Chapter 263: I Step from the Netherworld into the Purple Court

“Little girl, thank you.” Qu Wu looked at the girl shaking the Soul-Calling Banner and smiled his thanks.

The girl's face was ashen. Her hand holding the pole trembled, and the banner fell to the ground with a smack as tears streamed down her face.

Qu Wu hovered in the air, black wings sprouting from his back.

An invisible wind steadily held his body aloft. The twin swords in his hands spun even faster, deflecting the combined attacks of the other disciples with a flurry of clinks. He then counterattacked with an even stronger sword intent, striking while defending. The three disciples who had ambushed him were sent flying by Qu Wu's single sword strike, landing on the ground in various positions, spitting blood, their injuries ranging from minor to severe.

Ning Xiaoling took a deep breath.

Looking around, spiritual treasures lay scattered everywhere like broken copper and scrap metal.

Behind her was only the thick wall of the divine temple; there was no retreat.

Qu Wu ignored the disciples writhing in pain on the ground. With two bone swords seemingly grasped in mid-air, he floated over the broken treasures and walked towards Ning Xiaoling.

“Ning... Xiaoling? Is that your name?” Qu Wu chuckled, his tongue flicking out. He casually waved his fingers, and the two swords danced around him. The youth, whose face had transformed into that of a white snake, asked with a smile, “Any more surprises?”

Listening to his words, Ning Xiaoling's taut nerves suddenly relaxed considerably.

She wondered, if her senior brother faced such a situation, what would he do?

She couldn't find an answer, so she decided not to think about it anymore.

If she were truly unfortunate enough to die, perhaps by the Bridge of Helplessness, that familiar white-robed figure would be waiting for her. Upon meeting, she might still have a chance to say, “Senior Brother, long time no see.”

“No more surprises.”

No surprises, only faith in the blade in her hand.

After speaking, she pursed her lips. She held the slender blade with both hands, its black hilt and red edge pointing towards her center.

The girl's expression was focused.

But life isn't a storybook; willpower can make one stronger, but it cannot bridge a chasm.

When Qu Wu saw Ning Xiaoling rushing towards him, gripping her blade with both hands, he knew her defeat was inevitable.

Ning Xiaoling sprinted forward, leaped into the air, her body like a bird taking flight from a cliff edge. Shen Tu was instantly raised high above her head, striking down forcefully at Qu Wu.

The arc of the blade light resembled a spreading moon shadow.

The surrounding nether mist that had gathered was instantly dispersed.

This blood-red blade light was dozens of feet long, stretching from one end of the main hall to the other.

This was a strike that almost surpassed the peak of the Longevity realm.

Qu Wu's figure was locked by Shen Tu's blade light, but he showed no fear, even charging straight into it.

While Shen Tu's blade was undoubtedly hard, his bone swords were also crafted from the wing bones of a feathered serpent. All existing feathered serpents were descendants of the Underworld Lord from back then, and blades formed from the Underworld Lord's scales, in terms of hardness alone, would not be much inferior to this divine blade.

Moreover, Ning Xiaoling was merely in the Longevity realm.

Qu Wu combined his twin swords, gripping them as one, and slashed upwards in a style reminiscent of a "broken blade" technique from a martial arts school.

That was the execution technique of the ancient Underworld, a simple single strike, yet it had beheaded countless traitors in Hell.

He, too, was a traitor...

The combined sword slashed upwards, and with a resounding crack, the blood-red blade intent was cleaved into two in mid-air!

As Ning Xiaoling landed, dragging the severed blood-shadow, Qu Wu's sword pressed in again.

Qu Wu initially thought she was just a little girl with a high cultivation level but no real combat experience. However, even with a full realm advantage, he couldn't completely defeat her in a short time. This resilience was admirable but held little meaning in a life-or-death battle.

The other fallen disciples watched helplessly as Ning Xiaoling rapidly lost ground. Qu Wu's swords became fiercer and fiercer, and after repeated impacts, Ning Xiaoling's blade light grew progressively weaker.

Ming Lang struggled to his feet. He used his sword to cut the feathered serpent's skin and drank its blood, hoping to regain some strength.

