Chapter 77: The Spiritual Vein Isn’t Qingmu’s?

Lin Qiyou transformed into a white shooting star, speeding faster and faster, heading straight toward the half-falling fox spirit.

Right now, there was only one thought in her mind: to finish off this beast.

The fox was screaming, flesh and blood whirling past her. With just a swing of her sword, the thing she loathed so deeply would die.

Lin Qiyou’s expression was cold and emotionless, her face filled with murderous intent.

The fox—the very fox she had fed.

The fox—the fox saved by Qingmu.

The fox—the shapeshifted fox.

The fox—the fox that deserved to be ground to dust.

The rage in her chest roared, the fox’s screams echoed in her ears.

She had to—

Huh?

But in an instant, a sudden clarity returned to her heart.

Looking at the fox spirit who had taken on the form of a beautiful woman, Lin Qiyou’s eyes widened. She abruptly stopped midair, staring as the fox spirit continued to fall.

Something was off.

Why was she so angry?

It felt as if her anger had been deliberately provoked.

“Bang!”

The half-fox, falling downward, suddenly exploded right before her eyes, dispersing into a vast cloud of black mist. Lin Qiyou instinctively sensed the mist was definitely poisonous.

“A hallucination from Benji?”

Lin Qiyou closed her eyes, unsure of when exactly she had started seeing illusions, but judging by the circumstances, it couldn’t have been long. Based on her strength, illusions couldn’t suppress her for too long.

Landing in the city, Lin Qiyou scanned the nearly deserted surroundings.

Suddenly, a woman in green appeared before her.

She looked exactly like the fake fox Lin Qiyou had just split in two.

“Nongli.”

“Lin Qiyou.”

One human, one spirit, they called each other’s names, eyes narrowing for no apparent reason. Nongli’s expression changed more than Lin Qiyou’s—she was smiling.

“What are you laughing at?”

Naturally, Lin Qiyou was curious.

This was surprising. Even though she had seen Nongli training like a proper person in the cultivation chamber decades ago, in front of her back then, Nongli was nothing but a trembling little beast.

Now, transformed into a beautiful woman, she resembled the fox spirits from folklore, the kind who charm by literally digging out your heart.

And yet she had teamed up with Benji to ambush and assassinate her.

What’s more, she wore a smile that sent a chill down Lin Qiyou’s spine.

Nongli’s fox ears twitched as she smiled and asked, “Why do you keep biting at me so hard?”

Lin Qiyou lowered her eyes to her sword. “Biting? Debt must be repaid—that’s just common sense.”

“What debt do I owe you?”

“You ate my people, doesn’t that count?”

“Your people?”

Nongli seemed to have just heard the funniest joke in the world, clutching her stomach as she laughed, fox ears trembling and tail flicking wildly. “Oh my, the funniest joke on earth. Are you protecting your food?

What, you buried the leftovers so no one else can eat them? Letting them rot?”

“Eat?”

Lin Qiyou’s eyes narrowed sharply. “What did you say?”

“Isn’t it true? Keeping Qingmu by your side all these years was just so you could keep digging his spiritual vein from his body, transplanting it onto yourself.

He was eaten by your Lin family. What’s left isn’t anything but scraps.”

Nongli wasn’t backing down, raising her head to retort.

“What do I have to do with your business with him?”

Lin Qiyou flicked her sword and stepped toward Nongli.

“You’re just like me—both man-eating dogs. Why do you always pretend to be nobler than me?”

Nongli showed no fear and took a few steps forward as well.

Face to face, the empty street was swept by a gust of wind, stirring their hair and clothes.

A leaf floated onto the sword’s edge and was cut cleanly in two.

Nongli’s nails glittered with a chill sharper than a blade.

Their gazes hardened and hardened again.

“Ah, don’t misunderstand. I’m not talking nonsense. Foxes and dogs are the same kind.

I’m a fox demon, you’re a dog demon—a herding dog who doesn’t even realize it.”

“Bang!”

Nongli’s mocking words rang out as Lin Qiyou slashed her sword toward her.

After transforming three tails, Nongli considered herself no longer the trembling little fox that Lin Qiyou had once slaughtered.

And the special training with Benji over the past days had yielded results against the Phantom Sword Immortal.

By the way, Benji must be quite capable—he knew Lin Qiyou inside and out.

The timing, strength, and speed of her sword strikes matched the descriptions perfectly.

It seemed this time she could truly put an end to it.

Kill the enemy who had hunted her all these years, kill the dead dog who hurt Qingmu.

But these thoughts distracted Nongli, and she failed to react in time to Lin Qiyou’s next strike—a sword swept across her abdomen.

Fortunately, she instinctively retreated.

Otherwise, she would have ended up with her guts torn open.

Dangerous!

Nongli couldn’t afford to relax.

She formed a claw with one hand and pushed spiritual energy forward.

“Boom—”

The spiritual energy, infused with the bloodline of an ancient great demon, was wild with demonic nature.

The intense aura made Lin Qiyou frown deeply.

She twisted her sword and stabbed at Nongli’s palm.

Spiritual energy clashed with sword qi, cracking the earth and flipping the ground beneath their feet, revealing a deep pit with a loud “bang.”

The powerful spiritual energy and pure sword aura exploded at the point of contact, forcing both the Phantom Sword Immortal and the three-tailed fox demon to stagger backward.

“Hah… hah…”

Nongli was panting, glancing at her palm, suddenly noticing the blood flowing.

Lin Qiyou’s sword had pierced through her spiritual energy and wounded her.

Skin broken, her confidence shattered as well.

“Why? Where’s your spiritual energy? Where is it?”

Nongli clenched her fists, looking at Lin Qiyou standing elegantly about ten meters away.

Impossible. Absolutely impossible!

She had poured nearly all the spiritual energy she could explosively muster into that strike, yet Lin Qiyou could match her using only her sword?

Look again, look once more!

Nongli scrutinized Lin Qiyou’s appearance, seeing her brow furrow even deeper—without a single sign of injury or distress.

Benji wouldn’t have lied to her, would he?

Lin Qiyou was really that strong…

“Are you scared?”

Lin Qiyou caught Nongli’s gaze and raised her chin.

“Tch!”

Nongli refused to show weakness and howled at Lin Qiyou.

“Miss Nongli, don’t be afraid. I will fight alongside you.”

A voice sounded from the side. Then, poisonous mist rose beneath Lin Qiyou’s feet.

She flipped, elegantly dodging the attack, and when she looked up, her former ally Benji was standing with Nongli.

Not only that, demonic warriors surrounded her, cracking their knuckles and preparing to attack.

“The city is full of dangers. You had planned to deal with me a long time ago, hadn’t you?

Benji, I don’t understand—what exactly is your reason?”

“Reason? I admire you, Phantom Sword Immortal. You’re far stronger than I imagined.”

Benji withdrew his usual refined calm, his face tense as he faced Lin Qiyou.

“Admire me?”

Lin Qiyou looked at her hands and body, then suddenly understood something.

She closed her eyes lightly and sighed, “I always keep my word. If I say I’ll kill them all, I will.”

With that, she activated her spiritual energy.

Benji’s pupils contracted sharply.

Something was wrong!

Lin Qiyou’s spiritual vein—it wasn’t Qingmu’s!

What was going on?