Chapter 1456: Chapter 1456: Little Qiongqi’s Furious Assault

She remembered, back then, to save Ye Yanran, she had injected her own blood into the Heavenly Destiny Star Plate. When her drop of blood fused with Ye Yanran’s, it became a drop of golden blood.

The evil spells of these black-clothed men, although extremely convoluted and malicious, ultimately yielded the same result.

What exactly was the reason for this?

One after another, the black-clothed men slashed their wrists, blood gushing out like a fountain, pouring into the Blood Pool.

From their intense trembling, it was clear they were enduring immense pain, yet their chanting grew louder and more feverish, appearing both morbid and eerie.

Mu Hanyan suddenly found this scene somewhat familiar. Thinking back carefully, during the last extermination of the Guiyu Clan, she had seen a similar altar, though the altar of the Guiyu Clan was much smaller than this one. She didn’t witness their use of evil spells, but it seemed there shouldn’t be much difference.

But at that time, the Guiyu Clan was slain under his sword, and their corpses were taken away by Yun Qianmo. How could the Guiyu Clan’s evil spells appear here?

"You vile demons, how dare you harm the descendants of the Xia family? I’ll fight you to the death." From a distance, Xia Youchen’s heart-wrenching cry echoed.

Mu Hanyan and the others were all startled by the bizarre atmosphere around the altar and only then snapped back to their senses. Looking up, they saw Xia Youchen glaring with rage, his longsword wildly slashing and chopping. After not seeing him for a while, Xia Youchen’s strength had finally recovered to the Great Sword Master Realm, but now his body was covered in wounds, blood flowing profusely, clearly severely injured.

A dozen Sword Masters, also in black sword robes and black veils, surrounded them. The strength of these individuals was obviously inferior to Xia Youchen, the strongest being only of the Seventh Rank Sword Master. Under Xia Youchen’s ferocious tiger-like attack, they too were covered in sword wounds and battered skin, but surprisingly, only faint traces of blood appeared on their wounds with no blood spraying out, and their combat power remained unaffected.

Sword Spirit Puppets! Mu Hanyan’s heart trembled slightly.

Last time at Flying Peak, she had encountered Fourth Miss Zhao’s Death Spirit Sword Slave refined from the remnants of a strong soul, and Sword Spirit Puppets were somewhat similar, though refined from living people. Although they also lost self-awareness, their strength was not impaired in the slightest, far stronger than Death Spirit Sword Slaves. Naturally, they were also much more cruel.

Precisely because the refining of death spirits was too cruel and evil, many years ago, it was strictly prohibited by the countries of the Holy Court Continent, and the method of refining was lost.

Unexpectedly, Sword Spirit Puppets appeared here.

Gazing at the old woman on the altar, Xia Youchen’s eyes were nearly bursting, suddenly soaring into the air, freeing himself from the Sword Spirit Puppets surrounding him, charging towards the altar.

Several Sword Spirit Puppets unhesitatingly rose to block, as though they saw no hint of reverence or fear in their eyes, appearing so hollow and detached despite Xia Youchen’s far superior strength.

Xia Youchen swung his longsword, piercing Sword Light sweeping fiercely across their chests. Several of them flailed like kites with broken strings. But this brief delay allowed several cold sword edges to cut into his back, spraying blood.

Xia Youchen staggered and fell to the ground, surrounded once more by a dozen Sword Spirit Puppets. Those who had just been knocked flying also rebounded despite the bloody wounds on their chests, even seeing stark white bones, yet their combat power seemed unaffected from their movements.

This was precisely the terrifying aspect of Sword Spirit Puppets; not only were their capabilities intact, but they knew no pain, no terror, even retained some wisdom, only lacking self-awareness.

Dozens of longswords simultaneously slashed towards Xia Youchen. Though his strength had returned to the Great Sword Master Realm, he was now nearly exhausted, unable to fend off these tireless, fearless Sword Spirit Puppets.

Mu Hanyan certainly wouldn’t watch Xia Youchen die before her eyes. With a clear shout, she darted towards Xia Youchen.

"Nine Heavens, Star Fall," Mu Hanyan shouted crisply.

Five Sword Spirit Puppets abruptly lifted their heads, blocking with their longswords in front of them.

The piercing Sword Light of the Cold Sky Sword swept diagonally, sending several of them flying.

Though not utilizing any of the Five Great Magical Instruments, Mu Hanyan was indeed a genuine Great Sword Master; logically, these Sword Spirit Puppets, no more than Sixth or Seventh Rank Sword Masters in strength, would have their internal organs shattered, meridians ruptured, with no chance of survival if directly hit by such an attack.

Yet, as the Sword Light passed, it merely left a foot-long deep cut beneath their ribs, the wound so deep it exposed bone, still without a drop of blood flowing out.

Beside her, Huayue and the others also unleashed their innate divine skills simultaneously. Ribbons of Sword Light flickered, pushing the other Sword Spirit Puppets back. Yet, Mu Hanyan couldn’t kill them, and with their Ninth and Eighth Rank Sword Master strength, it was impossible to inflict fatal damage to these Sword Spirit Puppets.

Those few Sword Spirit Puppets only retreated a few steps, then, with flesh and bones laid bare from the sword wounds, continued attacking Xia Youchen, seemingly oblivious to Mu Hanyan and the others. This was another terrifying aspect of Sword Spirit Puppets: once given the attack command, unless completely severed from life, they would never relent, even with a single breath left.

Xia Youchen now overwhelmed with grief and anger, combined with excessive blood loss from his injuries, his mind was slightly disoriented. Seeing the Sword Spirit Puppets attacking again, he laughed out loud, charging head-on, clearly disregarding life and death, seeking mutual destruction with his foes.

"Awooo..." At that moment, a beast’s silhouette swept like a whirlwind, Little Qiongqi had pounced into the battlefield.

Now, Little Qiongqi’s fur stood upright, its entire body swelling as if inflated, the elegant yet powerful stance exuding immense majesty, akin to the legendary advent of a Beast God, standing guard beside Xia Youchen.

All around, sword shadows flickered, weaving a sword net to engulf them.

Mu Hanyan asked herself, if she were caught in such a sword net without relying on sheer strength, it would be difficult to escape even with her movement technique. Yet, ensnared within it, Little Qiongqi was unfazed, roaring furiously, spinning swiftly like a top, carving a graceful yet sinister arc as it spun.

Every longsword slashing towards it missed by the slightest margin. Its claws whirled swiftly, unleashing strong Wind Blades in the momentum of its spinning body, like a fearsome Qi Blade storm.

"Szzzzz..." amidst the soft sounds, Wind Blades sliced through the Sword Spirit Puppets. Though yet again devoid of any blood spurting out, they left crisscrossing wounds, even shaving off entire chunks of flesh, which were then diced into pieces by the dense Wind Blades, raining down like raindrops.

Mu Hanyan’s stomach tightened, nearly causing her to vomit.