Jiang Ye instantly logged in!
He had been guarding against a trick like this all along; elite mobs always had a trump card or two up their sleeves after all.
After parrying the hidden weapon, Jiang Ye rushed forward instantly, scooping upward diagonally with his greatsword.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
The four remaining Foundation Establishment cultivators were all launched high into the air.
His force control was tuned to absolute perfection—stunning them without scrambling their brains.
Immediately after, Jiang Ye logged off.
After all, "internet time" was precious. A purple-tier quest like this was bound to get more complicated later, so he had to save his energy for when it mattered most.
Bai Zhirou retook control of her body once again.
Jiang Ye's mischievously wicked voice echoed in her mind:
“Quick! Don't let them touch the ground!”
With time of the essence, Bai Zhirou didn't have a second to spare for second-guessing.
She assumed that if the four hit the ground, it would trigger some terrifying array or deadly killer move.
So, holding the greatsword, she began sprinting back and forth across the open ground.
It was just like playing tennis.
She swung her sword frantically, batting the falling cultivators right back into the sky every time they dipped lower.
The Sword Peak group stood in the background, staring at this profoundly bizarre scene.
The four Yin-Yang Sect Foundation Establishment cultivators were repeatedly launched, dropped, intercepted, launched again, and intercepted again.
Back and forth, bouncing continuously in midair.
Gu Changqing rubbed his chin, muttering under his breath, “This style of doing things... her second personality definitely popped out just now.”
A few nearby disciples overheard him and froze in surprise.
Then, as if realizing something, their eyes widened in disbelief as they exchanged looks.
It was confirmed! No wonder Senior Sister Bai's personality had shifted so drastically; she really did harbor a bloodthirsty killer personality within her body!
Bai Zhirou swung her “racket” with all her might.
Those four “humanoid entities” were launched into the air again and again.
Once she mastered the technique of continuous juggling, Bai Zhirou finally found the breath to ask in her mind:
“Senior, why can't we let them hit the ground?”
Jiang Ye didn't answer right away.
He simply counted along leisurely to the rhythm of her sword swings:
“Ninety-eight.”
“Ninety-nine.”
“One hundred.”
“Nice! Xiao Bai, congratulations on winning first place in this year's Spoon-Flipping Championship!”
Bai Zhirou: “...”
I knew it!
Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat.
The moment Jiang Ye finished speaking, Bai Zhirou stopped swinging her sword.
Following four dull impacts, four thoroughly tenderized lumps of meat slammed into the dirt, completely lifeless.
Having worked hard for half the day, Master Chef Bai wiped the sweat from her forehead.
Staring at her masterpiece, she fell speechless once again.
Suddenly—
A familiar warm current surged into her limbs and bones.
Bai Zhirou knew that the “experience” Senior often talked about had arrived in her account.
Though she had felt the pleasurable sensation of a cultivation surge many times before, each instance was so intensely satisfying that she couldn't help but close her eyes to savor it.
She tilted her head up slightly and closed her eyes.
Behind her...
The Sword Peak disciples gasped sharply, exchanging wide-eyed glances.
“It matches! Everything matches!”
“Rumor has it that after Senior Sister Bai slaughters people, she loves to close her eyes and quietly relish the lingering thrill of slaughter!”
“What an elegant female demon lord...”
Standing nearby, her old acquaintance Chu Qianfeng had his worldview thoroughly shattered once again.
She just broke through to Foundation Establishment, yet slaughters same-realm cultivators like dogs! We are all human, so why are you so damn overpowered?!
...
A moment later.
Bai Zhirou opened her eyes once more.
She saw several Sword Peak disciples holding seven or eight storage bags and a few spatial rings in their hands, standing quietly before her.
They wore expressions of sycophantic reverence, as if trying to curry favor with a legendary boss.
Bai Zhirou scratched her head bashfully, her cheeks flushing slightly.
“Sorry about that! I was lost in thought just now. Kept you all waiting.”
The crowd shook their heads in unison, chiming together:
“Not at all! You worked hard, Senior Sister!”
Several disciples hastily handed over the "spoils of war."
Bai Zhirou froze for a second, waving her hands in refusal.
But the disciples were resolute, insisting on pressing the loot into her hands no matter what:
“Please take it, Senior Sister! We just stood by watching the show the entire time without lifting a finger. This is the loot from your solo clear—you earned it!”
“You really don't want it? Then I'll go ahead and take them.”
