sealing off every path of retreat around the Daoist.

At this moment, the complete sword intent of a perfected Foundation Establishment cultivator was on full display.

Every trace of blood mist in the courtyard was carved open by the sword light, as if a biting snowstorm had descended upon the night.

The Daoist clapped his palms together, and the baleful aura around him contracted violently.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The descending frost-white sword qi shattered one after another, their shrill explosions echoing across Medicine Manor.

But Lu Hanyi had already closed in through the storm of shattered light, driving Zhaoxue straight at his chest.

Anger finally surfaced in the Daoist’s eyes.

“Get lost!”

A layer of intensely condensed dark-red spiritual light erupted from within him.

Zhaoxue’s tip had barely pierced half an inch before it was forcibly driven back by that power.

Lu Hanyi’s advance was halted, and the Daoist’s withered palm, wrapped in thick blood energy, slammed viciously toward her shoulder.

Lu Hanyi raised her sword to block.

Boom!

She was blasted away by the palm strike, her body crashing into the roiling blood clouds above.

But within a single breath, frost-white sword light tore through the blood clouds once more.

Lu Hanyi gritted her teeth, steadied her breathing, and dove down at an angle with her sword.

The Daoist swept Zhaoxue aside with his sleeve, while his other hand pressed down on empty air.

The scattered blood clouds suddenly sank.

A massive blood seal condensed above Lu Hanyi’s head, following the Daoist’s palm gesture as it crashed down to suppress her.

Lu Hanyi’s face was pale, but her sword stance carried not a trace of hesitation.

She gripped Zhaoxue with both hands and slashed upward, a single strike aimed at the blood seal.

Boom!

Frost-white sword light shot into the sky.

She forced a crack through the center of the blood seal, her blade tearing the churning blood energy apart to both sides. The violent shockwave slammed into the courtyard walls, shaking the already ruined structures into collapse.

Xu Ning’s fingernails dug deep into his palm.

Not far in front of him, the woman lying in the mud still had half her face twisted in the agony of her brief return to consciousness.

The hand she had reached out could never be withdrawn again.

Moments ago, she had been begging him for help.

…Now was not the time for guilt.

Xu Ning took a deep breath, forced down the trembling in his heart, and looked up at the sky.

He couldn’t comprehend the intricacies of those sword arts and techniques.

But he could see that Lu Hanyi was no match for the Daoist.

The blood formation was destroyed.

The corpse puppet was destroyed too.

Yet a mid-Crystallization cultivator acting in person was still something Lu Hanyi could not stop.

High above, the Daoist had lost all patience for toying with his prey.

“You think a mere perfected Foundation Establishment can block this Daoist?”

She truly was a prodigy of an immortal sect, full of tricks, managing to fight him across an entire major realm.

But he had no time to indulge her games. The herbs had drawn so many artifacts, which would certainly attract the attention of other cultivators. He needed to finish this quickly and flee.

The Daoist clenched his five fingers.

The blood seal that Lu Hanyi had cut open shattered instantly, then reformed into a streak of crimson light that shot toward her chest from point-blank range.

Too fast.

Lu Hanyi could only hurriedly bring her sword back around.

The blood light slammed into Zhaoxue, and the sword’s ring turned shrill.

The old injury she had long suppressed inside her body burst open completely. Lu Hanyi spat a mouthful of blood onto her own blade on the spot.

The Daoist’s figure followed in an instant.

Another palm strike, landing heavy on Zhaoxue’s spine.

Boom!

Lu Hanyi could hold on no longer.

She plummeted from midair, crashing hard into the rubble before Xu Ning.

Broken stones flew outward from the impact. Zhaoxue struck the ground at an angle, carving a deep gash through the earth.

Lu Hanyi knelt on one knee, one hand gripping the sword hilt with desperate strength.

She tried to stand, but her body lurched violently, and fresh blood spilled from her lips.

The Daoist halted in midair, looking down at her from above.

In the span of a single breath, Lu Hanyi had been rendered powerless to resist.

He had held back on purpose, of course. A damaged corpse puppet would greatly diminish its usefulness.

“A true disciple of Taiwei Immortal Sect, indeed far superior to my few worthless pupils.”

His gaze swept over Zhaoxue before settling back on Lu Hanyi’s face.

The knuckles of Lu Hanyi’s sword hand turned pale.

The Daoist raised his palm, blood energy gathering between his fingers once more.

Soon it condensed into a crimson talisman nail.

“Once this Daoist refines you into a corpse puppet, I wonder how much of that proud spine of yours will remain.”

“Rest assured.”

He stared down at her darkly, a note of delight creeping back into his voice.

“This Daoist will not let you die so easily.”

“I will nail your soul into your corpse. You will still be that ethereal, otherworldly sword immortal.”

“Only, I wonder, will anyone still worship you then!”

The cold light in Lu Hanyi’s eyes blazed fierce.

She gripped Zhaoxue, forcing herself to rise.

But she had barely pushed up an inch before her old injury flared, her body trembling as she collapsed back among the rubble.

Blood trickled slowly down the sword hilt.

The Daoist raised his hand.

The crimson talisman nail condensed between his fingers, its lethal tip locking onto the space between Lu Hanyi’s brows from afar.

