The Recovered Blade

1,134 words

Not long ago, Xiao Chen had been gravely wounded by Prince Feng’s dying blow. That injury had plagued him ever since, yet in that instant, the dazzling Light of Life had reversed everything.

Though his body was nearly restored, the enemy still outnumbered him. When Xiao Chen was just a few meters from Guluo, he was forcibly halted. Without a moment’s hesitation, he swung the stolen longsword at the radiant scroll. The incandescent blade-light shattered the painting in a flash, and the Light of Life faded away. At the same time, the sword left his hand, flying straight for Guluo’s heart.

But Guluo moved. His hands traced a curtain of light that shattered the flying sword. He sprang up from his attendant’s arms. Xiao Chen retreated swiftly, bursting out of the enemy formation. The three skeletons fell back with him, and the two sides faced off once more.

In their first clash in the swamp, Xiao Chen and the three skeletons had achieved a complete victory. Not only had Guluo been severely wounded, but eight of his experts had fallen. Most importantly, Xiao Chen had used the Light of Life to recover nearly fully.

Guluo’s face was ashen. His dark, vulture-like eyes fixed on Xiao Chen with a cold, serpentine glare. Rage and humiliation burned within him—he had nearly died here just moments ago.

The Light of Life could indeed be called divine radiance. Guluo had four bloody holes pierced through his chest and abdomen, wounds that should have been fatal. Yet under the nourishment of that holy light, the ghastly injuries had healed. Though he was weak from blood loss, his body was essentially out of danger.

“Brother Guluo, are you all right?” asked the Royal Celestial Maiden, Zhao Lin’er.

“No serious problem.”

Over twenty experts stood guard around Guluo, lest another accident occur.

“Kill!” Guluo waved his hand, no further words needed. Any speech was superfluous now; only combat could decide life and death.

Some of his men stayed by his side, while the remaining experts charged forward. Xiao Chen and the three skeletons met the assault, and a bloody slaughter began.

Guluo ordered his men forward, then charged at Xiao Chen himself to wash away his shame. Zhao Lin’er followed close behind—Xiao Chen had been her target from the start.

Xiao Chen and the three skeletons were surrounded. Qin Guangwang, Yanluowang, and Lunhuiwang fought with all their might, holding Guluo at bay to buy Xiao Chen time to eliminate the other experts. The battle was savage, cruel beyond words. Now all talk was empty; strength alone mattered.

No longer hampered by his injuries, Xiao Chen struck without restraint. He pushed his Profound Art to its limits and began a merciless slaughter. Reducing the enemy’s fighting strength was the first priority.

Zhao Lin’er’s cultivation was not far behind his, but Xiao Chen deliberately avoided her. He wove through the group of over twenty experts, striking with cold, ruthless efficiency. His palms were as sharp as demonic blades, shimmering with an eerie light. He brought one hand down on a man’s head and split him clean in two—red blood, white brain matter, and vivid organs spilled across the ground. It was savage brutality itself.

In this moment of life and death, there was no room for mercy. It was kill or be killed.

With a dull thud, Xiao Chen leaped and drove his foot straight through another man, punching out the other side of his chest. Using the corpse as a bludgeon, he swept his leg around, scattering the body and driving back Zhao Lin’er, who was closing in again.

This was true mortal combat. Xiao Chen was drenched in blood. Even after cutting down several opponents, he did not relax—the enemy still outmatched him and the skeletons in total power.

Guluo’s gaze was as cold as a poisonous snake’s, but the three skeletons briefly held him at bay, buying Xiao Chen time. He loathed those undead creatures to the extreme. If not for their ambush, how could he have nearly died? And wasted his most precious Life Scroll.

“Deep Blue Ice, seal darkness and sin!” Guluo suddenly bellowed. A scroll unfurled, and a water-blue light spread instantly, exploding into a surge of intense energy. A great blue bird swooped at the three skeletons as endless blue radiance poured down, drowning them.

The energy bird stretched five meters when fully spread, but the skeletons shattered it with sheer power. Yet when the blue light descended, three ice statues appeared on the field. Qin Guangwang, Yanluowang, and Lunhuiwang were frozen solid.

Guluo sneered and charged at Xiao Chen without looking back. Another scroll unfurled. A brown-yellow light blazed across the swamp as a massive earthen lizard, over eight meters long, lunged at Xiao Chen with a burst of energy.

Xiao Chen sensed grave danger. He cut down a blocking expert and dodged through the forest, but the giant lizard seemed to have a will of its own, pursuing relentlessly in a halo of yellow light.

Four or five towering ancient trees were smashed to splinters by the energy lizard. Wood chips flew everywhere, broken branches scattered in all directions. Nothing could stop the yellow radiance.

When the tenth tree was destroyed, the energy lizard closed in on Xiao Chen. There was no more room to evade. Xiao Chen leaped up, his hands forming a series of mysterious seals. A crystalline light burst forth like countless stars, falling toward the yellow lizard.

