1 Escape

"Ji Guanqi! Stop running. The Xuantian Sect is protected by a grand array, and your Xuantian Token has been destroyed. You cannot escape."

A voice drifted down from above, reaching the ears of the white-clad cultivator running ahead. His steps faltered instinctively for a brief moment, but he immediately raised his sword to deflect a blade thrusting at him from behind, spinning around swiftly to dodge another incoming edge.

Yet, his heavily injured body ultimately slowed his movements. The blade grazed his arm, and fresh blood instantly soaked through his robe. He looked toward the source of the voice, retreating dozens of paces in the blink of an eye.

"The Twin-Edged Blade..." Ji Guanqi's voice dripped with deep mockery, though it was unclear whether he was ridiculing the owner of the weapon or himself.

But he dared not linger. Just as he prepared to resume his escape, the brief delay allowed a sharp whistling sound to tear through the air behind him. An arrow shot out from nowhere, piercing straight through Ji Guanqi's shoulder blade. Blood splattered, and Ji Guanqi reversed his grip on his sword, driving it into the ground to barely steady himself.

When he raised his head again, he saw a youth-like figure rushing toward him, holding the Moon-Chaser Bow.

The Twin-Edged Blade, the Moon-Chaser Bow... No one knew these two weapons better than Ji Guanqi, for their owners were none other than his two dear junior brothers. And now, the ones who sought to kill him were these very brothers whom he had once loved as kin.

Ji Guanqi's robes were already soaked in blood. He stood at the edge of a towering cliff; another step back would plunge him into the boundless abyss. He had nowhere left to run.

"Ji Guanqi, hand over the antidote to the toxic gu, and I may spare your life." The second junior brother, Xiao Tangqing, held his Twin-Edged Blade, staring coldly and mercilessly at the eldest disciple whom he had driven into a corner.

"Ji Guanqi, how venomous of you to poison our youngest junior brother! To think he actually pleaded for mercy on your behalf. A viper-hearted wretch like you—how dare you walk the path of cultivation, and how are you worthy of being our eldest brother!" The third junior brother, Qiao You, swept his gaze up and down Ji Guanqi. Seeing his battered state, he sneered with disdain, "Useless trash."

The man standing on the edge of the abyss could barely keep his footing. The hand gripping his sword trembled imperceptibly, blood trickling down his wrist to dye the blade crimson. Yet his eyes remained exceptionally clear as he spoke, enunciating each word: "If you wish to frame someone, any excuse will do. I will say this only once: I have never betrayed the sect, never stolen its sacred treasure, and never harmed my fellow disciples. As for poisoning our youngest junior brother, it is utter nonsense."

"Liar! Would our youngest junior brother use his own life to frame you?!" Qiao You could not bear to hear anyone slandering his frail, gentle, and kind-hearted youngest junior brother.

The second junior brother, Xiao Tangqing, also frowned slightly, the killing intent in his eyes growing stronger as he looked at Ji Guanqi.

"Absurd..." Ji Guanqi had lost count of how many times he had faced such situations. He lowered his head, the corners of his blood-stained lips curling up, before throwing his head back and laughing aloud. "Utterly absurd!"

These two junior brothers before him were the very ones he had raised with his own hands, yet they were now the ones who wanted him dead the most. No matter how he explained himself, it was entirely futile.

Ji Guanqi gripped his Gentleman's Sword, his posture straight and proud, and spoke in a chilling voice, "With today's battle, all ties of gratitude and duty between us are severed. In life or in death, I, Ji Guanqi, have nothing more to do with you. Come."

Although he was severely wounded, his eyes were bright with a clear resolve to die. Suddenly, a clear cry echoed from beneath the abyss. Ji Guanqi's eyes flickered in surprise. "Azure Phoenix!"

