Chapter 508: Surely I Will Not Fail You (Happy Birthday to Me)

You stinking man who only knows how to bully me!!!

Li Qiushui angrily raised her Long Sword, preparing to make a show of poking a few holes through Ren Yidao that would be visible from both sides.

But the moment Li Qiushui raised her sword, the tens of thousands of discarded swords throughout Wan Jian Xia seemed to sense something and began to tremble in unison.

Hum, hum, hum—

Now it was Ren Yidao's turn to have question marks pop up over his head.

???

Holy crap, you're playing for real!

I was just joking with you, and you're going straight for the ultimate move, right!?

Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Ancestor, right!

You've hacked it!

You've definitely hacked it!

"Stop for a second, stop for a second, let's talk this out properly!"

Li Qiushui had not expected that a momentary thought of hers would trigger such a massive reaction.

Crack, crack, crack.

【Damn it! Damn it!】

She let out a long sigh, and just as she was about to turn around, she felt a pair of strong arms reach out from behind and pull her directly into an embrace.

"Hmm!?"

Li Qiushui's face was cold, her gaze sharp and majestic, as she spoke indifferently:

"Have I been too lenient with you all?"

If nothing went wrong, in another thirty breaths, the entire Wan Jian Xia would be completely detonated; at that time, Li Qiushui might be able to survive thanks to her Sword Spirit Body, but Ren Yidao would likely not escape serious injury.

Her voice was not loud, but accompanied by the astonishing Sword Intent and killing intent erupting from her body, her angry roar resounded throughout the entire Secret Realm.

"Hoo..."

It was even possible he would die!

Die.

In an instant, the world went quiet.

The discarded swords vibrated, emitting a faint sound, and finally, as if waking from a dream, they obediently flew back to their original places.

Upon thinking of this possibility, Li Qiushui's eyes widened instantly, and the aura on her body changed in a flash.

"Stop!"

"Hoo..."

She could not care about anything else, hurriedly turning around, suppressing the anger in her heart, and trying her best to release goodwill toward the discarded swords to soothe their emotions.

Yet, despite Li Qiushui's strenuous explanations and attempts to soothe them, Wan Jian Xia, which had originally been like a volcano, did not stop at all, but instead grew even more intense.

Clang—

The discarded swords that had flown up on their own froze in mid-air, and one could vaguely see confusion and embarrassment on them.

Why were these discarded swords so agitated?

No!

"But how could it be such a coincidence!?"

However, having had the previous example of the discarded swords nearly rioting, even with Wan Jian Xia so calm now, Li Qiushui dared not lower her guard again.

【The one who abandoned me, die!】

I will not allow him to die!

"I told you all to..."

Fortunately, she had successfully intimidated them.

It really was just as Aunt said, we with the Sword Spirit Body are the masters of the swords; we should control the swords, not be controlled by them.

A discarded sword trembled in defiance, but cowed by the gaze Li Qiushui swept over it, it finally calmed down; the trembling grew smaller and smaller until it finally returned to stillness.

【Heartless person! Heartless person! Heartless person!】

【Why hurt me!? Why abandon me?】

Hum—

Seeing this, Li Qiushui finally relaxed and let out a slight breath.

Ka-la-la-la...

Li Qiushui struggled instinctively, but Ren Yidao behind her gave her no chance at all, easily controlling her and holding her firmly.

"All of you, get back!"

She stood at the edge of the cliff, facing tens of thousands of discarded swords alone, without a trace of fear on her face; instead, she suppressed the momentum of the discarded swords.

"It was my anger that stirred up the resentment in their hearts! The two resonated with each other!"

"Stop!!!"

Listening to that roar like a mountain collapse or a tidal wave, Li Qiushui felt a great sense of foreboding.

"Calm down! Calm down! I didn't really want to kill him!"

He would die!?

Li Qiushui finally could not endure it, raised the Long Sword in her hand, and shouted with killing intent in her eyes: "Quiet!!!"

【Kill, kill, kill!】

"Alright, alright, don't be angry—"

Ren Yidao, as if soothing a kitten, lowered his head and rested his chin on Li Qiushui's shoulder, rubbing against her gently.

"I'm not angry!" Li Qiushui pouted with dissatisfaction, wanting to explain herself.

But Ren Yidao didn't listen, holding her tighter on his own accord and whispering in her ear:

"Once you're done scolding them, you can't scold me anymore, okay!"

Pfft.

What kind of nonsense is that!

Li Qiushui was broken by this sudden remark and couldn't help but laugh out loud, but she soon realized she was supposed to be angry, so she tried hard to straighten her face again.

"Hmph."

"Let go of me, you're annoying."

Li Qiushui spat lightly, but she didn't continue to struggle; instead, she relaxed her tense body and leaned back into the embrace behind her.

