Watching Chu Fan’s corpse, Qi You cupped his chin as if lost in thought.
He watched until he saw the scroll painted with sun and moon gradually disappear from Chu Fan’s forearm, turning into specks of light that scattered not into Chu Fan’s ring or anywhere else, but toward the aimless sky.
At that moment, Qi You smiled faintly and said with understanding: “I see. So this divine artifact, though capable of granting power that defies the world, is single-use and requires the user to be strong enough to withstand the pull from both sides of the artifact.”
“It seems this fellow cultivator’s cultivation was insufficient. Otherwise, in my opinion, if the Force Heavenly Emperor of the Ten Ancient Emperors were to use it, he might be able to pull the two paintings together to his chest and rejoin them, thus possibly avoiding death.”
As he spoke, Qi You keenly noticed that Su Xiaotang, on the other side, had actually moved her finger.
He quickly trotted over, helped Su Xiaotang lean against the dried-up sword furnace, and gently tapped two acupoints on her shoulder to probe her qi.
The deeper he probed, the more shocked Qi You became.
Because he discovered that within Su Xiaotang’s body, that demon sword had actually returned.
In other words, Chu Fan’s method was to re-fuse the demon sword containing Su Xiaotang’s remnant soul back into her body, and this time the fusion was even more perfect.
It could almost be said to be even more powerful than the so-called innate sword body.
After all, the innate sword body is just a concept, but the one lying here is a true human with the strongest demon sword as her body.
Moreover, this fusion made the demon sword completely one with Su Xiaotang, with no side effects, and no longer any way to separate the demon sword from Su Xiaotang.
Even if she were killed, the demon sword would dissipate along with her.
‘This is simply a miracle of symbiosis. Is this the power of a divine artifact?’
Qi You marveled inwardly.
At that moment, Su Xiaotang opened her eyes groggily.
Seeing her open her eyes, Qi You smiled faintly and took out a pill to hand to Su Xiaotang.
“Awake, child? Here, take this. It will make your body feel better.”
Although a bit puzzled, Su Xiaotang instinctively felt he meant no harm and ate it.
Her body did feel a bit better.
“Th…thank you…”
“It’s nothing, nothing.”
At that moment, Qi You was like a scientist in a laboratory admiring the most successful experiment in world history, cherishing Su Xiaotang immensely.
But when Su Xiaotang turned her head and saw Chu Fan split in two, her pupils shrank to pinpricks.
She gasped, covering her mouth with both hands.
‘She just realized: shouldn’t she be dead?’
‘But why is it that she is alive while Chu Fan died so tragically before her?’
Until she felt an odd sensation in her palm.
Su Xiaotang removed her hand from her mouth and looked down.
It was a wish list, with the word “live” that she hadn’t finished writing.
And behind those two characters was a simple circle-shaped smiley face drawn in blood.
She suddenly understood.
It was Chu Fan, fulfilling his promise with his life.
Tears burst forth.
Su Xiaotang clutched the wish list, sobbing uncontrollably.
Seeing the girl cry like pear blossoms in the rain, even Qi You couldn’t help but sigh.
‘This fellow cultivator truly is a hero of the age. What a pity that heroes often die young. What a vain sorrow.’
On the other side, Shen Yuying, who had been silent ever since Chu Fan’s corpse appeared, still stood there.
She didn’t know what had happened.
One second, her master was just spitting a little blood, and the next, he was cut in two.
She looked at Chu Fan’s hollow eyes, his bleeding corpse, and the scattered organs on the ground.
Doubts began to arise in her heart.
‘Why? Why did my master have to die?’
‘Why? Master was so strong—he could go anywhere, do anything. No one could kill Master, not even harm him.’
‘Then why? Why did my master die?’
‘If Master is dead, what meaning is there in my living? Return to the life I had before?’
‘No. Without Master, any life would be worse than that past life—a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand times worse.’
Just as Shen Yuying was about to kill herself, she saw Su Xiaotang sobbing.
‘Right. It was for her.’
‘She should have died instead.’
‘Master died to save her.’
‘That means if I kill her, Master will come back.’
‘It must be so. It must be.’
‘If I kill her, Master will return. He will return.’
‘He won’t abandon me. He will definitely come back. He’ll come find me. Master doted on me the most. He surely can’t bear to leave me all alone.’
‘Yes. I just have to kill her. Just… kill her…’
Boom….
Suddenly, a mass of dark purple qi burst from Shen Yuying’s body, sweeping through every inch of the air, forcing even Qi You to squint.
He didn’t understand what was happening until he saw one of Shen Yuying’s white tails slowly split into nine white tails, each marked with blood-red patterns.
“So the legend is true—that the fox demon clan awakens the nine-tailed bloodline when experiencing extreme emotional trauma that triggers profound pain, hatred, or despair.”
Whoosh…
Silently, Shen Yuying turned one tail into a sharp blade, aimed straight for Su Xiaotang’s vital point.
Ding
But Qi You blocked it.
“Sorry, little girl. This is the most magnificent life existence in the whole world. Even if it costs my life, I can’t let you harm her.”
“Besides, this is a miracle your master bought with his life. How can you not treasure it?”
“Shut up.”
Two tails swung in from both sides.
Qi You deflected them again.
Then three, then four, until all nine.
Qi You’s body began to show wounds.
He judged that this girl’s current strength had definitely reached the Nascent Soul stage of an ordinary cultivator—maybe even mid-Nascent Soul—leaping across two major realms.
But what he said was true.
He really couldn’t bear to see such a great work destroyed, nor could he stand to see the miracle that Chu Fan—a fellow artificer—had bought with his life ruined.
Even if he himself was the one who started it all.
On the other side, under Qi You’s protection, Su Xiaotang hesitated.
Should she accept death?
She could certainly accept death—she was the one who caused Chu Fan’s death, who took away Shen Yuying’s master, without a doubt.
But this life of hers was exchanged for Chu Fan’s life.
Even if she died, Chu Fan couldn’t come back.
If Chu Fan could be revived, she would immediately kill herself.
But Chu Fan wouldn’t live again.
She didn’t want Chu Fan’s death to become something worthless.
She wanted to live on with this life, carrying Chu Fan’s share as well.
As for Chen Qianchi, she had already sobbed herself unconscious.
Then, just as Qi You was about to be defeated and Shen Yuying was about to pierce his body….
“Ding-a-ling—”