I Have a Sword to Ask the Heavens

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Chapter 90: Title

The sheer cliff face echoed with faint wails carried upward by wind blades from the abyss.

“This is the Cliff of Reflection?” Lu Ciyou leaned over the edge, hair whipping across her face as she peered into the bottomless chasm.

Yan Li tugged her back and smoothed her hair. “Special formations guard the depths. Only the sect leader and elders may enter.”

Lu Ciyou hummed in understanding – every sect had its secrets, including her Liujin Pavilion’s guarded chambers.

“Why did Xia Shi send us here?” She shook the jade bell, its spiritual power-propelled chime slicing through the gale to pierce the abyss.

The wailing ceased instantly. A dozen trapped figures below lifted their heads, sensing the intruders through the bell’s resonance.

At the center of the bagua formation sat a blood-crusted figure in sect leader robes. No breath stirred her chest until the bell’s third chime cracked her parched lips in a silent cry:

_Xia Wuwei._

Cliffside, Lu Ciyou stopped ringing the bell and leaned into Yan Li. “Know how to descend?”

Yan Li nodded.

Lu Ciyou’s eyes curved mischievously. “Truly the next Sect Leader of Sanqing in the making.”

She tugged Yan Li’s collar, brushing a kiss against her jaw. “Marry into my family. Merge Liujin Pavilion with Sanqing Realm, yes?”

Blushing furiously, Yan Li turned away while clutching her Soaring Dragon spear. “Impossible.”

Her Master would never permit it.

The young lady chuckled at her solemn refusal, delighted by the reaction.

“Yan Li—”

Yan Li’s expression tensed as she listened carefully.

The voice that had just called out seemed to merge with many others, not an illusion.

“What’s wrong?” Lu Ciyou stopped joking when she noticed Yan Li’s sudden seriousness.

“Someone called my name.”

Since arriving at the cliff’s edge, Lu Ciyou had only heard relentless wind, but she trusted Yan Li’s judgment.

“Yan Li—”

It came again—this time, both heard the cry.

“At the cliff’s base!”

Yan Li gripped Lu Ciyou’s hand and hurried to the formation’s core where Ye Xiao had once guided her.

Without entering through this point, the wind blades swirling like sword energy below would shred anyone descending.

The formation flickered, dimming once it recognized them as Sanqing disciples.

“A Li.”

The achingly familiar voice rooted Yan Li in place. Her eyes wavered, refusing to trace the sound’s origin.

This resembled her Master’s voice, yet it sounded frail—a dying whisper.

No. This couldn’t be her Master.

Clutching Lu Ciyou’s hand tighter, Yan Li forced herself forward—

“A Li!”

Now countless voices reverberated through the Cliff of Reflection.

Lu Ciyou had turned toward Ye Xiao’s voice first, disbelief gripping her.

How had the Sanqing Realm’s sect leader fallen to such a state?

Even parched roadside weeds held more vitality than his current form.

“A Li.” Lu Ciyou pulled Yan Li’s sleeve. “…Look.”

If Ye Xiao was here, this must be why Xia Shi had sent them.

Yan Li turned slowly, vision blurring, until her knees struck stone at the sight of the figure kneeling in shadows.

“…Master.”

The Cliff of Reflection imprisoned Sanqing’s most gifted yet corrupted disciples—stripped of Golden Cores and spiritual power.

Powerless, they couldn’t escape their confinement or weave illusions to trick visitors.

Yan Li had never forgotten Ye Xiao’s teachings from her lone childhood visit here.

Her Master had committed no crime against Sanqing. He didn’t belong here.

Unless… catastrophe had struck the Sanqing Realm.

Ye Xiao gazed at his bowing disciple, pride softening his weary eyes at Yan Li’s rapid growth.

“Rise.”

Her voice was weaker than a whisper.

Yan Li raised her head slowly, tears streaming down her face.

"Master… why…?"

Too much needed explaining, but Ye Xiao could no longer speak much. She forced a weak smile before finally rasping out, "Find Master Fan. Save Sanqing."

Yan Li shook her head violently, crawling forward on scraped knees. "I’ll carry you out! I’ll—"

A golden streak of light suddenly split the space between them. Wind blades materialized from nowhere, slicing toward them both.