A rumbling sound came from the air. The energy lizard cracked like porcelain, great fissures spreading across its body before it burst apart and dissipated.

Yet the yellow light still enveloped Xiao Chen. To his astonishment, the radiance began to petrify him, sealing him into a stone statue.

Zhao Lin’er, the Royal Celestial Maiden, was a beauty whose splendor could topple cities. After the great battle, a trace of heroic grace only added to her captivating charm.

“Brother Guluo, your skills are truly remarkable. Such a splendid attack leaves one in awe. Thank you for your sincere help.”

“You flatter me, Highness. It is an honor to serve you.”

“Brother Guluo, you say that, but it makes me uneasy. To deal with Xiao Chen, you nearly lost your life and many good fighters. I am truly grieved and troubled.”

Having destroyed his enemy, Guluo appeared modest and sincere, even somewhat sorrowful. “I am nothing. My only regret is for the fallen. They were like brothers to me…”

Such words naturally won goodwill. Warmth flowed through the hearts of the surrounding experts. As the heir of a family, Guluo was deeply versed in this kind of manipulation.

Crack!

A splitting sound came from Xiao Chen’s petrified statue. A great fissure appeared, then began to widen. With a thunderous boom, the statue exploded into pieces.

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Reading Guide Decoding

Healed and Petrified: Xiao Chen's One-Man War

Cultural / Xianxia Notes

The magic scroll system presented here is a key feature of the World of Immortality's combat variety. Scrolls (卷轴) are one-time artifacts that store powerful spells—here, elemental attacks or sealing techniques like petrification and ice binding. They represent a resource-based economy of power: rare, precious, and often decisive. The Three Skeletons—now named Qin Guangwang, Yanluowang, and Lunhuiwang—are named after the Ten Kings of Hell from Chinese underworld mythology. This naming not only gives them identity but also foreshadows their potential evolution, as each Yama King presides over a specific judgment of the dead. In the broader xianxia tradition, petrification is a common sealing technique, often used to neutralize threats temporarily. Breaking free requires immense internal energy or a sudden breakthrough, which Xiao Chen's previous cultivation of the Heavenly Stele Profound Art may enable.

Chapter Overview

This chapter delivers a concentrated dose of brutal, tactical combat in the Death Swamp. Having stolen a precious Life Radiance scroll and healed his wounds, Xiao Chen is no longer the hunted—he becomes the hunter, cutting through Guluo's forces with cold efficiency. But Guluo, a scion of a powerful family, is not so easily broken. Using rare magic scrolls, he turns the tide with devastating precision: Deep Blue Ice freezes the three skeleton kings solid, and a petrification scroll encases Xiao Chen in stone. Zhao Lin'er watches from the sidelines, her elegant praise masking her calculation. The chapter closes with a splinter of hope: Xiao Chen's stone prison cracks, hinting at a breakout that will shake the swamp. The tone is unrelentingly grim, with short, violent bursts of action punctuated by moments of tense standoff.

Key Plot Points

Xiao Chen, now fully healed by the Life Radiance, immediately seizes the offensive. He kills several of Guluo's elite guards with devastating blows—splitting a man in half, kicking through another's chest—as the three skeletons hold Guluo at bay. This aggressive push is a calculated move to reduce enemy numbers before the main threat can retaliate. Guluo, enraged and humiliated, unleashes his trump cards: first a Deep Blue Ice scroll that summons a massive energy bird and blankets the area in freezing light, trapping the three skeletons in ice. Then, as he charges Xiao Chen, he deploys an earth-attribute scroll that conjures an eight-meter energy lizard. After a desperate chase through the trees, Xiao Chen is caught in the yellow light and petrified into a statue. Zhao Lin'er, ever the political player, showers Guluo with flattery while he mourns his fallen men—a performance that strengthens his authority among the survivors. The chapter ends with a crack appearing in Xiao Chen's stone shell, signaling his imminent liberation and the continuation of this bloody struggle.

Reading Guide

This chapter sets the stage for a dramatic reversal: Xiao Chen's breakout from the stone seal will likely be explosive, and Guluo has now exhausted his most valuable scrolls. The power dynamic is shifting. Readers should watch for how the Three Skeletons recover from their icy prison—their loyalty and combat effectiveness will be critical in the next confrontation. Zhao Lin'er's role as a political manipulator also deepens; she is not merely a vengeful adversary but a strategist who lets others bleed for her goals. The scroll-based magic system adds a layer of tactical depth: Xiao Chen may need to acquire or counter such artifacts in future battles. Finally, note the thematic tension between life and death: the Life Radiance that healed Xiao Chen came from the same source as the killing scrolls, reminding us that in the World of Immortality, creation and destruction are two sides of the same coin.