As the words fell, a figure swift as the wind rushed towards Xu Taiping and grasped his wrist.

In the moment his hand was seized, a faint sound of an air explosion was heard.

Suddenly, another Xu Taiping appeared behind the original.

Cloning spell.

“Boom!” The clone of Xu Taiping fiercely took the saber from his true self and, with a sidestep, slashed towards the neck of the Demon Blade.

The corners of the Demon Blade’s mouth curled up, and while still gripping Xu Taiping’s true self’s wrist, his other hand shot up with two fingers to clamp down on the Spring Tiger saber.

“Whoosh!” But as he clamped the saber, Xu Taiping had already opened his mouth and forcefully executed the Ice Breath Technique, spewing out a breath of frosty air towards the Demon Blade.

However, as soon as the frosty breath enveloped the Demon Blade, he burst forth with domineering blade energy, shredding the frosty breath completely.

Xu Taiping took advantage of this moment to wrench his hand free and suddenly his palm surged with golden flames, followed by a palm strike towards the Demon Blade.

This was the Red Crow Golden Flame.

The Demon Blade, aware of the might of the Red Crow Golden Flame, did not continue to clash with Xu Taiping as before, but instead stepped back.

During this retreat, Xu Taiping’s clone pursued with a slash.

“Three strikes are over, now it’s my turn!”

The Demon Blade snorted coldly and with a “swoosh” drew the long saber from his waist, countering the clone’s blade with his own.

“Boom” Xu Taiping’s clone shattered.

As the clone shattered, Xu Taiping’s true self had already channeled the Red Crow Golden Flame onto his fist, and punched towards the Demon Blade.

The timing was perfect, catching the Demon Blade just as he had fully extended his saber strike, leaving him unable to retract it for defense.

But the Demon Blade seemed unconcerned, his body’s blade energy explosively spread out, just managing to counter Xu Taiping’s punch.

However, at this moment, Xu Taiping’s punch was unstoppable, and the Charging Bull Formation was executed.

His fist, wrapped in the Red Crow Golden Flame, began to pummel the Demon Blade like a torrential downpour.

“Bang!”

When all one hundred and eight punches were delivered, the fierce blade energy of the Demon Blade was directly penetrated.

Yet the Demon Blade did not panic, for everything was within his expectations.

Xu Taiping’s punches had ceased, but his blade momentum was just beginning.

“Swish!” Without waiting to see if his protective blade energy had recovered, he swung his long saber directly at Xu Taiping’s legs in the instant his punching momentum had dissipated.

But at that moment, another clone of Xu Taiping appeared behind the Demon Blade.

This clone held a concealing herb, clearly having hidden its presence in advance, waiting for the Demon Blade’s energy to dissipate.

Without a word, the clone struck with a palm blade, fiercely chopping towards the Demon Blade’s nape.

The Demon Blade was not concerned about Xu Taiping’s clones, as even a few kicks would not harm him, but the issue was the location of this attack.

“Are you courting death!”

The Demon Blade roared, attempting to turn and slash at Xu Taiping’s clone.

But the timing of the clone’s strike was perfect, just as the Demon Blade appeared to be fighting desperately, fooling him and leaving no time to block.

“Crack!”

The palm blade of the clone heavily struck the Demon Blade’s nape.

Compared to Xu Taiping’s true self’s fists, the power of this palm blade was negligible and could not harm the Demon Blade, especially since this was merely the Demon Blade’s puppet body, not his true form.

However, for some reason, after being struck, the Demon Blade’s fury erupted like a volcano, his eyes instantly filled with madness.

Like a dragon whose reverse scale had been touched.

“Even if I have to endure tenfold backlash, I will kill you today!”

The Demon Blade roared, his hair turning fiery red and his eyes a green hue.

He revealed his true form.

Facing the Demon Blade’s furious true form, Xu Taiping was not afraid but overjoyed, as Fairy Lingyue’s prediction had once again come true.

“Boom!” The Demon Blade turned his blade edge and slashed towards Xu Taiping.

But Xu Taiping did not dodge; instead, he raised his left hand and chanted loudly:

“The essence of Yangming, spirit at its peak, gather the yin specters, reveal the hidden form!”

As the words ended, an ancient aura suddenly emanated from his palm.

Then, rusted dark chains, like arms, flew towards the Demon Blade, quickly binding him within.

“Triad Ghost-Sealing Talisman?!”

“You actually have the Triad Ghost-Sealing Talisman?!”

The bound Demon Blade suddenly came to his senses, his eyes revealing a look of terror.

“Boy, the Triad Ghost-Sealing Talisman can only bind me for half a month at most. Release me now, and I may spare your life. Otherwise, once I break free, I will make you wish for death!”

He then roared threateningly at Xu Taiping, and as he spoke, his red hair danced like flames.

“Do you think I would believe you?” Xu Taiping gritted his teeth and slowly brought his palms together.

As his palms closed, the chains began to drag the Red-Haired Demon Blade back into his hands.

Finally, as Xu Taiping’s palms fully closed, the Red-Haired Demon Blade “boomed” into a black light, completely absorbed into his palm.

At the same time, the blood-red blade realm began to collapse rapidly with a “rumble.”

In the blink of an eye.

Xu Taiping was back in his room.

“Huff, huff, huff!…”

He leaned on the table, gasping for air.

In the blade realm, he had seemed composed, but in reality, he was on the verge of collapse under the Demon Blade’s pressure.

At this moment, Senior Brother Four suddenly “thud” collapsed to the ground.

With the Demon Blade sealed, he regained his freedom, but waking up would not be so easy.

After his breathing steadied, Xu Taiping opened his palm.

There, a strange rune pattern had appeared.

“As Fairy Lingyue described in her letter, this pattern means the Demon Blade has been sealed,” Xu Taiping sighed with relief.

Although letting the Demon Blade lower his guard, agreeing to three strikes, swearing not to use the power of the blade realm, and finally forcing him to reveal his true form were all within Fairy Lingyue’s calculations, any misstep would have doomed Xu Taiping.

“Any mistake could have meant death or possession.”

Xu Taiping muttered, still shaken.

“Uh…”

But just as Xu Taiping was feeling fortunate, the Triad Ghost-Sealing Talisman in his palms suddenly caused a heart-piercing pain.

Looking at his hands, he saw the skin around the runes cracking at a visible rate.

At the same time, his blood and True Qi began to be uncontrollably absorbed by the Triad Ghost-Sealing Talisman.

“Could it be… could this be the drawback of the Triad Ghost-Sealing Talisman that Fairy Lingyue mentioned in her letter?”

As Xu Taiping thought this, he took out the letter and quickly found the section about the “Triad Ghost-Sealing Talisman”—

“The Triad Ghost-Sealing Talisman has a significant drawback. If you truly seal the Demon Blade, you must return to Qi Yue Pavilion as soon as possible and open the second letter I left for you. It contains a remedy; otherwise, your life will be at risk.”

Fairy Lingyue’s letter, indeed, did not contain a single wasted word.