Chapter 31: Played

Chapter 31: Chapter 31: Played

The Chen Family quickly disappeared into the chaos below, leaving the City Lord Mansion behind as they made their way toward the eastern side of the city.

High above them, however, another battle was already underway.

Zhao Lianyu’s figure moved through the sky, her white robe fluttering violently as she swung her sword toward the two figures chasing after her.

Clang!

The sound of metal striking flesh echoed across the sky like a thunderclap.

Zhao Mingyuan’s body twisted unnaturally in midair, his arms bending beneath him as if he were crawling across an invisible surface.

His hands reached forward, his legs folded, and he moved through the air in a way that no human cultivator should have been able to.

Sun Qian was no different. He moved beside Zhao Mingyuan on all fours, his fingers clawing at the empty air with every motion.

His head remained tilted at an unnatural angle, and his eyes never left Zhao Lianyu’s figure.

"Hehehe, Your Excellency. You don’t seem to be faring very well against the two of us on your own."

Sun Qian laughed as his head tilted unnaturally to the side, his grotesque grin widening further.

"You can’t defeat us. You can’t even spare the time to deal with anything else while the city below us is slowly being engulfed by my kind."

"Where are your people?"

"Oh... They are busy in other places. Occupied."

Zhao Mingyuan let out a low chuckle.

Unlike Sun Qian, he did not immediately attack.

His body remained suspended in the air in a crouched position, his arms hanging beneath him as his fingers slowly curled and uncurled.

Blood continued to seep from the cracks across his pale skin, gathering around his hands before floating upward like tiny crimson beads.

His eyes remained fixed on Zhao Lianyu.

"You’re quite troublesome, Your Excellency."

His lips stretched into a smile.

"Even now, you’re still thinking about protecting the people below, aren’t you?"

Zhao Lianyu’s sword remained raised in front of her. Her eyes flickered toward the city for only an instant before returning to the two demons.

That brief movement did not escape Zhao Mingyuan.

"Ah..."

His grin widened.

"So I was right."

He suddenly dropped his body lower, his hands and feet moving against the empty air as though he were crawling along an invisible floor.

His body shot sideways, moving several meters in an instant before he stopped upside down.

"You can’t simply ignore them."

His head slowly rotated until he was looking directly at her.

"Every time one of those screams reaches your ears, you look down."

Another slow twist.

"Every time one of your fellow cultivators dies, your attention shifts."

His fingers spread apart.

"And every time another demon appears, you wonder whether you should go and save them."

The crimson droplets surrounding him began trembling. Zhao Mingyuan’s smile became almost delighted.

"How exhausting."

The blood suddenly shot toward Zhao Lianyu.

She swung her sword.

A brilliant arc of sword qi swept through the sky, shredding the crimson droplets into countless fine particles.

Boom!

The fragments scattered around her like a red mist before falling toward the city below.

Zhao Mingyuan laughed.

"That’s your weakness."

His body suddenly crawled forward through the air.

"You humans are always so concerned with protecting everything."

His right arm stretched unnaturally, the bones beneath his skin shifting as the limb extended far beyond its natural length.

"Your family."

The arm twisted around.

"Your kingdom."

His fingers bent backward.

"Your people."

The elongated arm suddenly snapped toward Zhao Lianyu.

"And your precious little sense of justice."

Zhao Lianyu’s sword flashed, and the demon’s arm was severed cleanly at the elbow in an instant. Yet Zhao Mingyuan did not even flinch.

He simply stared at the severed limb drifting away from his body before looking back at her.

"Hehehe..."

His laughter grew deeper.

"Meanwhile, we only need one thing."

Blood began pouring from the wound, not dripping downward but spreading outward through the air like countless thin crimson threads.

"Time."

The threads suddenly shot toward Zhao Lianyu from every direction like bullets.

She immediately moved.

Her figure vanished from the spot as the blood threads pierced through the space where she had been. They twisted around one another, forming a dense web that stretched across the sky.

Zhao Mingyuan watched her emerge several dozen meters away.

His severed arm slowly crawled through the air toward him.

The fingers dug into his shoulder, then the arm pulled itself back into place.

Flesh squirmed.

Bone shifted.

Skin closed.

Within seconds, there was not even a wound left behind. Zhao Mingyuan tilted his head.

"You see?"

He spread his arms.

"We don’t need to defeat you."

His smile widened until the corners of his mouth nearly reached his ears.

"We only need to keep you here."

Below them, another enormous explosion shook the city as a pillar of writhing flesh rose higher among the buildings.

Zhao Mingyuan glanced downward.

"And while you are busy playing the hero..."

His eyes returned to Zhao Lianyu.

"...our work continues."

Zhao Lianyu tightened her grip around the sword, yet she didn’t say a word.

