Naked Sword Art

Xun Wei vanished.

In a blur, her sword snapped back into her grasp—clenched between her teeth, just as Chu Piao once had during the Black Paradise Sect’s tournament. In the same heartbeat, one of the soldiers was cleaved cleanly in half.

"Defense formation!" someone screamed.

Xun Wei became a ghost, her figure flickering through the trees.

Although her Qi was depleted, and her body was fatigued, her spirit was still very much alive and stronger than ever.

At the same time, the boy’s tear-filled eyes followed her movement with terrifying clarity when no one else could.

’I can see,’ he thought, but then he saw something alarming.

He didn’t question his vision, he simply sprung into action.

Gritting his teeth, he grabbed his father’s sword again and moved.

Just as Xun Wei descended to strike, the boy appeared exactly where she intended to be.

Surprise flashed across her face—but only for an instant. She twisted midair, narrowly dodging his blade, giving the remaining soldiers just enough time to brace themselves and block the attack.

Again, she disappeared.

And again, the boy intercepted—arriving at her chosen point before she herself fully committed to it.

Neither Xun Wei nor the soldiers could understand how a mere Foundation Realm brat was predicting her movements with such precision—only that she was holding back against him. For now, that hesitation was the only thing keeping them alive.

The hatred in his eyes mirrored her own.

The only difference was its direction.

Her hatred burned toward the Song Clan.

His burned toward her.

She understood why.

In him, she saw herself—the same helpless fury she had felt when her clan was slaughtered before her eyes. She had been his age when it happened. And just as she had never forgiven the Song, he would likely never forgive her.

Xun Wei knew she would one day have to accept that.

As much as a fragile part of her wished for something different, she understood fate was not merciful.

Finally, she moved.

Her foot struck his chest and sent him flying into the trees.

It was a controlled blow—never meant to kill, only to remove him from the battlefield.

Blood spilled from his mouth as his consciousness wavered. Unable to rise, he could only watch.

He wanted to get back up, he wanted to cut Xun Wei down with his father’s sword, but his weak body betrayed him.

One by one, Xun Wei slaughtered the remaining soldiers—silent, methodical, her blade never leaving her teeth.

When the last body fell, the boy’s vision finally began to fade.

The final thing he saw—

Blood raining down from the darkness.

Xun Wei standing at the center of corpses, the hilt of her sword clenched between her teeth, grey eyes hollow and bottomless. Her body was drenched in blood—the blood belonging to the people who had raised him.

"You’re too weak," Xun Wei said. Her voice deathly hollow. "Without strength, you can’t save anyone... not even yourself."

Then like a ghost, her body flickered as she approached. The feeling of death creeping up on him with every step she took.

Then, just as Xun Wei’s sword was upon him, his consciousness finally faded.

—

Back on the [ Sky Pavilion ], Xun Wei’s clone spoke.

"Fang, it’s done."

Xiao Fang didn’t turn.

Approaching the edge of the Pavilion, Xun Wei stood next to him as she peered over the edge to where he was looking.

Xun Wei’s brows tightened.

"It appears they’ve come up with a plan of their own."

Below, the Song family clan were on the march, however, their robes were different. Nearly a hundred thousand men wore the Li Family uniform on their bodies. Now, even if they could separate and defeat a small part of their army, it would be at risk of clansmen killing one of their own.

"Their robes aren’t real. It’s an Illusory technique," Xiao Fang explained.

This wasn’t just any ordinary illusory technique, this was a technique invoking chaos.

Xun Wei’s gaze sharpened. "Who could cast something on this scale?"

"We know her quite well," Li Lian said quietly. "She’s your sword instructor."

Xun Wei froze.

The Elder of the Swords Club, and the woman who had once handed her the Phoenix Jade hairpin.

Realization settled like cold steel.

"...Supreme Elder Song."

There was a brief pause.

"What’s the plan now?" Li Lian asked, turning to Xiao Fang.

Far ahead, Li Ping was still leading Li Huxin’s forces toward the designated ridge. They were moving quickly, but time was not on their side. The Song army would reach the choke point soon.

Their plan had been to ambush the reinforcements being sent back to support the main force. But Li Ping was still too far away. If he could just reach the ridge before those reinforcements turned back to rejoin the main army, the mission could still succeed.

Xiao Fang watched the movements below without a trace of urgency.

"We stick to the plan," he said calmly.

Li Lian glanced at him. "What will we do about the illusion?"

