Chapter 372: White Deer on the Azure Cliff

Wang Shouyi knew Li Buyi had come to urge him to hurry up and organize the counterattack on the Demon-Locking Tower.

What he didn’t expect was for things to escalate to this level of sheer tension.

The main surprise was that he never imagined that Senior Chen would transform into a Golden Core beast!

If Li Buyi weren’t a disciple of the Kunlun Immortal Palace, Wang Shouyi would’ve already drawn his sword.

But precisely because Li Buyi held that special identity, if he made a move, what would Her Eminence think of him?

Yet if he didn’t act, he’d be letting down the kindness Senior Chen had shown him...

For a moment, he was stuck in a dilemma, at a total loss and frozen on the spot.

Still, he was clever. He quickly came up with a solution.

There was no way Senior could beat Li Buyi—so his job was to make sure the senior didn’t get hurt.

As for what Hakyryu was about to face... he could only offer silent pity. There was no saving him.

Just then, the air rippled.

A fragrant breeze swept past.

Everyone felt momentarily dazed.

Clang—!

First, they saw a sheath of pure white clash with Li Buyi’s sword.

Then, a figure in white—brighter than snow—appeared in front of Chen Huaian.

The moment the girl appeared, every gaze at the scene was drawn to her involuntarily. The lighting that fell on her fair skin seemed to transform into soft moonlight.

Zhao Ying and Xiang Xiaoyuan hadn’t reacted yet.

But Lin Lingling had already let out a barely restrained, excited squeal.

“Wah! It’s—it’s that big sister!”

So the Governor really did have an unusual relationship with that sister.

The Governor had just gotten into trouble, and she immediately teleported over. That must mean she could see what was happening with the Governor at all times.

Could this be that legendary ‘remote monitoring’?

So the Governor lived every day tangled in the hell of endless possessiveness?!

No doubt about it—he must be suffocating from bliss.

“Triple Egg! What are you squirming around like that for?!”

Chen Huaian frowned at Lin Lingling, who was resting her chin on her hands, twisting around dreamily. He could sharply sense that she was thinking something indecent.

“N-Nothing, Governor.” Lin Lingling blushed and shot him a flirty glance.

“I just think you’re really moving~”

Chen Huaian: “???”

“Master, who is this person? How dare he speak so rudely to you!”

Li Qingran had already heard Li Buyi’s words when she began the teleportation. Now her delicate face was cold as frost, her sheath pointed directly at Li Buyi with zero courtesy. If this weren’t another world and she wasn’t worried about making trouble for her Master, she’d have drawn her sword by now.

Li Buyi looked Li Qingran up and down, a flash of amazement in his eyes.

Such a stunning female cultivator.

But that was all. It wasn’t that the girl wasn’t beautiful enough—it was just that, ever since he had killed his own parents with his own hands, his heart had become cold as iron.

To him, even the most beautiful woman was just skin.

He pursued neither power, wealth, lust, nor gain. What he sought was the grand path to immortality!

Any woman who stood in his way—no matter how beautiful—would meet the same fate.

“You call him Master?” Li Buyi looked puzzled. “You’re stronger than him—why call him that? You’re both Mid Golden Core Stage. Today’s matter has nothing to do with you. If you back off now, I’ll pretend I never saw you.”

Li Qingran didn’t answer. She simply turned to look at her Master.

Her heart already burned with fury, but without her Master’s signal, she wouldn’t make a move.

Chen Huaian gave a slight nod and said calmly, “Just teach him a lesson. Try not to kill him by accident.”

“Yes, Master.”

When Li Qingran turned back to face Li Buyi, the brilliance in her eyes had turned ice-cold.

Li Buyi heard the two speak so nonchalantly, as if he wasn’t even there, and let out a furious laugh.

“How arrogant. I’ll show you the sword techniques of the Kunlun Immortal Palace!”

Wang Shouyi practiced the Crushing Mountain Sword, which focused on heavy, overpowering strikes like a mountain pressing down.

Li Buyi, however, practiced the Rapid Rain Sword—swift as a downpour, unending and relentless.

Even as he spoke, his sword was already in motion.

This strike produced no sword light—only a fierce gale and driving rain hurtling forward.

Once the Rapid Rain Sword Form reached mastery, it could summon a celestial phenomenon with every strike.

As soon as the sword was released, the air turned damp.

As the storm-like sword qi formed, the sky was covered in thin clouds, and raindrops began falling.

The dense sword qi loomed closer.

It blanketed half the sky over the Exorcist Division. Li Qingran, standing before it all, looked as tiny as a blade of grass.

But she stood unflinching, even with a trace of subtle mockery in her eyes.

A sword intent born from stormy rain?

Back when she was still in Qingyun Sect, she might have found it impressive.

But now, her Master had shown her a much vaster sky.

“Sword Form Three—”

Li Qingran gripped her sheath with her left hand, her right hand resting on the sword behind her back.

Facing the oncoming storm, she leaned backward—but like a willow leaf riding the wind, she soared into the sky.

Li Buyi had locked onto her—but in the next instant, he lost all sense of her presence.

The girl seemed to vanish from this space.

He looked up—and in the clouds, a flash of white danced.

He could see her, but he couldn’t sense her. Or rather, he couldn’t even lock onto her as a target.

A sword move that couldn't lock onto the opponent—no matter how fast, dazzling, or unending—was nothing more than an illusion.

A clear, melodious voice echoed from the heavens, cutting through the storm as if it were nothing.

“Such is the joy of the world, like water flowing east through time.”

“Parting with you—who knows when we’ll meet again? Let the white deer roam the azure cliffs.”

As the words ended, a white arc of light plummeted from the sky.

The falling sword light pierced the clouds, shattered the rain curtain, and in midair formed the phantom of a white deer.

Whoosh—! The sword’s cry came trailing behind, like a deer’s call.

The white deer’s front hooves struck the dome of sword qi Li Buyi had unleashed—shattering it with a thunderous crack.

And along with it, his long sword—raised in defense—was obliterated.

Among the flying shards of shattered blades, the deer’s hooves came ever closer.

Li Buyi’s eyes widened with bloodshot rage. He used all his strength, but couldn’t stop the deer’s hoof from smashing into his neck.

He could only watch helplessly, mind blank, as though his life had started to tick down.

But in that final instant—when Li Qingran’s strike was about to land—

The sword light abruptly veered off course. The hoof phantom changed from a stomp to a flick, the gleam of the blade instantly retracted, replaced by a pristine white sheath that slammed into Li Buyi’s chest.

Boom!

The immense force sent Li Buyi flying, blood spraying from his mouth.

He blasted straight through the Exorcist Division’s wall in C Province, tumbling to a stop amid the piled-up corpses of slain beasts outside.

Li Qingran sheathed her sword and hopped back to Chen Huaian.

She formally bowed to him in the traditional disciple’s salute before raising her face with a bright, sweet smile.

“Master, how was it?”

She stuck out her tongue playfully and giggled:

“Your disciple’s third move from the Green Lotus Sword Manual—White Deer on the Azure Cliff—does it carry even a hint of your style?”

…