Chapter 205: The Settling of Debts

Blue fox fire suddenly erupted, and the surrounding buildings began to be incinerated.
Xiu Qingcheng walked down the streets that were usually bustling with people but were now deserted, letting out a sigh as she watched the structures being slowly devoured by flames.
This was perhaps the worst catastrophe Yelan City had faced since the time of Xie Yuguang.
And such a calamity was being perpetrated by the former young hero who was now praised and sung of by everyone.

Xiu Qingcheng instinctively glanced beside her, only to realize with a start that Meng Yingxing was not with her.
She suddenly felt that this was all quite boring, and her originally straight shoulders slumped slightly.
With her disciple not by her side, Xiu Qingcheng truly felt unaccustomed to it, and she even found it hard to muster any interest.
She almost wanted to leave the scene right then; in history, so many cities had been destroyed, so one more Yelan City wouldn’t matter much.
It was simply a fated tribulation for a city.

Unfortunately, just as Xiu Qingcheng was calculating in her heart to wash her hands of the matter, she arrived at the very center of the demonic energy and fox fire.
Qingqiu Zhaoying stood there, nine fox tails carrying green flames fanned out behind him in an exaggerated, massive display.
He held a red sword in his hand, letting it hang loosely; droplets of fresh, bright red blood were sliding down the blade and dripping onto the ground.
And on the long street behind Qingqiu Zhaoying, several corpses lay scattered in disarray.

Xiu Qingcheng finally dug out the memory of this red sword from her mind; it was the sword Xie Yuguang had always used before she took up the Ting Tian Sword, named Xiangyang.
It was a gift Xie Zhaoying had once given to Xie Yuguang, and now it was in Qingqiu Zhaoying’s hands.
‘What? By holding this sword, do you intend to never forget Xie Yuguang throughout the long passage of time?’

If the former master of the Xiangyang Sword were to see Qingqiu Zhaoying’s current conduct, she likely would have killed him during one of their countless sparring matches back then.
Xiu Qingcheng slowly came to a halt, opening the five fingers of her right hand at her side to manifest a replica of the Ting Tian Sword in her palm.

“Qingqiu Zhaoying, do you know what you are doing?”
She tilted her pointed chin up slightly, watching as Qingqiu Zhaoying slowly turned around.
His demonic eyes were sharp, and the killing intent within them was manifest.

“Of course I know what I am doing.”
“I also knew you would definitely come back, Demon Sword Duan Li.”

Xiu Qingcheng knit her brows in displeasure; she truly disliked the name Demon Sword Duan Li, and she sensed a familiar, nauseating aura emanating from Qingqiu Zhaoying.

“What if I didn’t come back?”
Xiu Qingcheng was inherently rebellious; she wanted to know what Zhaoying would do if she didn’t return.

“I have set the city ablaze with fox fire to reach the heavens; you wouldn’t be able to leave.”

“You think some sparks released by a little fox can stop me?”

“Then you still came back.”

“If it weren’t for the sake of knowing Xie Yuguang, I wouldn’t bother with this city.”
Saying this, Xiu Qingcheng’s cold eyes stared directly at Qingqiu Zhaoying.
“Even I, a demon sword, am thinking of helping her protect this city once. And what about you? Her most trusted companion, the young hero?”
“Yet you burn the city with fire, seeking to destroy the very Yelan City that Xie Yuguang protected with her life so it could endure to this day.”

Faced with Xiu Qingcheng’s interrogation, Qingqiu Zhaoying’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down involuntarily.

“Everyone in this city deserves to die.”
“It was them who killed Yuguang back then.”
“To protect them, Xie Yuguang did not hesitate to use the Demon Sword Duan Li, and her own consciousness was slowly taken away by the sword.”

“Until a few times, she failed to hold on and wounded other City Guards, and those people began to panic.”
“Then there were the civilians; the rumors of the demon sword turning her into a monster fermented, and those people also began to feel panic and fear.”

“In the end, because they were afraid Xie Yuguang would become a madwoman, they actually spoke the words ‘General, please go to your death’ to her while she was still lucid.”
“They could never remember the good she did, yet they remembered her one mistake instantly. How ridiculous.”

Qingqiu Zhaoying spoke with a calm face, firelight dancing in his demonic eyes.
“Xie Yuguang spent her life protecting these people, making them feel it was only natural, yet the moment she stepped out of line, she became a disaster in their eyes.”

“Even until now, they let her be branded with the title of a witch and spread it through Yelan City… those storytellers who distort facts deserve to die.”

‘So it was you who killed those storytellers who died mysteriously these past few nights?’
Hearing Zhaoying’s words, Xiu Qingcheng immediately realized the truth.
No wonder no one was killed these past few nights; her seal had blocked his power, so how could he commit evil?

Qingqiu Zhaoying continued: “If it hadn’t been for that one sentence they said, based on my understanding of Xie Yuguang, it would have been absolutely impossible for her to commit suicide so easily!”
His voice rose a few notches, his fists clenching tightly as if the scene of Xie Yuguang taking her own life was vividly before his eyes.

“The people of Yelan City back then were in the wrong, so why didn’t you act then? Why wait until now to settle the score?”
Xiu Qingcheng asked.

“Perhaps back then I thought I could let it go, or perhaps it was because I didn’t possess such formidable power back then.”
“The people of that time were sinners, and the bloodlines they passed down cannot wash away this legacy of sinful blood.”
“Now is the time for them to pay the price for everything that happened.”
“They deserve to die.”

