As red light pulsed along the blood-colored root,
Qin Zhiwei's aura grew weaker and weaker, like a candle flickering in the wind.
Gu Changqing's eyes instantly turned blood-red.
He rushed forward like a madman, frantically swinging his longsword to hack at the blood-colored root.
Clang! Clang!
The longsword only managed to hack out small notches in the root.
It was as if the root possessed an incredibly powerful vitality; red threads squirmed within the notches, instantly restoring them to their original state.
“【Swiftwind Fleeting Shadow Sword】!”
Gu Changqing roared as countless sword blades bombarded the root.
Sap splattered everywhere.
Yet, it healed once more.
The usually elegant Gu Changqing now had disheveled hair, his eyes filled with utter despair.
Right at that moment,
【Sword Cleaving Mountains and Rivers】!
A massive, blood-red energy sword, carrying a violent killing intent, slashed down from the sky.
It struck the red root with immense force.
A sizzling sound, like a hot knife cutting through butter, echoed from the wound.
The root was sliced clean in two.
Gu Changqing lunged forward, catching the falling Qin Zhiwei.
The severed piece of root instantly lost its supernatural glow, and with a gentle sweep of his longsword, he ground it to dust.
...
On the other side of the battlefield,
because Jiang Ye had unleashed that sword strike to save her, his parry was half a beat too slow.
Bang!
He was struck squarely in the chest by a giant wolf, sending him flying several meters back.
Jiang Ye forcefully drove his greatsword into the ground to brake.
Dragging a long groove across the ice, he finally came to a slow halt.
Pfft.
Jiang Ye spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of his internal organs.
His chest bone was caved in, and his sword-holding hand trembled slightly.
Taking a direct blow comparable to the mid stage of the Golden Core Realm was still a bit too much for his Iron Bone Realm physical body.
Opposite him, the two giant wolves had blood-red eyes, having clearly activated their 【Berserk】 skill long ago.
“Junior Sister Qin, wake up...”
A sorrowful cry echoed from the distance.
Gu Changqing knelt on the ground, his eyes bloodshot.
Qin Zhiwei lay in his arms, the blood gushing from her chest completely soaking his robes.
Hearing his cries, Qin Zhiwei struggled to open her eyes.
The moment she opened her mouth, she spat out a mouthful of bloody foam.
Her voice trembled, as faint as a thread:
“I'm... I'm sorry, Senior Brother. I was too slow... I couldn't escape.”
Gu Changqing frantically tried to stuff healing pills into her mouth:
“Don't speak! Quick, take the pills!”
Qin Zhiwei shook her head.
The color rapidly drained from her face.
She struggled to raise her hand, wiping away the tear stains on Gu Changqing's face:
“I'm... sor... ry...”
As her voice faded,
her hand fell powerlessly to the ground.
“No—!”
...
Seeing this scene, the eyes of everyone from Sword Peak turned bloodshot, their hands gripping their swords trembling violently.
Gu Changqing slowly laid down Junior Sister Qin's gradually cooling body.
He slowly stood up.
Staring fixedly at Zhao Zonghan, his fists clenched tightly, the sword intent around him grew so dense it seemed almost tangible.
On the other side,
Jiang Ye was preparing to face the giant wolves once more.
When he heard Gu Changqing's despairing howl and Junior Sister Qin's tearful apology,
his heart suddenly jolted.
Jiang Ye was stunned.
He suddenly realized that these senior brothers and sisters who had been laughing and joking with him
no longer felt like NPCs made of data.
They were living, breathing people.
Jiang Ye sighed.
It feels like I'm getting emotionally invested here.
Immediately after, the Killing Sword Intent on Jiang Ye's body fluctuated wildly, and a surge of violence welled up from his heart.
Yet, he still stubbornly muttered, “This is all because Xiao Bai's heart... is too soft.”
Boom!
A pillar of blood soared into the sky, violently erupting with Jiang Ye at its center!
The 【Killing Sword Intent】 instantly broke through its bottleneck, stepping from “Minor Achievement” into “Grand Achievement”!
At this moment, the long-silent voice of the “blood-colored Bai Zhirou” echoed in Jiang Ye's mind once again, laced with temptation:
“Hehehe...”
“Not enough, still not enough.”
