SWNOVELXO Chapter 86: A Series of Complications
Chapter 86: A Series of Complications
“Are you saying that you used such heavy-handed tactics in order to vanquish evil?”
He Shutong slightly turned her body, and the moment Liu Chengzhu met her gaze, he felt as though his entire being was freezing over. Involuntarily, he ceased floating in mid-air and descended to the ground, a sense of shame welling up within him, making him feel unworthy to even look at her directly.
“Naturally. You Su fought desperately to protect this malevolent entity, so I had no choice but to subdue him first.”
Liu Chengzhu remained calm, his hands clasped behind his back, exuding an air of righteousness. Though he couldn’t see through her cultivation level, he could sense the chaotic profound energy swirling around her body.
For a cultivator, this was undoubtedly a troubling sign. The flow of profound energy within a cultivator’s body often influenced the state of their surroundings, and sometimes one could even judge another’s strength by observing the fluctuations of their profound energy. This indicated that although this woman’s cultivation realm was not low, her energy was unstable, teetering on the brink of collapse.
With this realization, Liu Chengzhu straightened his previously hunched back, feeling more confident now that he remembered he too had his own trump card.
“You Su wasn’t protecting the malevolent entity; he was protecting his Junior Sister.”
He Shutong lightly raised her right hand, grasping at the air. To everyone’s astonishment, an elegant sword without a sheath flew out from the smoke-filled residence of the City Lord, its hilt landing perfectly in He Shutong’s hand. As her delicate hand closed around the sword, her entire demeanor underwent a dramatic transformation.
“The one I intended to kill was the malevolent entity, not his Junior Sister.”
“The malevolent entity is my responsibility to handle. You Su made a mistake, but your error is far greater.”
Liu Chengzhu raised an eyebrow and asked, “As the master of this city, my duty is to rid the people of evil—what fault could I possibly have?”
“The great sin… is that you shouldn’t have harmed him to this extent!”
As soon as her words fell, He Shutong’s sword technique blossomed like a lotus flower, a dazzling burst of sword qi hurtling toward Liu Chengzhu.
You Su, hearing the voice of his Master’s Wife, widened his eyes in shock, detecting an unusual hint of anger in her tone.
This was incomprehensible to You Su. All of Master’s Wife’s previous words had always been as calm and undisturbed as the surface of an icy lake. You Su didn’t understand the reason, attributing it to the influence of the malevolent entity affecting both Master’s Wife and Junior Sister.
Looking back at the scene, Liu Chengzhu was already dumbfounded. Although the woman’s swordsmanship wasn’t overwhelmingly destructive, the threat it posed was undeniable. The aura emanating from her sword was something he instinctively knew he couldn’t block head-on.
Yet, this lotus-like sword technique felt strangely familiar to him, as if he had faced it before…
And then it hit him! Nearly a hundred years ago, during the Divine Mountain’s grand purification battle against evil, countless wicked cultivators had perished under this very lotus sword! It had even driven many ancient evil sects out of hiding, forcing them to unite and plot against her in hopes of eliminating this exceptionally talented righteous cultivator.
And You Su’s Master’s Wife… was none other than the legendary Lotus Sword Venerable!
Realizing this, Liu Chengzhu’s heart sank. If she truly was a Void Realm expert, there was no way he could prevail!
He considered fleeing, but the lotus sword seemed to lock onto him. Wherever his mind tried to escape, the sword followed.
While frantically channeling his profound energy to resist the incoming attack, Liu Chengzhu inwardly cursed You Su’s master with venom. How could a mere Water Condensation Realm female cultivator find a Void Realm powerhouse to stand guard for her sword sect?
How many Void Realm experts existed in the world? Even Feather Transformation Realm cultivators were within his grasp to deal with, yet here in this remote Chuyun City, a Void Realm expert appeared!
As he cursed, the sword flowers arrived. Gone was Liu Chengzhu’s earlier composure when he was tormenting You Su and Ji Lingruo. His black armor, infused with profound energy, shattered like brittle paper under the force of the sword qi. His outer robe disintegrated instantly, and the black blood splattering into the air seemed to bloom like a flower.
Even so, the momentum of the sword did not diminish. Liu Chengzhu’s body was continuously forced backward until he crashed through two or three sturdy old trees before finally coming to a halt.