Seeing them refuse, Bai Zhirou stopped being coy and pocketed the loot.
After all, having just survived her Foundation Establishment Heavenly Tribulation, she really was penniless right now.
Right at that moment...
An tsundere loli voice suddenly resounded in her ear:
“Oh yeah! This princess has finally escaped!”
Bai Zhirou: “?”
Jiang Ye: “?”
Both of them were taken aback at the same time.
Jiang Ye reacted lightning-fast—that voice had come from the Meteorite Greatsword!
That sword spirit of the Azure Mystic Sword actually attached herself to my greatsword and snuck out?!
Jiang Ye logged in instantly, asking with great intrigue:
“Hey shorty, how did you manage to get out?”
The tsundere sword spirit immediately bristled like an angry cat:
“My name is Qingxuan!”
“Got it, shorty. Now spill: how did you get out?”
Qingxuan sword spirit: “...”
But remembering how this young girl had made her go “oh ho ho ho ho” earlier, she decided to forgive her rudeness.
She huffed softly before continuing:
“The secret realm was way too boring! I had to suppress that creepy thing every single day. This princess hasn't been out for nearly fifty years!”
Jiang Ye keenly picked up on a key point:
“Oh? What creepy thing?”
“Just something that keeps spewing out black smoke non-stop! I don't know what it is specifically—there's an isolating formation inside.”
Right as the sword spirit finished speaking...
On the game panel before Jiang Ye's eyes, the quest progress bar suddenly jumped:
【Main Quest: Crisis of the Azure Mystic Sect】
【Current Progress: 20% -> 30%】
Holy shit!
Jiang Ye's heart gave a violent leap.
Just a single sentence from this sword spirit had bumped up his quest progress by 10%!
It seemed that the future destruction of the Azure Mystic Sect was definitely tied to whatever was buried under the ground.
Suppressing his excitement, he continued probing for information:
“So did you escape completely? Abandoned the secret realm?”
The Qingxuan sword spirit pondered for a moment before adopting a smug tone:
“Not at all! They only know that my trait is 'Suppression.'”
“Hee-hee, actually I have a hidden trait: Soul Splitting!”
“Attaching my trait to this greatsword will even accelerate the awakening of that 'dummy' inside.”
Jiang Ye rubbed his chin. “So what's left behind in the secret realm is your main soul?”
“Of course not!” the Qingxuan sword spirit gloated even more.
“What I left back there is just my split soul! Otherwise, I wouldn't have needed to sneak into the Meteorite Greatsword and seal myself.”
“If your combat shockwaves hadn't woken me up just now, I'd still be in deep self-seal state!”
Jiang Ye: “...”
He had a growing feeling that this little pip-squeak was thoroughly unreliable.
Just to sneak out and play, she actually sealed herself to fool the perception of Nascent Soul powerhouses!
What the hell... is the destruction of the Azure Mystic Sect going to have a contribution from him now? Would this cause his main quest to fail?
After all, in the previous nine playthroughs, he had never obtained the sword spirit of the Azure Mystic Sword!
Uneasy, Jiang Ye pressed further:
“So can you still sense the state inside the secret realm right now?”
“I can still do that much.”
Only then did Jiang Ye breathe a sigh of relief.
At least if something went wrong in the secret realm later, he could get advance warning.
...
In reality...
The Sword Peak disciples quickly cleaned up the scene, hauling away the flattened "lumps of meat" for disposal.
The common folk in the market were clearly accustomed to such "immortal combat."
Before long, the market buzzed with activity once more; vendors set up their stalls and hawk their wares as if that one-sided slaughter had never happened at all.
The group disguised themselves slightly, entered the market through another gate, and dispersed according to plan to gather information.
A ke later, everyone regrouped.
Gu Changqing asked with a solemn expression, “Did anyone hear anything unusual?”
The disciples spoke up one after another:
“I asked the waiter at the restaurant; nothing.”
“I asked the patrons at the tavern; nothing.”
“I asked the melon stall owner; nothing.”
“I asked Xiao Hong at the brothel... nothing.”
Everyone turned their heads in unison to stare at the last disciple, a burly young man with dark skin.
It was the very same disciple who had yelled “Come, Ox!” that morning. A prominent red lipstick mark was clearly stamped on his cheek.
He scratched his head awkwardly. “Um... I paid for it, though.”
Everyone: “...”
Is paying for it really the issue here?!
Rate on N.U.
