Volume 1, Chapter 75 – Return (Two-in-One)

A rustle sounded by his ear. Huang Qian snapped his eyes open on reflex, rolled up to sit, and his right hand habitually reached for his waist.

It wasn’t there.

He patted behind his shoulder—also empty.

Instinctively glancing at the grass beside him, he snatched up the Broad‑Bladed War Sword, squinted at the name “Black Mane” engraved on the guard, and only then did his mind settle as he reviewed everything he’d done since waking.

Falling into danger, jolting awake from a faint—the biggest of big taboos is to spring up at once. You should keep feigning, confirm the situation, feel out the environment and your body’s state, then decide.

How was I that reckless…

Huang Qian shook his head inwardly; even his thinking felt sluggish, and his body was far from its best.

Crackle!

The sound of flames burning wood.

He lifted his head and saw a massive bonfire. A giant branch was set across it, and on it a trussed cicada demon; the shell was roasting to a glossy sheen.

Bai Xiang sat alone across the fire. At Huang Qian’s nine o’clock and three o’clock lay two other people; one looked like Cao Chuan.

“The Commandant is awake.”

Bai Xiang’s white hair was tied back in a ponytail. She had changed back into her skintight combat suit, with vest and armor secured across her chest and elsewhere. Turning the thick branch, she glanced at Huang Qian and said, “Commandant, there’s a water skin by you. Take a couple sips first.”

Sure enough, Huang Qian found the water skin. He shot Bai Xiang a look, then didn’t stand on ceremony—glug, glug—and drank nearly half.

“…Tell me what happened.” When he finished, he fixed his gaze on Bai Xiang, face very serious. “Where are the others? What about Liang Wenbo?”

“Dead,” Bai Xiang said, staring at the leaping flames. “All dead.”

Without delay, she laid out the story she’d arranged, in detail for Huang Qian—and sure enough, he was stunned.

What? You’re saying this place is your Bai clan’s Demon‑Breeding Ground? That there was a thousand‑year Demon Pool hidden inside, plotting to calculate against us from behind the scenes?

What? Chai Xuan had such a scheme? That the Demon‑Immortal Dao’s Right‑Route Protector in the south, “Protector Yi,” was actually her father Chai Jingyuan’s incarnation?

What? That father and daughter even swaggered into the Shenming Dojo to pay a visit, just to probe the legendary “Nine Tribulations Method,” and that there was even truly a “Zhenyuan” sword embryo?

Holding The Scripture of Returning to Origin and Transforming Qi that Bai Xiang handed over—said to have been found on Chai Jingyuan—Huang Qian felt like his brain had taken too many hits; for a while it went blank.

After the shock, Huang Qian couldn’t help asking Bai Xiang, “If so, then how did you…”

He was truly curious.

If what Bai Xiang said was true, then after he and the others were dragged to the bottom of the Egg Case, she had to face all the threats alone.

First, Chai Jingyuan, himself a Three‑Tribulation demonized human and suspected to have cultivated the “Transforming Qi” branch of the Nine Tribulations Method—as well as the Demon‑Immortal Dao followers under his command.

Second, Chai Xuan, who, though not yet at Condensing the Aspect, had absorbed a Demon Pool of three centuries; her realm and combat strength would exceed the average in the Visualization or Divine Union realms.

And then the most terrifying—the thousand‑year Demon Pool, an old monster suspected to be at the “extreme of wisdom”!

Facing all that alone, Bai Xiang could still bring the three of them out safe?

He took stock of the surroundings; from the feel of the air, they were no longer underground.

Yet after he voiced these doubts, he noticed the look in Bai Xiang’s eyes was a little odd.

“That’s not it,” Bai Xiang said after a pause. “I killed them all.”

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She said it lightly; Huang Qian’s hand jerked, and he dropped the water skin.

“It’s complicated,” Bai Xiang added. “Commandant, remember that copper cicada? As I suspected, it was a way to draw an insect tide… I didn’t run into a single Demon‑Immortal Dao hand; very likely Chai Jingyuan used it to clear them out.”

“Also, I did make progress.”

She drew “Feixiang Heaven” from her back; as it left the sheath, a burst of snowy light flared, making Huang Qian squint—what a sword!

“I’ve forged my sword.”

Bai Xiang held the blade upright before her. With a flick of her finger across the edge, a tremor sang; at the same time, she used Qi to condense a faint cicada‑demon phantom.

Not the wingless rolling kind from the insect tide, but the mature cicada recorded in the scroll of The Startling‑Spirit Cicada.

A body hard as armor, wings translucent; as it faded, all imagery settled on the blade, so that sword cry was cicada cry—a single note startling the night.

That move is fierce!

Huang Qian finally reacted. “So when you and I… faced the insect tide together back then—you were comprehending the Dao?”

