Chapter 201: Remove the Horn, Do Not Retreat!
Qinghe swept her divine sense over the distant Xie Lingyu and Li Xingtian. After confirming that both were safe and unharmed, her gaze locked firmly onto the Baxia phantom.
This thing showed signs of condensing into a physical form and looked extremely difficult to deal with.
However… for some unknown reason.
As Qinghe looked at Baxia, she found herself drooling slightly, as if she were staring at a pot of steaming turtle soup.
It was precisely this drooling sensation that made Qinghe understand that she could definitely defeat this thing.
This was affirmation from her bloodline itself.
Thus, Qinghe did not hesitate in the slightest. Her figure shot forward at high speed toward that steaming turtle—well, the enemy turtle.
With an angry roar, spiritual power erupted around Qinghe. As a flood dragon of the Tianyan Sect, no matter how much she slacked off, the sect's supreme techniques were still things she knew.
After all, Bai Laolao would conduct inspections.
Qinghe's claws radiated boundless cold as she lunged forward. Before the aura on her claws even reached the river surface, the water below had already frozen solid.
She raised her claws and struck with full force at the Baxia phantom.
The Baxia figure shifted slightly, using the massive stele formed from the fortune it bore on its back to block Qinghe's attack.
Bone-chilling cold instantly spread across the great river, freezing a stretch spanning several hundred meters into solid ice. Even the residual shock froze the flowers, grass, and trees along the riverbank into icy sculptures.
Xie Lingyu raised her hand and unfolded a spiritual barrier to block the aftermath of the clash.
Although cold mist surged everywhere, the two Golden Core cultivators still captured the situation clearly through their divine senses.
Qinghe's strike had obviously failed to inflict sufficient damage.
Baxia's body did not move at all, nor was its aura disturbed in the slightest.
Qinghe twisted her body, and in an instant her tail whipped fiercely toward Baxia without mercy.
The ice covering the river shattered into fragments under the shockwave of this blow.
Qinghe stared intently at Baxia, only to find that it seemed to have shifted by merely a tiny distance.
Worthy of being shell-bearing—truly tough.
What puzzled Qinghe was that after taking two heavy blows head-on, Baxia showed no intention of counterattacking.
It merely glanced lightly at Qinghe, then turned around as if preparing to step into the void and leave.
Qinghe was instantly enraged. This was, more or less, blatant disrespect toward her as a flood dragon.
You damned turtle soup!
Qinghe chose close combat without hesitation. Since this turtle was not fighting back, she would treat it as a punching bag.
Both claws clamped down fiercely onto Baxia. Although it was composed of Xuanhuang Qi, Qinghe could clearly feel her claws sinking into something solid.
Without the slightest hesitation, she opened her mouth wide and bit toward Baxia's neck.
She had wanted to take a taste for a long time.
With that bite, what entered her mouth was not the taste of blood, but an extremely sweet flavor.
An incomparably pleasant sensation surged into Qinghe's mouth.
Delicious indeed!
After being bitten, Baxia no longer maintained its earlier passive stance.
With a furious roar, the golden great stele on its back burst into radiance, transforming into a sharp force that charged straight toward Qinghe.
Qinghe immediately released her bite, spun her body, and retreated from the attack's range.
This thing was somewhat sinister. Not knowing how ruthless it could be, Qinghe naturally did not dare to take it head-on.
Reality proved that if you could avoid tanking an opponent's ultimate move with your body, then you absolutely should.
That sharp force blasted apart the riverbed, and the violent aftermath forced the river water to flow backward. Water surged thousands of meters high, turning into mist that filled the sky.
Even Qinghe felt a chill watching this scene. If that had landed on her, she would have been torn apart.
However, seeing Baxia turn as if it intended to flee, Qinghe hesitated briefly before choosing to entangle it again.
Whether it tasted good or not aside, the jade seal was still on that turtle.
At the very least, she had to hold on until that black-hearted brat arrived. Otherwise, she would be nagged again.
Having made up her mind, Qinghe shifted her stance and prepared to continue stalling Baxia.
Before she could act, a demonic wind swept in rapidly from the direction of Chizhou, pressing down in an instant.
Along with it came a punch that seemed capable of tearing heaven and earth apart.
From within the demonic wind came a muffled roar.
