Chapter Ninety-Four: The True Form of the Divine and Demonic World-Ending Sword

After Li Hao’s soul returned to his body, he instantly awoke.

Lin Xueyou and the other five, having watched Li Hao pass the trial at last and obtain the peerlessly imposing greatsword before them, were all overjoyed to see him conscious again.

Lin Xueyou asked excitedly, “Little Brother Li Hao, how are you? Are you hurt?”

Her question was the concern of the other five as well.

Hearing her, Li Hao thought of how he had only seen Yu Xue’s appearance, never the true form of the Sword of Gods and Demons’ World-Ending Edge. Then, seeing how worried his friends were for him, he was deeply moved, and answered with some embarrassment, “I still haven’t seen what that greatsword really looks like. When I came back to my senses and found you all gone, I wanted to check whether you were safe first.”

Hearing this, everyone was touched. Lu Yao answered, “Brother Li Hao, we’re all fine. What about you?”

Hearing her concern, Li Hao almost, as always, reached out to pat Lu Yao’s head. But remembering the scene with Yu Xue, and thinking how Lu Yao was growing up, it felt inappropriate to touch her head in such a public place. Just as his hand was about to land on her hair, he quickly withdrew it and said awkwardly with a sheepish smile, “I’ve made Sister Yao’er worry. I’m fine.”

Lin Xueyou felt a little envious of Lu Yao, being so cared for by Li Hao, and said, “It’s not only Yao’er who was worried about you.”

Li Hao gave his familiar, charming smile and said to them, “I’m sorry for making Sister Xueyou worry, and for troubling you all as well.”

Zhen Ba replied, “It’s nothing. As long as we see that Young Master is safe and sound, that’s enough.”

Kui Hu and the others nodded in agreement.

Qin Zhen’s lively, mischievous nature was still the same; even if he had been struck by lightning a moment ago, the next he would still seem utterly carefree. Looking at Li Hao as he put away the terrifyingly enormous sword, he asked curiously, “Young Master! Where is that sword? Take it out and let the brothers have a look.”

It was not just Qin Zhen. Hearing him, everyone nearby looked at Li Hao with curiosity. In truth, when Li Hao first saw that greatsword, it had been in the cave before it entered his sea of consciousness. Since the sword had gone into his mind on its own, he had not taken a proper look at it either, and was equally curious.

Just as Xiao Jiu was speaking with relish, he suddenly found that the girl Yu Xue before him had disappeared.

He muttered to himself, “That stealth ability is way too powerful!”

Then, after thinking about it, he muttered again, “Huh, that doesn’t seem right. Inside the master’s sea of consciousness, it should basically be impossible to hide oneself. Could it be that she was summoned out by the master?”

Indeed, the Sword of Gods and Demons’ World-Ending Edge had been recalled by Li Hao’s will to the outside world, and Yu Xue’s body had merged into the sword as well.

When Li Hao summoned the Sword of Gods and Demons’ World-Ending Edge with a thought, it thrust itself into the mountain cave at once, causing the entire mountain to tremble violently. The shock sent the few people beside Li Hao stumbling back again and again, nearly toppling to the ground.

Everyone stared in amazement at the giant sword beside Li Hao. It was the same as before, only now it seemed even clearer.

Zhen Ba said, “This is way too shocking!”

Lu Yao covered her small cherry-red lips with both hands and exclaimed, “Wow! So imposing!”

Lin Xueyou was also deeply shaken. The expressions on Kui Hu and the other two were wide-eyed and dumbstruck, their mouths agape in an exaggerated display of astonishment.

Li Hao himself was equally overwhelmed by the sword, his heart surging like raging tides and storm waves. The trembling of the whole cave lasted several breaths before gradually subsiding.

The seven of them, like a group of curious children, circled around the crimson giant sword, looking it over from every angle. Now and then they reached out to touch it here or tap it there. After making a full round without discovering anything, they flew upward to the hilt. At one look, they were startled.

At the junction of blade and hilt there was a blood-red spherical pearl, burning with dense vital force. Within the pearl was a startling crimson character for “demon,” so vivid it seemed painted in blood. Everyone was stunned by that scarlet mark. Lu Yao and Lin Xueyou in particular went slightly pale with fright.

Li Hao and the others also felt a suffocating pressure at the sight.

Qin Zhen murmured, “Is this a demonic sword? No wonder it feels so terrifying.”

Kui Hu cut him off. “Watch that crow mouth of yours. Don’t talk nonsense.”

Qin Zhen looked around awkwardly after hearing that, and seeing that the others were not taking his words too seriously, he finally relaxed a little.

After a moment of shock, Li Hao flew around to the other side of the greatsword. The other six followed him, and there too was an identical blood-red pearl. The only difference was that the character inside had become “god.” Though it was merely a single character, it still gave everyone an overwhelming sense of awe.

That character for “god” seemed like a death god bathed in a sea of blood, eerie and fearsome.

Once again, the seven of them were startled by that bizarre blood-red word. Lin Xueyou and Lu Yao, frightened, clung tightly to Li Hao’s arms on his left and right. Li Hao felt the soft press against both arms, and with those two things holding him from either side, he was so startled he dared not move, floating there blankly in midair with a red face.

