113: Open your heart

The carriage traveled along the road. Nangong Li felt a wave of intense drowsiness wash over her inside the carriage, and in the end, she fell into a hazy sleep without saying a word.

Ever since her skin was burned and disfigured by the earth core strange fire, she had not slept soundly once.

Although Cultivators do not have high requirements for sleep, she was now no different from a trash, so naturally, she had various physiological needs.

"Revered Master, Revered Master..."

Seeing Nangong Li close her eyes, Lu Qingyi called out to her softly a few times.

Seeing that she had no reaction, a mocking expression could not help but appear on the corner of her lips.

The carriage sped along until it reached a dense forest, at which point Lu Qingyi immediately said to the two Disciples driving the carriage:

"Two Junior Brothers, Revered Master's body is weak. Let us rest here for a while. I must trouble you to find some clean stream water so I can wipe down Revered Master's body."

"Alright, we'll go right away. Senior Sister, please wait a moment."

The two Disciples suspected nothing and immediately got off the carriage, following the mist to find the location of a stream.

However, the moment they turned around, Lu Qingyi's eyes suddenly turned cold.

Puchi, puchi—

In an instant, two beams of bloody light pierced straight through their bodies.

The two Disciples didn't even have time to groan before they turned into blood Qi and dissipated into the air.

"Hmph, hmph."

After dealing with the two, Lu Qingyi looked at the still-sleeping Nangong Li with a cold sneer, then grabbed her and flew deep into the dense forest.

I do not know how much time had passed, but Nangong Li was startled awake by a sharp, intense pain.

"Where is this? How long have I been asleep?"

Seeing that she seemed to be in a cave and hearing the sound of a burning bonfire, Nangong Li struggled to sit up.

"Revered Master, you've finally woken up."

A cold, sinister voice came from behind her.

Nangong Li's heart tightened, and she struggled to turn her head to look.

She saw Lu Qingyi examining a blade as thin as a cicada's wing, her face full of ferocity.

"Qingyi, what are you doing? Where are Biyue and Yuying? Where have they gone?"

Lu Qingyi did not answer. She gripped the short blade in her hand and slowly walked in front of Nangong Li, crouching down to speak.

"Revered Master, I have followed you for so long, yet you have never taught me any real skills. Today, after I have sacrificed so much, I only ask for one thing from you, to serve as a testament to our bond as Revered Master and Disciple."

Nangong Li said with a trembling voice, "You, what exactly are you trying to do?"

Lu Qingyi gently pressed the short blade against Nangong Li's back, revealing a greedy expression. "Revered Master, in your current state, I fear you will never be able to use a sword again. Those who cannot use a sword are destined to be abandoned by the Chess Sword Pavilion. But you still have me, your Disciple. As long as you are willing to give the Innate Sword Bone within your body to me, I will definitely inherit your wishes and one day reach the Peak of the sword Dao. Then, you can be proud of me."

"What did you say!"

Nangong Li was shocked upon hearing this. "You want to dig out my Sword Bone!"

"Revered Master, the Chess Sword Pavilion does not want useless people. You are useless now, so why can't you fulfill my wish?"

"Rebellious Disciple, have you gone mad?"

The next moment, her arm was tightly grabbed by Lu Qingyi, who then forced her face down onto the ground.

"Stop, Qingyi, you cannot do this. If I lose my Sword Bone, I will die."

Nangong Li was panicked and frantic, continuously begging Lu Qingyi.

"Do not make one mistake after another. I am already in this state, are you still unwilling to let me go?"

At this moment, Lu Qingyi's mind was completely consumed by greed, and with a crazed expression, she aimed the short blade at Nangong Li's spine.

"Revered Master, fulfilling my wish is the same as fulfilling your own. In the future, you will definitely feel extremely proud to have such an outstanding Disciple."

"Beast! Once the Sword Bone is lost, I will truly lose my life. You cannot do this! This is betraying your Revered Master and destroying your ancestors!"