Almost the moment the words left his mouth, a spiritual beast, the Azure Phoenix, soared up from the depths of the cliff. Instantly understanding its intent, Ji Guanqi swung his sword to deflect several incoming blades, then spun around and leapt off the cliff. Mounting the Azure Phoenix, he charged toward the sect-protecting array, intending to make his escape.

"I didn't expect you to still be alive." Ji Guanqi patted his mount and laughed. "Let's go! I don't want to stay in this wretched Xuantian Sect for another second. Master's secluded cultivation is about to end. Let's go find him. In this whole world, only Master understands me!"

He had thought they had already killed the Azure Phoenix, but to his surprise, this silly bird was still alive. Ji Guanqi gritted his teeth and said, "I owe them nothing more!"

The Azure Phoenix threw back its head and cried out, as if in response, flapping its wings to soar toward the Xuantian Sect's protective array.

Yet, just as they were about to break through, Ji Guanqi's spine suddenly stiffened. He instinctively whipped his head around, realizing the danger in an instant. With a sudden kick, he shoved the Azure Phoenix away. The defenseless bird veered off course slightly from the impact, while Ji Guanqi, left in its place, barely had time to raise his hands. Before he could even draw his sword, he was enveloped by a blade of light. He watched helplessly as a painfully familiar weapon—the Heaven-Painting Halberd—accompanied by the crackle of fierce thunder, pierced through his chest and pinned him securely to the cliff face.

With a deafening crash, shattered rocks flew in all directions. The stone wall of the abyss cracked into a massive web of fissures, at the center of which was Ji Guanqi, his chest impaled by the Heaven-Painting Halberd.

Blood gushed from his wound. He stared in disbelief at the divine weapon protruding from his chest, entirely oblivious to his own injuries, his eyes filled with nothing but shock.

"Master..." Blood welled up from his throat. Ji Guanqi reached out, wanting to touch the weapon, but he no longer had the strength.

"Hand over the antidote." Immortal Venerable Zhennan stepped through the air, his robes billowing. A cold frost hung between his brows, and his eyes held nothing but indifference as he looked down at his injured eldest disciple.

"You believe I poisoned him too, Master?" The color drained completely from Ji Guanqi's lips. He trembled, "Master..."

"Yao'er has awakened and named you as the poisoner. It could be no one else." The "Yao'er" Immortal Venerable Zhennan spoke of was their doted-upon youngest junior brother. The master spoke once more, "Hand over the antidote, and I shall spare your life."

Silence fell over the surroundings, save for the howling wind at the bottom of the abyss. Ji Guanqi was drenched in blood from head to toe. With his chest pierced by the Heaven-Painting Halberd, even if he survived today, he would be nothing but a cripple for the rest of his life.

He stared at Immortal Venerable Zhennan in silence for a long time. After a moment, he said in a trembling voice, "So, even you do not believe me, Master."

Immortal Venerable Zhennan's eyes flickered almost imperceptibly. He repeated, "Hand over the antidote, and I shall spare your life."

"There is no need." Ji Guanqi summoned every ounce of his remaining strength to grip the weapon in his chest. Blood kept spilling from his mouth, and his breathing grew labored. Finally, he let out a laugh. This sight caused Wu Xingbai's heart to skip a beat, an inexplicable sense of unease washing over him.

"After today, we shall never meet again," Ji Guanqi said, his voice hoarse and weak. "But what I did not do, I did not do. I will not admit to it, not even in death! Not even in death!"

He gripped the Heaven-Painting Halberd tightly until his head finally slumped forward and his hands fell loose. His blood had long since trickled down the stone wall in winding streams.

Wu Xingbai's heart skipped a beat.

Just as he was about to step forward, he heard a mournful cry from the bird behind him, and the Gentleman's Sword—the weapon bound to Ji Guanqi's life—suddenly shattered, its spiritual light completely fading.

The shattering of a life-bound weapon signified the death of its master and the end of his path.

Yet Ji Guanqi had not merely perished; he had actively shattered his own soul, refusing to ever enter reincarnation, dying an absolute and final death.