Gateway of Immortality-Chapter 863: Blood Sword

The cold qi held the Kui Dragon trapped.

Daoist Fang first flew into the sky to scatter the clouds, lest the Kui Dragon harness the power of lightning to break the array. The Kui Dragon of legend could command lightning itself, and no one dared let it display its innate supernatural ability. Who knew what terrible storm it might summon.

Afterward, he flew back down to help suppress the beast’s furious counterattacks.

With his aid and the others’ combined efforts, the Heavenly Cold Wind Array was no longer on the verge of collapse. The cold qi stabilized at last.

From the crystal tablets, waves of cold qi poured forth. The cold qi gathered above, thick white mist condensed, and the towering pillar of cold qi grew heavier and denser. From a distance it looked like a cage of mystic ice.

Yet the Kui Dragon’s resistance did not slacken in the least.

Its roars grew sharper and more piercing, its claws and fangs flailing wildly. Lightning burst from its maw as it hurled itself against the cage. Each impact brought shuddering tremors and left webs of cracks behind.

Those maintaining the array had their qi and blood surging chaotically, their faces pale as death. Their true essence drained like a flood through a broken dam.

But as the cage drew closer to completion, the damage from the Kui Dragon’s assaults lessened.

Seeing this, Daoist Fang’s face brightened. He withdrew the golden rope and transmitted his voice, "Keep the array steady. Do not let the beast escape!"

Then he swept a hand at his waist and drew out a shortsword, no larger than a palm, smaller even than a dagger.

The hilt and blade gleamed a grotesque crimson, the blood groove seeming to flow with real liquid. The moment it was revealed, an overwhelming stench of blood spread outward, staining even the surrounding cold qi a sickly red.

Holding the blood-red sword, Daoist Fang grew solemn. Gripping it carefully, he sat cross-legged in the air above the cage.

Qin Sang and the others, focused on the array, could not help glancing up when they sensed the disturbance.

What is this evil artifact? Qin Sang muttered inwardly.

The blade was saturated with blood qi, as though it had soaked in a blood pool for countless years. It was undoubtedly a sinister weapon, far from righteous.

Even if forged through blood refinement, how many demonic beasts must have perished for its making?

Judging from Daoist Fang's caution, the sword was not his life-bound astra, nor had the golden rope been. Qin Sang’s curiosity deepened.

By common principle, a life-bound astra was the cultivator’s strongest weapon, refined in harmony with one’s spirit, its power growing with one’s cultivation.

Except for outliers like the ebony sword that required external force to anchor its origin and killing symbol, most life-bound astras advanced ceaselessly with their owner’s cultivation.

By his strength, Daoist Fang's life-bound astra should already be a middle-grade astra. To forsake it and wield the sword, either his astra was damaged or this sword’s power surpassed it.

Daoist Fang sat above the cage, sword in hand, expression grave as he silently chanted.

At his incantations, the sword quivered, humming like the wails of resentful spirits.

Blood qi surged more violently, lifting the blade until it hovered above his head, its tip angled at the beast within the cage. Blood-red sword light flickered, sharp and chilling.

The Kui Dragon sensed danger. It ceased its assault, its huge eyes wide as it locked onto the weapon.

At last its condition could be seen clearly.

The beast was encased in cold qi, lightning crackling over its scales as it resisted the invasive frost. The prolonged battle had wounded it. Cracks split its scales, some bleeding openly like whip-marks.

Some wounds came from the golden rope, others from the array’s cold qi.

Most striking was its tail, where whole swathes of scales had shattered, blood pouring freely. Even its own collisions against the cage had left it battered.

Yet none of these injuries were mortal. For a creature of its size, they were little more than flesh wounds.

The Kui Dragon still brimmed with vigor, glaring at the sword, sensing mortal peril. It opened its mouth and spewed lightning, but the completed cage held firm.

The Heavenly Cold Wind Array showed its true worth. Though the beast’s attacks carried lightning's pure yang and overwhelming force, they perished together with the cold qi.

Qin Sang and the others directed the chill forward, shielding Daoist Fang. The Kui Dragon could not break through quickly, and he was free to complete his ritual.

All he needed was time.

Unmoved by the raging below, Daoist Fang continued his chant.

The sword’s blood qi thickened into a living shroud, enveloping the blade as if it too were evolving. The sword light blazed more dazzling, more soul-piercing.

Unable to strike at its foe, the Kui Dragon grew desperate. It coiled its body into a sphere of lightning, swelling larger and larger, its energy terrifying.

From within came a shrill cry like a spirit wailing in blood, then the lightning sphere hurled itself straight at the youth.

Qin Sang and the others turned pale. None dared hold back. They poured every drop of true essence into the tablets.

The earth trembled. Even the tablets quaked.

Five visible streams of cold qi shot into the cage. The cage flickered madly as the lightning sphere crashed down.

Boom!

Beneath the stormclouds, a sudden pallid cloud burst outward, swelling fast.

The Kui Dragon was fighting for its life. This was the critical moment. Their bodies shook, but they clenched their teeth, forcing the array tighter, the cold qi denser.

The cage endured. It did not break.

The beast reeled back slightly, then lunged again. At that instant, Daoist Fang finally finished his ritual. Lowering his head, eyes blazing, he shouted, "Slash!"

The sword had merged within the blood qi, now a full zhang long.

The sword shadow plunged directly into the lightning sphere. Cold qi followed, crashing down with it to suppress the beast.

A scream tore the sky apart.

Blood-red light flared within the sphere, only to be consumed at once. Whether it was the sword’s power or the beast’s blood boiled away by lightning, none could tell.

Then the sphere wavered, trembling violently, its form unraveling.

Hearts leapt as they watched the beast’s body thrash inside. Blood streamed from it. The sword was buried in its abdomen, its blood qi writhing like a living thing, burrowing deeper, spreading agony throughout its body.

The Kui Dragon had been grievously wounded in a single strike. Daoist Fang’s face lit with triumph, yet deep within his eyes flickered a trace of wariness and guarded vigilance.