Chapter 637: 虚年

Li Huowang couldn't afford to be careless, especially since any one of these instances could be Xuniang's attack.

Facing Xuniang, Li Huowang knew it was time to get serious. He had already consumed all the longevity pills in his gourd, and another touch from Xuniang would surely cause him to die of old age on the spot.

As the attacks from all directions intensified, a fire scythe scraped across Li Huowang's body. A burst of towering flames instantly illuminated the surroundings, causing some shadowy figures in the darkness to rapidly melt away.

When Li Huowang saw Xuniang standing still, surrounded by flickering red afterimages, he felt his scalp prickle. Even after sacrificing his skin to 'Ba' for power, he still felt a chill.

That very move was how Xuniang, along with him, had subdued the Daliang Dragon Vein!

"No! She can't be allowed to finish!" Li Huowang's burning feet pushed off the ground, and he charged towards Xuniang.

In the flickering firelight, dark figures leaped from the shadows of the stalactites, lunging at Li Huowang. Yet, before they could reach him, they ignited and fell to the ground.

Seeing Xuniang close by, Li Huowang abruptly drew his Spine Sword, delivering a powerful slash that sent a rift flying towards her.

Just as the rift was about to strike the woman on Xuniang's back, the ground beneath Xuniang suddenly collapsed, causing her to drop significantly and narrowly evade the blow.

As Xuniang climbed out of the pit, accompanied by the perpetual red afterimage, the tide of battle began to turn.

Li Huowang dared not let Xuniang's afterimage touch him, fearing both temporal regression and accelerated aging. He retreated, parrying with his Spine Sword.

The challenge was that the red afterimages surrounding Xuniang were persistent. They steadily expanded, filling the cavern and forcing Li Huowang into a continuous retreat.

However, a turning point quickly emerged. With a "whoosh!" a black-bladed *modao* attached to a chain shot forward, directly piercing Xuniang's scales.

As the chain tautened, a figure was yanked from outside and flew into the cavern.

Seeing the person drawing closer to Xuniang, Li Huowang hastily yelled, "Watch out! Don't get too close to her!"

"Clang!" Another *modao* plunged firmly into the ground, bringing the person to a stable halt about three *zhang* (approximately 10 meters) away from Xuniang.

At that moment, Li Huowang got a clear look at the person. To his surprise, it wasn't the bald man with the crescent shovel he had previously encountered.

The person wore tattered black armor, resembling a military figure. Despite his relatively young appearance, his face was etched with the marks of experience, covered in stubble and signs of hardship.

"Kill the cultist riding on its back!" Li Huowang yelled to the man. The black-armored man glanced at the Purple Tassel Sword on Li Huowang's back. With a flick of his hands, both *moda* that were piercing Xuniang's scales and stuck in the ground simultaneously retracted, firmly returning to his back. "Give me the Tai'a Sword!"

Before Li Huowang could even process what the Tai'a Sword was, Xuniang lunged at them once more.

Rapidly retreating, Li Huowang suddenly shouted to the black-armored man, "Find a way to restrain her! I'll handle this!"

Hearing this, the black-armored man pushed off the ground with force, instantly performing a backflip. He sharply pulled his arms back, vigorously swinging his cape, and the four *moda* on his back simultaneously flew towards Xuniang.

The moment Xuniang's four hooves were bound by chains as she charged, Li Huowang seized the opportunity, unleashing a rift at the witch-faced woman on Xuniang's back.

Seeing the woman attempt to dodge, Li Huowang pulled out a rib and plunged it into his own chest. Instantly, everyone in his vicinity felt a searing pain throughout their bodies.

The next moment, the woman's head was instantly transported to Daqi by the rift. Simultaneously, the red afterimages surrounding Xuniang gradually vanished.

A "clatter-clatter" of chains sounded. The iron-armored man swung a chain, wrapping it around the hilt of Li Huowang's Purple Tassel Sword, then yanked it out and aimed it directly at the missing part of Xuniang's head.

"Wait!" Li Huowang instantly flickered, reappearing a *zhang* (approximately 3.3 meters) away in mid-air. Immediately, Li Sui's tentacles shot out, firmly coiling around the Purple Tassel Sword.

"Don't kill her! This creature is a friend... my friend's friend! She was merely being controlled; she didn't genuinely intend to harm us," Li Huowang explained to the black-armored man.

Hearing this, the man glanced at the now motionless Xuniang. He then pulled back sharply, and the four *moda* that had bound Xuniang flew back to him, where he reinserted them onto his back.

Freed, Xuniang quickly turned and leaped into the darkness. A short while later, she reappeared, but this time, a woman's face rested upon her neck.

The face remained broken, with tattered script visible beneath the wounds, resembling torn book pages. This time, Li Huowang recognized the writing as Zhuge Yuan's.

"Is that you?" Xuniang asked, staring at Li Huowang.

Li Huowang looked at her with a complicated expression, appearing to want to explain something, but his mouth felt impossibly heavy.

"No, it's not you. You're gone," Xuniang said, shaking her head in profound disappointment. She took a few steps back, then bolted towards the cave entrance, startling the bald, bearded man who had just entered and causing him to quickly raise his crescent shovel.

Li Huowang was about to give chase but was suddenly pulled back. He turned his head to see Li Sui engaged in a tug-of-war. "Li Sui, let go!"

"No! This person is trying to steal our sword! It's ours! We can't let him have it!" Li Sui insisted, enduring the pain of the burns.

Between the two, a chain on one side and a tentacle on the other held the Purple Tassel Sword taut in mid-air.

Hearing this, Li Huowang shifted his attention from Xuniang to the black-armored man before him. "Brother, could you please return my sword?" Li Huowang's flames gradually subsided, leaving his body charred.

"Return it to you? Why should I? This is *my* sword!" You Zixiong roared, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the monstrous, evil cultivator before him.

"Zixiong, Master Er, we're all on the same side; there's no need for this. Let's talk things through," the bald, bearded man who had just arrived interjected, trying to mediate between them.

Li Huowang didn't want to escalate the conflict, especially since the other party had just helped him. "Brother, I'm not a stingy person. I'd consider giving you something else, but this sword absolutely cannot be parted with. It's a legacy from one of my elders."

"An elder? Who was it?"

"Master Jingxin from Anci Temple."

Hearing this, You Zixiong's eyes flickered slightly. The chain wrapped around the Purple Tassel Sword loosened and retracted into his cloak.

Seeing his reaction, doubt immediately arose in Li Huowang's mind. "What? You know Master Jingxin too?"

"No, I don't know her. But I am from Siqi. My sword was indeed pawned to the nuns of Anci Temple back then. Since Siqi has fallen, I suppose they can't exchange it for money with the Ministry of Revenue anymore, can they? Heh heh..."

You Zixiong, who had just been brimming with fierce energy, seemed to have lost all his spirit, becoming utterly dejected.