“Cough… cough…”
Fang Yuan continuously spat out several mouthfuls of fresh blood, staring blankly at Meng Ke'er in his arms.
“What are you doing?” Fang Yuan whispered softly.
At this moment, he felt weak all over, his body withered like a walking corpse, and his white hair was disheveled, covering his face.
Meng Ke'er tightly gripped the sword hilt with both hands, her clothes stained red with blood. Just as she was about to speak, blood immediately gushed from her throat.
Fang Yuan’s expression changed, and he quickly exchanged for a Rejuvenation Pill, shoving it into her mouth.
“Junior Brother Fang, I…” Meng Ke'er’s voice was hoarse, her breath weak.
She didn't know how to explain to Fang Yuan, and the words reached her lips only to be swallowed back.
“Bear with it.” Fang Yuan rarely showed tenderness, his tone calm.
Meng Ke'er nodded silently.
Pfft—
Fang Yuan pulled out the two flying swords, and pain instantly swept through both their bodies.
Fang Yuan could feel that his internal organs had already been shredded by the sword qi.
Looking at Meng Ke'er, she was already weakly slumped in his arms, her eyes unfocused, clearly not long for this world.
“Junior Brother, can you promise me one thing?” Meng Ke'er’s voice was low, like a murmur.
“Speak.” Fang Yuan covered her wounds with both hands.
“Apologize to Five Elder and Master. They will definitely find a way to save you. Promise me, live well.”
Meng Ke'er trembled her hand, wanting to caress Fang Yuan’s cheek, but it only lifted halfway before falling weakly.
Fang Yuan grasped Meng Ke'er’s hand, pressing his head close to her face, murmuring, “I can’t promise you that, but I promise you, I will definitely avenge you.”
“Fang Yuan, don’t… don’t act impulsively anymore. You… you are a genius… you shouldn’t die here…” Meng Ke'er’s voice was intermittent, her eyes dim.
“I won’t die, and I won’t allow you to die. Hold on, they’ll be here soon…”
Fang Yuan spoke softly, transferring all of his remaining spiritual power into Meng Ke'er’s body. Then, he exchanged for several Rejuvenation Pills from the System Shop and roughly shoved them into Meng Ke'er’s mouth.
“Fang Yuan, it’s useless. My life force has been severed; I can’t live. Keep them for yourself.”
Meng Ke'er reached out to stop Fang Yuan’s actions, then continued, “I’ve never left Hehuan Sect in my life. If there’s a next life, Fang Yuan, would you be willing to accompany me to see this world?”
“Yes.” Fang Yuan nodded slightly.
Meng Ke'er showed a knowing smile, slowly closing her eyes as she lay in Fang Yuan’s arms.
“Don’t sleep! I said, without my permission, you can’t die!” Fang Yuan shook Meng Ke'er, his tone filled with anger.
“Fang Yuan… I’m so sleepy…”
“Be good, listen. Just hold on a little longer. Xian Ge and the others will be here soon. You’ll definitely survive then.”
“Who… are they?”
“They are my friends, a very, very powerful group of people.”
“You always say I’m a genius, but that’s not true. Among our group, my talent is only average. Don’t you want to see?”
“I want to…” Meng Ke'er nodded slightly.
“Fang Yuan, Ke'er!”
Min Hong arrived belatedly, kneeling beside the two, frantically pouring spiritual power into their bodies.
Fang Yuan lifted his eyelids to look at Min Hong; her anxious expression didn't seem feigned.
“Sister Min, I’m sorry.” Fang Yuan said words of apology for the first time.
To Min Hong, and also to Meng Ke'er.
“Don’t say anything unnecessary. I’m taking you back to the sect now to ask Sect Master Sister to save you.” Min Hong reached out and covered Fang Yuan’s mouth, preparing to take the two away.
Just then, the old woman’s voice came: “Min Hong, Fang Yuan’s life force has been severed; it’s beyond saving. Quickly use the Soul Searching Technique to extract the cultivation method from his mind!”
Hearing this, Fang Yuan stared unblinkingly at Min Hong, wanting to know what choice she would make.
On the other side, Zhao Mubai and the others had already given up resisting, kneeling on the ground, their faces ashen.
Meanwhile, Qin Hao was leading Liu Meiqing and Fan Xiaomei in a desperate escape, but at his speed, he was no match for the two Nascent Soul Stage Elders.
Before they even ran out of the deep mountains, they were intercepted midway.
Seeing no hope of escape, Qin Hao put down Fan Xiaomei, pointed in another direction, and whispered, “Little Sister, when I tell you, run as fast as you can in this direction, and don’t look back.”
