I was a mineral prospector in Chengdu, who transmigrated into the body of a mortal sword immortal.

Li Bai leaned against the cold, damp earthen wall, slowly sliding down to the ground. Deep in the alley, piles of rotting vegetable leaves and broken earthenware jars exuded a nauseating, sour stench. He laboriously raised his left hand, pulling out the cracked jade talisman of the Xiling Divine Kingdom from his robes. The talisman was cold to the touch, unresponsive, like an ordinary stone. From the distant alley entrance came the sounds of hurried footsteps and the clanging of metal armor plates. A rough voice roared, "This way! The blood is going this way!" Li Bai's pupils contracted, and he gripped the jade talisman tightly, his other hand grasping the hilt of the Azure Lotus Sword. A barely perceptible tremor emanated from the blade, as if sensing its master's resolute will to die. He took a deep breath, the air, thick with the stench of decay and blood, filling his lungs with a burning pain. He couldn't sit and wait to die. Gritting his teeth, he used the sword to support himself, and slowly, bit by bit, stood up again. My gaze swept over the towering, mottled walls on both sides of the alley, finally settling on a dark hole in the wall ahead, half-hidden by a broken wooden plank.

The hole in the wall wasn't large, just big enough for one person to squeeze through. Its edges were jagged, as if it had been forcefully smashed open by something. The inside of the hole was pitch black, and one could vaguely smell the odor of old dust and rat droppings.

The footsteps grew closer, and the "crunch" of boots on the gravel could be heard.

Without further hesitation, Li Bai bent down and crawled inside.

Behind the hole in the wall was an abandoned courtyard, overgrown with weeds as tall as a person. The roofs of several dilapidated side rooms had mostly collapsed, revealing rotten rafters. The courtyard wall was high, its top covered with withered yellow moss. This place had clearly been abandoned for a long time; even stray dogs avoided it.

He staggered through the weeds to the foot of the courtyard wall, looking up to estimate its height—at least two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters). Normally, he could easily leap over it with a simple breath, but now…

Another sharp pain shot through his right shoulder wound; blood had soaked through the entire sleeve of his right arm, sticking stickily to his skin. His left side grew increasingly cold, the chill spreading from his shoulder towards his heart, each heartbeat becoming heavy and labored. The internal injuries to his chest and abdomen were even worse; he could feel his internal organs bleeding, each breath carrying the metallic, metallic taste of blood.

He must leave here as soon as possible.

Li Bai gritted his teeth, sheathed the Azure Lotus Sword at his waist, took a deep breath, and mobilized the last remaining trace of true energy in his dantian. The true energy struggled to circulate along his damaged meridians, bringing excruciating pain. He slammed his right foot against the ground, propelling his body upwards—

It only leaped about ten feet before its strength gave out.

His left hand, with fingers like hooks, dug fiercely into the cracks in the brick wall. The soil in the cracks was damp and soft, and his fingernails instantly cracked, blood seeping out. He groaned, and using the force of the digging, he pulled his body up another half a meter, barely reaching the top of the wall with his right hand.

The moss on the wall was incredibly slippery.

With a slip of his right hand, he plummeted downwards!

In the nick of time, he exerted force with his left hand again, his five fingers digging deep into the brickwork, the bones cracking under the strain. His body dangled in mid-air, swaying violently. He gasped for breath, cold sweat mingling with blood dripping from his forehead into the weeds below.

In the distance, shouts from the Imperial Guards echoed from the alleyway entrance: "There's blood here! Search the alley!"

Can't wait any longer.

A ruthless glint flashed in Li Bai's eyes. His right hand reached for the top of the wall again, this time not trying to grab the moss, but instead digging his five fingers into the rammed earth of the wall! Soil flew everywhere, and a piercing pain shot through his fingertips, but he finally steadied himself. He used his waist to push off the wall with his legs, wriggling upwards like a gecko, finally scaling the top of the wall.

Outside the wall was a narrower alley, flanked by towering residential back walls. At the end of the alley, the lights and sounds of the market could be faintly seen.

He rolled down, stumbled when his feet touched the ground, and nearly fell. He grabbed the wall for support, caught his breath for a moment, and then ran toward the light at the end of the alley.

The speed was slow, even clumsy.

But he must push his speed to the limit.

The chilling palm strike on his shoulder was like a bone-deep infection, relentlessly eroding his meridians. He could feel the cold power spreading along his arm towards his chest; wherever it passed, his meridians, like frozen vines, gradually lost their vitality. He had to divert some of his attention to circulate the "Azure Lotus Purifying Fire" technique recorded in the Azure Lotus Sword Manual, attempting to dispel the chill.

