Chapter 343: Protagonist, life hanging by a thread
“Junior Feng Yudie, a disciple of Master Taixu, please offer your guidance,” Hu Mu calmly responded as he observed Feng Yudie bowing respectfully.
“Let actions speak louder than words,” He added calmly.
The heavy rain fell, the only sound in the world now. It seemed like at this moment, in Tainan City, only two figures were standing opposite each other, one dressed in black and the other in white.
Recalling her master’s words, Feng Yudie believed herself to be destined for greatness in this world. At her level, she believed no one could match her, not even the Demon Emperor. Despite her trembling hands, she gripped the sword hilt tightly, taking a deep breath.
Above her, Xiao Tian remained silent, unwilling to disturb her further. Yet, seeing the Demon Emperor still restraining his power, he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of fear.
The Demon Emperor seemed determined to prove himself worthy of the Scroll of Heavenly Dao’s recognition. But could defeating Yudie in a confrontation secure him the Scroll of Heavenly Dao?
Xiao Tian pondered over the conditions for the Scroll of Heavenly Dao’s selection of its master. He recalled Yun Kunwu’s acquisition of the scroll during their time at the Moon Shadow Sword Sect, but even after discussing it extensively with Ye Anping, they couldn’t interpret the conditions for changing ownership.
Nevertheless, Ye Anping had assured Yudie, “You can handle it.”
Xiao Tian trusted Ye Anping. Though he often teased Yudie, he would never endanger her life.
If Ye Anping believed in Yudie, then she would surely emerge unscathed from the Demon Emperor’s blade. At worst, she might gain a few more scars, which could later be used to leverage Ye Anping into taking better care of her.
Xiao Tian was similarly consoling himself, oblivious to the horrified expression on Xiao Yunluo’s face nearby.
Ye Anping had told Feng Yudie, “She’s capable of it.”
But he had also cautioned Xiao Yunluo, “The Demon Emperor desires an opportunity from Senior Sister Feng. With her cultivation just reaching the late stage of Foundation Establishment, I fear she may not withstand it. Just ensure she doesn’t fall to the Demon Emperor’s sword. A few more challenges won’t matter.”
In essence, there was no guarantee that the second individual would emerge unscathed. Since Ye Anping had said that, it meant that if she didn’t assist the second person soon, they might indeed perish under the Demon Emperor’s blade.
But how could she help?
Did she truly possess the capability to intervene between the dueling parties and assist in repelling the Demon Emperor? Or to shield the second person from the Demon Emperor’s sword?
If it were just a more powerful late-stage cultivator, she might have confidence. But the opponent was the Demon Emperor. Even if he suppressed his cultivation, even if the Demon Emperor wasn’t a swordsman, the millennia of experience would be beyond what two teenage cultivators could handle.
Xiao Yunluo pursed her lips, took deep breaths to calm herself, closed her eyes, clenched her fists, pressed her chest, and silently repeated,
“…Ye Anping entrusted this to me, so I must excel at it… I can do this, I can do this…”
At the moment her lavender eyes opened,
Boom—!
Thunder rumbled through the skies, followed by a shrill sword cry that sent waves splashing several feet high in the river.
Gasp—!
Feng Yudie’s motion went from stillness to action without the slightest warning. As thunder roared overhead, Feng Yudie shattered the stone bricks beneath her feet. The dense raindrops between her and Hu Mu, still suspended in the air, were crushed into mist by her body, transforming into a dragon-like white vapor.
In an instant, she had already arrived in front of Hu Mu. Gritting her teeth and exerting all her strength, she thrust out a golden stream of light that seemed capable of dividing yin and yang, heading straight for Hu Mu’s face.
Xiao Yunluo couldn’t even see clearly. She was certain that if she faced this sword, she would be decapitated before she could even react. However, in the face of this astonishing sword, Hu Mu’s expression remained unchanged.
Ding–
Sparks illuminated their faces as Hu Mu simply placed the branch of the spiritual sword between his eyebrows, intercepting the tip of Feng Yudie’s spiritual sword with ease.
Feng Yudie’s eyes widened slightly. Although she knew she couldn’t defeat Hu Mu with a single move, seeing him take the sword without flinching surprised her.
With Hu Mu having the same level of cultivation as her now, how could he effortlessly withstand her full-strength attack?
Without hesitation, she swung the spirit sword horizontally, turning her body into a circle.
Bah–
The sword tip scraped against the surface of Hu Mu’s spiritual sword, creating a grating sound and sparking flames. Feng Yudie pivoted, swinging another sword in a cross-cutting motion.
