CHAPTER 951: CHAPTER 708:

"I do not fear death," Baili An said softly, "I am only afraid... that after marrying me, you will suffer grievances."

Such a light and gentle statement, devoid of weight, yet it made Yun Rong feel as if her heart had been struck heavily.

Looking at the refined features so close to her, her mind, for the first time, fell into a state of blank confusion, causing her to unconsciously bite her lip.

In this deep, long night, by the deserted lakeside, Yun Rong suddenly felt as if she was being spoiled by someone.

But he was her junior disciple, whom she had watched grow up since being born from Lady Ji’s womb, every step of the way.

She was nearly sixty years older than him, old enough to be considered his grandmother in the Mortal World.

Even if married, deep in her heart, Yun Rong always treated him as a junior to be cared for.

Yet, at this moment, she unexpectedly found a trace of a husband’s aura from him.

However, to become her husband meant she had to kill him, which did not seem like a normal marital relationship.

Yun Rong furrowed her brows.

Baili An smiled slightly and said, "Senior Sister need not worry; given the current situation, you only need to imprint me, and I shall become your Sword Spirit."

As he spoke, he slowly pulled down his collar to reveal the dark tunic stained with blood, and at his heart, a glaring through wound was left with only half a weakly beating heart.

Finally, the spirit he had been holding up deteriorated bit by bit, and a gray death shroud covered his eyes.

Yet, he still smiled and said, "The first Spirit Transformation, this body has not yet matured, still only in its nascent demon form. Currently, my power is limited and can’t fight the Ghost Child. Right now, only if Senior Sister accepts me, imprints and refines the Sword Spirit, and recalls the Snow Sword, can I defeat the Ghost Child."

Looking at the bright red piercing on his chest, Yun Rong felt a chill ripple through her body. Suddenly remembering something, she instinctively touched her own cheek.

Her cheeks were clean and unblemished by any blood, indicating that during her unconsciousness, he had carefully wiped them clean.

"Senior Sister..." Baili An whispered, "What wrong have the mortals of this mountain done? If that little ghost is not eliminated quickly, the people here are likely to perish under its Ghost Qi devouring. This is the only way now."

Upon hearing this, Yun Rong’s lashes trembled slightly, and she said nothing more. Her eyes were deep and clear, gaze intense as she slowly raised a hand.

Baili An immediately understood and bent down to gently kiss her fingertips as if performing some sacred ritual.

Her fingertips began to glow, emitting a silvery-white light like stars.

"Lift your head," Yun Rong said softly.

The serene wild forest, peach blossoms, and green lake, the wind brushing against her sleeves, revealing a hint of extreme white at her wrists.

Baili An complied, lifting his head, as the cool fingertips touched down, his brow seemingly covered by a layer of thin snow. The rules of heaven and earth flashed within the spirit platform, and the Spirit Contract was established.

The next moment, Baili An felt as if a sword embryo formed from light and mist suddenly appeared within his spiritual sea. Mysteriously, that sword embryo seemed to harmonize with the distant and unseen Snow Sword, creating an extraordinary, inseverable link.

A wave of weariness rolled over him like a tidal sea.

Baili An knew clearly that he was undergoing a form of death, his body temperature being swept away by the night lake wind, his eyes gradually losing focus. As Yun Rong’s finger left his brow, he felt his soul being drawn out along with that hand, no longer belonging to himself.

He slowly fell, and Yun Rong gently received his cold, ashen body.

After a long while, she slowly lifted her head, a flash of silver sword light passing through her dark eyes. In the surrounding darkness of the night, the soul fire gathered like flowing sand, delineating a contrasting black and white of the utmost beauty in this world.

Yun Rong rose slowly from the lakeside, a gentle breeze brushing against her face, her skirt raised by the silver-white soul fire surrounding her, like ripples forming on the water’s surface.

Her jet-black hair danced wildly in the wind and flowing fire, occasionally veiling her water-like autumn eyes.

In the distance, the howling of wolves began, the rustling of leaves adding to the eerie wailing, reminiscent of a child’s sobs.

In the darkness, a pair of blood-red eyes glowed, lurking in observation, its mouth drooling with blood-tainted saliva, ominously scanning the surroundings.

At last, its gaze locked tightly onto Yun Rong.

In the darkness, it vanished from sight, but faint footprints remained imprinted in the soft soil.