Within his dantian, the once radiant azure lotus phantom, now dull and lifeless, even showing charred marks on the edges of its petals, was depleted. His true essence was exhausted, like a dried-up riverbed with only a few scattered puddles. He forcefully activated his inner cultivation technique, and those few puddles of true essence struggled to flow, transforming into a faint warm current that surged upwards against the chilling palm force.

The clash between ice and fire unfolds within the meridians.

excruciating pain.

It felt like a thousand ice needles piercing his veins simultaneously, or like a red-hot iron rolling through his meridians. Li Bai groaned, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth again. He gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead, and continued to urge the faint warm current.

can't stop.

Stopping means death.

The sound of something cutting through the air followed closely behind.

There were at least two auras.

One of them, sharp, domineering, and reeking of blood, was the knife-wielding expert. The other, elusive and ghostly, was clearly a skilled eunuch adept at movement and tracking.

Li Bai rushed out of the alley and suddenly found himself in a bright and open space.

This is a main street running east-west through the neighborhood. It's late morning, and the street is gradually filling with pedestrians. Vendors carrying loads on shoulder poles call out their wares along the street, and the aroma of steamed buns mixed with the smell of animal manure wafts through the air. Horse-drawn carts, oxcarts, and pedestrians mingle together, forming a noisy flow of people.

He rushed into the crowd without hesitation.

"Get out of the way! Get out of the way!"

He growled and shoved aside the people blocking his way with his shoulder. An old farmer carrying a basket of vegetables stumbled, his basket overturned, and radishes and cabbages rolled all over the ground. The old farmer cursed loudly, but Li Bai had already turned and disappeared into the denser crowd without looking back.

He ran towards the West Market following the route he had planned in his mind.

The West Market was the most bustling trading district in Chang'an, teeming with foreign merchants, lined with shops, and teeming with people. Its intricate alleyways and densely packed buildings made it an ideal hiding place.

He crossed a narrow alley, climbed over a low wall, and landed on another street. This street was lined with silk shops, their colorful fabrics hanging outside, swaying gently in the morning breeze. He hurried along the wall, his eyes scanning his surroundings warily.

The sound of something cutting through the air behind us seemed to have receded into the distance.

But they quickly caught up again.

Those two auras clung to him like maggots, refusing to let go.

Li Bai felt a chill run down his spine. These court experts were clearly very familiar with the terrain of Chang'an, and they seemed to have some kind of special way of communicating with each other, allowing them to adjust the encirclement at any time. What was even more troublesome was that they might possess some kind of tracking technique—perhaps by bloodstains, perhaps by the spiritual energy fluctuations on his body, or perhaps by some other means.

He needs to be more careful.

He rushed into the backyard of a silk shop, slipped out through the back door, and entered another alley. This alley was narrower, with the eaves of the houses on both sides almost touching, and it was dimly lit. He ran along the alley, stepping into a puddle of sewage, splashing mud all over his trousers.

There is a fork in the road ahead.

Without hesitation, he chose the more secluded path on the left.

However, just as he rushed into the alley less than ten feet away, two Jinwu Guard soldiers suddenly appeared at the entrance of the alley ahead!

The soldier clearly saw him too, paused for a moment, then drew his sword and shouted, "Halt!"

Li Bai's pupils contracted, but instead of stopping, he accelerated forward. When he was still three zhang away from the soldier, he flicked his left hand, and two copper coins shot out!

"Pfft! Pfft!"

The copper coin struck the two soldiers precisely on their chests, specifically the acupoint between their chest and sternum. The soldiers groaned and collapsed to the ground.

Li Bai walked past them without turning his head.

But this delay allowed the pursuers behind them to get even closer.

He could clearly hear the knife-wielding expert's cold laugh: "You're quick on your way!"

Li Bai gritted his teeth and continued running.

Following the route he remembered, he weaved through the alleyways and markets of western Chang'an. Several times he deliberately stumbled into bustling markets—for example, passing a square where a variety show was being performed, surrounded by crowds three or four deep, their cheers deafening. He blended into the crowd, using the flow of people as cover, trying to shake off his pursuers.

However, every time he thought he had gotten rid of them, those two auras would reappear.

Like a ghost.

Like a nightmare.

To make matters worse, he sensed that powerful auras had been disturbed in many parts of the city.

The auras emanated from different directions—some from the east of the city, some from the south, and some even near the imperial palace. They had been lying dormant, but now, like startled beasts, they slowly awakened, radiating a chilling pressure. The owners of these auras were clearly highly skilled cultivators, at least at the Foundation Establishment stage, and some might even be at the Golden Core stage.

They were alerted.

