Chapter 29: Heavenly Thunder and Earthly Fire Gradually Coming to an End

The sword flew from his grasp, dragging a long, bright trail as it shot straight forward. In an instant, it collided with the barrier. At the point of impact, the barrier cracked like a shattered eggshell.

The sword's sharpness surpassed the Old Fox's imagination. In the blink of an eye, his carefully laid barrier shattered, and the long sword flew away like a streak of light.

The Old Fox immediately understood. His form turned ethereal, and all the firelight in the sky became his to command. Each ray of light projected numerous identical fox phantoms, and he concealed himself among them.

Zhao Xiang'er's expression was cold. She hovered in the air, her wings gently fluttering. She didn't even control the flying sword, letting it move at high speed along its own trajectory.

And that sword seemed to possess a pair of fiery golden eyes; the three thousand fox phantoms, though overwhelming, couldn't obscure its vision. Like a maggot burrowing into bone, the long sword relentlessly pursued the Old Fox's true form.

The Old Fox's figure flickered continuously, dodging the sword's thrusts while circling towards Zhao Xiang'er.

He had to kill Zhao Xiang'er as quickly as possible, or that sword would eventually catch up to him.

Zhao Xiang'er watched him approach, her eyes showing no fear, only a fierce fighting spirit.

In mid-air, the two figures clashed again. The Old Fox threw a punch with one hand and formed a palm print with the other. Thunder boomed in the sky, and a river of ice descended, coiling around Zhao Xiang'er like a celestial sash.

Zhao Xiang'er's wings flapped at high speed, like a dragonfly's, moving so fast they were almost invisible.

She abruptly rose higher, sweeping upwards with a palm strike that directly severed the ice river. She glanced at the Old Fox, who was advancing against the fire below her, and suddenly spun like a top, rushing towards him like a high-speed spinning blade.

The sword had also caught up.

Caught in a pincer attack, the Old Fox's spirit again burst into scattered fragments, attempting to escape.

Zhao Xiang'er precisely gripped the sword in mid-air and swept it horizontally. A crescent-shaped, silvery-white sword aura instantly slashed out from the blade, further shattering the already fragmented spirit.

The Old Fox's screams echoed in the air. He had to quickly re-form his body, otherwise, there was a high possibility his spirit would be utterly destroyed.

Zhao Xiang'er aimed at the center where the spirit was gathering and threw the sword again.

When the Old Fox's figure reappeared, the sword was already before him.

At that moment, his expression was exceptionally calm.

Coincidentally or not, a peal of thunder suddenly echoed in the sky. The Old Fox raised both hands, as if holding up the heavens, and the thunderous fire behind the clouds gathered in his palms, forming a sphere of crackling electricity.

He had extreme control over ice and fire. Now, reaching into the thunderclouds, he grasped the thunderous fire filling the sky.

His Dharma form swelled several times over, as if drinking nectar, its flames scorching the heavens, like a god seated high on the clouds.

Zhao Xiang'er's expression changed. She didn't hesitate, immediately retreating.

The sword pierced the Old Fox's chest, but he merely laughed, "Too late."

Only then did Zhao Xiang'er realize that every raindrop around her had transformed into a lock—a heavenly lock.

And the Old Fox's arms had already unleashed their power, casting down the rolling sphere of thunder.

The girl's figure plummeted rapidly, but the thunder sphere fell even faster.

The Old Fox was now fully concentrating on dealing with the flying sword. He was certain that even if the girl managed to escape back to the imperial palace, the tribulation lightning would just destroy the palace's grand formation, leaving Zhao Xiang'er nowhere to hide.

Another anomaly occurred!

Just as the tribulation lightning was about to touch Zhao Xiang'er, her figure suddenly vanished.

The Old Fox instantly recalled the scene when the fire phoenix appeared—it had burst forth from the world beneath the water's surface.

Now that Zhao Xiang'er was one with the fire phoenix, she naturally possessed its abilities.

Every raindrop was a world.

She had vanished into the rain-filled sky.

But what did that matter? The tribulation lightning could still destroy the imperial palace's grand formation!

