Looking at that sword intent — that sinister sword intent.
The White Deer’s composure shook again. Strange as it was, the Twin-Harmony True Intent’s outline was still recognizable underneath.
The density with which this sword intent had been condensed was well beyond the Baiyu Monastery’s abbot.
When had the Monastery last had a Daoist priest bring the Twin-Harmony True Intent to Perfection?
And — the qi the young man was visibly projecting hadn’t reached Condensate Perfection level. So how exactly had he condensed a sword intent of this quality? Could he simply activate his inner core at will, with no regard for the constraints of meridians and major apertures?
No time for the White Deer to think through any of it.
Shen Yi hung in midair, dark robe moving in the wind.
A slight movement in the eyelid. Red mist dense in the eyes. A cold edge at the corner of the mouth. He looked down at the demon below with quiet calm.
The crimson sword intent became a streak of light.
Thunk. Before the White Deer could react, both thighs had been run through. The sword intent swung back around and came in again.
Shen Yi took the last peacock core from the bell and placed it in his mouth. He wiped the blood at the corner of his mouth without particular attention.
The external pill, nearly empty, received the supplement and returned to roughly fifty percent.
He disappeared and reappeared — working in coordination with the sword intent, attacking from opposite directions simultaneously.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
A sweeping kick drove across the White Deer’s head. Fists followed like mountains collapsing, driving into the body.
The sword intent caught every opening and ran through from one side to the other.
Each fist landed left another patch of flesh eaten through by the poison. The once graceful, powerful body was pitted and soaked in blood.
The White Deer’s counterstrikes were ferocious in return — bone after bone shattered in the young man’s body.
Wounds like these would have been enough to kill an ordinary practitioner ten times over.
But under the red light’s warmth, Shen Yi seemed unaware of pain, inexhaustible — a killing god that never tired. Something cold and helpless was beginning to form at the White Deer’s core.
Then — a deep, heavy impact.
The young man caught the instant the demon’s attention wavered, drove a foot down onto it, and planted it into the ground. The sword intent followed immediately and buried itself in the abdomen.
The Solar-Splitting Bow came back into his hand.
One of the very few treasures that could genuinely threaten a core-nurturing demon lord.
He drew it suddenly, as if he held the blinding sun itself.
The White Deer had nearly been blinded. This was the first time it had learned a bow could be used pressed against someone’s skull.
Then — a white arc erupted into the sky from Xitai Mountain.
Most living things on the mountain went temporarily deaf, as though the world had become a dead zone.
Boom—
The white light faded.
Shen Yi looked at the headless deer demon at his feet with mild exhaustion and waved the sword intent away.
【Core-Nurturing White Deer Demon slain — Total Lifespan: 8,700 years. Remaining: 3,400 years. Absorbed.】
He glanced at the figure standing in the distance with hands at her sides.
Thought about it, then picked up Erhei himself and bent down to work out the demon core, which was radiating a brilliant gold light.
The White Deer’s carcass wasn’t particularly large — no need to process it separately. The whole thing went into the bell.
The woman had arrived during his final charge.
Then stood quietly nearby and watched.
It was precisely her arrival that had caused the White Deer’s brief moment of panic — and Shen Yi had caught it.
“…”
Jiang Qiulan’s expression hadn’t moved. Only a faint quality of feeling had appeared in her eyes.
Like someone watching an old acquaintance who had grown into someone capable of standing on their own.
After a long silence, she gave a quiet laugh and shook her head.
“You’re very good.”
“It’ll do.” Shen Yi put the blade away and turned toward the summit, walking with some tiredness.
He’d promised one incense stick. It had taken considerably longer.
Jiang Qiulan followed unhurriedly behind. She noticed the strangeness about him and said nothing.
The whole of Xitai Mountain had been reshaped by the fighting. Only the ruined temple at the summit remained intact, sheltered by that thread of silver needle sword intent.
Jiang Qiulan withdrew the Mysterious Ice Seven-Kill Sword Intent — but didn’t take it back inside her body.
She relit the fire and sat beside it. From the storage implement at her waist she produced a sealed wine crock and set it down.
She looked at the young man resting with his eyes closed against the wall.
“Come here for a moment.”
Shen Yi frowned slightly. He thought of all the good things that had come his way tonight. He stood, came to the fire, and sat across from her.
He quietly looked elsewhere.
In those black eyes — red mist had condensed to near-solid density. It wasn’t leaving.
Jiang Qiulan turned the silver needle into an ice-forged sword, held it in her palm, and extended it toward him.
“Try this.”
He raised an eyebrow, thought about it for a while, then extended one finger and touched it.
An instant later — a bone-deep cold that was nearly unbearable surged from the fingertip through the entire body. The corner of Shen Yi’s mouth pulled tight, and something savage crossed his face — and then settled back into calm.
He found that the resentment and savagery that had been accumulating in his mind was dissolving cleanly under the cold as it moved through him.
The dark eyes went clear again.
Jiang Qiulan turned the sword back into a needle and pressed it into her palm. Her expression was unchanged.
“The court has a Condensate method called the Heaven-Devouring Core-Consuming Art. Compared to other Condensate methods, its inner core during the nurturing phase can absorb significantly more external things. I recommend you choose this one.”
Shen Yi paused.
It took him a moment to realize she was referring to the Heavenly Demon external pill.
“The Solar-Fusion Furnace can connect up to three hundred and fifty apertures. That’s very well-suited to cultivating the Heaven-Devouring method.” Every sentence came with the same certainty — the kind that made you instinctively trust what was being said.
She pushed the wine crock toward him. “Drink. Get the cold out. Don’t stand on ceremony.”
Then Jiang Qiulan went quiet again, opened a new crock of her own, and drank steadily.
Shen Yi felt his body was still slightly frozen. He stopped standing on ceremony, took the crock, and felt the sharp burn across his tongue.
He frowned instinctively.
This wasn’t something you were meant to enjoy. Not a trace of pleasure in the sensation.
But once it went down into the stomach — an unexplained warmth spread through the whole body. Hot and oddly comforting.
The two of them sat around the fire across from each other. Both in dark robes. Both quiet.
Under the stone statue — Xiao Qiangwei opened her eyes quietly, glanced sideways, tightened her hand slightly, and then consciously closed her eyes again.
“…”
When both crocks were empty, Jiang Qiulan stood.
“I’m going back to Yushan Prefecture. Do you want to come?”
After last night, Shen Yi had a reasonably clear picture of how she operated.
Her asking was the same as saying see you next time when leaving — courtesy, nothing more. She wasn’t actually planning to bring him.
“I’ll pass. I need to see Senior Xiao back to Tingyang City first.”
He found an excuse of his own. If she were going somewhere with demons, he’d have followed. Traveling back to Qingzhou — that was a different matter.
“Then could you do me a favor?” Jiang Qiulan was already at the ruined temple’s entrance.
“What?”
He looked up.
There was a faint, dry amusement in her eyes.
“Go to Linjiang Prefecture for me. Tell General Chen Qiankun that the demons of Qingfeng Mountain have been eliminated.”
Shen Yi: “…”
(End of Chapter)