After all, he was in the Violet Court realm. Even though his Qi Sea was damaged, he had still recovered a significant amount of strength during his previous meditation.

Ming Lang's mouth was full of the feathered serpent's pungent blood. He pulled his iron sword from the flesh, circulated a burst of spiritual energy, and charged at Qu Wu, wreathed in violet lightning.

Qu Wu's expression remained calm. His two combined bone swords separated again, like a butterfly spreading its folded wings.

Qu Wu thrust one sword towards Ning Xiaoling and, with his other hand, gripped a sword to meet Ming Lang.

Ming Lang's crucial Qi Sea was damaged, allowing him to mobilize only a single burst of spiritual energy without being able to replenish it. So, while his initial charge was fierce, and his first sword strike even subtly suppressed Qu Wu, his strength diminished precipitously.

The other disciples, one after another, drew their swords and regrouped, encircling him.

Qu Wu watched this scene and involuntarily recalled events from many years ago.

Back then, countless Nether tribesmen also came at him with blades tempered with lightning and fire—he had once been their revered deity, whom they devoutly worshipped.

But after that great catastrophe, everything changed.

The divine temple was destroyed, the tribes disintegrated, he lost most of his power, and his worshippers turned their swords against him...

The seeds of hatred had been buried in the White Serpent Divine Valley for centuries, and the flower of sin bloomed like the black wings unfurling behind him.

Too painful to recall...

He slowly transformed from human to feathered serpent once more.

The suppressed power within his body also began to swell and release.

Bone swords slashed through the air, their sharp lines interweaving.

Ning Xiaoling's blade light was gradually dispersed.

Ming Lang's burst of spiritual energy was also exhausted; he was pinned back against the wall by a sword strike, half-conscious and half-dead.

The other disciples also failed to inflict any effective attacks.

No one could reverse the situation now.

Qu Wu felt a sense of loneliness.

His body burst through the illusory grass-woven robe that had concealed him, muscular ripples erupting. A long, powerful tail even grew from his back, and the pair of black wings, stemming from his shoulder blades, conjured illusory feather-blades with every beat.

Half-human, half-serpent, his divine nature not yet extinguished.

This was the long-lost freedom and power.

The little girl beside them, tears streaming down her face, watched Ming Lang collapse, severely injured, and Ning Xiaoling steadily lose ground. Unable to bear the oppressive atmosphere any longer, she seized the Soul-Calling Banner and rushed forward.

Qu Wu looked at her and chuckled faintly, “Good girl, seeing I'm busy, you're willingly bringing this weapon over?”

With that, he extended a palm, blocking the banner.

His hand, now adorned with sharp claws, gripped the top of the flagstaff and twisted.

The little girl's body was jolted as if by electricity, paralyzed, and then flung backward.

Qu Wu snatched the flagstaff.

At the same time, Ning Xiaoling could no longer withstand the pressure from the bone swords. After blocking a strike from the ancient sword that hit like a giant boat slamming into shore, she was also pressed against the wall by the impact.

Dust rained down, clinging to Ning Xiaoling's disheveled hair.

Qu Wu held the Soul-Calling Banner, observing its straight pole and smooth surface, and smiled. “Indeed worthy of being a divine weapon of the Underworld Spirit Sect. Its materials and construction are extraordinary.”

The Underworld Spirit Sect...

That was the name of the Ancient Spirit Sect before it was changed.

Ning Xiaoling leaned on the wall with one hand, her other hand weakly clutching her broken blade. Pain wore down her fighting spirit. She desperately wished to look up and see that white-robed figure standing before her... but alas, it was all a dream, an illusion.

Qu Wu began to shake the banner, like a victor returning in triumph.

A chilling wind howled, and a hundred ghosts roamed the night.

From the grey mist, the vengeful spirits who had died here long ago reawakened, condensed into form, and surged forth with the mist.

This was the former site of the White Serpent Divine Temple, once an ancient battlefield where countless bodies had decayed and fallen into the Yellow Springs. Though they had died many years ago and lost all sentience, they still slumbered in this land, awaiting the day they would be awakened.