Instead, the sword in her hand trembled slightly as a sharp sword intent spread outward. The surrounding air seemed to become heavier, and the countless blood threads hanging around her were pushed away by the pressure.

The aura of an Early Foundation Establishment cultivator spread across the sky.

Below, several cultivators who were fighting among the streets suddenly looked upward. Even from hundreds of meters away, they could feel the pressure descending from above, causing their movements to slow.

Zhao Mingyuan’s smile faded at the sight, his white pupils narrowing. Sun Qian’s crawling body also stopped, and his gaze lingered over Zhao Lianyu’s body.

The next instant, Zhao Lianyu disappeared. Her figure crossed the distance between them so quickly that the two demons barely had time to react.

Clang!

Her sword collided with Zhao Mingyuan’s arm.

The impact produced a violent shockwave that spread across the sky. The clouds around them were blown apart, while the buildings hundreds of meters below trembled from the force.

Instead of blocking the blade, Zhao Mingyuan twisted his entire body sideways.

His elbow bent in the wrong direction, allowing the sword to pass beneath his arm, while his other hand suddenly reached toward Zhao Lianyu’s face.

She tilted her head to avoid the fingers and immediately turned her wrist.

A sharp flash passed across Zhao Mingyuan’s chest.

His body split open from his shoulder to his waist.

Blood sprayed into the air.

The force behind the sword did not stop there. The sword qi continued downward and struck a large stone building below.

BOOM!

The upper half of the building was sliced cleanly away.

Stone blocks and wooden beams collapsed into the street, sending dust rolling between the surrounding buildings.

Zhao Mingyuan’s smile disappeared.

His body fell apart for a brief moment before the flesh began pulling itself back together.

Zhao Lianyu didn’t give him the opportunity.

She stepped forward and swung her sword again.

A long arc of sword qi tore through the sky.

Zhao Mingyuan’s body twisted repeatedly as he crawled backward through the air, barely avoiding the blade. The sword qi passed beside him and struck the enormous city wall in the distance.

BOOM!

A section of the wall several meters wide exploded.

Stone fragments rained down outside the city, while a deep sword mark stretched across the remaining wall.

Zhao Mingyuan glanced toward it.

"Quite the temper."

Sun Qian immediately moved.

His hands and feet clawed at the empty air as he crawled toward Zhao Lianyu from behind. His body folded almost completely in half, allowing him to pass beneath another wave of sword qi before his fingers shot forward.

Zhao Lianyu sensed him and turned around.

Their attacks collided.

BOOM!

The shockwave pushed Sun Qian backward, while Zhao Lianyu’s white robe fluttered violently around her body.

Sun Qian’s body was thrown through the air before he suddenly twisted his waist and landed against nothing, his hands and feet crawling across the empty space as though there were an invisible wall beneath him.

Zhao Lianyu didn’t stop.

Her sword intent continued to rise.

The white robe around her fluttered violently as spiritual energy gathered around her body. She raised the sword above her head, and the surrounding clouds began to split apart.

A sharp pressure descended over the city.

Several demons fighting on the ground instinctively looked toward the sky.

Zhao Mingyuan’s expression finally changed.

"Sun Qian."

"I know."

The two demons exchanged a glance.

They immediately moved together.

Zhao Mingyuan crawled through the sky from the left while Sun Qian approached from the right. Their bodies moved in completely unnatural ways, twisting and folding as they surrounded Zhao Lianyu from both sides.

Their blood began seeping from their skin.

Droplets floated around them before stretching into thin crimson threads.

Zhao Lianyu’s eyes remained calm.

She had already fought enough battles to understand their intention.

They wanted to surround her.

They wanted to prevent her from using a large-scale technique.

Unfortunately for them, she had already decided that she no longer cared.

Her sword came down.

"Moon Severing."

The sword qi exploded outward.

A vast crescent of white light swept across the sky, stretching far beyond the two demons. The clouds were cut apart, revealing the clear blue sky above them.

The enormous crescent continued forward.

Zhao Mingyuan tried to crawl away.

The sword qi reached him, but to no avail. His body was sliced apart under the impact.

Sun Qian attempted to escape in another direction, but the sword qi followed.

"Damn woman!"

His body was cut into several pieces, immense pain striking every inch of his body as the sword intent seemed to pierce directly into his soul.

"ARghhhH!!!!"

The remaining sword qi continued downward and, like a falling mountain, struck the streets below.

BOOM!

A massive section of the stone road was cleaved apart, splitting the street from one side to the other. Buildings along its path were cut through, some collapsing immediately while others leaned dangerously before crashing into the streets.

Dust and debris erupted into the air.

The cultivators fighting nearby hurriedly retreated from the destruction, staring upward in shock.

That was the power of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, where even a single sword strike could destroy a section of the city.

