Ying Qianqian had admired Ye Luqing for a very long time.
In the year she joined the sect, her talent was comparable to her peer, Tao Xiaoxian. Her original destination was also Heavenly Sword Peak.
But after watching the Duo Tournament of the Sect Grand Tournament, she resolutely chose to transfer to Azure Sky Peak instead.
Everyone saw Xiao Qingxuan, who rampaged on the front lines, but few noticed Ye Luqing, who silently supported her from behind.
It was precisely Xiao Qingxuan’s strength that overshadowed Senior Sister Ye’s brilliance.
Every spell array was perfectly timed, every strand of True Qi exerted to its utmost limit. It was the pinnacle of Formation Arts.
In the finals that year, the two defeated an opponent at the Nascent Soul Stage while only being at the Golden Core Stage. In Ying Qianqian’s view, Ye Luqing’s contribution was even greater than Xiao Qingxuan’s.
Ying Qianqian also wanted to become an existence like Ye Luqing, one who could support others from the shadows.
At the same time, she hoped that the contributions of those behind the scenes could be seen.
She hoped Senior Sister Ye could be seen.
Not just be remembered as “Xiao Qingxuan’s foil.”
She buried her face into the bedsheet Ye Luqing had replaced, gently sniffing the faint, damp scent on it.
“It’s Senior Sister Ye’s scent…”
Ying Qianqian’s expression was tinged with a sickly flush. The Senior Sister Ye she had so deeply admired had always been at Heavenly Sword Peak, giving her no chance to get close.
Now that Senior Sister Ye had lost her memories, and Senior Sister Bai He had broken through to the Spirit Transformation Stage and could no longer compete,
Even Senior Sister Ye’s original partner, Xiao Qingxuan, had exceeded the stage limit. Therefore, this year’s Sect Grand Tournament was her best chance.
Today’s battle between Senior Sister Ye and Pei Ruyi proved that Senior Sister Ye still possessed combat power comparable to the Nascent Soul Stage.
Of course, she wouldn’t hold Azure Sky Peak back either. She would support Ye Luqing just as Senior Sister Ye had once supported Xiao Qingxuan.
After a moment, she carefully folded Ye Luqing’s damp bedsheet, sealed it with a preservation array to prevent decay, and placed it into her Storage Dharma Artifact.
Then, she took out a clean sheet she had prepared beforehand and skipped back towards Ye Luqing’s small courtyard.
……
On the other side,
Xiao Qingxuan had entered the Illusion God Sect as she wished.
“Senior Sister Xiao, this way, please.”
Huang Ran looked at Xiao Qingxuan excitedly. This Head Disciple of the Profound Firmament Upper Sect was tremendously powerful, even stronger than disciples of the immortal sects in her age group.
“Senior Sister Xiao, do you still remember my Phantom Sword? I practiced it for a long time back then, even received personal guidance from the Sect Master. I didn’t expect Senior Sister Xiao to break it in just three moves. Truly amazing.”
“What matter brings Senior Sister Xiao to the Illusion God Sect this time? After you’re done, could you spar with me again? Of course, I’m definitely no match for Senior Sister Xiao at Half-Step Spirit Transformation, I just want to see if my Phantom Sword has improved, hehe…”
Xiao Qingxuan silently listened to Huang Ran’s chatter. Ordinarily, she would have long since silenced the other with an impatient sword strike.
But today, for no particular reason, she thought of Ye Luqing.
That little one who was quiet at first, but talked endlessly once she got familiar, as if her desire to talk was inexhaustible.
Thinking of this, a smile involuntarily rose on Xiao Qingxuan’s face.
“Ah! Senior Sister Xiao, you smiled! Does that mean you agree to spar later?” Huang Ran’s eyes lit up, and she chuckled.
To receive guidance from Xiao Qingxuan, whose talent in the Way of the Sword was exceptionally rare, was a dream for sword cultivators of their generation.
“Lead the way first.”
“Right away!”
A quarter-hour later, the two arrived at a bright and translucent palace. A faint, exotic fragrance wafted from all around, emitting an intoxicating scent.
This was precisely the location of the Illusion God Sect’s Sect Master—the Phantom God Palace.
Disciples below the Golden Core Stage would struggle to control their Primordial Spirit. Just approaching this place would likely cause them to fall asleep instantly and sink into an Illusion Realm, unable to extricate themselves.
Even cultivators at the Nascent Soul Stage, if exposed to this environment for a long time, would feel their Soul destabilize, as if their Primordial Spirit could leave the body at any moment.
