Chapter 243: Qi Jin's Death

When Li Weiyi saw Qijin, whose face resembled Zhuang Yue's, a chill immediately appeared in his eyes.

And when he saw the sword in Qijin's hand, the chill directly transformed into killing intent.

It was Jiang Ning's Jingyu Sword!

Tang Wanqiu whispered a warning: "Be careful, she is the top master under Luansheng Linyou; her combat power is comparable to Huayuzi's."

With a whoosh, Li Weiyi moved swiftly, his body like a wisp of smoke, darting forward. Behind him, a divine projection of his combat intent, four zhang tall, rose up.

Tang Wanqiu's eyes narrowed: "He has indeed broken through again!"

"But he has only just reached the Sixth Sea, and there's a fundamental difference between his Fourth-Stage Qi and Qijin's Sixth-Stage Qi," a martial cultivator from Snow Sword Tang Court said, still doubting Li Weiyi's strength.

"Yin Suwen is already severely wounded; if he can just hold off Qijin, we'll have a chance to escape."

Wanyan Xiaose commanded the swarm of insects to attack the remaining Yin Mountain demon cultivators guarding the city gate. The other five martial cultivators from Snow Sword Tang Court followed closely behind. Unlike the other six, Tang Wanqiu fixed her gaze on the heavily wounded Yin Suwen, raising her sword and attacking. If she didn't kill this traitor, she would have no face to meet the families and friends of the fallen cultivators.

Boom! Whoosh, whoosh!

The Fourth-Rank Hundred-Character Scripture Artifact, shaped like a book, pressed down on Li Weiyi, tearing up all the flagstones on the long street and making the defensive formations of the buildings on both sides of the street precarious. A Patrol Immortal Envoy, clad in a white Daoist robe, stood on the city wall and made two strokes, stabilizing the protective formation. Li Weiyi was incredibly fast, dodging with curved movements. No matter how powerful the Fourth-Rank Hundred-Character Scripture Artifact was, if it couldn't lock onto him, its efforts were in vain.

Qijin kept her eyes fixed on Li Weiyi's movement trajectory, watching him approach closer and closer.

Whoosh! He leaped above Qijin's head, the sound of a sword ringing out as the Yellow Dragon Sword was drawn. With one downward slash, sword energy, like a long river inverted, tore through the Shiling army with devastating force, reaching directly before Qijin. The Yellow Dragon Sword's sword energy seemed capable of dissolving all things; any Shiling that it touched instantly turned to ash and vanished.

A powerful aura overflowed from Qijin's body, dispersing the incoming sword energy.

"Divine Moon Ever-Shining Mirror!"

Behind her, a unique combat intent rose: a crimson divine moon, five zhang in diameter, shining over tens of miles of the city and vying with the bright moon in the sky. This light drew the gaze of the elder powerhouses on Peach and Plum Mountain, who were anxiously watching the situation in the southern city, immediately eliciting gasps of astonishment. Residents in the city below the mountain could hear an elder on the mountain shouting: "Look quickly to the southeast!"

Boom!

Li Weiyi, like an arrow shot straight forward, collided with Qijin. The two swords clashed, and their spiritual energy transformed into surging waves, spreading outwards. Sparks exploded like a rain of fire.

Qijin had already overestimated Li Weiyi to the greatest extent, but only when they truly clashed did she realize what a terrifying opponent Yin Suwen had just faced. It wasn't that Yin Suwen was useless; it was that the enemy had become unbelievably strong. Fourth-Stage Qi, a four-zhang-tall combat intent, and without a successfully cultivated Dao Body—how could he be so strong?

Qijin was sent reeling back more than ten zhang by Li Weiyi's sword, and the three Fifth-Sea realm cultivators behind her were struck and sent flying like scarecrows, their bones shattered and blood pouring from their seven orifices. Cracks appeared on the skin of the arm holding her sword. Before she could stabilize herself, Li Weiyi's second, third, and fourth swords followed in quick succession, each faster than the last. The sword's hum resembled a dragon's roar, and within ten zhang, sword shadows filled the air, leaving Qijin utterly unable to retaliate. Dense cracks appeared on the human skin covering her body. Even merely being touched by the sword energy caused her extreme discomfort.

"Divine Moon Mirror!"

