Reincarnation Girl Becomes Immortal

If there isn't enough paint, just add more blood.

Gradually, a ripple-like, layered, blood-red circle surrounded the five horse carcasses.

The blood was stained with charcoal ash, and the array was stained gray-black, making it even more eerie.

Xi Heng drew a rough, vase-shaped oval pattern at the center of the formation, dragged several horse carcasses into it, and then drew twisted, rising blood patterns around the flesh. The blood patterns enveloped the corpses and extended outwards like five fingers or tree branches.

It took her a lot of effort to complete these actions; without strength, she might not have been able to pull even the smallest horse.

Amidst the fire and blood, the girl patted the charred horsehair off her hands, causing the warm, sticky blood to splatter everywhere.

Xi Heng glanced down. Having spent so much time in a place filled with blood, charcoal, and thick smoke, he was covered in dust.

"Tsk, let's hurry up."

After drawing the ritual and formation in blood on the scorched ground, she made hand seals and began to walk with strange and unpredictable steps beside the formation.

"The flesh senses life, but life calls upon your spirit to gather; deep resentment and bloodlust forever condense the spirit..."

With each step, the deep black blood patterns on the ground gathered a crimson glow as the flames flickered.

With a change of finger technique, some of the stripes on the formation pierced into the chest of the five-headed horse corpse.

Xi Heng squatted down, caught the warm, flowing blood with three fingers, and drew three claw-like blood marks on the back of his hand.

After the mark was drawn, the thinnest pony in the ritual room had all its blood drained and turned into a dried-up corpse.

Without stopping, she drew another sword pattern on the back of her right hand.

When there wasn't enough space on the back of his hand, he continued to draw on his arm, creating a bone pattern that encircles his forearm.

The 'Bone-Shock Transformation' spell consumed significantly more energy, instantly draining the blood from both horses and drying out their muscles.

Just as Xi Heng was about to continue inscribing the Blood Arrow technique, the sound of clashing swords suddenly came from outside the stable, and they were rapidly approaching.

The clanging sound traveled a distance through the air before landing in the courtyard outside the shed.

Several thuds sounded in succession, and the sound of swords clashing stopped, as if the situation had changed from a sword fight to a standoff.

Xi Heng glanced quickly outside the stable and saw several blurry figures holding weapons land in a charred courtyard. The firelight flickered and the air distorted, making it impossible to see their faces and postures.

She then reduced her movements and lowered her voice, shrinking into a corner to wait for these people to leave.

He had only come tonight to collect flesh and blood, and now that he had achieved his goal, he didn't want any conflict.

"A fight in this kind of fire can't last long, let's wait a bit..." she thought to herself, glancing outside every now and then.

On the right side of the outside, there were three figures with knives in their hands, their figures clean and neat, their heads wrapped in blue turbans. On the left side was a figure in a cloak, holding a long sword in one hand and something in the other.

A tattered cloak swayed in the firelight, and the faint sound of a child crying could be heard coming from beneath it.

Xi Heng stopped what he was doing and focused on eavesdropping.

A shout rang out, and the voice of the foremost figure in blue robes was full of vigor: "Senior Guo, you are old-fashioned and pedantic. It's one thing for you to be an enemy of Huangmei Mountain, and no one in the martial world would say a word. But tonight you still want to oppose my Tianliang Army. Aren't you afraid of ruining your reputation from the first half of your life and being beaten into the hands of the imperial court?"

The old man, draped in a robe, held his sword steadily, his disheveled hair flowing freely, his gaze sharp.

Looking at the three people before him, he said in a deep voice:

"It is said that the Southern Tianliang Army is a righteous army that establishes laws and regulations and saves the people. It will rescue the people from water, fire and hunger and raise the banner of righteousness to help the world... But today it seems that this is not the case."

He slowly swung his sword to the right, pointing at the surrounding area filled with gray-black smoke, charred walls, burned-out buildings, scattered furniture pieces that were barely recognizable, charred rubble, and billowing dust, and questioned:

"You say you want to save the people from their suffering, is this how you do it?"

"They all deserve to die! This central city should have been destroyed long ago!" The swordsman didn't hesitate for a moment:

"These exquisitely carved pavilions, the flowers, birds, and rocks, the gold and silver jewels, the white jade steps, the bluestone paving, the yellow glazed tiles, the vermilion gate—which of these was not obtained through the exploitation of us common people?! Which part was built or constructed by the owner of this place himself?! Did they dig the gold and silver out of the deep mountains, or did they lay the tiles themselves?!"