Qu Wu waved the banner.

The malevolent spirits answered his call, gathering in ever-increasing numbers.

He opened his enormous, blood-filled mouth and swallowed them.

The feathered serpent's figure grew larger and larger. These specters transformed back into its flesh and blood. As long as it continued to devour them, it could use the undead as its body and become a true feathered serpent god traversing the netherworld.

The existence of this Soul-Calling Banner was also a godsend spiritual treasure for him.

But soon, Qu Wu's expression subtly changed.

He noticed that there wasn't just one swirling vortex of undead in the great hall.

Not far from him, there was another eye of the storm.

Ning Xiaoling stood right at the center of that vortex.

Shen Tu, which had been on the verge of dimming, absorbed the souls and re-emitted a blood-red light.

This was an unexpected boon for Ning Xiaoling.

She could feel the blade gradually awakening.

Qu Wu's eyes narrowed, his murderous intent fully revealed.

Earlier, that little girl had made the absurd move of "donating the banner" to him, and now, unexpectedly, he himself had done the same thing.

Qu Wu swung his sword.

The surrounding storm of malevolent spirits instantly subsided.

Ning Xiaoling stood her ground, the blade in her hand brimming with power. That power also nourished her, subtly raising her cultivation level.

She leaped from the Upper Longevity realm to the peak of Longevity, half a step into the Violet Court!

But this still made no difference.

Because Qu Wu's own advancement was even greater; in that short span, he had already moved from the early Violet Court realm to the second tier of Violet Court.

Qu Wu held his swords steadily in both hands, the Soul-Calling Banner standing behind him like a battle standard.

He felt the power flowing through his body.

His blood flowed like the water of the Yellow Springs, his bones and flesh like the souls of ghosts.

“Little girl, I will take your blade and the fragments of authority within your body... to become the new Underworld Lord,” Qu Wu murmured, his twin blades tracing perfect arcs as they descended from above.

Ning Xiaoling didn't look at him.

She looked at the glowing blood-red blade in her hand.

At this moment, she felt her blade adhere to her hand.

Shen Tu connected to her palm, delving into her thoughts, and leveraging all the knowledge and cultivation systems within her sea of consciousness.

She felt her arms wanting to move according to the techniques surfacing in her mind.

But that wasn't her own conscious will; it was the blade commanding her body.

This feeling... human and blade as one?

Ning Xiaoling felt she should be surprised, but she was incapable of such emotion.

Her emotions were also being controlled by Shen Tu!

As Qu Wu lunged from above, Shen Tu made its own response.

Her body moved involuntarily, coordinating spiritual energy and selecting techniques with a perfection that surpassed her physical and sword skill reserves.

Qu Wu was startled.

In their first close-quarters exchange, their techniques clashed and broke apart, and he actually found himself at a disadvantage.

Ning Xiaoling's unstoppable divine blade precisely pierced the gaps in his swordplay, piercing through his scales and peeling off a blood-stained serpent scale.

The wound on Qu Wu's body healed rapidly.

His expression turned serious as he wielded his twin swords, slashing down at Ning Xiaoling, who stood on the ground.

Ning Xiaoling first used the Hidden Breath technique to evade the sword energy's lock, then leaped half a zhang forward with the Lingbo Step, precisely into the center of Qu Wu's sword energy. Next, she stabilized her stance with the Ancient Spirit Sect's Illusionary Stance technique, followed by the Tianzong's Sand Snow Autumn Makeup two-part opening. Finally, she used the White Rainbow Piercing the Sun technique, supplemented by Netherworld spiritual arts, to twist her body and thrust back towards Qu Wu's landing point.

This series of complex maneuvers, from the changes in techniques to the flow of spiritual veins, was completed almost instantaneously.

This was something no normal cultivator could possibly achieve.

Qu Wu was struck on his right shoulder by a single blow. His figure was forced to slide a distance sideways, and then he used his long tail to strike the ground, supporting his body as he leaped up to dissipate some of the force.

