Chapter 93: Yu Heng Returns

Ji Jiuxuan hurriedly checked and found the Azurefall Sword hovering safely within her dantian. The moment her divine sense brushed it, it seemed to sense her and let out a clear ringing hum.

Under normal circumstances, a natal sword could only be housed in the dantian after Foundation Establishment. Yet she was only at the eighth level of Qi Refinement, and the Azurefall Sword had actually entered and remained within her dantian.

She tried to summon it, but no matter how she called, it would not come out.

"It has entered your dantian?" The shadow had been watching her all along, and when it saw her form hand seals, it understood at once. "Your cultivation must reach Foundation Establishment before you can summon it."

Foundation Establishment, then?

"But why was it able to enter my dantian already?" From the radiance the Azurefall Sword gave off, violet grade and above was certain. She even suspected that something sealed here with such an enormous array might be of an even higher rank.

"Swords of a higher level can enter the dantian in advance to nourish themselves. This one of yours doesn't look merely like a high violet-grade sword." As it spoke, the shadow looked at Ji Jiuxuan earnestly. "This sword has a spirit. Once the sword spirit returns to its place, it will be able to unleash its fullest power."

"A sword spirit!" In this world, swords with spirits were vanishingly rare. She had never expected the Azurefall Sword to have one.

"Yes. Perhaps for some special reason, the sword spirit is absent for now, but from the condition of the sword body, it remains intact."

The sword spirit remains intact. Ji Jiuxuan was utterly shaken by such a circumstance. She knew better than anyone how rare a sword spirit was. "I have contracted with the Azurefall Sword. Does that mean I can sense where its sword spirit is?"

If there was a sword spirit, then she would do her best to find it.

According to the records she had read, there were two possibilities. One was that the sword spirit had accidentally separated from the sword body; in such a case, the sooner it was found, the better, or else it would only drift through the world. Without its body, even if it were destroyed, it could never fully display its power.

The other was that it had forcibly torn itself away from the sword body. In that case, it would suffer piercing agony every day, and only by returning to the sword body could the pain be eased.

Normally, a sword spirit would never leave its sword body, so Ji Jiuxuan guessed this was the first possibility: an accidental separation.

"Yes, but if the sword spirit is deliberately hiding, you will not be able to sense it."

After speaking, the shadow pointed to a pile of objects nearby. "These were all found within the formation. Not bad at all. You can keep them; they will be useful later."

Ji Jiuxuan looked at the pile and found Scarlet Flame Profound Stone among them. The rest were also various materials, none of them any less rare than the Scarlet Flame Profound Stone.

Although she was already a little wealthy, she was still a complete lover of money at heart. Seeing so many good things, Ji Jiuxuan's eyes curved with delight.

She put the pile away. Then the shadow lifted her up again. "Let's go back. Otherwise, this place will collapse in a moment."

Only then did Ji Jiuxuan realize that the surrounding area had not been excavated by hand, but had been created by the formation, which had hollowed out this entire space.

Now that the Azurefall Sword had been contracted, the formation was losing its original function and dissipating. It was only natural that the area around it would collapse.

When the shadow brought Ji Jiuxuan back to the surface, it formed another seal toward the formation, then said to her, "There is formation protection here, so it will not be discovered for a while."

"An all-night vigil. You should go back and rest."

Only then did Ji Jiuxuan notice that dawn had already broken.

How strange. The system had not appeared to remind her to rest.

In the past, the moment the hour was reached, the system would almost seem eager to punish her. Had it suddenly found its conscience today?

The shadow returned to the ring, and Ji Jiuxuan headed toward Profound Harmony Court. Only then did she remember that she had not lifted a finger during the digging just now; the shadow had handled everything.

Thinking of the task's requirements, Ji Jiuxuan quickly asked the system, "System, does this count as completing the task?"

The strange thing was, the system gave no response at all.

This made Ji Jiuxuan deeply worried and confused.

In her understanding, the system had always been an existence that would accompany her for a long time. If she lived, the system lived; only if she died would the system depart.

She had never imagined that one day the system might disappear.

Worried in her heart, she called out several times, but received no reply.

Such a thing had never happened before, and it left her completely at a loss.

Lost in thought, Ji Jiuxuan only came to her senses when she realized she had unconsciously followed the main path all the way to the mountain gate.

A crowd had gathered ahead, and many more were hurrying this way.

What was going on?

"Xuanxuan, you're here too?" Feng Hanxiao came running over with cheerful steps.

Seeing that Ji Jiuxuan was unharmed, the worry in Feng Hanxiao's heart finally eased.

Ji Jiuxuan hugged her and asked, "Did the Law Enforcement Hall make things difficult for you afterward?"

There had been so much going on lately. She had already heard that Feng Hanxiao was fine, so she had not had time to worry further. Now that she saw her lively and well, she could finally relax.

"No." Feng Hanxiao lifted her chin with a proud air. "What Wang Yumiao said on the fighting platform counts as evidence. I was innocent, and no one in the Law Enforcement Hall dared make things hard for me." Her gaze was almost disdainfully superior. "Who is my father? Of course they wouldn't dare. So relax!"

Ji Jiuxuan could not help laughing. Looking at the crowd growing denser ahead, she asked, "Does Sister Hanxiao know what happened up front?"

Given the nature of cultivators, they would rather have countless extra hours for cultivation. For something to draw so much curiosity in the sect, enough to make people abandon their training and rush over to watch, it had to be important.

"You don't know?" Feng Hanxiao was a little surprised. Seeing Ji Jiuxuan here, she had assumed she had come specifically because she had heard the news.

"I heard that Yu Heng was found. He ran to the border and got entangled with several demons. It was quite a miserable sight."

Just as the shadow had said earlier. Now that she heard it for real, Ji Jiuxuan still could not help but marvel.

"Then how did he come back?" By rights, the effects of the Purple Confusion Pill should now have fully taken hold. Under normal circumstances, Yu Heng should already be finished.

To encounter demons and still return safely without being torn to pieces was truly a rare thing.

"He was discovered by senior brothers and sisters who were out on missions, and they brought him back."

Feng Hanxiao lowered her voice. "I heard he only suffered some injuries, nothing serious. Not dying out there means he's got a big life. Just wait—someone like him will be killed sooner or later."

Ji Jiuxuan could not help but laugh along. "Yes, he'll be killed sooner or later."

While they were talking, Ji Jiuxuan and Feng Hanxiao had already followed the crowd to the front.

Suddenly, she met Yu Heng's gaze. Those eyes, once filled with malice toward her, now looked at her with even darker cruelty.

It was as if he were saying: wait. He would kill her at any time.

"Let's go. Since Senior Brother Yu managed to return safely from the demons this time and even defeated them soundly, he will surely be rewarded." The speaker was a female disciple fawning over Yu Heng, looking as though she wished he would spare her another glance.

Yu Heng's face was cold. He merely snorted and said nothing at all.

His eyes swept over the surrounding crowd, and the fists at his sides clenched tightly.

Qu Liang, we'll see about this from now on. And Nie Xingyuan, Ji Jiuxuan—sooner or later, I will make you die.

"He even earned merit?" Hearing the discussions around her, Ji Jiuxuan could not help asking.

Yu Heng was becoming more and more like an unkillable cockroach, disgusting beyond measure.

The End.