The eerie wind brushed past her ears, tinged with ominous energy.

Yun Rong stood motionless, as the moonlight above her head suddenly waned, devoured by the pitch-black mist-like Ghost Qi. A shadow-like monster lunged at her, its mouth full of resentment capable of corroding bones and dissolving souls.

The ghost was behind, and the sword was there too.

Yun Rong’s spiritual vein was sealed. Her body felt as if a heavy lock had been placed on it, unable to mobilize even an ounce of Spiritual Power within. But the moment she completed the engraving, she was of one mind with her Sword Spirit.

The Sword Spirit was like a newly forged key, able to unlock the sword seal of the Snow Sword.

Several strands of silver-white sword fire appeared around her, and she reached out her hand, shouting in a deep voice: "Submit and Restrain, Illuminate!"

The seemingly weak surrounding sword fire burned fiercely, and the majestic sword light illuminated the lake and wilds.

Yun Rong’s right hand reached into the eerie black Ghost Qi, where it was dispersed by the sword light. She grasped the hilt of the Snow Sword, and with a diagonal sweep towards the sky, she unleashed a strike.

The sword fire burned for an unknown duration, until suddenly a terrifying rip sounded beneath the trees by the lake.

The silver-white sword fire surrounding Yun Rong descended like the wind stopping and sand settling.

At some point, the Snow Sword had left its sheath. Its bright sword tip glowed like mysterious snow in the dark night, as silver-sand-like sword light flowed beneath her sword, slowly transforming into a white cat emanating soul fire light.

Its vertical pupils were water blue, as mysterious as bright pearls.

The severely damaged body of the ghost crashed heavily on the ground, unable to move. A huge breach was cleaved into its body, and the Snow Sword sheath slowly slid out from its body.

Yun Rong picked up her sword sheath.

The sheath lightly encased, the weak and dying ghost was forced to become a wisp of dark mist, which was drawn into the sheath. The Ghost Qi of the world entirely dissipated, restoring clarity.

"Rustle rustle..."

At this moment, slight movements came from the thickets.

Yun Rong looked up and saw the child she had encountered under the jujube tree that day. His mouth was agape, staring at Yun Rong in disbelief. There’s no trace of the day’s disdain or scorn; his eyes sparkled with little stars of admiration.

"Sister, are you a fairy?"

Yun Rong sheathed her sword and squatted down, picked up the cat on the ground, and held it in her arms, looking at the excited child with an amused smile: "No, I’m just a lazy woman."

Recalling the nonsensical words he had spoken before, the child’s face turned red swiftly.

After subjugating the ghost and returning to Rongjia Village, the talisman master surnamed Huang was already dead at the village entrance.

At midnight, a crowd gathered at the village entrance, almost every household’s villagers were alarmed and came out.

Aunt Zeng’s face was pale, looking frightened and unsettled. Several people surrounded her, constantly questioning what had happened, unable to comprehend how the highly skilled Immortal Huang could end up dead here just like that.

The flowing clouds wound, the sword rang clearly.

Just as the villagers were overwhelmed with fear and talked ceaselessly, a sword light pierced through the long night, descending swiftly to the village entrance like a shooting star arrow.

Standing under the tree, the full courtyard of osmanthus flowers were blown into a whirlwind by the wind, their fragrance filling the air.

Yun Rong descended with Sword Control, her dress fluttering in the wind, dust coldly scattering, strands of black hair dancing, her brilliant presence astounding like a goddess, her descent from the south exceedingly graceful, resembling an exiled celestial under the cold moon in the chilling night.

The noisy village entrance suddenly quieted down, Aunt Zeng’s eyebrows quivered, she rubbed her eyes fiercely, thinking she must have seen wrongly.

Is this still the person who did nothing day after day, either squatting by the west wall watching old men crack melon seeds and play chess or lying on a tree eating jujubes, Yun girl?

How does she appear more like an immortal than Immortal Huang?

Yun Rong tossed the child she was holding into his mother’s arms as if unaware of the crowd’s shocked gazes, stepping into the village, calmly surveying the talisman master surnamed Huang who had died miserably on the ground.

His neck was completely torn open, the grisly wound pale, his body drained of Essence Blood, evidently the work of that ghost child.

Yun Rong sighed lightly, grabbed the canvas fluttering at the village entrance, draped it over him, and said in a calm voice: "Let’s disperse."