Ning Xiaoling's broken blade twisted direction, then, intermingled with many sword techniques, rushed towards him.

Qu Wu quickly understood the problem.

This blade...

“Indeed, a peerless famous blade,” Qu Wu's smile grew wider. “Too bad you're unworthy of it.”

He wasn't flustered by Shen Tu's "human and blade as one" state.

On the contrary, he hadn't experienced the thrill of such a head-on sword clash in years; his blood was boiling with excitement.

Power circulated throughout his body.

Air currents rising from nothingness lifted his body. His slender serpent body grew even more robust, appearing like a long whip forged from steel.

Within the grey mist, countless ripples spread out like rings of fire.

The clang of lightning, the wail of specters, the clash of blades, the instantaneous burst of flames... Amidst the chaotic slashing lines, the two figures merged, and a myriad of sounds converged into a raging torrent.

The little girl and the other three male disciples watched, their emotions stirred.

Because they could vaguely sense that in this battle, Ning Xiaoling was subtly matching the feathered serpent demon!

The nether mist was constantly pushed apart and then re-formed.

The arcs cut by the blades resembled the moon among the clouds.

Red blade light, white sword qi—they slashed and flashed, fighting from the ground all the way up to the beams of the temple hall.

Ning Xiaoling's figure continuously dodged on the beams, seizing opportunities to attack.

Qu Wu, on the other hand, squandered his power, using a brute-force approach to constantly drain Ning Xiaoling's strength. While the wounds Ning Xiaoling inflicted were sharp, they were by no means fatal.

But this also made Qu Wu anxious.

Because prolonged fighting could lead to complications. If the Ancient Spirit Sect detected something amiss, all his efforts would be for naught!

The restrictions on the Bridge of Helplessness could stop these young cultivators, but they couldn't stop those old masters.

Beams kept falling from the ceiling.

Ning Xiaoling soon lost all her footholds and was forced to return to the ground.

Murderous intent and the sound of wind descended from above.

Before Ning Xiaoling could look up, Shen Tu had already reacted.

Ning Xiaoling met the attack with her blade.

This time, she used an unprecedented sword technique.

It was a sword art formed by merging the Ancient Spirit Sect's heart sutra spiritual arts with the Inner Gate sword techniques of the Oracle Sword Heavenly Sect!

Ning Xiaoling's aura also changed.

Wisps of nether energy wrapped around her body. A faint aura of death emanated from her delicate and lovely face, making her already fair skin appear even paler.

“This sword technique... this sword technique...” At this moment, the always-confident Qu Wu couldn't help but murmur to himself, “How is this possible? Why do you know the Sword of Entanglement? Who taught you this?”

Ning Xiaoling wouldn't answer, because her senior brother had told her that bad people talk a lot, while true masters always remain silent.

She took that as words of wisdom.

But because of his question, she now knew the name of this sword technique—the Sword of Entanglement.

This was a problem she had pondered for a long time, later solved and revealed by a kind person with ugly handwriting.

Entanglement... it sounded very powerful.

When Ning Xiaoling actually used it, she found that this sword technique was not only powerful, but it might even be specifically designed to suppress and kill feathered serpents!

All of Qu Wu's attack trajectories were predicted and blocked by this sword technique, and even his sudden tail whips had counter-strategies.

The sword techniques of the Oracle Sword Heavenly Sect radiated a new, extraordinary brilliance in a completely transformed manner.

Shattering armor, peeling scales, crushing bones, beheading, dissecting corpses...

The blade light in Ning Xiaoling's hand carried a man-eating murderous intent, pressing down on Qu Wu with fluid, flowing movements.

Qu Wu was not incapable of victory, but fear had first taken root in his heart.

“What is your relationship with her? Is she still alive? How could she still be alive...?”

Qu Wu controlled his spiritual energy, fending off the girl's continuous onslaught.

Ning Xiaoling listened to his incessant muttering and couldn't help but ask, “Who is she?”

“Who is she? You ask who she is? Are you truly ignorant or feigning it?” Qu Wu suddenly seemed to go mad. He broke free from the tightly suppressed techniques, and in a single breath, his bone swords conjured countless white crosses.

