The room was scorching hot.
Su Xiaotang’s body was suspended above a sword furnace, controlled by an unseen force.
Below her, the iron liquid churned like magma.
“Hey! This isn’t what you promised! Put her down! Give her back! Give her back to us!”
Shen Yuying was blocked outside by an unusually sturdy barrier, forced to watch helplessly as Su Xiaotang was roasted on the furnace like she was being sliced by a thousand cuts.
Su Xiaotang’s skin was burnt to a crisp, tears streaming from her eyes, and pus oozed from her skin, yet she remained unable to move.
She didn’t understand what was happening.
She only remembered following Shen Yuying and the others, but somewhere along the way, someone had taken her hand.
She assumed that person was with Shen Yuying, so she didn’t resist.
It wasn’t until she was forced onto the sword furnace and felt the pain that she finally realized.
When her entire back went numb, as if cooked through, a searing pain stabbed into her heart.
But she could only make expressions; no sound escaped her lips.
“Hey! What are you doing! Stop! Stop right now!!!!!”
Chen Qianchi shouted, but it was useless.
“Did you think the demon sword could be fused and separated so easily?”
“Anyone who has the demon sword ripped out of them will suffer the agony of having their three souls and seven spirits, a thousand tendons and a hundred bones torn away. But don’t worry, it’ll be over soon.”
“Soon, the strongest demon sword will appear before my eyes… helping me achieve my goal of becoming a divine-rank artificer… hahahahaha!”
Qi You laughed maniacally as he began to extract the demon sword from Su Xiaotang’s body.
A piercing pain shot through her.
Su Xiaotang coughed up a mouthful of blood into the furnace.
The iron liquid churned and flashed red.
At that moment, Su Xiaotang couldn’t think of anything.
All she felt was pain… so much pain…
It was like a hundred thousand barbed needles stabbed into every corner of her body, pulled out, then stabbed in again, over and over.
‘Why… why is this world treating me like this…’
‘What did I do wrong… I’m just an ordinary person who wants three meals a day, enough to eat and warm clothes to wear.’
‘I never dreamed of fine clothes or fine food, nor did I seek wealth and glory.’
‘As long as I could live through life safely, even being at the very bottom was fine.’
‘But why… why was I born in this place, in this family?’
‘Should I just die like this?’
She couldn’t help but think.
But suddenly, a face came to mind—the face of someone who promised to take her to see all the mountains and rivers, the seasons, and to eat all the delicacies in the world.
That wasn’t just his promise to her; it was a pact between the two of them.
This was the first time in her life she had agreed to do something with someone.
She didn’t want to break her word, and she felt the future wasn’t so dark after all.
Maybe there was still a chance to change things.
With that thought, Su Xiaotang took out her wish list and, using her own blood, wrote stroke by stroke: “Live… on…”
But before she could finish the word, she gently closed her eyes.
“It’s done! The demon sword! The demon sword Qifusheng! It’s out!!!!! Hahahahaha!!!!!!!!”
Qi You stared at the demon sword with wild joy in his eyes.
Meanwhile, Chu Fan had just come out of the tower.
Besides subduing the demon, he also needed to find a way to shrink the tower.
After thinking it over, rather than going through the trouble of shrinking it, it would be easier to smash it, melt it down, and use it as material.
“Right, that’s what I’ll do.”
So Chu Fan raised his hand and sliced the tower into pieces like cutting fruit, deciding to use the tower’s materials to forge a new weapon for Chen Qianchi, since the demon sword now belonged to Su Xiaotang.
But suddenly, his heart skipped a beat.
He whirled around and saw that the three little girls who should have been waiting nearby were all gone.
Chu Fan swallowed hard, quickly pulled out a tracking device, and began searching for his disciples’ locations.
He had installed a tracker-like device on each of his disciples, so the locator could pinpoint them perfectly.
Soon, he found the location: the basement of the Su Mansion.
With a push of his feet, Chu Fan teleported at an invisible speed, leaving a large crater in the ground.
…..
Qi You easily controlled the rampaging energy of the demon sword, holding it in his hands, gazing at it like a treasure.
“I… I…” Su Chentian stammered.
“Ah, I know, I know.”
After a few more glances, Qi You tossed the demon sword to Su Chentian.
Of course, he liked the demon sword, but his reason for releasing it was to forge an even more powerful weapon, not to keep it.
So giving it away was fine.
The demon sword was already under his control, and a mere Qi Condensation cultivator couldn’t cause much trouble.
But just as Qi You was about to leave….
“Boom!”
An explosion rang out.
The door was blown to pieces, along with the barrier that shattered into fragments.
The moment he entered the room, Chu Fan’s eyes fell on Su Xiaotang on the ground.
But when he looked closely, his heart felt as if it were being torn apart.
Su Xiaotang was dead.
Her three souls and seven spirits had been violently ripped from her body.
She had died in excruciating pain.
Clenching his jaw, Chu Fan turned his head and immediately spotted Su Chentian, entranced as he admired the demon sword.
Without a second thought, Chu Fan flashed over….
Then….
“Bang!”
His fist left a bloody hole in Su Chentian’s chest, killing him instantly.
Though it was merely a one-shot kill of a Qi Condensation cultivator, the terrifying power still made Qi You’s eyes widen slightly.