Xu Ning suddenly stepped forward.

Hearing the footsteps, Lu Hanyi snapped her head around.

“Get back!”

Xu Ning ignored her.

He turned his palm over, and three round, lustrous pills appeared in his hand.

The moment their rich medicinal fragrance spread, Lu Hanyi recognized them.

Nourishing Origin Pills.

Three at once.

Blood still seeped from the corner of her mouth, but her voice was cold and hard.

“I don’t need them.”

Xu Ning shot her a glance.

“Who said they were for you to eat?”

Lu Hanyi was briefly stunned.

The next moment, Xu Ning tilted his head back and swallowed all three Nourishing Origin Pills at once.

The pills dissolved upon entering his mouth.

Boom!

A torrent of medicinal power erupted inside his body.

Xu Ning let out a muffled groan, his frame swaying violently.

His meridians had already been unable to withstand much spiritual power, and the Ten Thousand Swords Talisman had drained them nearly dry.

The three Nourishing Origin Pills flooding in were like a scalding river surging into a parched riverbed. Agonizing pain lanced through every limb and bone in an instant.

The restraint on his wrist blazed with fierce light.

Fine bloody cracks split open from the back of his hand, yet cyan spiritual light also burst forth from within his body.

The Daoist’s expression darkened abruptly, thinking he was about to self-destruct!

“You seek death!”

The crimson talisman nail shot out instantly, streaking straight for Xu Ning’s brow.

Lu Hanyi’s eyes turned sharp. She forced herself to swing her sword.

Clang!

Zhaoxue knocked the talisman nail aside, but the impact drove her shoulder down, and the blood at her lips could scarcely be stemmed.

“Xu Ning, what exactly are you trying to do!”

Xu Ning had already walked up behind her.

Enduring the searing pain tearing through his meridians, he kept his voice calm.

“I recall that Senior Lu has remained at perfected Foundation Establishment for many years.”

“You’re only a hair’s breadth from breaking through.”

Blood also spilled from Xu Ning’s lips, yet his tone turned somewhat flippant.

“Could it be that you’re afraid? Afraid of failing the breakthrough? Could Senior Lu’s sword path be nothing more than this?”

“You!”

Lu Hanyi’s breathing turned ragged. Just as she moved to turn around, Xu Ning’s palms pressed heavily against her back.

Through the bloodstained white robes, a violent torrent of cyan spiritual power surged into her body.

Lu Hanyi’s frame went rigid.

“Xu Ning! What are you—!”

Cyan spiritual light erupted around them both.

The medicinal power detonating inside his body, forcibly channeled through his Azure Spiritual Root, poured wave after wave of surging vitality into Lu Hanyi’s long-damaged meridians.

That power was overwhelming.

With every measure he pushed out, the bloody cracks on his arms split another inch, blood dripping down his sleeves into the muddy water at his feet.

But he did not let go.

The old wound inside Lu Hanyi that had never healed for years was forcibly suppressed the instant the cyan light flooded in. The sword essence, exhausted by the relentless battles, was suddenly driven up like a surging tide, crashing wildly against the barrier she had touched for so many years.

She finally understood what Xu Ning was doing.

“You’re insane!”

“With your meridians in this state, you can’t possibly withstand this much medicinal power!”

The veins on Xu Ning’s temples bulged, his face pale to the point of translucence.

The cyan light in his palms blazed even brighter as he bit out a reply.

“Today, you owe me one.”

“This chance at breakthrough.”

“I give it to you.”

Lu Hanyi’s breath caught.

Boom!

Cyan spiritual power rushed forth like a dam breaking, pouring entirely into Lu Hanyi’s body.

Zhaoxue suddenly let out a long, resonant ring.

The frost color that had been suppressed by blood energy abruptly burst outward from beneath Lu Hanyi, flooding across the entire ruin.

The Daoist’s expression changed drastically.

His body sank, blood energy forming a massive palm that came crashing down toward them.

Lu Hanyi’s eyes were shut tight, her aura churning violently.

She was in the most perilous moment of her breakthrough and had no chance to raise her sword.

The blood palm descended, but Xu Ning did not dodge.

His hands remained pressed against Lu Hanyi’s back, holding firm through the last surge of medicinal power.

The next moment.

Zhaoxue tore itself from the ground on its own.

The blade soared across the sky, blocking above their heads.

The blood palm struck down with crushing force.

Boom!

Zhaoxue was slammed downward, its blade wailing in anguish.

The residual force smashed into them both. Xu Ning’s chest jolted, blood rushing to the corner of his mouth, yet his hands on her back never moved.

But under that crushing pressure, the barrier within Lu Hanyi’s body suddenly cracked.

Crack.

A faint, tiny sound echoed from the depths of her spiritual sea.

Lu Hanyi’s eyes snapped open.

The scattered frost-white sword intent in her gaze converged in that instant, condensing into a single point of piercing cold light.

The next moment, frost energy erupted skyward from the entire rear courtyard.

The massive blood palm was torn apart on the spot.

Zhaoxue’s ring pierced the heavens, and the aura radiating from its edge was utterly different from before.

The Daoist took half a step back. His expression had finally changed completely.

“Breaking through to Crystallization in the middle of battle?!”