"Hahaha, Revered Master, are you not living in pain right now? Wouldn't it be better if I helped you find release?"

"Help! Someone help me! Who can save me!"

Nangong Li screamed in despair, her hoarse voice echoing endlessly within the Immortal Cave.

But in this desolate wilderness, a place where there was no sign of human life, who could save her?

"Revered Master, just endure it, and it will be over."

Lu Qingyi could not wait any longer; she raised the short blade and brought it down fiercely toward her spine.

"No—"

"Ah—"

A mournful scream rang out continuously in the forest, accompanied by the sound of bones cracking and breaking, which did not cease for a long time.

"Hahahaha, is this the Innate Sword Bone? I can feel surging spiritual power rushing towards me, making the shackles within my body show signs of loosening."

Half an hour later, Lu Qingyi held a snow-white, sword-shaped spine in her hand and burst into wild laughter with joy.

At this moment, Nangong Li was lying in a pool of blood, her arms outstretched, muttering incessantly: "This is mine... give it back to me... give it back to me..."

Lu Qingyi put away the Innate Sword Bone, looked down at Nangong Li with disdain, and then coughed lightly. "Considering our bond as Revered Master and Disciple, I will leave you here to fend for yourself. When I return to the Sect, I will tell everyone that we encountered evil Cultivators on the way, and that both the two Junior Brothers and you, Revered Master, unfortunately died. I think they will understand."

After speaking, she turned around and prepared to walk out of the Immortal Cave.

Nangong Li let out a weak voice toward her retreating back: "Qingyi, you... come back... I don't want to die... just take me to a medical hall, please? Don't leave me here, Qingyi..."

"Hmph."

Lu Qingyi no longer needed to pretend; she couldn't even be bothered to speak to her, merely snorted lightly, and walked out of the Immortal Cave.

"No, don't..."

Watching the receding figure, the last shred of hope in Nangong Li's heart was completely extinguished.

At this moment, her appearance was ruined, her cultivation was completely lost, and her Sword Bone had been dug out.

A dignified great Cultivator of the fifth level of the Primordial Chaos Realm, the inheritor of the Sword Emperor's Legacy, and the Sect Master of the Chess Sword Pavilion—now, even being a Mortal was a luxury.

Just as she was in despair, a cold wind swept through the cave.

Nangong Li struggled to lift her eyes to look, only to see Shen Lian gently waving his Folding Fan, slowly stepping into the cave.

"Shen... Lian..."

Upon seeing this arrogant figure, Nangong Li's heart was filled with rage.

"What... are you... here for..."

Shen Lian closed his Folding Fan and chuckled. "Of course, I'm here to watch the joke of your final moments. How is it? How does it taste to be betrayed by those closest to you?"

Upon hearing this, Nangong Li's emotions suddenly flared up. "So, you were the one planning everything behind the scenes? Why? Why do this to me?"

"Hahaha! I really don't understand how you have the face to ask the word 'why.' Everything that happened to you today—isn't it just the retribution for what you did to me back then?"

Nangong Li: "You did this just to take revenge on me? Shen Lian, how... how dare you..."

Shen Lian: "Nangong Li, now that things have reached this point, are you satisfied with this result? When I was awake, I swore that what belongs to me, I will definitely take back. Since I could give you everything in the past, I can naturally take it all back. When has anything Shen Lian decided not been achieved! Seeing you in this miserable state now, I only have one feeling."

After finishing his sentence, he opened his Folding Fan.

"That is truly incomparably satisfying, hahahaha!"

Nangong Li was so angry she gnashed her teeth. She really wanted to slice this trash, whom she had once trampled under her feet, into a thousand pieces.

Unfortunately, in her current state, she couldn't even walk normally.

The most urgent matter was to save her own life.

And Shen Lian was currently the only person who could save her.

"Shen Lian, now that you see me in this state, your anger should be gone, right? So, please save me, okay? I really don't want to die."