51: Chapter 51 Breaking Through the Desperate Situation, A Frosty Sword

That pale white bone spur stopped three feet above Lu Changyuan's head.

It was frozen.

A layer of fine, almost absolutely still frosty Sword Intent covered it, rolling back along the bone spur. In an instant, it sealed the Demon General Fuhai's entire tentacle, half of its demonic body, and the dozen or so sea demons lunging from around it into a layer of ice.

The entire massive crater fell suddenly silent.

Lu Changyuan looked up.

The woman in white in his arms had opened her eyes at some point.

Her eyes still held the fatigue of someone who had just struggled back from the brink of death, but beneath that fatigue lay a coldness so high it made people instinctively hold their breath. It was like looking down from a snowy peak beyond the heavens, faintly watching the ants at one's feet.

The next moment, she pressed two fingers together.

She did not stand up.

She did not even say half a word more.

She merely drew a light stroke forward through the air.

"Chi."

The sound was as faint as thin paper being cut.

Yet immediately after, the sea of fog above the entire reef cluster was neatly split in two by a snow-bright beam of sword light.

Where the sword light passed, the waves stopped, the Demonic Qi congealed, and even the shock and rage on the ferocious face of the Demon General Fuhai were frozen in place.

It had its mouth open, seemingly still wanting to roar, still wanting to escape into the water, still wanting to smash out the rest of its demonic power.

But it had no time to do anything.

Because in the next instant, its massive demonic body, along with the hundreds of elite sea demons around it, all turned into ice sculptures.

On the reef ridge.

Outside the crater's edge.

Amidst the dense fog.

The army of sea demons that had previously forced Lu Hu and the others into a desperate situation had been paused as if someone had casually pressed a button.

Then, "bang."

The first ice sculpture shattered.

Followed by the second, the third, the fourth.

In just a few breaths, patches upon patches of ice sculptures transformed into a sky full of ice crystals under the vibration of that lingering Sword Qi, falling rustlingly from above the reef cluster like an overwhelming cold snow.

The demonic body of the Demon General Fuhai, at the Foundation Establishment Perfection level, shattered only at the very last moment.

Its broken bone spurs, fragmented demonic armor, and half-congealed demonic blood were all ground into powder by the Sword Intent. Only a dark, heavy conch shell, covered in natural spiral patterns, fell from mid-air and landed with a "thud" into the rubble at the edge of the crater.

Everyone was stunned.

Lu Hu still maintained his posture of raising his blade, his blade covered in blood, but his mouth was open wide enough to fit an egg.

Shi Jian knelt half-way on the ground, his chest heaving, his eyes fixed in a daze.

The sword in Leng Feng's hand trembled slightly, then was gripped even tighter by him.

This sword strike was power on another level—like when the sky was collapsing, someone reached out and pushed the vault of heaven back for you.

Lu Changyuan, however, did not lose focus for too long.

Because the presence in his arms had clearly weakened again after unleashing that sword strike.

This Golden Core Sword Immortal in white before him had been thoroughly etched into Lu Changyuan's heart along with that frost-cold blade intent that had cleared the field.

"Can you still hold on?"

He asked in a low voice.

The woman in white glanced at him, her gaze falling on the hand supporting her, then slowly drifting to the now-empty cold jade box at his waist.

She clearly did not need others to explain too much.

The aura of the nine-leaf world-purifying lotus still lingered within her body.

A divine medicine of that level could never have been fed to her by accident.

"I won't die."

Her voice was a bit hoarse, yet remained cold and clear.

Lu Changyuan nodded but did not immediately respond to her words.

He first lifted his eyes to scan around the outside of the crater.

Lu Hu, Leng Feng, and Shi Jian were all still standing, but everyone was injured, and even their breathing carried a heaviness from overexertion. Further away on the reef ridge, residual ice crystals were still falling; as the sea breeze blew, they shattered like a sky full of salty snow.

This sword strike had broken the dead end.

But they were still in the barren reefs, still in the depths of the fog sea, and still carrying a Golden Core casualty who had just been dragged back from the gates of hell.

Now was not the time to talk about real room for negotiation.

They had to leave first, to survive and bring the person back.

"Clean the battlefield first, take the demonic cores, take whatever you can carry." Lu Changyuan raised his hand and pressed down toward the outside of the crater. "This is no place to stay for long."

Lu Hu finally snapped back to reality, shouted in response, and immediately led people to peel off the sea demon Materials that could still be preserved.

That sword strike just now had been too overbearing; the Demon General Fuhai and a large number of elites had turned directly into ice powder, so there wasn't actually much left behind. But even so, the large number of demonic cores, demonic bones, and intact leather armor scattered among the reef cluster were still a windfall that would make any Foundation Establishment power envious.

Leng Feng jumped to the edge of the crater at the first opportunity, retrieved the conch shell, and offered it to Lu Changyuan with both hands.

"Master."

Lu Changyuan glanced at it, put away the conch, and then looked back at the woman in white in front of him.

"Senior saved our lives."

"Wrong," Luo Qingcheng said faintly. "It was you who dragged me back from the path of death first."

When she said this, her gaze was calm but not gentle.

It was as if she were stating a fact, and also as if she were weighing the price.

Lu Changyuan could tell.

A person like this would not be moved to tears of gratitude by a momentary life-saving grace, nor would she sell her life for anyone without reason. She acknowledged the debt, but that was all she acknowledged.

Since that was the case, then he would negotiate in the way of acknowledging debts.

"Since Senior says so, then I won't beat around the bush."