"Yes," Xiao Fang replied.

His gaze remained fixed on the marching army below.

Then he felt it.

Something out of place.

The same pressure he had once sensed from Li Roh during the team assignment assembly—but far stronger. And there shouldn’t have been anyone within miles of them.

Xiao Fang’s eyes narrowed.

[ Soul Search ]

The moment the technique activated, his perception expanded outward. Then he saw it.

A towering pillar of light in the distance—an overwhelming surge of Soul Qi unlike anything he had ever witnessed.

Xiao Fang’s jaw dropped slightly.

’It’s coming from Xun Wei’s location... What happened over there?’

Xiao Fang closed his eyes as he began to think. With this new development, everything could change.

—

Back at the city, Xun Wei stepped out through the front gate, her body flickering forward unnaturally with each stride.

She stopped just beyond the gate and waited.

The night was silent.

"Have they arrived yet?" Xiao Fang asked through her clone.

"No," she replied. "Not yet. I’m starting to believe the horn was a false alarm—meant to scare us into retreating early."

At that moment, Xiao Hei emerged from the forest in her feline form. Mid-stride she shifted back into her human shape.

"The reinforcements are still some distance away," Xiao Hei said. "At this pace, they’ll arrive within the hour."

She glanced toward the quiet streets.

"That gives us time to recover."

"So it was a false alarm after all," Xun Wei murmured.

She turned and began walking back into the city. There were still stragglers hiding—perhaps thousands of them scattered among the buildings.

Seeing her move, Xiao Hei frowned.

"Where are you going?" she called. "As much as I’d enjoy hunting down the rest of them, you should rest. Save your strength for the battle coming."

"I’m fine," Xun Wei replied simply.

Her body flickered.

Then she vanished.

Xiao Hei blinked in surprise.

’Was she always that fast?’

Even Xiao Hei would have struggled to keep up with that burst of speed.

At the center of the city, Xun Wei appeared atop a tall pagoda. Standing alone beneath the moonlight, she lowered her gaze to her hands, studying them carefully.

Her Qi was nearly completely exhausted, and she wasn’t producing any naturally. But in that moment, she felt stronger than ever.

Growing up, her body had always struggled to produce Qi naturally, that was the reason her parents always believed she’d have no future as a cultivator.

However, even with nearly no Qi in her body, she still felt as if something inside her was overflowing with power.

It was a strange sensation, as though the world itself might bend if she simply willed it.

’Maybe Fang will know what’s happening to me,’ she thought.

Remembering him also reminded her of the additional task he had given her once the mission was complete.

She reached into her spatial pouch and retrieved a thin cultivation method manual.

The title read:

[ Soul Devourer ]

Xun Wei placed the Phoenix Jade Hairpin into her hair before opening the book and reading its contents.

’He said there would be a great opportunity for me here if I could learn this method after the mission,’ she recalled.

Xiao Fang had returned the Phoenix Jade hairpin to her for this exact moment. He knew how difficult the technique was to cultivate—she would need every advantage she could get.

Yet as she read the pages, Xun Wei felt no difficulty at all.

Every line became clear the moment she saw it. Every concept settled naturally into her mind.

After some time, she closed the book and prepared to cultivate.

She took out a Qi-regeneration pill and was about to swallow it when Xiao Fang’s instructions resurfaced in her mind.

’Practice it when your Qi is nearly depleted.’

Xun Wei paused.

Then she put the pill away.

Crossing her legs atop the pagoda roof, she closed her eyes and focused.

[ Soul Devourer ]

Then she felt it.

The power she had only been able to feel but never truly sense was finally revealing itself. Her Soul Qi was raw, unrefined, untethered—drifting aimlessly around her like mist without a current.

But with this method, it finally had a center.

The towering pillar of light that had erupted from Xun Wei’s body began to draw inward, folding back into her as it started to circulate through her meridians. In the next moment, the countless remnant souls lingering throughout the city were pulled toward her as well.

One by one, they were devoured.

Subtle shockwaves pulsed from her body as breakthrough after breakthrough occurred in rapid succession.

Every soul carried something different—its own shape, its own signature, its own lingering emotion. With each one absorbed, Xun Wei’s understanding of the method deepened beyond what the manual had described.

The method evolved in her hands.

Within a few moments, Xun Wei’s cultivation in the [ Soul Devourer ] method had already reached the Core Realm. That was as far as the cultivation manual got, but she didn’t stop there.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!