Chapter 13: Let this round of moonlight shine through myriad rivers!

To him, this red figure was all too familiar—it was Ma Xiaotao, who had entered the inner court five years later.

Over these five years, Ma Xiaotao's inner evil fire would erupt every so often.

At first, Yan Shaozhe summoned Xu Sanshi, relying on the Profound Ice Water's ability to help suppress it, but the effect was not ideal.

But after Chen Qiye's soul power reached rank thirty and he gained his third soul ring, this arduous task was handed over to him.

The Severing Sword's bone-chilling cold could freeze anything, but with his current strength he could not yet unleash that effect, so it could only be a temporary suppression.

To completely purify the evil fire, he would have to wait until at least after Chen Qiye reached rank seventy.

In almost an instant, Ma Xiaotao arrived at a position not far from Chen Qiye and Gu Yue.

Her eyes turned a strange dark red, her whole body filled with a mad aura, and she had completely lost consciousness.

"That shouldn't be; Sister Xiao Tao's evil fire should still have some time before erupting—why did it happen early?"

No time to think, Chen Qiye grabbed Gu Yue's hand and retreated swiftly, but the distance between them kept shrinking.

Now Chen Qiye could only stand in front of her; it was already morning, and many students were training in the outer court—if Ma Xiaotao charged past, the consequences would be unthinkable.

Although Chen Qiye could suppress any fire attribute thanks to his Severing Sword martial soul, the gap in soul power was too great—he alone could not stop Ma Xiaotao.

Previously, when the evil fire erupted, only with Yan Shaozhe's help from the side could it be contained; but now, aside from Jingliu taking action, Chen Qiye could think of nothing else.

But letting Jingliu act would inevitably damage his soul; unless it was an absolute last resort, Chen Qiye would never let Jingliu intervene—"Why, at a time like this, do I not have Huo Yuhao by my side!" In this extreme danger, Chen Qiye couldn't help missing Huo Yuhao.

If Huo Yuhao were here, he could still rely on the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm's "Heavenly Dream One Finger" to save the day, and he wouldn't be helpless.

But helplessly, Chen Qiye could only rely on himself.

Chen Qiye knew that Ma Xiaotao's condition had surely been noticed by the Sea God Pavilion; he just needed to hold out a while until they arrived.

But as a Soul Emperor, Ma Xiaotao's speed was too great—he could not launch an active counterattack, only defend passively.

But holding out like this couldn't last long! Dodging an incoming fireball by turning sideways, Chen Qiye's face was covered in dust, and his white hair also gathered much grime.

Ma Xiaotao waved her hand, and the rolling flames turned into a fire phoenix that came toward them.

Chen Qiye watched the relentless fire phoenix, knew he could not escape, and instinctively pulled Gu Yue into his embrace.

The fire phoenix instantly swallowed Chen Qiye and Gu Yue whole, engulfing them in flames.

Chen Qiye, burned by the fierce flames, felt dazed; waves of intense pain came, and his pain nerves were numbed by the pain.

At that moment, the light in Chen Qiye's hand exploded with a boom, its power directly tearing apart the fire phoenix that had swallowed him.

Chen Qiye was also blown away, spinning several times.

"Chen Qiye, are you alright?"

At this moment, a black soul ring rose beneath Chen Qiye's feet, and beneath his and Gu Yue's feet lay a sword formation.

This was Chen Qiye's third soul-ring skill, Sword Guard Four Directions—a skill tilted toward support and defense, but anomalously, though such a group-attack ability normally only appears for Soul Masters after rank fifty, Chen Qiye already had it with three rings.

And Gu Yue, being protected in Chen Qiye's embrace and also by his third soul skill, suffered only a few scorched patches on her clothing at first.

Gu Yue looked at Chen Qiye, a wreck of a person, and for some reason a tear trickled down.

"Don't worry, I won't die!"

But just after saying that, Chen Qiye suddenly spat a mouthful of blood; seeing him sway on the verge of collapse, Gu Yue quickly steadied him.

"Chen Qiye, your eyes."

When Gu Yue helped Chen Qiye up, she discovered his eyes had turned blood-red.

"Little sis, you might need to sleep a while."

At this moment, Chen Qiye's voice was no longer male but a cool, icy female tone resembling absolute dust. "What."

Before Gu Yue could react, "Chen Qiye" struck her with a knifehand, knocking her out and laying her on the ground nearby.

"Honestly, don't drag me into this trouble, okay?"

A burst of extreme cold erupted from Chen Qiye's body, forcibly scattering the surrounding scorching flames; the red-eyed Ma Xiaotao let out a muffled groan and plummeted straight down from the air.

At the same time, Chen Qiye's soul rings, which had been two purple and one black, turned into a dazzling blue-gold, blazing white light shining like a full moon rising from beneath his feet.

Centering on Chen Qiye's body, within a hundred-meter radius it instantly became a world of ice and snow, even the Sea God Lake ahead freezing over.

Ma Xiaotao seemed to be trembling violently, and a terrifying pressure instantly swept the space.

Chen Qiye's right arm slowly lifted; his right hand had at some point gripped the Severing Sword, which quickly froze into a huge ice sword.

A clear voice rang out in the air: "Let this round of moonlight shine through myriad rivers!"

Jingliu's mad voice echoed; if Chen Qiye could hear it, he would surely be thrilled—this line is one he knows all too well.

Whenever Jingliu unleashes her ultimate, this is the line; Chen Qiye has heard it countless times. The damage is simply outrageous.

Jingliu is known as the Bengtie Empress, and also has the nickname Wan Chuan Jie.

The nickname Wan Chuan Jie comes from this line: "Let this round of moonlight shine through myriad rivers!"

……

The blue-gold halo quickly faded, turning back to two purple and one black, the surrounding cold vanished in an instant, and the lake water swiftly returned to normal. The Severing Sword's red eyes, emitting intense cold, returned to normal; his body went limp and he collapsed to the ground.

Just moments ago the Sea God Lakeshore had been rippling with terrifying soul power fluctuations; now it had completely returned to calm.

On the shore, only Chen Qiye and Gu Yue lay unconscious on the ground.

In the distance, from the depths of the Sea God Lake, dozens of figures approached at astonishing speed, reaching the shore in just a few blinks.

"Not good, they've injured outer court students. And, and there's Chen Qiye."

"What."

Leading them was an old man in white robes; he suddenly stepped forward in midair, as if crossing space, arriving beside Chen Qiye and Gu Yue. With a gesture of his hands, their bodies instantly levitated.

"Thank goodness, they only fainted, unharmed. Teacher Li, please treat them quickly."

"Yes." Another white-clothed middle-aged person, hearing this, rushed forward and took Chen Qiye and Gu Yue.

Soul rings blossomed, circles of green light haloing Chen Qiye and Gu Yue's bodies as they quietly seeped in.

A miraculous scene appeared: the surrounding withered plants were recovering at astonishing speed; faintly, one could see the vast vegetation along the Sea God Lakeshore emitting a pale green light that flowed toward Chen Qiye and Gu Yue's bodies, slowly seeping into them.

"Xiao Tao is here."

…………

When Chen Qiye faintly woke up, he discovered he was lying on the bed in his own room on Sea God Island.

The room was empty, Chen Qiye estimated that he had been sent back by Yan Shaozhe.

"I don't know how Gu Yue is."

He tried to sit up straight, but discovered his whole body ached, as if he had been pumped full of lead.

"I don't know who I've offended; life is really too hard."

The sorrow in Chen Qiye's heart could no longer be expressed in words.

I'm a bit late today because I caught a cold, sorry (end of chapter)