Chapter 126: An Imaginative Response

"Senior Sister, trust me."

As if he had foreseen this scene, Chen Qi, still locked in a clash of strength, spoke with a faint smile.

Without placing all his hopes solely on his current blade strike, he abruptly unleashed two additional attacks targeting the shadow from above and below, whipping up a pair of fierce gales.

The attack projected from his mouth was a dark, crimson hue, reeking faintly of corruption and filth, aimed straight at the twin faces of the shadow.

The attack bursting from his chest was a brilliant, unblemished crimson, swift as a startled swan; the moment it formed, it crashed directly into the human figure's embrace.

It was precisely a dual-cast of Chen Qi’s Blood Qi Impact and Blood Arrow technique.

Struck by these attacks, the shadow's visage twisted violently. Though no sound escaped her, anyone watching could perceive the agony. The continuous stream of force flowing from her fingertips into the blade weakened noticeably. Simultaneously, her form was jolted by the torrent of blood qi, causing the circulation of true Qi throughout her body to stall for a fraction of a second.

Capitalizing on this twofold weakening, Chen Qi gritted his teeth and pushed his long saber forward another few inches, coming dangerously close to touching the shadow's solidifying body.

"Junior Brother, watch out!"

Yun Tianxin’s anxious voice rang out. Infused with inner force, the warning exploded directly inside Chen Qi's ear canals.

The exact instant those two words—"Junior Brother"—echoed, Chen Qi felt no sense of anomaly, yet he instinctively drew back his blade and leaped backward.

This was a unique tacit understanding born between those intimately familiar with one another, reacting even faster than bodily instinct—especially after having shared brushes with death and sleeping in the same tent. It had practically transformed into a neurological reflex.

Watching from the sidelines, Yun Tianxin nodded with satisfaction, withdrawing the stance she had prepared to strike, though a lingering trace of worry still clouded her gaze.

As the shadow was a replica of herself from several years ago, how could she not understand it? Given her own overbearing temper back then, after being ambushed by a dirty trick, her immediate counterattack would undoubtedly be a merciless, all-out assault.

True to that thought, the moment it crossed her mind, the dark shadows surrounding the figure suddenly began to riot.

In the span of mere breaths, an intensely deep shade of black swept forth from the shadow. This darkness seemed capable of devouring all light; the moment it appeared, the illumination within the entire grotto dimmed significantly. For a time, Chen Qi's vision held only this swath of blackness, blurring everything else into obscurity.

When his senses finally cleared, this patch of darkness was already right in front of Chen Qi, sending pinprick-like sensations of mortal danger rippling across every inch of his skin.

Had Chen Qi not heeded Yun Tianxin's warning and retreated a step ahead of time, that dark light would likely have exploded from within his body by now!

Even so, faced with an attack of such velocity, Chen Qi had only enough time to raise his saber with both hands and brace it against the incoming black light.

*Clang, clang—*

When the dark light collided with the blade, it did not detonate as Chen Qi had imagined. Instead, it seemed to adhere to the long saber, constantly corroding the blood qi energy he had imbued into it.

"Do not abandon your weapon!"

Yun Tianxin's reminder sounded in his ear once more. Chen Qi, together with his long saber, was battered backward repeatedly by the impact of the black light. The speed of his retreat was accelerating, kicking up an increasingly dense shower of sparks against the stone floor.

Though doubts lingered in his heart, Chen Qi chose to obey, gripping the hilt with both hands, his fingers tightly interlocked.

At this moment, the dark light continued to vibrate violently, causing the long saber and Chen Qi's entire body to shake along with it. The frequency of the tremors grew faster and faster, giving Chen Qi the sensation that his bones were about to rattle apart.

Yun Tianxin had appeared in front of Chen Qi at some unknown point. Watching him vibrate like a high-speed motor while being pushed steadily backward, she could not help but curl her lips into a smile.

"Junior Brother, if you can't take it anymore, just call out to Senior Sister!"

*Call you? Can you help me vent this?* Chen Qi mentally joked to himself to keep his spirits up while his body continued to slide backward. Seeing that the mass of black light on his blade still showed no sign of weakening, a flash of inspiration struck him.

The next second, Chen Qi began using both arms to swing the saber in a wide arc, spinning like a miniature blade-screen whirlwind. Leveraging the continuous thrust from the dark light on his blade, he rapidly accelerated his rotational speed.

Feeling that the momentum was sufficient, Chen Qi suddenly leaped into the air.

freed from the friction of the ground, his entire body spun wildly in mid-air. For a moment, the scene looked utterly comical, resembling a flying top.

It was then that Chen Qi demonstrated his formidable control over his own body. Bending slightly at the waist, he gradually transitioned his horizontal spin into a vertical one. To describe it in words, it somewhat resembled a certain anime's "meat-bullet spiked wheel."

