The moment the woman in yellow spoke, Xu Huang’s body plummeted like a broken kite, falling straight down from mid-air.
Bang!
With a plume of dust, Xu Huang’s body smashed into a large pit, his fate unknown.
“Senior, weren’t you going to…” Li Xuan asked with a wry smile upon seeing this.
“Later,” the woman in yellow waved off Li Xuan’s question and then looked at Xuan Ye and the others, “Why aren’t you making a move?”
Xuan Ye and his companions immediately bowed with bitter smiles, cupping their fists towards the woman in yellow, “Senior, please forgive our transgressions. We know we are in the wrong.”
They knew precisely what the woman in yellow implied. She had seen through their intention to use Li Xuan to weaken the strength of the six great sects. Moreover, if they had intervened to protect Li Xuan from the start, he would not be in such a sorry state now.
“Your lives are spared, but your crimes are not absolved. Next time you scheme against others, first consider if you have the ability to bear the consequences,” the woman in yellow said, then pointed towards the void. Five streaks of sword energy instantly pierced the brows of Xuan Ye and the other four.
“This sword energy will remain in your bodies for ten years, acting up once every night at midnight. Of course, you can try to expel it from your bodies, but you will have to bear the consequences yourselves,” the woman in yellow finished, withdrawing her gaze and looking towards the void as if sensing something.
Xuan Ye and his companions inwardly lamented, this had truly been a case of bringing fire upon themselves. As for the woman in yellow’s suggestion to expel the sword energy, Xuan Ye and the others had considered it. But now that she had so plainly stated it, how could they dare to try?
Soon, under the woman in yellow’s watchful eyes, two figures appeared out of thin air.
“Who killed Elder Deng of my Seven Stars Holy Land!” The two elders were both clad in white robes. Though they were questioning, their gazes fell upon the woman in yellow.
“How dare you look down upon me? Who gave you the courage?” The woman in yellow smiled slightly, then pressed her left hand towards the void. The bodies of the two elders instantly fell.
Not only that, but after landing, their entire bodies seemed to be suppressed by an invisible force, prostrating them completely. The two elders were in utter shock. They were both cultivators at the Chuang Yuan realm, yet they were suppressed in a single encounter!
“The Seven Stars Holy Land and the White Feather Holy Land are likely finished,” Liu Jiaqi said from the side with a complex expression.
“Are you suggesting that the person behind Li Xuan can destroy the White Feather Holy Land and the Seven Stars Holy Land?” Zhou Wenjin was stunned. Although the woman in yellow was incredibly powerful, the Seven Stars Holy Land and the White Feather Holy Land were not weak either.
Liu Jiaqi smiled wryly. She couldn’t help but recall when they were outside the Sacred Sect ruins at Mount Luoyan, a woman had resolved the situation with just a single sword strike from hundreds of miles away from the Li Huo Sect. This woman in yellow was likely no weaker, especially considering the two elders currently lying on the ground were genuine Chuang Yuan realm cultivators!
“This is less of an eyesore now,” the woman in yellow glanced at the two elders on the ground, then looked at Li Xuan, “How do you intend to deal with them?”
“That… I will leave it to Senior,” Li Xuan was taken aback, then after a moment of contemplation, he said with a wry smile. Li Xuan had considered obliterating the Seven Stars Holy Land and the White Feather Holy Land, but that would make him no different from a bully. Yet, letting them go felt unbearable.
“You may rise and speak,” the woman in yellow looked at Li Xuan with some surprise, but a hint of admiration flashed in her eyes. If Li Xuan had directly asked her to eliminate the Seven Stars Holy Land and the White Feather Holy Land, his magnanimity would be difficult to cultivate to great heights. With this thought, the woman in yellow waved her hand, lifting the suppression.
“Thank you, Senior,” Yuan Yilong and Xu Zhong stood up, respectfully cupping their fists towards the woman in yellow.
“I killed those two. Do you have any objections?” the woman in yellow said calmly.
“They offended you, Senior. Killing them was their own doing,” Yuan Yilong immediately replied.
“Yes, yes, it was all their own fault,” Xu Zhong quickly nodded in agreement.
“They didn’t offend me, they offended him,” the woman in yellow shook her head, pointing at Li Xuan. “Alright, you may leave.”
Yuan Yilong and Xu Zhong hurriedly turned to leave, but before they departed, they took a careful look at Li Xuan, clearly intending to remember his appearance.
After they left, the woman in yellow looked at Li Xuan and said, “Can you still walk?”
“Yes,” Li Xuan nodded, enduring the intense pain within his body.
“Then accompany me for a walk,” the woman in yellow said without looking back, walking towards the outskirts of the city. Li Xuan was stunned for a moment, then gave a wry smile, shook his head, and struggled to stand up to follow her.
“Have you ever thought why I could have brought you here directly but instead made you walk all this way?” On a hilltop outside the city, the woman in yellow stopped and turned to look at Li Xuan.
Li Xuan was taken aback, then nodded with a wry smile. He had indeed pondered the woman in yellow’s question. With her strength, she could have brought him here in an instant.
“Everyone’s path is walked by themselves. If everything is arranged for you, do you think such a life has meaning?” the woman in yellow spoke slowly.
Li Xuan immediately shook his head. Such a life would be like being a puppet on strings, devoid of any meaning.
“I also know that perhaps you sometimes wonder why your Master chose you but did not impart any cultivation techniques, divine abilities, or sword arts. In fact, your Master also wants you to forge your own path. And much has already been given to you. For example…”
The woman in yellow paused in thought, then continued, “Hmm, let’s not talk about that for now. The reason I made you walk here yourself is also because your body is completely ruined. Your current condition is even more severe than when your dantian was destroyed.”
Li Xuan nodded with a wry smile. His meridians were all broken, and his internal organs had shifted. If not for his strong physique, he would likely not have been able to endure walking this far.
“But you need not fear. As the saying goes, one must break to build. Your current situation fits perfectly. As long as you can reshape the meridians within your body and successfully reposition your internal organs, it will greatly benefit your physique.”
The woman in yellow paused, “Of course, this process will be quite painful.”
“It’s alright, I’m not afraid of pain,” Li Xuan shook his head.
The woman in yellow’s lips curved slightly. “Since that is the case, then you shall begin. Hmm, use your sword energy to reshape your body. If you can persevere through this, your physique will be considered a nascent sword body.”
Li Xuan, not noticing the woman in yellow’s expression, immediately nodded. He then sat down cross-legged and activated his Qing Xiao sword energy, beginning to reshape his meridians.
“Ah!”