"Get lost!"
Qinghe naturally recognized the voice. It belonged to the thief rushing over from the capital of the Xuanwu Kingdom. Faced with such an overwhelming punch, she could only temporarily avoid its edge.
Xu Yuan's target was the now fully formed Baxia, not killing the annoying flood dragon before her. Seeing Qinghe dodge, she did not pursue further.
After all, even he did not know how long his methods could restrain that brat.
Qinghe flashed out of the range of the fist wind, her gaze fixed coldly on the great demon who had transformed into human form.
"Where is that black-hearted brat?!" she roared.
Xu Yuan ignored her. He simply took out a worn ancient sword and charged straight at the Baxia phantom.
The situation had become incomparably complex. He truly did not understand why all opportunities under heaven were contested by others, even in such a remote place.
Whether his luck was truly that bad, or something else entirely, no longer mattered.
Since matters had reached this point, when it was time to gamble with one's life, then gamble with one's life it was.
Xu Yuan endured the pain of shattered bones and poured his own origin into the ancient sword.
The ancient sword swiftly bloomed with an eerie purple-cold glow, and a miserable dragon's howl rang out from within it.
That Nascent Soul flood dragon was nothing to fear. The true menace was that brat with a karmic Nascent Soul.
As long as Baxia's fortune was severed now and the ritual completed by guiding it through the waterways, that ambushing Nascent Soul brat would no longer be a threat.
Qinghe stared at Xu Yuan with icy eyes. She withdrew her flood dragon body and reverted to the form of a small horned young girl, then shot toward Xu Yuan, who was preparing to strike Baxia with her sword.
Xie Lingyu frowned deeply as she watched Qinghe change forms.
For wild flood dragons, the most powerful state was naturally their true body. But Qinghe was a flood dragon of the Tianyan Sect.
After transforming into human form, Qinghe could no longer fully unleash the raw strength of her body. In exchange, however, she could employ far more methods.
This also meant that Qinghe had already resolved to fight to the death and was preparing to go all out.
As Qinghe flew forward, a silver-white longsword appeared in her hand. Its appearance was extremely plain, lacking even the slightest decorative pattern.
On the pale yellow wooden hilt were engraved two characters—Remove the Horn.
This was a top-tier spirit treasure crafted by a forging grandmaster of the Tianyan Sect, using one of Bai Laolao's own horns as a supplementary material.
Because this secondary material originated from Qinghe herself, unlike human cultivators who needed time to temper and attune themselves to spirit treasures, Qinghe felt an extraordinary sense of compatibility the very first time she grasped the sword.
As a result, she skipped the entire process of mutual acceptance with the spirit treasure.
The name of the longsword was also given by Bai Laolao.
On the day Bai Laolao handed this sword to Qinghe, her expression was exceptionally solemn.
At first, Qinghe thought Bai Laolao was distressed over the materials, since the sword's name sounded no different from mocking her for having her horn cut off.
"The sword is named Remove the Horn."
"What is removed is not the horn on your head, but the horn in your heart."
"I know you have not yet let go of my forcibly bringing you back, but how was bringing you back ever my true intention?"
"In the beginning, I truly disliked you. I thought you were too wild, your language too foul, and seeing you irritated me. Many times, I even wanted to throw you back again."
"However, I have never liked abandoning things halfway, nor acting without giving my full effort."
"I give you Remove the Horn, hoping you will sever the horn in your heart. Though you are a flood dragon, the principles of right and wrong in this world do not distinguish between humans and beasts, nor between humans and demons."
"Today, I cut off the horn in my own heart and give it to you."
Qinghe gripped Remove the Horn in her hand, and behind her, tens of thousands of Remove the Horn swords manifested once more.
As a successor of Bai Xuanling of the Tianyan Sect, how could she have learned no sword techniques at all?
That black-hearted brat was indeed somewhat detestable, but every time Bai Laolao returned from meeting him, she always seemed to be in especially good spirits.
Although Qinghe never asked, she saw everything clearly.
And although Little Lingyu was stubborn-mouthed, how could Qinghe fail to notice it?
With the black-hearted brat's situation unknown, the only correct choice was to hold back this damned turtle demon first.
In any case, she, Qinghe, would not die.
Today, remove the horn—do not retreat!
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