*Boom!*
The seventh sword tribulation transformed into the phantoms of four ancient famous swords, striking down without mercy.
Jiang Yueliu gripped her sword tightly, her body swaying, and her blurred vision was a field of blood red. Blood flowed into her eyes; at that moment, the blood-red expanse began to brighten rapidly.
At this moment, the girl felt lost.
‘Can I… really block this sword tribulation?’
The four phantoms of the famous swords struck down rapidly, and a crazed smile appeared on Shen Dingyi’s face.
‘Yes, just like that! Strike her dead!’
‘My foundation is damaged, so you can go to hell too!’
Just then, he froze.
That was…
Jiang Yueliu waited for a moment, but the expected impact did not come. She stood dazed for 1 second and struggled to wipe away the blood from her eyes.
In the wind and snow, a figure stood quietly. The four phantoms of the famous swords were blocked in front of him, unable to advance a single inch before gradually dissolving. At the same time, the figure was also rapidly fading, flickering between light and shadow.
“Jiang Tong, what are you doing?”
Jiang Yueliu propped herself up with her sword and walked forward toward Jiang Tong. With every step, blood blossomed in the snow, and every part of her body throbbed with intense pain. But the pain now was not even one-ten-thousandth of what she felt inside.
“Jiang Tong, come back!”
“Come back!”
*Boom—*
Dark clouds churned, the heavens were enraged, and the thunder drowned out the girl’s pleas. The sword tribulation was provoked. The eighth lightning tribulation was brewing and transforming; it was a pure white lightning flood dragon rolling within the clouds.
*Roar!*
The dragon’s head poked out, coldly scorning this nonsensical Soul Fragment and the girl he shielded. Its massive body paused for 2 seconds before striking down toward Jiang Tong with surging momentum! The power of this strike was at least twice that of the previous one.
Jiang Tong waved his hand, and his soul power likewise condensed into a smaller black flood dragon, which he controlled to fly toward the white dragon. The two dragons collided with roars. After a brief struggle, the black dragon dissipated, and the slightly diminished white dragon pounced toward Jiang Tong.
The white dragon opened its maw. At the moment of impact, Jiang Tong felt as if he had been shattered. He felt himself breaking into many pieces. He could see the snowflakes, the earth stained red with blood, and Shen Dingyi’s crazed, twisted face.
He could also see…
Jiang Yueliu approached him one step at a time with difficulty, her small face covered in blood.
“Jiang Tong, you’re not allowed to die…”
“You’re not allowed to die…”
She murmured repeatedly, her soul seemingly lost, as if this were the only sentence she knew. Her world had been shattered.
‘Fool…’
Jiang Tong felt very sleepy, but he still wanted to try reaching out to pat the silly girl’s head. If he wanted, he could just let go and dissipate into the world, turning into wisps of Soul Fragments.
But…
Only after nine rotations are completed can the Sword Heart be formed. The sword tribulation still had its final strike.
*Clang!*
The Spring and Autumn Bell seemed to sense his determination. The small bell on the girl’s wrist was faintly shimmering. Immediately after, a streak of light flew out from the bell, sweeping up the scattered Soul Fragments and merging them back into one.
After doing all this, the small bell dimmed, becoming dilapidated as if thousands of years had passed. Jiang Tong opened his eyes from his stupor. Meanwhile, the sword tribulation above the heavens was brewing and gathering once more.
A terrifying aura permeated the land.
Shen Dingyi stared at the sky in despair, hating his Integration Stage cultivation while teetering on the brink of death. In the Shangyuan Sect, one cultivator after another stopped fighting, and everyone looked in one direction. Aside from the howling of the wind, snow, and thunderclouds, the world was incomparably silent.
The dark clouds’ coverage expanded several times over. At the center of the surging lightning stood a Soul Fragment and a young girl.
“What is your intent?”
A genderless voice echoed across the heavens, cold and questioning the soul.
“To help her through the tribulation.”
Jiang Tong replied neither humbly nor arrogantly, looking directly at the sky. Feeling his soul power return, he was filled with gratitude for the Spring and Autumn Bell.
“Heh, it is all destiny…”
The voice sounded distant. A strange sensation swept over him, as if someone were trying to probe him, but ultimately found nothing.
“Then let us see if you can survive this tribulation.”
Once the voice finished, there was no more sound. Lightning no longer surged in the dark clouds, and the heavens fell into a deathly silence.
***
Inside the Shangyuan Sect, everyone stared fixedly at the dark clouds. The heavily injured Yao Ping stood up, his gaze toward the clouds both nervous and excited.
1,000 miles away, an old man in a bamboo forest suddenly sensed something. He stopped cutting bamboo and looked toward the Shangyuan Sect, his eyes deep.
In the Northern Territory, a fox-tribe woman opened her eyes and looked toward Qingyang Prefecture, her beautiful eyes filled with shock and a faint trace of lingering affection.
“Stinky monk…” she whispered, her figure vanishing from the spot.
Beneath the thunderclouds, Jiang Yueliu was incredibly weak, yet she still held her sword and looked at the sky and that figure standing calmly in mid-air. This was her tribulation. And his too.
Finally, the terrifying aura brewed to its limit, and a massive, pure white sword slowly descended from the dark clouds. The blade of this lightning sword could be seen for several miles around. Upon the blade, two large characters flared—
EMPEROR’S COURT!
The phantom of the EMPEROR’S COURT paused, as if giving the people on the ground one last moment to breathe. Then, it seemed to descend very slowly, with no apparent threat. This was just an illusion. Its blade was so massive that it felt like it was falling slowly. In reality, it reached Jiang Tong in an instant.
The sword slashed down!
Its target was Jiang Yueliu on the ground, but Jiang Tong stood firmly in the middle. The EMPEROR’S COURT seemed to encounter some resistance, but in a mere moment, it broke through Jiang Tong’s soul power and continued its descent.
Jiang Tong was forced downward until he was pinned ruthlessly against the snowy ground.
“Master!”
Jiang Yueliu stepped forward with her sword, using all her strength to shield Jiang Tong. Wisps of lightning flickered. Every joint and every bone in her body groaned under the unbearable weight.
The white lightning and black soul power were like stones thrown into water, rippling out in circles. The girl’s already fragile body was constantly tearing apart.
Jiang Tong turned his head slightly in shock. She could no longer speak, but she struggled to mouth the words, her lips curling into a smile.
‘Meeting Master is truly wonderful.’
‘Meeting you was wonderful. But I wish… I had never met you. If I had just died that autumn, your soul wouldn’t have nearly been scattered. Stop protecting me, Jiang Tong. And don’t be a stupid fool like that cultivator. So, I really want to ask. I really want to ask a question. Where exactly is the place with the most love in the world…?’
*Boom!*
The EMPEROR’S COURT suddenly exploded, rolling thunder booming as the world was dyed snow-white by the lightning.
Jiang Yueliu’s consciousness gradually blurred. Before losing consciousness, she felt a figure turn around and hold her tightly. Behind him was pure white lightning, blossoming like fireworks on New Year’s Eve.
[Why do beautiful people have to die?]
[Everyone dies. It has nothing to do with whether they are beautiful or not.]
‘But Jiang Tong… I don’t want you to die…’