Volume Two: The Mortal Realm, Chapter 115: The Woman Standing in the Sea of Stars

Falling.

Behind that young man was a despairing, pitch-black fire.

Liu Xi’s bloodshot eyes were fixed straight upon him. She saw those eyes—stained with blood and heavy with exhaustion, yet still so clear—before they were finally swallowed by the surging sea of flames.

"Boom."

The Lunhai realm cultivator who plunged into the magma sea screamed in agony. But soon, there was only silence.

Silence.

Liu Xi closed her eyes.

How could he? How could he just… die? How could he be so calm? Was it simply because you had already done everything you possibly could? But the Human Emperor’s Sword chose you; you were the one meant to carry the burden of the mortal world, were you not?

She remembered the boy by the campfire, his smiles always faint and tranquil. She recalled the countless nights she spent in the cave, listening to the sound of fists striking the air outside, and the few, sparse words she had exchanged with him.

They were truly only a few words; the days had been too hurried and busy, and she was a woman not gifted in communication. Deep down, she had held a mixture of frustration, self-abasement, and even… jealousy toward that stranger who had suddenly taken on all her father’s expectations and inherited the sword she had carried for ten years, yet promised nothing in return.

His very existence meant he naturally possessed everything she had ever dreamed of, and yet he did not cherish it.

But why, why would you entrust everything you had left to me—a woman whom even her own father does not trust? Do you… trust me that much?

She did not know that, on that snowy night, Ye Mingke had seen the shadow of his uncle in this woman who dared to challenge the Heavenly Court with her fists. And his uncle was the person he trusted most.

He believed in her.

In the few moments Liu Xi stood frozen, the two Tongyuan realm cultivators, though startled by Ye Mingke’s suicidal madness, seized the opening. They unleashed their full-force killing techniques toward Liu Xi and A’Ru behind her.

In an instant, the pink spirit snake coiled around the female cultivator’s neck swelled violently. Merging with her released spiritual energy, it transformed into a baring-fanged fire dragon that lunged straight at Liu Xi. Meanwhile, the other Tongyuan cultivator, with his long beard and immortal air, waved his hand to conjure a viscous wave of spiritual energy, crashing toward Liu Xi’s back.

However, they failed to notice that the heavy black sword Ye Mingke had thrown had already flown to Liu Xi’s side.

Liu Xi lowered her head and gripped the hilt.

The heavy sword rang out with a metallic clash.

This time, as she took hold of the blade, it did not grow mountainous and heavy with accumulated weight. For the first time, the sword accepted her. She closed her eyes to sense it. So, the burden she had carried for ten years was not the weight of the sword itself, but the weight of the sword intent.

The fire dragon and the dark waves surged forward.

Liu Xi held her sword upright.

Within the ocean of spiritual energy, the sword gripped by the woman suddenly radiated a mountain-like intent, rising like a cliff, pointing straight to the sky. All the energy that collided with that mountain of intent was shattered into countless brilliant motes of light, glittering like a sea of stars amidst the pitch-black ruins.

Standing within this starry sea, she swung her sword, folded it, and traced a line, as if summoning the constellations. Brilliant sword light curved and bent, as if a god were carving out the starfields of the heavens.

A brilliant arc of sword light sliced through the darkness, through the radiant sea of stars, and through… the bodies of the two Tongyuan realm cultivators.

The two cultivators stood silently in their places, heads bowed. Only moments before, they had been prepared to execute this troublesome woman. It had all happened so slowly, yet so quickly. The woman with the gentle eyes had held her sword upright, swung it, and folded it—every motion so deliberate, so clear to their eyes.

Yet, they could not dodge. Because the sword intent was too long and too heavy. By the time they saw it, it had already touched their bodies; by the time they felt it, their bodies were already…

The two cultivators stood frozen, not daring to move, for they felt their bodies were like porcelain covered in cracks—one slight motion would cause them to shatter.

A gust of wind blew, and the female cultivator finally could no longer hold on. She shifted slightly.

*Pop. Pop.*

As if in a chain reaction, her body and that of her companion suddenly crumbled into dust.

A single strike.

Ye Mingke had once used a "Mortal Sword" to sever the arm of a Tongyuan puppet on a snowy night. But that same "Mortal Sword," in Liu Xi’s hands, had slain two Tongyuan masters.

Though, this was likely her final strike as well.

Even though this move had not drained her own *gangqi* or life force, Liu Xi suddenly felt the world spin and nearly collapsed. With a *clang*, she knelt, stabbing the heavy sword into the ground, her mind wracked with sharp pain and dizziness. She wanted desperately to fall, but she knew now was not the time.