She didn’t resort to any tricks, knowing they would be ineffective against Hu Mu. Her only option was to fully unleash her Nine Heavens Sword Technique.
The Nine Heavens Sword Technique was renowned as the fastest sword technique in the world, capable of slicing through space and any shield formed of spiritual energy. The green spirit sword traced a nearly perfect arc around her, slicing through raindrops and closing in on Hu Mu’s neck from the left.
Feng Yudie stared into Hu Mu’s eyes, noticing his unwavering gaze. Assuming he hadn’t reacted, she smirked, thinking she had the upper hand. But in that moment, she felt a sense of imminent danger and instinctively dodged, though she didn’t know what she was avoiding.
Whizzing–
As Feng Yudie leaned down, a silver flash narrowly missed her neck. Though she evaded the fatal blow, the sword grazed her right shoulder, drawing blood before she was thrown backward.
Feng Yudie spun and collided with the stone brick ground, bouncing up before landing again. Finally, she steadied herself by inserting the sword into the ground with her left hand, leaving a deep dent in the green brick street stretching several yards before kneeling.
Xiao Tian, observing the battle, swiftly flew to Feng Yudie’s side. Tears welled up in his eyes as he gazed at the exposed wound on her shoulder. He seemed hesitant to touch it as if wanting to help her stop the bleeding but fearing to do so.
“Feng Yudie! Oh… Yudie…”
Gritting her teeth, Feng Yudie used the sword as a support to stand up again. Despite Hu Mu’s motionlessness, she felt more defiance than fear. However, Hu Mu didn’t give her a moment to catch her breath.
Hu Mu’s movement went from stillness to swiftness without any warning, breaking through the rain curtain almost instantly and appearing before her eyes.
The sharp clang of the sword drowned out the sound of the rain in Feng Yudie’s ears. Facing the almost frenzied speed of the sword, Feng Yudie could see it clearly but couldn’t raise her spiritual sword in time to block it.
“The Nine Heaven Sword Art.”
Though only resembling it, Hu Mu had grasped the power technique of her sword art at that moment.
Her golden eyes widened beneath her silver bangs, and Xiao Tian, realizing the danger, immediately shouted,
“Lao Jiu!!”
The golden dragon perched above Feng Yudie’s head swiftly swooped down with its claws aimed at Hu Mu, but it was too late to intercept her strike. Feng Yudie couldn’t believe it, recalling Ye Anping’s words to her, assuring her she could handle it.
But now, she had no way to stop the spiritual sword thrusting towards her forehead. Once struck, she would have no chance of survival, certain to perish on the spot.
Everything seemed to slow down in her view, raindrops freezing in mid-air as Hu Mu’s spiritual sword relentlessly closed in on her.
Once again, Feng Yudie experienced the same terror she had felt in Wuxi Town when facing the demon cultivator named Wu You. She had once believed she might meet her end there.
That time, it was Junior Sister Pei who came to her rescue. But would Junior Sister Pei come to her aid this time as well?
At that moment, a silver spiritual sword appeared in her line of sight. Though Xiao Yunluo couldn’t discern Hu Mu’s sword, she summoned the courage to charge forward. Swinging her sword was a gamble—if she could deflect Hu Mu’s strike and protect Feng Yudie, it would be ideal. If not, she was prepared to take the blow herself to shield Feng Yudie.
Luck seemed to favor her this time. Sparks scattered as Xiao Yunluo’s spiritual sword clashed against Hu Mu’s, diverting the latter from its intended path.
The spiritual sword, originally aimed at Feng Yudie’s forehead, shifted downward and pierced directly into her chest.
Feng Yudie staggered, coughing up a torrent of blood. Simultaneously, the golden dragon’s claws descended upon Hu Mu’s head with a deafening roar. The impact kicked up a cloud of dust, knocking Xiao Yunluo airborne. She spun through the air, her spiritual sword slipping from her grasp and flying off to the side. Her head buzzed upon impact with the ground, but she didn’t lose her composure. Quickly, she erected a shield of spiritual energy around herself, crashing into a nearby stone wall, and leaving behind a sizable crater.
After landing, Xiao Yunluo struggled to extricate herself from the rubble, swiftly moving to Feng Yudie’s side, who had also been sent flying by the golden dragon. Seeing the gaping wound in Feng Yudie’s chest, Xiao Yunluo paled. Hastily retrieving the finest healing pill from her pouch, she found herself unable to administer it to Feng Yudie’s mouth. Instead, she pressed her hands against the wound, transferring her spiritual energy in an attempt to staunch the bleeding.
