Chương 104: 1.102 Closure~

The sky above the Pure Qi Sect had already been torn beyond recognition. Clouds split apart in crooked layers, lightning crawled through the gaps, and beast shadows roared across the air. Yun Feifei stood in the center of it, one hand holding her sword, the other pressed against her ribs. Blood slid between her fingers, and the deep wound across her shoulder still carried faint beast-shaped lightning that bit at her meridians with every breath.

Behind her, the moonlit lake had dimmed too, its surface cracked by claw marks and its reflected moons broken into fragments. She was still on her feet. Barely. She hunched from the sheer amount of damage, but she refused to fall now. Across from her, Lei Fu hovered above the ruined courtyard on the back of his black-feathered crane, hair disordered, breathing heavier than it had been before the fight, several thin sword wounds crossing his chest and arms. Even so, he held himself far steadier than she did.

It all came down to the experience and years of cultivation that Lei Fu held over Yun Feifei. Yun Feifei coughed, a mouthful of blood spilling from the corner of her lips.

"Feifei..." Lei Fu let out a weary sigh.

"Enough. This battle is over." She tightened her grip on her sword. The simple motion tore open the wounds on her arm, fresh blood running down the blade, yet her gaze remained as steady as ever.

"As long as I still draw breath..." she said quietly, "it isn't over." Lei Fu fell silent. For a fleeting moment, a trace of nostalgia surfaced in his eyes.

"So stubborn..." he murmured.

"From the day I accepted you as my disciple until today, you've never once known how to retreat." His fingers slowly tightened around his weapon, and the warmth in his expression faded, replaced by cold resolve.

"If that is your answer..." He raised his hand.

"... then this master shall personally bring your journey to an end." Qi surged around him, and the killing intent that had briefly subsided erupted once more, shaking the air itself. The beast wilderness behind him roared. Purple Mansion pressure crashed down hard enough to flatten the rain sideways and drive even distant disciples to their knees.

The black crane spread its wings, every feather glowing iron-black, while the serpent, wolf, tiger, and ape shadows folded back into him one after another, his aura climbing with each one. Yun Feifei raised her sword anyway. The lake behind her flickered weakly, trying to answer her will, but it was too cracked, too shallow, to give her much left to work with. It looked like the end as the attack came down.

She braced for it, and so did the last Foundation Establishment cultivators still standing nearby, throwing up whatever defenses they had left. If they were going to die tonight, they'd at least die on their feet. Then- KRRRRRMMM! The entire sect shook. Golden runes ignited across peaks, bridges, courtyards, valleys, beast pens, and medicine gardens. Blood-red fractures mended in an instant as ancient formation lines snapped back into place. HUMMMM! The sect-protecting formation awakened.

Rioting beasts froze mid-charge. Escaped prisoners staggered under the sudden pressure. The Great Spirit Willow shrieked as massive golden chains erupted from the earth, wrapping around its roots, trunk, and branches, shattering its purple-black seals one after another. At the heart of it all, the Heavenly Origin Tower erupted with a pillar of golden light that pierced straight through the clouds.

Lei Fu's attack crashed into the recovering formation instead of Yun Feifei, a wall of golden light rising to meet it and stopping the strike cold.

"Huh?" Someone nearby said it out loud before they could stop themselves.

"It's the sect's protective formation. It's recovered."

"We're saved!" With the array working again, the willow's branches locked mid-thrash, and every rioting criminal across the mountain froze in place along with it. Only Lei Fu himself could still move, though every motion cost him visible effort.

"How?" His voice trembled.

"This shouldn't be possible. As long as my brother presides over the ritual, this formation could never wake up. What happened?" Yun Feifei remained standing through sheer force of will.

"Is the answer not plain, Teacher?" she said coldly.

"Lei Shen has fallen. The prison has been sealed, preventing outer interference. So the reason for this cannot be clearer." A faint smile tugged at her bloodstained lips.

