Chapter 322: Sword Qi Like a Dragon, One Arrow Shatters the Demon

"Sword Qi Domain— and a mastery of it at such a level? How is this possible!" The Gray-Clothed Man stared in horror, feeling the overwhelming aura radiating from Old Doctor. His eyes widened with dread.

He finally understood why the Plague Gourd had been issuing constant warnings all along.

This old man was terrifying— he had awakened the legendary Xian Tian Ling Yu, a domain of sword qi so potent it could kill with a single breath.

Shocked, the Gray-Clothed Man acted instantly. With a flick of his mind, he summoned thick waves of gray mist from the gourd at his back, enveloping his body like a cocoon.

Boom!

The moment the mist sealed around him, Old Doctor’s attack struck.

A torrent of sword qi, vast and furious, surged forward like a coiled dragon, slamming into the gray barrier.

But the mist held— not breaking, but recoiling violently as the sword qi slammed into it. The Gray-Clothed Man was flung backward, the force of the impact sending shockwaves through his body.

"Hmm?" Old Doctor narrowed his eyes. Instantly, the countless strands of sword qi spiraled around the Gray-Clothed Man, swirling like a school of predatory fish, gnawing at the protective mist with relentless hunger.

They were devouring it— bit by bit, eroding it away.

"Damn it! How can this old man command his domain with such precision?!" The Gray-Clothed Man’s face turned ashen. He hadn’t expected Old Doctor’s control over sword qi to be this refined— so fluid, so instinctive.

Sword qi moved at the mere thought of his will. It flowed like a limb, obedient and deadly.

He’d faced skilled sword masters before— but compared to this, they were children playing with sticks.

"If the Plague Gourd hadn’t been weakened, if its power hadn’t been drained… how could you dare challenge me like this?!" The Gray-Clothed Man seethed inwardly.

Though he had fused with the Plague Gourd, his cultivation was still in its earliest stage. Worse, the artifact had been damaged before, and most of its true power remained dormant.

Right now, he had few options— only defense.

"Let the Plague Qi consume your sword qi. Once it’s all devoured, it’ll be your final breath," he growled, his voice laced with venom.

The gray mist wasn’t just a shield—it was the very essence of the Plague Gourd’s original pestilence, refined and condensed into a protective aura. It was not only impenetrable, but also capable of absorbing and devouring spiritual energy to grow stronger.

Old Doctor’s sword qi was formidable, but as long as it failed to break through in one strike, it would only feed the Plague Gourd.

And so, the balance would shift— until Old Doctor’s spirit energy ran dry, and then… it would be his turn.

"Wait… this mist is eating my sword qi?" Old Doctor sensed the anomaly instantly. The sword qi he had formed from Heaven and Earth qi— normally unbreakable— was not being destroyed. It was being consumed.

And worse, the gray mist seemed to grow stronger with every bite.

"Ah… so this mist is no ordinary defense," Old Doctor realized. "Heaven and Earth qi alone cannot destroy it."

With a thought, the sword qi circling the Gray-Clothed Man shifted again.

From the sky, threads of pure qi were drawn in— pulled from higher realms by his will— and woven into the sword qi, amplifying it tenfold.

Now, the sword qi surged with new power. The gray mist, once so confident, began to crack and dissolve under the relentless assault.

"What?!" The Gray-Clothed Man’s soul flared with alarm. He felt it instantly—the weakening of his own defense. His eyes widened in horror.

"Old man… you’re not just a Xian Tian Jing cultivator. You’re a Lianqi Practitioner!"

He sensed the subtle shift in the flow of qi. The old man wasn’t just wielding sword qi— he was commanding the very essence of the universe.

Realization struck him like a lightning bolt.

The Plague Qi could devour sword qi made from spirit energy—but it couldn’t consume qi formed from the fundamental elements of the cosmos.

And now, the Plague Qi was being erased.

"Each trio of qi-infused sword qi strands can destroy one strand of gray mist," Old Doctor calculated.

He felt the power in his brow cavity surge— the spirit soul force boiling within.

Instantly, more qi was torn from the higher realms and poured into the sword qi, reinforcing it. The attack intensified, pressing in from all sides.

"No! This old man has a domain— he can draw in qi endlessly! If this continues, I’ll be trapped and crushed!" The Gray-Clothed Man’s face paled. He knew— if he didn’t act now, he’d die here.

He turned, yanking the Plague Gourd from his back, placing it before him. With a sharp bite to his tongue, he spat a stream of fresh blood onto the gourd.

The moment it touched the surface, the gourd erupted with a surge of gray light. A thick, swirling mist burst from its mouth, wrapping around him like a storm.

"Old man… you forced me to this!"

After spitting blood, the Gray-Clothed Man looked utterly drained. His face, already pale, turned ghostly white. His aura wavered, his breath shallow.

But his eyes— they burned with madness.

With a roar, he lifted the gourd, aiming its mouth directly at Old Doctor.

A beam of condensed gray light shot forth— a lance of death.

"Warning!" Old Doctor’s instincts screamed. He didn’t hesitate. His spirit force surged through his body, flooding into his sword.

A flash of crimson and white— sharp, brilliant, and deadly— flared from the tip.

He slashed, cutting through the air just three feet from his body.

Pfft!

The clash was silent, but the shockwave that followed was immense. An invisible ripple spread outward.

"Get back!" Ji Jia Zhu and the others, standing nearby, felt an icy dread grip their hearts. They leapt backward instinctively.

