Slender willows sway in the breeze

Chapter 203 Don't even think about it.
Thirty puppets turned to molten iron in the high temperature, while a bronze coffin in the distance emitted a piercing wail.

Liu Sijun's five spiritual roots were operating simultaneously, with the spiritual power of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth circulating throughout his body, but he bled due to forcibly breaking through his meridians.

"Sister, watch out!" Li Qing suddenly rushed over.

A blood-red chain pierced through Liu Sijun's left shoulder, dragging her toward the nearest bronze coffin.

The coffin lid slowly opened, revealing a blood cocoon curled up inside.

It was the Chu clan member who was refined into the Blood Soul Gu.

Liu Sijun endured the pain and swung his fan to sever the chains, only to see that Chu's pupils had turned pure black and sharp claws had grown from her fingertips.

"Mother, it's me!"

She took out the jade pendant, and the starlight in the crack stung Chu's eyes.

Chu's movements abruptly stopped, tears of blood welling in her eyes: "Jun'er, run!"

Her voice was swallowed by the blood cocoon, and the claws struck again.

Li Qing's fire sword suddenly grew three feet longer, pinning Chu's blood cocoon to the rock wall.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Liu Sijun channeled the star power into the Taixu Mirror, and a phantom image of the Chu clan appeared within it: "Use the fragments of the Heart-Devouring Cauldron to pierce her heart!"

“No!” Liu Sijun shook her head. “That’s my mother.”

"She's already a Gu worm!" the illusory figure of the Chu family shouted sharply. "Attack now!"

Liu Sijun trembled as he took out the fragments of the cauldron.

As the shard pierced Chu's heart, the blood cocoon suddenly burst open, and countless crimson pythons emerged from it.

Li Qing's phantom of the fire phoenix intertwined with Liu Sijun's Five Elements Sword Formation, twisting the crimson python into a bloody mist.

"Hurry!" The illusory figure of the Chu clan pushed them towards the bottom of the abyss. "The nine coffins are about to merge!"

Just as Liu Sijun leaped ten zhang away, he heard the sound of metal tearing behind him.

The nine bronze coffins were connected end to end, forming the shape of a giant worm, with Elder Cai's skeletal python body coiled around them.

"Liu Sijun, you have destroyed my physical body, so I will use your soul to reshape it!"

Elder Cai's voice came from the head of the Gu worm.

Li Qing suddenly coughed up black blood and knelt on the ground: "Sister, my fire spirit root has been suppressed!"

Liu Sijun's five spiritual roots were in excruciating pain at the same time, and the starlight of the Taixu Mirror dimmed.

She gritted her teeth, carried Li Qing on her back, and ran wildly in the direction Chu had indicated, only to see the phantoms of hundreds of Blood Spirit Sect disciples appearing ahead.

Liu Sijun's magpie feather fan drew a crescent moon amidst the crimson waves, and five spiritual winds, carrying the starlight of the Taixu Mirror, shattered hundreds of blood spirit phantoms.

Li Qing's fire sword shattered into dust in his hand, but the crimson flames of his mutated fire spirit root condensed into a six-winged phoenix phantom behind him.

"Sister, use my fire spirit root!" Li Qing bit her tongue, dripping her heart's blood onto the Tai Xu Mirror. "I'll lure them away!"

Just as Liu Sijun was about to stop him, he saw Li Qing's phoenix phantom transform into a meteor and crash into the head of the Gu worm.

Elder Cai's white bone python tail swept across, but it was melted by the high temperature the moment it touched the phoenix.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the Taixu Mirror absorbed the phoenix's soul power, and the star map in the mirror suddenly projected a complete star track of the cultivation world.

"I see!" Liu Sijun finally understood Chu's hint, "The nine coffins correspond to the gaps in the Big Dipper!"

She waved her magpie feather fan, channeling the spiritual power of her five spiritual roots into the positions of the seven main stars.

The Gu worms suddenly emitted a piercing shriek, and a bronze valve appeared at the connection point of the nine coffins.

Liu Sijun threw out a fragment of the Heart-Devouring Cauldron, which transformed into a stream of light that pierced through all the valves.

The skeleton of the Gu worm began to collapse, and Elder Cai's nascent soul let out an unwilling roar.

"Liu Sijun, you've ruined me!"