"He was defeated... by two mere Qi Condensation juniors." Let it not be said that Yun Feifei didn't hold a grudge. The moment Lei Fu launched his last attack, she knew he could no longer be a part of the sect. Lei Fu's eyes widened.

"Impossible," he muttered.

"Surrender. You have already lost the moment the formation came alive," Yun Feifei said coldly. With her words, the formation's binding grew even tighter, and Lei Fu's control over his own body slipped slowly but surely." No. It can't end like this. Not like this. I refuse to fall here." He gathered every scrap of will he had left and shattered a dark orb in his fist.

Black aura erupted out of it, and the space beside him twisted violently, dark runes forming beneath him into a passage that looked ready to swallow him whole. The golden chains still wrapped around him groaned, several snapping apart as the spatial pull dragged him free of the formation's grip.

"H-he's trying to escape." Yun Feifei lunged forward, but her injuries dragged her down before she'd taken two steps. If a cultivator of Lei Fu's caliber got away now, the trouble he'd cause the Pure Qi Sect later would be immeasurable. The surrounding Foundation Establishment elders tried to move as well, but no one had expected that even after everything, Lei Fu still had one more trump card in reserve, one built specifically around escape. For a moment, it genuinely looked like he'd made it out.

Then, in the instant all hope seemed lost, something changed yet again. A sharp slash echoed through the air, and space itself rippled. The folded void split apart like silk beneath a blade, and Lei Fu was violently thrown back out of the collapsing passage, crashing toward the ground. The one responsible stood where the tear had opened. He looked young and seemed to be in his mid-twenties. He was handsome with flowing black hair and had sword-shaped eyebrows.

He was dressed in robes as white as snow, a sword resting casually over one shoulder.

"You can't just leave after causing all this trouble, you know," he said, glancing down at the fallen Lei Fu.

"I-it's Sect Master Ge Xuan," someone called out.

"The Sect Master's here. That means it's over."

"Sect Master Ge Xuan!" Relief cracked Yun Feifei's voice so hard her knees nearly buckled beneath her.

"You've all done well holding up until now," Ge Xuan told the gathered elders and disciples.

"Let me take care of the rest." The tension that had gripped the battlefield finally began to loosen. When the sky itself started falling, it was always the tallest ones who held it up, and in the Pure Qi Sect, that had always been Ge Xuan. If he said he would handle something, then as far as they were concerned, it was already handled. After all, he was the man who had pulled the sect back from the brink of ruin. The Reviver. The Spell Cutter, who had cleaved through thousands of techniques.

The Pure Sword Fanatic-Ge Xuan.

"And as for you..." Ge Xuan's gaze shifted toward Lei Fu's shadow.

"How much longer were you planning to sit there and watch?" He flicked a finger. A thin streak of sword light struck the ground beside Lei Fu, where fragments of the shattered orb lay scattered. Dark mist poured upward, rapidly gathering into the shape of a cloaked man. The surrounding elders immediately tensed. None of them had realized that another presence had been hiding there throughout the battle. The cloaked figure glanced at the remnants of his concealment before turning toward Ge Xuan.

"Impressive. I was rather confident no one here had noticed me."

"Well, that much was obvious when you didn't run the moment I showed up." Ge Xuan looked him over.

"I'm guessing you're the bastard behind all this." Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. The figure chuckled.

"And what makes you think that?" Ge Xuan glanced at the ominous dark qi surrounding the figure.

"You're hiding inside the demonic orb while my sect is being attacked. Who the hell else would you be?" The figure's chuckle deepened.

"Fair enough."

"Still, I didn't expect some unknown Golden Core cultivator to be targeting my sect." Ge Xuan studied him for another moment before his eyes narrowed.

"No... you're not actually here. This is just a projection." The figure's amusement faded slightly.

"You could tell?"

"Your presence feels wrong." Ge Xuan shrugged.

"There's qi, but no actual body behind it." The cloaked figure was silent for a moment before chuckling.

"As expected of Sect Master Ge Xuan."

"Yeah, yeah." Ge Xuan rested his sword against his shoulder.

