Celestial Peak

"GAH!"

Qinyang was sent flying across the lake of blood and far into the distance. She could feel her internal organs crumbling at the pressure of the hit.

Snap!

One of the tendrils snapped and whipped the ground. She flipped and bounced before clawing the ground to stop her unwanted flight. She tried to get up as fast as she could, yet at that very moment felt her knees giving out.

"Something's slowing down my regeneration." Qinyang noticed how she was still reeling from the impact. Her cracked ribs that should've healed the moment she was out of combat, 'It's still cracked. The rearrangement of my organs are also still being settled. Something's wrong with me.'

"Are your regenerative capabilities being obstructed?" it was a cold voice belonging to the mysterious "Revenant".

Blood wriggled around it. And underneath its feet, there was blood continuously flowing. It had no end. It was expanding. Reaching to unknown distances. Its effects were unknown, but Qinyang could tell. The amount of qi she summoned was unnatural yet as she stood before her, Qinyang could feel nothing.

The Bloody Revenant stood there. Unmoving, Unfeeling. Observing Qinyang's movements. Silently, as if she was thinking what to do next.

Qinyang could feel it. She was looking down on her. She was looking down on the strengths she was given. The strength of her family, "Don't look down on my parents!"

From below she postured herself. Qinyang gripped her sword and ignited every bit of power she could muster.

Her wings unfurled and the tendrils started accepting more and more of the miasma of the Abyss. It became more and more dense and

STAB!

Her sword and a dozen tendrils stabbed the "Revenant" in the heart. Qinyang cracked a smile in triumph. She managed to protect the image of her parents. Of the blood that flows in her body. That she was not just a person who had a golden spoon on her mouth, but, slowly, with realization came dread and defeat.

"Wha-what are you!?" Qinyang's voice was shaking. Even if she denied it, even a normal person would be able to see through her. But even so, no one would be able to blame her.

Qinyang's sword, those mysterious tendrils, everything she threw at the "Revenant" all passed through her without doing anything.

'I see, it appears that my body has already transcended. Whatsmore, the Twilight Sword is the worst matchup against this mysterious form. It only invigorates my blood and makes me more powerful with every strike.' Chang Ping spoke calmly. She walked forwards and approached Qinyang. The sword entered deeper into her body, yet it did little to bother her.

Slowly forming her sword, Chang Ping sighed, "You can no longer touch me."

Slowly, she recreated her Soul Weapon with her own blood. An even stronger, sharper sword was formed, "Don't worry, I will reunite you with your parents."

Chang Ping was proud of where she was. That the thousands of years she spent looking for power led her standing at the peak. Where he could look down upon the world.

Qinyang could tell. She was being pitied. Why? There was no reason why she should be pitied. There was nothing. She was given everything. Handed the greatest gifts of this entire Universe on a diamond platter.

"THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" a burst of outrage exploded from Qinyang. Her wings unfurled further, its tendrils reached farther. The purple spots became bigger and started to grow stronger. Qinyang refused to believe a "Revenant" could begin to even outmatch her.

Not with the strength she had discovered within herself. Not with the strength she was gifted. Not against the creatures of the Abyss, "YOU ARE NOTHING BUT ANOTHER CHEAP COPY OF MY FATHER! I AM HER DAUGHTER!"

With all that she had, Qinyang gathered her qi. Her anger and bloodlust reached the peak that it had never previously stepped upon. The Twilight Sword she had wielded transformed into a deep red color of blood. The technique she recalled. The technique that her father favored best, "BLOOD SEEKING SWORD: BLOOD FALLS!"

Chang Ping almost reflexively let out a laugh when she heard the name of the technique. Blood Falls was the first of the seven movements of the Blood Seeking Sword. It was the doorway to carnage and dread. Only those who had experienced bloodlust that could drown a person in insanity would be able even touch the tip of its dread.

Furthermore, the Blood Seeking was ever evolving. Its strength lies at overcoming hardships. Clawing your way up to the top of a mountain of corpses. It was almost laughable seeing Qinyang make an attempt.

Chang Ping, however, was not laughing. She found what she was doing to be nothing short of infuriating. "Do you think you can call upon that sword? That power? Even in these turbulent times, you haven't suffered any hardships."

Emotions welled up within. Similar to how she could not help but show the contempt she had in her heart. As a cornerstone of the Universe, her heart had been hammered to be as tough and resilient. Yet she flapped her mouth like a common thug.

"Do you think just because you're his daughter you'll be able to use it!? Nonsense!" Chang Ping gripped the blood sword and raised it overhead, "I'll show you my Master's true sword."

