Chapter 18: The Poison Cultivator’s Revelation

“Gu Chang’an, I will ask you one more time: do you admit your guilt?”

Finally, Gu Chang’an responded.

Slowly, she lifted her head. Her apricot-shaped eyes, like frigid stars, seemed to pierce through the spatial barrier, fixing directly on the figure seated upon the ice throne on the high platform.

“I only know that no one may touch those under my sword.”

Her voice was not loud, yet it resonated like the clash of metal and stone—clear, resolute, each word carrying undeniable weight.

Upon the high platform, Ning Jihe’s expression had turned so frigid that it seemed ice shards might fall from her face.

Her fingers, resting on the armrest of the throne, were subtly pale from the force she exerted.

‘What a “person under her sword”.’

‘Gu Chang’an, for her sake, are you truly willing to abandon your sword dao, even the sect’s rules?’

“Good, very good.”

All emotion vanished from Ning Jihe’s voice, leaving only pure, unadulterated coldness. “Since you refuse to see reason, then do not blame me for acting according to sect rules!”

The instant her words fell, she abruptly raised her hand, pressing it lightly towards the massive silver array disk before her.

Ohm—!

A dull hum echoed through the heavens and earth.

The entire Myriad Beast Valley seemed to be gripped tightly by an invisible, colossal hand!

The ‘Clear Law Heart Lock Array,’ which had already enveloped the entire area, suddenly blazed with ten times its previous intensity. The power to ‘regulate’ all things in the air grew as viscous as mercury, as heavy as a mountain.

For the demonic beasts, this power was akin to the most potent stimulant ever injected!

Roar—!!!

Howl—!!!

The fear in every beast’s eyes was instantly replaced by a hundredfold amplification of greed and savage desire.

Rumble!

The earth began to tremble.

The beast tide, which had just been repelled, surged forward once more like a breached dam, launching a desperate, thunderous charge towards the three figures by the cliff edge!

This assault was more frenzied and ferocious than any before!

“Senior Sister Gu, be careful!” Shen Zhaoqing cried out.

Gu Chang’an’s expression also grew solemn.

With a flick of her wrist, the ‘Frostbright’ sword let out a clear, resonant dragon’s cry. Streaks of substantial, frosty-white sword qi burst forth from its blade, weaving into an impenetrable net before her.

Ten Thousand Miles of Heavenly Frost!

The sword domain unfolded instantly!

Countless icy sword qi swept out like a blizzard.

The dozen or so demonic beasts at the forefront were torn into a spray of minced flesh by the fierce sword qi before they could even let out a shriek!

Blood and frost mingled in the air, severed limbs and broken arms a gruesome sight.

Yet, the beasts behind them seemed utterly oblivious to their companions’ horrific fate, still charging forward fearlessly, their flesh and blood bodies relentlessly assailing the deathly domain formed by the sword qi.

One, two, ten, a hundred…

Gu Chang’an’s sword was swift and frigid; each strike claimed several lives.

But the sheer number of demonic beasts was overwhelming!

They advanced in endless waves, one after another, seemingly inexhaustible.

Fine beads of sweat gradually began to seep from Gu Chang’an’s temples.

Though her cultivation was profound, she was ultimately only at the Void Return Realm, and her true essence was not infinite. Moreover, she had to divide her attention to protect Shen Zhaoqing behind her, making it impossible to exert her full power.

Under the beast tide’s relentless assault, the scope of her sword domain began to shrink, little by little.

Shen Zhaoqing, hidden behind, hurled countless talismans into every gap in Gu Chang’an’s spellcasting, striving for maximum assistance.

But… Shen Zhaoqing clutched the last handful of talismans.

She knew Gu Chang’an was nearing her limit.

If this continued, both of them would eventually be exhausted to death by this endless beast tide!

What could they do? What could be done?!

It was at this critical juncture that a cunning pangolin demon, having burrowed a tunnel underground to bypass the front of the sword domain, suddenly burst forth from the earth behind Gu Chang’an’s side!

Its sharp claws, covered in hard, razor-edged scales, tore through the air with a rank, blood-stinking gale, aiming straight for Shen Zhaoqing’s back!

“Watch out!”

Gu Chang’an sensed the danger and roared a warning, instinctively turning to rescue her.