For several seconds, there was no movement before her, and Zhao Lianyu lowered her sword lightly.

Although the technique had consumed a considerable amount of spiritual energy, she was still breathing steadily.

She looked at the remains of the two demons.

"The southern border..."

She turned her gaze toward the city below.

The battle was still spreading throughout Blue Cloud Mist City. Cultivators were fighting desperately among the streets and buildings while the grotesque pillars continued rising from different parts of the city.

Zhao Lianyu’s expression became slightly colder.

"Disgusting..."

However, before she had even taken a step, she heard laughter behind her.

"Hehehe..."

Zhao Lianyu’s eyes widened slightly as she turned toward where the sound was coming from.

There, within her sight, the scattered pieces of Zhao Mingyuan’s body were rapidly moving. Flesh crawled across the sky, dragging itself toward the largest remaining piece of his torso.

Fingers dug into the air while pieces of bone pulled themselves together, and within moments, his upper body had reformed.

Sun Qian’s remains were doing the same.

The two demons slowly reconstructed their bodies before her.

Zhao Mingyuan lowered his head and examined his restored body.

A deep cut remained across his chest, the sword intent persisting upon the surface of his chest.

He looked toward Zhao Lianyu and began laughing.

"That was much better."

His grin returned.

"I was beginning to wonder whether the Imperial Court had sent someone who couldn’t even make us move seriously."

Zhao Lianyu’s eyes narrowed, and slowly, she raised her sword again. The surrounding spiritual energy began gathering around her once more.

This time, however, Zhao Mingyuan didn’t wait for her attack.

He suddenly crawled forward.

Sun Qian followed.

Their bodies moved through the air at an alarming speed, and the blood seeping from their skin began gathering around them.

Zhao Lianyu swung her sword in time, and the first wave of blood coming from them was immediately destroyed.

Then another came from behind.

She turned and cut through it.

A third attack came from below.

She stepped sideways. The crimson attack passed beneath her feet and struck the ground.

BOOM!

The street below exploded.

Stone was blasted apart, sending chunks of debris through the surrounding buildings.

Then Zhao Mingyuan appeared directly in front of her, his body twisted around the blade as though his bones were made of rope. His arm stretched toward her while Sun Qian attacked from behind at the same time.

Zhao Lianyu blocked one attack and avoided the other.

The two demons continued pressing her.

Slash!

Her sword cut through Zhao Mingyuan’s shoulder like tofu, and as usual, the monster ignored it completely.

Zhao Lianyu frowned, and the battle continued across the sky like a huge spectacle of fireworks colliding against each other.

Every clash between them sent shockwaves through the sky.

Sword qi occasionally slipped past the demons and carved through rooftops or split apart sections of the streets below, while their crimson blood attacks tore holes through buildings and sent shattered stone raining across the city.

Neither side dared approach the ground.

At their level of cultivation, a single careless strike could kill ordinary cultivators instantly.

The more they fought, the more blood filled the surrounding sky, and gradually, Zhao Lianyu realized something.

She looked at the blood scattered throughout the sky and then turned her gaze toward the city below. Seemingly connecting the dots, her expression became serious.

Zhao Mingyuan noticed, and a wide grin opened across his face.

"Now you’re starting to understand."

Zhao Lianyu didn’t answer. Her sword remained raised as she stared at the two demons.

Zhao Mingyuan laughed again.

"Come, Your Excellency."

His body lowered into that unnatural crawling position.

"Show us what an Imperial Envoy is truly capable of."

Zhao Lianyu’s eyes became cold, hesitating for a second.

However, as though she had finally made her decision, her grip tightened around the sword again. This time, she stopped trying to conserve her spiritual energy.

The sword intent surrounding her suddenly erupted.

The clouds above Blue Cloud Mist City were torn apart as an enormous pressure descended from the sky. The surrounding buildings groaned beneath the pressure, and countless loose stones began trembling across the streets below.

Zhao Mingyuan and Sun Qian both stopped moving.

Zhao Lianyu raised her sword.

"Then I will show you."

Her voice remained calm.

"But don’t blame me when you die, demon."

The instant her voice fell, Zhao Mingyuan’s body suddenly expanded.

Blood poured from every inch of his pale skin, first as thin streams before rapidly multiplying into hundreds, then thousands, of crimson threads.

The blood gathered around his body and spread outward, forming a vast crimson mass that continued growing until it covered a large portion of the sky.

Sun Qian joined him.

His body bent backward, his hands and feet clawing at the empty air as blood erupted from his back and shoulders. The crimson streams intertwined with Zhao Mingyuan’s blood, forming layer after layer until what had once been two demons had become an enormous ocean suspended above the city.

The blood churned.

