Chapter 339: Stepping In with a Single Step

Jiang Zhun looked at the short sword in Ao Yao’s hand. It had returned to its normal state, gleaming with a faint blue light.

If judged by the sword’s grade, a single maintenance session shouldn’t have reached its limit.

Rather, it would require long-term upkeep to bring out the sword’s full power.

Once, twice, three times—each maintenance would push the sword a step further, until it truly awakened and manifested perfect strength.

From that perspective, the sword’s creation was entirely tailored to the bond between a Yin-Yang Body and the Dragon Race.

The scabbard needed the Dragon Race to warm it, while the blade needed a Yin-Yang Body to maintain it. Neither could be lacking; they complemented each other.

That was how the creator had designed it.

But the creator never imagined that after so many years, no male Yin-Yang Body would appear.

The sword was passed down generation after generation, left idle each time, yet no one was ever able to truly use it.

It simply couldn’t be used.

“Is that one maintenance enough?” Jiang Huai asked.

Ao Yao nodded, then shook her head.

She caressed her sword gently, her movements light, with a reluctant tenderness.

For some reason, ever since Jiang Huai had infused it with maintenance, she seemed to have developed a bit of attachment to this sword.

Then she touched her own little belly. The small stomach had returned to its flat state, the waist of her skirt no longer tight, the fabric falling softly.

With a hint of unwillingness, Ao Yao mumbled and handed the sword back to him.

“It should be usable. Try it and see.”

“Senior said, if one time isn’t enough, then you maintain it twice. Anyway, there will always be a time it works.”

Her voice grew quieter.

“After all, you don’t need many maintenance sessions.”

Once the first maintenance was done, naturally there would be a second, a third, until the sword unleashed its strongest power.

Jiang Huai took the sword from her.

His fingers curled around the hilt. Just as he was about to pull it back, Ao Yao didn’t let go.

She gave him several warnings, her tone accusatory.

“Don’t draw it so roughly!”

“Did you hear me?”

“Don’t do it like that again!”

“If you do that again… I… I’ll…”

She stuttered for a long time without finishing.

She just bit her lip, glared at him, her small face full of fierce warnings.

Only then did she let go.

Qin Xuange stood by, observing.

She stood there with her arms crossed, brows slightly furrowed.

Her dragon eyes moved back and forth between Jiang Zhun and Ao Yao. She couldn’t quite follow Ao Yao’s words—what maintenance? What scabbard? What binding?

But she didn’t speak. She just watched.

The strange tree instinctively began to shake and writhe.

Its tendrils twitched wildly, branches trembled, and a fine layer of liquid seeped from its bark.

It feared they might take another person. Qin Xuange had just walked out on her own, which already made it tremble with terror. If it happened again, it felt it would break down.

Jiang Huai coldly swept a glance at it and casually summoned the crystal coffin.

A flash of white light, and the coffin appeared.

Ji Xi lay quietly inside, radiating supreme power.

The strange tree was so scared it instinctively shrank back again.

Its tendrils retracted, branches folded, the entire tree pulling back half a chi, like a coward who had been terrified out of his wits.

Could it be that its instinct to resist and its instinct to fear a Yin-Yang Body were in conflict?

Jiang Huai carefully drew the sword.

This time, he didn’t pull it out violently. Instead, he drew it slowly, inch by inch.

After the maintenance, the feeling of drawing the sword was different.

It wasn’t as strenuous, nor as tight.

The blade slid out of the scabbard smoothly, like silk gliding over water, like petals falling into a stream—smooth and natural.

Ao Yao didn’t feel as uncomfortable either.

She only frowned slightly, her calves trembling a little, then had no further reaction.

Ao Yao bit her lip and watched the sword in Jiang Huai’s hand. Her green dragon eyes were full of tension and anticipation.

She was also a little curious to see what power the sword she had maintained for so many years would unleash.

After all, the sword was ultimately hers.

The sword emitted a soaring light!

The light wasn’t the gentle blue of before. It burst forth from the blade, shooting straight into the sky, illuminating the entire secret realm.

The light was too intense, too fierce, to the point where Jiang Huai almost couldn’t hold it.

The blade in his hand trembled violently, buzzing loudly, as if trying to break free from his control.

He gritted his teeth, gripped the sword with both hands, took a deep breath, and mobilized the energies of Yin and Yang.

Left hand, Yang. Right hand, Yin.

Black and white light surged from his palms, spread along the hilt to the blade, and intertwined with the blazing blue sword light.

The two energies of Yin and Yang flowed along the blade, like two swimming dragons, coiling, spiraling, merging.

He moved in sync with the sword and traced out a beam of Yin-Yang light.

The light, interwoven in black and white, formed a huge Taiji diagram that shot from the sword tip, enveloping Cang Jing.

Cang Jing was completely wrapped in that light. Her body trembled slightly, brows tightly knit, lips pressed together.

She could feel that the light didn’t harm her, didn’t burn her, didn’t tear her apart.

The Yin-Yang sword qi didn’t hurt her.

It simply used the effect of separating Yin and Yang to penetrate deep into her body, deep into her soul, deep into every inch of her flesh, peeling away the part of soul and flesh that didn’t belong to her.

The process was slow, meticulous, like pulling a single thread from a tangled mass.

Jiang Huai concentrated fully. Fine beads of sweat formed on his forehead, rolling down his cheeks, dripping onto his collar.

Finally, a small ball of light slowly drifted out from within Cang Jing. Its color was a warm, bright yellow, glowing softly like a tiny sun.

It hovered in the air, rotating gently, radiating Cang Ling’s aura.

That was Cang Ling’s soul and flesh.

The part that had been interwoven and indistinguishable since they were still in the same dragon egg.

Cang Jing herself was severely weakened.

Her face was deathly pale, her lips purple, cold sweat beading on her forehead. Her body swayed, her legs went limp, and she could barely stand, unable to take care of herself.

She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but no sound came out. Her eyes were unfocused, pupils slightly dilated, as if all her strength had been drained.

It was Qin Xuange who stepped forward to support her and steady her.

Qin Xuange wrapped one arm around her waist and the other under her arm, helping her stand firmly.

Cang Jing leaned on her shoulder, panting heavily, her chest heaving violently, a pained expression on her face.

After all, a part of her soul and flesh had been ripped away—the feeling was like tearing off a piece of living flesh, like pulling marrow from bone.

But this also fulfilled her goal in the secret realm.

She had finally separated from her sister, in this way.

“Take good care of her here,” Jiang Huai said softly.

He received that yellow ball of light, holding it carefully in both hands.

“Ao Yao and I will be back shortly.”

With that, he suddenly hurled the ball of light toward the crystal that had been completely tainted.

That was Cang Ling’s crystal.

That crystal was now pitch-black, thick as ink, with not a glimmer of light, not a trace of transparency.

It hung quietly beneath the tree’s roots, mixed in with hundreds of other crystals, indistinguishable.

The ball of light struck the crystal, silent and soundless. Only a glimmer of brightness appeared.

That brightness was tiny, very faint, like the first star in the night, like the first ray of light before dawn.

It lit up in the dense blackness, weak yet resolute, spreading little by little, permeating bit by bit.

This was the part of Cang Ling that hadn’t undergone nirvanic extinction.

Seeing this, Jiang Huai immediately used the short sword to cut through the space. Blue light shone.

The blade sliced through the void, leaving a huge crack.

He pulled Ao Yao and stepped into it.