Hearing this, Xiu Qingcheng pursed her lips.
“They deserve to die!”

The fox demon before her had undoubtedly fallen into an inescapable obsession since those years, and now, that obsession had accumulated day by day, finally exploding.
But whether it be demon or human, they were sometimes just this unreasonable.

Qingqiu Zhaoying took a step forward, the Xiangyang Sword in his hand pointing at Xiu Qingcheng.
“And Demon Sword Duan Li—you, likewise, deserve to die.”
Qingqiu Zhaoying spoke in a low voice, an eerie purple light rising in his demonic eyes.

“Enticing Xie Yuguang to fall into the demonic path, so much so that she finally had to listen to those people and find release through death—”
“And now you even dare to use the Blood Kong Flower meant for her memorial—”

So Xiu Qingcheng now knew exactly what Zhaoying was here for.
He was here for a reckoning!

“Fine, a reckoning! I’ll see who can out-reckon whom!”
“I will destroy you, using your destruction as a sacrifice for Xie Yuguang, so that there will never be another pitiable person like her again!”
Qingqiu Zhaoying roared, lunging at Xiu Qingcheng with his sword, surrounded by countless fox spirits and fire.

Xiu Qingcheng’s gaze turned sharp as she gracefully swung her sword to release several arcs of sword qi, shredding the fox spirits and fire to pieces.

Then, with a turn of her blade, she parried Zhaoying’s downward strike.

Two powerful forces collided, stirring up violent gusts of wind.
The moment she blocked his strike, the ground beneath her feet cracked inch by inch.

After a brief deadlock, Qingqiu Zhaoying swung his longsword at an exaggerated speed, unleashing a dozen sword moves toward Xiu Qingcheng in the blink of an eye.
This naturally put no pressure on Xiu Qingcheng; her expression didn’t even change as she blocked all of Zhaoying’s strikes.

However, her heart sank slightly.
Qingqiu Zhaoying’s current power was on a completely different level compared to their previous two encounters.

‘Where did he get this power from?’
Blades clashed against blades, and the sound of swords and wind spread outward; the mere aftershocks of the battle shredded the houses burning in the fox fire into fragments.

“You still want to take me from Meng Yingxing’s hands. Why didn’t you act while we were at the Shen residence, but instead blocked us as we were leaving!?”

“Naturally, it was to kill a few more people first, and then… find an opportunity to destroy you!”

“Absurd! You think you can do it!?”
Xiu Qingcheng sneered, her sword moves coming in rapid succession, showing no mercy whatsoever.

A little fox who had just obtained a bit of power from somewhere—who knows where he got the confidence to think he could destroy her in her full state?
Who gave him the courage? Xie Yuguang?

In Xiu Qingcheng’s view, even if Xie Yuguang were here, she would have to join her in hacking this Qingqiu Zhaoying down.
In her eyes, the current Qingqiu Zhaoying was simply a brat throwing a vicious tantrum because he felt wronged.

“Even with the same sword moves, there is a gap in skill. Qingqiu Zhaoying, you haven’t truly learned the Gu Sha Sword created by Xie Yuguang.”
Xiu Qingcheng spoke coldly as the two clashed using the same Gu Sha Sword style.
Zhaoying was easily forced back by two of her graceful strikes, a massive bloody gash appearing on his chest.
“The Gu Sha Sword is not for killing enemies, but for protection. Have you forgotten!?”

Qingqiu Zhaoying braced himself with his sword and stood up, sweeping waves of fox fire toward her.
“Protection? I have nothing left to protect! Sword Spirit, you speak so grandly, but what exactly are you protecting!?”

Xiu Qingcheng easily tore through the waves of fox fire, facing Qingqiu Zhaoying across the flames from a distance.
“Me now? Right now, I have to protect that little disciple of mine forever, and then incidentally… help Xie Yuguang protect her city for a bit. Are you satisfied with that answer?”

Xiu Qingcheng swung her sword to swirl the fox fire, thrusting her blade toward Zhaoying with staggering heat as their swords collided once more.
They stared at each other; Xiu Qingcheng was expressionless, while cold sweat began to fall from Zhaoying’s face.
The hand holding his sword against her attack began to tremble slightly.

Qingqiu Zhaoying had originally thought that by making a deal with Duguang and obtaining even greater power, he would be able to defeat the sword spirit before him.
Yet he hadn’t expected the sword spirit’s power to still be this bottomless.
Even as a stronger version of himself, he was still not a worthy opponent for her.

With overbearing power, Xiu Qingcheng forced Zhaoying back step by step with one strike after another.
More and more deep, bone-deep wounds appeared on his body.
With a final strike that seemed to split the heavens and earth, she sent Zhaoying flying dozens of meters.
He crashed into and collapsed a house that was already fragile from the flames.
Rubbish and stones fell, burying him.

Xiu Qingcheng raised her sword and walked toward him step by step, her gaze cold.
“Qingqiu Zhaoying, you have disappointed her.”

Zhaoying pushed aside the debris, coughing up thick blood, his gaze stubborn.
“Cough… I like that phrase your disciple said—”
“He doesn’t care about what happens to Yelan City.”
“The same goes for me. I only want to avenge her.”

Xiu Qingcheng’s gaze grew even colder as she lunged at the unreasonable fox demon.
Suddenly, an eerie purple light appeared before Qingqiu Zhaoying—

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