Li Shuhe stood at the mountain peak, watching them leave one by one, her eyes calm and undisturbed.
The journey to the Spirit River spanned across thirty-six provinces. Even if they were lucky enough to head in the right direction, it was impossible for them to cross safely.
Even if they miraculously reached the Spirit River with their last breath...
They could never escape the divine gaze of the Ancestral Spirits who sat at the peak of the Immortal King stage, guarding the western bank of the Spirit River.
Only death awaited them!
However,
They were all going to die anyway; staying behind would result in the same fate.
She could protect five people at most while crossing this region.
Only five.
Furthermore, the road ahead was rugged and filled with many variables.
This was why she had not acted until now.
Firstly,
She wanted to see Xu Xian's strength and foundations. Secondly, for the Sword Bearer, this was a rare opportunity.
An opportunity for tempering.
As they fought their way through,
The Death Spirits, Grey Spirits, and dark spirits they encountered would be the perfect whetstones.
It would be even better if they were lucky enough to encounter a descendant of an Ancestral Spirit.
Thirdly, by letting some people die first, she wouldn't have to choose who lived and who died.
In other words,
Aside from Xu Xian, anyone could die, and anyone was expendable...
Fortune is fickle, and everyone has their own destiny.
Several more days passed. Xu Xian remained in meditation, using spirit stones to construct the main body of the Sword Tower. Within the valley, the number of figures had grown sparse.
Some had followed the crowd and left, but naturally, some chose to stay.
The four demon gods of the Demon Abyss, Tu Sisi, and Lu Yuan went without saying.
Also remaining were a saint-level mountain demon and a master forger from Ancient Sword Mountain who had reached the saint stage. Most surprisingly, Bai Ze had also stayed behind, seemingly having no intention of leaving.
He sat alone in a corner, staring indifferently at the sky, dazed day after day.
He was once the Lord of the East Desolation, a legend of the mortal realm. But today, after the battle in the East Desolation, the battle at Wendao, and now the ascension of the mortal realm...
His old subordinates had all withered away.
He hadn't seen the future he had predicted—Xu Xian's four swords sweeping the Great Desolation—but instead had become completely alone ahead of time.
They were all dead.
Except for him, there was no other Beast God in the East Desolation today!
He didn't leave,
And he didn't plan to.
Out of curiosity, and perhaps because they were both auspicious beasts, Lu Yuan finally couldn't resist approaching the handsome old beast on the fifth day.
“You're not leaving?”
Bai Ze looked back at Lu Yuan calmly and asked a question he already knew the answer to, “Where would I go?”
Lu Yuan looked him over playfully and gestured toward Xu Xian. “If you stay, aren't you afraid he'll wake up and finish you off?”
Bai Ze smiled and said mockingly, “In your eyes, is your master's heart so narrow?”
Lu Yuan was caught off guard by the counter-question and felt a bit uncomfortable, but he still pretended not to care and pointedly reminded him, “Tsk tsk. You haven't forgotten the things you did, have you? You were indirectly responsible for the death of his senior brother, Yun Zheng.”
Bai Ze recalled that faded past. Was it he who killed Yun Zheng?
The answer was no.
However, most people in the world thought so.
Then let it be so.
He gave a self-deprecating smile and offered no explanation.
Lu Yuan leaned in closer and said with an air of mock seniority, “Do you know who had the greatest influence on him in the mortal realm?”
Bai Ze remained silent.
Lu Yuan continued, “It was his senior brother, Yun Zheng!”
Bai Ze said nothing.
Lu Yuan's tone grew heavier. “Don't believe me if you don't want to, but after the World Sword Challenge, he lived in Yun Zheng's grotto-heaven the entire time. Everyone in the Wendao Sword Sect knows this.”
Bai Ze did not deny it. Although he had lost that day, the one who died was Yun Zheng. On the banks of the Wild River that day, the wind and snow had fallen early just to see one man off from the mortal realm.
This story had been sung throughout the world for over four hundred years.
Even he admired such a sword immortal, let alone Xu Xian, who had been a junior back then.
He asked back, “So?”