When Chu Fan’s gaze fell on him, Qi You smiled faintly and raised both hands in surrender: “Fellow Daoist, don’t be hasty. I am but a wandering artificer. I only wished to borrow the demon sword for a look. My wish is fulfilled. If you have any heaven-defying method to revive this girl, I would be happy to guard you while you perform it.”
Hearing these words that sounded like a provocation, Chu Fan snorted coldly: “Do you think I don’t?”
“Oh? Then please begin, Fellow Daoist. I will do my utmost to guard you, along with your two disciples.”
Looking at Qi You’s cunning smile, Chu Fan understood he was being given a choice.
He could kill him, of course, but that would take a few moments.
Su Xiaotang’s three souls and seven spirits hadn’t completely dispersed yet—there was still a glimmer of hope.
If he tangled with Qi You, Su Xiaotang would surely die.
If he let him go, Qi You would stand guard with Shen Yuying and the others.
With his strength, even if Shen Yuying and Chen Qianchi fought together, they might at best tie with him, posing no threat to Chu Fan while he performed the ritual.
The answer was set.
He had to save her.
Even if he had to snatch her back from the gates of hell!
Chu Fan flicked both sleeves, and two scrolls appeared in midair.
The moment he saw the scrolls, Qi You’s eyes widened, and he murmured:
“These are… a saint-rank artifact… and… a divine artifact!? Fellow Daoist, you have a divine artifact!?”
Chu Fan said nothing.
He sat cross-legged, formed hand seals, and chanted under his breath:“Heaven and Earth’s one energy melds with itself, a myriad of things harmonize, intent interflows. The heart follows the sun and moon, returning to clarity and peace; wind and rain obey, years are bountiful. Yin and Yang coexist without conflict; the four seas are tranquil, joy shared. Wash away the dust of the world, return to the righteous path; only wish that Heaven and Earth be one.”
“Huummm—”
Suddenly, everyone present except Chu Fan felt the spiritual energy in their bodies being drained away.
Qi You in particular felt as if he had turned into a mortal.
But the spiritual energy didn’t disappear—it flowed toward…
Chu Fan.
“Pfft…”
Unable to withstand the surging spiritual energy, Chu Fan spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of his internal organs.
“Master!”
“Teacher!”
“Don’t come near…”
Seeing the two girls about to rush over, Chu Fan weakly stopped them.
“I’ve left you both with Qi Condensation-level spiritual energy… just… keep an eye on him…”
“But Master…”
“Teacher…”
“Shut up…”
Not bothering with them anymore, Chu Fan turned and began to gather Su Xiaotang’s three souls and seven spirits.
“I see. So the scroll depicting all things in the world has the ability to synchronize, am I right, Fellow Daoist?”
Chu Fan continued in silence.
“It must be able to selectively distribute the spiritual energy within a certain range to specific targets, but it has no offensive capability.”
“As expected of a saint-rank artifact. Even without offensive power, its ability is still domineering enough.”
Gradually, Chu Fan stood up, and the other scroll slowly unrolled.
“Huummmmmm—”
The moment this scroll opened, the noise was even louder than the first.
Two streams of air appeared simultaneously in the room.
One was the extreme burning of pure Yang, as if it would incinerate the world.
The other was the extreme cold of pure Yin, as if it would freeze Heaven and Earth into ice crystals.
The two streams clashed, but they did not harm the others present.
Instead, they struck Chu Fan’s body from left and right.
The second painting was simpler than the first.
On the left was a blazing sun, on the right a full moon emitting a faint, silvery light.
That was all, but its pressure was overwhelmingly greater.
“This is… a divine artifact… so this is a divine artifact…!”
Qi You marveled, his eyes filled not only with longing but also with boundless envy and admiration for Chu Fan.
The extreme heat and extreme cold continuously struck Chu Fan’s body until they met in the center of his chest, colliding with each other.
At that moment, Chu Fan felt as if his left heart was freezing over and his right side was burning to ash, yet he did not stop.
Changing his hand seals, Chu Fan shouted with difficulty: “One scroll splits the sky, rending the firmament; mountains and rivers overturn, seas churn. Heaven lowers, earth splits, wild winds rage; Yin and Yang lose order, all things desolate. Stars shatter, flowing light returns to my grasp; all creatures silent, bowing beside me. The mortal world’s dust is but a straw dog; dare to make the sun and moon lower their heads!”
“Sun and Moon·Bow Down!”
“Huummmmm—”
The next moment, the scroll depicting the sun and moon split down the middle, one half wrapping around each of Chu Fan’s forearms.
The instant they wrapped around, everyone except Chu Fan—not just those present, but everyone in the world—experienced the same phenomenon.
Their movements slowed.
Their words became low and drawn out.
Because the flow of time was decelerating, slowing further and further until it reached zero.
Time stopped.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
The moment time stopped, a pulling force struck both of Chu Fan’s arms, as if trying to tear him apart from the center.
Chu Fan now felt like a mortal being drawn-and-quartered by two horses, but he still held on, desperately pulling the two scrolls back.
“AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Until his meridians and bones were completely shattered by the Yin and Yang forces, until blood flowed from all seven orifices, Chu Fan still endured through sheer willpower.
Until he saw the last remnant soul descend from above his head and merge into Su Xiaotang’s body.
Chu Fan smiled.
His body finally relaxed—then….
“Riiip”
His body was torn in half from the middle.
Time began to flow again.
Chu Fan’s corpse fell from the air.
“Clang”
“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! TEACHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Staring at the body split in half on the ground, Chen Qianchi screamed at the top of her lungs.