It didn’t take days or weeks. After a few hours of the Sect Hall’s profound ringing, silence finally emerged, as a head rolled down the steps. Whether it was because Zhu Xuelian overestimated Yi Zhengxi’s ability, or there was a flaw in his cultivation, or because he had simply lost his heart and hope, no one could tell.

  But he was dead.

  Though everyone could see Zhu Xuelian’s bloody hands, the proof of the unthinkable effort it took to cut his head off, no one could see the toll it took on Wu Yulan, who appeared to simply be meditating before her sword.

  In truth, Wu Yulan had it the toughest, for she had to keep Yi Zhengxi trapped in her Sword Domain and resist his awesome cultivation with only her sword intent. But what was one Yi Zhengxi compared to the unparalleled genius of Wu Yulan? Yi Zhengxi did not even enter the blade’s equivalent of Sword Merging, and Zhu Xuelian always felt that Wu Yulan was far ahead of her. If Wu Yulan had not already obtained Sword Integration, Zhu Xuelian would have felt bitter.

  Even if Wu Yulan was only one realm ahead of her, the fact her sword domain could suppress Yi Zhengxi, while Zhu Xuelian’s couldn’t, was proof enough that of the two, Wu Yulan possessed a deadlier sword.

  At this time, Lei Yangming and the others returned. Their cloaks were still pure white, but Zhu Xuelian could taste the fresh blood in their aura.

  They looked at the corpse at Zhu Xuelian’s feet, and their hearts trembled. Yi Zhengxi wasn’t a Nihility realm cultivator. Zhu Xuelian couldn’t tell, but they could. Yi Zhengxi was an early stage Dao Palace Formation cultivator — an existence equivalent to a Sect Master on the Sky Continent — and these two killed him.

  Seeing this scene, they were prepared for it, but it still surprised them. Everything they thought they knew simply did not apply to Zhu Xuelian and Wu Yulan.

  As Zhu Xuelian stepped off the dais, she turned her ring toward Yi Zhengxi and absorbed him and his belongings into it. At least, that is what it looked like. In truth, she absorbed it into Yaoyue — the entity that consumed corpses, vitality, and treasures for its own fuel.

  And no one objected to this strange collection of Yi Zhengxi’s corpse. Why would they? After they just witnessed the brutal execution, as far as they were concerned, Zhu Xuelian could do whatever the hell she wanted.

  “Did anyone escape?” Zhu Xuelian asked.

  Lei Yangming shook his head.

  Zhu Xuelian sheathed her sword. “Good.”

  Here, Zhu Xuelian helped Wu Yulan stand, and Lei Yangming also approached to help, and gave Wu Yulan a qi recovery pill, which the white-haired girl gladly accepted and consumed.

  “Your sword is even sharper than the day I met you, little girl,” Ancestor Yang spoke, too weak to stand, so he remained seated.

  Zhu Xuelian approached him and sat in front of him. “It is nice to meet you again, Ancestor Yang,” she said and cupped her fist.

  It was thanks to Ancestor Yang recognizing that she obtained a glimpse into the Sword Law that she was able to join the sect. She hadn’t seen him since that day until her duel with Yu Shun and never again — as was expected of an Ancestor who held his last breath for the day the sect needed him to expend it — but she remembered him fondly.

  “Good, good,” Ancestor Yang hummed, smiling. “Now this Ancestor feels at ease and can leave things in your hands.”

  With those words, his body pulsed with a golden light, and three multicolored rings appeared around his body. A beam of gold light shot into the sky, radiating a blinding glow, before disappearing.

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  Just like that, Ancestor Yang left to meet his brothers and sisters in the next life. No farewell. No parting words. Just a smile.

  Zhu Xuelian drew in a deep breath and then kowtowed to the Ancestor’s corpse.

  “Ancestor Yang!” some disciples shouted. Others pleaded. Most of them cried. All of them kowtowed.

  “Thank you, Ancestor Yang! Thank you! Thank you!”

  With tears in his eyes, Elder Hao looked at Zhu Xuelian. “Are you really… Zhu Xuelian?”

  To this, Zhu Xuelian stood up and removed the veil covering her face.

  “It really is you…” Elder Meng whispered.

  “Where is Elder Fei?” Zhu Xuelian asked.

  “Elder Fei… died,” Elder Hao replied. “The Sect Master… Ancestor Yang… everyone died…”

  “So it is just the two of you left?” Zhu Xuelian asked.

