Chapter 19: Gu Chang’an’s Intervention

The entire Myriad Beast Valley lay in a deathly silence, like a colossal tomb.

Li Wuxia stood there silently, her feet resting near the desiccated remains of a demon beast, its flesh and blood utterly drained. Behind her, Shen Zhaoqing wore a face etched with shock, while Gu Chang’an’s brow was deeply furrowed.

Her pale, delicate face no longer held a trace of its former fragility. Instead, her ink-blue pupils harbored a bottomless, heart-stopping fanaticism.

Shen Zhaoqing gazed at Li Wuxia’s slender yet incredibly resolute back, her throat suddenly dry.

She could distinctly sense the power emanating from Li Wuxia—a frigid, malicious force, brimming with an evil intent that devoured all vitality.

Yet, she also vividly recalled the peach blossom pastries Junior Sister Wuxia had brought her when she was trapped, and the wine she had secretly fetched from down the mountain.

Compared to Shen Zhaoqing’s internal turmoil, Gu Chang’an’s shock was far more unadulterated.

‘The demonic cultivation technique Li Wuxia wielded was of the most profound and sinister kind.’

‘How could an outer disciple possibly possess such a skill?’

Gu Chang’an’s brows knitted tightly. Her grip on the Frostbright Sword instinctively tightened by another fraction, and her gaze towards Li Wuxia was filled with both wariness and scrutiny.

However, this wariness grew complicated the moment she saw Li Wuxia resolutely shield Shen Zhaoqing.

‘No matter who she was, no matter what cultivation technique she practiced, at this very moment, she was protecting Shen Zhaoqing.’

Upon the high platform, Ning Jihe’s expression had surpassed mere displeasure.

“Evil sorcery! Demonic arts!”

Her icy voice echoed through the heavens.

“Li Wuxia, as a disciple of Qingyun, you have secretly cultivated wicked demonic arts and harmed fellow disciples. Your crime is unforgivable!”

“Shen Zhaoqing, you consorted with this fiend day and night, harboring and indulging her. You shall be punished with the same severity!”

‘Good heavens, what a grand and sweeping accusation—a package deal for two!’

Shen Zhaoqing, listening from behind, could only roll her eyes.

‘True, but I was just a lowly cleaner back then! How was I supposed to know that the poor little thing I picked up was actually a demonic sect’s enchantress?!’

However, Ning Jihe clearly had no intention of granting them any opportunity to explain themselves.

A cold glint flashed in her eyes. The ‘Qinglu Heart Lock Array,’ originally intended merely to catalyze the beast tide, completely altered its operational mode at that very instant!

“In my name, I exercise the authority of enforcement!”

“Qinglu: Suppress Evil!”

Ning Jihe joined her fingers like a sword, pointing them into the air!

“Ohm—!!!”

The array’s light across the entire Myriad Beast Valley instantly shifted from silvery-white to an ominous iron-blue. The power to ‘discipline’ all things grew heavier, more substantial, no longer luring, but suppressing.

The very air seemed to solidify into an iron plate, pressing down heavily on everyone. Disciples of lesser strength were even forced to their knees by this immense pressure, utterly unable to move.

The core of this power, however, precisely locked onto two individuals.

Li Wuxia, and Shen Zhaoqing, whom she shielded behind her.

Countless visible, iron-blue chains, condensed from the array’s power, materialized out of thin air. Like spectral hands reaching from the depths of hell, they lunged towards the two, coiling around them from all directions with a grating ‘clatter!’

Each chain was inscribed with dense, intricate sectarian rules and precepts, radiating an unyielding, irrefutable will that brooked no defiance!

This was one of the Enforcement Hall’s most potent restrictive techniques: ‘Lock Breath’ and ‘Lock Steps’ from the Three Heart Locks. Once ensnared, one’s true essence would be instantly sealed, rendering them utterly helpless!

Li Wuxia gazed at the overwhelming torrent of disciplinary chains, her face devoid of fear. Instead, a sneer of derision curved her lips.

