121: Chapter 121 Severing a Century-Old Bond, Despair Fills the City as I Draw My Sword!

[Age 62. August 11th. Tianyang City, City Lord's Mansion, Side Hall.]

[The crude ceramic wine jar was empty.]

[Perfected Cultivator Chiyang sat upright in the main seat, not questioning the hidden trump card behind the phrase "go slaughter one."]

[He was waiting for you to reveal your hand.]

[You didn't waste words, rapidly deconstructing the two overlapping demonic auras in your mind.]

[Han Ji, late Nascent Soul stage. Ice-element origin, specializes in field control and sealing.]

[Lie Yan, Great Perfection of Nascent Soul stage. Fire-element origin, specializes in direct slaughter.]

[Life-linked Dao companions, where ice and fire complement each other.]

[This combined attack formation was more than even Hall Master Chiyang, a Great Perfection Nascent Soul cultivator, could handle.]

[A direct confrontation would be suicide.]

[The only flaw lay in the words "life-linked."]

[If one side falls into a death trap, the other will risk backlash to return and save them.]

[Target: Han Ji.]

[Lie Yan's foundation at Great Perfection was too thick, but Han Ji was half a step lower, allowing for a breach to be torn open.]

[Only one question remained.]

[How could a Mid Golden Core Stage strike with a sword under the pincer attack of two Nascent Soul entities and still exit alive?]

[You summoned the panel.]

[Your gaze swept over the two purple traits: [Phantom Raid] and [Shift Image].]

[One for the advance, one for the retreat.]

[Simulation images of intertwined ice and fire flashed through your mind.]

[Lie Yan's demonic fire could incinerate a city, but Han Ji's freezing was the core of their combined attack.]

[As long as a situation is created where Han Ji's death is certain in an instant, Lie Yan will inevitably fall into chaos.]

[The prerequisite was that the first strike must truly be capable of taking her life.]

[You slammed the empty wine bowl onto the solid wood table.]

["I have a plan, but I need time to refine it."]

[Perfected Cultivator Chiyang nodded.]

[Ling Qingmeng tilted her head to look over.]

[She understood your style.]

[If you said there was a plan, then it was a lethal trap.]

[——]

[August 11th to 19th.]

[The demon race contracted their battle lines, and the main battlefield fell into a truce.]

[Only a few small groups of demons shouted challenges outside the city, unable to even strike a ripple on the first layer of the city's protective formation.]

[You stayed in the barracks, arranging the activation sequence of your traits hundreds and thousands of times.]

[The gaps between skill switches were forced down by you into milliseconds.]

[Nightfall, at the isolation formation on the west side of the city wall.]

[Thunder light erupted.]

[Ling Qingmeng spread her fingers, and a hundred threads of lightning sealed off all routes of advance and retreat.]

[The lightning net left only a single, extremely thin opening for survival in the bottom left corner.]

[You didn't use your eyes to look for it.]

[[Phantom Raid] activated.]

[Afterimages tore through the air, precisely penetrating the opening.]

[The tip of your sword stopped three inches before her throat.]

[The lightning net slammed shut behind you.]

["Half a breath faster," she said, withdrawing the lightning from her palm.]

["Your net was a breath too slow," you replied, sheathing your sword.]

[——]

[Age 62. August 20th. Hour of the Dragon (7-9 AM). Tianyang City, North Gate.]

[Two magnificent streaks of light landed below the city.]

[The air currents kicked up scorched earth everywhere.]

[Perfected Cultivator Chiyang went down to greet them, and you followed half a step behind.]

[Reinforcements from the Tianxing Sect arrived. Led by the early Nascent Soul cultivator Daoist Yuqing, followed by four Golden Core cultivators.]

[Reinforcements from the Lingxiao Sect arrived. Led by the mid-Nascent Soul female cultivator, Immortal Elder Lingxu.]

[Behind her stood six Golden Core sword cultivators from the Lingxiao Sect.]

[You scanned the six people, your gaze stopping at the very end on the far right.]

[The wind kicked up dust mixed with the smell of blood.]

[Black battle robes, a plain wooden hairpin.]

[One hand resting on her sword, calm and unhurried.]

[Qin Yao.]

[Age 57. Early Golden Core stage.]

[In the previous life, she mended your robes, warmed your porridge, bore your children, and guarded your estate.]

[In this life, you severed the karma and did not pull her into the game.]

[Yet she had crossed the chasm between mortal and immortal, donned armor, gripped a sword, and charged into this Eastern Region battlefield where death was almost certain.]

[You withdrew your gaze.]

[Your fingers, hidden in your sleeve, clenched.]

[Half a breath later, they relaxed again.]

