Chapter 15: It Was Your Master Who Stole Your Life (4,000 words)

Grass-Character Sword Art, First Form—Spring Bud Breaks the Soil.

As a cold glint suddenly appeared at the tip of Jiang Qingyi’s sword, it was like a tender early spring sprout pushing through frozen earth.

The longsword in the young girl’s hand contained infinite vitality and sharp, piercing power.

“Break!”

With the girl’s soft shout, Jiang Qingyi condensed her sword qi into a single point. Her speed was extreme, and faint green phantoms of grass even appeared around the tip of her blade.

The formation set up by the Blood Butterfly Pavilion disciple before her was shattered instantly by Jiang Qingyi.

A flash of cold light streaked before his eyes.

By the time he reacted, he only felt the world spinning; his head fell straight to the ground.

“Hoo.”

Jiang Qingyi took a deep breath and wiped the hot sweat from her forehead.

In the last ten days, this was already the third Blood Butterfly Pavilion cultivator Jiang Qingyi had encountered.

Moreover, the interval between meeting them was getting shorter each time.

It was clear that the Blood Butterfly Pavilion had roughly grasped her location.

They were now closing the net, narrowing their search radius.

Jiang Qingyi sheathed her longsword and hurried into a nearby cave.

Inside the cave, Xiao Mo slowly opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was his disciple running toward him.

“Master, are you alright?” Jiang Qingyi asked, full of concern.

“Nothing too serious.” Xiao Mo shook his head. “I’m sorry. This body of mine seems less and less capable of helping you.”

When the Blood Butterfly Pavilion had ambushed them earlier, Xiao Mo had been in the middle of regulating his spiritual meridians at a critical juncture and could not intervene, forcing Jiang Qingyi to lure the attacker away and fight him alone.

“Master, please don’t say such things.” Jiang Qingyi shook her head. “If you hadn’t blocked that Nascent Soul realm assassin three days ago, this disciple would have long since perished.”

Xiao Mo smiled. “A master protecting his disciple—isn’t that only natural?”

Jiang Qingyi’s eyes curved into crescents. “Then, for this disciple to protect Master at a critical moment, isn’t that also only right and proper?”

“You…” Xiao Mo sighed softly. “As long as you don’t mind me being a burden to you, that is enough.”

Jiang Qingyi frowned and pouted. “Master, if you say things like that again, this disciple will really be angry!”

“Alright, alright, then Master won’t say it.” Xiao Mo stood up. “Let’s keep moving. More people from the Blood Butterfly Pavilion will be here soon.”

“Understood, Master.”

Jiang Qingyi helped her master stand and walked out of the cave.

Outside the cave stood a wild Lushu horse, a creature with the bloodline of the mythical Lushu.

Jiang Qingyi had encountered this horse ten days ago; after giving it a beating, she had tamed it, just in time to serve as a mount for her master.

In truth, a Lushu horse was not as fast as a Golden Core realm cultivator flying.

Furthermore, different terrains affected the horse’s speed.

But there was no other choice.

Her master’s injuries were worsening, and he could no longer sustain long-term flight.

“Giddy-up!”

After helping her master onto the Lushu horse, Jiang Qingyi swung herself up behind him.

Jiang Qingyi held the reins, cradling her frail master in her arms.

At the beginning, when the two of them rode the same horse, Jiang Qingyi had been happy but also a bit embarrassed, her mind wandering in all sorts of directions.

However, after some time—especially as the number of assassins increased and their situation became more perilous—Jiang Qingyi no longer had such thoughts.

She only wanted to take her master and escape the pursuit.

As it stood, the Ten Thousand Laws World was certainly no longer safe.

Therefore, Jiang Qingyi wanted to take her master and flee to the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom!

Once they reached the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom, even the Blood Butterfly Pavilion would not be able to track them down.

Once her own cultivation realm was higher, she would return and slaughter the Blood Butterfly Pavilion from top to bottom!

As for whether they could successfully escape to the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom, Jiang Qingyi was quite confident.

But Xiao Mo did not think so.

The Blood Butterfly Pavilion were not fools; they surely knew he intended to go to the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom.

Furthermore, after the previous battles—especially the clash with the Nascent Soul realm cultivator—his body was failing him more and more.

Every time he struck, every time he was wounded, it was like another heavy hammer blow to his broken body.

Forget thirty years; at this rate, Xiao Mo felt he wouldn’t live another year.

*How many more times can I strike?* Xiao Mo thought to himself. *It seems that plan must be moved forward.*

Two more months passed.

Xiao Mo and Jiang Qingyi encountered more and more assassins.

The Blood Butterfly Pavilion had completely mastered the whereabouts of Xiao Mo and Jiang Qingyi.

It wasn’t just Xiao Mo’s body that was failing; Jiang Qingyi had also sustained significant injuries.

The two were now at most thirty days away from the border between the Ten Thousand Laws World and the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom.