Relying on his inherent advantage in cultivation realm, Qu Wu quickly turned the tide. He slashed and hacked furiously with his twin swords, roaring angrily, “She is a traitor... a source of disaster... a despicable schemer. She, a person like her, dared to presumptuously declare herself empress!”

Qu Wu imagined Ning Xiaoling to be her.

He used the anger in his heart to suppress his instinctive fear, and once again gained the upper hand.

He immediately understood.

This girl must be that woman's direct disciple... a disciple is merely a disciple. No matter how skilled her sword techniques, in terms of cultivation realm, he still held an absolute advantage.

He only needed to leverage his advantage and slowly wear her down until she died.

His own wounds could heal quickly, but hers could not.

Ning Xiaoling understood this as well.

Even using all her techniques, she couldn't win...

This was the gap between Longevity and Violet Court.

Ning Xiaoling involuntarily thought of Madam Bai.

If only Senior Brother were here...

She felt powerless, regretful, and desperate. Then she realized that her emotions were slowly returning to her body!

This meant that Shen Tu's influence on her was also weakening!

Before long, once Shen Tu's connection with her was completely severed, she would surely die.

Violet Court... if only she could enter the Violet Court.

She could feel that her realm was but a hair's breadth away from the Violet Court.

But how could she cross that line?

“Pull the banner!” Ning Xiaoling roared downwards, “Pull the banner! Call the souls!!!”

Everyone heard her words.

Qu Wu laughed, “You think you can prolong your life with that? Delusional...”

Sword light cut through the air above.

Ning Xiaoling roared “Call the souls!” down once more, then mobilized all her strength and lunged at Qu Wu.

She had to intercept him, to buy time for those below.

The disciples below exchanged glances.

They had witnessed the previous scene.

When the Soul Banner danced, the white serpent gained far more benefit than Ning Xiaoling.

Was Junior Sister Xiaoling crazy?

None of them moved.

From above, Ning Xiaoling's pained groan reached them.

The clanging of blades and swords was heart-stopping.

The little girl was the first to shout, “I believe in Senior Sister Xiaoling!”

She had made many wrong decisions earlier, so she wasn't afraid of making another mistake!

At worst, they would all die together.

She ran towards the Soul-Calling Banner, gripping it with both hands, straining with all her might to pull it out.

But Qu Wu had plunged the banner deep into the ground, and she simply didn't have the strength to pull it out now.

She looked up at the others, angrily asking, “What are you all still standing there for? Hurry and help! Are you just going to watch Senior Sister Xiaoling get killed?”

The other three exchanged a look, nodded vigorously, and ran over, adding their strength.

But the banner was stuck too firmly, and the three of them were heavily injured, unable to exert their full strength.

The banner remained motionless.

Above, Ning Xiaoling clearly showed signs of decline.

The connection between the blade and her was like a tree, and Qu Wu's sword was like an axe repeatedly striking the trunk.

No matter how massive the tree, there would eventually come a time when it was severed at the trunk.

Ning Xiaoling's Sword of Entanglement was exhausted.

Her downward slash was blocked by Qu Wu's twin swords. With a flick of his serpent tail, Qu Wu violently struck Ning Xiaoling's lower abdomen.

The girl's body was sent flying, crashing with a thud into the wall, embedding her body in the crumbling masonry.

Qu Wu paid no attention to those trying to pull out the banner.

Because he didn't care at all.

He even hoped they would pull out the banner quickly, anticipating Ning Xiaoling's wonderfully desperate expression when a certain moment arrived.

But he wouldn't deliberately wait.

Ning Xiaoling's "human and blade as one" state had been shattered. Now it was just a slaughter.

He looked at his own scarred body, feeling quite displeased.

Though these injuries weren't fatal, being wounded across realms was truly humiliating.

As he thought this, his movements didn't slow in the slightest.

He twisted his sword to his right cheek, then shot forward like a thrown spear.

This was Ning Xiaoling's first sword strike.

He intended to use this same strike to end her life.

He plunged his sword into the wall where Ning Xiaoling was embedded.

