Li Ruoshui raised a brow, a flicker of surprise in her eyes.
Rong Luo explained, “That hut was the Qing Emperor’s place of seclusion.”
“Is that so?” Li Ruoshui asked, but those words came from the true spirit of the Shanyue True Form Chart. Ever since she refined the Command Sword, it had been wailing in her sea of consciousness, its dissatisfaction reaching a peak, yet it could do nothing to her—not even lie.
“Yes.” The Shanyue True Form Chart, exhausted from shouting, replied feebly.
Amid their brief exchange, the door of the ancient hut creaked open on its own. There were no dangling cobwebs or falling dust, as if the owner had only left for an instant. Still, Li Ruoshui lifted her sleeve and pretended to brush away dust.
Inside stood a simple, crude wooden table and chairs. The Emperor Sword, symbol of the Empire’s authority, had returned here after losing its master. It didn’t even have a sword rack, merely lying casually across the table. The sword tassel swayed in the breeze. The hilt and sheath were bronze-colored, with a straight sword guard engraved with patterns of sun, moon, mountains, and rivers.
Li Ruoshui remarked casually, “From the looks of it, there’s nothing particularly special.” There were plenty of sword cultivators in the Nine Provinces, their swords adorned in all sorts of elaborate ways. Compared to them, this Emperor Sword, named “Responding to the Sovereign Kings,” had a “return to simplicity” beauty.
Rong Luo nodded. Her fingers rested on the hilt, but the Emperor Sword gave no response. Though expected, a trace of disappointment still stirred in her heart. She sighed. “Because the Emperor is no different from the common folk.”
Li Ruoshui scoffed disdainfully. “Who are you fooling?” Everyone knew the Empire had the strictest class divisions. Commoners had no path to cultivation. Entering the dao path came at the cost of their very selves.
Rong Luo broke out in a sweat, unable to refute.
Perhaps Rong Luo was somewhat different from the rest of the Empire, but that was none of Li Ruoshui’s concern. She gazed at the unassuming Emperor Sword with keen interest. Under Rong Luo’s puzzled gaze, she too reached out to touch the hilt.
“Non-imperial blood cannot—” Rong Luo blurted anxiously, but before she finished, she met Li Ruoshui’s blade-like icy stare. She swallowed the rest, shook her head, and thought, If she insists on this ordeal, there’s nothing I can do.
A chill seeped from the sword hilt. Li Ruoshui did not sense any repulsion from the Emperor Sword, nor did it resonate with her. The sword gave her a profoundly empty and vague feeling—as if her fingers had probed into a void when she tried to draw it. What prevented others from drawing it was not unbearable weight, but a sense of utter nothingness.
Rong Luo’s brows furrowed tightly as impatience stirred deep in her heart. Unable to hold back, she spoke again. “Only those of the imperial bloodline can draw the sword. Fellow Daoist, since you’ve seen it, we should leave now.”
“Is that so?” Li Ruoshui’s lips curved up as she flashed Rong Luo a smile.
The Emperor Sword did not resonate with her, but what about the Shanyue True Form Chart, another creation of the Qing Emperor? What reaction would it provoke? Li Ruoshui quietly activated the Shanyue True Form Chart, borrowing a wisp of its ancient aura. Her hand on the hilt suddenly tightened, her Golden Core circulating as spiritual power gathered in that arm.
As expected, the Emperor Sword merged with the aura of the Shanyue True Form Chart. As she gripped the hilt, she sensed “something” emerging from that emptiness. Without hesitation, she grasped at that existence.
In Rong Luo’s eyes, the Emperor Sword was drawn inch by inch from its sheath. A blinding cold light like accumulated snow filled her vision with white. Rong Luo recoiled in utmost shock, stumbling back a step as she berated Li Ruoshui. “Who are you?!” Could she be a lost bloodline of the imperial family? But her cultivation was not of the Human Emperor Dao—why could she draw the Emperor Sword? Was this really the Emperor Sword?
Li Ruoshui drew the Emperor Sword, twirled a sword flower, then slid the long blade back into its sheath. Picking up the sword from the table again was easy now. She slung it diagonally across her body but found it awkward, so she wrapped the sheath tightly with thick white cloth strips and slung it over her back. Only then did she look at the terrified Rong Luo and smile. “What do you think?”
Rong Luo knew she should run, but her legs refused to obey, as if frozen in place. Her eyes twitched, and the fingers she raised trembled uncontrollably. Her thoughts churned in chaos, unable to find clarity.
Li Ruoshui gazed leisurely at Rong Luo.
It was no wonder she couldn’t move. When they entered and Li Ruoshui had brushed the dust from her sleeve, she had quietly scattered the Paralysis Powder obtained from Yao Changliu. Under the drug’s effect, it would have been strange if Rong Luo could move. Besides, her expression clearly showed she was frightened.
“Who am I?” Li Ruoshui pointed at herself and flicked her sleeve dramatically. Clouds and mist gathered behind her, her features blurring into an ethereal haze. Her robes billowed in the wind, giving her an otherworldly grace. “I am the beginning of the Empire. I am the end of the Empire. I am the ‘have’ and the ‘have not.’ I am the ‘one’ and the ‘many.'”
The awestruck Rong Luo stared at Li Ruoshui in shock.
If not of the imperial bloodline, could it be… could it be the Qing Emperor descended into the world?
Li Ruoshui had no time to care what Rong Luo thought. While Rong Luo was dazed, she slapped her palm on Rong Luo’s body and delivered her final words. “I am your ancestor!”
