In this lifetime, he would never let her go, not to the whims of fate or the cruelty of a next life.
"No! I want you dead!" Yun Xiao's voice tore through the air as he charged, sword in hand, toward the thousand-year-old Monster Sovereign, knowing this was a battle far beyond his strength. This creature was as powerful as a Source Pill Realm master, and in Blue Soul Sword Pavilion, only Ye Tiance had a chance against it.
But for Yun Xiao, nothing mattered more than saving her.
Just as Yun Xiao moved, a flash of blue light shot past him from the depths of the palace—it was a sword, a fierce azure dragon of energy that flew straight to the serpent's weak spot, behind its head.
*Slash!*
The serpent, mid-laughter, let out a blood-curdling scream as the sword drilled deep, leaving a gaping wound that splattered monster blood all around. The sword drove into its thick hide, deep enough to rattle bone.
"Zhao Jianxing!!" the serpent hissed, twisting and thrashing in pain. Though severely injured, its monstrous durability kept it alive.
Yes, Zhao Jianxing—the Sword Pavilion's greatest master and Senior Sister Zhao's father—had taken action at last. Before the palace, how could he watch his own daughter be struck down?
The serpent, wounded and reeling, spat out Zhao Xuanran. In a flash, Yun Xiao was there, catching her bloodstained figure in his arms.
"Senior Sister!" he choked out, his voice shaking, his eyes red with desperation.
"I... I'll be fine. Just... a venomous hit, but... I can't die from this," Senior Sister Zhao rasped, her eyes misting as she looked up at him.
Suddenly, she snapped her head toward the palace. "My father!" she gasped.
Yun Xiao's heart sank. "Did the Master use his life force just now to deal that blow?"
Zhao Xuanran struggled to stand despite her injuries, her eyes fixed on the palace with fierce determination.
"Rest assured!" Grandpa Qin's voice came from behind, lifting their spirits. "Your father is alive! Though the Master didn't use his full strength, he can still be saved."
Both of them felt an enormous wave of relief. Hopeful once more, Yun Xiao's tense heart softened slightly.
But the rage in him only intensified, blazing even brighter, filling his entire body.
"Zhao Jianxing's strength is depleted. Ye Tiance, take over!" hissed the injured serpent to the remaining wolf monster king. It had tried to exploit Zhao Xuanran to force Zhao Jianxing's hand, banking on its thick hide to withstand damage.
But Zhao Jianxing had shown a power they hadn't anticipated. The ambush had cost the monsters dearly—two 800-year-old demon kings lay dead, and Yuexian had abandoned its clone.
"Let's save the Ye clan members and retreat!" the serpent hissed, bleeding profusely as it prepared to withdraw. The wolf monster king, already terrified by Yun Xiao's earlier attack, needed no second command.
Still, Yun Xiao was not about to let them escape unpunished. In a heartbeat, his sword let out a fierce, ringing sound—a vibration of sheer intent.
*Clang!*
Ten azure scales glowed brightly as Yun Xiao unleashed his ultimate attack. A freezing, deadly storm of sword energy spiraled through the air.
"What?!" The wolf king looked back, eyes widening in terror, just in time to see Yun Xiao—a lone figure dressed in white, emanating a fierce, implacable resolve—pursuing them relentlessly.
With a whirl of his Sword Soul, Yun Xiao dispatched the fleeing wolf demon with brutal efficiency.
"Who said you could leave?" he growled, his face dark with fury.
The sword spun ten times, each strike flashing with deadly radiance. This blow was even more lethal than his first attack, its force capable of annihilating an entire demon horde.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
The wolf monster king's desperate escape ended abruptly as it crashed lifeless to the ground, blood streaking behind it. Its body was hurled over 30 *zhang* (100 feet), smashing through several pine trees along the way, leaving a bloody trail in its wake.
"Serpent demon, I swear you won't leave here alive!" Yun Xiao shouted, his white figure flashing through the trees as he intercepted the millennium-old Monster Sovereign deep within the forest.
*Buzz!*
Yun Xiao drew out his three-chi azure blade, the cold steel humming as his long hair streamed behind him. His eyes flashed with unwavering resolve, the sword energy surging within them like a storm.
The thousand-year-old snake demon chuckled darkly. "Naïve! Do you really think a boy like you can make me retreat? I feast on creatures like you by the dozen!"
As it spoke, it unleashed its monstrous strength. A torrent of poisonous black fog billowed forth, spreading across the forest, blighting trees to withered husks, melting rock to sludge.
But Yun Xiao didn't waver.
Without a hint of hesitation, he rushed forward, his sword thirsting for the monster's life. He was all in, no retreat.
"You insolent whelp!" The snake demon's laughter turned to fury. "Fine! I'll assist Ye Tiance one last time!"
It spewed a vast flood of demonic fog, thick and churning, sweeping toward Yun Xiao with deadly intent. Yun Xiao sidestepped with the precision of a shadow, his sword turning over to unleash the Ten Scale Strike once more.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Each strike echoed like thunder, piercing through the black torrent of fog, hurtling toward the snake demon.
"Heh." The snake demon smirked, closing its eyes confidently. At the last moment, it swung its massive tail like a whip, felling trees as if they were mere grass, aiming to crush Yun Xiao where he stood.
But then—a sound no one expected—the eleventh strike!
What? The snake demon's eyes flew open in shock. Who had said that Ten Scale Strike ended at ten? Who dared suggest that power could have an upper limit?
Through sheer will, Yun Xiao had broken past the technique's limits, evolving it to eleven scales—an unprecedented feat in Blue Soul history.
Ding!
His azure sword danced in a flash, feinting around the monster's horned head, plunging deep into the wound Zhao Jianxing had left. Heaven-Burying Sword Soul dove through the wound, cleaving into the snake's heart. Two generations—master and disciple—united in the strike.
Zhao Jianxing had weakened it; Yun Xiao now finished it.
Pū-! Blood sprayed in torrents from the monster's heart as Heaven-Burying Sword Soul bit into the core, drawing its life out like a devouring storm.
"This... this is impossible…" the snake demon gasped in pain and disbelief. It had thought the boy's skills were far inferior to Zhao Jianxing's, yet here he was, defying Blue Soul's limits to deliver an eleventh strike.
"Do you really think you can stifle my Sword Soul?" Yun Xiao shouted as he dodged the serpent's enraged tail and struck the demon from behind, pounding into its open wound with his fist.
The serpent let out a final agonized shriek, blood gushing from its heart, staining half the mountainside with black ichor. Its hollowed body fell to the ground, drained and defeated, as the Heaven-Burying Sword Soul continued to sap its life force.
"This… this is not the Blue Lotus Sword Soul!" the snake demon's eyes widened in horror, realizing too late that the blade devouring its essence was something far darker and more powerful.
Yun Xiao's eyes glinted with steely determination. "No," he said, voice low and cold, "This is the Heaven-Burying Sword Soul—a blade that does not forgive evil."