Su Chan might not have been the best at fighting demons, but escaping was her specialty. Seeing the sword hurtling toward her, she flickered sideways, slipping past the blade like an elusive fish.

As she dodged, Su Chan called out, "What about you?"

"Don't worry about me! I have a way!" Li Yundong bellowed.

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the Six Harmonies Sword suddenly froze mid-air, as if acknowledging his statement. Annoyed, the long sword's body vibrated with a low hum. In less than a moment, one sword split into two, and those two swords became three!

Su Chan gasped, "It's multiplying!"

Ziyuan also yelled in exasperation, "The treasure sword is sentient, stop talking nonsense! It understands you! Now look what you've done! The feature of the Six Harmonies Sword is that it splits into as many long swords as it perceives enemies! Now what will you do? What plan do you have?"

Li Yundong’s eyes glazed over, and he stammered, "I... I didn't know that!"

Su Chan was about to reply when a flash of white light blinded her. She instinctively ducked, and the flying sword grazed past her dark hair, its keen edge slicing away a few strands. The severed locks danced in the air before slowly drifting down.

Su Chan knew that if she had hesitated even a tenth of a second longer, her head would have been separated from her body. Her heart hammered wildly with fright. She wanted to flee, but she couldn't bear to abandon Li Yundong to face danger alone.

Her thoughts raced. Gritting her teeth, Su Chan shouted loudly, "This Six Harmonies Sword is truly useless trash! It can't even hit me. No wonder it ranks last among the Five Great Daoist Swords!"

Hearing this, Li Yundong was instantly alarmed. "Girl, what crazy talk is that? Have you lost your mind? Are you tired of living?"

Sure enough, the Six Harmonies Sword seemed to have understood Su Chan. Its body trembled violently. The two long swords that had been targeting Li Yundong and Ziyuan stopped abruptly, hovering in the air, their tips slowly turning to point directly at Su Chan.

Seeing the three long swords menacingly aimed at her, Su Chan, despite her fear, maintained a defiant expression. "Did I say something wrong? It can't strike me, a living person, but only attacks two helpless figures who are already bound. Isn't that proof that you’re useless?"

The Six Harmonies Sword was enraged. The three long swords emitted a sharp, resonant cry and instantly transformed into three streaks of white lightning, furiously hacking toward Su Chan.

Without a word, Su Chan’s figure dissolved into a wisp of green smoke, and she bolted toward the inner room.

Li Yundong was frantic. He shouted after her retreating form, "Girl, run far away! Run as far as you can!"

Su Chan’s voice echoed from deep within the inner room, "Ah, got it!"

But shortly after her response, Su Chan came scurrying back out of the inner room in a flash.

Li Yundong stood agape, shouting, "Why did you come back?"

Su Chan shrieked, "Dead end!"

Li Yundong exclaimed, "Impossible! Didn't that person holding Meiniang just run in there?"

Ziyuan reacted instantly. "There’s a secret chamber!"

Li Yundong exploded, "Damn it! What do we do now? Girl, be careful!"

Su Chan could barely manage defending against one flying sword by herself, but dodging three was pushing her limits. She tumbled and leaped across the side hall, her movements so fast they almost created afterimages. However, due to the severely limited space, the three flying swords gradually cornered her.

One sword lunged toward Su Chan’s chest. She twisted her body, avoiding a fatal blow, but her arm was unavoidably grazed. The young girl let out a muffled cry of pain, but as soon as the sound left her throat, she worried it would distract Li Yundong and quickly clamped her mouth shut, continuing her stubborn and difficult evasion of the swords.

Li Yundong clearly heard that cry. Seeing Su Chan’s escape routes shrinking while she stubbornly refused to let him worry, his heart burned with anxiety and agitation.

Su Chan was Li Yundong’s soft spot. Seeing her in danger, he cast everything else aside. He took a deep breath, preparing to muster his strength and struggle violently against the bonds.

Ziyuan, seeing Li Yundong about to erupt, was horrified. "No, no! You can't struggle violently! The harder you fight, the stronger the backlash from the Immortal Binding Rope will be, and it will end up strangling us all to death!"

Li Yundong’s eyes were bloodshot. He ground out, "That’s better than watching Su Chan die right in front of me!"

Ziyuan saw that Li Yundong had lost all reason. Steel-hearted, she shouted, "Li Yundong, calm down! Let’s figure out how to subdue this Six Harmonies Sword first!"

Li Yundong roared, "We’re tied up like tamales, how can we subdue it?"

Ziyuan observed the blood vessels standing out in Li Yundong’s eyes and the fierce, savage look on his face. She took a deep breath, which strangely made her calmer. She said in a low voice, "Li Yundong, didn't you subdue the Six Harmonies Sword before? Why can’t you do it this time?"

"Nonsense! Can that last time compare to now? Last time..."

As Li Yundong was mid-curse, an idea suddenly flashed through his mind. He jolted and immediately began hurling insults at the Six Harmonies Sword: "Damn it, you piece of scrap metal! Don't you recognize your grandpa? I had you completely tamed last time! What, you don't dare mess with me this time? Hey, I’m tied up, and you still won't provoke me? No wonder you rank last among the Five Great Swords!"

This seemed to strike the Six Harmonies Sword’s deepest insecurity. It instantly stopped moving. The three long swords, which had been closing in on Su Chan, simultaneously reversed direction and surged toward Li Yundong with murderous intent, emitting a buzzing sound, like an enraged warrior glaring at his opponent.

