Dongfang Xiaotian raised the broken sword in his hand, pointing directly at a massive stone pillar in the grand hall.
Xiao Yuanqing’s expression hardened; his figure dissipated like blue smoke, reappearing precisely where Dongfang Xiaotian’s broken sword was aimed!
At the same moment, as the sword aura closed in, Xiao Yuanqing pushed his spiritual power to its limits, simultaneously employing both sword aura and sword control techniques—
His divine abilities, and his strongest immortal art!
Qingming Sword Art, Killing Sword Style!
Two streams of azure sword energy collided, but no matter how strong Xiao Yuanqing was, how could he possibly withstand Dongfang Xiaotian’s blow that had been building power for so long?
“Hold on!”
Xiao Yuanqing roared in defiance. He knew the power behind this sword was formidable, but he hadn’t expected it to be this overwhelming.
In that instant, memories flooded his mind—he thought of his father, his mother, and his one and only little sister.
His mother had always been frail. After giving birth to his younger sister, Xiao Yuanxiang, she passed away not long after. Before her death, she had told him to protect his sister well.
A few years after his mother’s passing, the siblings followed their father to Lingtian City, striving to establish the Xiao Clan’s foothold there.
The Xiao Clan frequently clashed with the local tyrants of the Iron Saber Sect and the Four Sages Academy.
Until, for the right to a Second-Tier Relic’s Spirit Pill, the three major sects erupted into a chaotic war.
The result: while the Xiao Clan gained a massive advantage in the relic’s ownership, the price paid was Xiao Yuanqing’s father suffering a grievous, life-threatening injury.
To recover, Xiao Yuanqing’s father had to entrust all clan affairs to then-Great Elder Li Shiwen.
Xiao Yuanqing also spent his days and nights seeking miraculous pills and medicines to heal his father.
He even repeatedly applied to the main Xiao Clan for permission to return and recover, or for higher-grade healing pills, but his requests vanished into a void.
A year ago, when he returned from another trip, Li Shiwen—who had lain in wait for years—finally showed his fangs.
He replaced all elders with his own loyalists, disguised the original Xiao Clan elders as evil cultivators and assassins, and gradually seized all power.
Even news of his father’s death was concealed by Li Shiwen, keeping the whole Xiao Clan under his control.
Most of the letters sent to the main clan were intercepted, and any precious medicines distributed were hoarded by Li Shiwen for himself.
Only then did Xiao Yuanqing have a chance to take stock of his surroundings, but even his only sister Xiao Yuanxiang was kept under strict surveillance, not allowed her freedom.
With his only family member under another’s thumb, Xiao Yuanqing dared not act rashly.
Fortunately, since Li Shiwen had already broken through to the Golden Core realm, he didn’t see the young clan master as a threat, which gave Xiao Yuanqing a sliver of opportunity to make his own plans.
During one conflict, Xiao Yuanqing, with only a half-step into the Golden Core realm, managed to injure Li Shiwen so that both sides suffered.
Only then did Xiao Yuanqing finally have a small territory he could call his own.
But he was still fighting alone. Even if he could go head-to-head with Li Shiwen, he was still just one man against nine late-Foundation Establishment elders of the Xiao Clan.
His only hope was to break through to the Golden Core stage and then use his newfound power to crush them all!
But at this moment, his only resource was a single blood pill that he had hesitated to take for moral reasons.
Unlike Li Shiwen, who took the ordinary path, Xiao Yuanqing needed far more resources than the average cultivator to break through.
His original talent and foundation had become shackles. This one blood pill was not nearly enough for his breakthrough, not even for the lowest grade of Golden Core.
Until the appearance of that man—[The Sage].
With that man’s help, Xiao Yuanqing completed his arrangements.
After that, he joyfully reunited with the one person who had once saved his little sister Xiao Yuanxiang—the only person he could trust in the entirety of Lingtian City—
Dongfang Xiaotian!
And then…
Wait…why was he recalling all this?!
Xiao Yuanqing snapped out of his life-flashing-before-his-eyes trance, a wave of excruciating pain surging from his chest.
Glancing at the deep sword mark on the ground and the gash tearing across his own chest, he finally remembered what had just happened.
