Chapter 33 Second Cousin Truly Is Invincible

“Could you at least have some decency?” Xia Jiuxuan shot her a glare and then reached out, searching for a moment.

“Senior, please… don’t…” Li Luoyan’s face flushed red. This senior was too much—saying one thing and doing another.

His movements were so practiced, yet he still put on the airs of a nobleman. Hmph, outrageous.

“Ah, found the acupoint,” he said at last, nodding with satisfaction after more than ten breaths of time.

“Are you sure you’ve found the right place?” Li Luoyan’s voice was so faint she could barely hear herself.

Xia Jiuxuan couldn’t be bothered to answer. He pressed his fingers together like a blade, stabbing into her leg and crushing an extremely hidden acupoint. Then, with extraordinary care, he released a thread of spear intent, severing two hair-thin meridians.

This acupoint and the two fine meridians were the root cause of the world’s suppression. This was a restriction Xia Jiuxuan had personally laid down back when he deduced the world’s rules—no one else alive knew of its existence.

He withdrew his hand, flicked away the blood, and handed her a bottle of healing salve. “Apply it yourself. Stop thinking of taking advantage of me.”

Seeing his indifference, Li Luoyan was mortified.

“Oh, I was wrong again. It was just severing two tiny meridians. What was I thinking just now… Ah.” She sighed, feeling she no longer had the dignity to face this senior.

After applying the salve, she suddenly sensed that the immense, invisible shackle that had always weighed upon her had vanished.

“I’m free,” she breathed.

With a light flex of her legs, Li Luoyan soared into the air, fluttering like a bird just released from its cage. It was a feeling she hadn’t tasted in ages.

“Junior gives thanks to Senior for granting me new life!”

She knew full well who she owed for her regained freedom.

“Get up. Come with me—once we’ve dealt with those sword souls, I’ll help you repair your sword core.”

“Yes, yes!” At this moment, Xia Jiuxuan had already surpassed all gods in Li Luoyan’s heart—he was the supreme being.

She absorbed all the drifting purple mist in the current level of the tower, regaining half her strength; that mist was her own dissipated spiritual power.

Li Luoyan trailed carefully behind Xia Jiuxuan, afraid to overstep her place.

“See, that’s my little niece, Xia Ran. You’ll need to get past her first. If she doesn’t like you, whatever we discussed is off the table.” Xia Jiuxuan pointed to the little girl ahead, who was dozing off.

“Senior, I promise I’ll do my utmost to look after her.” Li Luoyan clenched her teeth and her fists, racking her brain for ways to make a good impression.

After collecting herself, she followed Xia Jiuxuan over.

“Ranran, wake up,” Xia Jiuxuan called softly.

The child blinked herself awake, and her first sight was not her second uncle, but the peerless beauty standing beside him.

“Wow.”

Xia Ran stuck out her tongue, her large, watery eyes brimming with admiration.

“Sister, you’re so beautiful!”

Her flowing purple dress, her tall and graceful figure, skin fair as jade, and a celestial aura—little Xia Ran was transfixed.

She had never seen such a lovely sister.

“Miss Ranran, do you like me?” Li Luoyan did her best to smile warmly, flying in a graceful circle overhead.

“Yes, yes, yes! You’re so beautiful! I want to wear clothes as pretty as yours, too!” The little one cradled her chin, full of envy.

“Well, then, from now on your big sister will stay with you and make you lots of lovely dresses. Would you like that?”

“Really?” Xia Ran’s eyes shone as she began to imagine herself clothed in ethereal finery.

“Of course it’s true. Look, I even brought you a little present.” Li Luoyan took out a purple, star-shaped fruit from her spatial ring and handed it over.

Its fragrance was ten times more tempting than even a vermillion fruit.

Xia Ran licked up the drool at the corner of her mouth. “Thank you, Sister! You’re so nice!”

She began to eat immediately.

“Clever girl, using food to win over children,” Xia Jiuxuan remarked dryly.

“I noticed Miss Ranran has a dual ice and fire constitution. I happened to have a precious fire spirit fruit, so I gave it to her,” Li Luoyan replied.

“Not bad. You know your way around things.” Xia Jiuxuan nodded. “You’ve passed the test. Now, follow me to slay those sword souls.”

“Yes, Senior.” Li Luoyan was overjoyed, though worry gnawed at her heart.

Those seven sword souls were each of mid-tier Sword Emperor strength, and they were unscathed. Could this senior truly defeat them?

What would become of her if he were to fall midway?

Anxiety welled up again as she obediently took Xia Ran’s hand and followed after Xia Jiuxuan.

The fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth floors of the tower had already been destroyed—the trio went straight to the ninth.

The ninth floor was like a hidden paradise, a world within a world.

Hardly had they set foot inside when multiple torrents of sword intent began to swirl in the heavens, converging into terrifying dragon-shaped streams above.

Li Luoyan felt the crushing pressure of the sword intent, her face turning ashen. Its terror was unforgettable.

“Senior, maybe we should wait a few more decades. I can afford to be patient.”

She was truly afraid he’d be killed instantly—after all, she couldn’t sense any overwhelming strength from him.

“Li Luoyan, you dare to come court death!”

Savage roars sounded from all directions as the dragon sword intents surged down, coalescing into seven indistinct figures.

By now, escape was impossible.

These seven emanated vast, oceanic auras; each one’s sword energy seemed capable of splitting the heavens.

These were sword souls!

“Don’t be arrogant, you traitors! With Senior at my side today, I have come to destroy you. Kneel and accept your judgment!” Though fear gnawed at her heart, Li Luoyan refused to lose her composure.

She floated in midair, forcing herself to stand tall, once more embodying the cold, unapproachable grace of a celestial spirit.

“What senior?” The seven sword souls all fixed their gazes on Xia Jiuxuan.

A mere native, an ant—this was the ally Li Luoyan had found? How laughable!

This woman must have been driven mad by the world’s suppression.

“Hand over the Xuanhuang Sword Formula, or you will beg for death.”

Having discerned Xia Jiuxuan’s cultivation, the seven sword souls dismissed him entirely.

“Mere sword souls—how dare you boast before me?” Xia Jiuxuan’s voice was calm, yet to the sword souls it was as if the world’s highest law had collapsed upon them, filling them with unspeakable dread.

They glanced at each other, terror writ large on their faces.

Sword souls were the perfected soul bodies of sword cultivators, pure spirits of the sword. For Xia Jiuxuan, even Emperor-level sword souls could be destroyed with a single thought.

“Kill!” Having no other options, the seven sword souls struck as one.

Xia Jiuxuan flicked his finger, and a killing sword materialized in midair.

Redder than blood, the sword exuded tangible killing intent—so much that even an eternal king would bow before it.

Of course, such a technique only worked on pure soul bodies; it was useless against living beings.

“What a terrifying sword…”

Bang!

One sword soul merely tried to sense the killing sword with his mind and was instantly obliterated.

Xia Jiuxuan waved his hand, and the sword descended. The mere intent radiating from its blade reduced the six remaining sword souls to dust.

The scene played out clearly before Li Luoyan’s eyes.

The shock was beyond words. Even the ancient images of her ancestor wielding a sword paled to less than a tenth of this killing blade’s might.

“Hee hee, Second Uncle is amazing! Second Uncle is invincible!” Xia Ran clapped her hands in delight. She didn’t understand the deeper mysteries, but she knew her second uncle had won—once again confirming the irrefutable truth in her young heart: Second Uncle is invincible.