  Their lips trembled. They didn’t seem pleased with this result either. They wanted to die just as much, but they couldn’t. Their bodies were beaten and broken, even now hanging on by just a thread.

  “It is as you see…” Elder Hao whispered.

  “At least the two of you can still keep your promise to me,” Zhu Xuelian said. “We still have an account to settle.”

  Elder Hao closed his eyes and nodded. “It is as you say. This head belongs to you.”

  Elder Meng also closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.

  A familiar disciple kowtowed in front of Zhu Xuelian. “This Ning Meiying asks Dao friend to show mercy!”

  Zhu Xuelian looked at the girl, as more disciples came to kowtow next to her. This was the same girl who remembered Zhu Xuelian — the girl whose surname meant peace.

  “Please show mercy! Please spare the elders!”

  Zhu Xuelian frowned and also closed her eyes.

  “When the True Sun Kingdom attacked, the elders lowered the barriers and let countless people escape. They did not spare a breath to save us disciples and the common people of the city,” Ning Meiying said. “Elder Fei died. The Sect Master died. Ancestor Yang kowtowed to the villains — all to spare us!”

  “Please show mercy! Please spare the elders!” the disciples all shouted in unison.

  “They don’t have much longer to live! Please, Zhu Xuelian, if you still have any feelings toward this sect, even if they are bitter, let them live!” Ning Meiying pleaded and kowtowed again.

  “Please show mercy!”

  Tears glittered in the Elder’s eyes. The words of the disciples moved them; their feelings; their affections; they were all felt.

  “It is too late to regret it now,” Elder Hao said. “What we did in our final year cannot erase what we’ve done in the past. This is justice.”

  The doors swung open, and dozens of common people stumbled into the Sect Hall, some of them heavily wounded. They all fell on their knees and kowtowed to Zhu Xuelian.

  “Please spare the elders! Please show mercy! Honor the wishes of the fallen heroes!” they pleaded.

  Zhu Xuelian sighed. “How long do you have left to live?” Zhu Xuelian asked.

  “Ten years,” Elder Hao said.

  “Also ten years,” Elder Meng said.

  Zhu Xuelian nodded. “Since your life belongs to me, now these ten years also belong to me,” she said. “You will live for these ten years, in my name, and for my sake.”

  It wasn’t a death sentence, but it was arguably worse.

  Elder Hao lowered his head. “As you say.”

  Elder Meng also lowered his head. “What do you want from these two shriveled-up corpses?”

  To this, Zhu Xuelian tossed the jade slip she received from the Sect Master to Elder Hao.

  Elder Hao’s eyes shot wide open when he found out what it was and then coughed out a mouthful of blood. He passed the jade to Elder Meng, whose eyes immediately began to fill with tears.

  “Aren’t you tired yet of being bullied and beaten like an old dog?” Zhu Xuelian asked. “I only want one thing from you, and that is to help keep my promise to the old Sect Master and Elder Huang. You will rebuild the Galaxy Sword, to be the one and only, and the greatest power on this continent.”

  The disciples all looked up at Zhu Xuelian, with grateful tears in their eyes.

  “Ning,” Zhu Xuelian said and looked at the girl. “You will be the legacy disciple and the next Sect Master.”

  “W… why me?” she asked.

  “Your thoughts reflect the meaning of your name,” Zhu Xuelian said. “I can tell you are an upright and talented person who still worships her roots and ancestors. I don’t think anyone will complain if you lead the next era of the Galaxy Sword sect. This, also, was the wish of the old Sect Master.”

  Many of the disciples nodded at the words, and even the two elders agreed.

  “But… but I am not talented at all… I am not… all that you say I am…” Ning Meiying said.

  “Whether you have or don’t have talent or ability, you cannot afford to think about,” Zhu Xuelian said, her meaning clear: Ning Meiying would have to become strong, regardless of her talent or ability. “I will draw a formation. If you all want to take back this mountain, and your glory, come midnight, you will bid farewell to this continent, and go on a journey that will make you cry tears of blood. With this, my debt to this sect is settled, and your future is your own.”

  Tian Li smiled at Zhu Xuelian’s words and cupped his fist gratefully. Ren Weisheng and Sun Yongzheng quickly followed suit and did the same.

  Though these disciples did not really understand the meaning of Zhu Xuelian’s words — which sounded almost like a worse fate than staying here — when they saw Tian Li and the others express their gratitude, they also felt more at ease.