Chapter 420: Pulled Up the Roots of Qionghua Sect

The timeline of Sword and Fairy IV.

The Mysterious Dream Realm arrived once every nineteen years atop Kunlun Mountain; the Xihe Sword and Wangshu Sword locked onto it, and Qionghua Sect disciples stormed into the Mysterious Dream Realm to slaughter indiscriminately. Amid this chaos, Gu Qing and Xuan Xiao arrived atop Kunlun Mountain, at Qionghua Sect.

The statue of the Nine Heavens Goddess stood tall and proud.

Xuan Xiao returned once more to the sect gate, his heart stirred with emotion, his gaze carrying a hint of killing intent. “I’ll go find Su Yu first!”

Find Su Yu, and you’ll find the person hidden within Qionghua Sect.

“Go ahead.”

Gu Qing’s gaze turned toward the Mysterious Dream Realm. “I’ll take a look at the demon realm.”

In the Sword and Fairy world, there are six realms: divine, demonic, yao, immortal, human, and ghost. Among them, the divine, demonic, immortal, human, and ghost realms are fixed, while the yao realm is scattered and fragmented—the Mysterious Dream Realm is one such yao realm.

Now, the Xihe Sword and Wangshu Sword emitted beams of light reaching the heavens, forming a spiraling sword force that stabilized the cyclical Mysterious Dream Realm. The Qionghua Sect’s patriarch, Tai Qing Zhenren, hovered in midair, layers upon layers of sword qi like fan ribs, slicing down the demonic creatures emerging from the Mysterious Dream Realm.

His formidable power drew the attention of the yao realm’s lord, Chan You.

Gu Qing stood within Qionghua Sect, observing Chan You in the sky. In the Sword and Fairy IV TV series, this character was portrayed by Yang Xue—the same actress who played Jiang Yuyan—but the Chan You before him was utterly different: white hair, red robes, exuding mystery.

Tai Qing Zhenren wielded his sword in layered waves.

Chan You hovered in midair, her form splitting and fading in and out. She belonged to the Dream Eater clan, a race that fed on human dreams. Dream Eaters rarely intruded upon human dreams, and never harmed humans; if they consumed nightmares, it even benefited the dreamer.

Now, Chan You activated a secret technique, blurring the line between dream and reality.

Tai Qing Zhenren’s sword qi opened and closed without restraint, reaching everywhere; layer upon layer of qi dissolved each phantom.

“Judging by appearance, he’s about the same as Qing Wei.”

Gu Qing watched as Tai Qing Zhenren, transformed into sword qi, destroyed Chan You’s final body. Just as he felt a flicker of satisfaction, Chan You’s form reassembled and seized him with a single move.

“Quick! She’s wounded!”

Qionghua Sect had no time for grief. Seeing Chan You injured, they cried out in unison. Qionghua’s senior disciple, Xuan Zhen, drew his sword and charged after her, followed by Yun Tianqing and others.

Amid clashing sword qi, a female infant suddenly flew out and plummeted toward the ground.

“Don’t hurt the child!”

Yun Tianqing leapt forward, disregarding whether the opponent was demon or not, reaching out to catch the child.

Suddenly, demonic power tore toward him. Yun Tianqing ignored it entirely, focused solely on catching the child. The demon who struck feared Yun Tianqing would harm the child, and thus attacked with even greater ruthlessness.

Suddenly, everyone’s vision blurred—a figure in green robes appeared among them. Neither the Qionghua disciples who had invaded the Mysterious Dream Realm nor the Mysterious Dream Realm’s own demons saw how he arrived. Before they could react, he reached out, caught the child, separated Yun Tianqing from the demon general, and vanished toward the outside of the Mysterious Dream Realm in an instant.

“Stop him!”

The Dream Eater clan was stunned, frantically dispatching forces—but in an instant, the green-robed figure had already burst beyond the Mysterious Dream Realm’s borders. Qionghua disciples and Mysterious Dream Realm demons stared at each other in shock. Only the Mysterious Dream Realm’s mist dispersed and gathered, while outside, the wind surged like waves, unchanged and repeating.

Within Qionghua Sect.

Su Yu gazed at the disciples above her and the corpses falling from the yao realm, her eyes flickering with unspoken meaning.