Qijin let out a sharp, cold cry, and a circular ancient mirror flew out from the mist of spiritual energy behind her, emitting ten thousand beams of radiant light, blocking the sword Li Weiyi thrust towards her brow. With his left hand, Li Weiyi sent out a palm print through the air, forming a golden coiled dragon divine seal that struck her heavily.

Boom!

The human skin on Qijin's body exploded and shattered, sending her flying backward, leaving only her tattered face and long hair, revealing her Jinjin True Form. She looked like a figure molded from charcoal ash, with dazzling sparks and demonic energy flickering within.

Li Weiyi raised his sword and pursued, eager to end the fight quickly. Blood mist and dense, crimson scriptures flew out from his Blood Handprint Demonic Armor. Then, with one thrust, a hundred swords seemed to fly simultaneously. The Divine Moon Ever-Shining Mirror combat intent moved to block in front of Qijin. The spiritual energy within her body surged wildly, gathering into her hands and continuously flowing into the Divine Moon Mirror.

Whoosh! The Divine Moon Mirror rotated, merging with the five-zhang-diameter combat intent. It replicated Li Weiyi's sword moves on its surface and sent them back as a counterattack. A hundred swords came, and a hundred swords returned simultaneously.

Whoosh, whoosh!

Li Weiyi's heart chilled. He recalled the crimson scriptures, which imprinted onto his skin, transforming into scripture demonic armor, to defend against the countless sword energies flying back at him. Back when Qijin was repelled by Jiang Ning using the Ghost Banner at the Ancestral Soldier Marsh, she had said that she lost due to the lack of a suitable artifact, as the Divine Moon Mirror was not with her then. Clearly, she believed that with the Divine Moon Mirror, she possessed combat power no weaker than a Dao Seed realm cultivator.

Li Weiyi sheathed his sword. Relying on his Blood Handprint Demonic Armor, which covered his entire body, he charged forward with overwhelming demonic might, punching and chopping with inexhaustible strength.

Boom! After shattering Qijin's Divine Moon Ever-Shining Mirror combat intent with one palm strike, six divine projections of Li Weiyi's combat intent simultaneously appeared behind him, unleashing 150% of his combat power. He slammed his head downwards, his body directly colliding with hers.

Thud! Qijin flew backward, sparks flying everywhere, her body smashing through a district wall and falling into the ruins. Li Weiyi landed abruptly, immediately straddling her, unleashing palm strikes like a torrential downpour. She managed to block only the first three palm strikes before screaming and roaring continuously from the assault. Finally, Li Weiyi struck her neck, breaking it, and the flames on her body extinguished.

Li Weiyi grabbed the Jinjin head, then rolled to the side, dodging the book-shaped Fourth-Rank Hundred-Character Scripture Artifact flying towards him from behind. The attacks from other martial cultivators from the Far West Ash Region present could not breach the Blood Handprint Demonic Armor's defense. Only this artifact could harm him.

Boom! The book struck Qijin's headless corpse, reducing it to ashes and leaving a huge crater.

Li Weiyi used his spiritual energy to collect the Divine Moon Mirror, the Jingyu Sword, and four invitations that had fallen from Qijin's clothes. He then flickered his body, leaped across rooftops, killed several more people, and finally returned to the city gate. He looked towards the Snow Sword Tang Court members who had yet to break through the encirclement.

He raised the head and proclaimed loudly: "Qijin has been slain by me! Are you not going to leave your invitations and flee for your lives?"

At his words, the unaware martial cultivators from the Far West Ash Region instantly changed their expressions, looking over with shock and uncertainty. Tang Wanqiu and Yin Suwen, who were in the midst of fighting, stopped. Their eyes were filled with disbelief. Only they knew how terrifying this achievement was.

"Brother Weiyi, are you a demon god descended to the mortal realm, or a celestial god cultivating among humans? That was Qijin!" Wanyan Xiaose's voice was sweet, unable to describe the admiration she felt in her heart at that moment. There was no way; even Tang Wanqiu at her peak might not have been able to slay Qijin. Tang Wanqiu was at the perfected Seventh Sea. Yet Li Weiyi, at the Fifth-Sea realm, still had immense room for improvement.

From the completely dark city wall, dense sounds of insects chirping and wings fluttering emanated, drawing the gaze of everyone on the street below. Shi Shishi, Bai Shu, and the seven torrents of ferocious insects summoned by the seven Phoenix-Winged Moth Emperors finally arrived, converging at this spot.

