Toxic swamps, a single sword strike slays all; vile dragons, a single sword strike ends them; corrupted spirits, a single sword strike destroys them. The white-haired expert exerted every trick in the book, yet all proved futile against the monstrous blade in the hands of “Jiesha.” Forced to evade its sharpness, he resorted to a drawn-out battle, avoiding direct confrontation with the strange sword by relying on his own agility. The fate of “Tianmu Shaman” Tuoya still vividly fresh in his mind!
This old man appeared unpredictable, suddenly appearing before his opponent, then vanishing behind him. His face twisted, eyes brimming with a demonic aura, exuding a sense of madness and extremism. His hands were wrapped in a strange black mist, carrying an aura of incompleteness. Every move he made targeted Jiesha’s vital acupoints. Though seemingly simple and unadorned, his techniques appeared to return to the essence of martial arts—pure, refined, and devastating, crumbling mountains and shattering stones like tofu. The ground gradually turned crimson, exuding a bloodthirsty, frenzied atmosphere.
Jiesha remained indifferent, wielding his dark, unlit sword with ease, preventing the white-haired expert from closing in. Several times, the latter nearly suffered a fatal blow. If a few more breaths passed, Jiesha could forcibly break free from the entanglement or seize the opportunity to trade injuries for the enemy’s life, once again setting the stage to surround and kill Meng Qi.
Yet at that moment, she witnessed the old man Ku Laowen collapsing lifelessly, his breath completely extinguished. He hadn’t even withstood a single strike from Meng Qi!
Was this the legendary, unbeatable blade?
A single slash severed fate and karma, felling a mighty foe. Meng Qi’s soul drifted into emptiness, sensing countless brilliant star-like threads boiling within the boundless void, detaching and twisting like a collapsing net, as if forming a celestial snare.
The weight of Ku Laowen’s karma left Meng Qi in awe. In his lifetime, only the current Xuan Nu could surpass it.
Yet most of this karma was faint, stemming from the hundreds of thousands of innocent lives unjustly taken by the “Eighteen Laments of Wronged Souls.” Truly thick strands of karma were rare.
Karma tied to the Temple of Joy, to the Asura Temple, to Su Wuming, and even to his own master, Xuan Bei… Though Meng Qi had yet to comprehend the “Dao Yi Seal,” merely having it within his body and absorbing its essence had greatly advanced his “Causes of All Fruits” in the Outer Scenery cultivation method. His practice had become significantly more efficient, and he could now roughly discern the “directions” of different karmic threads!
These karmic threads still clung to Meng Qi’s blade, ready to detach, except for the thickest, brightest one. It stretched toward a mysterious place deep within the void.
“Unifying the Hanhai to the west?” Meng Qi was slightly astonished. Ku Laowen’s ambition did not seem self-driven, but rather imposed by an overwhelming karmic force—one that sent chills through his soul and threatened instant annihilation upon acceptance.
Primordial Origin seated, the Cause of All Fruits, Meng Qi’s blade suddenly darted like a fish from the thickest karmic thread, instinctively rushing toward the next tier of karma.
In a flash, Meng Qi had no time to choose carefully. He could only rely on his previous impressions to avoid the general direction of karma linked to his master, Su Wuming, and others. Whether he would succeed remained uncertain—he could only do his best.
At that very moment, an unforeseen turn of events unfolded. An invisible wind swept through the “karmic realm,” and the faint threads of karma from the slaughter of tens of thousands of innocents abruptly coalesced into a single radiant strand—second only to the most formidable karmic bond—entangling Meng Qi’s blade.
Boom!
The void seemed to tremble. Meng Qi felt countless resentful thoughts entangle him, yin energy condensing into tangible forms, piercing across the sky. The heavens quaked, as if enraged, forming a chaotic thundercloud.
To commit countless injustices, the heavens themselves would strike down the guilty!
It was actually the karmic retribution of “instant justice in this life”… Meng Qi’s heart sank, a sense of misfortune and adversity overwhelming him.
