"Tick... tick..."
The sound of dripping water, echoing in the air, roused Shen Qing from her unconscious state.
She clutched her head. The first sensation she felt was the stabbing pain from her neck. But this pain was gradually numbed by a cool sensation, which kept her from being overwhelmed by the agony.
Instinctively, she reached for her neck. But as her fingertips touched the gauze on the wound, her wrist was seized.
Slowly, Shen Qing opened her eyes. What greeted her was Li Xian's scar - marred face.
There was a long, hideous scar on Li Xian's left cheek, stretching from his earlobe all the way to his chin.
Startled, Shen Qing tried to sit up. But her body felt weak. She propped her hands behind her, but before she could sit up, she slumped back onto the stone bed.
"Li Xian... Your face!"
Li Xian's face lit up when he saw Shen Qing waking up. For a moment, he forgot about the wound on his cheek.
He was about to turn away to avoid Shen Qing's gaze. But seeing her collapsing back onto the stone bed, afraid that she might hit her head, he quickly reached out to support her.
Sensing Shen Qing's inquisitive gaze, he stiffly turned his injured cheek to the side, trying to hide it from her sight.
"It's nothing. Just a minor wound. It'll heal soon."
Despite Li Xian's reassurance, Shen Qing still felt worried.
They were cultivators. Ordinary wounds could be healed within a few days with the help of spiritual power. At worst, they could apply spiritual medicine, and the wounds would surely heal.
But Li Xian's wound still looked bright red, with the flesh turning out, as if it had just been inflicted.
Ignoring the weakness in her body, Shen Qing reached out and forcefully turned Li Xian's head towards her. Only then did she get a clear look at his wound.
"Were you... scratched by a dragon?"
"Was it Han Ze? You got injured while saving me, right?"
Li Xian nodded. He instinctively wanted to touch his wound, but Shen Qing pressed his hand down.
He sighed. "I didn't expect the wound to be so severe. It keeps reopening after healing. I'm sorry... I scared you."
Shen Qing shook her head. She knew that wounds inflicted by a dragon wouldn't heal so quickly. But she was too weak to move. She could only wait until she regained her strength to treat Li Xian's wound.
She vaguely remembered that before she fainted, she saw four dragons emerging behind Han Ze. Together with the black dragon, there were five in total.
It must have been extremely difficult for Li Xian to rescue her from such a perilous situation.
Shen Qing then asked, "What happened after I fainted? How did you escape? What about Master Kunshan and the others?"
"Also, where are we? Did Zhao Yang and the others manage to escape?"
Bombarded with a series of questions, Li Xian didn't know which one to answer first.
Knowing that Shen Qing was anxious, he started to tell her what had happened after she fainted, speaking in a rapid pace.
After Shen Qing fainted, the black dragon emerged from the ground. The ground cracked open, forming a huge chasm. The dragon's appearance caused a powerful earthquake. The land split, creating bottom - less cliffs.
Some powerful cultivators, sensing the danger, used teleportation talismans to escape. The remaining cultivators also scattered in all directions.
Han Ze somehow managed to force the black dragon to submit to him and form a deadly contract with it. He also summoned the illusory forms of four other dragons. Under Han Ze's command, these five dragons killed all the cultivators who hadn't managed to escape in time and absorbed their cultivation.
Now, all the well - known sects on the Nine Desolate Continent had been destroyed by Han Ze. The remaining small sects were struggling to survive and had hidden their disciples.
The surface of the continent was now overrun by demonic beasts, turning it into a second Demon Realm.
Shen Qing closed her eyes in despair.
Things had finally reached this stage.
Han Ze had planned this elaborate scheme and done so many things. All he wanted was to fulfill his ambition.
He incited trouble in the Demon Realm and used the formation of the Five Elements Dao Sect to summon the black dragon. He killed all the well - known cultivators on the Nine Desolate Continent and scattered the major sects.
Now, there was no longer a powerful force that could resist him.
He was only one step away from achieving his goal.
And that last step was to kill Shen Qing.
Shen Qing knew that although she and Han Ze were both from the Dragon Clan, their ideas were different. She had received the complete inheritance of the Dragon Clan, which in Han Ze's eyes was a knife that might strike back at any time.
If she were Han Ze, after reaching this stage, the next thing to do would surely be to spare no effort to find her and kill her.
If that was the case, Li Xian would be dragged down if he continued to stay by her side...
"Zhao Yang and the other two..."
Shen Qing's voice trembled slightly. She wanted to ask about the whereabouts of Hong Zhaoyang, Xue Ling, and Xiao Jinglan, but she didn't dare to ask directly, afraid of hearing the news that they had perished from Li Xian's mouth.
Hearing this, a strange look flashed across Li Xian's eyes.
He took out Shen Qing's sound - transmitting jade pendant and said, "Listen for yourself. They should be safe. Don't worry."
Shen Qing heaved a sigh of relief. She took the jade pendant and infused it with spiritual power. Immediately, Hong Zhaoyang's voice came from the jade pendant.
"Shen Qing! You'll never guess where I am now. I'm in the Qingyun Sword Sect. You know what? I'm actually in the Qingyun Sword Sect!! Our sect wasn't destroyed. It's in another space!!"
"Mother is okay. The sect master is okay. Everyone is alive!!"
"It's Yu Xuzi! He used the Kunlun Disk and transferred the entire sect to another space when the Qingyun Sword Sect was under attack!"
Shen Qing suddenly raised her head. Her eyes stared blankly at Li Xian. Her voice trembled with excitement as she stammered, "Did... did I hear that right?"
Li Xian's lips curled into a smile. "You heard it right."
Shen Qing covered her mouth. Tears of excitement welled up in her eyes. After so many days, she finally heard some good news.
The people of the Qingyun Sword Sect were still alive!!
After Yu Xuzi left seclusion, he foresaw the disaster that was about to befall the Qingyun Sword Sect and saved the sect at the last moment.
Shen Qing felt a deep sense of gratitude and admiration for Yu Xuzi. But soon, more feelings of reluctance and regret welled up in her heart.
He was such a great master. She hadn't had the chance to spend more time with him, nor had she repaid his kindness. And now, Yu Xuzi had perished.
Seeing Shen Qing's mood turn from ecstasy to sudden depression, Li Xian immediately guessed that it was related to Yu Xuzi.
So, he told her the second piece of good news.
"Shen Qing, you might never guess. Master... might still be alive."
"What?"
Shen Qing stared at Li Xian in disbelief, her eyes wide open.
"What are you talking about... I saw Master perish with my own eyes. You saw it too... His aura had completely disappeared, and his spiritual power was dispersing... How could Master still be alive?"
Shen Qing's voice was bitter as she spoke. How she wished Yu Xuzi were still alive.
But Li Xian only gently shook his head. He took out the sword - shaped Wuwang from behind him.
"Actually, I'm not sure either. All this was told to me by Wuwang."