She turned her gaze to the two Lunhai cultivators who had been tangling with the two puppets of Immortal Lingchen. She tried to lift the heavy sword *Renjian* to strike, but halfway through, her strength failed and the dizziness returned.

Yet, half was enough. The Lunhai cultivator in the path of the blade was torn apart by the sword intent. The last remaining Lunhai cultivator, beset by the two puppets, was soon overwhelmed.

Only one battlefield remained.

Liu Xi endured the growing agony in her mind and looked up at the sky. The massive silver circle in the heavens had reached its peak of brilliance. She remembered that within that circle, her father was still forcibly holding back two Tongyuan, two Lunhai, and one Hualing realm master. Despair filled her eyes with a grey hue.

They had fought until their last breath; Ye Mingke was dead, and yet over half of the enemy’s power remained.

"Boom."

Suddenly, she felt the ground beneath her tremble. A series of muffled thunders echoed from deep underground, and in the sky, the radiant circle began to tilt slowly toward the earth.

With a thunderous crash, the circle, which could have shattered at any moment, plummeted. This seemingly intangible ring of light pulverized everything it touched, turning all to a searing white. The white light twisted violently, struggling to hold itself together, refusing to break.

It was her father, doing everything he could to hold back those terrifying foes for their sake.

Liu Xi gripped the *Renjian* sword once more, prepared to head toward the site of the circle.

But she only managed a few steps.

A frantic, venomous voice suddenly rang out.

"Old man, you can’t hold on anymore, can you? Once I get out, I will turn you into a human swine!"

The silver circle suddenly expanded several times over. A dazzling spirit sword burst out from within, releasing infinite light as it struck down.

"Boom."

The circle flickered, struggled, and finally shattered. A tidal wave of spiritual energy erupted like a tornado, and wherever the white light touched, the rubble exploded. A withered figure fell through the white light like a feather.

Liu Xi’s eyes burned red. In that moment, she overcame the dizziness and pain from the depths of her soul and ran, sword in hand. But the power contained within the silver circle was too immense. The terrifying shockwave forced her backward, carrying her further and further away from that fragile figure.

The sky trembled, the earth shook, and so few noticed that the muffled thunder from beneath the ground grew louder and louder. The magma in the surface fissures churned with growing intensity, as if about to unleash a catastrophe even more terrifying, ready to swallow everything in the world.

...

Xu Zixian had been crawling through a partially collapsed cave for a long time.

After the cave was destroyed by the Great Light Art, everyone assumed the underground tunnels were ruined. But having lived here for ten years, Xu Zixian knew that in the Longling Mountains, where fire veins ran for ten thousand miles, complex layers of tunnels and caverns were hidden beneath the surface.

He was merely a mortal without martial prowess. After surviving the chaos, he did not look for the others; instead, he relied on his familiarity with the terrain to dive into another tunnel.

If he could not save others, he would not be a burden to them. If he were, that old man would laugh at him for the rest of his life.

He wondered if the old man could survive. This time, the opponents were far beyond anything they had ever faced.

*Old man, hold on. Don't die. Let me save you, give me a chance to laugh at you for the rest of my life.*

Xu Zixian thought of the stubborn, bad-tempered old man. With a fierce grimace, he crawled harder. This must be the last node, right?

He hoped this chaos would provide them a chance to escape.

The tunnel ahead had not collapsed. Xu Zixian stood up and walked. Before him sat a ship with a strange design. It was pitch black, and apart from a few apertures, it was completely sealed.

Xu Zixian walked toward the ship, his eyes hesitant and dazed, as if a fierce struggle were playing out in his mind.

"I’ve been to the underground magma once before. This time should be fine, too. Although the situation is different now—this is flowing magma."

He shook his head, and the black ship shimmered into a mass of chaotic light on his lenses as he moved his eyes. He muttered words no one could understand.

"The temperature of magma is 900 to 1400 degrees Celsius. The melting point of tungsten is 3390 to 3430 degrees Celsius. The insulation material should be fine. Everything else has been tested."

"This, the most fun toy I’ve made in these ten years… it should work."

"Then, let’s begin. Let’s watch the greatest firework display of all."

Xu Zixian finally reached the strange black ship and reached out to touch it. He took off his peculiar glasses, revealing eyes that were slightly squinted, their pupils deep and unfathomable. Because his eyes had always been hidden behind those lenses, no one had ever truly understood what lay within them.

"How," he whispered to the strange black ship, "can a human defeat an immortal?"