VESSEL - Extinction Countdown 915: Primal Sword Art

“Your strange arm wields an ancient technique—so ancient, even I nearly failed to recognize it. If I’m right, the formation it executed originates from the arts of the immortals of old, known to cultivators as the Sword Art!”

“The Sword Art, as its name implies, is the intent forged before casting a spell or forming a seal. For high-tier cultivators, such rituals are unneeded—a single art can reshape heaven and earth, banish gods, and slay evil!”

“Being a Sword Art, it bears force of slaughter, its might able to cleave mountains, part seas, shatter stars, and slice the moon! Heh, had you not stopped it in time, even with my aid, Friend Yi would’ve been gravely wounded!”

“Since you and Friend Yi are bound to me, Array Spirit: Evil-Slayer, and you’ve sworn a heavy oath, I, servant of the Dao, will stake my existence on this! Ye Shisan, don’t let me down! Hahaha!”

With a bold, resounding laugh, a beam of azure light shot straight into Ye Shisan’s crown. In that instant, a wave of coolness swept through his entire being—his shoulders, his back, even the tightness in his chest eased as if a great burden had been lifted. That sensation… not once in his thirty-plus years had he felt so free!

The rigid arm suspended in midair slowly descended—not withdrawn, but shifted from an art into an open palm, gently covering Ye Shisan’s eyes.

One must understand: the translucent arm that emerged from behind Ye Shisan was translucent. It could pass through his garments without leaving a trace, yet it could also slice through sixty centimeters of reinforced concrete beneath the Fireseed Corps’s safehouse as effortlessly as cutting through tofu.

Yet, as it shielded Ye Shisan's eyes, he froze. Through the palm, he saw a world entirely unlike his own—

The world as seen through Yi Qing’s eyes!

Ye Shisan gazed in a trance at the surreal yet breathtaking vista before him, murmuring:

A spiritual stream from heaven flows,

Realms break for green peaks and white cliffs.

Seek the immortals’ true realm afar,

To know it’s no mere mortal dust.

The giant jade in the distant canyon—wasn’t it the “green peak” spoken of in the verse?

The cliff beneath his feet, composed entirely of white sand and granite-like stone—wasn’t this the “white cliff”?

This place—Grandpa Ye Dongsheng was here too!

Not only had he been here, he’d witnessed this stunning landscape. How had a mere mortal done it?

Ye Shisan removed the strange hand, eyeing the illusion again. Only now did he realize that since entering Weeping Valley, he and Yi Qing had been circling in place!

At last, Yi Qing snapped back to awareness. Upon seeing Ye Shisan in his current state, she instinctively stepped back. This time, her Azure Eye had fully returned—and suddenly noticed a long, translucent monstrous hand was stretching out from his back!

“Ye Shisan… is the Pseudo-Spirit active again? Or have you already been assimilated by Zhu Qiu?”

Ye Shisan was momentarily stunned, then the strange arm swayed naturally before the two of them, even performing a series of movements!

“Holy…! I can control it!”

“Really?”

Yi Qing was skeptical. She had only zoned out for a brief moment—and yet Ye Shisan had already tamed such a powerful Pseudo-Spirit?

“You don’t believe me?” Ye Shisan backed up, widening the distance between himself and Yi Qing. The strange arm behind him suddenly extended upward, soaring into the air and reaching a height of nearly three or four zhang.

In the next moment, it formed a seal. Its translucent form blurred instantly, and a massive boulder not far from them erupted in a cloud of dust. The entire rock split cleanly in two— toppling to either side like a halved watermelon.

Yi Qing couldn’t help but gasp.

That was natural granite—one of the hardest materials found in nature. On the Mohs scale, diamond ranks at 10, the highest, while granite sits at 7: dense, durable, and exceptionally strong.

And yet, it had been sliced cleanly in two… as if it were nothing.

Ye Shisan’s eyes lit up. He hadn’t expected the strange arm to be this powerful.

With such force at his command, rescuing You Long’er and Vanilla might finally be within reach.