Bai Xiang nodded, but inside Huang Qian, waves were crashing.

What kind of freakish talent is this?

Granted, this is your clan’s Demon‑Breeding Ground; hidden inheritances would be expected. But to comprehend the Dao just off the idea of cicada song… The “immortals” in the gazetteers were no more than this.

Are you the Martial Star descended?

That’s a bit much!

“There’s something else the Commandant should know.” Bai Xiang was silent a moment. “There was a full set of forging tools underground—likely prepared by Chai Jingyuan for Chai Xuan. They used the ‘sword embryo’ to drain the blood and essence of many, including Master Liang, but at the final step were interrupted by the cicada demon and, for some reason, turned on each other.”

“Then there was a problem with the Demon Pool Chai Xuan absorbed,” Huang Qian reasoned out at once.

A Demon Pool of three centuries—he’d heard the stir it caused. But a seventeen‑year‑old body can’t hold such cultivation; it had to be the “Cicada Ancestor” aiding her, and with ill intent besides.

“I took the chance—with two Sword Institute students who’d awakened—to assassinate Chai Jingyuan,” Bai Xiang went on. “I hadn’t forged a blade yet and shouldn’t have been his match. He killed them both in turn, but at the last moment he stiffened, and I drove a sword through his eye socket.”

“Stiffened?” Huang Qian’s eyes lit.

I know!

Possession!

Chai Jingyuan was fighting you while resisting the cicada demon’s soul control!

Ha! No wonder his power dropped so hard!

“And then?” Having “derived the truth,” Huang Qian was especially keen on what came next. “You took the chance to kill Chai Xuan too, didn’t you?”

“I meant to, but her skull exploded on its own,” Bai Xiang shook her head, denying his guess.

Makes sense.

Huang Qian kept nodding inwardly.

The cicada demon failed to seize Chai Jingyuan, then rushed to take Chai Xuan instead.

But Chai Xuan’s body was too weak to bear its millennial soul—of course her skull blew apart.

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Makes sense.

Makes perfect sense.

“After that, with the cicada demon gone quiet and the embryo in the furnace about to be forged, I took the risk—performed the forging method in the inheritance and broke through right there in the cave.”

Bai Xiang’s tone was unnaturally even.

This was a reason she’d long prepared.

Based on her outward performance—able to strike down a Three‑Tribulation demonized human—no one would imagine her Nurture the Spirit progress was barely thirty percent at the time. They would assume she was near‑complete.

With her current realm near‑complete, trapped in peril, using the “Zhenyuan” sword embryo to push for a breakthrough to survive—that was the obvious move. However you framed it, reason was on her side.

“You succeeded.”

Huang Qian saw her sword and naturally worked backward from the result.

“You broke the cicada demon’s scheme and gravely wounded its soul! You seized Chai Xuan’s opportunity to forge your blade and bound its remnant into the sword!”

Bai Xiang nodded, sheathed the sword, took it from her back, and held it up in both hands to offer it to Huang Qian.

“Though this sword is now mine… I know the ‘Zhenyuan’ sword embryo is a matter of great import.”

Her voice stayed as calm as water, faintly tinged with pride.

“I’m willing to present this sword to the Commandant. Please accept it.”

“No!”

“Don’t be absurd!!!”

Two shouts snapped out at once—one from Huang Qian, the other from Cao Chuan, who had sat up—he’d been faking sleep!

“Bai Xiang, I know you’re not only worried about that—you also fear this sword has absorbed many people’s blood.”

No time for preface; Cao Chuan spoke in a rush.

“But this chance was won with your life!”

“If it had failed, fine—but as it is, this sword is your Dao foundation!”

“Do you know what losing it would mean for you?”

“Indeed.” Huang Qian stroked his chin. “Staff Officer Cao and I only survived because you forged this blade. If not for your fight, we’d likely never have made it… I’ve no face to take it!”

Bai Xiang frowned, wanting to speak but holding back.

“Don’t worry!” Seeing she still had misgivings, Cao Chuan thumped his chest. “I’ll report the truth to Lord Fang. I’ll see you have no worries afterward.”

“I can testify as well.”

At the same time, a faint voice came from beyond the fire.

Xu Xi had woken too. She, like Cao Chuan, had been roused by that sword cry. Cautious as ever, she hadn’t moved rashly, and had lain there eavesdropping for a while.

“Xu can testify. Every word the young lady has said is true—no deception, no omission.”

She struggled upright; her eyes on Bai Xiang were full of deep gratitude.

“Though it is the illustrious ‘Zhenyuan’ embryo, the Demon Pool it held was incomplete. The young lady took a heavy loss to slay the demon and save people—who would dare call this sword improper?”

