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

A white light shot into the sky.

That was not light, but a burning life, a silent will, the final roar of two souls in dire straits.

The moment the sword tip pointed to the sky, Li Bai felt the whole world fall silent. The stench of decay in the alley vanished, the footsteps of the pursuers in the distance disappeared, and even the excruciating pain in his body vanished. All he could hear was the clang of the sword.

The Azure Lotus Sword trembled violently in his hand, emitting a clear, high-pitched sound that seemed to pierce the heavens. The spiderweb-like cracks on the sword were now bursting with dazzling white light. Each crack was like a burning blood vessel, frantically drawing, pouring in, and igniting everything that remained in Li Bai's body—his remaining true essence, his shattered sword intent, and his burning life force.

The expert wielder's blade was already at head level.

The swift, unyielding blade aura, carrying the decisive power to cleave everything, was less than three feet from Li Bai's forehead. Even before the blade arrived, the sharp wind had already sliced ​​through his hair, leaving fine bloodstains on his skin. The savage smile on the swordsman's face froze for a moment. He saw the burning blue flames in Li Bai's eyes, saw the sword radiating destructive light, and an instinctive sense of danger made him want to sheathe his blade and retreat—but it was too late.

The eunuch's poisonous claws were less than a foot from his back.

Those ten fingers, gleaming with a ghostly blue light, were like the fangs of ten venomous snakes, carrying a chilling, bone-chilling force, aimed straight for Li Bai's vital point in the back. The fingertips sliced ​​through the air with a soft "hissing" sound—the sound of highly concentrated true energy, powerful enough to pierce iron armor. The eunuch expert's cold face remained expressionless, only his eyes fixed intently on Li Bai's back, calculating how many ribs this claw would shatter and how many internal organs it would tear apart.

Then, they saw the white light.

It bursts forth from the tip of the sword, upwards and outwards.

Where the white light passed, the air emitted a low buzzing sound, as if it were groaning in agony from the force of the light. The mottled earthen walls on both sides of the alley began to peel away, and fine dust fell down in a flurry. The damp bluestone slabs on the ground developed spiderweb-like cracks, and then with a "crack," they shattered into dust.

Li Bai neither looked at the knife above his head nor at the claws behind him.

His eyes were fixed on the three powerful auras that were rapidly falling from the sky.

The three auras, like three shooting stars, carrying immense pressure, were crashing down on this dead end from three different directions. One aura was as hot as fire, one as cold as ice, and the other... ethereal as smoke, yet it carried a familiar feeling that stirred deep within Li Bai's soul.

Is it the aura of Mount Shu?

No, not exactly the same.

But there was no time to think about it further.

"Blue Lotus—"

Li Bai squeezed out these two words from his throat.

His voice was hoarse, yet it possessed a strange penetrating power, as if it did not originate from his throat, but rather from the depths of his soul, from the burning and fading blue lotus in his dantian.

"—Annihilation!"

The moment he uttered the last two words, his hand gripping the sword loosened.

It's not about giving up, but... releasing.

The Azure Lotus Sword flew from his hand, but instead of falling, it hovered three feet in the air in front of his chest, its tip still pointing towards the sky. The white light emanating from the sword reached its peak at this moment, so dazzling that it was impossible to look directly at it. Within the white light, the faint image of a lotus flower appeared—not a complete, blooming Azure Lotus, but a withered lotus, its petals peeling away, yet its heart burning with the most intense flames.

A lotus in its twilight.

At the cost of annihilation, it blooms in its final, magnificent moment.

The swordsman's blade struck the white light.

There was no resounding clang of metal clashing, only a dull, muffled "thud," as if something were being crushed. The streak of sword light shattered inch by inch in the white light, like ice and snow meeting the blazing sun. The savage grin on the swordsman's face froze completely, replaced by incredulous horror. He felt an indescribable force surge back along the blade; it wasn't a simple impact of internal energy, but something more fundamental and domineering—the crushing force of will, the annihilation of all senses.

"puff!"