Seeing that Li Hao seemed somewhat abnormal, Zhen Ba, Kui Hu, Li Zhan, Qin Zhen, Lin Xueyou, and Lu Yao all examined him closely. Li Hao looked like a blushing wooden puppet, as if he had even forgotten how to breathe. Everyone was baffled.

Only then did Lin Xueyou realize she had been too nervous and had unconsciously hugged Li Hao’s arm tightly against her chest, pressing it right onto her two treasures. As if terrified Li Hao’s arm might crush them, she hurriedly flung his arm away and, mortified beyond measure, punched him.

She pouted in shame, “Pervert.”

Lu Yao saw Lin Xueyou’s action and heard her scolding, only then realizing she had done exactly the same thing. Her movements were almost perfectly in sync with Lin Xueyou’s. It was only because she was too nervous and shy that she had forgotten to add a little punch or a little kick of her own.

At this moment, being called a pervert by Lin Xueyou made Li Hao feel more wronged than anyone in the world.

He thought bitterly to himself, “I didn’t do anything at all, so how did I become a pervert in your eyes? Clearly you’re the one taking advantage of my arm!”

But after suffering a few losses already, even if he were given ten times the courage, he still would not dare say it aloud.

Zhen Ba and the others saw the unusual behavior of the two lovely girls and immediately found the source, finally understanding why Li Hao had looked so absent-minded. Looking at his shy, tense, and helpless expression, the four of them felt nothing but envy, with just a hint of jealousy besides. They could only gloat inwardly and hold back their laughter with all their might.

Though they dared not laugh, they were wronged enough that they clenched their jaws and strained with all their lives to suppress it. Qin Zhen finally managed to squeeze out a few words: “Wait a moment!”

Then he fled toward the cave entrance in panic. Kui Hu roughly understood what Qin Zhen was doing, pointed in his direction, and then chased after him with all his strength. Li Zhan and Zhen Ba followed close behind as well.

The four only stopped when they reached the cave entrance. Had the gale outside not been raging so violently, they would surely have run for hundreds of li before stopping. Once they felt safe, they finally let out the laughter they had been suppressing for so long. They laughed with reckless abandon, as though the sky and earth were collapsing, even more wildly than the wind outside the cave.

After venting themselves completely, Kui Hu said with a smile, “I never would have thought the Young Master’s skin could be so thin. He usually acts so carefree when he’s being shameless with Princess Xueyou, yet when he really runs into something serious, he’s so scared he can’t even move.”

Li Zhan and Qin Zhen echoed, “Exactly, exactly!”

Zhen Ba retorted, “Exactly my foot! How can you two speak ill of the Young Master like that? Don’t you know it’s despicable to gossip about people behind their backs?”

Qin Zhen asked in confusion, “What did we do? Aren’t you the same?”

“Exactly,” Kui Hu said, even rolling his eyes at Zhen Ba.

Zhen Ba pointed to himself, unconvinced. “What did I do? Let me tell you, do you know what I was thinking back then? I was just too envious of the Young Master. Sigh! Someday I’m going to have both arms around me too.”

As he spoke, he even made a hugging gesture, so immersed in the part that Kui Hu and the others were left utterly speechless. At first they had thought Zhen Ba was going to say something righteous and solemn, and never imagined he would instead utter such shameless words.

The three stood up and, in unison, gave him a contemptuous glare. Then, together, they tossed him the same sentence: “Shameless!”

As their words fell, the three turned and flew away.

Seeing that Kui Hu and the others had abandoned him, Zhen Ba hurriedly shouted, “Three little brothers, wait for me!”

He quickly got up and chased after them.

Li Hao, Lin Xueyou, and Lu Yao heard the four outside burst into loud laughter. They already understood in their hearts the shamelessness and childishness of those four. Yet Li Hao, Lin Xueyou, and Lu Yao tacitly acted as though they had heard nothing at all. Just as they were trying to hide the awkwardness in their hearts, the three crimson faces that had risen unbidden betrayed them completely.

Zhen Ba, Kui Hu, Li Zhan, and Qin Zhen thought Li Hao, Lin Xueyou, and Lu Yao had no idea what they had done. The four flew back swaggering as if they had simply gone out for a stroll.

Qin Zhen delivered a perfect show of guilt by vehement denial, patting his chest as he said with lingering fear, “Young Master, the wind outside is no joke at all. It feels like it might even get stronger, too fierce, too frightening. It seems we won’t be able to go out tonight.”

Hearing Qin Zhen’s shamelessness, Zhen Ba and the others looked down on him deeply, even more than they had mocked Zhen Ba just now. They thought, “What do you mean the wind is fierce? It’s obviously your laughter that was fierce. As if I’d believe that.”

Li Hao also gave the perfect response and said, “The wind outside is strong. Tonight we’ll rest in this cave, and once it calms down, we’ll leave.”

Zhen Ba suddenly said in surprise, “Huh? There seems to be a character on the scabbard.”

Hearing this, everyone was pulled out of their awkwardness and regained some composure. They hurried over to Zhen Ba’s side and looked in the direction of his gaze. There really did seem to be a character on the scabbard, but it was too close to see clearly what the enormous character actually was.

The seven of them quickly put some distance between themselves and the crimson greatsword. Only after retreating three or four zhang did they finally see the true appearance of the character on the scabbard.