Chapter 115: The Patriarch Displays His Power

A dark, murky energy descended from the sky.

In an instant, it coiled around the Qingping Sword in my hand, rendering it immobile.

At that moment, Grandmaster Hu San descended from above, appearing before me with a cold and fierce expression, his presence overwhelmingly intimidating.

With a motion of his hand, the black murky energy erupted, bending my Qingping Sword into an arc as it whistled past my neck.

Had the sword’s energy not been restrained, it would have surely severed my head.

Before I could steady the Qingping Sword, Grandmaster Hu struck again, gathering a vortex of black murky energy that slammed down like a storm, overwhelming everything in its path.

I wielded the strength of the Qingping Sword to strike back.

Unexpectedly, the dark energy flung me backward.

I crashed heavily against the city wall; the upper half of my clothing was shattered into pieces. My chest was scorched by the black murk as if burned, and even the white scales that usually protected my body failed to manifest.

This was the true power of Grandmaster Hu San—truly terrifying to behold.

He advanced toward me, enveloped entirely in that dark, murky aura. Its strength was so immense that the ground trembled and quaked with each step he took.

Sand and stones roiled, grass and trees withered and snapped.

At Shanhaiguan Pass, the black murk pressed down like a dark cloud threatening to crush the city.

Without the golden scales gleaming like sunlight on armor, how could Shanhaiguan be defended?

The city walls were silent.

Behind me, no one remained.

If I fell, who would defend Shanhaiguan? Who would bar the wild immortals from entering and wreaking havoc on all living beings?

At this moment, I could not fall, and there was no reason for me to fall!

Clutching the Qingping Sword tightly, I gritted my teeth and glanced back at the city walls of Shanhaiguan behind me before struggling to stand once more.

The Qingping Sword in my hand burst forth with flashes of azure light.

With unwavering resolve, sword energy surged like ribbons of light. With a fierce cry, I charged at Grandmaster Hu San, slashing alongside the Qingping Sword. The sword moves shifted with dazzling brilliance under the night sky.

Amidst the dazzling display, I finally lunged my sword toward Grandmaster Hu San’s neck.

He raised his hand.

The palm’s black murky energy instantly spiraled like a black tornado, wildly sweeping toward me. My strike was deflected by this dark energy; I retreated several steps before fiercely hacking with the Qingping Demon Suppressing Sword. The sword’s blade flickered in the dark energy, abandoning any formal technique.

During this battle, I lost count of how many times my body had been struck.

I only felt that as time passed, though I had not fallen, the severity of my wounds left my consciousness fading.

At last, a blast of black murky energy struck my right hand, sending the Qingping Demon Suppressing Sword flying into the black smoke, vanishing from sight.

I stood firm, using my true vital energy to resist the black murky energy.

Before I could strike again, Grandmaster Hu San was already upon me.

“Lin Yi, you are already dead. Have you not realized it yet?” Grandmaster Hu San asked coldly.

Hearing those words, a wave of murkiness swept through my mind. The strength I had been clinging to finally gave out; I collapsed to the ground as if falling into a bottomless abyss, unable to rise again.

With the last remnants of my consciousness, I saw Grandmaster Hu San gathering countless strands of black murky energy, crashing toward me.

---

The rumbling was like a muffled thunder, terrifying in its intensity.

For a moment, the entire world seemed to fall silent.

I could no longer hold on and closed my eyes, enveloped in boundless darkness.

I did not know where I had gone, nor whether Grandmaster Hu San had already killed me. I only felt as though I were drifting somewhere, unable to move.

“Go. We should never meet again!”

Suddenly, a harsh male voice rang out, accompanied by the sound of a woman’s weeping.

That voice stirred my consciousness faintly.

I steadied myself on the ground and stood.

In the distance, I saw two figures standing. One was a tall man clad in a black robe, his face hidden as if to avoid being seen. The rebuke I had just heard had come from him. Facing him was a woman dressed in white, her hair also white. She bowed her head, crying.

I could only see her back, not her face, yet she stirred an inexplicable familiarity within me.

I stood and approached them.

But no matter how I tried, the distance between us remained vast—I could never get closer.

“Why? You promised that no matter what happened, we would be together through all lifetimes!” the woman sobbed.

“I did say that,” the man replied coldly with a snort.