Lu Changyuan said directly: "My Blue Moon Island is currently in a troubled autumn. Outside, there is a beast tide; inside, there are movements from the Dragon King Palace. What is most lacking in the short term is a needle to stabilize the sea to hold the situation."

"You want me to hold the fort for you."

"Yes."

"Do you know how great the cost is to invite a Golden Core cultivator to the island?"

Lu Changyuan met her gaze, his expression unblinking: "That is why I do not say 'invite,' but discuss a 'contract.' Senior's injuries have not healed, and you need a safe place to cultivate your sword and heal; Blue Moon Island needs a high-level deterrent to cover against the wolves in the near seas. We each get what we need, which is more stable than empty talk of kindness and righteousness."

Luo Qingcheng was silent for a moment.

The sound of the wind outside the crater gradually rose again, and the seawater slapped against the Reef Wall, as if washing away the dead silence left by that sword strike just now bit by bit.

She suddenly asked: "Are you not afraid of inviting a wolf into the house?"

"If Senior truly wanted to turn hostile, you wouldn't have saved me today."

"It is also possible that I just woke up, and killing you is not as good as healing first."

"Then you would still need a place to heal."

Lu Changyuan's tone was steady: "Blue Moon Island is not a dragon's den or a tiger's lair, but it is not a small island to be kneaded by anyone either. If Senior is willing to hold the fort for thirty years, I will give you the cleanest Spiritual Vein Daoist site, and provide priority supply for everything needed for healing; the island will not interfere in your private affairs, nor will we ask about your origins. We only ask Senior to take action when external enemies press on our borders and the island faces a crisis of destruction."

"After thirty years, the contract will dissolve on its own."

"An equal Guest Elder, no master-servant relationship."

"What if I recover my cultivation first and want to leave early?"

"That can be discussed," Lu Changyuan said. "But the premise is to leave behind something that can replace your deterrent power."

Luo Qingcheng looked at him, and a trace of a very faint ripple finally appeared in the depths of her eyes.

She had seen too many people cowering and fawning in front of Golden Core cultivators.

She had also seen too many fools who were blinded by huge profits and wanted to tightly bind a heavily injured powerhouse.

Like Lu Changyuan, who was clearly only at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, yet from beginning to end was calmly calculating the boundaries between each other—this was the first time she had encountered such a person.

After a long while, she raised her hand.

A point of frost light condensed at her fingertips.

"Bring the contract."

Lu Changyuan felt a sense of relief inside, but it didn't show on his face; he took a third-tier spirit contract scroll directly from his Storage Pouch. He had originally prepared this for future large transactions with outer sea powers, but now it came in handy.

The terms for both sides were written quickly.

Guest Elder for thirty years.

Equal and mutually beneficial.

Unless the island faced a crisis of destruction, external enemies pressed on the borders, or both parties had other agreements, Luo Qingcheng did not need to follow orders for military or political chores.

Blue Moon Island, on the other hand, needed to allocate a High Grade spiritual land for her to heal and go into seclusion, and without damaging the island's Foundation, give priority to providing what was needed for her recovery.

When signing the spirit contract, the frost at the fingertips of the woman in white condensed slightly, leaving three words as cold and clear as a sword at the end of the contract.

Luo Qingcheng.

When the last stroke fell, the contract scroll ignited without fire, turning into two rays of spiritual light that submerged into the space between their eyebrows respectively.

It was done.

Lu Hu and the others watched this scene from afar, only feeling their hearts heating up.

They had followed Lu Changyuan, fighting all the way to this day, seeing wins, seeing dangers, and seeing how Blue Moon Island had transformed from a waste island into its current Foundation.

But only at this moment did they truly realize that their master had gained another trump card in his hand capable of suppressing the winds and waves of the near seas for decades.

A Golden Core Guest Elder.

If these four words were spread out, it would be enough to make all the nearby island masters unable to sleep peacefully at night.

"Let's go."

Luo Qingcheng withdrew her gaze and closed her eyes again, clearly having reached her limit.

"Leave this place first."

Lu Changyuan did not hesitate and personally helped her up.

The return journey was much easier than the trip here.

No Demon General Fuhai.

No elite sea demons.

Only a ground full of ice crystals, broken bones, and the dead silence of the reef.

By the time everyone had retreated back to the wrecked ships at the seaside, the horizon was already turning slightly white. The fog tide outside the barren reefs was receding, and the broken sea surface was full of floating demonic corpses and post-battle planks.

Lu Hu was counting the ship Materials that could still be used while stealing glances at Luo Qingcheng from time to time, as if afraid that this great power who had just frozen hundreds of sea demons with one sword would suddenly disappear.

Leng Feng remained silent, only silently yielding the best spare small boat when Lu Changyuan signaled.

Lu Changyuan helped Luo Qingcheng onto the boat.

As the bow of the boat broke through the morning fog, he looked back at the reef cluster that had been washed by frost.

A siege that should have been ten deaths and no life had finally turned the tables here.

But he knew even better.

Turning this table around relied on him betting his last lotus seed in the right place.

The sea breeze swept by, and Luo Qingcheng suddenly opened her eyes at the stern of the boat and looked at Lu Changyuan.

"A mere Foundation Establishment Cultivator from a border wasteland, actually able to bring out a divine object like the nine-leaf world-purifying lotus."

Her voice was very soft.

"Lu Changyuan, you have more secrets on you than I thought."

Lu Changyuan just looked at the increasingly clear outline of Blue Moon Island in front of him and smiled faintly.

"Likewise."