"Now, are you going to tell me who the hell you are, or are you just going to keep wasting my damn time?" The figure sighed.

"Such crude words. I had thought swordsmen were supposed to be elegant." Sword cultivators naturally carried an air of elegance, and Ge Xuan embodied it better than most. At least until he opened his mouth. Ge Xuan glanced around at the burning halls, collapsed courtyards, and wounded disciples scattered across the mountain.

"You wrecked my sect and nearly killed my people. You really expect me to be polite?" The figure laughed softly.

"Very well. You've won today, Ge Xuan. But this is far from over."

"Figured as much." Ge Xuan shifted the sword on his shoulder.

"There's just one problem."

"And what would that be?"

"You're assuming I'm letting you leave." The figure laughed outright.

"My real body isn't even near here. How exactly do you plan on touching something that isn't here?" He was still mid-laugh when Ge Xuan cut him in half.

"I really don't understand people like you," Ge Xuan said, watching both halves dissolve into drifting mist.

"You're clearly trying to stay hidden. So why won't you shut up?"

"Do you think I'm harmed just because you cut through my projection?" The figure's voice stayed even, unbothered, despite his projection being cut apart.

"Be careful. This is only the prelude. You can't touch me. It's impossible." Ge Xuan looked at him as though he'd just heard something genuinely confusing."'Impossible'? That's such a stupid thing to bind yourself by. Your mind should be as open as heaven itself." Ge Xuan then closed his eyes.

"If something is impossible, then all you have to do is make it possible." Ge Xuan took a sword stance for the first time, then suddenly slashed. [Supreme Sword of Tracking.] The upward slash tore the whole night open from horizon to horizon, and the sword light vanished into that wound, gone past the sect, past the mountains, past whatever distance the phantom had been counting on to keep it safe.

"My sword hits wherever I decide it's going to hit. That's all there ever was to it." Thousands of miles away, inside a cavern illuminated by the sickly green glow of demon-fire, a cloaked figure sat before a cracked stone altar. Dark runes covered its surface, but one after another, their light was fading. The thin thread of demonic qi that had once stretched across the distance had already snapped, leaving behind nothing but a faint wisp of black smoke curling into the air.

For a long moment, the cloaked figure said nothing. An attendant in black robes stood several steps behind him. Seeing the last of the runes disappear, he cautiously lowered his head.

"My lord... what happened?" Silence answered him. The attendant's gaze moved from the dead altar to his master's motionless hand, and realization slowly dawned on his face.

"Did Lei Fu fail?" Only then did the cloaked figure open his eyes behind the bronze mask.

"Failed." Irritation tightened his voice.

"Lei Fu talked a big game, yet he couldn't even put down Yun Feifei cleanly. Lei Shen was no better. In the end, he was defeated by two Qi Condensation disciples." The attendant's expression shifted despite himself.

"Two Qi Condensation disciples?"

"Ridiculous, isn't it?" A cold edge entered the cloaked figure's voice.

"Both brothers turned out to be useless in the end." The attendant wisely chose not to comment on that. Instead, after a moment of hesitation, he asked, "If even Lei Fu failed to escape, then... did Ge Xuan return earlier than anticipated?"

"He did." The cloaked figure tapped a finger against the altar.

"That man should have been delayed much longer. Even if he sensed that something was wrong, he shouldn't have returned so quickly." The attendant lowered his head.

"Then... it seems we weren't able to accomplish everything as planned."

"Not entirely, but the outcome is still acceptable." The irritation in his voice gradually faded, replaced by cold calculation.

"The Pure Qi Sect survived, but they did not emerge unscathed. Lei Fu is finished, costing them a Purple Mansion cultivator, and their guardian Spirit Willow has been severely compromised. On top of that, they'll have their hands full dealing with the prisoners and cleaning up the aftermath." His finger stopped against the altar.

"They survived, but they paid for it." The attendant nodded slowly.

"It's all because Ge Xuan appeared early."

"Hm." The cloaked figure's eyes narrowed behind his mask.