“You clearly possess the great perfection of Killing Sword Intent. Why don't you use it?”
Within the pillar of blood,
Jiang Ye felt a splitting headache.
The massive Killing Sword Intent expanded so much that his body began to rapidly crack, with beams of bloody light spilling out from the fissures in his skin.
Clearly, neither his physical body nor his soul could withstand a “Grand Achievement” level of Killing Sword Intent at this moment.
Jiang Ye had long known that if he took this step, it would mean certain death.
Just as his body began to gradually break down and he was about to rush out to self-destruct along with the enemy,
within his chest cavity, the Seven-Color Glazed Sword Heart began to thrum violently.
Ancient sword runes lit up with a brilliant glow.
That violent sword intent, which Jiang Ye could not control, was forcibly absorbed and suppressed bit by bit by the Sword Heart.
The bloody light spilling from the fissures in his skin gradually dimmed.
Jiang Ye caught his breath and examined his internal state.
Looking at the violently beating Seven-Color Sword Heart, he couldn't help but marvel,
“Xiao Bai, your heart is seriously good under pressure.”
In his mind, it took a long while before Bai Zhirou spoke up with a sob:
“Se... Senior.”
“Please, I beg you, save Senior Sister Qin.”
The corners of Jiang Ye's mouth curled up:
“Mhm, for your sake, I will!”
The voice of the “blood-colored Bai Zhirou” refused to give up, continuing to mock:
“As long as you activate the great perfection of Killing Sword Intent, these mere ants before you can be hacked to death with a single strike.”
“Are you afraid, Jiang Ye?”
This kind of old-school emotional manipulation
was nothing new to a veteran gamer like Jiang Ye, who had long since become immune to it.
He calmly replied in his mind,
“As the old saying goes, ‘When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes back into you.’ Take over my body? You're not worthy!”
...
Everyone present stared in sheer horror at the blood pillar soaring into the sky.
A foot slowly stepped out from the pillar of blood.
The crowd finally got a clear view of the figure emerging.
At this moment, “Bai Zhirou's” long black hair had turned a striking, blood-red color.
Her once-clear eyes had transformed into crimson pupils resembling those of a malevolent demon.
Her exquisite face carried an extreme killing intent that utterly disregarded all living things.
The instant Jiang Ye took a step forward,
Buzz—!
a crimson domain instantly expanded, covering dozens of li in every direction!
Within the domain, the rules changed.
The dense wounds on the two giant wolves frantically gushed blood essence.
This vital energy turned into a tangible red mist, continuously pouring into Jiang Ye's body.
His caved-in chest bone was being repaired, and his depleted vital energy was being replenished.
The two giant wolves, which had activated 【Berserk】, instinctively sensed a fatal threat.
Abandoning all defense, they bared their bloody fangs and lunged straight at Jiang Ye!
Jiang Ye gripped 【Meteorite】 with one hand.
He casually swung it forward.
Swoosh!
A highly condensed, blood-red crescent moon slash shot forth.
There was no earth-shattering explosion, nor were there any flashy special effects.
Only absolute sharpness and a suffocating, deathly silence.
The Tier Three Mid Stage giant wolf leaping through the air didn't even have time to let out a whimper.
The moment its massive wolf body made contact with the crimson crescent, it smoothly shifted out of alignment and disintegrated in midair.
Bang!
A rain of blood mixed with internal organs instantly exploded in the sky.
At this moment,
the entire field fell into a dead silence.
The other giant wolf, which had also been in a berserk state, suddenly found its blood-red eyes turning crystal clear.
It actually suppressed its bloodthirsty instinct, digging its claws into the ground to force itself back several steps, letting out a low whimper from its throat.
As everyone knew,
according to the law of conservation of smiles, a smile never disappears—it merely transfers from one person to another.
Zhao Zonghan, who had been laughing arrogantly and believing victory was within his grasp, froze completely.
His eyes bulged like copper bells as he stared fixedly at the crimson-haired “Bai Zhirou,” who looked like an Asura descended upon the world.
A playful curve tugged at the corner of Jiang Ye's mouth.
Squinting his crimson eyes, his gaze bypassed the wolf corpse and locked straight onto Zhao Zonghan's face.
Rate on N.U.
