Slender willows sway in the breeze

Chapter 202 The Blazing Fire Technique

“Don’t overestimate your capabilities!“

Elder Cai swept his python tail across, sending the two flying dozens of feet away.

Liu Sijun's five spiritual roots erupted simultaneously, and the five shields of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth shattered layer by layer. The last layer of lightning shield barely blocked the fatal blow.

"elder sister!"

Li Qing's pupils suddenly turned pure gold, and the flames around him transformed into a phoenix phantom.

The crimson flames he unleashed with his sword broke through spatial limitations, leaving a charred sword mark on Elder Cai's chest.

"A mutated fire elemental root?" Elder Cai recoiled in shock. "Impossible!"

"Qing'er!"

Liu Sijun exclaimed in surprise.

She sensed the disordered spiritual energy within Li Qing's body and knew it was a sign of a forced breakthrough.

The Taixu Mirror suddenly hummed, and the Chu clan's phantom in the mirror raised a hand and pointed at Li Qing's brow, helping him stabilize his rampaging spiritual power.

"Now's the time!"

Palace Master Wan seized the opportunity, his whisk transforming into countless silver threads that pierced Elder Cai's python scales.

Song Hongyuan's folding fan transformed into a shower of sharp blades, forcing Elder Cai's nascent soul out of his body.

"Wan Chongshan, you dare!"

Elder Cai's nascent soul tried to escape, but was held in mid-air by the suction force of the Taixu Mirror.

Liu Sijun mobilized the last bit of spiritual power, and the Taixu Mirror erupted with dazzling starlight, tearing the nascent soul into pieces.

"puff--"

Liu Sijun spat out black blood, and the backlash from her five spiritual roots made her vision go black.

Gu Changzhou caught her in time and used his fingertips to inject wood-attribute spiritual power into her vest to prolong her life.

"Jun'er!" Chu Yanjing's voice came from the rock wall. The red scales on his right eye receded, revealing a normal black pupil. "I..."

“Cousin Jing, don’t speak.” Liu Sijun weakly shook his head. “I’ll take you home.”

Suddenly, the Chu family's protective sword formation descended from the sky, and Chu Jinghong's figure appeared in the clouds: "Niece Sijun, the Chu family's sword formation has sealed off Crimson Ridge Peak." He looked at Chu Yanjing, a flash of pain in his eyes, "Yanghua, take the child back to the Chu family to heal."

Chu Yanghua responded and stepped down, embracing Chu Yanjing in his arms: "Lord Si, the Chu family will take good care of him."

Liu Sijun nodded, then turned to look at Li Qing: "How are you feeling?"

Li Qing's voice was weary, "Sister, I'm fine."

His pupils returned to normal, but his face was as pale as paper.

Palace Master Wan sighed, "Although Elder Cai is dead, the Blood Spirit Sect's Nine Coffins have appeared in the world."

He took out three jade talismans. "Lord Si, take Li Qing to the Misty Palace for help; Gu Changzhou, go to the Yaohua Palace; I and several other elders will personally guard the Yougu Palace."

Gu Changzhou frowned: "I should escort Lord Si."

“No need.” Liu Sijun forced herself to stand up. “I’m going to the Abyss of No Return.” She raised the Mirror of Illusion, in which the phantoms of nine giant bronze coffins appeared. “My mother’s soul is still inside.”

Palace Master Wan was silent for a moment, then said, "Very well. Junior Brother Gao, activate the teleportation array."

He handed Liu Sijun a jade talisman engraved with the characters "Tai Xu," saying, "This talisman can temporarily shield you from heavenly secrets, preventing the Blood Spirit Sect's spies from finding you."

Gu Changzhou squeezed her hand: "I'll stay with you."

Liu Sijun shook her head: "Go to Yaohua Palace. I need you to mobilize the power of the cultivators from the Nine Provinces." She looked at Li Qing, "Qing'er, come with me."

Li Qing nodded emphatically, a determined look flashing in her eyes.

The moment the three stepped into the teleportation array, Chu Yanjing's voice came from the clouds: "Jun'er, wait for me."

After the light faded, Crimson Ridge Peak returned to silence.

Chu Jinghong looked in the direction where his granddaughter had disappeared, and took out half of a jade pendant from his bosom. It was the dowry that Chu Shi had received when she got married.

