“This sword is a top-grade immortal artifact. Just now, I was careless and didn’t recognize such a treasure.”

She suddenly burst into laughter: “Well then, today I’ll reluctantly take it for my own use.”

“Today you’ve committed heinous crimes, cultivating the demon banner. Aren’t you afraid of being hunted down by the righteous sects of the world?” Liu Changning glanced at the Seven Ghosts Soul-Devouring Banner in her hand.

Qiu Runyu grinned: “Afraid? Of course I’m afraid. But as long as I kill all of you, I’ll still be the righteous Qiu Runyu.”

After she finished speaking, she waved the ghost banner in her hand. Everyone felt a cold, ominous energy that couldn’t be dispelled permeating their bodies.

The air was stifling, and the black mist penetrated everywhere, quickly entering people’s bodies.

Tian Jing and the others struggled to hold on, their sword tips pointing directly at Old Daoist Qiu, blood gushing out like a fountain, but they were already powerless to continue.

Now that the power of the ghost banner had increased, the three thousand-faced ghost demons’ demonic energy surged. Although their numbers had decreased, their power had greatly increased, with ghost energy roiling.

Cangming sensed the increasing black mist on its body and vibrated, emitting a series of humming sounds.

The divine sword Cangming was an artifact left in the lower realm by the fallen War God, growing stronger when facing strong opponents, never retreating.

Liu Changning held the sword in front of her body, her mind in sync with it. The sword’s intense, stern sword intent transmitted, and the entire sword tip had already spontaneously pointed towards the three thousand-faced ghosts blocking in front of Qiu Runyu.

Liu Changning suddenly smiled freely and said in a low voice: “Although my cultivation is insufficient, if my old companion wants to fight, today I’ll risk my life to accompany Cangming. Why not?”

After Liu Changning finished speaking, her entire body’s aura changed again. Her sword soul and mind were in sync, now influenced by Cangming’s sharp battle intent.

Her entire aura was no longer the cold indifference of the past, but sharp and prominent, her entire being fused into a sword.

Returning to the cultivation world, she actually had very few moments where she almost exhausted all her strength. Although her cultivation level hadn’t reached the top level yet, her mental state and soul had long transcended this realm.

All laws return to extinction, but she lacked the fighting spirit of facing difficulties head-on from her first life.

Liu Changning, styled Cang Yun, originally meant “rising straight to the blue clouds, forging ahead.”

But after transmigrating through several lives, she had lost some of that sharpness.

At this moment, she suddenly had an epiphany, her mental state breaking through. The spiritual power within her body surged forth, she was about to breakthrough. Influenced by Cangming, she was about to step into the late stage of Core Formation.

There was no time to sit in meditation to consolidate her cultivation. At this moment, Liu Changning’s eyes had gained a hint of expression, that of transcendent flair and confidence.

Her heart followed her will, she and Cangming became one with the sword. Her form moved like lightning, thrusting, stabbing, avoiding, dodging.

Although her sword movements seemed to lack any pattern, there wasn’t a single superfluous action.

The three greatly strengthened human-faced ghosts actually had no suppressive advantage.

Seeing this, Tian Jing and the others exchanged glances, quickly retreating from inside the banner, each heading towards their own disciples, setting up protective light shields.

Although Liu Changning’s fighting spirit was fierce, she had to end the battle quickly. Her cultivation was insufficient, and the longer she wielded Cangming beyond her level, the greater the drain on her internal spiritual power.

Sweat from her forehead trickled down her cold features and dripped onto her chest. The little black bird’s beak was slightly open, unexpectedly touching that salty drop of sweat.

His expression wasn’t good, because the person in front of him was already trembling, her lower body slightly unstable. If this dragged on, fear…

Just as he was anxious, the white-robed female cultivator beside him moved. Her spiritual power suddenly surged, and Cangming’s mystic ice color even faintly showed a hint of purple mist.

“There’s no other way, I must use the Mystic Ice Divine Light Technique!”

Liu Changning muttered to herself, but Cangming seemed to sense its master’s intent, the sword tip trembling, silver light sharp.

The Mystic Ice Divine Light Technique was an immortal-level technique, accidentally obtained from an immortal’s cave dwelling back then. Later, it became Liu Changning’s life-saving treasure many times when escaping death.

Its power was extremely great, and when released through Cangming as a medium, it was almost invincible.

However, after using this technique, there was one drawback: spiritual power exhaustion.

She was already wielding the divine sword Cangming beyond her level, and now using such a spiritual power-draining technique, the consequences… could very likely be death from exhaustion.

But at this moment, there was no time to consider the consequences. If the demon banner wasn’t eliminated, everyone present would also die.

The evil disciple was in the trial ground. Since Qiu Runyu could bring out such a demonic item, who knew what manipulations and arrangements were behind it. If not broken, the consequences today were unimaginable.

Looking down at the little black bird, Liu Changning suddenly smiled at it with gentle eyes.

Secretly activating the technique, she channeled it into Cangming. As one sword fell, brilliant light flashed. The attack, tinged with purple lightning, slashed out. Ten thousand ghosts wailed, the black mist dissipated, and the thousand-faced ghosts vanished into thin air.

Qiu Runyu fell to her knees, blood flowing from the corners of her mouth.

No one noticed that in the secular disciples’ ranks of the trial ground, that male cultivator with good aptitude and single wood spirit root from earlier also had blood trickling from the corners of his mouth. He lowered his head, his lips curling into a smile, his pale lips dyed bright red, bloodthirsty and demonic.

He crossed his hands over his chest, making extremely complex movements.

In the clearing black mist in mid-air, Qiu Runyu’s hands were also making the same movements.

Suddenly, black light flared from his body, with him at the center, the entire space exploded.

“Not good, she’s going to self-destruct!”

Someone cried out in alarm, and several Nascent Soul stage elders quickly gathered their spiritual power to reinforce the protective shield.

Liu Changning, closest in mid-air and with exhausted spiritual power, unavoidably faced Qiu Runyu’s self-destructive blood light. She grabbed the little black bird’s wing, a bitter smile appearing on her lips as she continuously coughed blood.

Her finger gaps were stained with who knows how much blood, but she didn’t notice this shocking blood seeping into the white jade ring on her right hand, quickly disappearing without a trace.

Liu Changning spoke intermittently: “It’s too late, A’Shao…”

Before she could finish speaking, she closed her eyes.

She didn’t get to see the strange black stone from the valley that day fly out of the jade ring. It quickly absorbed the divine consciousness from Qiu Runyu’s self-destructive explosion.

Its jet-black body turned bright red in an instant. After a few breaths, it emitted a dazzling red light, absorbing the person and the bird into the stone, quickly disappearing without a trace.

Those present only saw the dazzling red light. When they opened their eyes again, fragments of white and hemp clothes were scattered across the white jade wall trial ground.

“She… that female cultivator is dead, died in Qiu Runyu’s self-destruction!”

Someone in the crowd cried out in shock, and the trial ground was instantly filled with chaos.

Only one blue-robed male cultivator remained tense-faced from beginning to end, spitting fresh blood, his five fingers clenched into a fist.

His full lips parted slightly as he coldly laughed to himself: “I don’t believe it!”