Chapter 14: You Died Before the Young Girl

"In the end, I've reached the end of my rope."

A calm voice echoed between heaven and earth.

Compared to her childhood innocence and her sickly youth, the twenty-year-old Xu Moli had eyes like deep pools and a cold, peerless beauty; with her robes fluttering, she looked like a flying immortal descending from the heavenly courts.

Her black hair cascaded like a waterfall, lightly held up by a jade hairpin.

With slender fingers, she held her sword to fend off the enemies.

Sharp, powerful, and incisive.

No one knew what Xu Moli had experienced, but every move and stance carried terrifying power, killing the Demonic Path Cultivators until they were chilled to the bone.

However, human strength has its limits; as the Demonic Path Cultivators laid out a grand Formation, Xu Moli, who was only at the Foundation Establishment stage, soon fell into the predicament of being surrounded and blockaded.

Was she going to die?

Sensing her nearly depleted mana and her almost shattered Magic Treasure Flying Sword, she looked at the airtight Demonic Path grand Formation surrounding her.

Xu Moli chuckled, her smile tinged with killing intent.

"Demonic Path rats, come and fight!"

Ignoring the so-called offer of surrender, under the shocked and furious gazes of the Demonic Path Cultivators, the Female Sword Immortal slashed out one last brilliant sword strike, instantly killing two Golden Core Early Stage experts.

Then, she was bombarded by numerous Magic Treasures and fell straight down from the sky.

The young girl knew.

Given the current state of the battle, no one would come to support or save her.

But she was neither afraid nor regretful.

Long ago, she had prepared herself to die at any moment; after all, she was someone who had already walked through the gates of hell once.

However, at the thought of bidding farewell to the world, she felt more or less reluctant, for the Heavenly Sword Sect, for her Master Li Wanshou, for Blackstone City, and—

For that man who had accompanied her through eighty or ninety percent of her life, warm and reassuring, but who had long since departed.

Over these past three years.

Xu Moli had experienced many things and visited many places.

But no matter how fresh the scenery, it could not fill the void left by that man's departure.

What kind of feelings did she truly harbor for that man? Every night when it was quiet and still, Xu Moli would ask herself this in her heart.

Was it hate? It seemed so—hating him for leaving without saying goodbye.

Was it love? It was a bit like it, but also not quite; it was different from the romantic or familial love people usually spoke of. It was an indescribable feeling, a desire to be together forever and ever.

But at this point.

There was no longer any need to consider such things.

After all, she was about to die.

Inexplicably, as her life hung by a thread, Xu Moli looked at the demonic Cultivators in the air gathering their killing intent once again, and a fortunate thought surfaced in her heart.

It was fortunate that man had long since left the Heavenly Sword Sect.

Otherwise, he would have also encountered danger today and might even have died, a scene the young girl absolutely did not want to see.

*Ripppp—*

A sound like cloth tearing suddenly echoed across the sky, startling the young girl who was calmly waiting for death. She looked up at the sky, only to find the hopeless heavens severed by a world-shaking sword light.

Looking closely, she could see a familiar, blood-stained figure staggering toward her.

That was the elder brother she relied on the most.

That was her hero alone.

That was the important person for whom she felt joy and sorrow.

But why, why was that person appearing here!?

"No, don't… stop, stop quickly!"

"No, you can't, absolutely not, don't come any closer—!!!" Panic and distress instantly took over the young girl's originally cold face.

She faintly foresaw something—an extremely terrifying future that was absolutely unacceptable.

But Xu Xi continued to advance.

Just like before, he went to the girl's side when she needed him most.

…

[Pain, it hurts so much.]

[Your consciousness is submerged in endless pain, and you have almost lost the ability to think, but you still clearly remember that your purpose for this trip is to protect your younger sister.]

[You drive your Wooden Sword back to the long-absent Heavenly Sword Sect.]

[You see the Sect breached, you see your fellow disciples killed, and you see your grown-up sister trapped in the demonic encirclement.]