Tiny cracks appeared on the surface of the jade pendant, and deep within the cracks shimmered the same starlight as that of the Taixu Mirror.

Liu Sijun's Taixu Mirror suddenly trembled violently, and the Chu clan's phantom image in the mirror warned, "Watch out above you!"

Before he finished speaking, the blood-red vines on the rock wall twisted and stretched out as if alive, their sharp thorns carrying the scent of rotting flesh as they pierced through the air. In an instant, Li Qing drew his sword, and mutated fire elemental power coiled around the blade, condensing into a crimson-gold flame.

He swung his sword at the nearest vine, only to see the flames absorbed by the blood leech vine the moment they made contact, while the sword itself was corroded and chipped.

"Qing'er, step back behind me!"

Liu Sijun waved his magpie feather fan, and five streams of spiritual wind intertwined to form a shield.

The thorns of the vines left charred marks on the spirit shield, and the acrid smell made it difficult for the two to breathe.

"Sister, they're consuming spiritual energy!"

Li Qing was furious. "They ate my spiritual power!"

Liu Sijun's five spiritual roots were operating simultaneously, with the spiritual power of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth circulating throughout his body.

She bit her tongue and spat her heart's blood onto the Taixu Mirror. The starlight in the mirror transformed into chains, binding the three main vines.

"Sister, look at the base of the vines!"

Li Qing suddenly pointed to the rock wall.

Liu Sijun's pupils contracted, for the roots of the vines were actually the bones of countless infants, each skeleton with a red python totem embedded in its eye socket.

She suppressed her nausea and used her wood-attribute spiritual power to try to appease the vengeful spirit.

However, it backfired and strangely bled.

With a thought, Liu Sijun activated the Tai Xu Mirror, and instantly starlight blazed brightly, like raging fire scorching the roots of the vines.

The vines emitted a mournful scream from the ancient steel, and the bones at their roots turned to ashes.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Li Qing unleashed his longsword. The crimson flames of the mutated fire spirit root spread along the veins of the vines, burning the entire blood leech vine to ashes.

"Come on!"

Liu Sijun pulled Li Qing and rushed towards the bottom of the abyss.

Behind them came the sound of bones grinding together, as nine bronze coffins slowly approached each other.

Liu Sijun's Taixu Mirror reflected the scene inside the coffins. In each coffin, there was a blood cocoon similar to that of the Chu family, which was trembling violently as the vines died.

"Sister, those coffins are terrifying!"

Li Qing's voice trembled.

"It is the 'Blood Soul Gu' that the Blood Spirit Cult uses to refine innocent people."

Liu Sijun gripped the Mirror of Emptiness tightly: "My mother's soul is inside."

She took out the jade talisman given to her by the Palace Master, and the talisman paper emitted a faint silver light in the yin wind of the abyss.

Suddenly, the sound of chains dragging on the ground came from the right.

Li Qing instantly drew his sword.

But then a hunched figure emerged from the mist.

It was Elder Cai, who should have been dead!
His physical body had turned into bones, and his nascent soul was curled up at his spine, clutching a blood-stained fragment of the Taixu Mirror in his hand.

"Liu Sijun, you've finally come." Elder Cai's voice was like a rusty gear turning. "Do you know why I let you see Chu's soul? Because her soul holds the Blood Spirit Sect's ultimate secret."

"What do you mean?"

A thick fog suddenly rose in front of us.

Liu Sijun's eyes sharpened, and he suddenly summoned the Magpie Feather Fan, channeling his spiritual power to forcefully cleave through the thick fog, creating five swirling gusts of spiritual wind in the abyss.

Li Qing's longsword, enveloped in a dense mutated fire elemental energy, intertwined in mid-air.

The moment the thick fog dissipated, dozens of Asura puppets rushed towards them. Li Qinghuo sword shattered the attacking puppets, but the fragments reassembled in the black fog, and the crimson python totem on their chests grew even more scarlet.

"Qing'er, use the Blazing Fire Technique!"

She flung out the Mirror of Emptiness, and the starlight within the mirror trapped three puppets.

Li Qing gritted his teeth and formed a hand seal, condensing a hexagonal crystal in his palm: "Nine Transformations - Burning Heaven!"

The moment the crystal shattered, the entire abyss was dyed a crimson gold.

(End of this chapter)