The sky trembled with a dragon’s roar. Lu Ciyou appeared behind Yan Li, her spear intercepting every lethal gust.

"Save her first!" the young woman barked without turning.

Yan Li gaped at the golden spiritual energy encircling her Master.

This power…

It carried Xia Shi’s signature.

"No." Her voice broke. "This can’t be—"

"Yan Li!" Ye Xiao’s weakened snarl cut through the air. "Must I repeat my teachings? What matters more—my life or Sanqing Realm?" The effort left her breathless, lips trembling without sound.

"I…" Yan Li’s hands clawed at the dirt. Her Master had raised her since childhood. She knew Sanqing meant more than life itself to Ye Xiao. But how could a disciple abandon her teacher?

"Young Master Lu." Ye Xiao’s body convulsed as she forced the words through clenched teeth. "Take her… I beg you."

The spear nearly slipped from Lu Ciyou’s grip. The proud sect leader of Sanqing—begging? If even Lu Ciyou understood the gravity, how could Yan Li refuse?

"Stop!" Yan Li sobbed, vision blurring as she staggered upright. "I’ll obey… Master."

She stumbled backward, eyes locked on Ye Xiao’s fading form until Lu Ciyou yanked her behind rocks. The wind blades ceased abruptly.

"Someone’s coming," Lu Ciyou hissed, pressing them against cold stone. Only one path led through these cliffs.

The newcomer’s face meant nothing, yet something in her bearing made Lu Ciyou’s spine stiffen—the tilt of a chin, the swing of sleeves. Familiar, yet unplaceable.

"Still breathing?" The stranger clicked her tongue at Ye Xiao’s motionless form. "What would your dear junior sister say if I let her senior die?"

Ye Xiao didn’t open her eyes. Her pallid face might have been carved from ice.

Pei Jiu smirked, scanning the cliffside until her gaze froze on a particular shadow—the exact spot where two figures hid. As she took her first step toward them, a hoarse voice rasped:

"She’ll kill you when she learns. Two betrayals… all your schemes… she’ll carve them from your flesh."

“She won’t know.” Pei Jiu opened her palm, revealing a jade mirror resting in its center.

“This Past Mirror works wonders. I altered Xia Wuwei’s memory with it, making her forget the past. Now she only has me. She’ll never find out.”

“Defying heaven brings divine punishment!” Ye Xiao’s eyes burned red, but his frail body couldn’t lift itself.

“Heaven?” Pei Jiu scoffed, tucking away the mirror. She raised a finger skyward and barked, “Soon I’ll become heaven itself!”

Ye Xiao stared as if addressing a lunatic. “You truly believe you can control her?”

The words pierced Pei Jiu’s pride. Her face darkened. “I can.”

Though weakening, Ye Xiao pressed on. “Your spiritual power’s stolen. That body isn’t yours. How long before she notices? Ridiculous!”

“Silence!” Killing intent flashed in Pei Jiu’s eyes, but golden spiritual energy flickering in her palm made her pause.

“Odd. You never speak when I visit.”

“Has someone come?”

Pei Jiu’s smile didn’t reach her eyes as she stared where Ye Xiao had glanced.

Ye Xiao clenched his jaw, revealing nothing.

“Your prized disciple Yan Li?” Pei Jiu mused. “Or those fools Wuwei banished here – Senior Sister Zuo Ji? Qi Sheng?”

She drifted toward the spot. “Wait—they’re dead. Clever Xia Wuwei… sniffed out irregularities, doubted herself. Mentioned Senior Sister Zuo Ji, Qi Sheng, Qin An. Forced my hand, so—”

_Boom!_

The lone boulder shielding the area exploded into dust.

Empty.

Pei Jiu frowned, withdrawing her attack. She turned to find Ye Xiao meditating calmly.

A pulse of spiritual energy swept the Cliff of Reflection. Nothing.

“Relax, Sect Leader Ye.” Pei Jiu smirked. “After today, only I’ll visit.”

She added her custom formation outside the cliff—unbreakable except by superior skill.

Ye Xiao sighed, eyeing the rubble.

_Please let this work._

Elsewhere, Zhuque labored through air, two unconscious humans dangling from her claws.

Space-tearing came easy to divine beasts, but she’d hatched mere months ago. A sword energy streak startled her grip loose.

They fell.