Cultivating Immortality, Starting from Childhood Sweethearts

“Why didn’t you kill me?” Shi Xin asked.

Xu Ming simply smiled. “I just suddenly changed my mind, that’s all.”

Shi Xin pressed her thin lips together, her golden eyes filled with complex emotions as she gazed at Xu Ming.

“Why are you looking at me like that? And why do you look like you’re about to cry?” Xu Ming chuckled. “Weren’t you unafraid of death? What’s wrong? Now that you’re still alive at the brink of death, have you suddenly realized how precious life is?”

“No.” Shi Xin shook her head.

“No?” Xu Ming raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Then why do you look like you’re about to cry?”

“I don’t know either,” Shi Xin shook her head again, still looking at Xu Ming intently. “I can’t quite put my feelings into words, but overall… I think I feel happy.”

“Happy?” Xu Ming nodded. “You should be happy that you’re still alive.”

“That’s not why.”

“I don’t know.”

“Are you sure you’re not losing your mind?” Xu Ming lowered his sword, wondering if he had frightened this girl too much.

She kept saying strange things.

“Why didn’t you kill me?” Shi Xin asked again. “If you had, you could’ve taken all the treasures and walked out of here alive.”

“Heh.” Xu Ming let out a cold chuckle. “If surviving meant killing my own companion, then I’d rather die here.”

“But that means we’ll both die,” Shi Xin said.

“Says who?” A smirk formed on Xu Ming’s lips. “Who made these rules? And who says they can’t be broken?”

The moment he finished speaking, a crimson aura of blood energy erupted from his body.

Shi Xin could clearly sense the surge of spiritual power and martial energy coursing through Xu Ming.

It was as if his very blood had begun to boil.

Even just standing in front of him, she couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of awe and unease.

“Boom!”

Xu Ming vanished from where he stood, leaving a deep crater in his wake.

In an instant, he appeared before the woman in the red dress.

His blue robe billowed as he raised the Flame Sparrow Sword high and brought it down with a fierce strike!

The red-dressed woman lifted her sword to block.

“Clang!”

The clash of blades rang out, and she frowned as a numbing sensation spread through her arm.

“Such immense strength,” she thought.

Behind her, Xu Ming’s sword energy had already carved a fiery wall of sword light stretching for miles.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Xu Ming’s Flame Sparrow Sword struck down at her again and again without pause.

The woman didn’t evade—she met every strike head-on.

But Xu Ming’s sheer strength was overwhelming. Each blow was absurdly heavy, forcing her to retreat step by step.

The ground around them shattered, stone fragments flying in all directions. Sword energy carved deep gashes into the earth.

“Bang!”

Their swords clashed once more.

Both Xu Ming and the red-dressed woman were pushed back, their sword-wielding arms shaken.

The edge of Xu Ming’s Flame Sparrow Sword had started to curl slightly, even chipping in places. But the sword vibrated, letting out a resonant hum.

Even without a sword spirit, it still thirsted for battle—because that was the instinct of a blade!

“Is your sword going to hold up?” the red-dressed woman smiled. “It wouldn’t happen to break in the middle of the fight, would it?”

“Killing you is enough.” Xu Ming shot forward again, swinging his sword horizontally.

The red-dressed woman bent low to dodge, the blade passing just inches from her towering chest, its sword energy slicing through a nearby volcano, cleaving it in two.

Seizing an opportunity, the red-dressed woman struck at Xu Ming’s waist. Xu Ming reversed the blade, and their swords collided once more.

A smile played at the corners of the red-dressed woman’s lips. She spread her arms wide, and the sword in her hands split into two. With a blade in each hand, she spun like a windmill, striking repeatedly at Xu Ming’s Flame Sparrow Sword.

Her red dress swirled around her, resembling a dancer in motion.

“Tsk.”

Xu Ming clicked his tongue. He realized that this woman was indeed a challenge.

Fortunately, his enhanced vision slowed her movements, allowing him to seize the moment, grabbing her arm and thrusting his sword toward her chest.

Like a butterfly, she twisted away, her lithe body spinning twice around him.

In the blink of an eye, the red-dressed woman was behind him, her two swords merging back into one.

She held it with both hands and stabbed toward his back.

Xu Ming tried to dodge while, at the same time, thrusting his Flame Sparrow Sword backward in the same motion.

They pulled apart again, their waist clothing torn as their swords left scars on each other.

Xu Ming bled from his waist, while the red-dressed woman only had a small tear along her delicate waist, with spiritual energy seeping out.

“That eye technique of yours, along with your berserk blood magic, seems to take a heavy toll on your body. How much longer can you keep this up?” The red-dressed woman smiled, asking.

Xu Ming smirked. “Long enough to kill you.”

He charged at her again.

At this moment, Xu Ming knew he had to rely on both his Dao Pattern Eyes and Blood Qi Frenzy just to fight her to a draw. Once his stamina ran out, he would truly be at her mercy.

Though he said time was on his side, in reality, he needed to finish this quickly.

Each strike they exchanged collided again.

“Aren’t you afraid that once you’re exhausted, that nun will turn on you?” The red-dressed woman continued fighting, still managing to speak with energy to spare.

“Not really.” Xu Ming replied, sword in hand.

“Why?”

“Because she’s an idiot.”

“Boom!”

Xu Ming found an opening and kicked her hard in the chest.

The red-dressed woman flew several meters away.

Meanwhile, Shi Xin had finally completed her incantation.

Golden lotuses began to float around her, drifting toward Xu Ming.

As they entered his body, they turned into golden light and flowed into his Flame Sparrow Sword.

With the blessings of Shi Xin’s Buddhist power, Xu Ming felt his body not only return to its peak condition but even surpass his limits.

He took a deep breath and raised his sword high.

The red-dressed woman steadied herself, watching Xu Ming with calm anticipation.

She was eager to see what his strongest strike would be.

Would he be worthy to become her master?