“This is Qingxuan Sect.”
Xu Taiping said icily.
“A sect that has eluded me for hundreds of years, do you think I would fear it? Besides, that was in the past.” The Blade Ghost revealed a grin.
“But it seems you can’t leave Qingxuan Sect behind either.”
Xu Taiping stared at the Blade Ghost.
“So what?”
The Blade Ghost sneered.
Almost simultaneously with his words, the long saber at his waist unsheathed with a ‘swoosh’, followed by a blinding slash of saber light ‘boom’ towards Jiang Zhi on the bed.
But in the instant before the blade struck, Xu Taiping had already spread his arms in front of Jiang Zhi’s bed.
“Buzz, buzz, buzz…”
The Blade Ghost’s saber abruptly halted, leaving only the trembling blade emitting a continuous hum.
“As far as I know, the ones closest to you are Zhao Linglong and Dugu Qingxiao, right?”
With a ‘swish’, the Blade Ghost sheathed his saber, then looked at Xu Taiping with a smile.
The threat in his words was quite clear.
“I can agree to a duel with you, but on two conditions.”
Xu Taiping lowered his hands, his gaze fixed on the Blade Ghost.
The Blade Ghost, smiling, uttered a word: “Speak.”
“Grant me three strikes. Within those three strikes, you may not draw your saber.”
Xu Taiping gripped the Spring Tiger tightly.
Upon hearing this, the corners of the Blade Ghost’s mouth curled up, and he nodded: “Agreed!”
As his words fell, the Blade Ghost suddenly raised his saber and ‘swish’, chopped down.
“Boom!”
With the sound of an air explosion, streams of blood light engulfed the room like a tide.
By the time Xu Taiping came to his senses, he found himself in a world of blood-red skies and earth.
He stood upon a tall altar, surrounded by ruins, with a raging sea of blood below.
“Is this the blade realm Fairy Lingyue mentioned in her letter?”
Xu Taiping was profoundly shaken.
According to Fairy Lingyue, her defeat at the hands of the Blade Ghost was due to this very blade realm.
For within this realm, the Blade Ghost was the ruler, a deity, making victory against him an impossibility.
“This is my blade realm, independent of the myriad worlds. Within it, I am the deity.”
Still in the guise of Senior Brother Four, the Blade Ghost stood at the center of the altar, arms spread wide, proclaiming arrogantly.
As his voice echoed, thunder rumbled in the sky above.
A destructive aura of immense pressure spread from the Blade Ghost, beating against Xu Taiping like a fierce wind.
“No wonder Qingxuan Sect turned Yunlu Mountain upside down and still couldn’t find you.”
Xu Taiping struggled to calm himself, channeling his True Qi to withstand the pressure.
“With such power, why would you stoop to linger on Cloudy Pavilion?”
He continued to inquire.
“I don’t mind enlightening you. In fact, it was only this year that I recalled my original name and remembered this blade realm.”
The Blade Ghost glanced at his palm.
“So now you only lack a body to fully regain your freedom?”
Xu Taiping asked again.
“Being too clever isn’t always good. Knowing everything but being unable to do anything can be very frustrating.”
The Blade Ghost rested the saber on his shoulder, looking at Xu Taiping with a hint of scorn.
“But isn’t this a bit unfair? After all, this is your blade realm, and I can’t possibly defeat you.”
Xu Taiping paced around the Blade Ghost as he spoke.
“Do you think you’re worthy of me using the power of this blade realm?”
The Blade Ghost chuckled, shrugging his shoulders.
“That’s uncertain. The human heart is unpredictable, especially since you’re a heartless ghost.”
Xu Taiping, holding the Spring Tiger saber, began to circle the Blade Ghost.
“So if you want me to duel you in this blade realm, you’ll have to swear an oath to bind yourself. If you use the power of the blade realm during the duel, you’ll suffer tenfold backlash.”
He continued to make his demand to the Blade Ghost.
“Did your sister teach you that? Ordinary people wouldn’t know about swearing oaths to bind oneself in the blade realm.” The Blade Ghost sneered.
“Of course, she’s my sister. She wouldn’t just watch me be possessed by you.”
Xu Taiping replied calmly.
“For the sake of your sister, who can still fight me a few more rounds, I shall swear to bind myself.”
The Blade Ghost sneered coldly.
In his eyes, Xu Taiping entering this blade realm was like a lamb to the slaughter. Agreeing to his small request was nothing.
Then, raising his hand, he declared loudly:
“In this duel, I shall not use the power of the blade realm. Should I break this oath, I will suffer tenfold backlash.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the blood-red world suddenly flashed with lightning and thundered, as if the heavens and earth were collapsing.
After a long while, it finally calmed down.
Seeing this, Xu Taiping’s face remained calm, but he sighed with relief in his heart.
“Entering the blade realm and making the Blade Ghost swear not to use its power, these two steps are done. Next, it depends on whether Fairy Lingyue’s conjecture about the Blade Ghost’s weakness is accurate,” he thought to himself.
“Come on, take your three strikes.”
The Blade Ghost planted his long saber into the ground and then tilted his chin up at Xu Taiping.
Xu Taiping nodded and continued to pace around the Blade Ghost.
As he moved to the Blade Ghost’s blind spot, he suddenly activated Shadow Wind Step, leaving a residual image in place as he drew the Spring Tiger saber with a ‘swoosh’.
“Whoosh!” Amidst the sound of slicing wind, he executed the Seven Kills Saber technique, Soul Chaser, slashing at the Blade Ghost.
“Clang!” To Xu Taiping’s horror, the Blade Ghost merely pinched with two fingers, breaking his saber momentum and firmly trapping the blade, rendering it immobile.
“Snap!” Then, with another finger, the Blade Ghost flicked Xu Taiping’s saber.
“Boom!” The intense vibration from the saber sent a numbness through Xu Taiping’s arms.
Still, he clenched his teeth and channeled all his True Qi, ‘swoosh’, pulling out the Spring Tiger saber.
“You have two strikes left.”
The Blade Ghost smiled, extending two fingers to Xu Taiping.
“Boom!” Without a word, Xu Taiping’s figure once again soared, executing the Seven Kills Saber technique, Full Moon, ‘whoosh’, circling behind the Blade Ghost with a saber aura over three meters long, ferociously chopping down.
But the Blade Ghost, as if he had eyes on his back, simply shifted his stance, sidestepping with precision to avoid Xu Taiping’s strike.
“One strike remains.”
The Blade Ghost smiled, extending one finger to Xu Taiping.
Xu Taiping nodded.
This time, he didn’t rush to attack but paced around the Blade Ghost once more. When he reached behind the Blade Ghost, he suddenly raised the Spring Tiger saber and placed it against his own neck.
“Blade Ghost, I haven’t lost to you, I’ve only lost to myself!”
Xu Taiping declared resolutely.
After saying this, he suddenly exerted force on his hand, cutting the long saber into his neck.
At first, the Blade Ghost thought this was some ploy of Xu Taiping’s, but when he saw the blood splattering from Xu Taiping’s neck, he burst into rage:
“I forbid it, you shall not die!”