The nascent soul transformed into a blood arrow and shot towards her brow. At the critical moment, Chu Yanjing's sword suddenly pierced through the air and pinned the nascent soul to the rock wall.

Gu Changzhou's Wind and Thunder Wings, carrying the Yaohua Palace Sword Formation, arrived, while the Chu family's Mountain-Protecting Sword Image coiled around the Gu worm's body like a giant dragon.

"Jun'er, use the Tai Xu Mirror to absorb stellar energy!"

Gu Changzhou's voice was filled with anxiety.

Liu Sijun closed her eyes to sense the star map, and the Taixu Mirror suddenly floated above her head, injecting the power of the entire starry sky into her body.

Her five spiritual roots awakened simultaneously, and the five spiritual flames of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth burned around her, eventually condensing into a giant sword made of starlight.

"The Great Void Star has fallen!"

The moment the giant sword struck, the entire Abyss was engulfed by starlight.

The nine coffins turned to dust, Elder Cai's nascent soul dissipated in the starlight, and Chu's soul emerged from the void, smiling at her daughter with tears in her eyes.

"Mother!"

Liu Sijun lunged at the illusory figure.

The phantom of the Chu clan turned into stardust the instant it touched her: "Remember, the fragments of the Heart-Devouring Cauldron hold your father's secret."

Liu Sijun's pupils contracted sharply as the scene of the Laiyang County dungeon suddenly appeared in the Taixu Mirror—Liu Shiyuan was holding a blood-stained fragment of the Taixu Mirror, confronting the leader of the Blood Spirit Sect.

"Father?"

She whispered.

Gu Changzhou gently placed his hand on her shoulder: "Si Jun, the nine coffins are destroyed, but the Blood Spirit Cult's true objective remains..."

“It’s the Mirror of Emptiness.” Liu Sijun gripped the mirror chain tightly. “They want my five spiritual roots.”

She turned to look at Li Qing, who was being held in Chu Yanghua's arms. "Take Qing'er back to the Chu family. I'm going to Laiyang County."

"I'll stay with you."

Gu Changzhou's Wind and Thunder Wings spread out.

Inside the Chu family ancestral hall, Chu Jinghong stroked the Chu family's memorial tablet and suddenly coughed violently.

Chu Yanghua frowned and asked, "Father, are you alright?"

"It's alright." Chu Jinghong waved his hand. "Si Jun's journey is fraught with danger; give her the Chu family's 'Li Huo Sword.'"

He took out his ancestral sword, and the crimson flame patterns on the blade resonated with the starlight of the Taixu Mirror.

Deep within the dungeon of Laiyang County, Liu Shiyuan's skin was covered with crimson python patterns, and the fragment of the Taixu Mirror in his hand was absorbing the blood spirit energy in the dungeon.

The phantom of the Blood Spirit Cult leader emerged from the fragments: "Patriarch Liu, if you offer up your daughter's five spiritual roots, I might take pity on you and take you out of this hellish place. What do you say?"

"Don't think about it!"

Liu Shiyuan surprisingly stuck out his neck with a tough stance, "I was bewitched back then and believed your nonsense, which is why I've ended up in this state. If I were to believe you again, I would be as stupid as a pig!"

Inside the dungeon of Laiyang County, as soon as Liu Shiyuan finished speaking, the phantom of the Blood Spirit Sect leader let out a sinister laugh. The sound seemed to come from all directions, causing stone chips to fall from the dungeon walls.

"Patriarch Liu, do you think your tough attitude will change anything? Your precious daughter, Liu Sijun, possesses five spiritual roots, a rare find in the world. With her five spiritual roots, my Blood Spirit Sect will surely dominate the cultivation world, crush all the major sects, and even the Great Yu and several other kingdoms will be under our control!"

The illusory figure of the Blood Spirit Cult leader had a greedy red light flashing in its eyes, and its figure appeared and disappeared in the blood mist.

Liu Shiyuan, bracing himself, glared angrily: "You won't succeed! Si Jun is exceptionally intelligent; she will surely see through your schemes and completely eradicate your Blood Spirit Sect!"

"Clap clap clap!"

The leader of the Blood Spirit Cult clapped his hands a few times, a mocking smile playing on his lips: "Oh, what a benevolent father act! You weren't like this when you were begging to join the Blood Spirit Cult."

Liu Shiyuan looked embarrassed: "I was bewitched by that scoundrel, that's why I was deceived."

(End of this chapter)