They were alarmed by the strange phenomena at Xuandu Temple.

They were also alarmed by Li Bai, this "assassin".

These auras are converging in this direction, like a large net slowly tightening.

What made Li Bai most uneasy was the direction of the imperial palace.

There, an immense, indescribable pressure was faintly rising.

The oppressive aura was like a sleeping dragon opening its eyes; a mere glance from it sent shivers down his spine. It wasn't the aura of a single person, but rather something far more ancient and vast, connected to the entire city of Chang'an, and even to the very fate of the Tang Dynasty.

Royal patronage?

Or... something else?

Li Bai dared not think about it in detail.

All he knew was that he had to escape Chang'an as soon as possible.

Otherwise, once surrounded, they would surely die.

His injuries and the depletion of his spiritual energy gradually slowed him down.

The wound on my right shoulder had gone numb, but the dizziness from excessive blood loss was growing stronger. Double vision began to appear, and the ringing in my ears grew louder. The chill from the left side of my body had spread to my chest, and each heartbeat felt difficult, as if my heart were encased in ice.

The true energy within his dantian was completely depleted.

The illusory image of the blue lotus was almost gone.

He was panting as he rushed into an alleyway.

The alley was wide, with tall courtyard walls on both sides, topped with broken pieces of porcelain to prevent climbing. At the end of the alley was a high wall.

dead end.

Li Bai's heart sank.

He was so focused on escaping that he didn't even notice it was a dead end.

He rushed to the base of the wall and looked up—the wall was at least three zhang high, its surface smooth, offering no foothold. In his current state, there was no way he could climb over it.

He turned around, intending to go back the way he came.

But it was too late.

At both ends of the alley, figures appeared simultaneously.

From the east end, the expert swordsman slowly approached. His horizontal sword was already drawn, its blade gleaming coldly in the morning light. A sinister smile played on his lips, his eyes filled with a cat-and-mouse schadenfreude.

At the western end, another figure appeared like a ghost. It was a thin eunuch, dressed in a dark purple eunuch's robe, his face expressionless, only his eyes cold as a snake. His hands were tucked into his sleeves, but Li Bai could sense that a deadly intent lurked within them.

The two people, one in front and one behind, blocked both ends of the alley.

The knife-wielding expert sneered, "Demon, surrender now!"

His voice echoed through the alleyway, carrying a metallic clang.

Li Bai leaned against the cold wall, breathing slowly.

There are formidable enemies ahead and no way to retreat behind.

In the air, he could sense at least three powerful auras rapidly approaching, which would arrive in ten breaths at most.

A desperate situation.

A true dead end.

He looked down at the Azure Lotus Sword in his hand.

The sword was dull, and cracks were spreading.

He glanced again at the Xiling Jade Talisman he was clutching tightly in his left hand.

The jade talisman was cold and unresponsive.

Finally, he raised his head and looked at the eastern sky.

There, the bronze pillar of light in the direction of Xuandu Temple still stands, appearing particularly eerie in the morning light.

He suddenly laughed.

His smile held a hint of melancholy, yet also a sense of relief.

"Surrender?" He repeated those four words softly, his voice hoarse. "In my life, Li Bai, I came from the Shu Mountains and went to Chang'an. I have seen the prosperity of the times and the wickedness of people's hearts. I have written poems, drunk wine, loved people, and killed people."

He paused, then took a deep breath.

The sharp pain in his chest made his vision go black, but he steadied himself.

"But I have never," he said, emphasizing each word, "never bowed my head to anyone."

A flash of anger crossed the knife-wielding expert's eyes: "You're asking for death!"

Without another word, he sprang up, his sword transforming into a streak of light as he slashed down at Li Bai!

Before the blade even arrived, its sharp aura had already torn through the air, emitting a piercing shriek.

At the same time, the skilled eunuch at the western end also made a move.

He emerged from his sleeves with his hands, his ten fingers like hooks, the tips gleaming with a ghostly blue light, like the fangs of a venomous snake, aimed straight for Li Bai's vital back.

A pincer attack from both sides.

A decisive situation.

Li Bai closed his eyes.

It's not about giving up.

Instead, it's about mobilizing everything at the very end.

Within his dantian, the illusory image of the blue lotus, which was about to dissipate, suddenly trembled violently.

The charred marks on the edges of the petals spread rapidly, and the entire lotus flower began to burn.

It's not real fire.

It is life.

It is the soul.

It is an obsession and resentment that spans two lifetimes and thousands of years.

He suddenly opened his eyes.

In his eyes, there was a blue flame burning.

"Blue Lotus—"

He growled.

The sound wasn't loud, yet it seemed to transcend time and space.

"—Annihilation!"