The swordsman coughed up blood, his body flying backward as if struck by a giant hammer. His sword snapped in two with a crack, the broken blade spinning through the air in a gruesome arc before embedding itself in the wall ten feet away with a resounding crash, up to the hilt. He himself slammed heavily against the wall at the east end of the alley, the earthen wall caved in with a loud boom, sending dust billowing up. He struggled to his feet, only to find his right arm, the one holding the sword, hanging limply at his sides, at least three bones broken. His internal organs churned violently, his internal energy in disarray, leaving him utterly powerless.

The eunuch's poisonous claws also touched the white light.

Those ten fingers, strong enough to pierce iron armor, stopped abruptly three inches from Li Bai's back. It wasn't that he didn't want to move forward, but that he couldn't. The white light seemed to form an invisible barrier, tough, viscous, yet carrying a soul-scorching heat. The eerie blue glint of poison at his fingertips quickly dimmed and dissipated under the white light, like water droplets falling onto a red-hot iron plate, hissing as they turned into wisps of smoke.

Even more terrifying, he felt the true energy he was channeling into his fingertips being frantically devoured, assimilated, and annihilated by the white light.

That's not resistance, that's annihilation.

It was as if he was attacking not a person, but a black hole that was heading towards its end and was dragging everything around it into that end as well.

For the first time, a look of horror appeared on the eunuch expert's usually cold face. He tried to pull back, but found his fingers firmly stuck to the edge of the white light by an invisible suction force. Without hesitation, he slashed his right wrist with his left hand, fingers pointing like a knife!

"Snap!"

The crisp sound of bones breaking.

He actually severed his right hand, using the force of the blow to propel himself backward three zhang. Blood gushed from his severed wrist, but he didn't even look at it. He tapped the wound several times with his left hand to seal the blood vessels, his pale face covered in cold sweat, and he looked at Li Bai as if he were looking at a monster.

And all of this happened in the blink of an eye.

The Azure Lotus Sword hovered in the air, and the white light on its blade began to contract and condense inward.

The phantom of that withered lotus flower grew clearer and clearer.

The petals peeled off one by one, and the moment each petal fell, it transformed into a sharp and incomparable cyan sword light, shooting out in all directions!

The first sword light slashed towards the expert wielding the knife.

The swordsman's pupils constricted sharply, and he barely managed to raise his intact left hand, setting up a shield of true energy in front of him.

"laugh!"

The cyan sword light sliced ​​through his true energy shield as easily as cutting tofu, leaving a deep, bone-revealing wound on his chest. Blood instantly stained his clothes. He groaned, coughing up blood again, his body slumped to the ground, unable to stand up again.

The second sword light slashed towards the eunuch expert.

The eunuch expert, writhing in excruciating pain from his severed wrist, still moved with ghostly agility, darting to the left. The sword flashed past his left shoulder, tearing away a piece of flesh, revealing bone beneath. He groaned, his face paling further, but dared not linger, retreating rapidly once more until he reached the western entrance of the alley, leaning against the wall, panting heavily, his eyes filled with terror.

The third, the fourth, the fifth...

More cyan sword light burst forth from the silent lotus, not shooting towards the enemy, but towards the sky, towards the three powerful auras that were rapidly falling!

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Three loud explosions rang out almost simultaneously in the air.

The azure sword light collided with the three auras, unleashing a dazzling burst of light and shockwaves. The shockwaves spread outwards like tangible ripples, shattering the clouds in the sky. Above the western district of Chang'an City, it was as if three fireworks had exploded simultaneously, brilliant, blinding, and carrying a destructive pressure.

The first scorching, fiery aura was struck head-on by a cyan sword light, pausing slightly in mid-air to reveal a blurry figure shrouded in flames. The figure let out a surprised "Eh," seemingly not expecting such power from this dying attack, then turned and retreated a hundred feet, hovering in the air, no longer approaching.

The second chilling aura was struck by the two intersecting beams of azure sword light. A muffled groan echoed in the air, and a figure shrouded in icy mist staggered backward. As the mist dissipated slightly, it revealed the face of a middle-aged scholar, pale as paper, with a speck of cinnabar between his brows. The scholar glanced down at the shallow sword mark on his chest, a hint of seriousness flashing in his eyes, and he no longer dared to advance rashly.