Seeing the Six Harmonies Sword pause, Su Chan immediately leaped out of the dead corner, placed her hands on her hips, and screamed abuse at the sword, "You broken piece of junk! You can’t even hit me after all that time. Truly useless!"

Li Yundong was momentarily stunned, and the Six Harmonies Sword clearly hesitated, unsure of whom to target first. Seizing the opportunity, Li Yundong continued his torrent of filthy curses toward the sword, using language so obscene it made even Ziyuan wrinkle her brow.

The Six Harmonies Sword hovered in mid-air, its tip swinging between Su Chan and Li Yundong. It seemed utterly confused by the barrage of insults, unable to decide on a primary target.

Seeing that the sword was paralyzed by their verbal assault, Su Chan and Li Yundong secretly rejoiced and redoubled their efforts.

Shamed and enraged, the Six Harmonies Sword shrieked piercingly. Suddenly, two long swords shot toward Li Yundong, and one long sword aimed straight for Su Chan.

Su Chan let out a sharp cry of "Aiya!" as she ran, dodging and cursing, leading the sword on a chase around the side hall.

Li Yundong, however, roared, "Good timing!"

With his hands free on the outside, he watched a long sword swing toward his waist. He gauged its trajectory precisely and reached out, flicking his finger against the sword's body!

Clang! The sword was immediately deflected. The other long sword, however, straightened and continued its downward chop toward Li Yundong.

Li Yundong rapidly commanded Ziyuan, "Ziyuan, don't move! Cooperate with me, shift one step to the left!"

Before Ziyuan could process the command, she instinctively moved a step to the left upon hearing his voice.

Thump! A dull impact sounded as the long sword slammed heavily onto the Immortal Binding Rope binding them together.

A deafening crash roared in Ziyuan’s mind. She instantly recalled the cryptic verse her master had left her: The fragile mirror breaks in the mortal trial; the immortal sword cannot sever the crimson cord!

Ziyuan’s head buzzed. She opened her mouth subconsciously, shouting internally, Master, you were right again! Your cryptic verse has come true!

Li Yundong noticed Ziyuan staring blankly into the distance, her entire demeanor listless and dazed. He had no time to prompt her further, so he simply wrapped an arm around her body, controlling her movements as they clumsily dodged the attacks from the two flying swords.

When the two long swords attacked horizontally, Li Yundong would use his finger to deflect them. If they chopped vertically, he used the Immortal Binding Rope itself to block the blow. The rope that had been their restraint was now ironically saving their lives.

The Six Harmonies Sword, achieving no results after repeated attacks, grew furious. One long sword quickly retreated slightly, then lunged toward Li Yundong like a spear thrust.

Li Yundong felt the fine hairs on his lower abdomen stand on end. Relying on his astonishing precognitive senses, he pulled Ziyuan’s body back by an inch.

Hiss! The long sword instantly pierced the space between their tightly pressed bodies, the sharp blade tearing a gash across both of them simultaneously, drawing blood that flowed freely.

As the blood spilled, the long sword lodged between Li Yundong and Ziyuan began to struggle violently.

Li Yundong’s mind clicked. He realized: his blood was the pure yang essence of an untainted youth, and Ziyuan’s blood was the pure yin essence of a virgin. When both types of blood drenched the Six Harmonies Sword simultaneously, how could it endure?

Li Yundong immediately gripped the sword lodged between them and unleashed his vital essence. The Six Harmonies Sword thrashed wildly, like a raging flood dragon overturning rivers and seas.

Li Yundong felt as though he were wrestling a maddened beast. If not for his astonishing divine strength controlling the sword and preventing it from flailing wildly, it would have already gutted them both!

Li Yundong’s true essence was profound. After only about ten seconds of his essence flooding into the Six Harmonies Sword, it stopped struggling. The instant the sword in his hand settled, the other two swords suddenly began to tremble violently, emitting a buzzing sound, and then dissolved into wisps of green smoke, vanishing completely.

"W-what happened to the swords?" Li Yundong asked in surprise and confusion.

Ziyuan was still in a daze. Li Yundong gently patted her shoulder, and she blinked back to awareness. "What is it?" she asked.

Li Yundong pulled out the Six Harmonies Sword lodged between them and said, "I subdued one sword, so why did the other two disappear?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, they heard Yan Fang outside let out an enraged howl, "Which despicable villain took my Six Harmonies Sword!"

Zhang Ling burst into laughter. "Yan Fang, your Six Harmonies Sword has been subdued! Let’s see how arrogant you can be now!"

Wan Zhenyuan snorted coldly. "Daoist Master Yan, you can take a rest now. You were fighting so many people alone just now; you must be tired, right?" He raised his hand, and his whisk instantly sent a fierce blast of protective wind toward Yan Fang.

Having lost her artifact, Yan Fang dared not meet the attack head-on. She flickered aside to avoid it and hissed, "Li Yundong, did you take my Six Harmonies Sword? I’m not finished with you!" With that, Yan Fang’s figure rapidly turned into a streak of green light and disappeared.

Upon hearing Li Yundong’s name, everyone present started in alarm, looking around. "Li Yundong? The Sect Master of Fox Charm Gate, Li Yundong? Where is he? Where is he?"

Li Yundong was both shocked and furious. He cursed under his breath, "Damn it, that bastard Yan Fang couldn't leave without dragging me into it! I’ll curse your ancestors!"