Chapter 625: This Is Just the Beginning

　　The force within Chu Liuyue’s body and the lightning bolt’s strength fought intensely as they ripped and tore each other apart.

　　Every inch of her blood, muscle, and skeleton was being tortured again and again. Following the heart-wrenching pain, her physical body’s tolerance was also gradually strengthening.

　　It seemed as though she couldn’t feel pain as she stood there upright and endured the striking lightning bolts.

　　The third bolt!

　　Fourth!

　　Fifth!

　　…

　　Ninth!

　　Stars gathered on the Cloud-Sky Copper Sword as though it was a horizontal silver river in the night sky.

　　It was dazzling and mesmerizing. The pure and clean peacock-blue fire quietly burned on top and almost became one with the sword body.

　　The fire was scorching, but the stars were ice-cold. The two extreme forces intersected and formed a stunning suppression.

　　A bright lightning-like pattern appeared on the sword hilt.

　　“Girl, this pattern contains the nine lightning bolts’ strength!” Shangguan Jing couldn’t conceal the happiness in his voice. Even though he was very confident in Chu Liuyue previously, he was still extremely surprised when he actually saw this scene. I really didn’t judge her wrongly! Chu Liuyue has unimaginable perseverance and determination! With her patience and shocking talent, as well as her mysterious trump cards… Her future is limitless!

　　Upon hearing this, Chu Liuyue’s lips gradually curved up into a comforting smile. The previous torture she experienced seemed to become nothing at this point. As long as I can—

　　Hong long!

　　Another loud sound reverberated in her ears.

　　Chu Liuyue looked up in shock and saw that the dark clouds didn’t dissipate.

　　Another lightning bolt appeared within the black spiral.

　　“W-what’s that?” Chu Liuyue widened her eyes.

　　Shangguan Jing coughed. “Oh, that? That’s the tenth lightning bolt!”

　　Chu Liuyue: “…Didn’t you previously say nine bolts—”

　　“Ahem. Girl, I previously said at least nine bolts…”

　　Chu Liuyue was dazed as she tried to recall in detail. That really seems true… I think…

　　She had just survived nine lightning bolts and was too excited, so she actually forgot about this.

　　Seeing the silver lightning bolt that was obviously much thicker than before, Chu Liuyue felt her throat go dry. “…Ancestor, does this mean… I still have to endure another nine lightning bolts?”

　　Shangguan Jing placed his hands behind his back and looked up into the sky, trying his best not to let Chu Liuyue see the guilt on his face. “Ah, um… I guess…”

　　Chu Liuyue’s eyelids twitched. I don’t know if it’s my imagination, but I feel that the Ancestor seems amiss. However, I can’t pinpoint exactly what is wrong.

　　Without waiting for her to think much, the tenth lightning bolt was already striking down.

　　Chu Liuyue stood with her legs apart and knees slightly bent as she held the Cloud-Sky Copper Sword tightly in her hands.

　　The next moment, the blinding light instantly covered her vision.

　　Strength that was even more intense than the previous nine bolts descended along the Cloud-Sky Copper Sword and immediately surged into her body.

　　Numerous bloody wounds immediately exploded in Chu Liuyue’s body, and blood splattered everywhere.

　　At that moment, she became a bloody person.

　　She finally couldn’t hold it back this time, and she let out a short but suppressed grunt.

　　Upon hearing this, Shangguan Jing was worried and hurriedly looked over. When he saw that Chu Liuyue was covered in blood and wounds, his expression instantly stiffened. After surviving the first nine lightning bolts, the tenth bolt’s strength is indeed much stronger than before…

　　“…Girl…” For some reason, he felt very upset when he saw Chu Liuyue in this state. It was as if something heavy was weighing on his heart, and it also seemed like countless needles kept poking it.

　　He couldn’t clearly explain where this feeling came from, but it was etched into his bones, and he couldn’t get rid of it.

　　At one moment, he actually wished he could replace Chu Liuyue and endure all the pain…

　　Shangguan Jing closed his eyes and furrowed his brows tightly.

　　He knew very clearly what the situation was if one triggered lightning to refine a sword. After all, he had personally refined the Long Yuan Sword.

　　Hence, he actually long expected this scene, especially when… he detected that the second bolt’s landing speed had far exceeded what he predicted.

　　He was even more clear about how things would develop.

　　According to his understanding of Chu Liuyue, she could actually survive this round. But when this scene appeared before his eyes, he discovered that he couldn’t bear to see Chu Liuyue suffer such pain.

　　He suppressed his overwhelming emotions and forced himself to stay where he was and not take action. Once he did, it would mean that he had to stop this process.

　　Like what he told Qiang Wanzhou previously… Chu Liuyue’s efforts would turn into dust, and all the torture she suffered would be meaningless.

　　Shangguan Jing watched on as he was deep in thought. I have been swift and decisive all my life, and I very rarely showed such heart-wrenching emotions. Could it be… Is it because I spent a lot of time with Chu Liuyue recently that I’m behaving like this? Or perhaps it’s because of the Long Yuan Sword?

　　Actually, he had long had this vague feeling. There seemed to be a mysterious connection and familiarity between him and Chu Liuyue.

　　This was one of the reasons he was extra intimate toward Chu Liuyue.

　　In the beginning, he still thought that it was because the Long Yuan Sword had recognized Chu Liuyue as its master. But it now seemed like it wasn’t totally the case…

　　…

　　On the other end, Qiang Wanzhou was also watching everything. When that light reverted, he finally got a hurried glimpse of Chu Liuyue’s figure.

　　His eyes shrunk!

　　Chu Liuyue’s body was covered in wounds, and it looked terrifying! As she was wearing red clothes, it wasn’t easy to see the blood spreading. But at this point, her clothes were almost stuck to her body as blood kept dripping down from her sleeves.

　　It wasn’t hard to imagine exactly how much blood she had lost.

　　Qiang Wanzhou’s chest heaved up and down vehemently, and all the blood in his body seemed to have frozen. Yet, his force was still circulating crazily.

　　His beautiful eyes were currently a sea of red, but even he didn’t know what strength he was relying on to contain his urge to rush up…

　　A sentence kept reverberating in his mind: She’s doing all of this and suffering all of this for me!

　　Bam!

　　There vaguely seemed to be something that broke in the depths of his body.

　　…

　　The current Chu Liuyue naturally didn’t know Shangguan Jing and Qiang Wanzhou’s condition. Her eyes and heart were only on the Cloud-Sky Copper Sword in her hands.

　　She kept tidying and gathering the tenth lightning bolt’s strength as she nourished the sword in her hands.

　　The fire burned even more intensely on the sword body, and the stars also became brighter.

　　She finally endured the tenth lightning bolt successfully!

　　Following this was the eleventh bolt!

　　Hong long!

　　The ferocious strength suddenly beckoned upon her.

　　Chu Liuyue’s body finally couldn’t hold on.

　　Kacha!

　　She kneeled down. Her knees harshly collided against the star stone, letting out a low sound.