The third, ethereal aura, familiar to Li Bai, did not meet the incoming azure sword light head-on. Instead, it dispersed like flowing water, allowing the sword light to pass through before reforming behind it. A faint sigh echoed in the air: "Azure Lotus Sword Intent... the Path of Annihilation... a pity, too hasty."

The sound was very soft, yet it reached Li Bai's ears clearly.

Li Bai was startled.

That voice... he'd heard it before.

In Mount Shu, in the secret realm of the Western Mausoleum Divine Kingdom, in that bronze hall, the old man who taught him the fragments of the Azure Lotus Sword Manual, like a phantom, had such a voice!

But at this moment, he no longer had the strength to think.

The white light on the Azure Lotus Sword began to dim.

The illusory image of the lotus flower in its demise had all its petals peeled away, leaving only a bare, burning center. The flames in the center gradually weakened, and finally, with a "poof," they were completely extinguished.

The lotus flower's illusory image dissipated.

The Azure Lotus Sword clattered to the ground.

The sword was now riddled with cracks, so numerous and dense that it seemed as if a gentle touch would shatter it completely. The blade was dull and lifeless, resembling scrap metal.

Li Bai leaned on his sword, panting heavily.

Each breath carried a strong, metallic scent of blood. He could feel that his lungs might have ruptured; he could hear a hissing sound as he breathed. The wound on his right shoulder reopened, blood flowing down his arm and dripping onto the dusty bluestone pavement with a soft, rhythmic "drip, drip." The chill in his left side had spread to his heart; each heartbeat became slow and heavy, as if it might stop at any moment.

My vision blurred in waves.

My ears are ringing.

The world is spinning.

But he was still standing.

Leaning against the cold wall, supporting himself with the nearly shattered Azure Lotus Sword, he swayed but still stood.

The knife-wielding expert collapsed against the east wall, blood still gushing from the wound on his chest. He struggled several times but couldn't get up. He could only stare at Li Bai with resentment and disbelief in his eyes.

The skilled eunuch stood at the western entrance, his left hand clutching his severed wrist, his face ashen. He glanced at the broken hand on the ground, then at Li Bai, who was struggling to stay upright, his eyes filled with complex emotions—fear, apprehension, but above all, a cold, venomous killing intent. He knew that Li Bai was on his last legs; one more blow would be fatal.

但他不敢动.

Because those three powerful auras were still in the air.

Because outside the alley, more footsteps were approaching—the Imperial Guards and the Golden Guards, drawn by the earlier explosion and the blinding white light, and... other forces that might be lurking in the shadows.

Li Bai also heard those footsteps.

A cacophony of heavy, clanging sounds, accompanied by the clanging of metal plates, emanated from both ends of the alley, from the surrounding rooftops, and from all directions. At least a hundred people were surrounding this dead-end alley.

He raised his head and looked up at the sky.

The dawn had completely dispelled the darkness of night, and the eastern sky was beginning to lighten. The bronze pillar of light in the direction of Xuandu Temple still stood, appearing even clearer and more eerie in the morning light. At the top of that pillar, something seemed to be slowly rotating, like a huge, bronze-colored vortex.

The three auras in the air remained suspended.

The fiery figure, the scholar shrouded in cold mist, and that ethereal, smoke-like aura that felt familiar to him.

They are observing.

Waiting.

Waiting for what?

Should we wait for him to fall completely? Wait for reinforcements from the palace to arrive? Or... wait for some other variable to change?

Li Bai didn't know.

All he knew was that he had truly reached his limit.

His dantian was completely empty; the illusory image of the blue lotus had vanished without a trace, not even ashes remained. His meridians were broken inch by inch, and his true energy was completely gone. His life force was like a candle flickering in the wind, ready to be extinguished at any moment. He could even feel his consciousness gradually fading, the world before him beginning to blur, and the sounds in his ears becoming distant and elusive.

Am I going to die?

Am I just going to die here like this?

He died in an unnamed alley in Chang'an, attacked by a group of nameless people.

Not reconciled.

I'm really not willing to accept this.

He has not yet rescued Yang Yuhuan.

That damned fate hasn't changed yet.

Not yet... Go back to the modern era, find Yang Xiaohuan, and tell her that he's back and he will never let her suffer any more injustice.

