Chapter 50: End

The moment the words fell, Madam Xuanji suddenly drew back.

She retreated extremely fast, her figure turning into an afterimage; in the blink of an eye, she was already three zhang away. 

After standing firm, she lowered her head to look at her finger—the fingertip was already bruised purple, the nail cracked with a fine seam, seeping blood threads.

Such strong force.

She lifted her head to look at the youth, her expression becoming extremely grave. 

This youth was different from before—completely different.

And it wasn’t as simple as his power surging; his entire temperament, gaze, personality, even the rhythm of his breathing had changed.

It was simply like he had become a completely different person.

“Who are you?”

Madam Xuanji asked in a deep voice; this was a bluff. 

Of course, she didn’t know the inside story—she was just using words to confirm her thoughts.

The youth didn’t answer; he just stood in place, lifting his right hand, palm upward, five fingers slightly spread.

The midday sunlight fell on his palm, yet it couldn’t illuminate that patch of skin—only because a pitch-black hole appeared in the center of the youth’s palm.

And that light was devouring the qi emitted by the sun.

Even under the cover of the sun’s light that could illuminate heaven and earth, those beams brighter than sunlight—capable of temporarily blinding the naked eye—were directly sucked into the center of the palm.

If not for the augmentation of immortal power, Madam Xuanji would probably be blind at this moment.

Instinct was warning the woman; it urgently wanted Madam Xuanji to run.

Because her body could feel that enormous power belonging to the sun was continuously being absorbed into the youth’s body—his internal force began to multiply.

And another strange power appeared from within the youth’s body.

Shadows were growing from the youth’s palm.

First, a faint gray, like ink dropped into water, slowly spreading.

Then the color deepened more and more—from gray to black, then to a darkness deeper than black. 

That darkness condensed, stretched, and shaped in his palm, gradually forming the outline of a sword.

The sword was slender and long, completely pitch-black, with no decorations at all. Its blade was as thin as a cicada’s wing, and along its edge flickered a faint dark crimson glow.

It looked like a solid entity, yet it carried illusion—like a creation born at the boundary of light and shadow, between existence and non-existence.

It thus condensed and took form in Nanxi’s hand, and that shadow sword continuously overflowed parts of itself, like burning flames.

And the fuel for that burning was the youth’s soul.

The overflowing shadows continuously pressed the space around the youth, twisting and deforming them.

Madam Xuanji’s expression completely changed.

She recognized this sword; she had once heard of such a thing—in the most ancient classics, in those legends of immortal dao secrets circulated in the human world.

Heart manifestation weapon—with the divine soul as fuel, obsession as guide, forged from heaven and earth—a unique weapon belonging only to its master.

This thing wasn’t a legendary magical artifact or treasure; it was the projection of the cultivator’s own heart manifestation.

Those who could condense such a sword were without exception existences who had reached the threshold of the “dao.”

But this youth was only fourteen; he couldn’t possibly have walked out his own unique “dao.”

“Impossible…”

Madam Xuanji murmured.

While she was shocked, the youth had already gripped the sword hilt.

The instant his fingers touched the hilt, the sword body lightly trembled, emitting an extremely low, deep hum.

That wasn’t simply a sound; it was also a weapon—a wave that could directly harm the divine soul.

What was terrifying was that this weapon’s heartbeat was completely synchronized with the youth’s heartbeat.

“Not good!”

After realizing this, the woman used all the true qi in her body to form a membrane that could envelop herself.

Only then did she barely block the wave.

But the assault was far from over.

That sword began to twist and deform.

The sword body continuously lengthened, its existence constantly expanding; black sword qi scattered from the blade—ink-like sword qi, rippling waves in the air.

Wherever those ripples passed, light twisted, colors faded; the entire world seemed covered in a layer of pale gray.

The beach was still that beach, the seawater still that seawater, but everything looked different.

Like a faded ancient painting, or like a scene viewed through frosted glass—real yet illusory.

Madam Xuanji felt the power she had borrowed trembling.

That was the power she had begged from that existence—cultivation sufficient to rival an immortal.

But now, this power was trembling—like a wild beast encountering its natural enemy, instinctively fearing.

