Chapter 171: Burial Accompaniment

Xu Ning sensed a strange aura from the White-Haired Youth, one she felt she had encountered somewhere before.

She quickly realized what it was.

It was Demonic Qi!

Xiao Ba and Xiao Jiu also possessed this kind of Demonic Qi.

Could it be a demon raised by the Qi Clan?

Xu Ning thought rapidly; she already had a rough understanding of this demon’s fighting style.

She spread her arms, and bursts of lightning erupted from within her body, causing her robes to billow violently. The fine hair on both sides of her face fluttered as the lightning overflowed. She actually lifted off the ground, her entire being radiating an immense sense of pressure.

Xue Jin’s eyes widened at the sight. He was inwardly stunned, unsure of what kind of Spell this was.

This was the first time Xu Ning had displayed her self-created secret technique; she hadn’t even used this move against Jiang Zhaoxia.

As the lightning entwined around her body, the pain at her waist vanished.

The White-Haired Youth was also startled by Xu Ning’s secret technique. He could sense a domineering Spiritual Qi gathering toward her, and he actually felt a hint of danger from Xu Ning.

His gaze hardened, and he immediately charged at Xu Ning.

Boom!

He leaped forward, his feet striking the snowy ground with such force that it exploded, sending snow spraying in all directions.

Facing his approach, Xu Ning did not retreat but advanced. The two collided in mid-air; lightning burst forth, and tree vines expanded only to be shredded by the electricity.

The White-Haired Youth’s right palm was blocked by Xu Ning’s sword, and this time, Xu Ning withstood his brute strength.

Xu Ning’s gaze was so cold that it caused the White-Haired Youth’s rage to flare up.

“A Mortal dares to block me!”

The White-Haired Youth roared. His other hand thrust out violently, and a terrifying Demonic Qi erupted like a black mist exploding, brutally knocking Xu Ning back.

Xu Ning transformed into a bolt of lightning and landed on the snow, then immediately jumped away to dodge the White-Haired Youth as he descended from the sky. He crashed down like a meteorite from beyond the heavens, kicking up snow and making the ground tremble.

The two chased each other across the snow, launching fierce offensives. Even someone as strong as Xue Jin could not keep up with their speed with his eyes.

Xu Ning wasn’t just dodging; her sword swings grew faster and faster, continuously striking the White-Haired Youth’s body.

“A Mortal weapon like yours can’t hurt me at all. Struggle all you want; a secret technique like this must be very taxing on the body. After exhausting your full strength, you will still have to accept a tragic fate. Such an ending suits you perfectly!”

The White-Haired Youth laughed wildly. His punches and kicks were like the wind, and from time to time, he struck out with wooden vines that were like spears.

Xu Ning was not hit by him again, but her attacks were also ineffective. Even so, she did not stop swinging her sword.

Her blade was wreathed in Heavenly Thunder Origin Qi, and every strike carried lightning, making them extremely sharp.

Xue Jin wanted to crawl up, but he simply couldn’t. He could only watch as Xu Ning fought a life-and-death battle with the enemy.

His heart was filled with resentment, feeling that he shouldn’t be like this.

Just then, a group of Qingxiao Sect Disciples ran over from afar. When they saw the corpses of the Disciples of the Experience Hall, their expressions changed drastically. They quickened their pace to go support Xu Ning.

“Do not approach!”

Xu Ning’s voice rang out, entering their ears clearly and making them stop instinctively.

The group of Disciples calmed down. They looked closely at the figures of Xu Ning and the white-clothed youth, and the fear in their eyes began to intensify.

The White-Haired Youth would occasionally strike out with dozens of wooden vines, like a demon extending its tentacles. It looked terrifyingly gruesome against the vast white snow.

The Disciples could only pray that Xu Ning would win. They still had a lot of confidence in her; Xu Ning was the eldest Disciple of the Qingxiao Sect and was invincible in battle.

However, as they watched the battle longer, that confidence began to erode.

No matter how Xu Ning attacked, she simply could not cut through the White-Haired Youth’s skin, let alone sever a limb or decapitate him.

“What kind of monster is this…”

“A demon… it must be a demon!”

“Be ready to strike at any time. Even if we are no match for him, we must stop him. Someone has already gone up the mountain to seek help!”

“Who is he exactly? Why has he come?”

The Disciples discussed in low, startled voices, their tones almost entirely filled with terror.

The White-Haired Youth’s offensive grew more and more ferocious, while Xu Ning was clearly slowing down.

“To be able to fight my Clone to this extent, what is your name? You are worth remembering!”

The White-Haired Youth grinned hideously as he attacked.

As soon as he finished speaking, blood splattered into his vision. His pupils suddenly dilated as he saw Xu Ning’s sword actually slice through the skin and flesh of his throat.

“How is this possible…”

The White-Haired Youth’s face showed a look of disbelief.

Xu Ning’s expression did not change. She continued to swing her sword rapidly, and her voice rang out: “It seems you are not indestructible.”

The White-Haired Youth immediately jumped away. However, Xu Ning pursued him relentlessly, forcing him to use his left hand to cover his throat and only his right hand to parry her moves.