[Without hesitation, you swing your Wooden Sword to use your former techniques, slashing at those villains trying to harm your treasure. You are discovered, and you engage in a fierce battle with the Demonic Path Cultivators.]

Muscles were screaming.

Bones were shattering.

Blood was spraying.

On the battlefield of the Heavenly Sword Sect, Xu Xi's entire body was stained red with blood, looking as if he should have died long ago, yet he continued to advance, numbly swinging the Wooden Sword in his hand.

Nascent Soul mana that did not belong to him condensed into a rainbow-like arc.

It sliced a Golden Core Late Stage expert in half at the waist.

But at the same time, the counterattack from the Demonic Path Cultivators also caused one of Xu Xi's feet to be sliced off, its whereabouts unknown.

"He is Xu Xi, the First True Disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect. Quick, everyone kill him together!"

A demonic Cultivator shouted in fear, recognizing Xu Xi's identity.

The feat of killing a Golden Core Late Stage expert in one move was too shocking.

So much so that the demonic Cultivators' hearts pounded; under the pressure in their hearts, they all joined forces to attack Xu Xi.

"Elder Brother!!!"

Xu Moli cried out the long-absent address, her expression more panicked than ever. She wanted to break the grand Formation and go out to fight alongside Xu Xi.

But she was simply too weak.

Her attacks could not break through the constraints of the Formation at all.

She could only watch helplessly, with eyes nearly splitting in despair, as that blood-stained figure fell time and again, only to stand back up once more.

"I beg you, don't…"

Another sword light swept across the sky.

Four Golden Core demonic Cultivators perished, and Xu Xi paid the price of having both his legs broken.

He could no longer stand and could only crawl on the ground with his hands, advancing in an incredibly slow and comical manner.

Blood flowed continuously from the wounds on his severed legs.

The soil along the path was soaked with blood, forming a long, dragged bloodstain.

The Demonic Path Cultivators were terrified, momentarily unable to tell who the real demon was, but they still endured their fear and continued to launch a siege on Xu Xi.

This time, at the cost of his entire body being charred black and completely losing his left arm…

…Xu Xi slaughtered all the remaining Golden Core demonic Cultivators.

"No, don't be like this… Why? Clearly, I'm just a burden…"

The young girl's eyes were vacant as she knelt on the ground.

She was crying uncontrollably.

Tears rolled down her cheeks, dripping onto her body and her thighs; hers was an expression of total despair and complete breakdown.

"I beg you, don't… don't come any closer… I beg you…"

"*Sobbing—!!*"

Tears and snot flowed freely.

Her whole body was trembling with fear.

Looking at the figure before her, charred black all over, with only his upper body left struggling forward, crawling with a single arm, the despair in her heart almost buried her soul.

Unable to breathe, unable to think, every tiny movement carried immense sorrow.

She could only shiver as she waited for the tragedy to descend.

*Crack—*

Finally, that "monster" who was burned beyond recognition, propping himself up with his remaining right arm on the Wooden Sword, crawled with difficulty to the grand Formation trapping Xu Moli.

With his last bit of strength, with his last bit of mana.

One sword strike pierced through the entire Formation.

Xu Xi's cracked lips parted slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but his vocal cords had long been destroyed, and he could make no sound.

But Xu Moli understood what Xu Xi truly wanted to express.

"Elder Brother has come to save you, Mo Li."

"Elder Brother didn't lie to you."

*Thump—*

Almost at the instant the Formation shattered, Xu Xi slightly closed his eyes, feeling fatigue surge over him in a moment. He could no longer do anything and only wanted to fall into a sleep from which he would never wake.

Under the young girl's gaze of despair and breakdown, Xu Xi's charred black body dissipated in the wind.

He didn't give her the slightest chance to save him.

Her mouth was wide open.

She wanted to cry but couldn't.

She could only let out a desperate, dry wail, hating her own incompetence over and over again.

[You died.]

[Simulation ended.]