Chapter 37: Teetering

Eighty-one ninth-level Golden Core puppets attacked at the same time.

A blood-red light blanketed the sky and covered the earth, nearly drowning the entire battlefield.

Lin Xiaoyu did not retreat.

She had nowhere to retreat anyway.

“Come!”

She snarled, charging straight into the surging blood-red light!

*

The first puppet’s fist smashed into her left shoulder.

Crack.

The sound of her shoulder blade shattering rang out sharp and clear.

But Lin Xiaoyu did not dodge.

The moment the fist struck her, she thrust the Qingfeng Sword into the puppet’s chest!

A wound for a wound!

A life for a life!

Pfft!

The blade pierced the puppet’s core. The first one fell!

But the cost was steep. Her left arm was badly crippled, hanging limp at her side. The slightest attempt to lift it brought unbearable agony.

Lin Xiaoyu gritted her teeth, tightened her grip on the sword with her right hand, and charged forward again!

*

The second one fell!

The cost: her abdomen was pierced, blood gushing out.

The third one fell!

The cost: a deep gash tore through her right leg, exposing the bone, leaving her barely able to stand.

The fourth, the fifth, the sixth…

One puppet after another collapsed.

Wound after wound carved itself into Lin Xiaoyu’s body.

Her clothes had long been soaked through with blood. It was impossible to tell what was hers and what was the residue of the puppets.

Yet her eyes remained bright.

Astonishingly bright.

*

The Heavenly Dao Divine Art churned frantically within her!

All Thirty-Six Heavenly Dipper Acupoints ignited!

The massive reserves of stored energy erupted like a volcano.

It transformed into the purest Heavenly Dao Power, fueling her every strike and every step.

She moved faster and faster.

Her swordplay grew sharper and more ferocious.

Her lethal techniques became relentless.

Pushing the Grand Dao Evasion Technique to its limit, her figure flickered through the blood-red haze like a ghost!

The moves born from the Heavenly Dao Divine Art grew more vicious and more lethal with every slash!

But there were too many enemies.

And they were too strong.

Ninth-level Golden Core.

A full eighty-one of them.

Each one stronger than any opponent she had faced before.

*

Outside the tower.

Silence.

Everyone stared wide-eyed and open-mouthed, gazes locked onto the blood-drenched figure fighting like a madwoman on the light screen.

“Thirty-two… thirty-three… thirty-four…”

A disciple murmured the count, his voice trembling.

With every number he called, a puppet fell.

With every number he called, another wound opened on Lin Xiaoyu’s body.

“Thirty-five… thirty-six… thirty-seven…”

When he reached thirty-seven, the disciple suddenly choked up and could not go on.

A puppet had torn a chunk of flesh from one of Lin Xiaoyu’s legs, nearly exposing the bone.

But she did not fall.

Standing on her one good leg, she kept swinging her sword.

*

Saint Qingyuan’s face was ashen. His fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

He regretted it.

He never should have listened to Chen Ping’s nonsense!

All that talk about finding life in death, about the Heavenly Dao Qi Refining Path…

This was suicide, plain and simple!

Crossing two entire realms to fight eighty-one ninth-level Golden Core puppets.

How could she possibly win?!

“Chen Ping!” he roared.

“If anything happens to her, I will hold you solely responsible!”

Chen Ping did not speak.

He just stared at the light screen, his expression as calm as still water.

But no one saw that inside his sleeve, his hand was trembling faintly.

*

Inside the tower.

The fortieth puppet fell.

Lin Xiaoyu dropped to one knee, gasping for breath.

Her vision was a blur.

Her whole body trembled as blood poured from countless wounds, dyeing the ground beneath her crimson.

Yet looking at the dense wall of puppets ahead, she smiled.

Forty-one left.

“Come…”

She struggled to her feet, swaying so badly she looked ready to collapse at any moment.

But she stood.

*

The forty-first fell.

The cost: her left ribs were pierced, her internal organs visible.

The forty-second fell.

The cost: a chunk of flesh was sliced from her right shoulder, leaving the bone bare.

The forty-third fell.

The cost: a deep gash carved from her brow down to her jawline, nearly disfiguring her face.

…

Lin Xiaoyu could no longer remember how many she had killed.

She only knew that every strike demanded everything she had.

Every step felt like walking on the edge of a blade.

But she could not stop.

If she stopped, she would die.

Inside her body, the Heavenly Dao Divine Art churned more and more wildly.

The energy stored within the Thirty-Six Heavenly Dipper Acupoints was draining at a horrifying rate.

She could feel herself reaching her absolute limit.

Yet she kept swinging her sword.

*

The fiftieth puppet finally fell.

Lin Xiaoyu leaned heavily on her sword to keep from collapsing, panting raggedly.

There was not a single unmarred patch of skin left on her body.

Blood soaked every inch of her clothing, pooling on the ground beneath her.

But looking at the thirty-one puppets still standing, she smiled.

“Thirty-one… left…”

Propping herself up with her sword, she tried to stand.

But halfway up, her legs buckled, and she sank back to her knees.

She could no longer stand.

*

Outside the tower.

Countless disciples grew teary-eyed.

“Senior Sister Lin…”

“Stop… please stop fighting…”

“You’ve already won… you’ve already won…”

Some sobbed quietly.

Others clenched their fists so hard their nails dug into their palms.

Watching that figure kneeling in a pool of blood on the light screen, their hearts twisted.

*

Saint Qingyuan closed his eyes, unable to bear the sight any longer.

“Chen Ping,” he said, his voice heavy.

“Bring her out right now. That is an order.”

Chen Ping remained silent.

He did not answer.

He only gazed quietly at the light screen, watching the figure kneeling in the pool of blood, still stubbornly fighting to stand.

A flicker of pain crossed his eyes.

But even more than that, there was pride.

“Sect Master,” he said softly.

“She hasn’t given up yet.”

Saint Qingyuan started.

He opened his eyes and looked at the screen.

Then, he froze in astonishment.

*

On the light screen.

Lin Xiaoyu, kneeling in the pool of blood, used her sword to push herself up, inch by inch.

It was agonizingly slow.

It was impossibly hard.

With every inch she moved, more blood welled up from her wounds.

But she stood up.

Swaying, teetering on the verge of collapse.

But she stood.

She lifted her head and faced the thirty-one puppets ahead.

In her eyes, a golden light suddenly blazed!

“Eye of Heavenly Punishment! Heavenly… Dao… Divine… Punishment…”

She forced out each word one at a time. Her voice was hoarse, yet ringing clear.

In the next instant—

Boom!

A bolt of golden lightning exploded from her body!

The lightning, radiant as a blazing sun and bearing the power to annihilate all things, swept across the entire battlefield!

All thirty-one puppets were swallowed by the lightning in an instant!

*

Outside the tower.

Everyone stared with wide eyes and gaping mouths, as if they had seen a ghost.

That golden lightning…

What was that?

*

A flash of purple-gold light flickered through Chen Ping’s eyes.

With his Grand Dao Divine Eyes pushed to their limit, he could see it clearly:

Inside Lin Xiaoyu’s body, the very last wisp of energy stored within the Thirty-Six Heavenly Dipper Acupoints was burning away completely.

And guided by that golden lightning, the source of her Heavenly Dao Divine Physique was undergoing some kind of strange transformation.

*

The golden lightning dissipated.

Eleven puppets were all reduced to fragments, scattered across the ground.

Lin Xiaoyu stood at the center of the battlefield, drenched in blood, teetering on the edge.

She was still standing.