Jiang Qingyi’s eyes were filled with hope.

But Xiao Mo knew his own body all too well.

The only reason he was still alive was that he had one last thing left to do, and he was holding onto his final breath for it.

Now that they were getting closer to the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom, it was about time for him to end this life.

At the foot of Black Wind Mountain.

Jiang Qingyi was speeding along a shortcut toward the border with her master.

Suddenly, both Jiang Qingyi and Xiao Mo felt their spirits tighten, and they leaped into the air simultaneously.

The next moment, a long spear pierced down like a meteor.

The Lushu horse was violently pinned to the ground, breathing its last.

A man in the Nascent Soul realm, wearing a tiger mask, stood with his hands behind his back on the shaft of the spear. A breeze blew through his robes, which were embroidered with a blood-colored butterfly.

Immediately following, seven Blood Butterfly Pavilion cultivators rushed out: three in the Dragon Gate realm and four in the Golden Core realm.

“Young Master, it’s been a long time.”

A man in green robes stepped out. He held a fan and looked like a scholar, appearing quite refined.

But in Xiao Mo’s eyes, he was nothing more than a beast in human clothing.

The man in green was named Sun Jin, one of the advisors to Prince Xiao of the Liang Kingdom. Not only was he vicious and calculating, but he was also cowardly and greedy for life, lacking even a shred of a scholar’s integrity.

Xiao Mo despised him most of all.

“Did you come here seeking death?” Xiao Mo asked.

“Hehehehe.” Sun Jin chuckled. “Not at all. I came here to take your head and hers back with me.”

After speaking, Sun Jin looked at Jiang Qingyi. “I never expected that the little girl from back then would not only grow into such a beauty but also reach such a realm. Truly rare. All of this is thanks to you, Young Master.”

“Cough, cough… enough nonsense. If you want to kill, just come.” Xiao Mo coughed several times, his longsword vibrating with a hum.

“Kill them!”

The masked man waved his hand.

The Blood Butterfly Pavilion assassins vanished from their spots in an instant.

The moment they reappeared, cold light was already shimmering before Jiang Qingyi.

Xiao Mo stepped forward, wanting to help his disciple.

However, the masked man held his spear and thrust it toward Xiao Mo.

Xiao Mo’s Grass-Character Sword Art transformed into nine strands of sword qi, nine invisible longswords stabbing toward the man’s vital points.

But the masked man was able to disperse Xiao Mo’s sword qi every single time.

Xiao Mo flew up, and the masked man followed closely.

Grass-Character Sword Art—Rain Beating on Plantain Leaves.

The sword qi around Xiao Mo condensed continuously; the white clouds in the sky were shredded by the qi, turning into countless longswords.

“Fall!”

Hundreds of swords formed from white clouds pierced toward the masked man.

Xiao Mo also personally engaged in close-quarters combat, his sword speed fast and dense, like a sudden downpour beating on plantain leaves, producing a continuous, crisp sound of clashing metal.

“Good sword technique, sharp sword qi, profound sword intent. You might have been able to step into the Immortal realm, but what a pity—how did your foundation get damaged to this extent?” The masked man sighed with regret.

The next instant, the silver spear pointed straight at Xiao Mo’s heart.

Xiao Mo’s spirit tightened, and he blocked with his sword held horizontally.

The immense force slammed into the blade, driving it back into Xiao Mo’s chest.

“Boom!”

Like a cannonball, Xiao Mo was smashed into the peak of a mountain.

The peak was shattered, and massive boulders tumbled down.

“Master!”

Jiang Qingyi, surrounded by enemies, was frantic with worry and wanted to help her master, but the other Blood Butterfly Pavilion disciples blocked her path.

“Move!”

Jiang Qingyi gripped her longsword tightly, her eyes full of rage.

“Move?” Sun Jin smiled. “Miss Jiang, you will die here today. Actually, this is for the best. Dying without knowing anything is the Prince’s final mercy to you and the Young Master.”

“What kind of bullshit are you spouting!”

She took a step forward, the properties of her Profound Frost longsword merging with her sword qi.

Frost covered everything within a one-mile radius centered on the girl.

With a single thrust, the girl’s frost-cold sword intent, carrying the sharpness of the Grass-Character Sword Art, pierced through the heart of a Dragon Gate realm disciple!

On the other side of the battlefield, the masked man knew Xiao Mo was not dead.

He descended, thrusting his spear downward.

Xiao Mo stood up, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth.

His sword momentum was like wind blowing across a prairie—continuous and unending. It appeared soft but contained resilience, deflecting force, neutralizing power, and borrowing strength to strike back. The sword light formed a phantom of swaying grass.

After being knocked back by Xiao Mo’s sword, the masked man drove his spear into the ground.

The spear carved a hundred-meter trench into the soil until the masked man’s back hit a tree, bringing him to a halt.

The mask on his face had shattered.

