Chapter 47: Just One Palm

Lin Xiaoyu felt she had reached her limit.

Her arms felt like lead, and every swing of her sword took every ounce of her strength.

Her vision began to blur, making it impossible to tell blood from sweat.

There were no fewer than thirty wounds of various sizes on her body, the deepest of which cut from her left shoulder down to her waist, nearly exposing the bone beneath.

Yet, she kept swinging her sword.

Because there were still enemies.

Because…

“I can’t fall…”

She gritted her teeth, her voice so raspy it was barely audible.

“Mother is watching… Master is watching…”

“I can’t fall…”

*

The hundred and seventh.

The Qingfeng Sword pierced the heart of the last man.

The man’s eyes widened, and he collapsed with a face full of disbelief.

Lin Xiaoyu dropped to one knee, using her sword to prop herself up as she gasped for air.

All around her, corpses littered the ground.

All three hundred and twenty-seven monsters who practiced the Blood Burning Scripture lay dead on the high platform.

Blood flowed down the stone steps, merging into small rivers of red.

The air was thick with the stench of blood, so pungent it was suffocating.

Lin Xiaoyu hung her head, her entire body trembling.

Not from fear.

But from sheer exhaustion.

She raised her head and looked toward the very top of the platform.

There stood the final monster.

*

It was the one who had cultivated to the fourth level.

From the very beginning, he had not moved.

While the others rushed forward, he had simply sat there quietly.

Now, he slowly stood up.

Lin Xiaoyu finally got a clear look at his face.

No, it could no longer be called a face.

Most of the skin had rotted away, exposing the dark red muscle and stark white bone beneath.

His eyes were completely blood-red, with no whites or pupils, only two spheres of burning crimson light.

The corners of his mouth were torn back to his ears, revealing a maw of sharp fangs.

The blood mist around him had solidified, forming a layer of crimson armor over his body.

His aura…

It was more than ten times stronger than the monsters she had just slain.

He was an existence that transcended the Nascent Soul realm.

*

Lin Xiaoyu gripped the hilt of her sword, trying to stand.

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

She had truly reached her limit.

The spiritual energy in her body was nearly depleted, and her Heavenly Dao Power was almost entirely spent.

The Eye of Heavenly Punishment could no longer be used.

Yet, she still raised her head to look at the monster.

Her gaze remained bright.

“Come…”

She spoke hoarsely.

The monster looked down at her.

A complex light flickered in his blood-red eyes.

Then…

He did not walk.

He floated.

Borne by the blood mist around him, he drifted toward Lin Xiaoyu like a specter.

He was not fast.

But with every zhang he drifted closer, Lin Xiaoyu felt the pressure on her grow heavier.

That Blood Fiend Energy was far too terrifying, so dense it had almost solidified.

Ten zhang.

Five zhang.

Three zhang.

The monster stopped before her, looking down from above.

Lin Xiaoyu knelt on the ground, tilting her head up to meet his gaze.

She did not shrink back.

Nor was she afraid.

She only stared at him quietly.

The monster suddenly reached out.

It was a rotting hand, the bones of its five fingers exposed, yet tipped with sharp, blood-red claws.

His hand reached toward Lin Xiaoyu’s head.

*

Below the high platform.

Seeing this, Xuetu’s lips curled into a savage grin.

“Hahaha! Kill! Kill her!”

He looked at Chen Ping, his eyes filled with madness.

“Aren’t you strong? Didn’t you want to stop me? What about now? Can you still save her?”

Chen Ping did not speak.

He only stared at the slender figure on the high platform.

Inside his sleeve, his hand had clenched into a fist.

But he did not move.

Because…

He felt it.

Inside Lin Xiaoyu, two forces were surging wildly.

One was Primordial Power.

The other was Heavenly Dao Power.

They were merging.

They were burning.

They were…

Breaking through!

*

On the high platform.

The monster’s hand was already in front of Lin Xiaoyu.

Only three inches remained between his fingers and her forehead.

Two inches.

One inch…

Boom!

A purple-gold light erupted from Lin Xiaoyu’s body!

The light was as blazing as the sun, instantly blasting the monster back three zhang!

Lin Xiaoyu slowly stood up.

Purple-gold light swirled wildly within her eyes.

Inside her, the two forces had finally merged completely.