She gritted her teeth; true qi began to combine with the power, and beams of golden light pillars began to condense in the air.

Madam Xuanji gritted her teeth and shouted: “Go!”

Those dozen or so light pillars then assaulted toward the youth.

The youth didn’t dodge.

He didn’t even look at those incoming light pillars; he just gripped the sword, standing in place, then gently lifted his left hand, facing the direction the light pillars surged from—five fingers in a virtual grasp.

The diffused shadow domain suddenly contracted.

Those black ripples permeating the air instantly flowed back, condensing into a hole in front of him—a void entirely composed of shadows.

The golden light pillars were completely absorbed.

They thus disappeared silently—devoured, without stirring even a ripple.

Madam Xuanji’s pupils suddenly contracted.

She hadn’t had time to make the next reaction when Nanxi moved.

That couldn’t be described as fast; the youth simply “disappeared.”

Even the power in the woman’s body couldn’t sense it—he directly disappeared.

Yet clearly, a moment ago, he was still standing three zhang away.

In this astonishment, the youth reappeared in front of the woman.

That wasn’t movement; it was a leap between shadows—he disappeared from the shadow under his own feet and appeared from Madam Xuanji’s shadow.

The shadow sword thrust out.

A very simple straight thrust, without any flair—just the simplest thrust forward.

The instant this sword thrust out, everything in the surrounding heaven and earth darkened.

Seeing it about to hit, Madam Xuanji used all her body’s strength to violently retreat.

She retreated faster than before, her figure almost turning into flowing light.

But the sword tip still grazed her left shoulder—merely grazed, not even breaking the skin—but the clothing on her shoulder instantly turned to flying ash, revealing the pale skin underneath.

A faint black mark had already appeared on this skin, making her alarm bells ring.

This was shadow erosion; places wounded by the shadow sword would be invaded by shadow power, slowly losing vitality.

If not dispelled in time, the entire arm would be ruined.

Madam Xuanji’s left hand pressed on her shoulder; golden power surged out, confronting that black mark. As the power continuously emerged, the black mark slowly faded, but her complexion also paled a bit.

The consumption was too great; although immortal power was strong, it was ultimately external—use a bit, lose a bit.

And this youth in front of her—his power was unfathomably deep. Clearly, every strike was burning divine soul, yet the youth showed no fatigue or pain.

She couldn’t drag it out.

Madam Xuanji’s gaze sharpened; her hands clasped together in front of her chest, murmuring incantations.

Ancient curse words spilled from her lips; each syllable carried a strange rhythm. As the incantations rose, the aura on her body began to surge.

Golden light surged from within her body, brighter and brighter, more and more intense. 

In the light, vague shadows of chains could be seen—those were seals, the restraints she had placed on herself to contain the immortal power. Now, she was unlocking those chains.

Of course, this wasn’t without cost; a mortal’s body couldn’t endure this power for long.

“Kid, to force me to this point—you can be proud enough.”

Her voice became hollow, no longer sounding like it came from her own mouth.

“But it ends here!”

The instant the words fell, a sun rose behind her.

That wasn’t any illusion, yet it also wasn’t a true sun.

That thing was three chi in diameter, entirely golden yellow, its surface leaping with raging flames. 

Heat waves rolled out; the sand underfoot began to melt, turning into viscous crystalline substance.

The moisture in the air instantly evaporated, emitting sizzling sounds.

Seeing this, the youth looked straight at the woman.

He looked at that “sun” suspended behind Madam Xuanji, looked at that scorching light, looked at that heat wave that seemed to incinerate everything, and revealed a contemptuous smile.

But this time, the smile carried a trace of nostalgia.

“This technique… it’s really been a long time since I’ve seen it.”

As the words fell, he raised the shadow sword, the tip pointing to the sky.

The midday sunlight poured down, striking the pitch-black blade—only to be swallowed, devoured, and transformed.

A thread of dark red appeared on the sword body, then began to spread—like blood vessels, extending from the blade to the hilt, then along the youth’s arm to his whole body.

His eyes completely turned red.

Not scarlet, but dark red—like coagulated blood. That red flowed in his eyes, carrying extremely heavy killing aura.