The masked man simply discarded the mask and spat out a mouthful of blood.

He hadn’t expected that this cultivator, who was like a candle in the wind, still possessed such strength. He was truly formidable.

But he had to die here today.

The next instant, the masked man’s spiritual power surged, and his spear erupted with cold light.

This was his final move.

As he thrust the spear, the momentum around it transformed into a long dragon.

“Roar!”

The dragon let out a furious roar, pouncing toward Xiao Mo.

Xiao Mo watched the spear calmly, took a deep breath, and used his sword bones to drive his spiritual meridians.

Xiao Mo’s sword qi climbed step by step. The masked man felt as if countless tiny swords were pricking his lungs with every breath he took!

He swung his sword, and the sword qi transformed into a sword stele, blocking the path before him.

“Dong!”

The spear struck the stele and could not advance an inch.

The next instant, the masked man only felt a figure drift past him.

When he looked down, a large hole had been pierced through his heart.

Xiao Mo stood behind the masked man and flicked his wrist, shaking the blood from his sword onto a tree.

The masked man fell forward, silent and still.

“Cough, cough, cough, cough…”

Xiao Mo coughed violently, his face turning paler and paler as he gasped for air.

“Qingyi…” Xiao Mo wiped his mouth and flew toward his disciple.

At the same time, Jiang Qingyi swung her sword, decapitating the last Blood Butterfly Pavilion disciple.

Sun Jin, standing to the side, looked ghastly.

In Sun Jin’s view, Jiang Qingyi should have been dead for sure.

But he hadn’t expected her strength to be so exaggerated; she was invincible among her peers, and even a Nascent Soul realm cultivator had to expend great effort to kill her.

Sun Jin felt a sense of dread and wanted to flee.

But how could Jiang Qingyi let him leave alive?

Jiang Qingyi chanted a sword mantra, and the ice sculptures of the grass on the ground shattered instantly.

They transformed into chains of profound ice, binding Sun Jin.

Jiang Qingyi pulled with her hand in the void, and Sun Jin was slammed directly into the ground.

Sun Jin threw his fan.

Two ink-colored tigers leaped out from the fan.

Taking advantage of the ink tigers stalling her, Sun Jin turned to run.

But before he had taken a few steps, the two ink tigers were pierced through by ice spikes and melted into ink on the ground.

Jiang Qingyi flew forward, thrusting her sword toward his back. Sun Jin turned and tried to block the tip with his fan.

Sun Jin was sent skipping across the ice like a stone, finally crashing into a tree.

When Sun Jin scrambled up, Jiang Qingyi’s longsword was already pointed at his throat.

Looking at Jiang Qingyi’s cold eyes, Sun Jin begged for mercy: “Fairy, spare me! Fairy, please spare me!”

“Answer my question! Answer well, and I will spare you!” Jiang Qingyi said coldly.

“Fairy, please speak! This one will tell you everything I know, without holding anything back!” Sun Jin was pale with fright, having completely forgotten his arrogant demeanor from moments ago.

Looking at such a person, Jiang Qingyi felt that killing him would only dirty her sword.

“Who wants to kill my master!” Jiang Qingyi asked coldly.

Jiang Qingyi had always been curious about who her master had offended to be hunted to the ends of the earth.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t asked, but her master had always remained silent.

“This…” Sun Jin looked troubled, hesitating.

“Speak!” Jiang Qingyi sliced off one of his arms with her sword.

“Ah!” Sun Jin screamed, clutching his severed arm. “I’ll speak! I’ll speak! It’s Prince Xiao who wants to kill your master!”

“What Prince Xiao? What grudge does he have against my master!”

“Prince Xiao is the Prince Xiao Jing of the Liang Kingdom, and your master is his son. Actually, the Prince doesn’t just want to kill Xiao Mo; he wants to kill you, too.

Do you remember when you were four years old, your parents were killed, and you were taken to a room?

That was the Prince’s doing. Because you were born with the Innate Sword Bone, the Prince had people take you away to transplant the sword bone into Xiao Mo!

Your parents refused, so they were naturally killed on the spot.”

“You… what did you say…” Jiang Qingyi felt as if she had been struck by lightning. Her face turned pale, her pupils trembled, and the longsword in her hand fell to the ground.

Sun Jin’s other hand secretly gripped a hidden weapon behind his back as he continued: “You heard me right. It was your master’s father who killed your parents.

You could have become a world-renowned Sword Immortal, but your master transplanted your sword bone!

The fact that your master could enter the Nascent Soul realm at eighteen is entirely because of your sword bone.

It was the two of them, father and son, who destroyed your family and stole your entire life.”

[Explanation of the realms

Lower Three Realms: Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Cave Abode.

Middle Three Realms: Dragon Gate, Golden Core, Nascent Soul.

Upper Three Realms: Jade Purity, Immortal, Ascension.]

(End of chapter)