The crimson threads around her body surged violently, blossoming like a hellish flower nourished by venom and blood. They lunged fiercely, entangling the myriad chains in a desperate struggle!

“Hiss, hiss, hiss—!”

The crimson threads and the chains clashed violently in mid-air!

The blood threads were continuously purified and dissolved by the power of the precepts, turning into wisps of green smoke. Meanwhile, the chains were corroded by the bone-eating venom, becoming pitted and dull, their spiritual light fading.

For a moment, they were locked in a stalemate!

A flicker of surprise crossed Ning Jihe’s eyes.

‘The sheer dominance of this demonic art surpassed her wildest imagination.’

‘But that was all it amounted to.’

“A mere speck of rice dares to act so brazenly here?”

She let out a cold snort, and her incantation changed once more!

“Qinglu: Heart Lock!”

The ultimate killing move was unleashed with fierce resolve!

The invisible power of the array no longer targeted their physical bodies. Instead, it transformed into countless unseen, icy steel needles, piercing through all defenses to directly stab into the spiritual seas of Li Wuxia and Shen Zhaoqing!

This was a direct assault on their souls!

Shen Zhaoqing felt her head ‘buzz’ as if struck hard by a sledgehammer. Her vision blurred, and she nearly fainted on the spot.

A cold, piercing pain, originating from the depths of her soul, forcibly ‘disciplined’ her, making her let out an involuntary groan.

Li Wuxia, bearing the brunt of the attack, trembled violently, a trickle of blood escaping the corner of her lips.

The defense woven from blood threads could withstand physical and energy attacks, but it was powerless against this invisible lock that struck directly at the mind!

Li Wuxia’s gaze grew unfocused.

Evidently, with her Foundation Establishment cultivation, directly resisting a sect’s grand array wielded by a late-stage Void Refinement realm expert was far too strenuous.

The myriad chains seemed poised to break through the blood thread defense, ready to completely suppress both of them.

Just then—

“Zheng—!!!” A sword cried out.

A frost-white sword light, as if hailing from an ancient ice plain, traversed space, precisely cleaving the juncture where the myriad chains and blood threads met!

“Enough, Ning Jihe.”

Gu Chang’an’s voice was so cold it seemed capable of freezing souls.

She had finally made her move.

Gu Chang’an stepped forward, positioning herself in front of Li Wuxia and Shen Zhaoqing. The Frostbright Sword in her hand pointed diagonally towards the sky, its blade exhaling a chilling, heart-stopping sword intent.

The frost-white sword light transformed into a colossal wall of sword qi, spanning heaven and earth, forcefully isolating Ning Jihe’s array power!

“Gu Chang’an!”

Ning Jihe’s voice finally carried a hint of fury. “Are you truly going to oppose me and defy the sect’s rules for an unknown menial disciple and a demonic enchantress?!”

Gu Chang’an offered no reply.

She merely used her actions to declare her stance.

“Ten Thousand Miles of Sky Frost!”

Her Sword Domain unfolded without reservation!

A frost-white domain, vaster and more solidified than before, erupted outwards with her at its center!

“Boom—!!!”

Two utterly distinct domain powers collided with immense force!

The entire Myriad Beast Valley trembled violently in response!

Under the crushing pressure of these two terrifying forces, space itself groaned in protest, and even hairline cracks began to appear.

Upon the high platform, Ning Jihe abruptly rose, her eyes blazing with incredulous fury.

She and Gu Chang’an, both cultivating the ‘Supreme Emotionless Sword Art’ and hailing from the same master, should have been Qingyun Sect’s most unshakeable twin pillars of enforcement.

Yet now, their swords, their very paths, were aimed at each other.

All for the sake of… Shen Zhaoqing.

“Good, good indeed, Gu Chang’an!”

Ning Jihe, her fury twisting into a laugh, declared, “Today, I shall cleanse the sect in Master’s stead!”

She formed hand seals, and the Edict Plate before her blazed with intense light. The entire Qinglu Heart Lock Array’s power, pushed to its absolute limit, transformed into a colossal sword composed of countless disciplinary runes, which she brought down fiercely upon Gu Chang’an’s Sword Domain!