Chapter 131: An Easy Victory

The power of the space blades unleashed by the Kunlun artifact spirit, aided by the primordial treasure Kunlun Mirror, was truly magnificent. Yet, it still fell short of Qingxu’s Yin-Yang Taiji Diagram. After all, a supreme primordial treasure that had completely refined all its primordial restrictions was nothing short of miraculous; a single strike capable of devastating a thousand miles was a trivial feat.

The two space blades were swept into the Taiji Diagram, where no amount of struggling could save them; they were destined to dissolve within the forces of Yin and Yang.

Suddenly losing control of the blades, the little girl’s cute face turned pale. Her eyes betrayed unconcealed shock and disbelief. Though she had appeared to unleash the power of two Daluo Golden Immortal-level space blades with ease, she had in fact exhausted over eighty percent of her magical power. This defeat not only rendered her previous expenditure meaningless, but the backlash also inflicted internal injuries upon her. Had she not retained a sliver of power, her situation would have been even more dire.

"Little sister, I advise you to surrender. I have always been a man of compassion. Although you acted ruthlessly, I shall not hold it against you. As long as you set aside your stubbornness, repent, and follow me for a time to listen to the true words of the Great Dao, your heart will be cleansed and your malice purged. I shall then grant you your freedom," Qingxu said with a benevolent smile, his tone kindly and persuasive. Internally, however, he was calculating how to extract the location of the Kunlun Mirror. As for the little girl? Once he possessed the mirror, whether to execute her or help her seize a new vessel for her soul would be entirely his choice.

Hearing Qingxu’s advice, the little girl’s face flushed—out of anger. In her heart, she was convinced that Qingxu was the murderer who had killed Qiongqi. (She shared a mysterious contract with Qiongqi, and since the second-generation demon Luo Fan’s cultivation was too high, the connection had been shielded, leaving Qingxu to take the blame.) Naturally, she was unwilling to stop and, ignoring his counsel, continued her relentless attacks.

The space blades were too taxing, and the little girl no longer had the magical power to use them. Under normal circumstances, three blades would have drained her completely. Having already used two, her remaining power was needed to maintain the Kunlun Void Spacetime Barrier that trapped Qingxu and to sustain her own existence. Being an artifact spirit, she required constant magical energy while detached from the Kunlun Mirror, lest her spirit body dissipate and her consciousness be extinguished. In such a state, how could she dare to use the final blade?

*Whoosh! Rumble!*

The little girl’s figure twisted and vanished into the void. Simultaneously, the boundless East China Sea began to roar violently. Dozens of massive water spouts rose to the sky within a radius of thousands of miles, accompanied by howling hurricanes and biting cold. The immense force of tearing, crushing, and freezing would have easily slain an Earth Immortal.

"She can only rely on borrowing the power of the environment; she has no true foundation of her own. It seems I overestimated this Kunlun artifact spirit." Watching the dozens of sky-reaching water spouts converging upon him, Qingxu felt a flicker of disappointment. Compared to the previous space blades, this attack was hardly worth mentioning, especially given the glaring flaws within it.

To Qingxu, such an attack was nothing more than an insult.

Lazily extending the index finger of his left hand, he tapped the air repeatedly. With each tap, a point of magical light entered the water spouts, causing them to collapse and dissipate instantly. For every spout, there was a point of light—not a single ounce of power was wasted. Here, the sharpness of a saint’s disciple was evident. The little girl had cultivated entirely on her own, taking many wrong turns and making errors; had she not been an artifact spirit, her inner demons would have long since consumed her. The flaws in her "Wind and Frost Cold Vortex" technique were too great, and Qingxu, spotting them, used minimal effort to dismantle her second wave of offense.

These two waves of attacks had exhausted nearly all of the little girl’s magical power. She now had virtually no ability to defend herself, and the Kunlun Void Spacetime Barrier trapping Qingxu began to flicker, unstable due to her lack of energy.

Opening his Dharma Eye in the center of his brow, Qingxu instantly discerned the weakest point of the Kunlun Void Spacetime Barrier. A cold sneer played on his lips. His right little finger, hidden behind his back, twitched, and a flash of brilliant golden light vanished in an instant—so fast it might have been mistaken for a hallucination.

*Swoosh!*

With a flicker of his body and a sharp tear through the air, Qingxu lunged toward the weakest point of the barrier. His left palm gathered a ten-inch-diameter black-and-white Taiji diagram, within which streaks of azure lightning crackled, emitting a harsh, piercing sound.

The fusion of the Taiji Diagram and the Yuqing Divine Lightning Technique radiated an alarmingly destructive aura. The little girl, hiding in a parallel space, saw her complexion shift drastically. No longer able to remain calm, she flashed out, desperately shrinking and condensing the Kunlun Void Spacetime Barrier, hoping to withstand Qingxu’s thunderous strike.

*Bang!*

The Yin-Yang Taiji Lightning Palm, carrying the overwhelming power to crush mountains, struck the exact weak point of the barrier. Even with the little girl’s quick reaction to condense her defenses, it was too late. There was no suspense; the barrier was annihilated. Before Qingxu’s thunderous blow, the Kunlun Void Spacetime Barrier was like paper, shattering at the slightest touch.

*Puff!*

A ripple appeared in the nearby void, and a wisp of blood suddenly emerged. Qingxu was not surprised, as if he had anticipated it. His free right hand had been prepared all along. Almost the moment the first glint of red reached his eyes, he pinched a strange seal. Driven by his magical power, a stream of brilliant golden light darted like a serpent, crossing from one parallel space into another.