The girl's piercing scream rang out, chilling to the bone.

Blood gushed forth.

“Pull the banner...”

She coughed up blood, her voice already weak.

The little girl pulling the banner exerted every ounce of her strength, so anxious she was on the verge of tears.

Ning Xiaoling's voice grew fainter and fainter.

She was still struggling valiantly, but in reality, she was no different from a lamb awaiting slaughter.

Ning Xiaoling desperately parried his sword with her blade, protecting the vital point of her Violet Court Qi Sea.

But she could only block one.

The other sword cleanly plunged into her lower abdomen.

Her body was wracked with excruciating pain.

Ning Xiaoling seized his sword-wielding hand, trying to push it away.

But how could her strength compare to Qu Wu's?

The sword pierced deeper, inch by inch, about to completely impale her lower abdomen and nail her to the wall.

The battle was decided.

Qu Wu looked at her, already imagining the scene: after impaling her, he would cut open her Qi Sea and Violet Court, and personally extract the fragments of the Underworld Lord's authority.

In the great hall, the little girl screamed with a broken heart, “Push harder... Are you men or not? Push harder!!!”

The veins on the other three disciples' arms bulged, their muscles tensed.

They also used all their strength, but the flagstaff only subtly loosened, refusing to budge.

Ning Xiaoling's screams grew weaker and weaker, as if she could die at any moment.

“I'll help too...”

Behind the little girl, a voice spoke.

Ming Lang had awakened at some unknown point. He stumbled over, and his blood-stained hand also grasped the Soul-Calling Banner.

The little girl's expression jolted, and she immediately cheered up.

None of them wasted words.

“One, two, three... Pull!”

All four shouted in unison.

They came from four different lineages, yet they let out the same roar.

*Crack!*

The Soul-Calling Banner was pulled out.

The little girl, unbalanced by the sudden release of force, fell backward and landed on her backside. She felt no pain, only that she could no longer hold back her tears, and truly began to cry.

The others grabbed the pole and struggled to wave the Soul-Calling Banner.

The banner fluttered, a gesture of encouragement or perhaps a final farewell.

Nether energy surged forth.

Ning Xiaoling was pinned to the wall, covered in blood, her lower abdomen pierced by the iron sword.

Behind her, vengeful spirits surged.

Qu Wu ignored them. He sighed, “How foolish you are... Don't you know that entering the Violet Court realm involves a 'Heart Demon Tribulation'? At that time, your entire body will be covered in a cocoon. Ordinary people cannot pierce or penetrate that cocoon, but I can easily pass through it with Shen Tu and kill you.”

Ning Xiaoling coughed up a mouthful of blood, her lips twitching as if she couldn't speak, a rattling sound in her throat resembling a laugh.

The malevolent spirits surged.

Ning Xiaoling's face was ashen like gold leaf.

Qu Wu looked at her face, a sorrowful expression appearing.

Entering the Violet Court at the very end of one's life, what meaning did it hold?

Ning Xiaoling slowly raised her head.

Qu Wu's expression suddenly froze.

“How is this possible?!”

He roared in disbelief.

He had clearly sensed Ning Xiaoling breaking through that final line and entering the Violet Court realm.

But why was there no sign of a cocoon forming on her body?

Impossible? This was a law of heaven and earth; no one could defy it!

Unless...

Unless she had already experienced a Heart Demon Tribulation once! Could she have fallen from the Violet Court realm?

How is this possible? How is this possible!

Qu Wu clearly perceived her as just an ordinary girl...

Qu Wu exerted all his strength, wanting to push the sword further, to tear apart her internal organs and kill her completely.

But the sword could not advance an inch.

“Your realm...” Qu Wu's vertical pupils narrowed to a line.

Shen Tu once again glowed with an ominous blood-red light.

The dying Ning Xiaoling lifted her blood-stained, blurry face. She pressed down on Qu Wu's sword-wielding hand and squeezed hard.

The sudden sound of bones cracking echoed.

“I've entered the Violet Court,” Ning Xiaoling's lips curved, revealing a strained, joyous, relieved smile.