However, directly in front of her, a powerful Iron-Arm Ape Demon simultaneously launched a fierce attack. Its massive fist, accompanied by a sonic boom that ripped through the air, slammed towards her face, forcing her to parry with her sword.

That split-second opening was already fatal!

As the gleaming, sharp claws were about to pierce Shen Zhaoqing’s body…

A sudden change occurred!

Black mist swirled forth, and Li Wuxia slowly lifted her head.

All fear and fragility vanished instantly from Li Wuxia’s small, pitiful face, which had been streaked with tears like pear blossoms in the rain.

In their place was a chilling, morbid tranquility.

Her ink-blue eyes, now as profound as a ten-thousand-year-old cold abyss, held no trace of light, only a desolate, icy chill.

She gazed at the pangolin demon pouncing on Shen Zhaoqing, a strange, satisfied curve forming on her lips.

“You seek death.”

Two words, softly uttered from her thin, pale lips.

Her voice was light and gentle, yet it carried a bone-chilling coldness.

The next second, her right hand shot out like lightning from her voluminous sleeve!

Without any incantation or spiritual glow, countless blood-red threads, finer than hair, burst forth from her fingertips.

Sizzle—!

The moment they appeared, the blood-red threads exuded a thick, pungent stench and a highly toxic aura.

As if alive, they wove together in the air, forming a vast, eerie blood-red spiderweb that, striking faster than anticipated, instantly enveloped the pangolin demon!

Screech—!!!

The pangolin demon let out a horrifying shriek, unlike anything a living creature should produce!

The countless blood-red threads, upon contact with its body, sizzled with a sound that grated on the teeth, like a red-hot branding iron plunged into butter.

The blood threads bit deep into its flesh, savagely devouring its vitality and essence blood.

In but a blink, the massive pangolin demon visibly shriveled and withered, before finally collapsing with a ‘thump,’ turning into a charred skeleton scattered across the ground.

One strike, instant kill!

The entire battlefield seemed to have been put on pause.

Everyone was stunned into motionless silence by this sudden, bloody, and bizarre spectacle.

This included Gu Chang’an, who had been fighting tooth and nail, the demonic beasts in their frenzied charge, and even Ning Jihe and the elders on the high platform, who had witnessed everything through the water mirror.

Incredulity was etched onto everyone’s faces.

So sinister, so ruthless!

This was absolutely not a righteous cultivation method of the Azure Cloud Sect!

What shocked them even more was the person who had unleashed such a malevolent art.

Li Wuxia?

The disciple notorious among the outer sect for being timid and weak, sickly, and constantly trailing behind Shen Zhaoqing like a small shadow?

She… she actually possessed a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation?

Shen Zhaoqing recovered her senses. The familiar, chilling, fishy scent, reminiscent of rotting water plants, was now so potent it nearly suffocated her.

So… this was the true nature of the black thread that had tripped Zhang Fan.

Her innate magical artifact, the ‘Life-Locking Blood Threads.’

In this moment, all mysteries found their answers.

She gazed at Li Wuxia’s face, still pale and sickly, yet with eyes now utterly transformed. She opened her mouth, but not a single word emerged.

Li Wuxia, however, acted as if she had simply performed the most ordinary of tasks.

She didn’t even glance back at Shen Zhaoqing.

Instead, she turned, taking slow, deliberate steps, until she stood before Shen Zhaoqing and Gu Chang’an, firmly shielding them behind her.

Countless blood-red threads, imbued with potent venom, coiled and danced around her, like venomous serpents poised to strike, exuding a terrifying, heart-stopping aura.

A Poison Cultivator.

In the cultivation world, this was an existence more feared and detested than even demonic cultivators.

They fed on potent poisons, tempered their bodies with sinister energies, and employed bizarrely cruel methods, making them public enemies of all righteous cultivators.

Li Wuxia’s true identity was, in this moment, completely exposed.

Yet, she remained utterly indifferent.

She simply stood there silently, blocking Shen Zhaoqing, her gaze coldly sweeping over the menacing demonic beasts surrounding them, then subtly flickering towards Gu Chang’an beside her, who also wore an expression of shock.

Finally, her gaze seemed to pierce through the void, settling upon Ning Jihe, who sat high above, embodying the sect’s iron laws.

Then, she smiled.

“Whoever dares to touch her,”

Her voice, amplified by true essence, clearly resonated throughout the entire valley.

“I will kill them.”