"Ge Xuan's cultivation should be somewhere around the middle stage of the Golden Core Realm. Stronger than I estimated, certainly, but not beyond consideration. Next time, the Pure Qi Sect will not be so fortun-" A line of pale sword light descended through the cavern ceiling. There had been no warning, no disturbance in the outer formations, not even the slightest flicker from the demon-fire. One moment, they were speaking inside a cavern buried beneath countless layers of stone and concealment arrays.

The next, the world above them split open. The cloaked figure moved on instinct. It was barely enough. Sword light tore through every defense. The cloaked figure twisted aside at the final instant, but the slash still passed through his left shoulder. His arm separated from his body. Blood sprayed across the cavern wall as the severed limb struck the ground. Behind him, the altar split cleanly down the middle, its dark runes bursting apart as the remaining force ripped through the chamber.

The attendant was hurled backward and slammed into the stone floor hard enough to cough up blood. He stared at the devastation in horror, but the sight of his master standing amid the wreckage silenced whatever words had been about to leave his mouth. The cloaked figure pressed his remaining hand against the bleeding stump of his shoulder. For several breaths, he simply stood there. Then, very slowly, he looked up at the enormous gash carved through the cavern ceiling.

"I left nothing behind." The attendant remained silent.

"No trace of my qi. No spatial pathway. I severed the connection to the projection the instant it was destroyed. There should have been nothing left for him to follow." His voice grew quieter with every word. His remaining hand slowly curled into a fist.

"So how did he find me?" The only answer was the steady dripping of blood and the faint crackle of dying demon-fire. His mind raced through every possibility. Demonic qi resonance? A karmic trace? Projection backlash? Spatial imprint? Soul marking? Some reaction from the formation itself? None of them made sense. No Golden Core cultivator should have been able to send an attack across thousands of miles without something to follow. Even the strongest techniques needed a connection, however faint.

Yet Ge Xuan had simply cut. The cloaked figure lowered his gaze to the arm lying several steps away. Even now, a thin layer of sword intent clung stubbornly to the wound, preventing the flesh from closing.

"... Troublesome man." The attendant swallowed.

"My lord..."

"Sword Heart. Sword Bones." A short, humorless laugh escaped from behind the bronze mask.

"It seems the stories weren't exaggerated after all." He raised his head again, staring through the enormous opening Ge Xuan's slash had left behind.

"Ge Xuan..." The cloaked figure's remaining hand tightened into a fist.

"Before I accomplish my goal, you may actually prove to be a worthy challenge."... Back on the mountain, the upward slash faded out, and Ge Xuan lowered his sword.

"What did you just do, Sect Master?" Yun Feifei asked. Her surface wounds were already showing signs of healing, but her Purple Mansion was still barely holding on.

"Nothing much. Just sent a greeting." Ge Xuan shook his head, then turned toward Lei Fu, whose wound was still bleeding freely.

"So. What to do about you? Lei Fu, you were my senior. I didn't expect you to betray the sect." Lei Fu glared at him, voice coming out in a stutter.

"Y-you..." Ge Xuan let the man speak. Lei Fu's lips trembled.

"You should have been past the Cloud Burial Sea, near the Western Ash Wastes. Even at Golden Core, the return trip alone should take days. The currents there devour flying artifacts. The ghost winds scramble direction. You shouldn't be here."

"Went there, yeah," Ge Xuan said. Lei Fu froze.

"Charming place. Weather's shit though."

"Then how-" Ge Xuan tapped two fingers against his own chest.

"Halfway there, my sword heart got a bad itch." He shrugged.

"So I turned around and came back. It was nothing more than that."

"Just an itch? hehehHAHAHAHa" Lei Fu laughed. It started as one broken sound, then grew louder. Ge Xuan stared back at him without expression.

"You were supposed to be far away," Lei Fu said, voice cracking.

"The tower should have opened. Lei Shen should have returned. The willow should have pinned the elders down. The riot should have scattered the disciples. The formation core should have kept running red. After everything I planned, everything I gave up, everything I endured-""Lei Fu."