Or perhaps, someone was manipulating karma, secretly plotting against him?
Instinctively, Meng Qi reached out to sense Gu Xiaosang. She floated gracefully atop a collapsed rock wall, hands cupping her face, eyes scanning the battlefield, showing no sign of activating any secret techniques.
It wasn’t her?
The greatest benefit of “attaching karma” was killing enemies first and bearing the consequences later. In other words, delaying the resolution of one enemy in exchange for immediate advantage and preserved strength. Yet now, the karma had come due instantly!
After years of cultivation, Ku Laowen had killed countless innocents. His accumulated curses and hatred had long overflowed. During his attempt to ascend the third heavenly ladder, ninety percent of his trials had been heavenly retribution. And now, that strange wind had condensed all those karmic threads into one, triggering a qualitative change, invoking divine wrath and forcing Meng Qi to bear the consequences of unjust slaughter!
Boom!
A fist-sized purple lightning bolt descended leisurely, instantly filling the air with fine silver serpents. The valley’s murderous aura and toxic swamps vanished, replaced by an overwhelming sense of yang energy.
Meng Qi’s scalp prickled, sensing the terrifying power of this heavenly punishment—it was nearly as strong as a half-step Dharma Body’s full-force strike, and it locked unerringly onto his soul!
Indeed, retribution was swift! Clenching his teeth, Meng Qi’s body suddenly swelled as he activated the Heaven-Earth Mirroring technique. His right hand unleashed Purple Lightning and Azure Thunder from the Heaven’s Wound, while a shimmering purple lightning mark appeared on the back of his left hand, summoning the thunder of all realms.
The purple lightning bolt seemed to slow slightly. Seizing the moment, Meng Qi collapsed all his strength, dharma manifestation, and heavenly power into his long blade, manifesting a needle-like dark vortex at its tip, exuding terrifying suction that drew nearby sand and rocks toward it, dissolving them into nothingness.
He swung the blade forward, meeting the purple lightning midair.
Boom! Thunder erupted, the vortex suddenly expanding, as if a strange gateway to an unknown world had appeared high in the sky, continuously distorting the lightning.
Shockwaves rippled outward as gales, blowing the remaining waters of Lake Dora Su into towering waves.
Meng Qi was forcibly pushed downward. Though unharmed, half his body went numb, his true energy drained.
Boom!
Before the chaotic thunderclouds had even dispersed, streaks of azure lightning struck down relentlessly, as if the valley had suddenly sprouted towering green pillars connecting heaven and earth.
Boom!
Rolling thunder surged from all directions, leaving Meng Qi no escape.
The void seemed to fracture and collapse, as if the end of the world had arrived. Within Meng Qi’s body, the “Undying Primordial Manifestation” sat serenely in his brow, summoning the Yin-Yang Seal to transmute life and death, forcibly generating a surge of power to activate all his acupoints, collapsing them into his internal organs, flesh, and bones, returning everything to its primordial state.
His long blade slashed forth, dazzlingly brilliant, like the first ray of light in creation, cleaving through the ocean of thunder, carving out a realm of purity.
The sword light shimmered, revealing intricate fluctuations that embodied the interplay of yin and yang—as if forging an independent realm where heaven and earth dissolved, leaving only his solitary form.
Boom!
The azure lightning continued to strike relentlessly, yet Meng Qi’s blade and sword shadows formed an impenetrable defense, safeguarding his small realm of existence from annihilation.
The thunder erupted endlessly, while Meng Qi squeezed every ounce of strength from his flesh and bones to resist.
As he was on the verge of collapse, the thunder finally subsided. Yet at that very moment, a terrible premonition struck Meng Qi, and without hesitation, he manifested his Undying Primordial Form.
A thin, faint bolt of lightning descended from the heavens, silently piercing through layers of space-time, striking straight toward Meng Qi’s head. Though it appeared as slender as a thread, Meng Qi knew that if it hit, he would die without a single chance of survival.
Suddenly, the surroundings turned dark and chaotic, and the lightning bolt slowed.