“Then why are you going back on your word now?”

The man’s voice grew colder still. “Because the child in your womb should never have existed! Leave now. If you delay, I will change my mind. Neither you nor the child will survive!”

The woman, heavily pregnant, fell to her knees, begging him. But he pushed her away harshly.

She collapsed in agony, clutching her belly.

The man hurried away, snarling, “If you dare reveal a single word of this to your people, your entire clan will be wiped out without a trace!”

After he left, the woman fainted in pain. How long passed, she awoke and walked into the mountains, only to be blocked by several Taoist priests who had suddenly appeared.

Seeing this, the white-clad woman turned and fled.

But the priests had set a magical formation, making escape impossible. Suddenly, the woman let out a furious roar like a dragon’s cry.

Sure enough, she transformed into a white dragon and soared toward the heavens.

But lightning bolts struck her down, and she fell into the forest, transforming into a massive white python.

The Taoist priests pursued and removed a glowing white object from beneath her jaw with greedy expressions.

The woman collapsed, barely alive.

At this moment, her child was born. She gritted her teeth and wrapped the infant protectively within her massive coils.

Seeing these scenes, tears streamed down my face—for that woman, for my mother.

Is this not the truth I have long been curious about?

Who was that heartless man? Was he my father? No wonder when my mother suffered and was harmed, he never appeared. He was such a cold-hearted man.

My heart ached beyond measure.

By what right did he do this? Why did he treat us mother and child so cruelly?

In that moment, hatred took root in my heart. Even though my mother told me not to investigate that man further, I resolved to find him and demand answers—why did he do this?

---

At that moment, a voice reached me.

“Child!”

An elder of the Kun Dao suddenly appeared before me.

Of course, she was my mother—the embodiment of the white dragon. Overcome with emotion, I cried out, “Mother! It’s you, you’re alive!”

She shook her head gently and said, “I am only the lingering soul within her dragon aura.”

“Everything I just saw… was it real?” I asked urgently.

“Child, I have passed on, dissolved into smoke and clouds. All of that should vanish with me. Whatever you saw is not real. Do not cling to it.”

“But…”

“Child, I have died and returned to the heavens and earth. What is most important now is you. You must live well. Your soul has been cast from your body, but I have left a strand of dragon aura within you. Sit quietly and regulate your breath. The dragon aura is the energy of revival, the source of my life. Let it flow through your microcosm, and it will bring you back.”

“Alright!”

I immediately sat cross-legged and followed her instructions.

I could not die yet; Shanhaiguan must not fall.

Shanhaiguan.

Black clouds shrouded the city walls, and the fortress, once impregnable, seemed ready to collapse at any moment.

At this time, Grandmaster Hu San looked down at my fallen form as if it were a corpse. He sneered coldly and said, “Lin Yi, my wild immortals invade under heaven’s mandate. You who defy the heavens will surely die. This is the retribution for harming my grandson and brothers!”

Then he raised his head and shouted into the night sky, “Rui’er, Grandpa has avenged you! Third brother, big brother has avenged you! Fourth brother, big brother has avenged you! Journey well!”

His voice thundered across the heavens.

On Shanhaiguan’s walls, those present were already gravely wounded, lying on the ground. Only Weiyang had sealed Hua Nü’s brow with magic and gently set her down.

Hearing that furious roar, Weiyang looked beyond the pass.

In the distance, she saw Grandmaster Hu San’s feet, beneath which a figure seemed no longer human.

“Lin Yi!”

Weiyang shouted, a tear streaking down her face like blood.

She leapt from the wall and landed below, sprinting fiercely toward that direction. At that moment, Weiyang realized just how deeply Lin Yi had taken root in her heart. Memories of their past together stabbed at her soul.

“Lin Yi, you must live!”

Her voice was hoarse from shouting but unwavering.

“Lin Yi…”

Beside my fallen body, Grandmaster Hu San stared at me with unyielding hatred.

“Lin Yi, you are possessed by the Wandering Star, your fate is too great. But this time, I will burn your body with the Five Yin Immortal Flames until you turn to ash. Let’s see how you resurrect then! The Wandering Star upon you shall change owners now!”

The black murky energy in Grandmaster Hu San’s hand hissed and transformed into two balls of flame.

The Five Yin Immortal Flames—fiery death to bone and soul.