15. The Killing Sword 04

Damn beast!

A scalding clear liquid slowly trickled down, bringing a truly burning and itching sensation.

Leng Fangxie’s eyes darkened slightly, filled with murderous intent, his expression gloomy—just like when he had previously unleashed slaughter upon the demonic fiends.

The azure serpent remained oblivious, or perhaps, sensing the killing intent but not caring. It licked the side of the human’s cheek restlessly, rubbing its hideous, sinister form against the snow-white skin with increasing brazenness and recklessness, even venturing toward the inner thigh.

Leng Fangxie could no longer endure; all the strength he had been conserving for days was unleashed upon the serpent. Yet the serpent merely slid beneath the bed, unscathed by his actions, seemingly still viewing the human as a playmate, its grotesque snake head tilting, intent on climbing back onto the bed.

Pulling out a piece of soft brocade, he nervously wiped away the strange liquid from his leg. A faint scent wafted through the air, intensifying Leng Fangxie’s murderous resolve.

He called out in a raised voice, “Xi Qingyi, come out!”

“Hmm? Finally willing to come to me on your own,” said the cultivator who had just moments ago claimed he’d search elsewhere for treasures, appearing almost instantly at the bedside. Seeing Leng Fangxie’s disheveled and stern expression, he glanced at the serpent attempting to climb up, and laughed cheerfully, “Ah, this beast is in heat.”

Clearly a manifestation of his inner demon, reflecting to some extent his physical changes, Xi Qingyi mercilessly insulted the serpent.

Watching Leng Fangxie wipe his body, his gaze lingering over the scorched skin, he feigned an apology, “I’m truly sorry. This stupid creature only follows its instincts and cannot control its desires. But in the past, it would endure its heat alone; for it to behave like this toward you now means it likes you very much.”

Leng Fangxie let out a cold laugh through clenched teeth. His beauty was extraordinary—once lofty and dignified, breathtaking enough to captivate hearts; now, in such a decadent and awkward plight, with anger darkening his face, a faint blush staining his neck and cheek, and eyes brimming with murderous intent, his shifting gaze was even more harrowing, stirring a fierce desire to break free.

Xi Qingyi performed a spell to remove the residual liquid, leisurely saying, “Alright, I’ll take this stupid thing away. Don’t be angry anymore.”

As promised, he left the space for Leng Fangxie to calm himself alone.

After Xi Qingyi and the serpent vanished, the fierce anger on Leng Fangxie’s face disappeared in an instant, leaving only a faint expression. Ignoring the lingering heat between his legs, he lay back down, gazing at the runes scattered throughout the room.

His anger moments ago was genuine but not entirely so. Since being captured, he had prepared himself for some lewd treatment; the serpent’s behavior was still within tolerable bounds. His sudden fury was merely a ploy to have Xi Qingyi remove the serpent—he needed ample time to decipher the runes, and the serpent’s presence only disturbed his thoughts.

Sure enough, just by showing anger and saying a few words, what followed unfolded exactly as Leng Fangxie wished.

Xi Qingyi’s compliance suggested he regarded Leng Fangxie as a pet to toy with at his whim—sometimes kind, sometimes cruel.

It didn’t matter. Leng Fangxie thought expressionlessly.

Soon, he would show Xi Qingyi what true anger looked like.

The following days were rare moments of peace.

Leng Fangxie quickly deciphered most of the runes, only struggling with a few key points. But that was enough—not to completely break the rune formation’s binding, but to cause its momentary failure.

He calculated the time, waiting for the moment to strike.

“Back then, Peach Blossom was majestic and imposing,

Enemy blood splattered on pomegranate skirts,

One’s duty fulfilled in a lifetime,

How could an inch of land belong to others?

What are the foreign king’s jesters worth?

With one sword, I could fend off a million troops.”

A few days ago, Xi Qingyi had brought in a set of moonstone furniture. Now, leaning against the chair with eyes half-closed, he slowly sang these verses. His voice was hoarse, yet the melody remained fluid and melodious.

The serpent coiled quietly opposite him, unusually still.

“Well sung. If I were outside, I would have rewarded you,” Leng Fangxie mocked.

Xi Qingyi leisurely tapped the table with his fingers, “Many thanks for the patron’s generosity.”

Leng Fangxie snorted coldly and fell silent. After a while, he heard Xi Qingyi humming again.

He closed his eyes and focused, feigning rest but actually conserving energy and preparing to strike.

Though named Xi Qingyi, the cultivator was not the all-powerful entity capable of upheaving mountains from a millennium ago. Over these days, at most, he had reached the Transformation stage. Plus, trapped in this secret realm, his cultivation was greatly diminished. He was confined both because he failed to detect Xi Qingyi’s insidious schemes and due to the complex, intricate rune formation within the Star Pivot Palace.

Though unable to break the formation’s binding, if he could cause it to fail even for a moment, he could break the cultivation restriction, return to the peak Nascent Soul stage, and even if he could not kill in one blow, he would have enough strength to escape. Though regaining his cultivation would trigger the secret realm’s backlash, that was a problem for later.

With confidence that the runes would falter, Leng Fangxie lay in wait.

His innate spiritual sword was called Radiance, aptly named for its power peaking at sunrise and sunset. The Star Pivot Palace, unlit by sunlight, did not mean it lacked day and night; daytime spiritual energy surged upward like a rising tide, while nighttime spiritual energy sank deep into the nine abyssal layers. By observing the shifts in spiritual energy, one could discern the passage of time.