It was no longer just Heavenly Dao Power, nor was it just Primordial Power.

It was Heavenly Dao Primordial Power.

The true, complete Heavenly Dao Primordial Power.

*

Her aura began to climb rapidly.

Eighteenth level of Heavenly Dao Qi Refining…

Breakthrough!

Nineteenth level!

Twentieth level!

Twenty-first level!

…

It did not stop until it reached the twenty-fourth level.

Lin Xiaoyu looked down at her hands.

Purple-gold light flowed across her palms, warm and powerful.

She could feel an unprecedented power filling her body.

It was a gift born from surviving the brink of death.

It was the Heavenly Dao’s response to her resolve.

*

She raised her head and looked at the monster she had blasted back.

The monster stared at her, his blood-red eyes filled with utter disbelief.

His mouth opened as if to speak.

But only a raspy growl came out.

Then…

He lunged again!

This time, he held nothing back.

The blood mist around him surged violently, turning into a sky full of crimson light that pressed down toward Lin Xiaoyu, blotting out the heavens.

The power was terrifying enough to instantly crush a peak Nascent Soul cultivator to death.

Lin Xiaoyu gripped her sword hilt tightly.

But she did not move.

Because she knew…

She could not block this strike.

Reaching the twenty-fourth level of Heavenly Dao Qi Refining and crossing three major realms to slay Nascent Soul cultivators was already a miracle.

But this monster had already surpassed the Nascent Soul realm.

He was an existence in the Divine Ability Realm.

No matter how strong she was, it was currently impossible for her to cross four major realms while still in the Qi Refining Stage.

*

The crimson light drew closer and closer.

Ten zhang.

Five zhang.

Three zhang.

Lin Xiaoyu closed her eyes.

Then…

A figure in green robes appeared in front of her.

Chen Ping.

He raised his hand.

And gave a gentle wave.

Boom!

The sky full of crimson light shattered instantly like paper.

The monster’s eyes widened, and before he could even react, a palm pressed down onto the crown of his head.

Chen Ping looked at him.

His gaze was as calm as water.

“So what if you’ve surpassed the Nascent Soul realm?”

He spoke indifferently.

“Touch my disciple, and you die.”

As the words fell…

A purple-gold light suddenly erupted from his palm!

Great Dao Primordial Power…

Before the monster could even scream, he was swallowed by the light.

Flesh melted.

Bones shattered.

Soul and spirit utterly annihilated.

Three breaths later, only a faint mist of blood remained, which was quickly swept away by the night wind.

*

Silence returned to the high platform.

Standing behind Chen Ping, Lin Xiaoyu stared blankly at the scene.

The monster that had driven her to despair.

The existence that surpassed the Nascent Soul realm.

In her master’s hands, he had not lasted even a single breath.

“Master…”

She spoke softly, her voice raspy.

Chen Ping turned around.

He looked at her.

Covered in blood and swaying on her feet, she still stood straight.

His eyes grew red.

“Silly girl…”

He reached out and gently patted her head.

His touch was light and tender.

Looking at him, Lin Xiaoyu’s eyes also welled with tears.

“Master… I did it…”

She spoke softly.

“I killed them… all of them…”

Chen Ping nodded.

“I saw.”

Lin Xiaoyu’s lips parted as if she wanted to say something.

But before the words could leave her mouth, her eyes closed, and she collapsed forward.

Chen Ping caught her.

Looking down at the pale face in his arms, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

“Sleep,” he said softly.

“You’ve done well enough.”

*

Below the high platform.

Xuetu slumped on the ground, his face filled with despair.

He had watched with his own eyes as that young girl slaughtered three hundred and twenty-seven practitioners of the Blood Burning Scripture.

He had watched with his own eyes as that young man reduced the fourth-level monster to a mist of blood with a single palm strike.

That was an existence in the Divine Ability Realm.

One palm strike.

Just one palm strike.

And what about him?

He had not even had the chance to make a move.

From beginning to end, that aura had remained locked onto him.

If he dared to move even a fraction, he would be dead.

“Who… who on earth are you…”

He muttered, his voice raspy.

Chen Ping did not answer.

He simply carried Lin Xiaoyu down the steps of the high platform, step by step.

When he reached Xuetu, he stopped.

He looked down at him.