He staggered to his feet, glaring at the silent He Shutong through the haze and mist. At the same time, he reached into his robes, searching for something. Slowly, he pulled out an intricate horn—his ultimate trump card—and prepared to blow it without hesitation.
Though He Shutong didn’t know the purpose of the horn, she certainly wouldn’t allow the City Lord to use it so easily. Reacting swiftly, she charged forward with her sword!
In just a hundred meters, she closed the distance in an instant. But what stopped Liu Chengzhu from blowing the horn wasn’t He Shutong’s sword—it was the sudden appearance of a person in front of him.
An invisible wall of profound energy formed behind this individual, blocking He Shutong’s fierce advance. Liu Chengzhu stared blankly at this person, utterly shocked to the point where all movement and thought deserted him, as if his soul had been stolen.
He recognized this face—it belonged to the man who had saved him from the hands of the Divine Mountain sect, the benefactor he thought he had killed long ago!
Liu Chengzhu would never forget this disfigured face, even in death. It was rotten and covered in sores, scars spiraling across the entire visage, resembling something no human should possess.
Even now, as the man smiled gently at him, Liu Chengzhu felt an overwhelming sense of terror.
“It’s been a long time, little Liu.”
That sentence struck Liu Chengzhu’s racing heart like a clawed hand gripping it tightly.
An unprecedented chill surged through him. He realized that his past ruthlessness in betraying his savior was nothing but a cruel joke, and his century-long schemes and ambitions were all for naught.
From the very beginning, he had never stood a chance of becoming the ruler of the new world his benefactor had spoken of. Everything he had done was merely paving the way for this man standing before him!
“Mas… Master.” Liu Chengzhu’s adam’s apple bobbed as he uttered the two syllables, both strange and familiar. Even amidst the chaos threatening to overwhelm his mind, the words slipped out instinctively.
“We’ll catch up later.”
At that precise moment, the barrier behind the man was pierced by a fierce streak of sword light, and a torrent of sword qi flooded forth like water.
The disfigured man extended two fingers, using them as a sword. Amidst the chaotic flurry of sword beams, he precisely intercepted the tip of He Shutong’s sword. For a brief moment, it was as if time froze, the world fell silent, and only the tension between finger and sword remained.
Then, in the next instant, the finger and sword separated, and a massive surge of energy erupted from the point of contact, clearing away the mist within a hundred-meter radius.
He Shutong furrowed her brows. She recognized this man!
He was the wicked cultivator who had nearly killed her and framed the Jade Serenity True Monarch as a scapegoat!
Her emotions churned violently, and she could now feel the surging hatred within her heart. Drawing her sword once more, she prepared to launch another attack.
“Junior Sister!”
A piercing cry suddenly rang out, halting He Shutong in her tracks. Turning back, she saw a dark red vortex mysteriously appear where You Su stood, with eight massive tentacles writhing behind it, blotting out the sky.
Ji Lingruo had already reverted to her true form, half of her body already submerged in the vortex, seemingly on the verge of being completely devoured.
You Su was running toward her with all his might, determined to save his Junior Sister.
He Shutong intended to have Heavenly Maiden Wangshu stop You Su, but she found that Wangshu was frozen in place, staring blankly at the two points of light above the vortex as if immobilized by some spell.
Without further hesitation, He Shutong pushed off the ground, bursting forth with her maximum speed to grab hold of You Su.
At the last possible moment, You Su managed to grab Ji Lingruo’s hand, while He Shutong clung to the hem of You Su’s robe.
But the suction of the vortex was bizarrely powerful, and no matter how hard He Shutong pulled, she couldn’t prevent Ji Lingruo from sinking deeper, until only her hand clutching You Su’s remained outside.
He Shutong had already made up her mind: under no circumstances would she let You Su be sucked in as well. She moved to separate their hands, but You Su resolutely turned back and swung his sword, severing the fabric that connected him to He Shutong.
In an instant, the vortex’s suction intensified, pulling You Su along with Ji Lingruo into its depths.
Enraged, He Shutong raised her sword and slashed at the vortex. Her strike caused the building behind her to explode, but the vortex vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving no trace behind.
He Shutong stood rooted in place, a suffocating sense of loss weighing heavily on her chest.
She understood that You Su’s actions stemmed from his desperate desire to save his Junior Sister. Yet, the act of him personally cutting the fabric that bound them together still left a lingering ache in her heart.