“The vast majority of her previous attacks landed on my throat. I didn’t expect her to actually succeed…”

The White-Haired Youth was both shocked and enraged. He no longer had any mood for playfulness; killing intent occupied his heart.

He stopped abruptly and stomped his right foot. In an instant, wooden vines even thicker than before burst out from the snow—countless and dense, occupying an area of a hundred feet. The momentum was so grand that the Disciples watching from afar felt the earth shaking.

Xue Jin was sent flying. He crashed onto the snow, nearly fainting from the pain.

Xu Ning didn’t have time to dodge; a giant net woven from wooden vines had already covered the sky above her head.

“I will make you regret this!”

The White-Haired Youth stared at Xu Ning and shouted coldly. His blood was still gushing out through the gaps between his fingers, and he could feel a special kind of Origin Qi wreaking havoc inside his body.

“Screech—”

A screeching sound rang out, and the snow mist in the sky was suddenly dispersed. A pair of giant claws descended from the heavens, grabbing the wooden vines where they converged high up and tearing the vine net apart.

The White-Haired Youth looked up. Darkness shrouded his figure, and a look of astonishment appeared in his eyes.

What a massive eagle demon!

Xu Ning did not take this opportunity to relax. While the White-Haired Youth was a Divided Soul, she approached him again.

On the other side.

Far away in his Immortal Cave, Li Qingqiu, who was sitting in meditation and performing Cultivate, opened his eyes. He had heard Xiao Ba’s voice and sensed the urgency within it.

Whoosh—

Li Qingqiu vanished from the stone bed into thin air. The Spiritual Qi in the Immortal Cave surged, causing the medicinal herbs by the spiritual pool to sway slightly… The White-Haired Youth’s face was contorted. He looked at Xu Ning before him, his eyes filled with killing intent. At this moment, the tip of Xu Ning’s sword was less than ten centimeters from him, but her wrists and sword were bound by thin wooden vines, as was her body.

The lightning on Xu Ning’s body began to dissipate. She frowned; she was not only unable to move, but the Origin Qi in her body was also being drained away.

Behind her, massive wooden vines continuously burst from the ground. Pieces of vines also fell from the sky. Xiao Ba was still in the air helping her but was consistently unable to get close to the ground.

The White-Haired Youth raised his right palm, intending to sever Xu Ning’s head.

Swish—

A sound of breaking air descended from the sky. The White-Haired Youth still wore a hideous smile, but time seemed to nearly freeze. A silver light gradually illuminated his face, and his arm was actually severed. It rotated slowly, and his blade-like fingertips turned toward his own face.

Facing him, Xu Ning saw this scene, and the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.

Boom—

A powerful blast of energy knocked the White-Haired Youth back. A silver sword shadow plunged into the spot where he had been standing, and his right arm fell to the side.

The wooden vines on Xu Ning’s body fell away. Her body went limp, and she immediately plunged her sword into the snow to support herself, preventing her from falling over.

The Disciples in the distance only saw a silver light descend from the sky, piercing through the wooden vines along the way and landing between Xu Ning and the White-Haired Youth. They were extremely nervous, unsure of what had happened.

Xiao Ba screeched again, causing everyone to look up. Then, they all broke into joyful surprises. Even Xue Jin, lying in the distance, breathed a sigh of relief after seeing Xiao Ba.

A figure stood atop Xiao Ba’s head, the sunlight shining upon him so brightly it dazzled the eyes.

It was Li Qingqiu.

Li Qingqiu looked down at the White-Haired Youth from above, his gaze cold to the extreme.

The White-Haired Youth looked at the silver sword shadow that had severed his arm, his heart pounding. He looked up and caught sight of Li Qingqiu’s figure.

“Who are you?”

The White-Haired Youth asked through gritted teeth. The opponent’s sword technique was too fast, so fast that he didn’t dare to act rashly for a moment.

Li Qingqiu did not answer. Silver sword shadows condensed around him, all pointing toward the White-Haired Youth.

Feeling humiliated, the White-Haired Youth stomped his foot again. Massive wooden vines vied with each other to burst through the snow, charging toward Xiao Ba.

A cold light flashed in Li Qingqiu’s eyes, and the dozen or so silver sword shadows around him shot out like arrows from a bow.

Swish! Swish! Swish… The sounds of breaking air converged, shredding the massive wooden vines that obstructed the path, and charged toward the White-Haired Youth with unstoppable force.

The White-Haired Youth was pale with fright and instinctively leaped up to dodge, but the speed of those silver sword shadows was simply too fast.

The sound of blades piercing flesh and bone rang out. The White-Haired Youth, unable to dodge, was struck by the dozen silver sword shadows. He was pinned down onto the snow, stumbling back tremulously.

Xu Ning looked up. Seeing the White-Haired Youth riddled with silver sword shadows, she breathed a sigh of relief.

“You…”

The White-Haired Youth trembled all over. A silver sword shadow was also lodged in his face, and blood gushed along the blade, quickly turning his entire face blood-red.

His shoulders, chest, abdomen, thighs, knees, and calves were all pierced by silver sword shadows. A terrifying Origin Qi was wreaking havoc inside his body. He sensed an Origin Qi similar to Xu Ning’s, but this energy was far more powerful than hers.

