This Sword Cultivator is Somewhat Dependable

Rushing desperately, Su Shu finally arrived at the battlefield only to see the vicious-looking Wen Guang sliced neatly into two halves.

But she had no time to concern herself with this scene, for her attention was drawn to Xu Hao, who lay on the ground, writhing in agony.

Xu Hao had lost consciousness due to the pain, and his Golden Armor had faded away quietly without notice.

"Big Brother Xu?!" The Xu Hao who had always been invincible in her heart was now curled up like a shrimp, continuously letting out low, hoarse groans, and Su Shu couldn’t believe it.

Piercing shrieks emanated from Xu Hao’s body.

As this high-pitched squeal entered her ears, an indescribable piercing pain spawned in Su Shu’s mind.

Su Shu quickly sealed her ears with Spiritual Power in pain, but found the action utterly useless.

The shrill squeal did not weaken at all, still attacking her Divine Soul relentlessly.

Ah—

Xu Hao’s pained and muffled cries rose again.

Su Shu’s expression changed, and she could no longer heed the prickling pain in her Divine Soul, flying straight to Xu Hao’s side.

Under the influence of the shrieking sound, Su Shu’s complexion turned deathly pale, but her eyes were filled with defiance.

Struggling to rally her spirits, Su Shu joined her hands in front of her chest to form a strange seal with great difficulty; Spiritual Power erupted from within her body.

The next moment, a peculiar six-petaled flower appeared before her, formed of green Spiritual Power, flickering with Spiritual Light, looking incredibly extraordinary!

[Rejuvenation Spirit Art]!

This was a healing Spirit Art for Spiritual Cultivators, aimed at treating the injuries suffered by cultivators and also had a detoxifying effect.

The six petals indicated that Su Shu’s Rejuvenation Spirit Art had reached level 6.

"Go!" Su Shu murmured.

The green Spirit Flower flew straight towards Xu Hao and merged into his body.

The originally dark mists enveloping Xu Hao suddenly flashed with green Spiritual Light, which quickly suppressed the dark mists.

A glimmer of joy appeared on Su Shu’s pale face.

But this joy did not last long because the next second, a denser black mist burst from Xu Hao’s body and swallowed the green Spiritual Light completely in a single breath.

What is this?!

Noticing that Xu Hao’s breath had weakened further after this event, a fine cold sweat involuntarily appeared on Su Shu’s forehead.

It was due to the pain brought by the shrieking sound, as well as the panic in her heart.

Tiger Squad had gone through many changes in membership due to sacrifices since its very beginning.

Of the six cultivators who were with it at the start, only two are still alive to this day.

—Her and Xu Hao.

With the many years of life-and-death experiences, the tacit understanding and feelings between her and Xu Hao needed no expression.

Now, with Xu Hao in mortal danger and her Rejuvenation Spirit Art ineffective, how could she not panic?

With trembling hands, Su Shu took out a variety of Healing Pills from her Storage Ring, hoping to feed them to Xu Hao.

"The pills are useless."

Lu Qingshan’s voice rang out.

Su Shu turned to see Lu Qingshan, who had arrived by her side without her knowing when; she froze for a moment, then quickly came to her senses.

"Do you know what’s wrong with Big Brother Xu? You must save him!" Su Shu pleaded uncontrollably.

Ever since they had met, while often teasing Lu Qingshan, Su Shu had also taken care of him during their missions, adopting an elder sister’s attitude. Now, finally, due to Xu Hao’s condition, she revealed a vulnerable side.

Seeing Su Shu looking as pale as death from the impact of the shrieking sound, Lu Qingshan furrowed his brows, took out a Snow Lotus Pill, and placed it in Su Shu’s mouth.

Under the effect of the Snow Lotus Pill, Su Shu’s complexion finally improved slightly, but the urgency and helplessness in her eyes did not lessen in the slightest.

"Don’t worry, I will do my utmost to save the captain," Lu Qingshan assured Su Shu.

Lu Qingshan’s voice was not loud, but his tone was very determined, as if carrying some strength that unconsciously steadied Su Shu’s frantic heart slightly.

...

Bang!

Dust flew in all directions.

The massive Red Rock Goose landed nearby, and Xiao Zhi and Li Zu leaped down from the beast’s back.

They, too, had heard the commotion here; without any delay, they swiftly dealt with their targets and rushed over immediately.

"It’s a Divine Soul Attack!" Li Zu’s face changed as he felt the impact of the sonic attack and dared not approach any closer.

"Su Shu, what’s happened to the team leader?" Xiao Zhi asked anxiously.