Then they saw it—the ripple had erased everything in its path. Trees, stones, the very ground— all reduced to dust, scattered like ash.

Thankfully, the villagers had fled long before. Otherwise, that single blast would have claimed dozens.

"Damn it!" Ji Jia Zhu watched in horror as the ripple began to spread toward Lu Qing’s array.

If the barrier was broken— if the treatment for Ji Fei was interrupted— it would be catastrophic.

Why didn’t I stop it earlier? he cursed inwardly.

But then— a white hand suddenly reached out from the light screen of the array, blocking the ripple mid-air.

The once invincible wave struck the hand— and shattered against it like a gnat hitting a wall.

Not a single ripple disturbed the barrier.

"Lu Xiao Langjun!" Ji Jia Zhu gasped.

The hand belonged to none other than Lu Qing— the man who should have been tending to Ji Fei.

"You don’t need to worry, Master Ji," Lu Qing said calmly. "The Zhang Qi Yin Ji within your son has been purged."

Ji Jia Zhu’s face lit up with relief. He opened his mouth to thank him— but Lu Qing raised a hand.

"Later. First, we deal with this demon."

Ji Jia Zhu swallowed his words and nodded.

Lu Qing turned his gaze forward.

Old Doctor and the Gray-Clothed Man had ceased fighting. The latter’s face was now deathly pale, his spirit energy nearly extinguished.

Old Doctor looked even worse. The gray beam had been overwhelming— had it not been for his spirit force and deep cultivation in sword qi, that one attack would have crippled him.

Now, though he’d blocked it, his arm trembled with fatigue. His dantian was nearly empty. Worse, several threads of gray qi had penetrated his body, and he could only barely suppress them with the last of his strength.

"Master… are you alright?" Lu Qing stepped beside him.

"Fine… I’m just spent. I won’t be able to fight again. A Qing, be careful. That gourd is truly unnatural."

Old Doctor exhaled, forcing a weak smile.

"Understood. You rest. I’ll handle the rest."

Lu Qing nodded, then formed a white spirit talisman with a flick of his hand. It shot into Old Doctor’s body.

The moment it touched him, the invading gray qi dissolved like mist under sunlight. Old Doctor’s spirit surged back to life. Without a word, he sat cross-legged and began to heal.

"Wait… you can summon a Ling Fu so easily? Are you a Spirit Talisman Master?" The Gray-Clothed Man stared, stunned.

A master of qi cultivation was already shocking enough. But now a man who could craft spirit talismans with a thought?

What kind of world was this? The qi had only just returned. The immortal path had not yet awakened. So why were so many people suddenly appearing— masters of the Dao?

His mind spun. Was the Plague Gourd lying to him?

"You know of Spirit Talisman Masters?" Lu Qing tilted his head slightly, surprised.

"Can you see through the true nature of my gourd?" The Gray-Clothed Man’s voice trembled.

"There is nothing in this world I do not know," Lu Qing said coldly.

"You think you can rule the world with a broken gourd? How naive. Qi Lao Si— you slaughtered over a hundred thousand people in Feng Zhou to nourish the Plague Qi. This sin is long overdue for repayment."

The words struck like a hammer.

The Gray-Clothed Man froze. The Plague Gourd in his hands pulsed violently.

A wave of pure terror surged into his mind— shattering his delusions.

Escape!

Without hesitation, he turned and fled.

Even though Lu Qing radiated no overwhelming aura, the Gray-Clothed Man felt a primal dread— a sense of absolute doom.

This man knew everything.

He had no will to fight. Only the desperate urge to run— as far, as fast, as possible.

With a final, agonizing effort, he bit his tongue again, spitting another stream of blood onto the gourd.

The gourd flared with light. Gray mist erupted from its mouth, wrapping around him like a cocoon. With a roar, it shot into the sky— flying like a bird.

Everyone stared, stunned.

Even Ji Jia Zhu— a man who had seen many wonders in his life— could not believe his eyes.

How can an artifact carry a person through the sky?

"What kind of treasure is that?!"

Only Lu Qing remained calm.

As the gourd carried the Gray-Clothed Man into the sky, a bow and arrow appeared in his hand— as if conjured from thin air.

He drew back the string. The bow bent into a perfect crescent.

With a surge of mind force, qi from the entire sky rushed toward the arrow, gathering at its tip.

Then— release.

The arrow shot forward like a meteor, piercing the gray mist with a silent roar.

Lu Qing’s power was beyond comprehension. He had reached the Treasure Light Realm, and his body had been refined through cultivation. His strength was unmatched in the world.

The arrow, propelled by such force, moved faster than a bird.

The gray mist— once swift— was instantly overtaken.

"NO! BLOCK IT!" The Gray-Clothed Man screamed, turning to see the arrow closing in. He poured every ounce of will into forming a barrier of gray mist.

But it was useless.

The Plague Qi was strong— but against this arrow, it was like paper against steel.

One breath. That was all it took.

The arrow pierced through the mist, through his chest, and drove deep into the Plague Gourd behind him.

BOOM!

The explosion was deafening.

The Gray-Clothed Man’s body was torn apart, reduced to a cloud of red mist.

The gray mist vanished instantly. Only the Plague Gourd remained— flung high into the air, spinning wildly before crashing into the ground with a thunderous impact, creating a massive crater.

Silence.

Utter silence.

All eyes were locked on the scene— frozen in shock.

Then, slowly, Lu Qing stepped forward— walking toward the fallen gourd.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end