Chapter 28: Wind spirit origins
The storm tore at everything, vision consumed by violent cyan energy, ears filled with deafening roars.
Every inch of Qing Wan’s skin endured excruciating pain, as if sliced by a thousand blades.
Clenching her teeth, blood seeped from her gums, instantly swept away by the gale.
The Silent Heart Sword Art pushed to an unprecedented extreme, its icy sword intent no longer confined to her blade but enveloping her entire body, seeking a frequency to coexist with the destructive energy torrent!
This wasn’t resistance but integration—a search for a sliver of life amid annihilation!
At the basin’s edge, everyone held their breath, watching in disbelief as the frail figure, far from being torn apart, moved like a leaf in a raging sea—shaken violently, perilously close to disaster, yet stubbornly inching toward the storm’s center!
“She… she’s actually…” The Xuantian Sect disciple who’d mocked her stood agape, words stuck in his throat.
Chu Yi’s clenched fists trembled, palms sweaty, eyes filled with incomprehension.
“How is she doing this? That sword intent… it’s extraordinary!”
Liu Qingxu, having arrived at the basin’s edge unnoticed, watched with shock flashing in her eyes.
At the storm’s heart, the star-like glimmers grew closer, their energy increasingly pure and overwhelming!
Qing Wan felt her sword intent and spiritual energy resonating with unprecedented hunger and joy!
It was there!
A fierce glint flashed in her eyes. Ignoring the tearing pain across her body, she poured her last reserves of spiritual energy into a desperate lunge forward!
Pop!
As if piercing an invisible membrane, the apocalyptic tearing force suddenly lessened!
She stumbled into a strange “wind eye”—the storm’s calmest region, barely a few meters wide.
The ground was smooth cyan jade, and at its center grew a translucent blade of grass, less than a foot tall, formed entirely of pure wind spiritual energy. At its tip rested a fingernail-sized cyan crystal core, shifting shapes—the source of the pure, volatile energy!
“Wind Spirit Origin Core!” Qing Wan’s heart pounded! This was the heart of the Wind Eye Secret Realm’s energy!
Its value was immeasurable!
Suppressing her excitement, she approached cautiously.
The closer she got, the stronger the wind’s power felt.
As she reached out, before her fingers touched it, the core trembled, a gentle wind spiritual energy coiling around her, nourishing her parched meridians and battered body.
It recognized her!
It acknowledged her wind-and-annihilation-tinged sword intent and spiritual energy, refined through Silent Heart Sword Art and the storm!
Without hesitation, she plucked the core.
The moment it left the grass—
The entire storm vortex froze!
Then, without its core, the terrifying energy grew wildly unstable, beginning to collapse inward!
The jade platform beneath her feet shook, cracks spiderwebbing across it!
The calm “wind eye” was about to collapse!
Qing Wan’s face shifted. Without pause, she pressed the Wind Spirit Origin Core to her dantian’s qi sea!
Boom—!
An indescribable surge of pure energy erupted, flooding her limbs and bones!
Silent Heart Sword Art spun frantically, absorbing the immense origin power!
Her meridians tore and reformed repeatedly, her dantian and qi sea forcibly expanded, her cultivation soaring like a rocket!
Qi Refining ninth layer!
Qi Refining peak!
One step from Foundation Building!
Her sword intent, nourished by this origin power, underwent a qualitative leap!
No longer embryonic, it solidified, razor-sharp, capable of cutting through any obstacle!
But she had no time to savor the breakthrough.
The entire space was collapsing! Destructive energy torrents pressed in from all sides!
She had to escape—now!
Glancing at her entry path, the membrane was gone, replaced by a deadly energy storm!
Returning that way was suicide!
In this critical moment, a flash of insight struck—she recalled an obscure technique in Silent Heart Sword Art about extreme speed, transforming into flowing wind!
It required deep comprehension of wind’s true intent and placed immense strain on the body, something she’d never dared try before.
But now, with the Wind Spirit Origin Core and her new sword intent, she might stand a chance!
“Silent Wind Escape!”