Lu Qingshan paid no attention to Li Zu and Xiao Zhi who were following behind, silently bowing his head as he scanned Xu Hao’s body with his Divine Sense.

Through the black fog, Lu Qingshan’s Divine Sense probed into Xu Hao’s body, heading straight for Xu Hao’s heart.

Hiss—

Lu Qingshan winced in pain.

Just as his Divine Sense was about to touch Xu Hao’s heart, something out of nowhere devoured his Divine Sense.

Although his Divine Sense had suffered a heavy blow, Lu Qingshan’s expression did not change.

So it’s in the heart after all.

Lu Qingshan thought to himself.

Having confirmed the situation, Lu Qingshan drew the Crying Soul Sword, its sharp tip aimed at Xu Hao’s chest, poised to stab down.

Su Shu’s face changed instantly.

"What are you doing?!" Li Zu, who had been deterred by the screeching sound and hadn’t dared to approach earlier, saw the scene and shouted angrily.

Instinctively, an Ice Arrow shot out in an instant, aiming directly at Lu Qingshan.

He was trying to stop Lu Qingshan!

A shield of Spiritual Light appeared, deflecting the Ice Arrow sent by Li Zu.

It was a Spirit Art cast by Su Shu.

"Su Shu, why? This kid is going to kill the team leader, and instead of stopping him, why are you blocking me?" Li Zu’s eyes reddened with anger, unable to comprehend Su Shu’s actions.

Given that Lu Qingshan had only joined the team for half a day, it was not very realistic for a usually cautious and suspicious Cultivator to develop trust in Lu Qingshan in such a short time.

Therefore, it was not unreasonable for Li Zu to believe that Lu Qingshan’s actions were an intent to harm the team leader.

Su Shu shook her head at Li Zu, "Lu Qingshan is trying to save the team leader, don’t make trouble."

"But this…" Li Zu tried to argue further.

Xiao Zhi raised his hand to stop Li Zu and advised, "No one here is more concerned about the team leader’s safety than Su Shu. So if Su Shu didn’t stop Lu Qingshan, there must be a reason for it... let’s just watch and see what happens."

Persuaded by Xiao Zhi’s words, Li Zu gradually calmed down.

This little hiccup had no effect on Lu Qingshan’s movements.

The tip of the Crying Soul Sword pierced into Xu Hao’s chest.

The body of a Body Cultivator is extremely strong. Even with Xu Hao unconscious and offering no resistance, Lu Qingshan still had to use a bit of strength to drive the Crying Soul Sword in.

Like a skilled surgeon, Lu Qingshan opened Xu Hao’s chest with a few movements of the Crying Soul Sword.

Ah!

Su Shu couldn’t help exclaiming in shock.

It turned out not just the surface of the body but Xu Hao’s insides were already filled with black fog. As soon as Lu Qingshan cut open Xu Hao’s chest, the black fog, as if finding an outlet, began to spill out continuously.

Once the black fog dissipated, Lu Qingshan could see Xu Hao’s still faintly beating heart.

A Body Cultivator’s heart should beat strong and forcefully, but now it could only flutter weakly as seen, indicating just how dire Xu Hao’s condition had become.

Lu Qingshan’s expression was stern, a cold light flashing in his eyes. An outpouring of Spiritual Power surged, pressing towards Xu Hao’s heart.

That’s when a pitch-black imp, no bigger than a fingertip but hideously grotesque, crawled out from Xu Hao’s heart, opening its densely fanged mouth and emitting a screech that was sharper than any before.

Even with the protection of the Snow Lotus Pill safeguarding his Divine Soul, under this piercing screech, Lu Qingshan’s Divine Soul still suddenly felt a burst of sharp pain.

This pain was far greater than the earlier devouring of his Divine Sense.

Under this sonic attack, Li Zu and Xiao Zhi, who had not taken the Snow Lotus Pill and were not far away, blacked out for a moment, losing consciousness and slumping to the ground.

Lu Qingshan, gritting his teeth, endured the pain in his Divine Soul as he flicked the Crying Soul Sword.

With a sizzling sound.

The imp was skewered like a candied haw on a stick on the tip of Lu Qingshan’s sword.

The imp struggled fiercely, opening its mouth to bite the Crying Soul Sword, creating a series of metallic clanging sounds.

Lu Qingshan shook his head.

Having caught it, there was no reason to let it go.

Lu Qingshan twisted the sword, churning within the imp’s body. The imp screamed miserably and finally fell silent.

"Target has been slain. You have killed the Ghostly Scream Imp (lv15) and gained 900 experience points!"