“Senior Sister Xiao, you can go in. Shizun is waiting for you inside.” Huang Ran reminded her.
Xiao Qingxuan walked towards the grand hall before her. The instant she touched the main door, a soul-shaking, terrifying aura suddenly burst forth from behind her.
A sword beam containing infinite transformations shot towards Xiao Qingxuan’s back, its speed seeming to have already surpassed the Nascent Soul Stage.
The sword beam pierced through Xiao Qingxuan’s body, but Xiao Qingxuan’s expression remained normal; she was completely unharmed.
The next moment, as if sensing something, Xiao Qingxuan took half a step back.
Without any warning, the sleeve on her left side was shredded by something.
Illusion God Sect. Phantom Sword.
“Heretical paths…”
Xiao Qingxuan raised her hand and chopped down. She had been apprenticed to Heavenly Sword Peak since childhood and had learned the orthodox Way of the Sword. Her Sword Heart took the straightest path.
In her view, the Phantom Sword of the Illusion God Sect was nothing more than a mishmash of the Illusion God Sect’s illusionary arts, which inverted reality and illusion, combined with the powerful killing ability of the Way of the Sword.
Using illusions as cover, it achieved a killing effect when one’s guard was down.
At low stages, this move was indeed effective. Illusion arts alone were troublesome enough; add two unexpected lethal sword strikes on top, how could ordinary cultivators withstand it?
However, Xiao Qingxuan’s stage wasn’t low, and she was no ordinary cultivator.
As she cut down the illusory sword beam with one swing, the surrounding scene changed once more.
A raindrop fell on top of Xiao Qingxuan’s head. She subconsciously raised her head to look at the extremely gloomy sky.
Ever since breaking through to Half-Step Spirit Transformation, Xiao Qingxuan had been automatically surrounded by a barrier of sword Qi.
Let alone “rain,” even a full-force strike from a Golden Core cultivator couldn’t touch a single hair on her.
However, in the next moment, Xiao Qingxuan discovered her cultivation level was dropping, directly falling back to the Nascent Soul Stage.
Just as she was pondering how to break the illusion, she suddenly noticed the warm sensation in her arms gradually losing its temperature.
She looked down and saw, before her very eyes, the corpse of Ye Luqing.
The originally bright amber eyes had become hollow and lifeless. Her cyan hair had lost its luster. Her entire body hung limp and powerless.
A dark mass of Devil Cultivators surrounded them. Sinister, mocking laughter echoed in Xiao Qingxuan’s ears. She seemed to hear low, whimpering sobs.
“Huang! Ran!”
Xiao Qingxuan’s eyes instantly turned blood-red, a clear sign of her furious rage at this moment.
An unparalleled sword Qi erupted from her body. Her presence climbed back up to the Half-Step Spirit Transformation Stage.
The immense sword Qi, mixed with fury, poured towards the surrounding Devil Cultivators, immediately slashing them into fragments.
At this moment, Xiao Qingxuan seemed to have lost her reason. Normally, she could have easily discerned that the techniques and divine powers used by these “Devil Cultivators” were no devil arts but orthodox Righteous Path techniques.
But she had lost herself in the slaughter, completely failing to notice these anomalies.
She was already deeply trapped within a meticulously prepared illusion.
She tightly hugged the body of the girl in her arms. Even when surrounded and heavily injured by the Devil Cultivators, she didn’t loosen her grip in the slightest.
Moments later, only broken walls and ruins remained, along with the corpses of Devil Cultivators covering the ground, and Xiao Qingxuan, utterly exhausted, her clothes soaked in blood.
“A-Qing…”
Xiao Qingxuan’s right hand propped her sword against the ground, while her left arm cradled Ye Luqing’s corpse. Her heart felt as if it was being torn apart with pain.
Just like the result back then, she had killed all the Devil Cultivators.
And just like the result back then, she hadn’t been able to save Ye Luqing.
Xiao Qingxuan stood up unsteadily, recalling her Lifebound Spirit Sword back into her Heart Aperture.
Her bloodstained white robe fluttered in the wind. At this moment, she looked like she could collapse at any second. Any random Golden Core or even Foundation Establishment cultivator could kill this genius Sword Immortal on the spot.
But Xiao Qingxuan had slain all the Devil Cultivators in the area. There were no other auras of living people left.
However, the next moment, Ye Luqing in Xiao Qingxuan’s arms suddenly opened her eyes. Those amber eyes instantly blazed with golden light.
A triumphant smile curled on the lips of the slender girl, as she fiercely plunged the sharp blade in her hand into Xiao Qingxuan’s heart.
