The Final Battle

The sword qi cleanly and neatly split the exceptionally massive cloud boat in half.

The cloud boat "thundered" as it separated into two halves, slowly descending towards the ground. The enormous cloud boat stirred up dust, and one by one, the surviving cultivators of the Hengduan Mountains emerged from the dust.

Sunlight pierced through the dust, illuminating a beam of light that shone on the man standing before the dust. He swayed unsteadily, trembling as if he might fall from the sky at any moment; black-red blood continuously flowed from the corner of his mouth; his face was ashen; he no longer possessed the formidable aura he had at the beginning, now utterly weakened.

Yet, neither the dust rising from the cloud boat nor the cultivators flying out of the dust dared to approach him. The cultivators retreated, and the dust parted to the sides.

The cultivators of the Hengduan Mountains Alliance all gazed at this man, silently, no one spoke, no one dared to move.

Until, at a certain moment...

"Boom... boom..."

The two halves of the cloud boat crashed to the ground, shattering the brief silence.

"He's just a flickering light before death!" Qiu Huahui stood on the dust, her back to the sun, shouting sharply, "He has no combat power left! He's already dead!"

However, despite having consumed Blood Spirit Pills and experiencing surging blood and spiritual energy, the cultivators of the Hengduan Mountains Alliance would rather endure the agony of their qi and spiritual power roiling within them than cross paths with Lu Junxing to attack the Dao Sword Sect behind him.

"What are you waiting for?!"

Qiu Huahui shouted again.

But when she turned around, she saw not a single person moving!

"Hmph!"

She then drew a sword of high-grade spiritual treasure level, activated her movement technique, and thrust the sword towards Lu Junxing.

Lu Junxing's mouth was continuously dripping with blood, which carried a faint smile. He calmly watched Qiu Huahui approach, watched her figure grow larger and closer, until she was right in front of him, close enough for him to see the fear and doubt in her eyes.

Unfortunately, at this moment, he calmly watched not because he was confident that he could take her life with a single sword strike once she was within range.

It was simply because he had not a shred of strength left. Not even enough to lift a finger, let alone swing a sword.

The poison had corroded his body, and he was wracked with the searing pain of knives cutting through him everywhere.

If he moved, his body might just split apart on its own.

Qiu Huahui's sword pointed at his brow...

"Still couldn't hold on." Lu Junxing closed his eyes, sighing inwardly, "You all have to keep going..."

"Ding!"

A sound of swords clashing suddenly rang in his ears, and Qiu Huahui's sword failed to pierce his Sea of Consciousness. He opened his eyes and saw a phantom-like figure before him.

The figure was graceful, a woman's silhouette, her body glowing with starlight, holding a sword like a galaxy.

Li Shiyin, Lu Junxing recognized her.

But he wasn't entirely sure, because it seemed to be a nascent soul.

Qiu Huahui had already been startled by the sudden appearance of the nascent soul and retreated to a distance, watching Li Shiyin's figure with suspicion and uncertainty.

A nascent soul... Does the Dao Sword Sect still have a transformation stage cultivator?!

"Shiyin?" Lu Junxing asked softly, "How do you have a nascent soul?"

Li Shiyin glanced at Qiu Huahui but didn't respond. Turning back, she picked up Lu Junxing with one hand holding the sword and flew straight down.

"It's normal..." she replied, "Master said, these days, who doesn't have a nascent soul?"

Lu Junxing opened his mouth but didn't waste the effort to speak again. He just thought to himself, "Even I don't have one..."

As Li Shiyin flew back to Dan Peak with Lu Junxing in her arms, one could see that the main peak of the Dao Sword Sect was already enveloped by thick green vines.

One vine after another sprouted from the ground, intertwining to form a vine barrier, blocking the eerie mist and the poison of the Nascent Soul.

The eerie mist, immune to spiritual power, specifically targeted the flesh. The vines intertwined to form a barrier, enabling it to launch attacks... The vines were constantly being damaged, and the cultivators below continually reinforced the vines with their spiritual power.

"It's all because Qiqi isn't skilled enough, and she hasn't made the antidote yet after so long." On the way to Dan Peak, Li Shiyin chatted with Lu Junxing,

"Now only the main peak and Dan Peak are safe. The main peak has Yao Qingke... managing the vine barrier, and Dan Peak has Liu Xiaoji. Do you know Liu Xiaoji, Brother? He's the willow tree by Sword Washing Lake. Don't look at him as if he's bad, he's actually very capable.

"But you don't have to worry, Brother. Just leave the rest to us. Qiqi may be weak, but she hasn't been slacking off, and the antidote will be ready soon. Master said our current paper strength is already stronger than theirs..."

Lu Junxing listened to Li Shiyin's incessant chatter, slowly closing his eyes.

Under the ancient spirit locust tree, Li Shiyin's main body was sitting there, and her nascent soul returned, placing Lu Junxing under the tree.

"Master! Master! Hurry up..." She stood up and shouted, "Brother Lu is not doing well..."

The dust raised by the wreckage of the cloud boat had not yet dispersed, and the cultivators of the Hengduan Mountains Alliance stood in the air in small groups, watching Li Shiyin rescue Lu Junxing, with no one stepping forward to stop her.

If all the cultivators, from Foundation Establishment to Golden Elixir, Nascent Soul, and Divine Transformation, were counted, the Hengduan Mountains Alliance had initially had over three thousand people. But now, after three layers of defense from the Dao Sword Sect, only five hundred remained.

Among them, there were almost no Foundation Establishment cultivators left; too many had died in the Shanhua Tu, and there were over three hundred Golden Core cultivators, and about twenty Nascent Soul cultivators.

If it were a mortal army, almost none would not have collapsed at this point, and if it were in the place where Qin Ran had lived in his previous life, there was only one.

But these were cultivators, not that cultivators' psychology wouldn't collapse, but that among cultivators, the higher and lower ranks were easier to suppress and control.

A certain foundation-building cultivator's psychology collapsed, and the golden dan cultivator said, no, you didn't, and so he didn't.

The towering peaks of the Dao Sword Sect were right in front, the green main peak, and the cloud-shrouded Dan Peak.

Qiu Huahui waited for a while, until Li Shiyin and Lu Junxing had returned to Dan Peak, before speaking:

"Lu Junxing is already dead!

"The Dao Sword Sect is all poisoned!

"The Dao Sword Sect has no resistance left!"

She raised her sword and charged forward, "Now is the time to strike!

"Kill!!"

With Lu Junxing's death, the fear that had weighed on their souls was cleared, and the effects of the Blood Spirit Pills finally manifested. The remaining cultivators of the Hengduan Mountains were bloodthirsty and violent, roaring as they followed Qiu Huahui towards the two peaks with cultivators of the Dao Sword Sect.

"Kill!"

Everyone was bloodthirsty and violent, shouting.

As the cultivators of the Hengduan Mountains Alliance approached, one after another, cultivators flew out from the two peaks of the Dao Sword Sect.

Long Qiqi hadn't developed the antidote yet; they had only taken pills to suppress the poison of the strange mist.

One by one, cultivators flew out: Li Shiyin, Chasing the Wind, Tian Wenjin, Xiao Bufan, Huang Feiyu, Yan Tianxing, Dugu Wenxue, Song Ze...

They charged towards the Hengduan Mountains Alliance, initiating the final slaughter.