Intense pain, suffocation, and coldness radiated from every part of his body. The White-Haired Youth had not felt such agony in a long time; he couldn’t even remember if he had ever experienced such pain. It made him instinctively want to end this Clone.

But he was horrified to find that he actually could not disperse the split soul occupying the Clone.

How is this possible… Li Qingqiu descended from the sky and landed before him.

He stared at Li Qingqiu, his eyes full of venomous hatred. He asked through gritted teeth: “You are… Li Qingqiu?”

His mouth was full of blood, which had turned a blackish color.

Li Qingqiu stared at him and said: “You shouldn’t have come.”

The White-Haired Youth endured the pain, but it was impossible to suppress. His face was contorted with agony as he forced a smile: “Li Qingqiu… do you know who you are provoking?”

Li Qingqiu did not answer him, but said to himself: “I will appear before you soon.”

As his voice fell, the dozen sword shadows in the White-Haired Youth’s body violently pierced through his Physical Body, causing a mist of blood to spray out and scatter across the ground. He instantly became a bloody mess and collapsed to the ground.

Li Qingqiu raised his hand and took out the soul refining banner.

Though the White-Haired Youth’s body had fallen, his Soul was still floating behind it. Only Xu Ning could see it. The other Disciples, seeing the Sect Leader kill the enemy, cheered and ran toward Li Qingqiu.

The White-Haired Youth’s Soul was still pinned by the silver sword shadows, unable to move.

These silver sword shadows were precisely Li Qingqiu’s self-created Spell, the Soul-Snatching Flying Sword.

Now, the White-Haired Youth was completely panicked.

“You…”

Li Qingqiu didn’t bother wasting words with him. He directly used the soul refining banner to pull the Soul into the flag.

【Given that your dao lineage has encountered a demon attack for the first time, although it caused casualties, fortunately you killed the demon in time and averted a crisis of sect extermination. You have gained one fortune opportunity.】

Li Qingqiu was not happy because of the prompt before him. He looked up at the corpses in the distance, his heart heavy.

He suddenly realized that having a large sect might not necessarily be a good thing. Without perfect communication methods and Formations, it would instead become a Breakthrough point for enemy invasions.

He did not sink into regret. He raised his hand and applied two needles to Xu Ning, then walked toward the corpses in the distance.

Along the way, he also applied two needles to Xue Jin in the distance.

The Disciples rushed over and surrounded Xu Ning, asking about her condition.

“Go check on Xue Jin. I’m fine,” Xu Ning said in a heavy voice, then sat down.

Seeing her begin to meditate, the Disciples immediately rushed toward Xue Jin.

Li Qingqiu arrived before the corpses of the Disciples of the Experience Hall, his face grim.

The Souls of these Disciples had already left their bodies and were drifting muddledly, waiting for the Yin and Yang order to pull them away seven days later.

In the process of developing a sect, although casualties were inevitable and this wasn’t the first time they had occurred, this time it happened within the Taikun Mountain Range, making Li Qingqiu feel some self-reproach.

At the Ninth Layer of the Nourishing Origin Realm, he was very strong, yet there were still people he could not protect.

He began to chant an incantation. This was a Soul Spell he had researched called the Heart-Clearing Incantation, which could allow the Souls of the deceased to briefly regain their former consciousness.

The Souls of the fifteen Disciples of the Experience Hall quickly regained clarity. They looked at Li Qingqiu and instinctively bowed. But when they looked down and saw their own corpses, they were all stunned.

They were dead?

Li Qingqiu spoke: “In seven days, you can enter Reincarnation. I can give you a choice: your Souls can temporarily be used by me. Perhaps in the future, I can allow you to live in another way, but that is only a possibility that I may not be able to achieve. So, it is up to you. If you are willing to enter Reincarnation and need me to pass messages to your family or friends, just speak up, and I will certainly deliver them.”

The Disciples looked at each other. This had all happened too suddenly, and it was difficult for them to make a decision immediately.

Li Qingqiu continued: “You can think it over. I will come back to find you in a moment.”

He turned and walked away, soon disappearing into the snow mist.

Li Qingqiu walked all the way to Liu Jie’s corpse. Seeing Liu Jie’s head and body separated, his expression did not change. He went over, picked up Liu Jie’s head, moved it to the body, and pieced together the complete corpse.

He also performed the Heart-Clearing Incantation on Liu Jie’s Soul.

Liu Jie felt as if he had just woken from a nightmare. He snapped awake, and Li Qingqiu’s figure entered his vision.

Liu Jie bowed just like the previous Disciples, then saw his own corpse.

He was also stunned. After realizing he was dead, a bitter smile appeared on his face.

I’m already dead, why am I still bowing?

The Sect Leader surely can’t see me.

Liu Jie looked up at Li Qingqiu and asked in a low voice, with a helpless and aggrieved tone: “Senior Martial Uncle… have I disappointed you…”

Li Qingqiu looked at him and said: “No, you did very well. Soon, many people will be buried with you.”

Liu Jie was stunned again, looking at Li Qingqiu in disbelief, unable to trust his own ears.