However, the Old Fox had miscalculated again. In that critical moment, the imperial palace's grand formation suddenly disappeared, and the tribulation lightning directly struck the imperial city square.

A huge crashing sound echoed, and the imperial palace was lit up as if it were daytime.

The ground was blasted into a deep crater, and the city walls collapsed wildly as if plowed.

The tribulation lightning had almost destroyed half of the imperial palace.

The Old Fox couldn't be happy, because inside him, the ancient scroll, which bore the fate of the city, had furiously backfired. Excruciating pain, like electric currents, surged through his entire body, paralyzing him instantly.

Who had shut down the imperial palace's grand formation at the crucial moment, causing him to accidentally destroy half the palace and trigger a backlash?

"Lu Jiajia?" The Old Fox's thought flashed... Not killing her was indeed a problem.

But when had she and Zhao Xiang'er conspired?

The Old Fox had no time to ponder.

Because he was too weak to resist the flying sword any longer.

From within a single raindrop, Zhao Xiang'er, transformed into a fire phoenix, broke through the barrier between two worlds and flapped her wings, flying out again.

She raised her right hand, her eyes suddenly turning utterly black, like a bottomless abyss.

"The umbrella I gave you, you really dared to consume it," Zhao Xiang'er sneered. Her hand suddenly closed into a fist, then two fingers extended, and with a swift flick, the flying sword descended with the force of thunder.

This flying sword was the sword from inside the umbrella.

The umbrella was the sword's sheath; they were intrinsically linked and dependent on each other. Now that the red umbrella had been consumed by the Old Fox, but not refined, their deep-rooted connection could not be erased!

That's why, no matter how the Old Fox tried to escape, the sword could always catch up to him!

The sword, like a divine judgment, instantly pierced the Old Fox's body. As if returning to its sheath, it clung to his massive Dharma form and spirit, plummeting rapidly, leaving an extremely long, stark white smoke trail in the air.

On the imperial palace square, which was already nearly reduced to ruins, a thundering sound reverberated again.

The sword, impaling the Old Fox's body, was firmly embedded in the ground. The Old Fox's spirit had been struck at its vital point, making it impossible for him to escape by scattering and re-gathering!

Zhao Xiang'er took a deep breath.

It was finally coming to an end...

She forcibly suppressed her injuries, flapped her fiery wings, and flew into the palace building.

She intended to reactivate the palace's killing formation to completely trap the Old Fox there and then crush him in one fell swoop.

Her figure flew into the depths of the palace, and the palace gates slammed shut.

The Old Fox's spirit Dharma form struggled and twisted at the bottom of the deep pit in front of the palace plaza, but the sword had merged with the umbrella inside his body, pinning him firmly to the ground. All his struggles were futile. Now, he only awaited the activation of the killing formation, upon which he would be utterly annihilated.

There was no light in the dark palace.

The girl's figure landed before the throne.

In the darkness, the lavish and magnificent throne seemed no different from an ordinary chair.

She precisely inserted the Vermilion Bird Brazier into the indentation at the top of the throne's backrest and slowly rotated it.

"It's ending..." The girl's voice was a little hoarse.

Lu Jiajia had witnessed the entire battle.

In mid-air, after their thrilling back-and-forth, when the sword that shattered the sky descended and impaled the Old Fox in front of the grand hall, even she was utterly astonished by Zhao Xiang'er's decisive action.

She found it hard to imagine that all of this was done by a girl not yet sixteen.

She immediately formed a sword seal and arrived at the center of the imperial palace, setting up numerous sword locks around it to prevent the Old Fox's escape before Zhao Xiang'er activated the killing formation.

But for some reason, even though victory was imminent, as she watched the continuously struggling Old Fox, she remained deeply troubled.

She pondered for a moment, then drew her fingers across her eyes, which immediately turned pure white, as if containing a magnificent light.

That was the Sword Eye.

She looked through her Sword Eye, and her mind trembled.

In the mirror-like Sword Eye, she saw two strands of spirit pierced through by the sword and pinned to the ground, struggling ceaselessly.

