Chapter Seventy-Six: The "Prince" Riding a Golden Beetle

"No, I can't go on like this! Even if it costs me my life, I must carve a bloody path out!"

At this moment, Zizi bit down on her jade-like teeth, a rare look of resolve appearing on her exquisitely beautiful face.

Once more, she formed a sword seal, raised her longsword high, and chanted, "Divine thunder from the nine heavens, transform through the celestial void. By the sword, summon the majesty of heaven! Lightning Summoning Art!"

A bright white point of light appeared on the longsword, and as Zizi finished speaking, it shot up as a streak of white into the sky.

In an instant, wild winds arose, the sky filled with dark clouds, and nearly a hundred bolts of heavenly lightning rained down from above.

"Damn, that's real thunder from the heavens!"

"Don't be afraid, brothers! This girl's cultivation is too low—she can't unleash much power!"

"Alright, hold the line!"

...

Yet, as the white light blazed, all the spirit creatures let out anguished screams.

Though Zizi's cultivation was not high, the power of the heavenly lightning was formidable. After a cacophony of crackling explosions, the spirit creatures howled in pain, grievously wounded.

With a spurt of blood, Zizi, having spent all her energy on the spell, couldn't help but cough up blood. Her face turned pale as paper; clearly, she was gravely injured as well.

The bombardment had failed to achieve what Zizi had hoped. In her mind, at least half her enemies should have perished.

Unfortunately, these were all elite spirit beings from the spirit realm, each possessing great resilience. Fierce as the lightning was, it couldn't take their lives.

"Shit, that girl wounded us! How are we supposed to pass the trial now?"

"Curse her! Now we’ll have to wait even longer."

"She’s injured too—let’s tear her apart together!"

"Yes, tear her apart!"

...

Their hope of passing the trial destroyed, the spirit creatures became furious, their eyes burning with malice and rage.

As the tide of spirit insects and snakes surged toward her, Zizi struggled to her feet, gripping her longsword tightly.

In her captivating violet eyes, there was a fleeting mixture of longing, helplessness, and even despair—but at last, all these emotions hardened into steely resolve.

"Sisters, I may never see you again."

"Forgive my willfulness all these years. May we meet again in another life."

"You foul crawling beasts! If I must die, I’ll take you down with me!"

In battle, Zizi swung her longsword with wild abandon, hoping to take a few with her. But she had underestimated her own injuries and the cunning of her enemies.

After a round of attacks, she hadn’t managed to kill a single one.

Instead, her wounds worsened, blood gushing from her mouth as her strength began to fail.

At that moment, a single crystal-clear tear slid from the corner of Zizi's eye, like a gleaming meteor tracing a perfect arc before falling to the earth and soaking into the soil.

Unknowingly, that shining teardrop stirred something deep inside Qin Chuan’s heart.

With the multicolored poisonous miasma about to dissipate, Qin Chuan judged that time was almost up and made his way back to the Path of Life and Death.

From afar, he saw the flashing celestial lightning and was greatly intrigued, urging Sleepy Bug to pick up the pace.

Riding atop Sleepy Bug, Qin Chuan entered the scene just in time to witness Zizi staggering and shedding tears.

A peerlessly beautiful girl, facing helplessness and despair in the face of death—such a vision struck him to the soul.

At his core, Qin Chuan was still human, if only lacking a human body. He couldn’t bear to watch a delicate beauty perish before his eyes.

"Damn it, bullying a woman—what kind of scum are you?"

"Little brother, charge!"

"On it, big bro."

Without hesitation, Sleepy Bug activated its "electric motor," darting directly into the midst of the spirit creatures.

Qin Chuan, wielding his sword, struck left and right in rapid succession.

"Ding! Killed level 22 Jade Serpent, gained 50,000 experience points, bonus 100% experience for defeating a higher-level foe. Congratulations, host, you have received 100,000 experience points."

...

In the blink of an eye, a path clear of enemies appeared within the encirclement.