It was time to end the farce. She swung her sword made of blood downwards.

Fwu!

The wind changed with Chang Ping's sword swing. Behind its force was a trickle of blood that gathered and transformed into a constant wave of blood until becoming a torrential flood that descended upon the Abyss with the wrath of a thousand wailing souls!

"Blood Seeking Sword: Blood Fall!"

BOOM!

The two swords met an explosion of qi as well as blood rocked earth they stood upon.

"AhhhH~" Qinyang howled in pain as she felt her body crumbling from the force she was under. It was an explosive clash that resulted in the two of them being sent the opposite direction.

But while Chang Ping pulled herself back and got right into the fight as fast as possible, Qinyang was in pain. Her wrist, although already healed, cracked.

[The force on that is too powerful. His physicality has changed. That should've been obvious but this is different.] When she clashed with the "Revenant" Qinyang felt that its power had increased by several folds. But, this time, it felt even more different.

Stronger, more violent—no, more potent.

[Yeah… so what!?] Qinyang grit her teeth, [No use crying. You failed once, but that doesn't mean it's the end of the world! Come on Qinyang! Come on! DO IT!]

She was beaten by the Revenant. But she decided to keep pushing on. She stood against adversary as she made a decision to try once more.

Woosh!

The wings behind her back took Qinyang up into the skies in a single flap.

"You're not getting away!"

Shouted Chang Ping, ready to come after her.

But, she needed not move. For Qinyang did not run away,

No.

Carrying her sword over her shoulder.

Qinyang was crashing down into the world like a meteor.

She was posturing to unleash another Blood Falls.

"This crazy little—" Chang Ping inexplicably was taken aback by her actions, [Her body shouldn't have healed yet.]

Qinyang showed signs of getting affected by her blood.

Corrupting Blood Haze. That's the name of one of her Domain's attributes.

It prevented anything from regenerating too quickly. It was a counter meant to stop a Demon's almost instantaneous regeneration. But it was also quite useful against cultivators.

It also aggravates the injury and increases the pain felt by a few notches.

Against all of that. Qinyang did not give in.

But such pain was not enough to get her to stop. Qinyang planted her foot on the ground and dug deeper than ever before, [Just like how Father fought those two Revenants.]

Remembering the past when Wang Ling took center stage. When he fought the Revenants out-numbered. and with less qi and strength. His finesse and savagery could not be replicated. His skills and battle senses were honed for thousands of years, spending fighting, something she did not have. How he kept going when he was broken.

So like her father, she used the pain to keep herself straight and aware of the uncertainties of combat.

That her body was no longer invincible. And she could die at a moment's notice if she wasn't careful.

Of course this "Revenant" was actually Chang Ping and the last thing she would try to do—even when her mind was being affected by the power beyond her understanding— but Qinyang did not know that.

Before her, what she saw was a Revenant. A target to be killed, a monster to be harvested and hone her skills with.

What she saw was the fakes that had been hunting her down. If she even began to show hesitation, she would die.

She refused to die.

Refused to lose.

Thus, she unleashed her strength, not only the corrupted wings on her back, but the lineages that dwell in her.

The Beast that resonated with every being just like her mother's.

"Blood Seeking Sword—"

Chang Ping was getting ready to face Qinyang. But she noticed something was wrong.

She felt the change in the atmosphere.

The Abyss had changed.

"It's moving!"

Chang Ping noticed how it was the qi around her gathered around her and behind her ears, she heard it, the whispers of those beyond.

And when she looked around, Chang Ping's eyes opened wide because she could see it behind Qinyang. A tidal wave of death followed her and her sword.

[This is crazy!] In a hurry, Chang Ping initiated the second step of the Blood Seeking Sword to meet Qinyang without holding back.

Because what was about to come down to her was beyond what she even thought possible.

The Blood Seeking Sword, a technique that grows stronger in the presence of death. Chang Ping and Wang Ling attested to that.

The more it could manifest killing intent, hate, desperation, the more potent and sharper it would become.

Chang Ping was killed for thousands of years.

Wang Ling killed tens of thousands.

Unlike them, Qinyang had never killed so many. No, she had even barely killed anyone outside of the Revenants. That's why she failed her first attempt at using the Blood Seeking Sword.

But this time, Qinyang called upon another power. Something primal only the Emperor of Death could wield.

Death itself.

When Qinyang roared.

" —BLOOD FALLS!"

The entire Abyss wailed.

When Chang Ping swung her sword.

"Blood Seeking Sword—Sunrise Blood!"

What she faced was the accumulated death of millions of years.