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“Rest easy, young lady,” she vowed. “Xu will report the truth to Master. I doubt Master will blame you; he should thank you for avenging Master Liang and our fellow disciples!”

With the three of them all insisting, Bai Xiang finally put the sword away again.

“Enough talk!”

Huang Qian tore off a piece of cicada‑pupal shell, exposing the tender white flesh within.

“Snatched from disaster! Back from the brink! Bai Xiang! If you ever need anything—come to me!”

He didn’t say the words “owe you,” but in his mind the debt was far too great; saying it would have sounded like he was eager to wash his hands of it.

“Messy business, but at least the result is right!”

Cao Chuan also tore off a piece of meat, eating as he grinned.

“Bai Xiang, don’t worry.” He nodded at the white‑haired girl across the fire. “This site—we’ll watch it with the Commandant. If it’s confirmed to be your clan’s, no one’s taking it. It’ll be yours for sure!”

Having escaped death, his nature couldn’t help but show some honest feeling.

Bai Xiang took the chance to mention that she’d found a trove of old manuscripts in the underground caverns, all on special paper, preserved across a thousand years.

Huang Qian was hot‑blooded; after sleeping so long his bones itched. He dragged Cao Chuan down to check at once, and sure enough they found those texts—and “by chance” also turned up Bai Muying’s blood note.

Then it really was true.

After reading the blood letter, the two looked at each other in the dark.

Gratitude is one thing; facts are another.

As much as they fancied Bai Xiang’s prospects, they couldn’t guarantee she wasn’t deceiving them. They still had reservations about the fight and about the Shenming Ancestral Ground.

They had to—given the rumors about the Demon Kingdom, the follow‑up here would have to be compiled and sent up to Yujing.

If there’d been deceit and the Imperial House pursued it in anger, not only would the principals lose their heads—their responsible superiors wouldn’t escape either.

“I checked up front—the combat traces are as she said, almost down to the inch…”

Cao Chuan spoke in a low voice.

“Right.” Huang Qian nodded. “If anything doesn’t match, it’s that someone didn’t join the fight.”

When you exert force, you leave marks on a cave floor. Both of them were experts; naturally they could tell that after the fight broke out, Liang Wanming never charged forward at all, but ran the other way.

Bai Xiang had surely seen it, but she hid that fact, just to preserve the dead one’s name.

“Craven coward!” Huang Qian snorted.

“I’m not afraid of Liang Qiusheng! I’ll write the report! I’ll expose that petty man for what he is!”

They talked it through, both struck by how Bai Xiang had both strength and virtue. That the Chilong Circuit should be lucky enough to see such a genius—spread the word and the world would be shaken.

“We must be cautious.”

Cao Chuan thought a moment, then began to shake his head.

“She could kill Lü Ran before forging. Once she completes the Demon Pool, her future will be boundless. We can’t let her fame come too early.”

“You’re afraid the Demon‑Immortal Dao will fix on her,” Huang Qian realized.

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“Not just them,” Cao Chuan said, voice a touch grim. “Also those technology factions.”

“The Imperial House only received a foreign delegation in August; the ministers were at each other’s throats over it. If she were from a great clan, fine—but a mere Shenming Sword Dao… there’s no guarantee they won’t use dirty tricks.”

Huang Qian narrowed his eyes. “Mm. True enough…”

In the end they settled it: report the truth only to Fang Xiaochun; externally, issue a formulaic notice and hide as many details as possible.

When they came out, the four took on some food and water, then hastened for the cave mouth under cover of night.

They first retrieved the copper cicada, then had Bai Xiang use the method recorded in The Startling‑Spirit Cicada to find the mechanism—and at once the passage resurfaced before their eyes.

Before leaving, sword in hand, Bai Xiang couldn’t help glancing back toward the trees.

She still had the Jade Phoenix short sword tucked at her chest. Even if Huang and Cao noticed something, she was confident she could use it to approach the Yuming Sword Dao.

Thinking it over, this trip’s twists and turns had been perilous indeed.

First, Lü Ran’s revenge.

Then the Chai family’s plot.

Then Daokong’s deceit.

And the cicada demon’s meddling.

In the end, she slaughtered the wicked, transformed Qi and forged her blade, and walked a brand‑new path no one had trod.

Everything stolen and swindled—she took it back—and made her enemies pay the highest price.

Looking back and comparing to her prior life, Bai Xiang couldn’t help being flooded with feeling.

On a whim, she softly chanted:

“I ponder Sumeru below,”

“In innocence, fall to dust,”

“How many mortal woes,”

“With spirit, cut the pass,”

“Old debts of former reign,”

“Shenming grasps the arcane,”

“Who can behold the years?”

“Only I—Feixiang Heaven.”

When she finished the verse, she turned away.

Just as when she sank into the long steps back then, she slipped into the shadows and was gone.

【End of the first volume】