The only difference was that protruding from this human projectile was a segment of a blade wrapped in dark light. With every rotation, Chen Qi fiercely slammed the saber down onto the ground, the exact point of contact between blade and earth being that very mass of dark light.

*Boom!*

The moment the dark light touched the ground, a massive crater appeared at the point of impact. Aside from the crater, the saber carved a series of deep gouges into the stone floor. With every collision, those blade scars deepened, yet simultaneously, the dark light coating the blade's edge visibly diminished.

After striking the ground countless times, just as Chen Qi felt his entire body slipping toward numbness, he finally perceived through his energy vision that the black energy on the blade had grown dim.

A trace of joy finally surfaced on his face. Slowly reducing his momentum, he collapsed limply onto the ground, with the long saber standing upright before him.

His Blue-grade long saber was now battered beyond recognition, its edge notched all over, with faint cracks spreading across several sections.

Regardless of any gains from this battle, this long saber was clearly no longer fit for heavy use!

With a wry smile, Chen Qi managed to prop his body up and stumble to his feet. It was then that he noticed Yun Tianxin peeking at him from above.

Only now did he realize the environment he was in. Unbeknownst to him, he had drilled a massive crater five to six meters deep into the stone floor. The walls of the pit were still stained with lingering traces of black energy, and he was currently standing at the very bottom.

Without greeting Yun Tianxin, Chen Qi retrieved his battered blade and laboriously crawled out of the pit.

This battle was not yet over, but if he remembered correctly, he had successfully endured five rounds of attacks.

Having just climbed out of the pit, he naturally cast his gaze toward the human figure, and the sight that met his eyes instantly left him amused beyond measure.

Having unleashed that bolt of dark light, the dark aura coating the surface of Yun Tianxin's shadow had faded, finally revealing her true appearance.

It was a little girl with chubby, baby-fat cheeks. If not for the identical hair ornaments and an elusive sense of familiarity in her facial features, Chen Qi would have suspected he had recognized the wrong person.

For this little girl was sitting powerlessly on the ground, biting her lips while casting a grievance-filled expression in his direction. Her large eyes blinked repeatedly; if she weren't a mere shadow, Chen Qi would have thought tears were about to well up and spill over.

Even more comical was the little girl's physique—chubby and radiating an auspicious plumpness, complete with pudgy little hands—which sent Chen Qi into a brief existential crisis.

Was he really beaten to the point of having no room for counterattack by *this* thing just now?

Could this chubby little kid really be his Senior Sister from four years ago?

Yun Tianxin naturally noticed the scene of the two staring at each other.

A flush of crimson bloomed across her cheeks, and for a moment she dared not raise her head. After a long pause, she offered a shy, low explanation:

"Back then, my mother fed me too many spiritual herbs... You—you are not allowed to look anymore!"

Seeing that his Senior Sister was on the verge of dying of embarrassment, and feeling an aura directed at him growing increasingly palpable, Chen Qi hurriedly averted his gaze while sending a strike from his left hand toward the shadow of the little girl.

He still couldn't resist stealing one last glance:

The little girl's expression of grievance grew even more pronounced, her teary eyes glaring resentfully at Chen Qi as her form slowly began to dissipate.

Resentful was hardly the word; it looked much more like Chen Qi had snatched away her lollipop, and that tragic yet adorable expression nearly melted his heart.

*Bang!* Seeing that Chen Qi's battle had finally concluded and that he still dared to gawk at the ugly blunders of her childhood, Yun Tianxin finally decided she had indulged him enough, bringing a pink fist crashing down onto his head.

Chuckling as he begged for mercy, Chen Qi checked the prompts from the Sprout Space. The absolute worst-case scenario had not come to pass.

[Remaining shadows in the Memory Stone: 2/10]

[Current reward: Cloud Sea Sect Legacy Skill Treasure Chest]

He had been harboring a lingering worry all along: although Yun Tianxin's presence had not directly intervened in the battle, she had undeniably exerted an influence. He had feared the Sprout Space might judge the encounter as a non-solo combat, thereby forfeiting the rewards for the hidden quest.

Fortunately, the Sprout Space hadn't been completely ruthless!

These complex thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant. Refusing Yun Tianxin's gentle attempts to support him after raining a few more blows upon his head, Chen Qi shook his head and staggered toward the Memory Stone, sheathing his battered saber and closing his eyes slightly.

He was going to attempt something practically impossible!

That was, within the few minutes before the next figure manifested, to recreate the state of absolute emptiness of mind and sever that mindless blade-strike once more.

This was the only method he had devised to defeat yet another shadow.