With a low cry, she poured all her newly gained spiritual energy and sword intent into it!
Her body seemed to dissolve into intangible wind, no longer fighting the storm but threading through the gaps in its collapsing energy, shooting outward at an unbelievable speed and angle!
Fast! Faster! Fastest!
Her body bore immense pressure, as if it might shatter.
In a blink, the crushing force vanished!
Thud!
She crashed onto solid ground at the basin’s edge, clothes tattered, bloodied, utterly spent, barely clinging to life.
But she’d made it!
The next second—
BOOM—!!!
The storm vortex behind her let out an earth-shaking roar, collapsing into a massive energy black hole, devouring everything, then exploding outward!
A destructive shockwave swept the surroundings like a tsunami!
“Run!!”
“The secret realm’s core is collapsing!”
Everyone at the basin’s edge paled, scrambling back!
Protective talismans and defensive artifacts flared!
Chu Yi instinctively moved toward Qing Wan but was flung back by the shockwave!
Qing Wan, sprawled on the ground, had no strength to lift a finger, watching helplessly as the destructive energy surged toward her!
Was this death?
In that desperate moment, the minor teleportation talisman she’d kept close, sensing her life-or-death crisis, activated on its own!
Hum!
A soft spatial fluctuation enveloped her!
The next moment, the destructive energy consumed her former spot, scouring the ground feet deep!
But Qing Wan was gone.
Hundreds of meters away, behind a relatively safe pile of rocks, space rippled, and Qing Wan’s figure tumbled out, spitting blood, unconscious.
Her iron sword had disintegrated in the storm, but the Wind Spirit Origin Core’s power still flowed within, slowly repairing her near-broken body.
The basin’s edge was chaos.
“That… that Canglan Sect girl…” someone stammered.
The crowd looked around—where was she?
In that horrific explosion’s epicenter, a Qi Refining disciple had no chance of survival.
“Such a pity… that courage and opportunity…” someone sighed, sincerity unclear.
Chu Yi, climbing to his feet, stared at the devastated area, face pale, eyes filled with complex regret.
“Junior Sister Qing Wan… she…”
Liu Qingxu, disheveled, adjusted her robes, gazing at the ruins.
The secret realm’s upheaval quickly spread.
At the entrance, the massive cyan vortex grew wildly unstable, fluctuating violently!
The guarding elders’ faces changed!
“The core energy is rioting! Close the realm early!”
“All disciples, forcibly teleport out now!”
Beams of white light shot from the wavering entrance, pulling surviving disciples out.
Each emerged battered, faces etched with fear, recounting the core’s terrifying explosion.
Shu Yue shot to her feet, her divine sense locked on the entrance!
She heard the disciples’ murmurs—“storm core collapsed,” “that Qi Refining girl is surely dead,” “no remains…”
Each word struck her heart like a hammer!
“Dead? Impossible! What about the teleportation talisman? Why didn’t she use it!”
She watched disciples emerge—Chu Yi, Liu Qingxu… but not that frail figure!
In the water mirror, the entrance’s vortex shrank rapidly, about to close!
Shu Yue’s face grew paler, her fingertips ice-cold.
A never-before-felt panic drowned her.
She didn’t even notice Wan Qing beside her, watching her loss of composure with a complex, unreadable gaze.
Just as the entrance was about to seal shut—
A faint, familiar sword intent, mixed with pure wind origin energy, flickered from the vanishing vortex, then was gone!
Shu Yue’s heart leapt! Her pupils contracted!
“That’s… her sword intent? And… wind origin! She’s alive!”
But before she could probe further, the entrance closed completely, vanishing as if it had never existed.
The plaza fell silent, then erupted in relieved chatter and speculation about the realm’s upheaval.
Shu Yue stood alone, body cold.
Was that fleeting sword intent and energy a delusion?
Or… had she truly pulled off a miracle at the last moment?
If she was alive, where was she? Why wasn’t she teleported out with the others?
Countless questions and fears gnawed at her like vipers.
She suddenly recalled the minor teleportation talisman she’d given… Could it be…
“Qing Wan… where are you?”