Waves several dozen meters high rolled through the sky, each one carrying countless crimson threads that moved like living creatures. The enormous mass blocked the sunlight, casting a dark red shadow over the buildings below.

"Come!"

Zhao Mingyuan’s voice came from somewhere within the ocean of blood.

"Show us the strength of the Imperial Court!"

The ocean surged forward.

It moved like a collapsing sea, swallowing everything in its path. Crimson waves rolled over one another as countless strands of blood shot toward Zhao Lianyu from every direction.

Zhao Lianyu remained in place.

Her robes whipped violently around her body as she raised her sword above her head.

The sword intent surrounding her reached its peak.

"Skyfalling Moon."

Her sword came down.

The moment the blade descended, the sky seemed to darken.

A massive arc of sword qi formed above Zhao Lianyu, resembling a crescent moon several hundred meters across. It carried such a terrifying sharpness that the clouds beneath it were instantly split apart, leaving a clear path through the sky.

Then the sword descended.

The enormous crescent crashed toward the ocean of blood.

The collision shook the entire city.

BOOOOOOM!

The first wave of blood was torn apart.

The sword qi continued forward, cutting through layer after layer of crimson flesh. Blood exploded outward in enormous quantities, raining down across the sky as countless pieces of demonic flesh were sliced apart.

Zhao Mingyuan’s roar came from within the blood.

"Hold it!"

Sun Qian screamed.

The ocean of blood surged forward to meet the descending sword.

For an instant, Zhao Lianyu expected the two demons to be completely destroyed.

That was how it should have been.

A demon of the same realm was weaker than a human cultivator.

Their bodies were difficult to kill, their regeneration was abnormal, and their numbers made them dangerous, but when it came to direct combat, a human cultivator possessed a clear advantage.

Her attack was enough to erase them.

At least, that was what Zhao Lianyu believed.

Then something changed. The enormous ocean of blood suddenly shifted, and instead of resisting the sword qi head-on, the entire mass tilted to one side.

The crimson waves folded over themselves, forming a gigantic slope in the sky.

Zhao Lianyu’s eyes widened.

"What?"

The sword qi continued descending. The ocean of blood suddenly bore the brunt of the attack.

The enormous crimson mass was pushed downward, countless layers of flesh being torn apart as the sword qi carved through it.

Yet instead of allowing the attack to continue toward the ground, the blood beneath it twisted.

The entire ocean pivoted.

The sword qi followed.

Zhao Lianyu immediately realized what they were doing.

"No!"

The massive crescent of sword qi changed direction.

Instead of continuing downward, it was redirected toward the highest part of Blue Cloud Mist City, toward the enormous dome-shaped City Lord Mansion.

Zhao Lianyu’s expression changed.

"Stop!"

She immediately tried to retract her sword intent. But the attack had already traveled too far.

The enormous sword qi descended toward the City Lord Mansion with enough force to split the entire structure apart.

The dome-shaped roof trembled.

The surrounding pillars cracked.

Zhao Lianyu’s face became pale, as she had not intended to strike the mansion. The demons had used her own attack.

"Activate it now!"

Zhao Mingyuan’s voice echoed from within the remaining ocean of blood.

"Now!"

Sun Qian screamed at the same time.

Across Blue Cloud Mist City, something suddenly changed.

The countless flesh pillars scattered throughout the city began glowing.

One after another, crimson light appeared within the grotesque masses.

Then another.

And another.

Within seconds, hundreds of pillars were illuminated by a strange red glow. The blood covering their surfaces began moving as thin crimson threads emerged from the pillars, stretching upward through the city.

They passed between buildings. They crossed over rooftops. They climbed higher and higher toward the top of the city.

Then they all converged toward the massive sword qi above the City Lord Mansion.

Zhao Lianyu watched in horror as countless blood threads wrapped around the sword energy.

She tried to pull her technique back again.

Nothing happened.

The sword qi had already been caught as the crimson thread ocean tightened around it. Then something completely unexpected happened.

There was no explosion.

None at all. Rather, the sword qi and the blood simply began merging.

The brilliant white sword energy slowly disappeared into the crimson mass, while the countless blood threads absorbed it as though they had been waiting for it all along.

The enormous sword qi gradually lost its shape.

The blood gathered together.

It compressed.

Then it expanded again.

Above the City Lord Mansion, a gigantic orb of blood slowly formed.

It hovered silently over the highest point of the city. The surface of the orb moved like liquid, with countless faint threads of sword qi still visible inside it.

Zhao Lianyu stared at the enormous sphere in shock, her breathing stopped. She could feel something coming from it.

Zhao Mingyuan’s laughter came from in front of her.

"Too late, Your Excellency."

The enormous blood orb began to pulse.

Once.

Then again.

The entire city trembled with it.

"You’ve failed..."