The first form of the Grass Character Sword Intent: Spring Bud Emergence.
A cold glint flared from the tip of Jiang Qingyi's sword, like a tender spring bud piercing through frozen soil.
The long sword in the young woman's hand pulsed with boundless vitality and a sharp, piercing power.
"Break!"
With a soft cry, Jiang Qingyi focused her Sword Qi into a single point. She moved with incredible speed, phantom images of tender green grass even flickering around the tip of her sword.
Jiang Qingyi shattered the array the Blood Butterfly Pavilion disciple had laid before her.
A cold light flashed before his eyes.
By the time he could react, the world was spinning. He watched as his own head tumbled to the ground.
"Hah..."
Jiang Qingyi took a deep breath, wiping the sweat from her forehead.
This was the third Blood Butterfly Pavilion cultivator she had encountered in the past ten days.
Moreover, the time between each encounter was growing shorter.
'This means the Blood Butterfly Pavilion has a general idea of my location.'
'They're closing the net, tightening the search area.'
Jiang Qingyi sheathed her long sword and hurried into a cave.
...
Inside the cave, Xiao Mo slowly opened his eyes.
The first thing he saw was his disciple running toward him.
"Master, are you all right?"
Jiang Qingyi asked worriedly.
"I'm fine," Xiao Mo said, shaking his head. "I'm sorry. It seems this body of mine is becoming less and less of a help to you."
During the earlier attack from the Blood Butterfly Pavilion, Xiao Mo had been regulating his Spirit Veins at a critical juncture, leaving him unable to act. That was why Jiang Qingyi had to lure the man away and fight him one-on-one.
"Don't say that, Master," Jiang Qingyi said, shaking her head. "If you hadn't fended off that Nascent Soul Realm assassin three days ago, I would have already been killed."
Xiao Mo smiled. "Isn't it only natural for a master to protect his disciple?"
Jiang Qingyi's eyes curved into crescents. "Then isn't it also only right for a disciple to protect her master at a critical moment?"
"You..." Xiao Mo sighed softly. "As long as you don't find me to be a burden, that's all that matters."
Jiang Qingyi frowned and pouted. "If you say that again, Master, I'll really get angry!"
"All right, all right. I won't say it again." Xiao Mo got to his feet. "We should keep moving. More people from the Blood Butterfly Pavilion will be here soon."
"Yes, Master."
Jiang Qingyi helped her master to his feet, and they walked out of the cave.
Outside the cave was a wild Lu Shu Horse.
Jiang Qingyi had run into this horse ten days ago. After subduing it in a fight, she had tamed it to serve as her master's mount.
In truth, a Lu Shu Horse couldn't travel as fast as a flying Golden Core Realm cultivator.
Moreover, the horse's speed varied depending on the terrain.
But they had no other choice.
Her master's injuries were growing more severe, and he could no longer endure extended flight.
"Hyah!"
After helping her master onto the Lu Shu Horse, Jiang Qingyi vaulted on behind him.
Jiang Qingyi took the reins, her frail master held in her arms.
At first, she had been happy to share a horse with him, but also a little embarrassed, her mind always wandering.
But after a while, especially as the number of assassins grew and their situation became more perilous, Jiang Qingyi had no time for such feelings.
All she wanted was to help her master escape the hunt.
The World of Ten Thousand Laws was clearly no longer safe for them.
Therefore, Jiang Qingyi intended to bring her master and escape to the Wanyao Kingdom!
'Once we reach the Wanyao Kingdom, not even the Blood Butterfly Pavilion will be able to catch us.'
'Once I've reached a higher Realm, I'll return and slaughter everyone in the Blood Butterfly Pavilion, down to the last man!'
As for whether they could make it to the Wanyao Kingdom, Jiang Qingyi was quite confident.
But Xiao Mo didn't feel the same way.
'The Blood Butterfly Pavilion aren't fools. They'll know we're headed for the Wanyao Kingdom.'
'Furthermore, after the last few major battles, especially the life-or-death struggle against a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, my body has deteriorated significantly.'
'Every time I fight, every injury I sustain, is another hammer blow to my already shattered body.'
'Forget thirty years... at this rate, I won't even last a year.'
'How many more times can I even fight?' Xiao Mo thought. 'It looks like I'll have to move that plan up.'
「Two more months passed.」
Xiao Mo and Jiang Qingyi encountered an increasing number of assassins.
The Blood Butterfly Pavilion had completely tracked Xiao Mo and Jiang Qingyi's movements.
Not only was Xiao Mo's condition deteriorating, but Jiang Qingyi had also suffered considerable injuries.
The two of them were, at most, thirty days away from the border between the World of Ten Thousand Laws and the Wanyao Kingdom.
Jiang Qingyi's eyes were filled with hope.
But Xiao Mo knew his own body all too well.
'The only reason I'm still alive is because there's one last thing I haven't done. I'm just clinging to my last breath for that.'
'Now that we are nearing the Wanyao Kingdom, it is almost time for my life to come to an end.'
...
「At the foot of Black Wind Mountain.」
Jiang Qingyi was guiding her master at a gallop along a shortcut to the border of the Wanyao Kingdom.
Jiang Qingyi and Xiao Mo suddenly tensed, leaping from the horse in the same instant.
In the next instant, a long spear shot down like a meteor.
The Lu Shu Horse was violently pinned to the ground, its life extinguished.
A man in a tiger mask, a cultivator in the Nascent Soul Realm, stood atop the spear's shaft with his hands clasped behind his back. The gentle breeze rustled his robes, on which a single, blood-red butterfly was embroidered.
Immediately after, seven more cultivators from the Blood Butterfly Pavilion rushed out: three at the Dragon Gate Realm and four at the Golden Core Realm.
"Well, well, Eldest Young Master. It's been a long time."
A man in green robes stepped forward. He held a fan in his hand and carried himself with the refined air of a scholar.