He had lost.
He’d been struck unconscious by Dongfang Xiaotian’s sword.
Although still standing, he could tell from the wary look on Beichen Yue’s face that during his brief blackout, she’d had who knows how many opportunities to kill him.
Looking over at Dongfang Xiaotian, he saw him sitting on the ground, his face a bit pale—clearly drained from overusing his spiritual power.
Understandable; the power of that sword was such that even someone at the seventh layer of Qi Refining would be hard-pressed to unleash it without being drained dry.
Dongfang Xiaotian obviously paid a price as well.
Xiao Yuanqing let out a slow breath.
Looking at himself, though still standing, the sword wound on his chest was so deep it exposed the bone; his hair crown had come undone, and nearly all his spiritual power had been depleted in his defense.
“I’ve lost.”
Unable to hold himself up any longer, Xiao Yuanqing fell backward. The formation core behind him was still intact thanks to his last-ditch defense, but he no longer had the strength to protect it.
Dongfang Xiaotian watched Xiao Yuanqing collapse and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Truthfully, before he’d even finished speaking, Dongfang Xiaotian had wanted to take advantage of Xiao Yuanqing’s distraction and just smash the formation core right then and there.
But when he saw Xiao Yuanqing, knowing he couldn’t possibly stop the attack, still leap forward and take the hit, his first thought was: Damn!
You’re actually blocking it? He quickly diverted some of the sword energy, yet the unleashed force was still immense.
In that moment, Dongfang Xiaotian thought—this is bad.
If the overprotective brother’s little sister found out the person who killed her brother was him, wouldn’t that lead to a pitch-black, twisted revenge plot?
But then again, people who dote on their sisters are never simple.
Back in college, Dongfang Xiaotian had read stories about men who slaughtered their way through the Holy Grail War for their sister, or became the final boss in Pinoconi for the sake of a sibling. And look at Xiao Yuanqing.
He’d actually taken that blow head-on with his glass-cannon sword cultivator’s body—his chest nearly split open, yet he’d fainted standing up.
That posture, that look—so heroic that anyone would think he was the protagonist.
Xiao Yuanqing admitted defeat without resistance. After a few seconds of blackout, he regained consciousness and cleanly conceded.
Dongfang Xiaotian didn’t get up immediately either. According to Xiao Yuanqing, the formation was still warming up, so there was no need to rush to destroy the core.
That strike had drained all the spiritual power from his body, and forcibly pulling back half the move midway had left his body in poor shape.
“This is the token to stop the formation.”
As Dongfang Xiaotian rested, Xiao Yuanqing retrieved a token from his spatial ring and tossed it to Dongfang Xiaotian.
“Place this token on the pillar behind me and you’ll be able to remove the formation core.”
Dongfang Xiaotian examined the token Xiao Yuanqing had thrown. It felt cold, smooth as fine jade, but was covered in incomprehensible patterns and some ancient divine script.
Without a doubt, this was something from the age of the ancient gods.
Dongfang Xiaotian handed the token to Beichen Yue, letting her go shut down the array first.
As Beichen Yue headed for the formation core, Xiao Yuanqing suddenly spoke.
“Is it worth it?”
Xiao Yuanqing looked at Dongfang Xiaotian and asked flatly, “Five years ago, our Xiao family sacrificed itself to save the Xiao Clan, but was framed by the Li family and ended up like this. Brother Dongfang, not everyone will remember a favor as you do.”
Besides, with the battle already decided, even if you shut down this formation, the Heretical God Cult and the Li family will still slaughter the Four Sages Academy’s outer sect disciples.
By saving them, you’d be better off letting the formation continue and avenging them this way.
Following Xiao Yuanqing’s directions, Dongfang Xiaotian first stopped the formation and said, “If you want to destroy the Heretical God Cult and the Li family, I don’t object.”
“But unfortunately, this isn’t a national war or a struggle between races. As long as there’s even one innocent person, they may be killed, but they must never die by our hands. That’s my bottom line.”
Xiao Yuanqing looked at Dongfang Xiaotian’s indifferent expression and asked, “Then if, because of your decision, the other evil cultivators cause even more deaths, what then?”