The obsession from two lifetimes, like the last fuel, reignited a faint spark in the soul that was about to be extinguished.

I must not die.

At least... I can't die here.

He gritted his teeth and, with his last bit of strength, gripped the hilt of the Azure Lotus Sword.

The hilt was cold and rough to the touch.

But it was this cold touch that made his fading consciousness re-converge for a moment.

He slowly, very slowly, raised his head.

His gaze swept over the swordsman lying paralyzed on the ground, over the eunuch with a severed wrist, over the shadowy figures of the imperial guards approaching from both ends of the alley, and finally settled on the ethereal, smoky aura in the air.

He opened his mouth, as if to say something.

But all that could come out of his throat was a hissing sound.

However, at that very moment—

"Buzz!"

The jade talisman of the Western Mausoleum Divine Kingdom that he was holding tightly in his left hand suddenly trembled.

It was very slight.

So subtle as to be almost imperceptible.

But Li Bai sensed it.

Inside that cold jade talisman, something seemed to... awaken.

It was not a surge of energy, nor a burst of light, but a more fundamental consciousness, as if dormant for eternity, that stirred slightly.

Immediately afterwards, the spiderweb-like cracks on the surface of the jade talisman began to emit a faint, pale golden light.

The light was faint, like a firefly, almost invisible in the dawn.

But Li Bai saw it.

He looked down at his left hand.

The jade talisman lay in his palm, a faint golden light flowing through its cracks, like blood flowing in his veins. A warm, gentle, yet vast aura, like a starry sea, slowly seeped from the jade talisman, down his arm, and into his riddled body.

It's not about repairing injuries.

It is not about replenishing true energy.

Rather, it's a kind of... resonance.

It was as if the jade talisman sensed his indomitable spirit in dire straits, and sensed the obsession that spanned two lifetimes deep within his soul. Thus, it awoke slightly from its deepest slumber.

Just this little bit.

enough.

In Li Bai's eyes, the blue flame that was about to be completely extinguished lit up with a faint light once again.

He took a deep breath—though the action felt like knives twisting his lungs—and then, with all his might, pulled the Azure Lotus Sword from the ground.

The sword tip points towards the ground.

The sword was still dull and covered with cracks.

But the sword hilt was firmly in his hand, as steady as a rock.

He raised his head, looking at the ethereal, smoky aura in the air, and said in a hoarse voice, word by word:

"Shushan... Li Bai".

"Please...give me your guidance."

The sound wasn't loud, but it clearly traveled throughout the entire alley and reached the ears of the three figures in the air.

The knife-wielding expert and the eunuch expert both changed their expressions at the same time.

In the air, the fiery figure let out a soft laugh: "Interesting."

The scholar with the cold mist frowned slightly and remained silent.

The ethereal, smoke-like aura remained silent for a moment, then a soft sigh sounded again:

Why bother?

The moment the words fell—

"Whoosh!"

A whooshing sound came from the rooftop at the east end of the alley.

It was neither an arrow nor a hidden weapon.

It is one person.

A Taoist priest, dressed in a blue robe, carrying a long sword, with a slender face and looking to be about thirty years old, landed lightly in the middle of the alley, in front of Li Bai, like a falling leaf.

The Taoist landed silently, without even disturbing the dust on the bluestone slabs.

He had his back to Li Bai, facing the imperial guards approaching from the east end of the alley, and the knife-wielding expert lying paralyzed on the ground.

Then, he slowly raised his hand and unfastened the long sword from his back.

The scabbard is simple and unadorned.

But the moment he gripped the hilt of the sword, a sharp, pure sword intent, seemingly capable of cutting through everything, surged into the sky!

That was not Li Bai's Azure Lotus Sword Intent, nor was it the intent of annihilation, but rather a more ancient and purer kind of sword intent, seemingly from the beginning of time... a killing intent!

The Taoist priest did not draw his sword.

He simply gripped the hilt of his sword, his gaze calmly sweeping across both ends of the alley, over the three auras in the air, and finally settling on the eunuch expert with the severed wrist.

"This person," the Taoist priest spoke, his voice clear and cold, like a mountain stream, "is protected by Mount Shu."