"These local gentry and officials, both civil and military, only know how to suck the blood of the people and exploit them! They have made the world a place where there is no sunshine and everyone is resentful. Men and women cannot farm or weave, and families in the countryside are forced to sell their children, die, and become homeless!"

"The people of Midtown spout righteousness and morality, but they're all thieves and prostitutes! The strong bully the weak, and the rich oppress the poor! These people are all traitors to the people! Man-eating wolves!"

The more he spoke, the more vicious and ruthless his eyes became. He gripped the long knife tightly in his hand, and his whole body was radiating murderous aura, as if he would step forward and attack at any moment.

"And what about this child?!" The old man opposite him seemed to be affected by the other's tone, and his hoarse voice became louder: "What heinous crime have these two or three-year-old children committed? Why not even spare these innocent children? Why insist on exterminating them all?"

"Since we've already made our move, we should leave no one alive. Are we going to wait for him to grow up and come back for revenge?!"

"According to the rules of the martial world, one should not bring trouble upon one's wife, children, or family!" the old man said in a deep voice.

"Foolish! We are soldiers!" the young man with a blue turban shouted. "Old Guo, I will call you senior one last time. Put the person down, and we'll pretend this never happened. You can also preserve your good reputation!"

"I'm protecting this man! Either he comes at me or I retreat!" Guo Zhengwo swung his sword horizontally, the sword energy surging forward like waves.

The fluctuating sword energy stirred up the surrounding flames, flying towards the distance like waves crashing into a sea of ​​fire.

Several warriors in green scarves narrowed their eyes and leaped up to dodge the incoming waves of fire.

Upon landing, he immediately grabbed a long sword and slashed at Guo Zhengwo.

The three men's swordsmanship was fierce and ruthless, and their moves showed subtle similarities, suggesting they were from the same school.

However, their target was not Guo Zhengwo himself, but the crying child being held in his left arm.

The three swordsmen moved like lightning, their swordsmanship responding to each other, one slashing past and another arriving, giving the gray-robed old man no time to catch his breath.

The blade clashed with the longsword, creating sparks that flickered like fireworks, while countless sword cries and blade howls echoed.

Xi Heng hid in the stable dozens of meters away, spying on the excessively fierce battle outside, swallowing hard.

Fortunately, he chose to dodge in the first place. If he had been involved in a battle between martial arts masters, he would probably have been defeated in just three or five moves.

"Let's keep hiding..." she thought to herself.

Outside, the three young martial artists' sword techniques forced the gray-clad man, who could only fight with one hand, to retreat repeatedly, and he was about to leave the courtyard outside the stable.

Before Xi Heng could even breathe a sigh of relief, he suddenly heard a familiar female voice again.

"Senior! I'm here to help you—"

She suddenly froze, a familiar figure and face flashing into her mind. She quickly turned around, her head peeking out from behind the thick, concealed wreckage.

Sure enough, the woman who suddenly appeared outside and drew her sword was none other than Senior Sister Hongmiao.

"Why did she come too... and get involved in this kind of thing?" Xi Heng was filled with questions.

Seeing Hongmiao join the battle with her sword, she even hesitated for a moment, wondering if she should also fire a few hidden arrows.

Forget it.

Xi Heng shrank further into the shadows, increasingly eager to escape this place.

With Senior Sister Hongmiao joining the battle to restrain them, the three sword-wielding warriors faced more variables, and their originally coordinated moves and momentum became chaotic.

The old man in gray finally freed up his sword, no longer constantly parrying, and occasionally thrusting out two swords.

However, the moves they used were all quite conservative. They all abandoned their killing moves and used only simple offensive and defensive techniques, as if none of them wanted to really fight.

The gray-robed elder, who had been under pressure, turned the tables and suppressed the three young swordsmen. With each slash and movement of his sword, several wounds would appear. Although they were not fatal, the pain and the impact on their moves were quite real.

Within a minute, the three warriors in green scarves broke away from the fight, exchanged glances, uttered a harsh remark, and then retreated.

The courtyard was left with Sister Hongmiao, the old man in gray, and the three-year-old child he was holding.

The child was still crying and wailing, refusing to stop.

The crying drowned out the conversation between Senior Sister Hongmiao and the gray-robed old man. Xi Heng rubbed his ears, trying to hear clearly, but he couldn't hear anything at all.

"It's too far away..."

A moment later, she saw the old man in gray sheath his sword, pick up the child, and leave.

The sound of swords fell silent, leaving only the crackling of flames and the occasional sounds of buildings collapsing.