"What?"

"Even if I hadn't returned..." Ge Xuan said, his gaze steady.

"You were already finished."

"Heaven is against me... Heaven is against me..." It was the only conclusion that made sense to Lei Fu.

"Heaven?" Ge Xuan's voice turned cold.

"Don't blame Heaven. You simply lost. Don't be a sore loser." Lei Fu's laughter turned hollow as qi suddenly began to riot around him. His laughter climbed higher, his eyes bleeding fully black as the shattered phantom wilderness behind him twisted back to life, broken beasts melting into dark liquid that poured toward his body, his pressure folding inward on itself. He was trying to detonate his entire cultivation and take everyone down with him.

"If I can't save him," he whispered, "if I can't free him, if I can't even avenge him, then all of you can rot right alongside me." Yun Feifei tried to move, but Ge Xuan stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

"You don't know when to quit," he said, and cut straight down. [Heart Demon Slashing Intent.] The strike made no sound and left no visible wound, but the black aura wrapped around Lei Fu froze mid-swell, then split apart, and his laughter cut off mid-breath as his hand clutched at his own chest. There was no wound in his chest, but something inside him seemed to be shattered. With a final cry, Lei Fu finally fainted from the backlash.

"Sect Master, you can cut inner demons?" Yun Feifei's eyes widened, witnessing something that was only written in legends.

"Not much I can't cut, honestly." Ge Xuan glanced at him.

"But if a man ties his own knot, cutting the rope only buys time. This is temporary. Inner demons are stubborn little bastards. Leave the root in, and it grows right back." Yun Feifei understood at once.

"Moonlit Water Prison." The cracked lake behind her rose one last time, water wrapping around Lei Fu layer after layer, sealing him properly this time. He struggled once instinctively, then went completely still. Yun Feifei nearly went down herself the moment the seal locked in place, but Ge Xuan caught her shoulder before she hit the ground.

"Good work." Then everything hit Yun Feifei at once. Her lips trembled.

"I couldn't stop him."

"You held him until I got back. Without you and the others..." His gaze swept across the bloodied elders and disciples.

"... there would be no Pure Qi Sect left for me to return to." He gave her shoulder a reassuring pat.

"Hold your head high. Today, you saved the sect." Yun Feifei bit her lip, tears welling in her eyes.

"... Thank you, Sect Master." Ge Xuan swept his gaze across the battlefield, his expression cooling fast as he took in how many disciples were down, how many elders were still bleeding, how many half-controlled beasts lay tangled in broken seals across the courtyards. The sect had been attacked the moment he wasn't here to stop it, and worse than that, one of its own core pillars had been the one to betray it. Ge Xuan narrowed his eyes, then lifted his sword toward the sky one more time.

This slash carried none of the sharpness the previous two had; instead, green light spilled out like soft rain across the sect. [All-Range Healing Slash.] The disciples hit by the slash quickly found that their wounds were rapidly healing. Disciples who'd been bleeding out gasped as color came back into their faces, and Foundation Establishment cultivators mid-meditation snapped their eyes open in shock as warmth spread through damaged bodies and steadied them.

Even the beasts whose control marks had shattered went quiet under the same gentle light, calm enough now that the Beast Hall disciples could safely move in and restrain them. Across the sect, the sound of suffering gradually thinned, and one by one, expressions eased. Ge Xuan lowered his sword and turned to Yun Feifei.

"Call everyone together. Purple Mansion grand elders, peak Foundation Establishment elders, Formation Hall, Discipline Hall, Beast Hall, Alchemy Hall." Yun Feifei steadied herself and nodded.

"Yes, Sect Master." Ge Xuan looked out over the ruined peaks.

"It's time this sect went through a cleansing."... A/N: And with that, the Tower Arc is finally over! Honestly, this arc ended up becoming way longer than I originally planned, but we made it. Next chapter, we're finally back to Ning's POV. Thanks for your support as always~