Blood gradually flowed into a pool on the ground behind Feng Yudie. At this moment, a flash of sword light passed over the dragon claws pressing down on the street, causing the golden dragon in the sky to whimper and fall backward.
Hu Mu furrowed his brow slightly as he looked at Xiao Yunluo and Feng Yudie, his gaze still icy as he flicked off the remaining blood on his spiritual sword. He stepped over to Xiao Yunluo’s side, glanced at Feng Yudie, and calmly stated, “Her lifeline is severed, there’s no saving her.”
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yunluo widened her eyes, gazing at the pale-faced Feng Yudie. She then frowned and grabbed the spiritual sword from Feng Yudie’s hand, turning to thrust it towards Hu Mu.
Clang!
The emerald-colored spiritual sword spun and flew into the river, sinking beneath the water.
Xiao Tian’s eyes reddened, turning to Hu Mu with a sense of helplessness. He could only curse furiously, “I won’t give it to you! Even if I burn the scroll of heavenly Dao, I’ll never let it fall into your hands, you vile fox! Vile fox! Wah…”
Wah… Xiao Tian sniffed, suddenly covering his eyes and bursting into tears, crying out to the sky as if searching for his mother, “Anping!! Anping!!! Anping!!! Yudie… Yudie, she…”
“Waaah—Anping!! Where are you… Come save Yudie—”
Xiao Tian’s howls echoed through the sky, drowning out the rain and thunder, reaching the streets and alleys of Tainan City.
At that moment, Hu Mu, who had been cold-eyed, seemed to sense something. His ears perked up slightly, and he looked upward abruptly. Ice blue sword energy descended with the raindrops, splitting into ten sword lights as it reached above him, attacking from all sides.
A hint of surprise flashed in Hu Mu’s eyes as he swiftly parried three of the attacks, and then leaped away from Xiao Yunluo.
Pei Lianxue landed gracefully, swinging her Snow Spirit Sword to her side as she glared at the retreating Hu Mu. She sneakily glanced back at the pale-faced Feng Yudie lying in the pool of blood, her usually aloof eyes betraying a hint of wavering.
“Second fool…”
Watching Pei Lianxue’s figure, Feng Yudie, whose pupils had already dilated, suddenly seemed to regain consciousness and spoke softly, “Junior sister Pei… Are you here to rescue me? Hehehe… Ahem——”
At the same time, Ye Anping, riding Si Xuanji’s divine boat, also descended from the sky to Feng Yudie’s side.
Having depleted his vital energy earlier by snatching the Nine Dragons Heavenly Seal, he was a bit unsteady now. He quickly squatted down beside Feng Yudie, calmly using his spiritual awareness to assess her wounds.
Seeing him approach, Xiao Tian couldn’t contain himself and flew over, grabbing Ye Anping’s hair.
“Anping!! Quickly, save Yudie… Yudie, she… she… You have a solution, You must have one! Wah—suck—right…”
Ye Anping silently examined Feng Yudie’s condition for a while before responding, “Her heart vein is broken, but it’s not a major issue, phew…”
With that, he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. However, Xiao Yunluo, upon hearing this, looked puzzled. For a cultivator in the foundation-building stage, the heart vein is vital. If it was broken, death was inevitable. How could this not be a major issue?
Ye Anping took a deep breath, placing a sword finger between his eyebrows. In an instant, a jade seal engraved with nine dragons appeared out of thin air, illuminating the surroundings.
In the game’s storyline, Feng Yudie was much worse off in front of the Demon King than now. Her heart vein was severed, and all her meridians were shattered. Xiao Yunluo was in front of Tianhe Palace, holding Feng Yudie and crying bitterly. But thanks to the “Nine Dragons Heavenly Seal,” She managed to cling to life.
Now, although the Nine Dragons Heavenly Seal was on him, knowing what to do, saving Feng Yudie was not a difficult task.
Ye Anping fell silent for a moment, then he immediately grasped the Nine Dragons Heavenly Seal and pushed it down forcefully, as if stamping an approval seal on a pig, pressing the seal’s bottom against Feng Yudie’s chest.
Instantly, the ground around them lit up with numerous points of light, resembling fireflies, gathering towards Feng Yudie’s body.