A secret realm was its own world and naturally had spiritual energy fluctuations. Leng Fangxie focused and watched—the spiritual energy settled at the bottom was slowly rising.

This was the moment of sunrise and moonset!

Suddenly opening his eyes, he extracted the last faint spiritual power from his meridians, dividing it into four streams toward the critical points of the runes on the four walls. The spiritual energy barrier was disrupted, and the rune formation failed for a brief instant.

Energy and spiritual power flooded his body, allowing him to regain control over the world for the first time in ages. The vast spiritual waves broke the cultivation restriction, causing the secret realm to tremble. A Nascent Soul cultivator at his peak stage had made heaven and earth take notice.

Such a tremendous disturbance meant that even if Xi Qingyi died, his corpse would rise on the spot. Turning around to face him, Xi Qingyi was unsurprised by Leng Fangxie’s no longer frail posture, his amber eyes quietly observing.

Leng Fangxie raised his hand and coldly commanded, “Radiance!”

The Star Pivot Palace, wandering in the darkness of starry light, unseen by sunlight all day, suddenly parted as a faint radiance cleaved through heaven and earth, descending straight down. The light was not scorching, but gentle and soft. Yet this quiet, tender radiance, the moment it landed in Leng Fangxie’s palm, pierced straight through Xi Qingyi’s chest.

This time, the powerful regenerative ability no longer favored Xi Qingyi. The rune formation collapsed by itself due to its master’s crisis; the primordial pearl hanging above his head fell, caught by Leng Fangxie’s palm.

“Why didn’t you dodge?” Leng Fangxie asked, unusually puzzled.

He had expected little from this strike. Xi Qingyi was no ordinary person—how could he not detect the anomaly? This grand radiance was meant to attract his attention and disrupt his movements, buying Leng Fangxie more time to escape.

He did not expect Xi Qingyi to neither dodge nor evade, allowing the radiance to leave a grotesque wound at a vital spot.

A wound from such a powerful Radiance strike meant death or serious injury, regardless of how many tricks Xi Qingyi possessed. Judging by the rapid fading of his spiritual waves, death was near.

Hence Leng Fangxie’s confusion.

Had Xi Qingyi grown tired of life?

Xi Qingyi looked at him calmly, without his usual frivolous smiles or the sinister expression he had shown before. His eyes held a faint smile, a clear awe shining through, and he remained silent for a long moment.

Only when the serpent was dying did he speak softly, “What a Radiance. Truly stunning.”

Enduring wave after wave of backlash, Leng Fangxie saw impatience growing in his gaze, thinking he was stalling for time, saving a trick for later.

But the decline of the inner demon could not deceive—the man was truly dying.

What was real? What was false?

Xi Qingyi saw his inner turmoil and said plainly, “Don’t worry, I really am dying.”

“Dragging on for a thousand years with low cultivation and no progress, death is only natural.”

“I just regret…” He focused, painting a vivid image of Leng Fangxie’s face, “Why did I only meet you now? If only earlier, much earlier... I can no longer take you away.”

His quiet demeanor lasted only briefly before a malicious grin surfaced.

“You care so much about inner demons and evil spirits, surely because someone you care for has one! I’m sure I’m right. There’s something I haven’t told you—”

Xi Qingyi fixed his gaze on Leng Fangxie’s eyes. “Not every evil spirit corresponds to an inner demon. The stronger the inner demon, the more continuously it spawns evil spirits.”

At this, Leng Fangxie’s heart sank slightly.

“When I was nearly undergoing tribulation at the Perfected stage, the evil spirits born from me almost became a devastating calamity. The three sect Dao Lords combined their strength to kill them. Though slain, they could not be completely eradicated. The Dao Lords had no choice but to seal my remnant soul in this secret realm to prevent disaster from befalling the world.”

He saw the other’s expression slip beyond control, pupils dilating slightly, and calmly said, “If I’m like this, how about the one you care for?”

Outside, the oppressive darkness receded, daylight reclaiming its rightful place. The Star Pivot Palace began to crumble, soon to be reduced to dust.

Xi Qingyi felt the last trace of spiritual energy in his body fading, filled with deep regret.

“Alas… this primordial pearl is yours now. Don’t lose it.”

Those were Xi Qingyi’s final words.

As soon as the words fell, Xi Qingyi was gone, only faint green spiritual lights drifting, floating briefly before merging into Leng Fangxie’s body.

It was a vast, condensed spiritual energy sufficient to break through Nascent Soul constraints in one stroke.

A thunderous roar came from outside the secret realm—the heavenly tribulation was brewing.

Standing in place, still shaken by Xi Qingyi’s words, Leng Fangxie sensed the approaching tribulation, retracted the primordial pearl, forced himself calm, and considered his next moves.

The secret realm’s backlash intensified; he had to escape immediately. Otherwise, the combination of a Perfected stage heavenly tribulation and the realm’s backlash would kill him on the spot!

He took out several healing pills from his universe pouch, which could only ease the pain briefly—better than nothing.

Blood trickled from between his teeth, staining his thin lips crimson, a shocking sight.

Leng Fangxie gasped painfully, preparing to move, when suddenly he saw a figure standing outside the Star Pivot Palace—a black-clad cultivator.

The face was unsettlingly familiar.

“Master…” he called out in shock, immediately becoming wary the next moment.

No, this was not Fu Heng.

The black-clad cultivator’s eyes were blood-red, his expression wicked and cruel. Even Fu Heng, despite his inner turmoil, had never shown such a look.

Calmly, Leng Fangxie said, “You are his inner demon.”