You've only been cultivating for a few years, and you're already talking about cultivating

Ying Wanning unfolded the fan in her hand.

This was the "Soul-Slaying Fan" that she had obtained from a member of the Blood God Cult many years ago. With a flick of her wrist, she aimed at Qi Fei and swung the fan fiercely.

A foul stench wafted over us.

The wind was neither hot nor cold, yet it carried a strange power that made one dizzy and disoriented, causing one to feel lightheaded and the world to spin. Zhu Yixin was completely powerless against the force of this fan.

Qi Fei swayed slightly.

But it only swayed for a moment.

His body cultivated the "true method," and he felt that he was not comparable to a good-for-nothing like Zhu Yixin!

He steadied himself, raised his foot, and struck Zhu Yixin squarely in the chest as she lunged at him.

The kick landed solidly, and Zhu Yixin's body flew out like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily to the ground. She rolled twice and lay motionless in the mud.

Qi Fei didn't even glance at Zhu Yixin.

He turned his head, his gaze piercing through the night, landing precisely on the shadow where Ying Wan was hiding. The light of "Shadow Detection" flickered slightly in his palm, making his eyes shine with an astonishing brightness.

"You," he spoke, channeling his magic, "have you ever seen sword light?"

Ying Wanning was taken aback.

Sword light?

Before she could react from the shadows, a beam of light appeared out of nowhere.

The light was incredibly dazzling, as if someone had compressed all the sunlight of the entire day into a thin line.

It was born from the void, accompanied by a clear and melodious sword cry, just like the howling sword cry of Nanshan in the past.

Where the light passed, a rift was cleaved in the darkness.

The sword light appeared in front of Ying Wanning from an impossible angle. It didn't come from the front, nor from the side, nor did it light up from inside the shadow she was incarnated as. It came from a place she couldn't understand!

The sword light slashed down.

The shadow that Ying Wan Ning had transformed into was cleaved in two by a sword, and she rolled out of the darkness, her skirt covered in mud and grass clippings.

A deep gash was cut from her shoulder to her arm, exposing the bone. Blood gushed from the wound, dripping onto the ground and forming a pool of blood.

She staggered back two steps, one hand covering her wound, blood seeping between her fingers.

She looked up, and a hint of fear finally appeared in her eyes as she looked at Qi Fei.

"What kind of sword light is that?"

Her voice trembled, filled with an unprecedented sense of panic.

For over a hundred years, she had traveled far and wide, and had seen so-called sword cultivators and so-called sword light. But she had never seen such sword light before.

It shines from within the shadows, slashing from an impossible angle, silent yet unstoppable.

With such a sword in hand, she was no match for Qi Fei.

Qi Fei glanced at Zhu Yixin, who was lying motionless on the ground in the distance, then looked away and focused his gaze on Ying Wanning.

He was still a bit clumsy when he first used the Dao Ming Sword. He originally intended to cut off Ying Wan Ning's arm with this sword, but instead he injured her.

He looked at the injured Ying Wanning and said, "Do you have anything else to say?"

Ying Wanning's mind raced. The coldness on her face faded, replaced by a pitiful and delicate look. Her eyes reddened slightly, and her voice became soft and sweet, like a wronged mother looking at her ignorant child.

"Jun'er," she called softly, her voice tinged with sorrow and grievance, "for the sake of the time I took you in, please spare me. If it weren't for me, you would have starved to death on the streets long ago."

"Jun'er" was the original name of Qi Fei's body.

A homeless, starving boy was taken in by Ying Wanning, who gave him food, a place to stay, and a little false warmth.

Without her, that boy certainly wouldn't have survived that winter.

Qi Fei looked at her face, which was filled with grievance and pleading, but felt no emotion whatsoever.

"But you're going to kill me too," he said.

Ying Wanning quickly shook her head, her expression becoming even more pitiful: "But we didn't manage to kill him, did we? Jun'er, please be magnanimous and spare me."

She lowered her head slightly, blood still seeping from the wound on her shoulder, looking both fragile and helpless.

At this moment, she no longer had the arrogant demeanor she had just displayed; instead, she appeared weak and pitiful.

Qi Fei knew that every tear this woman shed was fake, and every plea was a calculated act.

Her predecessor died at her hands, in a mysterious and inexplicable way, before she even had a chance to struggle.

He suddenly smiled, a smile that made Ying Wanning's heart skip a beat.

"I called you 'Mom' just now," Qi Fei said slowly, "you should call me 'Dad' first, so that we can each benefit from it and it's fair."

Ying Wanning was stunned for a moment, a hint of surprise flashing across her face. She clearly hadn't expected Qi Fei to say such a thing at such a critical moment.

"Jun'er," she asked tentatively, her voice tinged with a hint of cautious flattery, "you like this kind of thing?"

"Stop talking nonsense," Qi Fei said. "Are you going to call me or not? I'll call you Mom, you call me Dad, let's each stick to our own roles."

Ying Wanning bit her lip and lowered her eyes, looking like a wronged and submissive young wife.

She timidly raised her head and, in a soft, sweet voice, uttered a single word:

"dad."

Qi Fei nodded in satisfaction, then turned his gaze to Zhu Yixin, who was lying on the ground in the distance: "What did you do to him?"

"He went mad," Ying Wanning said hastily, her tone carrying a hint of flattery, "but I saved him."

"The person was saved, but they're gone now, aren't they?" Qi Fei sneered.

He had seen Zhu Yixin when she was normal. The Zhu Yixin who rushed at him just now had red eyes and didn't say a word. Was that what it meant to be "cured"?

Ying Wanning did not answer.

She lowered her head, her shoulders trembling slightly, as if she were crying, or as if she were holding back something.

The blood flowing from the wound on her shoulder dripped onto the ground and was quietly gathering.

The blood did not seep into the soil, nor did it congeal. Instead, it flowed silently in one place, like a living thing, forming a small, dark red pool.

The pool was shallow and quiet, as quiet as a closed eye.

Suddenly, that eye opened.

"Bang!"

The blood pool suddenly exploded, turning into a vast expanse of blood mist that instantly obscured Qi Fei's vision.

A strong stench of blood assaulted the senses, like an invisible hand covering the mouth and nose. Within the blood mist, Ying Wanning flicked her wrist!

"Heart-piercing thorn".

That was her trump card, a deadly weapon she had painstakingly crafted during her infiltration of Tianlan City.

The blood needles are as fine as cow hair and as light as a feather. Once they enter the body, they travel along the blood vessels, reaching the heart and causing death.

Those struck by it often feel a chill in their chest, and before they can even scream, they have already died.

At the same time, Ying Wanning burned her essence blood, transforming into a streak of blood light and flying away into the distance.

The blood-red light was as fast as a shooting star, and in the blink of an eye it had traveled dozens of feet away.