[Perfected Cultivator Chiyang stepped forward to pay his respects and introduced you along the way.]

["Shen Ji of the Tianxuan Sect. It was he who severed Demon King Gu Sha's right arm yesterday."]

[Daoist Yuqing of the Tianxing Sect stepped forward and cupped his fists.]

["The youth are to be feared."]

[Immortal Elder Lingxu of the Lingxiao Sect sized you up.]

["Good sword bone. Severing a Demon King's arm makes you quite the figure."]

[You returned the greeting with cupped fists in turn.]

[You walked to the front of the Lingxiao Sect queue.]

[You stopped for a full beat in front of Qin Yao.]

["This Junior Sister, which part of the Lingxiao Sect do you cultivate at?"]

[Qin Yao took half a step back and bowed in greeting.]

["Wood Spirit Peak, the sword cultivation lineage."]

[Her tone was distant and polite.]

[When she looked at you, her gaze rested on your sword. It was the look one gives a capable ally in the same trench.]

["Wood Spirit Peak. A good place," you nodded. "The Eastern Region defense line will rely on your hard work."]

[The pleasantries were over.]

[You walked past her toward the city wall.]

[And never looked back.]

[——]

[Afternoon. Abandoned barracks in the east of the city.]

[You sat cross-legged on a dilapidated prayer mat, your long sword resting across your knees. You summoned the panel.]

[Name: Shen Ji]

[Cultivation: Mid Golden Core Stage]

[Luck Value: 1055]

[Equipped Traits 8/8: Wealth Returns After Being Spent (Gold), Supreme Sword Bone (Gold), Phantom Raid (Purple), Thirteen Gale Strikes (Purple), Shift Image (Purple), Sword Dao Insight (Purple), Lingxi Finger (Blue), Greased Soles (White)]

[Simulation restarted.]

[Phantom Raid breaks the defense and creates distance.]

[Shift Image takes the hit while the true body escapes far away.]

[Thirteen Gales Swords leads the attack, tearing open a flaw.]

[Lingxi Finger focuses and compresses the point, creating a certain-kill situation to force Lie Yan to return for defense.]

[Every move is relentless, every step leaves no path for retreat.]

[You drew the Qiankun Yin-Yang Sword.]

[Black and white sword light intertwined in the room.]

[Against the empty stone wall, you stabbed three hundred and six times.]

[Not enough.]

[The speed of drawing the sword must be squeezed by another half-breath.]

[The landing point of the afterimage must be locked exactly three feet behind Han Ji's left side, in her blind spot.]

[Only then can Lie Yan's furious, explosive strike be caught.]

[The long sword returned to its scabbard.]

[The simulation loop was closed.]

[——]

[Age 62. September 1st. Hour of the Rabbit (5-7 AM). Tianyang City, North Wall.]

[Before dawn, the night wind suddenly stopped.]

[On the eastern horizon, large patches of dark red light tore through the leaden clouds.]

[That was not the morning sun.]

[It was demonic fire burning through the canopy of heaven.]

[The sound of vast beast horns rolled over the morning mist.]

[The tremors of the earth made the city walls shake, and gravel fell pattering down.]

[Everyone rushed to the battlements.]

[Perfected Cultivator Chiyang strode forward.]

[The lightning at Ling Qingmeng's fingertips surged violently.]

[The sword formations of the Tianxing Sect and Lingxiao Sect were tightly locked together.]

[Qin Yao stood at the edge of the formation, her right hand gripping her sword hilt tightly.]

[The rolling demonic clouds completely swallowed the horizon.]

[Four thick Nascent Soul pressures slammed down from the depths of the clouds without any concealment.]

[Gu Sha. Blood mist churned at his severed arm.]

[Lei Yuan. Black lightning around him exploded in a series of sonic booms.]

[Han Ji. Extreme cold frost froze the water vapor for three miles around.]

[Lie Yan. Violent demonic fire burned through half the sky.]

[Four Demon Kings, out in full force.]

[The city wall was deathly silent.]

[Under the heavy spiritual pressure, the hands of low-level cultivators holding their swords trembled violently, their breathing heavy.]

[Perfected Cultivator Chiyang stepped onto the war drum platform.]

["Everyone, return to your positions."]

[Amidst this oppressive ashen gray, you stepped onto the battlements.]

[The fierce wind tore your hairband loose.]

[Your thumb pushed upward.]

[The Yin-Yang Sword left its scabbard by three inches.]

[A clear, high-pitched sword hum tore through the wind of the city.]

[All eyes suddenly converged on you.]

[You stared at the cloud of ice that froze all things on the horizon.]

[Han Ji.]

[She's the one.]