Then he swung the sword.

Not a chop, not a thrust, but a “smear.”

The shadow sword drew an arc in the air; where that arc passed, it left a black trace.

A spatial rift was slashed out, and the rift’s edges leaped with dark red light.

That rift extended forward, colliding with that false sun.

The rift was like a mouth, swallowing the sun in one bite. 

The golden flames struggled and leaped in the darkness, emitting silent roars, then slowly extinguished and disappeared.

Madam Xuanji spat out a mouthful of blood.

It was golden blood; the blood fell on the sand, instantly burning small pits in the sand.

She staggered back, fear appearing on her face.

What exactly was hidden in this youth’s body?

The youth didn’t give the woman time to think; he flew to the woman’s front. 

The shadows under his feet spread like living things, instantly covering the entire beach. 

All places covered by shadows became his domain.

Madam Xuanji wanted to escape, but found her body couldn’t move.

Her own shadow had betrayed her; the shadow under her feet was like viscous swamp, tightly wrapping her feet, fixing her in place.

The youth walked to her front, lifting the shadow sword; the tip pressed against her brow.

“It’s over.”

He said, his voice very calm, without detectable joy or anger.

Madam Xuanji looked at him, looked at those dark red eyes, and suddenly understood something.

“You’re not that youth… you’re this sword… the remnant thing… right?”

The youth neither denied nor admitted; he just quietly looked at her. 

The sword tip advanced another fraction, piercing the skin, seeping a blood bead.

“Killing me—you’ll disappear too.” 

Madam Xuanji gritted her teeth. 

“Remnant soul forcibly manifesting—consuming the origin. After this battle, win or lose, you’ll completely dissipate.”

“I know.”

The youth said, his tone still calm.

“This is enough.”

Enough to resolve the crisis before him, enough to buy him time, enough to let him live on.

Madam Xuanji still wanted to say something, but the youth no longer planned to listen.

The shadow sword thrust forward.

A very light thrust, like piercing a thin paper.

The sword tip sank into the brow, like shadow merging into darkness.

Madam Xuanji’s eyes widened; she opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but couldn’t make a sound. Golden light surged from within her body, wanting to resist, but shadow power surged in like tides, instantly drowning those lights.

Her body began to disintegrate.

Starting from the feet, bit by bit losing color, turning black and white, turning gray white, finally turning into fine powder, scattering with the wind—like a mural eroded by ages, like a memory forgotten by time, bit by bit disappearing from this world.

In the end, only a golden pearl remained, suspended in midair—that was her lifetime cultivation condensed into an inner dan, also the carrier of immortal power.

Nanxi reached out to grab the pearl, holding it in his palm. The pearl was very hot, like holding a piece of burning charcoal, but he didn’t mind.

He turned around, looking at Huang Muzhi in the distance.

Huang Muzhi was still sprawled on the beach, dazedly looking this way, her face full of terror and bewilderment.

She couldn’t understand what had just happened—only saw the youth suddenly change into another person, then that terrifying woman disappeared.

Nanxi—or rather, the existence currently controlling this body—walked toward her.

Walking to her front, he squatted down and placed that golden pearl into her hand.

“Hold it; find a place to hide it. In the future, if you encounter trouble you can’t solve, crush it—perhaps it can save your life.”

Huang Muzhi lowered her head to look at the pearl in her hand, then lifted her head to look at him, lips trembling: “Young master… you…”

“I’m not your… forget it… I’m leaving.”

The youth said, then he turned, leaving only one piece of advice.

“Live well from now on; find a man to marry, have a few children, live a safe and peaceful life.”

As he spoke, he looked north.

The sea wind blew, lifting his snow-white long hair; the midday sunlight fell on him, yet it illuminated not a trace of warmth.

“Wait!”

Huang Muzhi struggled to get up, wanting to grab his hand, but grasped empty air.

Then the youth turned his head back and smiled at her.

That was Nanxi’s smile—gentle, with a bit of apology, belonging to that fourteen-year-old youth’s smile.

Wind and sand scattered on the woman’s golden hair, also temporarily blinding her eyes. When she opened them again.

The youth in front of her had disappeared without a trace.