His confidence surged. Turning to Yi Qing, Ye Shisan declared, “I’m sure of it now—Weeping Valley is the very place my grandfather spoke of in his poem. You Long’er and Vanilla must be here!”

To his surprise, Yi Qing said nothing. She strode forward in silence—and without warning, delivered a fierce punch straight to Ye Shisan’s chest.

As a top Fireseed Corps elite, her strike was no joke. That single blow sent Ye Shisan—who stood a full head taller—flying onto his back!

Clutching his gut, he leapt up. “What the hell! Are you crazy?”

Yi Qing’s voice was icy. “Even with the Pseudo-Spirit’s power, your body’s still that of a mortal. I knocked you down with a single punch—imagine Weeping Valley’s unknown dangers? They won’t go easy on you!”

Ye Shisan paused—then laughed. “You know… ever since I was discharged from the hospital, this is the first time I’ve truly felt alive. Felt like I exist. If you stop me from saving them—then the rest of my life might as well be death.

So—are you still going to stand in my way?”

Yi Qing understood what Ye Shisan meant. “But…” she began.

“No buts,” Ye Shisan interrupted. “No matter what dangers lie ahead—don’t I still have you?”

The words were ambiguous, yet they stirred something in Yi Qing’s chest. A sudden rush of heat surged through her heart. Before she could respond, Ye Shisan stepped forward, scooped her up in one swift motion.

“It’s just a cliff, isn’t it? Leave it to me!”

She screamed. “What?! You’re jumping into that?! Aaaah—!”

Accompanied by Yi Qing’s piercing scream, she experienced—for the first time in her life—being carried in a bridal hold by a man, plunging headlong off a cliff that stretched ten thousand zhang into the abyss.

The dizzying sensation of weightlessness and the relentless pull of gravity tormented her body and mind for the next ten seconds.

She had no choice but to summon all her strength and cling tightly to Ye Shisan’s neck.

Several dozen meters above the ground, Ye Shisan extended the strange hand—grabbing hold of the crown of the nearest giant tree.

Yet his control over the hand’s strength was still imprecise. With a single clutch, the trunk—thick as a rice bowl—was crushed to splinters.

Thinking fast, Ye Shisan stretched the hand to its full length. With a resounding thump, it braced against the earth, suspending both of them steadily in midair.

A flurry of startled bird cries echoed through the forest—and then, all at once, silence fell.

Ye Shisan slowly withdrew the monstrous hand and set foot on solid ground once more. Yet Yi Qing still clung tightly to him, her arms wrapped around his body. A delicate, fragrant scent wafted into Ye Shisan’s nose, intoxicating and vivid.

“Hey, hey, Miss Yi,” he teased, “We’ve landed. How long are you planning to keep holding me?”

Yi Qing snapped out of it— and promptly sank her teeth into Ye Shisan’s shoulder.

“You bastard!”

Ye Shisan winced in pain and loosened his grip— but to his surprise, Yi Qing still clung to him. With a sharp rip, his clothes tore apart under her grip.

Instead of calming down, Yi Qing grew even more furious. She pointed to another bluish-purple bite mark on his shoulder and demanded, “Who bit you here?!”

Ye Shisan hadn’t expected such a sudden interrogation, and stammered in response.

Yi Qing snorted, still latched onto his shoulder, and muttered, “Don’t even try. It’s gotta be You Long’er, that little minx! See those two tiny fang marks? No one else has teeth like that!”

“You think I wanted that bite? It hurt for days!”

“Oh, you feel pain? Let me show you what pain really is!”

“Ow—damn it!”

“Humph! Now my mark’s gonna last longer than hers. Even if… even if we die here, your corpse won’t be missing my bite.”

Compared to the tender affections of worldly lovers, Yi Qing’s words spoken at this moment in the deep, desolate Weeping Valley—carried a weight of emotion far more profound—a sorrow that seemed to accompany the very bones of the departed.

Ye Shisan winced in pain, baring his teeth— but Yi Qing’s spirit had revived.

“Let’s go! It’s time to seek the immortals’ true realm!”