"I am not a mortal; to mortals, I can probably be considered an Immortal."

Ren Yidao loosened his arms, and before Li Qiushui could get annoyed, he reached down and scooped her up by the waist, holding her in a bridal carry.

"You! Let me go!" Li Qiushui had never been treated like this before and felt completely uncomfortable for a moment, subconsciously wanting to flip out of Ren Yidao's arms, but she was gently pressed down by him.

"What are you afraid of? There's no one else here anyway." Ren Yidao bounced her slightly as he held her and laughed with a relaxed expression, "And you aren't heavy either. Look, I'm not tired at all."

No exaggeration, with his current physical strength, even if there were a mountain in his arms, he wouldn't even be panting.

"Hmph."

Li Qiushui naturally knew this too, and couldn't help but roll her eyes at him, but she didn't bring up the matter again, adjusting her posture in his arms as if resigning herself to fate, and rested her ear against his chest.

She listened to the powerful heartbeat coming from his chest, and the emotions in her heart gradually calmed down.

And while feeling at ease, a strong sense of exhaustion surged into her heart, and she closed her eyes powerlessly.

"I..."

The scene of suppressing the ten thousand swords just now naturally didn't come without a price; even as a Sword Spirit Body, she only had Spirit Transformation strength, so it was impossible to suppress all these tens of thousands of discarded swords based on strength alone.

She had expended a great deal of mental effort, almost exhausting her entire being, and in the end, she was standing purely on willpower.

Li Qiushui also realized at this moment that the reason Ren Yidao had taken the initiative to hold her was because he was worried she would collapse to the ground.

"Sleep." Ren Yidao's gentle voice came to her ear, making Li Qiushui feel even more exhausted, her eyelids growing heavier and heavier.

"... Where, are, you going?"

Ren Yidao was stunned for a moment after hearing this murmur, then his expression softened, and he answered softly: "Get some good sleep. Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere."

"... Mm."

After hearing this answer, Li Qiushui closed her eyes completely, feeling her consciousness dissipate rapidly.

In the final moments before falling asleep, she murmured unconsciously:

"Do not fail me..."

Ren Yidao gently held her and sat down on the edge of the cliff, answering softly:

"I shall never fail you."

By the time Li Qiushui woke up, it was already noon the next day.

"You're awake? You've turned into a girl!"

After waking up, she found herself lying in Ren Yidao's arms. She didn't react at first and wanted to struggle, but she soon recalled the previous memories and quieted down with a blushing face.

She didn't struggle to get up either, but instead continued to linger in the warm embrace just like that.

"Why did you come? Didn't you return directly to the sect?"

"Because I wanted to see you, I've been waiting here the whole time. For this, I used all my connections just to get in and see you once! You don't know how many cold looks and criticisms I've endured..."

"Stop, stop, stop." Li Qiushui interrupted Ren Yidao's half-hearted fabrication and asked irritably: "So, what's the truth?"

Ren Yidao felt no embarrassment at having his lie exposed and immediately changed his tune:

"As a reward for the Immortal Sect Grand Competition, Sect Leader Gongye changed my reward to a token that allows me to cultivate at the bottom of Wan Jian Xia for three days."

"However, it is true that I was criticized; just because of the token, many people were jealous of me. Of course, they can only be jealous."

"Besides..." Ren Yidao lowered his head to look into Li Qiushui's eyes and chuckled, "Missing you is also true."

After speaking, he slowly lowered his head and kissed her moist red lips.

Li Qiushui did not dodge; she closed her eyes and gently met him.

There was almost no barrier between the two, and she could clearly feel Ren Yidao's heart.

Just as he said, the flowery words were true, and his heart being like hers was also true.

After a long time, their lips parted.

The two looked at each other and smiled at the same time.

They didn't mention anything else, just sat in front of the cliff, embracing each other, and chatted naturally.

"How are you getting along with Mei Jie? I remember if you go by seniority, she should count as your aunt, right?"

"Yes, Aunt Mei."

"That means, if you calculate it that way, you should call me..."

"What do you want to say?" Li Qiushui glanced at him sideways, the warning in her eyes almost overflowing.

"No, nothing." Huhu, on the verge of courting death, coughed and naturally changed the subject, "Did she give you pointers?"

"Mm, she taught me a lot. It wasn't until I had her guidance that I realized many of the paths I took before were wrong." Speaking of Mei, admiration appeared in Li Qiushui's eyes.

She had never known about this aunt before, let alone thought she would be able to meet a Sword Spirit Body who had already achieved great success!

Although Li Qiushui and Mei hadn't spent much time together, because of this relationship and their identical constitutions, the two got along very well.

"Aunt Mei said quite a few things about you."

"Hmm? What did she say?" Ren Yidao blinked, not expecting Mei to bring him up behind his back.