Xi Heng remained where he was, waiting for his senior sister to leave.

However, Senior Sister Hongmiao waited in the courtyard amidst the fire for almost two minutes and was still standing there.

"..."

Why isn't my senior sister leaving yet?

Ultimately, why did she suddenly appear here?

Xi Heng had a vague guess in his mind.

Just as a thought formed in my mind, my senior sister suddenly rang out a calm question:

"Junior sister, those people have all gone far away, shouldn't they show themselves now?"

The night wind carried the sound to Xi Heng's ears, causing the girl hiding in the shadows to tremble.

She hesitated whether to stay hidden for a while longer, but then remembered that there was no need to play mind games with her senior sister, so she sighed and walked out from behind the ruins of the stable.

Xi Heng pulled up his sleeves to cover the bloodstains on his lower arm and the back of his hand.

She reluctantly agreed and walked out, asking, "Did you secretly follow me here, Senior Sister?"

Hong Miao nodded gently and said matter-of-factly, "Hearing someone leave the courtyard late at night, especially to such a dangerous place, I naturally had to follow and check it out."

Then, she looked around and asked with some doubt, "Junior sister, is there something you need to do here?"

“It’s not necessary.” Xi Heng waved his blood-stained hands. “Everything’s done, let’s go back.”

She didn't really want her senior sister to see what she was doing in the stable, as it might cause some misunderstandings.

"Taking this opportunity to seek revenge?" Hong Miao guessed upon seeing the blood on Xi Heng's hands.

"No."

"But you're covered in blood..."

"There's only a little blood on my palms, not on my clothes." After denying it, Xi Heng saw that his senior sister still seemed curious, so he changed the subject:

"Speaking of which, why did Senior Sister show herself to help that old man fight the enemy?"

"I have some grudges against the Tianliang Army and don't want them to succeed smoothly," the other party replied simply.

"Hate?"

“It happened three years ago, let’s not talk about it.” Hong Miao walked over to Xi Heng and curiously returned to the previous topic: “Just now I heard you making some strange noises in this shed, what were you doing?”

"No, it's nothing." Xi Heng walked over and tried to pull his senior sister away.

"You don't want me to see?" Hong Miao clicked her tongue, but didn't dare to approach the stable further. She simply stared at Xi Heng with a deep gaze for a moment, then said softly:

"Junior sister has quite a few secrets."

The slightly narrowed gaze, along with the strangely soft voice, sent a chill down Xi Heng's spine.

"It's not really a secret, just some preparation for tomorrow's battle." Xi Heng left first.

Hong Miao followed closely behind, smiling faintly:

"With such a great calamity tonight, do you really think the martial arts tournament will still be held as scheduled tomorrow?"

"It shouldn't have spread to the martial arts tournament area yet, right?" Xi Heng recognized the location: "Maybe."

Hong Miao chuckled softly upon hearing this, exhaled slowly, looked up at the apocalyptic scene of flames surrounding her, and nodded gently.

"Yes, you never know."

"A few days ago, the city was peaceful on the surface, but in the last two or three days such a disaster has occurred. It is truly unpredictable."

“Not only Huangmei Mountain, but the Tianliang Army from the south has also sent spies. Several powerful families in the city have been wiped out, and the government will inevitably be affected by the fire.” Without much thought, she could easily say, “The city is about to descend into chaos.”

"Today was already chaotic enough..."

“It will be even more chaotic.” Hong Miao tilted her head back and gestured with her hand:

“As you can see from here, the central town, which is currently on fire, seems quite large, but it is not large compared to the entire Golden Stone City.”

"This fire will only burn down the homes of a few thousand people, but the chaos and disorder that follows will affect far more people."

"Furthermore, it is said that the Tianliang Army in the south is preparing a large army and will be attacking soon..." Hong Miao patted Xi Heng on the shoulder: "It's time for you to think carefully about where you should go after leaving the Sword Academy and Jinshi City."

……

Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Righteous Assembly

tomorrow.

Despite the devastation that swept through the city, the so-called Golden Stone City First Martial Arts Tournament continued as usual.

In the morning at the Sword Academy, Senior Sister Hongmiao advised Xiheng a few more times not to go, but she had already made sufficient preparations in the sea of ​​fire yesterday, so naturally she had to keep her promise and go to the Martial Arts Tournament to fight against the people from the Green Pine Sword Hall.

Between the Sword Academy and the Martial Arts Tournament, there was a disaster-stricken area where many figures, their faces ashen, sat slumped on both sides of the street.