Lu Yuan's blood-red eyes flared as he said eerily, “So, he's going to kill you. If I were you, I'd run right now while I still can.”
Bai Ze laughed.
“Haha!”
His laugh was open and full of relief.
Kill him?
Would he?
If he did, Bai Ze would accept it gladly.
Some things were wrong simply because they were wrong. No matter how many excuses one made, they couldn't change the ending that had already played out.
Seeing Bai Ze laugh without responding, Lu Yuan thought the guy was crazy.
He left in a huff. He didn't care if the beast stayed or left; he was just bored and wanted someone to talk to.
As Lu Yuan sat back down, Jin Yu couldn't wait to lean in, asking like a curious child, “What did you talk about?”
Lu Yuan looked deeply at Jin Yu and said one sentence.
“He's not easy to manipulate.”
Then he fell silent.
However, the look he gave Jin Yu was quite baffling to her.
She muttered, “If he's hard to manipulate, then he's hard to manipulate. Why look at me like that? It's as if I'm very easy to fool.”
Jin Qing couldn't help but open her eyes and turn her head, looking at the girl beside her with a sympathetic and helpless gaze as she let out a long sigh.
“Sigh...”
Jin Yu was confused. “...” What did that mean?
“Sister!” Jin Yu cried out indignantly.
...
While they waited, this former Heavenly Sword Province, now a dark wasteland, was not peaceful.
The Small Spirit Lord Lingxi had been slain.
The hundred-thousand-mile desolate region was without a master.
In Black Spirit City, the Spirit Tower Guards were ordered to investigate the area.
The second strongest expert in Black Spirit City, Grand Commander of the Spirit Tower Guards, Dark Tiger, traveled across the hundred-thousand-mile territory to investigate. There was no news from the east, but there was a massive commotion in the west.
In the Spirit Lord Hall atop the Spirit Tower, several more life lamps belonging to Spirit Lords were extinguished in just a few days.
When the Great Spirit Lord learned of this, she was furious, cursing them all as useless.
The Great Spirit Lord left Black Spirit City and personally set out, heading straight for the west. When she passed the mountains, she did not notice Xu Xian and the others.
Li Shuhe, however, saw them. She stared toward the western sky, watching and watching...
On her way, the Great Spirit Lord encountered Dark Tiger, who had fled back on the brink of death and collapsed in a desolate corner.
She stopped to treat him.
When Dark Tiger woke up, he recounted the events in detail.
Four people had done it.
Wherever they went and every city they encountered, they would slay the Spirit Lords, dark spirits, and Grey Spirits...
By the time he caught up to them, they had already taken five cities.
“Among those four, the leader is incredibly strange. He can completely kill a Spirit Lord and devour the Abyss of Darkness within them.”
After hearing this, the woman's expression became solemn. “Even you were no match for him?”
Dark Tiger felt somewhat ashamed but still told the truth. “He didn't act. The one who fought was a Primordial Qilin, his subordinate.”
The woman's eyes were not only solemn but also held a hint of surprise.
Dark Tiger,
Though not a Spirit Lord, had combat strength superior to one, second only to her own.
In terms of power, he was at the early God Immortal stage.
Yet according to the intelligence, among the four opponents, except for the leader, the other three were only at the early Heaven Immortal stage.
A gap of an entire stage...
And Dark Tiger had suffered a crushing defeat, even while in their dark territory.
How was this logical?
“Go back first. I will personally go meet them.”
Dark Tiger hurriedly tried to stop her. “You mustn't!”
The woman's expression shifted as she let out a cold, displeased hum. “Hmm?”
Dark Tiger explained, “Further east, you will be leaving Heavenly Sword Province. It will no longer be under your jurisdiction.”
The woman was very unhappy. “Are you afraid I'll cross the boundary?”
In the Spirit-Devouring Tribe, the Dark Spirit Code clearly stated that all Spirit Lords, regardless of rank, were forbidden from crossing boundaries without an Ancestral Spirit Seal.
Dark Tiger hesitated and said nothing.
The woman grew angry, her words almost squeezed through her teeth. “Are you saying... I'm not capable?”
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