A collective gasp rippled through the spirit creatures at this sudden development.

As a young maiden with a romantic heart, Zizi had fantasized countless times.

If she ever faced mortal peril, a handsome hero riding a divine dragon would come to her rescue.

Yet reality presented a black sword "riding" a golden-white insect, saving her in the midst of dire encirclement—hardly even resembling a person.

The contrast was so jarring that Zizi could only stare in stunned disbelief.

"Where did this wretched black sword come from, daring to stop us from killing?"

"Don’t you know she’s from the upper realm? She’s our enemy!"

"Yeah, by saving her, you become an enemy of the entire spirit world!"

...

Having slain over a dozen spirit creatures at once, Qin Chuan left the survivors wary. Still, they were unwilling to give up their chance to kill Zizi and tried to sway him with sanctimonious words.

They hoped to bind Qin Chuan with the pretense of righteousness and turn him against Zizi.

But Qin Chuan cared nothing for such nonsense. Disgusted with their bullying, he retorted, "Bullshit! I can't stand watching you pick on a woman—so what! Come at me if you dare!"

Leaping down, he struck a pose that made it clear he was taking full responsibility, so much so that the spirit creatures ground their teeth in rage.

"Damn it, I don’t believe it—a lousy black sword, how much trouble could he cause?"

"Yeah, all together now—we’ll overwhelm him by sheer numbers!"

"Right, I can’t stand his arrogance!"

"Attack! Tear him apart and devour his spirit core!"

...

Hearing their furious shouts, Qin Chuan was secretly delighted: "Ha! Come on, all of you!"

The enraged spirit creatures unleashed their skills, hoping to slay Qin Chuan, but all their attacks missed, and soon the air was filled with their shrieks of pain.

Zizi watched the sword-light on the battlefield and realized that the black longsword was like a phantom, leaving devastation wherever it went.

"He... Is he the Black Demon Sword?"

At that moment, an unfamiliar emotion arose in Zizi’s heart.

With Qin Chuan’s ghostly speed, it took only minutes for the spirit creatures to be utterly wiped out.

"Devour the source!"

"Ding! Devouring successful. Gained 10,000 evolution points."

...

Only now did Zizi recover her senses, struggling to her feet to ask, "Are you the Black Demon Sword?"

Qin Chuan was momentarily taken aback—how did this girl know?

"That's right, I am the Black Demon Sword. What do you want?"

"I..."

Zizi found herself tongue-tied. She couldn't very well admit that she came here to claim him, could she?

After all, Qin Chuan had just saved her life. To repay kindness with betrayal was something she could never do.

Quick-witted, Zizi’s eyes darted as she said, "Well, I happened to be training in this area. I’d heard of your exploits on the Stag Plains."

Qin Chuan couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Damn, news travels fast."

Seeing Qin Chuan silent, Zizi smiled sweetly and said, "Black Demon Sword, thank you for saving my life. I, Zizi, always repay kindness. If you ever need help, I’ll be there for you."

At this, Sleepy Bug interjected with some dissatisfaction, "Zizi, right? My big brother’s name isn’t Black Demon Sword—he’s called Qin Chuan."

Qin Chuan?

Zizi was stunned; spirit weapons with personal names were exceedingly rare.

Usually, after spirit creatures are subdued, their masters give them names, most often based on their shape or material.

Zizi had once dreamed of naming the Black Demon Sword something grand—Obsidian Sword.

But now, that was clearly impossible. She had witnessed Qin Chuan’s ruthlessness and power firsthand and knew in her heart she was no match for him.

Moreover, since Qin Chuan had saved her life, in both reason and sentiment, she couldn’t do anything too extreme. She even let go of her ambition to claim Qin Chuan for herself.

If only Qin Chuan knew that there had once been a beautiful young woman desperate to possess him, only to give up in the end with resignation.

He would surely cry out, "Hell, I’m easy to get—just give it a try!"