“In the southernmost part of Zhou Kingdom, there’s a mountain range called Qixia Mountain. There’s a sect there called Hua Xia Sect.”
“When you get there, you’ll be able to see Brother Fang Yuan and Brother Qin Hao.”
Fan Xiaomei held two machetes in her arms, looking at Qin Hao with tear-filled eyes.
In truth, she understood that Qin Hao and Fang Yuan were likely to meet a tragic end this time.
She didn't want to leave, but she had no choice but to leave.
If she died, everything would be lost.
She had to live, to avenge Brother Fang Yuan and Brother Qin Hao!
Qin Hao reached out and gently wiped away the tears on Fan Xiaomei’s face, “Go.”
“Mm!” Fan Xiaomei nodded vigorously, running with all her might in the direction Qin Hao pointed.
One of the Nascent Soul Stage Elders raised his arm, intending to kill Fan Xiaomei.
“Try to move a muscle?”
Qin Hao slashed through the sack with his blade, his left hand gripping Liu Meiqing’s throat, his eyes flashing with madness.
The Elder, seeing this, immediately stopped his action, frowning as he looked at Qin Hao and said, “Release Liu Meiqing, and I’ll let you leave.”
Qin Hao ignored him, kidnapping Liu Meiqing and rapidly retreating.
Seeing the two Elders approaching step by step, Qin Hao sharply said, “Don’t follow me, or I’ll kill her!”
“Qin Hao, you can’t escape. Fang Yuan has already been punished. Release Liu Meiqing, then come back to the sect with us. We will absolutely not kill you.”
“Oh, come on, I never intended to live.” Qin Hao sneered, looking down at Liu Meiqing, and said in a voice only they could hear, “Was the Demon Sect behind the destruction of Xuantian Sect?”
“You are a Xuantian Sect disciple?”
“Precisely!” Qin Hao undeniably nodded.
Liu Meiqing showed a look of realization. No wonder the two of them acted so crazily; it turned out they were investigating the mastermind behind Xuantian Sect’s destruction.
“It’s no harm to tell you. The mastermind behind Xuantian Sect’s destruction was none other than one of their internal Grand Elders.”
“This person colluded with the Lian Shi Sect of the Demon Sect, slaughtering hundreds of thousands of mortals in a small country to refine Blood Pills, thereby framing Xuantian Sect.”
“Only the high-ranking members of the Demon Sect know about this. Although they disdain the Lian Shi Sect’s shameless behavior, they haven’t come forward to explain, simply wanting to watch those hypocritical righteous path fellows fight among themselves.”
“If this matter were thoroughly investigated, clues could be found, but everyone deliberately turned a blind eye, allowing the situation to develop for the worse.”
“And that’s exactly what happened. Those righteous path sects used this as an excuse to destroy Xuantian Sect and seize all of its resources.”
“Actually, Xuantian Sect’s destruction was only a matter of time. They had entered the Life Forbidden Zone and even brought out a supreme treasure from inside. This incident was the fuse for Xuantian Sect’s destruction; otherwise, those 31 sects alone would not have been enough to annihilate Xuantian Sect.”
“Xuantian Sect has been established for tens of thousands of years. Although it has declined, it’s not something those small to mid-grade sects could annihilate.”
“Let me tell you another secret: in that great battle, a total of five Soul Transformation Stage cultivators appeared.”
“One of them came from Xuantian Sect. Unbelievable, right? A mid-grade sect actually hid a Soul Transformation Stage expert.”
“The other four came from different sects. Lian Shi Sect dispatched one Soul Transformation Stage, Limitless Sect had two, and the other one was unknown, though many suspected it was that traitor.”
“The final outcome of this battle was that the Soul Transformation Stage cultivator from Xuantian Sect and one of the Soul Transformation Stage cultivators from Limitless Sect perished together, leading to the destruction of Xuantian Sect.”
“That’s the entire course of events. I’ve said what needed to be said, so now, it’s your turn.”
Just as Qin Hao was listening intently, Liu Meiqing’s figure suddenly flashed, and she backhanded, grabbing Qin Hao’s neck, looking at him coldly.
“You’re fine?”
Qin Hao was somewhat bewildered. He and Fang Yuan had fed her several bottles of aphrodisiac and mind-confusing powder, yet she was completely fine and even cooperated with their act.
“If I hadn’t wanted to see what you two were up to, did you really think your clumsy methods could control me?”
“Speak, where exactly is Chu Huaian?!”