For Shi Yu’s sake, Li Ruoshui spared her life and did not silence her.
She did not linger long in the Sword Offering Pavilion. Using her identity as Rong Luo’s attendant, she smoothly passed through layers of scrutiny and slipped out.
No sooner had she left than Rong Yin arrived.
Drawing the Emperor Sword produced no anomalies—it was only a vague, chaotic intent she had obtained from the heroic spirit. But when she reached the Sword Offering Pavilion, she found only Rong Luo collapsed unconscious on the ground, and the Emperor Sword on the table had vanished.
Had Rong Luo taken the Emperor Sword? Had her cultivation been unable to withstand its might, causing her to fall into a coma?
—
After leaving the Sword Offering Pavilion, Li Ruoshui quickly exited the city.
Though the throne stood vacant, the Imperial Capital brimmed with the power of the Human Emperor Dao and Edict God Dao. If she encountered trouble, it would be hard to gain the upper hand.
Once outside the city, Li Ruoshui unleashed her flight without restraint. Suddenly, she sensed two profound auras trailing her from behind—neither seemed inferior to the Nascent Soul Realm.
Had she been discovered? Li Ruoshui was somewhat surprised. If they were after the Emperor Sword, why only two pursuers? An army should have mobilized at minimum. Even the Cave Heaven Realm Grand Chancellor should have appeared for the Emperor Sword, right?
Or were they here for revenge? The Heavenly Fate Liang Clan or the Futu Gao Clan? She had killed quite a few of their Daoists; the young ones were dead, but the elders might come for vengeance.
The pursuers likely wanted to force her into a remote area where they could act without detection. After a moment’s thought, Li Ruoshui obliged them. This was a chance to test if the Emperor Sword suppressed those of the Empire’s Dao.
Not far behind, two Nascent Soul True Persons indeed trailed Li Ruoshui.
“A mere Golden Core, just a retainer of the South King—does Your Highness really need to send the two of us after her?”
“His Highness wants no mishaps. The South King entered the Sword Offering Pavilion again and hasn’t emerged. This person accompanied him and suddenly left the city; she must be seeking something for the South King. We cannot let him succeed.”
The two Daoists followed Li Ruoshui to a cliff. Looking back, the Imperial Capital was now a faint silhouette.
The cliff winds howled like roaring beasts.
The cliff bottom was pitch black, with plumes of smoke clouds billowing upward like boiling water bubbling and surging.
Li Ruoshui let out a light scoff. “Aren’t the two Fellow Daoists coming out yet?”
Only then did the lurking Empire Daoists emerge from hiding, warily glaring at Li Ruoshui, fearing an ambush nearby.
“Do I have any grudge against you two?” Li Ruoshui asked curiously.
The Empire Daoists shook their heads; they knew nothing of her origins. “We can only blame you for siding with South King Highness,” one said casually. He raised his hand, channeling spiritual power, and a field of black shadows materialized in the air—shaped like spinning snowflakes, laced with bone-chilling cold.
Li Ruoshui’s eyelids twitched.
So it was the imperial family’s strife spilling onto her? Her guess had been wrong, but no matter—she could still test the Emperor Sword.
The ink-black “snowflakes” melted upon contact with spiritual power, surrounded by piercing yin chill. Li Ruoshui’s hand rested on the hilt as she directly unleashed the Heaven Absolute form from the Yin Talisman Three Absolutes—Shift Stars Change Hosts! As the sword move activated, the surroundings shifted as if daylight fled and night descended. Sword qi erupted like falling stars, wrapped in intense destructive aura.
The two Nascent Soul Realm Daoists felt their auras stagnate briefly, but they quickly circulated their power, dismissing the hindrance. With two Nascent Souls against a Golden Core? It would be a joke if they failed.
In the instant their powers clashed, Li Ruoshui sensed a ferocious force slamming toward her. She raised her hand, sweeping Five Elements True Light forward, grinding away the incoming Nascent Soul spiritual power bit by bit through the cycle of five elements’ birth and destruction. At Golden Core Second Layer, no matter how solid her foundation, clashing with Nascent Soul True Persons strained her.
Li Ruoshui wouldn’t push herself. If she couldn’t win, she’d escape into the Shanyue True Form Chart. This artifact lacked offensive prowess but equaled a Cave Heaven world—perfect for hiding or trapping foes. Just as she prepared to retreat into it, the Blue Butterfly, silently perched on her shoulder, suddenly fluttered its wings.
Its form flowed with translucent, mysterious blue light amid the shadows. Originally palm-sized, it grew larger with the surging aura, its luminous silhouette becoming more ethereal. With each wingbeat, endless streams of light shot forward like sweeping stars from the sky.
Horror dawned on the two Nascent Soul Daoists’ faces. They exchanged glances, seeing dense fear in each other’s eyes.
This aura—it was clearly Cave Heaven! This person bore the protective power of a Cave Heaven True Person! Where was the courage to clash head-on? But even at full escape speed, how could they outpace the sword? In less than a breath, the light streams pierced their bodies, leaving no corpses behind.
Li Ruoshui raised her hand, letting the Blue Butterfly alight on her fingertip.
She pursed her lips and blinked curiously.
Was a spiritually intelligent Blue Butterfly this powerful?
What if she took the chance to loot the Imperial Capital?
The thought arose, and Li Ruoshui quickly quashed it.
The Empire still had Cave Heaven guardians, and besides, she wasn’t a bandit.
It was just this Empire’s bad feng shui nearly rubbing off on her.