"Ah!" A delicate, clear cry of surprise rang out. The ripples in the nearby void, which had not yet settled, widened. A crack manifested in the center—dark, deep, and unfathomable. It was a small spatial barrier fissure, a passage connecting the Primordial World to the parallel dimensions. (The barriers of the Primordial World are divided into three tiers: the superior, the Grand Spacetime Barrier, which blocks the Primordial World from the myriad worlds of Chaos; the middle, the Minor Spacetime Barrier, which restricts movement between regions of the Primordial World; and the inferior, the Small Spatial Barrier, which contains no temporal forces and allows free travel between the infinite parallel spaces of the Primordial World, though limited to formless spirit bodies—even the primordial spirit or relics cannot pass through without suffering severe loss of essence.)

From the fissure of the small spatial barrier, a ball of golden light shot out. As it passed through the passage, the crack immediately closed, and the ripples in the void gradually stabilized.

Qingxu’s Dharma Eye focused on the golden light. He saw clearly that it was indeed the little girl, the Kunlun artifact spirit. At this moment, she was wrapped in layers of brilliant golden rope like a rice dumpling, leaving only her head and feet exposed. It was the acquired spiritual treasure, the Dragon-Binding Rope.

Qingxu had prepared the rope in advance, then used the full force of his strike on the barrier to catch the little girl off guard, finally using a faint, lingering connection to capture her with the rope. In truth, he had not been entirely certain of success, but fortunately, he had succeeded.

Bound by the Dragon-Binding Rope, the little girl struggled desperately, attempting to sense the Kunlun Mirror to break free with the power of the primordial treasure. Alas, it was in vain. This ancient spiritual treasure, comparable to the Immortal-Binding Rope, was truly extraordinary. Even though the little girl was a formless spirit body adept at transformation and evasion, she was now completely at the mercy of her captor. Her magic was sealed, her body was numb and powerless, and her mind was dazed.

"Too little of a challenge."

Qingxu walked toward the little girl with a leisurely smile, his heart racing with excitement. In his eyes, this little girl was as good as the primordial treasure, the Kunlun Mirror itself. Even a Hunyuan Saint could not resist the allure of a primordial treasure, let alone Qingxu.

To a Supreme Sect Leader who had attained the status of a Hunyuan Daluo Golden Immortal, ordinary spiritual treasures were of little consequence. But a primordial treasure was worth fighting for with one's life, for the primordial treasure contained forty-nine layers of primordial restrictions, perfectly aligned with the Great Dao of Heaven, capable of enhancing a Saint’s power.

Hunyuan Saints merge their consciousness with the Heavenly Dao, possessing infinite power, immortality, and indestructibility. They view eons as a fleeting moment, treat the Primordial World as a chessboard, and the living beings as pawns, finding joy in their transcendence, freedom, and lack of restraint. This realm is the absolute peak of the Immortal Dao. While divided into early, middle, late, and peak stages, there is little difference between them; all are invincible.

It could be said that even a peak Hunyuan Saint has no way to execute or suppress a Hunyuan Saint in the early stage. At most, they can gain the upper hand or cause the other to lose face. If the opponent ignores their reputation and persists in entanglement, they could fight for several eons without a clear victor. Unless the Heavenly Dao is restructured, a Saint does not perish.

After struggling for a while and seeing it was futile, the little girl was terrified. After all, she was just a child who had seen little of the world. Having lived a life of ease without ever suffering a setback, she suddenly found herself in such a plight and burst into loud, wailing sobs. Tears streamed down her face, and her pitiful appearance was enough to stir compassion in even the coldest heart. Unfortunately, Qingxu was no ordinary man. Having seen the fickleness of the world and the warmth and coldness of human nature in his past and present lives, he had forged a firm Daoist heart. His emotions were under perfect control, and he remained entirely unmoved.

"Waaaaah!"

The wails reached his ears in waves. Qingxu’s face twitched, and he shook his head with a wry smile, wondering if he could be considered a bully for tormenting a child.

"One more cry, and I shall cut out your tongue!" The calm, indifferent tone was as it always was, but to the little girl’s ears, it was a death curse. She immediately stopped crying, trembling as she stared at Qingxu in fear.

"I originally did not wish to quarrel with a child, but you are stubborn, unable to distinguish right from wrong, and act recklessly. This time you were fortunate it was I; had it been another, you would surely have met a cruel fate. I previously promised to enlighten you, and I am not one to go back on my word. Rest assured, once your malice and stubbornness are purged, I shall return your freedom," Qingxu declared with a solemn, righteous air. In truth, whether he would ever grant her freedom was entirely up to him, wasn't it?

"You... you won't lie?" hearing Qingxu’s words, the little girl asked with tear-filled eyes. At this moment, she had forgotten all about avenging Qiongqi. She was, after all, just a child—arrogant when in a position of strength, and pitiful when at a disadvantage.

"A practitioner of the Dao does not speak falsehoods. I am a cultivator of the world, with the Heavenly Dao as my witness three feet above. How could I speak nonsense?" he said sternly, though he thought to himself, "As long as a cultivator doesn't make a formal vow, the Heavenly Dao couldn't care less!" To be precise, cultivators below the Quasi-Saint level are not held to their words by the Heavenly Dao. However, once one attains the status of a Hunyuan Loose Immortal, a Quasi-Saint’s words carry the weight of reality, and the Heavenly Dao records every action; violating such a commitment results in punishment depending on the severity of the offense.