At the dawn of all things, within the Primordial’s domain, Meng Qi activated the Heavenly Heart and Serene Will Technique, unleashing his full Grandmaster-level domain. A faint, ethereal Daoist figure sat amidst the primordial chaos, embodying the concept of “without beginning or end,” disrupting the fabric of time and space while interfering with the faint streak of lightning.
Seizing this critical moment, the “Primordial” opened its eyes, with yin and yang unfolding. Meng Qi’s physical body transformed into the Polar Magnetic Xuan Guang Beast, magnetic forces surging around him, deflecting the faint lightning bolt, which grazed his body and struck the ground.
No sound. No movement. A ten-mile radius turned to nothingness, revealing the molten depths!
Only then did the chaotic thundercloud slowly dissipate.
Yet Meng Qi dared not relax, for Jiesha’s sword strike came slashing down!
Seeing his enemy nearly exhausted by “heavenly punishment,” if Jiesha failed to seize the opportunity, she would be unworthy of her title as the Demon of Slaughter.
She ignored the white-haired expert’s palm strike aimed at her back, her eyes cold and indifferent to others and even her own life. She unleashed the strange blade without hesitation. The eerie light and killing intent surged toward Meng Qi—no embellishment, no variation, only the purest, most ancient malice.
Meng Qi, on the verge of total exhaustion, could only remain motionless, merging with his “Undying Primordial Manifestation.” Concealed within the shadowy depths, he became indistinguishable and untraceable, all while fixing his gaze on Jiesha. His eyes mirrored countless shimmering threads of karma.
A single jet-black karmic thread stretched from Jiesha into the heavens, exuding overwhelming killing intent. All other karmic threads around her were severed and destroyed. He could no longer use “karmic attachment”!
This was the first target Meng Qi had encountered since mastering karmic attachment that rendered it useless.
The eerie light sliced through the chaos, its killing intent suddenly weakening. Before heaven and earth were formed, there existed neither good nor evil, nor any killing intent. Unfortunately, Meng Qi’s Primordial Domain was still in its infancy.
The sword energy pierced through the chaos, yet its sense of space-time was disrupted, missing its mark by a hair’s breadth. Meng Qi twisted his body just in time, allowing it to strike only his left arm.
Golden light flickered, rapidly dimming, spreading toward his primordial spirit.
At that moment, Meng Qi raised his blade and severed his own left arm.
Without the Eight-Nine Mystical Art, that single strike would have ended his life before he could sever the connection!
Pfah! Jiesha spat black blood, struck in the back by the white-haired expert, gravely wounded, her skin rotting inch by inch.
She cast a cold glance at Meng Qi, seeing him beginning to recover, and noting Gu Xiaosang’s ambiguous stance, she immediately used the momentum to flee. The white-haired expert pursued relentlessly.
Meng Qi quickly retrieved the team’s sole Dongji Everlife Pill. Normally, he would not touch team resources if alternatives existed, but now, he had no choice.
Before he could swallow it, Gu Xiaosang appeared before him, smiling sweetly, her eyes sparkling:
“I was just thinking whether I should kill my husband.”
Meng Qi laughed heartily: “Go ahead! I still have some fight left in me!”
“Never mind. Not yet the right time.” Gu Xiaosang stepped back, watching Meng Qi swallow the Dongji Everlife Pill with a playful smile, “Even karma can twist and change, bringing heavenly punishment. My dear husband, you’ve certainly had a run of bad luck lately.”
“Originally, with the Eight-Nine Mystical Art at the Grandmaster level, infiltrating the Golden Tent had a seventy or eighty percent chance of success. Yet you’ve encountered one coincidence after another, meeting the Demon Master and then me, turning your stealth into a joke.”
Meng Qi’s expression shifted: “What do you mean?”
“A great power behind you is warning you. If you don’t behave, it can end your life anytime. Or perhaps, it wants to see what hidden techniques you’ve prepared.” Gu Xiaosang placed a finger against her cheek, smiling ambiguously.
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