The sword qi seeped into Ji Chongming's body, making him grit his teeth in pain.
Lin Yibai's soul was right in front of her. A flicker of determination flashed in Shen Qing's eyes.
This time, she was determined to crush Lin Yibai's soul!
Watching as Lin Yibai's soul was about to fully coalesce and then be targeted by Shen Qing, Ji Chongming's hatred for Shen Qing reached its peak.
He brandished his great sword and quickly swung it down towards Shen Qing's back. Li Xian watched from afar but couldn't rush over in time. He reached for his storage pouch only to find that he had used up all his teleportation talismans.
Li Xian's eyes were bloodshot with rage. He shouted at Shen Qing at the top of his lungs, "Shen Qing, get out of the way!"
Ji Chongming moved extremely fast. Shen Qing was still ten steps away from the Soul - Locking Flag, but she could already feel the searing heat of the demonic qi on her back. Shen Qing gritted her teeth, dodged to the side, and rolled on the ground twice with her eyes closed before coming to a stop.
But even so, she still heard the sound of the sword piercing into flesh and someone's pained cry.
Fearing that it was Li Xian, Shen Qing quickly opened her eyes.
She saw Pei Xuanjing still in the position of having pushed her out of the way, his eyes filled with a hint of shock and relief.
Shen Qing never expected that Pei Xuanjing would rush out at this moment to push her out of the way. She could have dodged on her own. There was no need for Pei Xuanjing to go through all this trouble.
Pei Xuanjing also didn't expect that Shen Qing would dodge. He rushed forward but couldn't even touch the corner of her clothes. Instead of Shen Qing being hit, he himself was stabbed by Ji Chongming's great sword.
Pei Xuanjing, who had hoped to be a hero in front of Shen Qing, saw his hopes shattered.
He looked down at the tip of the sword protruding from his abdomen. The intense pain gradually welled up. Apart from relief, fear also began to creep into his mind.
He could see his own body dripping with blood, and the demonic qi on Ji Chongming's sword was corroding his wound.
But he didn't regret it. Instead, he艰难ly lifted his head and looked at Shen Qing with a glimmer of expectation in his eyes. But he met Shen Qing's dark eyes, which seemed to say, "Why do you meddle so much?"
This made Pei Xuanjing's heart sink.
Ji Chongming landed from the sky. The great sword had pierced through Pei Xuanjing's back and out of his abdomen. Blood splattered everywhere, making the scene extremely bloody.
The scene in front of her was highly shocking. Shen Qing felt as if she had been scammed. It wasn't really Pei Xuanjing who had saved her, but it seemed like she owed him a favor.
He Yu ran over from afar. Seeing this scene, he let out a heart - rending scream, "Senior Brother!!"
"Ah! I'm going to kill you!!"
Seeing that his great sword had missed Shen Qing and instead stabbed Lin Yibai's senior brother, Ji Chongming spat in disgust and quickly pulled out his sword.
Looking back and seeing two more annoying nuisances, he felt extremely irritated.
He Yu took out his magnificent sword and rushed forward to avenge Pei Xuanjing, but was simply sent flying by a ball of demonic qi from Ji Chongming.
Shen Chuyun had been struck by Shen Qing earlier and was still weak. Seeing Pei Xuanjing pierced through by the sword and He Yu sent flying, he stood still on the spot, not daring to move a single step.
The man in front of him was the Demon Lord of the Demon Realm. How could a low - level cultivator like him possibly fight against him?
Moreover, Ji Chongming's eyes were filled with extreme cruelty and venom, which made his feet feel as if they were nailed to the ground.
Shen Qing resisted the urge to roll her eyes and quickly got up from the ground.
Ji Chongming moved, intending to finish off Pei Xuanjing once and for all so that he wouldn't continue to be a nuisance. But when he raised his sword, a stabbing pain spread from his feet to his waist, making him frown involuntarily.
This momentary distraction gave Li Xian an opportunity. He rushed to Pei Xuanjing's side, picked him up, and quickly retreated.
Shen Qing noticed something amiss. Why did Ji Chongming raise his sword but not attack at such a short distance?
Could it be that he had over - exerted himself to quickly improve his cultivation and was now suffering a backlash?
With this thought in mind, Shen Qing didn't care about anything else and rushed forward with her sword, Wu Wang, in hand.
After two bursts of sword qi, Shen Qing noticed that Ji Chongming's speed of dodging had slowed down.
Shen Qing raised her eyebrows. She knew that Ji Chongming was at the end of his rope, so her attacks became even more precise.
Ji Chongming struggled to parry two of Shen Qing's attacks with his great sword but almost had his shoulder pierced by her sword. As he showed signs of weakness, Shen Qing's morale soared.
"Ji Chongming, it seems that not only can you not save Lin Yibai today, but you'll also meet your end here!"
But Ji Chongming sneered, "Meet my end here? You're dreaming!"
After saying that, Ji Chongming put away his great sword and jumped beside the Soul - Locking Flag. He carefully put Lin Yibai's soul into the flag and then raised the flag, muttering incantations.
Shen Qing didn't want Ji Chongming to complete his spell. She stepped forward to attack and interrupt him.
But the Soul - Locking Flag was extremely strange. It fluttered without wind. Then, Shen Qing felt a sudden dizziness.
Everyone present felt the same. A sharp pain, as if their souls were being pulled, emerged deep within their bodies.
"Wu Wang!"
Shen Qing wanted Wu Wang to attack on its own, but after calling out a few times, Wu Wang in her hand remained motionless. Shen Qing knew that the sword spirit was the first to be affected.
Her feet felt as if they were filled with lead. It took a great deal of effort to take a single step forward.
Before fainting, Shen Qing only saw Ji Chongming raising his chin proudly and his malicious look.
"Shen Qing, you forced me to this. You'll all be forever trapped in this nightmare until your souls belong to the Soul - Locking Flag."
"Sleep... sleep... Sleep in this ultimate cycle of nightmare. Never wake up again..."
As soon as he finished speaking, Li Xian slumped to the ground. Shen Qing shook her head vigorously, but the scene in front of her still spun. Her head felt swollen, and a heavy drowsiness attacked her rationality.
Shen Chuyun and He Yu also closed their eyes and fell into a dream.
Finally, Shen Qing couldn't hold on any longer. She closed her eyes and fell heavily to the ground.
She didn't know how long she had been sleeping. Shen Qing opened her eyes and stared blankly at the dilapidated roof. The tiles on the roof were on the verge of falling. Dark clouds were gathering in the sky, as if a thunderstorm was brewing.
A mean - looking woman suddenly pushed open the door. Seeing Shen Qing still lying in a daze on the wooden bed, she slapped Shen Qing hard across the face.
"You little slut! I told you to go up the mountain to pick pine mushrooms. Instead, you're just sitting here daydreaming. Do you still want to eat or not?"
Shen Qing instinctively flinched. A sentence blurted out of her mouth, "Mother, a storm is coming. Let's not go up the mountain today. It's too dangerous..."
As she said this, a strange feeling welled up in Shen Qing's heart. It seemed as if she had forgotten something, but this was indeed her home, and the woman in front of her was indeed her mother.
She was the daughter of Erhuzi from Xiaolin Village. She was five years old this year, and her name was Shen Qing.