You two are deepening your bond by practicing sword arts, so why is there any business of mine here?

Mei certainly wouldn't bring it up on her own, but some Princesses will take the initiative to ask.

"Aunt said you are very talented, more reliable than you appear on the surface, not exactly pure-hearted but not an evil person either, ambitious, and won't be constrained by others..."

Ren Yidao blinked repeatedly as he listened to Mei's assessment, feeling that helping this sister act as a military advisor and strategist hadn't been in vain.

And just as Ren Yidao was feeling satisfied, Li Qiushui suddenly changed the subject and said out of the blue:

"Aunt also said you are very skilled at interactions between men and women, and that you instructed her on how to use the 'play hard to get' tactic to handle Uncle."

Ren Yidao:???

Sister!

Is this something you can just say to people!?

Li Qiushui noticed Ren Yidao's momentary stiffness, the corners of her mouth curling into a faint arc as she raised a hand to poke his chest and asked softly:

"So, why are you so practiced at this?"

"How many women have you tried these tricks on?"

Danger.

Upon hearing this, Ren Yidao felt a large red character appear above his head.

Danger!!!

This is a death trap of a question.

I must answer carefully.

However, though this question is perilous, it cannot stump me, Huhu!

After hesitating for a moment, Ren Yidao spoke directly, saying with a straight face:

"First of all, strictly speaking, helping Mei Jie strategize to win over Senior Brother was about handling a man."

"?" Li Qiushui was speechless; who asked you about that!

"Secondly, as for how my methods actually are, it's impossible to explain clearly just by talking. If you want to know..." Ren Yidao lowered his head, blinked at her, and smiled: "I'm afraid I can only demonstrate it to you personally."

"You, what do you, mean?" Li Qiushui was stunned for a moment, then reacted, her face turning bright red.

"Hehe." Ren Yidao smiled without a word; he didn't answer, but instead gave the answer through his actions.

He jumped off the cliff.

And he was holding Li Qiushui while doing it!

The two plummeted directly toward the bottom of Wan Jian Xia.

"Wait a minute!" Li Qiushui was bewildered, completely failing to understand what kind of situation this development was.

What he meant by that earlier remark, surely it wasn't... but what is going on here!?

"There is danger at the bottom of the valley! We..."

"It's fine, I already figured it out yesterday; there won't be any danger to us here." Ren Yidao shook his head with a light laugh and took out the token bestowed by Gongye Dachang.

During the time Li Qiushui was unconscious, he had already taken the token down there with a Fox Tail Clone to walk around and understand the situation at the bottom.

The token could generate a space with a radius of one zhang, within which one would not be disturbed by Sword Intent.

As the two went deeper, a faint white light emerged around them, forming a spherical space.

Before Li Qiushui could calm down, she saw a... bed at the bottom of the valley, with a set of gorgeous bedding already laid out on it.

"Wait, why is there a bed laid out here!?"

"I laid it out yesterday."

"Ah???"

Why do you carry a bed with you!?

Li Qiushui's brain couldn't quite process it, and she was carried to the bedside by Ren Yidao in a daze.

It wasn't until Ren Yidao lay down beside her that she suddenly realized what might happen next...

Regarding this matter, Li Qiushui had been prepared since the day she decided on him, and her royal education had long since made it clear.

But she hadn't expected it to be so soon!

This, this, this...

Furthermore, there was another problem.

For others, this valley floor was a silent, uninhabited, and hidden place, but for Li Qiushui, who possessed the Sword Spirit Body, it was a completely different experience.

The discarded swords all around had gone quiet, looking over with a gaze that made her feel eerie.

Those curious gazes were like a group of innocent little animals investigating what those two were about to do.

Innocent but curious.

"There, there are too many people here..."

"People?" Ren Yidao tilted his head to look at her and blinked, sensing the surroundings with some confusion, confirming that there was no one else in this Secret Realm, not even a scent to be smelled.

Is she too impatient?

"If you aren't ready yet, it doesn't matter; there's plenty of time, no need to rush."

Just as Ren Yidao was about to get up, his wrist was grabbed firmly; he looked back and saw a pair of determined eyes.

Her hands, which had never trembled in the slightest while holding a sword, were shaking uncontrollably at this moment.

But even so, Li Qiushui did not loosen her fingers, instead gripping Ren Yidao's wrist tightly with such force that it seemed she wanted to crush him.

She stared at Ren Yidao for a long time, then spoke slowly:

"... You must not fail me."

And he nodded, in the depths of the Secret Realm where no one could know, under the gaze of ten thousand swords, he made a promise:

"I will certainly not let you down."

Following that, the distance between the two slowly shortened, and they embraced tightly.

A sword hummed, leaving its sheath... shhh.

The sword was returned to its sheath.