Shi Shishi shouted: "Brother Weiyi, are we still fighting?"

"They might still have invitations on them. If you get them, they're yours. You only have a short time!"

Li Weiyi flew down, slew Yin Suwen, collected his invitations and three Hundred-Character Scripture Artifacts, then began conversing with Tang Wanqiu: "What exactly is going on? Yin Mountain is located in the Northern Frontier; how could it suddenly rebel? Can that Demon King of Yin Mountain withstand the wrath of the entire Northern Frontier? Or does it mean it can move the eight thousand li Yin Mountain Range?"

Shi Shishi let out an excited cry, then, along with Bai Shu and the seven Phoenix-Winged Moth Emperors, led the insect swarm to charge at the fleeing martial cultivators from the Far West Ash Region. The seven Phoenix-Winged Moth Emperors were naturally aiming to collect money bags and dimensional pouches. Those represented precious medicines and millennium-old spirit medicines.

Tang Wanqiu watched the scene before her, looking at the seven long rivers of insects whose ends were out of sight. Her heart was utterly convinced. Leaning on her sword for support, she said: "Weiyi, the world is about to undergo a massive change! I suddenly understood that Du'e Monastery could indeed be supporting the forces behind Luansheng Linyou, provided he wins the Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival."

"Dragon Gate has already sided with them, and the major demon races must have as well!"

"Zuoqiu Hong and I both misjudged the situation. Our perspectives were still limited by the Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival; we didn't fully grasp the true state of the world. I believe those old fellows on Peach and Plum Mountain are also only realizing it now."

"The Heartless Golden Ape of Tianya Ridge submitting to Zuoqiu Hong was likely a scheme by Luansheng Linyou, along with the Jinjin and Sijin pieces already embedded among the Southern Frontier cultivators. The Zuoqiu Family and the imperial court will surely follow in the footsteps of Snow Sword Tang Court."

Tang Wanqiu suddenly grabbed Li Weiyi's shoulder, her eyes filled with urgency and hope: "Weiyi, stop him! If there's anyone left in Qiu State City who can stop Luansheng Linyou, it can only be you! Do you understand what I just said? If Luansheng Linyou wins, many, many people will die..."

"I'll do my best!"

Li Weiyi flew onto the city wall, blew a whistle, and summoned the seven Phoenix-Winged Moth Emperors. Time waits for no one; they had to rush to the most important place immediately. Shi Shishi and Bai Shu returned along with the insect swarm.

"So soon? I haven't even found a single invitation!" Shi Shishi said, his heart secretly anxious as he watched the fleeing Fifth-Sea realm cultivators.

"The situation is worse than I imagined! I need to rush to the Bright Moon Seven Star Pavilion first. You lead the insect swarm and follow as quickly as possible."

Having said this, Li Weiyi soared away, his gaze fixed on the towering Peach and Plum Mountain in the city center. He clearly heard an elder urgently shout: "Hurry!" That single word, "Hurry!", contained countless unspoken meanings.

Dragging their injured bodies, Tang Wanqiu and her six companions, disheveled, stumbled out of the outer city gate. There, they saw a magnificent Jade Chariot, pulled by five Snow Dragon Jiaos, imposing and awe-inspiring. It was once the personal carriage of an ancient emperor! The small world surrounding the Jade Chariot was filled with wind and snow, existing independently from the clear, bright moonlit sky.

Tang Wanqiu knelt on one knee, gritting her teeth: "Sister, I have failed! I have completely lost the Fifth-Sea realm cultivators of Snow Sword Tang Court."

Inside the carriage, a young woman's voice rang out: "Snow Sword Tang Court only lost its Fifth-Sea realm cultivators. At a critical moment, you dared to strike Yin Suwen with your sword; that is acceptable to me. Get in the carriage and return to the city with me!"

Tang Wanqiu froze: "Returning to the city now would be very dangerous."

"Since you have already left the city, it means you are out of the competition. If you ride with me, who would dare to kill you?"

The Jade Chariot slowly advanced towards the city gate. Tang Wanzhou's voice faintly echoed from within the carriage: "I came to see just how capable this so-called Young Heavenly Emperor truly is."