Under the golden glow of the heavenly seal, Ye Anping watched as color gradually returned to Feng Yudie’s face, and he smiled rarely, saying, “Senior Sister Feng, just close your eyes and rest.”
Feng Yudie seemed to relax at his words. She slowly unclenched her left fist and spoke softly, “Young Master Ye…”
“Yeah,” He responded.
“Could… Ahem, could you ask Junior Sister Pei to kiss me?” She requested.
Ye Anping’s smile froze instantly. He forcibly closed her eyelids with his hand, stood up, and glanced at Hu Mu, who was staring at him with vertical eyes in the distance.
Hu Mu, observing the Nine Dragons Heavenly Seal next to Ye Anping, remained outwardly calm. Suddenly, his body was enveloped in black mist, releasing his sealed cultivation. Before he could speak, he felt his tail being grabbed.
He frowned and turned to see Si Xuanji glaring at him fiercely. As he turned around, she yanked his tail forcefully.
Snap—
A large tuft of black fur was pulled from his tail by her small hand.
“Why are you such a mischievous fox? Do you think I won’t tell my mother? She’ll rip your tail off!” Si Xuanji threatened.
Hu Mu paused, puzzled. Who was her mother?
“Si…” he began.
Si Xuanji widened her eyes, giving him a warning.
Seeing this, Hu Mu clenched his teeth. He respected elders and cared for the young, and he didn’t want to stoop to the level of this old woman.
“Hmph!” He snorted softly.
Hu Mu gave a disdainful snort and glanced at Ye Anping and Feng Yudie nearby before turning to Xue Tianqiao and saying,
“Qiao’er, let’s go,” Si Xuanji said.
Xue Tianqiao looked around cluelessly, her gaze settling on Si Xuanji’s face. It seemed she wanted to inquire about the situation, but Si Xuanji just smiled knowingly, and Xue Tianqiao understood, that they would play later.
Xue Tianqiao nodded and hurried to catch up with her master. But as she did, she couldn’t help but glance back at Ye Anping, winking as if implying something.
Ye Anping felt a bit uneasy as he watched but ignored it, making plans—”Junior sister, could you help Senior Sister Xiao? She’s also injured. I’ll take Senior Sister Feng back to the inn in the Western District to rest. Tomorrow morning, there’s more to take care of.”
“Um…”
Just as Pei Lianxue nodded and put his arm around Xiao Yunluo, there was a sudden intake of breath from Hu Mu’s direction, prompting Ye Anping to turn and look.
Si Xuanji was seen pulling a handful of fox fur from his tail, causing Hu Mu to glare at her— “You!!!”
“What? You hurt my senior sister, so I can’t pull your fur?” Si Xuanji retorted. “Believe me, I’ll tell my mother, and she’ll pluck all your fur.”
“…”
Hu Mu glared at Si Xuanji, his ferocity undiminished.
Respect for elders’ love for the young…
He flicked his tail, pulling the bald patch away from Si Xuanji’s grasp, and then without looking back, he turned into the alley ahead.
On a snowy day, Xue Tianqiao glanced back at the Master’s fur in Si Xuanji’s hand, feeling a sudden wave of joy. She spoke up, saying,
“Master, I…”
“Shut it!!”
“Okay…”
As she watched the two fox demons vanish from the road, Si Xuanji’s eyes revealed a hint of resignation. She sighed softly, then hurried back to Ye Anping with the fox fur in hand.
“Master Ye, I’ve avenged Senior Sister Feng. Here, for you…”
She patted the ball of fox fur onto Ye Anping’s palm, giving him a narrowed-eyed smile.
Yet, Ye Anping didn’t know how to react at this moment, gazing thoughtfully at the unexpected harvest of fox fur from the Void Realm cultivator.
He wondered if Brother Liang could sell it… The Demon Emperor’s fox fur must be quite valuable!
After selling it, I’ll give Feng Yudie half as compensation.
With that in mind, Ye Anping nodded slightly, saying,
“Miss Xuanji, let’s head back to the inn and rest for now. The rain is quite heavy.”
“Will do, Mr. Ye.”
Si Xuanji smiled, quickly hugging Ye Anping’s arm and walking by his side.
This action drew the attention of Pei Lianxue and Xiao Yunluo nearby. One of them frowned slightly, showing some hostility, while the other seemed to give up on thinking, with a blank expression.
Ye Anping felt somewhat helpless, lifting the unconscious Feng Yudie with his left foot, resting his hand on her backside, and carrying her on his left shoulder. Then, he led the group towards Liuyue Inn in the Western District.
…
