The blade that was dark as the night blended into the night. Even though it was giving off black light that represented death, one could only pick up a small difference in the air. Like drawing with black in on a piece of black paper, regardless of however amazing the painter was, the end product would be blurry and barely noticeable.
The eight color sword aura had clear colors, and they were more brilliant than the pale moonlight. They spun around the Blood Dissipating Sword. As the eight colors crossed each other’s path, it seemed as though the Shui, Huo, Feng, and Lei were emanating, and the Tian, Di, Shan, and Ze followed. It was hard to tell what took shape and what had not, and the blade stopped short of three inches from Shen Lian’s brows and could not inch forward.
The eight color sword aura was incessant, and they shielded Shen Lian away from the blade that was dark as the night. Just like the line of ray before the break of dawn, it isolated the darkness from the light.
The Blood Dissipating Sword shivered, and it still could not break out of the bond of the eight color sword aura. It was like a trapped beast.
This was a true battle of Mana, and there was no room for falsification between life and death. Xiao Shiyi finally realized that there was a great distance between him and Shen Lian. He wondered why the person told him that he was ready to challenge Shen Lian.
The person had never lied to him before, and Shen Lian was his demonic obstacle, which was why he came without hesitation tonight.
The blade stopped mid-air. It was silent like the cold night, and the grounds and cliff were covered with white snow. Light glistened on the surface; it could have been the moonlight or the starlight. The natural light flew like water, and the snow was akin to silver.
However, the water-like light and thick snow around Shen Lian started vibrating with Shen Lian as the nucleus. The vibration got more and more intense.
Shen Lian absorbed the Qi of heaven and earth. He had never given off such a huge amount of Mana before. The spiral formed by the Taixu Divine Qi within him started spinning tens and hundreds of times faster than before. At the same time, his echo with the Qi of heaven and earth got a lot stronger, and he had never done such things before.
For the past ten over years, Xiao Shiyi had never experienced fear before. In fact, he did not even remember how fear felt. He thought that he would never be scared anymore – what a silly emotion that was! Now, he realized how ridiculous he was. His fearlessness was based on the Blood Dissipating Sword. The moment he lost it or it stopped functioning, he would be nothing.
Mana, instrument, and supernatural powers, these were all merely possessions. Only one’s strong will and determination to pursue Dao could last from the beginning of life till the end, and could never be taken away by anyone.
Shen Lian was aware of this, but not Xiao Shiyi.
Shen Lian’s agile spirit could sense Xiao Shiyi’s fear. When he harbored fear and started doubting the Blood Dissipating Sword, he created an opening for Shen Lian. However, it was not possible to make use of every opening, and in fact, if the opponent was Xiao Shiyi, Shen Lian did not even need an opening.
Right now, Shen Lian was faced with another difficulty. As the Qi of heaven and earth gathered and made Shen Lian felt as though he could not disappoint it, his will remained still as it operated the Qi that was about to explode. With the Taixu Divine Qi within him as the trigger, he echoed with the Qi of heaven and earth strongly. Even he himself was surprised by this.
This was the first time he felt as though he did not have what it took to succeed.
The emotion was akin to the river being overloaded with a giant ship. Even though the river was wide enough, but it was not sufficient to handle such a huge ship and could not allow for it to sail freely.
Shen Lian’s momentary pause gave Xiao Shiyi the opportunity to recoup. He had a gruesome expression on his face as he came to a decision. He clawed at his heart and fished out his heart. It was covered with blood, and blood was still oozing out everywhere. In the end, he sent the beating heart into the Blood Dissipating Sword. The blade as dark as the night consumed it mercilessly, and a shade of red that resembled the quarter moon appeared.
The blood light was so strong that it dispersed the eight color sword aura. Right after, it attacked Shen Lian with a perfect arc.
The bloody sword gleam was closing up to Shen Lian, and eventually, it struck him between his brows. Strange occurrences started to take place in the void. The raging Qi of heaven and earth crashed at the Blood Dissipating Sword. The unstoppable Qi of Vitality rendered all spells meaningless. Xiao Shiyi’s body headed towards the air, and the Blood Dissipating Sword trailed after. The close connection shared by the two seemed to be beyond just any usual instrument cultivated with one’s heart.
The explosion of the Qi of Vitality took on different colors following the eight Qi of Taixu, and it seemed like a divine work.
It was as though a giant lotus had bloomed, and vibrated through a huge, unknown radius.
Shen Lian did not have time for those. His body was affected by the vibration, but he kept it under control forcefully.
Dealing with Xiao Shiyi came second because he was extremely easy to deal with. He explored the limit of the echo between the Taixu Divine Qi and the Qi of heaven and earth and realized how strong the move was. What a shame that he needed more time, as he would not be able to unleash this move unless he was faced with cultivators with strong determination and unaffected by their surroundings.
On the snow ground, the Blood Dissipating Sword was right next to Xiao Shiyi. The blade that was as dark as the night still had hints of red on it.
There was a bloody hole on Xiao Shiyi’s chest, and it was a miracle that he was still alive and breathing. Perhaps it would be more accurate to describe him as barely alive.
Shen Lian did not pity him for his current predicament.
Shen Lian took the Blood Dissipating Sword with no emotion on his face. He felt its power rushing through and rolled forward like the tides. It made him think that if he were to take over the Blood Dissipating Sword and be at its disposable, he would be an existence akin to the deities.
With the Blood Dissipating Sword in his hand, Shen Lian struck at Xiao Shiyi. He did not split into half, instead, he turned into a pool of blood water. In the end, he was absorbed by the blade. Only his blood-stained outfit was left behind.
His outfit was stained with the blood of all the members of the Xiao family, and now it was stained with his own blood. Shen Lian ignited a flame and burnt the bloody outfit. As he did so, he wished for the sin to be disappeared from the world.
From the last remaining flame, a hint of blood fell onto Shen Lian without a sound. It was the resentment of the living creatures that were killed. Shen Lian felt something tugged at his heart, but he had not noticed the hint of blood yet.
Shen Lian stared at the Blood Dissipating Sword he now held in his hands; it was nourished by the Qi and blood of countless humans and demons, and Shen Lian could feel the spiritual force within it. He could also sense the friendliness shown by the Blood Dissipating Sword.
Some people claimed that there was neither righteousness nor evilness when Dao techniques were concerned, and whether it was righteous or evil depended on its user. However, any cultivator with a determined heart and morals would not resort to this sort of instrument.
Shen Lian did not try to console himself, and he was not about to just dispose of it casually. He did not want to risk having it fall into the wrong hands. He had plans for it.
Since Xiao Shiyi’s Qi and blood was contained in the Blood Dissipating Sword, he decided that he would offer it up to the word, “Yuan” as a sacrificial offering.
