Chapter 635: Empty Year

Chapter 635: The Phantom Year

Li Huowang did not dare to be careless—especially since each of these attacks could very well be a strike from the Phantom Year.

Faced with the Phantom Year, Li Huowang knew he had to begin playing for real. After all, he had already consumed every single one of his yangshou pills hidden in his gourd; if the Phantom Year were to catch him again, he feared he might die of old age on the spot.

As the attacks from all directions grew increasingly dense, a spark flared. The fire striker scraped across Li Huowang’s body, and instantly, a blazing inferno illuminated everything around them. In the darkness, some shadowy forms quickly melted away under the flame’s glare.

When Li Huowang saw that the Phantom Year stood motionless in place, surrounded by red afterimages circling her body, even though he had sacrificed his skin to Ba Hui and gained new abilities, he still felt a chill run down his spine. It was this very move that had helped the Phantom Year subdue the Great Liang Dragon Vein alongside him!

“No! I can’t let it finish!” With fiery feet, Li Huowang kicked off the ground and charged toward the Phantom Year.

In the flickering light of fire, black shadows leapt out from the shadows cast by stalactites, lunging at Li Huowang. But before they could touch him, flames erupted from their bodies as they crashed to the ground.

Seeing the Phantom Year just a short distance away, Li Huowang suddenly drew his spine sword and slashed fiercely, sending a crack flying toward her.

Just as the fissure was about to slice through the woman on the Phantom Year’s back, the ground beneath her suddenly collapsed. She sank deeply, but somehow managed to dodge the blow entirely.

By the time the Phantom Year, accompanied by her ever-present red afterimage, crawled out of the pit, the tide of battle began to turn.

Li Huowang dared not let even a sliver of the Phantom Year’s afterimage make contact—neither time reversal nor aging would he accept. He retreated while striking back with his spine sword.

But what complicated matters was that those red afterimages surrounding the Phantom Year never faded. They continuously filled the cave space, forcing Li Huowang to retreat further and further.

Then, a turning point came. “Whoosh!” A black blade, attached to a chain, shot forward and pierced directly into the Phantom Year’s scales.

With the chain taut, a figure was dragged into the cave from outside.

Seeing how close the man was approaching the Phantom Year, Li Huowang shouted urgently, “Watch out! This thing cannot be touched up close!”

“Clang!” Another blade slammed into the ground, and the man steadied himself three zhang away from the Phantom Year.

At that moment, Li Huowang finally saw the man’s face. To his surprise, this man was not the bald one wielding the crescent spade he had met earlier.

He wore tattered black armor, appearing like a soldier, young in years yet bearing the marks of countless battles. His beard was unkempt, and his face was etched with deep lines of hardship.

“Kill the cultist riding atop that beast!” Li Huowang called out to him.

The black-armored warrior glanced at the purple-sword on Li Huowang’s back. With a shake of his hands, both blades—one embedded in the Phantom Year’s back and one in the ground—were withdrawn and reinserted into his back. “Give me the Tai’a Sword!”

Before Li Huowang could understand what kind of weapon this Tai’a Sword was, the Phantom Year had already charged toward them again.

Li Huowang, retreating rapidly, shouted to the other black-armored warrior, “Think of a way to restrain it! I’ll handle this mess!”

Hearing this, the warrior pushed off the ground with both feet, flipping backward in midair. He whipped his cape behind him, and four blades flew toward the Phantom Year simultaneously.

The moment the Phantom Year’s hooves were bound by chains, Li Huowang seized the chance and sent a fissure flying at the witch-faced woman on its back.

Just as she tried to dodge, Li Huowang drove a rib bone into his own chest, causing everyone nearby to feel the burning agony radiating from him.

In the next instant, the woman’s head was torn away by the fissure and sent flying to the Great Qi realm. At the same time, the red afterimages around the Phantom Year gradually vanished.

“Clang!” The chain whistled through the air as the iron-clad warrior swung it, yanking the hilt of Li Huowang’s purple-sword free and sending it hurtling toward the Phantom Year’s head wound.

“Wait!” Li Huowang’s body flashed aside, appearing in midair ten zhang away. Then, Li Sui’s tentacles lashed out and wrapped tightly around the purple-sword.

“Don’t kill it! This creature is my friend… or rather, my friend’s friend! It was merely controlled by someone else—it didn’t mean to harm us,” Li Huowang explained to the black-armored warrior.

The warrior, hearing this, glanced once more at the now motionless Phantom Year, then abruptly pulled himself free. The four blades he had used to bind the creature returned to his back.

The freed Phantom Year turned and leaped into the darkness. Soon enough, it returned—but this time, a woman’s face was pressed against its neck.

The face was still broken, revealing torn text beneath the wound, like pages of a book. This time, Li Huowang recognized the handwriting—it was Zhuge Yuan’s.

“Is it you?” the Phantom Year asked, staring at Li Huowang.

Li Huowang looked at her with a complex expression, as if wanting to explain something, but found his mouth heavy with words he couldn’t utter.

“No, it’s not you. You’re gone,” the Phantom Year said, shaking her head deeply in despair. She took several steps back and rushed toward the cave entrance, where the bearded bald man who had entered earlier raised his crescent spade in alarm.

Li Huowang was about to chase when he was grabbed from behind. Turning his head, he saw Li Sui wrestling with someone else. “Li Sui, let go!”

“No way! That man wants to steal our sword! It’s ours! We can’t give it to him!” Li Sui gritted through the pain of his burns.

Between the two, a chain and a tentacle held the purple-sword suspended in midair.

Hearing this, Li Huowang shifted his attention to the black-armored warrior standing before him.

“Brother, may I have my sword back?” The flames on Li Huowang’s body slowly died down, leaving his body charred black. “Give it back? Why should I? It’s mine!” Right Zixiong’s bloodshot eyes glared at the strange cultivator, shouting angrily.

“Zixiong, Elder Er, we’re all on the same side. There’s no need for this,” the bearded bald man stepped between them, trying to mediate.

Li Huowang didn’t want to fight the man, especially after he had just saved him. “Brother, I’m not stingy. If it were any other sword, I’d let it go. But this one… I can’t give it to you. It’s a legacy from an elder of mine.”

“An elder? Who?”

“An Ci An, Master Jingxin.”

Upon hearing that, Right Zixiong’s eyes flickered slightly. The chain holding the purple-sword loosened, and he withdrew his cloak.

Seeing this reaction, Li Huowang immediately felt suspicious. “What? You know Master Jingxin too?”

“No, I don’t. But I’m from Four Qi. My sword was originally pawned to the nuns at An Ci An. Since Four Qi has fallen, I imagine they can’t reclaim it from the Ministry of Revenue anymore. Heh…”

Right Zixiong, who had just been brimming with killing intent, seemed to lose all his vigor, becoming utterly dejected.

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Next chapter updates at 11:30 PM.

(End of Chapter)