This “extermination of demons and monsters” had been entirely initiated by Qionghua Sect. Before this, the demons here had not harmed any human lives. This sudden clash of sword qi had turned the place into a sea of blood and corpses, stirring something deep within Su Yu. As she lowered her gaze, she heard a piercing cry from above. She looked up again to see Qionghua disciples riding swords in midair, surrounding a single figure.

Just as she prepared to observe closely, black smoke erupted from the spot. Swords pierced bodies; the demons seemed dead. Many Qionghua disciples were wounded, aiding each other as they descended toward the lower realm.

“Be careful.”

Among the disciples, Su Yu casually helped up a man staggering and bent over. The moment her hand touched his arm, her heart began beating uncontrollably. In that brief contact, she felt his calm, scorching true qi, caught a cool, fragrant scent, and saw, in his arms, a tiny infant.

Qionghua Sect would never send disciples into battle carrying children. This child could only have come from the Mysterious Dream Realm…

Su Yu locked eyes with the man, sensing his silent plea—for the child’s life. Without a trace of reaction, she released her hand and said calmly, “Younger brother, rest and heal.” The Qionghua disciple departed with the child.

Su Yu slowly raised her right hand to her nose, inhaling lightly. The heat of her palm still carried his faint scent.

“Already soft-hearted at this point?”

The time-traveling Xuan Xiao, watching secretly, assumed Su Yu was merely repulsed by the bloodshed, and inwardly sneered.

Su Yu was too sentimental.

But then again, Qionghua Sect’s ascension to immortality was an act against heaven, not recognized by the divine realm…

The time-traveling Xuan Xiao sighed inwardly, gazing at the Xuan Xiao holding the Xihe Sword, binding the yao realm. His gaze burned with fanaticism as he watched Qionghua disciples ruthlessly plunder the Mysterious Dream Realm.

“Elder.”

Su Yu said, “Our Qionghua disciples have become fanatical and obsessed, losing the grace of cultivation. If we continue like this…”

“Su Yu, this is the three-generation dream of Qionghua Sect. You cannot defy it. Just cooperate with Xuan Xiao.”

The Qionghua elder rebuked sharply.

Su Yu lowered her eyes. When she looked up again, she saw the fanatical Xuan Xiao—and remembered the unfamiliar man who had held the child.

At that moment, Su Yu realized: during her brief contact with the man, his body had carried a trace of Xihe Sword intent—but calm, vast, unlike the scorching, biased Xihe Sword before her.

Instantly, Su Yu called for Su Yao to bring the Wangshu Sword, then turned and walked away.

The time-traveling Xuan Xiao followed closely, watching Su Yu wind through Qionghua Sect’s corridors until she reached the place where he and Su Yu had once admired phoenix flowers.

The phoenix flowers bloomed, breathtakingly beautiful.

Xuan Xiao had not seen such beauty in centuries. He sighed, then snapped back to reality—only to see Su Yu standing before a man, demanding sharply, “Who are you? Why do you have the Xihe Sword?”

As the Wangshu Sword’s master, Su Yu had followed the yin-yang resonance all the way here.

Hearing this, Xuan Xiao felt something was deeply wrong.

The man holding the child slowly turned his head. Xuan Xiao’s face grew darker…

Gu Qing!

This time-traveling partner of Xuan Xiao now stood before Su Yu, holding the infant.

“I only wanted to save this child. I had no intention of interfering in Qionghua Sect’s affairs.”

Gu Qing spoke these words for Xuan Xiao’s ears.

“You haven’t answered—why do you have the Xihe Sword!”

Su Yu pressed forward.

On Xuan Xiao’s face, understanding slowly dawned.

No wonder Yun Tianqing couldn’t find him. This man from centuries later? Yun Tianqing would never have imagined it!

Gu Qing…

Xuan Xiao recalled his three betrayals: his lover’s flight, the Xihe Sword’s backlash, the Xihe Sword’s betrayal… Gu Qing had delivered him a full set of three.

“I should’ve made him teach me some curses when we were in Fengdu.”

Xuan Xiao’s rage surged—but due to his time-traveling state and his inability to defeat Gu Qing, he did not advance to strike them down.

(End of Chapter)