The Old Fox had swallowed three keys, so there should have been three spirits. Where had the other one gone?

Deep within the underground palace, in a place unseen by all, within the black brazier, the Old Fox's remaining three wisps of spirit suddenly opened their eyes. He showed no fear of having three souls severed; instead, he couldn't help but laugh.

"It's ending," he also said.

In front of the imperial palace, the Old Fox, impaled to the ground by the sword, stopped struggling. He quietly awaited a certain moment.

That moment was not the activation of the killing formation, but...

Behind the imperial grand hall, from the unguarded ancient well, a mass of fire suddenly surged forth!

That was another strand of the Old Fox's spirit.

It turned out that the Old Fox fighting Zhao Xiang'er had always been only two strands of spirit, while this third strand had, at some unknown point, infiltrated the Undying Forest and secretly made its way to the rear of the imperial palace through the ancient well in front of the Witch Lord's Hall.

Above Qifeng Lake, above the imperial palace, in front of the Grand Tutor's mansion, on the long street... In all of the Old Fox's previous battles, he had deliberately hidden his true strength. This was all so that in this battle, he could use two strands of spirit to feign the power of three, thus concealing the fact that one strand was hidden!

He had long known the connection between the umbrella and the sword, so he had never intended to kill Zhao Xiang'er head-on!

After that strand of spirit appeared, the palace's back door suddenly shattered.

He had long ago located Zhao Xiang'er based on the spiritual energy emanating from the Vermilion Bird Brazier. His spirit shot forth like an iron arrow, tearing through all obstacles instantly, rushing towards the throne in the most direct and simple path, with destructive force!

The tide was irreversible.

The throne shattered, and the falling Vermilion Bird Brazier was caught by a hand. The Brazier struggled incessantly, emitting pathetic cries.

He swallowed the Vermilion Bird Brazier whole.

A strong wind suddenly rose in the underground palace, and the fourth chain snapped in response, releasing another strand of spirit.

The fusion of four souls, compared to three, was a qualitative leap. His realm instantly ascended to the ninth level of the Purple Court, subtly approaching the Five Paths.

In the plaza, all the sword locks shattered in response. Within the vast demonic wind, Lu Jiajia's white robes flapped wildly, and her dark hair danced. Even though her reaction was extremely swift, the sword formation she had set up was torn apart in an instant, and she was even thrown hundreds of feet away.

The sword naturally could no longer trap him.

He directly reached in and pulled the sword out of his body, then tilted his head back, grasped the hilt, and, like a circus performer, slowly inserted it into his throat and swallowed it. This scene sent shivers down Lu Jiajia's spine.

Meanwhile, inside the pitch-black imperial hall, the Old Fox's other figure stood on the shattered throne, gazing at the disheveled figure of the woman standing in the center of the hall, and couldn't help but laugh heartily.

A century of suppression, finally released at this moment.

Next, he would merge his four souls, then go to the Jiazhi Hall to retrieve the sword once used by the immortal, unlock the remaining two chains, release his final true spirit body, and finally extract the demon seed he had secretly planted in a certain young girl's body that day. Then everything would truly be over.

That demon seed was originally his last resort, but it seemed he wouldn't need it now.

However, that demon seed was connected to the young girl's innate spirit. After being separated, that girl would certainly not survive.

It was a rare spirit of the same lineage, so he felt a hint of regret.

But this emotion was fleeting. At this moment, he was only a step away from the Five Paths, almost a true deity. How could the joys and sorrows of the human world leave a mark on his indifferent heart?

"Heh, Zhao Xiang'er..."

He looked at the silent girl in the hall and smiled faintly. He knew she must be extremely angry and confused right now, slowly descending into despair.

He yearned to see that expression on her face. He wanted to watch this naive girl tremble in despair before him.

So he didn't even open his demon eyes; instead, he snapped his fingers, causing all the palace lanterns to light up simultaneously, illuminating the entire imperial hall.

After the palace lanterns lit up, he opened his eyes, stared at the woman before him, and the smile on his face instantly froze into ice!

"You... who are you?"

The Old Fox looked at the unfamiliar woman, his voice cold and trembling.