“Not my problem.”
Dongfang Xiaotian shot Xiao Yuanqing a “watching the show” look. “Is killing the innocent alive now to prevent a possibly worse future the right thing to do?”
“You’re asking me to pick between two piles of crap, as if I’d actually choose one? ‘A wise man does not stand beside a collapsing wall’—I never answer questions meant to force moral dilemmas.”
“If the future really ends up as you say, that still has nothing to do with me. No one said I had to sacrifice my own values to save them, and no one said they couldn’t save themselves.”
The trolley problem is just a test of conscience—a faulty question with no perfect answer.
Xiao Yuanqing couldn’t help laughing aloud, a laugh of true release. “No wonder you’re Brother Dongfang—always so unpredictable. I’ve lost, I’ve truly lost…”
But the three of them knew—the issue still wasn’t fully resolved.
Dongfang Xiaotian said, “Alright, really, this is simple. Brother Xiao, the reason you’re in this predicament is nothing but lack of strength. Now, with my sword added to yours, is it enough?”
Xiao Yuanqing shook his head with a bitter smile.
“Still not enough. You Four Sages Academy folks and the City Lord’s Manor are obviously in league.”
“The only reason the Xiao Clan still holds the Spirit Pill Relic at such a critical moment is because, besides Li Shiwen, there’s also a Protective Clan Beast as strong as a Golden Core cultivator.”
“That Protective Clan Beast stays neutral for now because I can still counterbalance Li Shiwen.”
“But once Li Shiwen comes out of seclusion and I haven’t broken through to the Golden Core realm… then I’ll be facing both a mid-Golden Core and a Protective Clan Beast of equal power. That’s why I must seek my breakthrough.”
“No worries. Once I’m back, I’ll report all this to my master and have her mediate!” Beichen Yue was determined to help as well.
Though just moments ago the three of them were locked in a life-or-death fight, Beichen Yue had come to understand the ways of the strong. That battle was only to decide which path to take.
Now that the choice was made, the question was how to walk it to the end.
She couldn’t help glancing at Dongfang Xiaotian several more times.
Here was someone already treading the path of an evil cultivator, someone who could have killed with a single sword, and everything would’ve been over.
Yet even under such circumstances, Dongfang Xiaotian still gave his all to stop things, and did everything he could to help Xiao Yuanqing.
She couldn’t help but wonder—if one day she had no choice but to use the ways of an evil cultivator to solve a problem, would Dongfang Xiaotian also go all out to persuade her and help her too?
And how could she possibly repay such a debt of gratitude then?
“A trip south and back will take at least a month. That won’t work,” Dongfang Xiaotian replied.
“In a month, how many weddings will have taken place already?”
Beichen Yue was puzzled. “But hasn’t Li Yuze already…?”
She recalled that before they left, Tu Shan Bingxian had given Li Yuze several fierce kicks. Just watching made Dongfang Xiaotian wince—surely he wouldn’t be able to, well, function anymore.
Dongfang Xiaotian sighed, “Who said only Li Yuze could marry into the Xiao family? The Xiao Clan’s Great Elder could do it himself if he wanted. Li Yuze was just for show.”
The marriage customs of Shenghua were similar to ancient China’s.
Dongfang Xiaotian wasn’t sure which dynasty specifically, but older men marrying much younger women, while embarrassing, was actually not uncommon.
With spiritual power added to the mix, martial strength was even more important, and sometimes powerful female cultivators would even keep multiple male companions.
Still, using women as political pawns like this disgusted Beichen Yue. “I can’t believe there are people in this world so shameless!”
Xiao Yuanqing nodded. “But thanks to Brother Dongfang’s sword, I’ve also thought of a perfect way to break the deadlock—maybe we can end the Li family’s schemes without any more fighting.”
“Oh? You’ve got a plan?” Dongfang Xiaotian was intrigued. If there was a simpler solution, he was all for it.
Xiao Yuanqing nodded and smiled. “As long as Brother Dongfang marries my little sister, the Li family’s plot will fall apart by itself, and my sister will have a way to repay you for your help.”
“Eh?” Beichen Yue’s visible shock was plain to see—who taught you to repay kindness like this?