Chapter 059: Seeing the Light of Day Again

When the ten-second trial within the secret realm officially began, Song Ye immediately drew his novice iron sword and unleashed a Heaven-Shattering Strike at the illusion of Qin Xuanxi. As expected, this Heaven-Shattering Strike could not break through the protective true energy of the illusion, though the damage dealt was still being calculated by the trial. Without pause, Song Ye followed up with two more consecutive Heaven-Shattering Strikes.

With only fifty points in his Spirit attribute—his spirit value being equivalent to a pool of energy for skills—these three strikes were already his limit. Now he was gasping for breath, utterly unable to summon a fourth. Yet he still had one last ultimate technique, Yu Muqiu’s Guardian Skill—Annihilation of All Living Things!

Using a guardian skill was independent of his physical state; even in utter weakness, he could still activate it. Suddenly, a purple longsword appeared out of thin air in Song Ye’s right hand—Yu Muqiu’s spirit sword, the Purple Heaven Sword. At the same time, Yu Muqiu’s massive and scantily-clad phantom manifested behind Song Ye. Without warning, Song Ye plunged the purple sword into the ground.

Sword Technique—Annihilation of All Living Things!

From the point where the sword pierced the earth, the ground cracked and splintered forward like a spreading web, while surging purple sword energy, molten and unstoppable, poured from the fissures, obliterating every living thing in its path. Annihilation of All Living Things was a wide-area destructive skill; wherever the sword energy flowed like lava, all life was extinguished.

Ever since Yu Muqiu’s death, this technique had been lost for tens of thousands of years, and now, in Song Ye’s hands, it finally saw the light of day once more. The fissures spread to the feet of Qin Xuanxi’s illusion, and sword energy erupted from beneath it, launching an assault.

Regrettably, Yu Muqiu’s guardian was only able to unleash Annihilation of All Living Things at the second tier of the Void-Breaking Realm—its power was insufficient, unable to pierce through the protective true energy of Qin Xuanxi’s illusion.

Of course, Song Ye’s goal had merely been to inflict as much damage as possible within the ten-second window; he had never dreamed of breaking the illusion’s protective barrier. As he unleashed this final blow, the ten seconds expired.

Now it was time for the illusion’s retaliation.

Song Ye felt that attacking Qin Xuanxi’s illusion was as ineffectual as giving it a gentle massage, while the illusion’s counterattack would be the true terror—a brutal “domestic beating.”

Qin Xuanxi’s illusion summoned her Supreme Demonic Aspect, merging with the form as they cast a spell together:

The Eighteenth Thunder Technique—Thunder Halberd of Annihilation!

Before Song Ye could react, a colossal halberd crackling with purple lightning crashed down from above, obliterating his body into dust.

Instantly, his consciousness was ejected from the secret realm, returning to the Profound Win Continent. At that moment, his rewards began to be tallied. He had dealt a total of 1,780,000 damage to the illusion, earning him 187 attribute points and 138 Guardian True Essence Pills.

This was a remarkably generous reward—the attribute points alone amounted to 187. To put that into perspective, even if he diligently completed daily tasks for half a year, he would only accrue about 180 attribute points. Naturally, opportunities for such secret realm challenges were extremely rare; who knew how long it would be before he could reap such rewards again?

Song Ye allocated all 187 points to his Vitality stat, still choosing not to boost his Spirit. He reasoned that his current spirit value was enough to unleash three Heaven-Shattering Strikes; if an enemy could survive those, it was better to flee than persist with the fight!

At that moment, Zhao Zhigao returned with Song Yan. Song Yan’s little belly was slightly rounded; as she walked, she patted her plump stomach with her small hand—clearly well fed.

“Brother Song, how did it go? Did you pass the martial trial?” Zhao Zhigao asked eagerly.

“Of course I did!” Song Ye replied with a smile.

“That’s great! Soon you’ll be able to wear the constable’s uniform like me, and we’ll stand shoulder to shoulder, defending Yan City together!” Zhao Zhigao seemed even more delighted than Song Ye himself.

“You took my sister out for noodles, right? How much did she eat? Let me pay you back,” Song Ye offered.

“No need—just a bowl of noodles, why be so formal?” Zhao Zhigao waved it off.

“All right, then after your shift, drinks are on me. Consider it a celebration for passing the martial trial!”

“Deal!”

...

A month later, at Ink Bamboo Mountain.

Qin Xuanxi, now in the guise of Su Qingyu, had been waiting atop Ink Bamboo Mountain for an entire month. Not to mention the Flute Immortal—even a bird was a rare sight here.

For someone who had lived over three hundred years, such solitary time was hardly a torment for Qin Xuanxi, but she was nonetheless burning with impatience to find the Flute Immortal and unravel the truth behind the Wine Immortal’s death.

She thought to herself: perhaps she should simply descend the mountain to seek out Song Ye and marry him, forcing the Flute Immortal to reveal himself.

Thinking of marriage, Qin Xuanxi couldn’t help but recall Song Ye’s shameless words—how he’d claimed he wanted to consummate their marriage in every room, how he’d insisted she bear him many children. In truth, all Song Ye wanted was to exhaust her body to his heart’s content.

At this, a mocking smile crept across Qin Xuanxi’s face. Song Ye, after all, was just a mortal of flesh and blood; even if she let him have his way, he wouldn’t be able to tire her out for long.

Yet suddenly, her expression froze. She quickly banished these wayward thoughts and interrogated herself: why, at the mere thought of Song Ye, did her mind drift to matters between men and women?

She had lived for over three centuries; her steadfast Dao heart had never faced a test as severe as this.

Just then, a shout rose from the foot of the mountain:

“Su Yunhe, are you on the mountain? Can you hear me? I’ve come today to bring you and our daughter home!”

Qin Xuanxi surmised that the caller must be Su Qingyu’s birth father, Prince Xiang, Li Bin. Thanks to the mountain’s protective barrier, he could not ascend, and could only shout from below.