Dao Of Nihility: Possessor Of The Nameless Scripture

"Ji Xuanyuan... hand over the Nameless Scripture peacefully and all this can be resolved without anyone having to die."

A man clad in luxurious emerald-green robes spoke with a dignified expression, his voice calm and steady, as though he were merely offering a reasonable compromise rather than cornering a man at death's door.

Behind him stretched an endless sea of cultivators. Thousands upon thousands stood in formation, their combined aura churning the heavens as violent spiritual storms swept across the sky.

Blood dripped from the corner of Ji Xuanyuan's lips.

He let out a faint chuckle before slowly raising his head. His eyes were as sharp and unwavering as the sword he had wielded for centuries.

"Hand it over?" he repeated, almost amused. "Qin Haoran… If you want the Nameless Scripture, you'll have to take it from my corpse."

The smile on the face of the man named Qin Haoran slowly faded into a helpless sigh.

"Why must you be so stubborn?" he said, shaking his head. "Look at yourself. You're already at death's door. The only reason I'm still trying to persuade you is because... I still value the bond we once shared."

"You bastard!"

Ji Xuanyuan’s furious roar shook the air. "Don't you dare speak of our bond!"

The words had barely left his mouth when his injuries flared violently.

"Pfft!"

A mouthful of blood burst from his lips, staining the cracked earth beneath him crimson.

Qin Haoran watched silently before speaking again. "Do you know how you ended up like this?"

Ji Xuanyuan remained silent, his cold gaze fixed on him.

Qin Haoran smiled faintly.

"Facing you head-on was never an option. After all..." He paused, admiration flashing through his eyes. "Your title as the greatest sword cultivator to ever exist wasn't earned through empty praise."

"So... I needed a little help."

Something about Qin Haoran’s tone made Ji Xuanyuan’s heart sink.

"Guess who that help came from."

A familiar figure surfaced in Ji Xuanyuan’s mind but he rejected the thought almost instantly.

Seeing the fleeting change in Ji Xuanyuan’s expression, Qin Haoran chuckled. "It seems you've guessed correctly.”

"Impossible... she would never."

Ji Xuanyuan slowly shook his head, his voice barely above a whisper.

He wasn't a fool. Deep down, he knew there was only one person capable of making him lower his guard completely. Only one person who could have poisoned him without arousing the slightest suspicion.

Yet he refused to believe it. There had to be another explanation.

Fixing his icy gaze on Qin Haoran, Ji Xuanyuan let out a cold laugh.

"So that's your plan?"

"You intend to break my resolve with a fabricated lie? Do you really think I'm that gullible?"

Qin Haoran smiled faintly.

"No."

He took a slow step forward, his eyes meeting Ji Xuanyuan's.

"I simply think you're in denial."

"The answer has been in front of you all along. I'm sure you've already guessed the truth long before now, yet you refuse to accept it. Instead, you desperately cling to the illusion that she had nothing to do with this."

He paused before letting out a quiet sigh.

"They say love blinds even the wisest of men." A mocking smile slowly spread across his face.

"It seems even the greatest Sword Immortal is no exception."

He raised a hand slightly.

"But since you still refuse to believe me… I'll prove it to you.”

Just then, the space behind Qin Haoran rippled.

A graceful figure slowly emerged from within the distorted void, each step unhurried as she walked toward Ji Xuanyuan before stopping only a few feet away.

It was a woman who seemed to be in the prime of her youth.

She possessed a beauty that seemed almost unreal, as though she had been sculpted by the heavens themselves. Her flawless features, coupled with the sacred aura surrounding her, made it difficult for anyone to look directly at her for long. To many, simply gazing upon her felt like an act of blasphemy.

"...Ruoxi."

Ji Xuanyuan's pupils trembled the moment he saw her.

"What are you doing here?"

A faint smile bloomed on Bai Ruoxi's lips.

Without saying a word, she reached out and gently cupped his face. Her delicate fingers brushed away the blood staining the corner of his lips with the same tenderness they always had.

"What do you think?" she asked softly.

Ji Xuanyuan stared into her eyes, desperately searching for the answer he wanted.

"...It's a lie, isn't it?"

"What Qin Haoran said... none of it is true."

"You weren't involved in this." His voice, which had once shaken the heavens with a single word, now quivered ever so slightly.

Had anyone witnessed this scene, no one would have believed it. The legendary Sword Immortal, whose mere name struck fear into the hearts of countless cultivators, now looked less like an unrivaled sovereign and more like a helpless child searching for reassurance.

Bai Ruoxi's expression remained unchanged.

"It's true."

Those two words struck harder than any divine technique.

"In order to weaken you, I poisoned your tea with the Nine Nether Soul Orchid."

Her tone remained calm, almost as if she were discussing something insignificant.

"If it had been anyone else, even a Heavenly Sovereign would have had their cultivation completely sealed. Their Divine Soul would have been locked away, leaving them powerless to resist."

"Yet it only managed to suppress seventy percent of your cultivation and inflict heavy damage upon your Divine Soul."

There wasn't the slightest hint of remorse in her voice. If anything, it sounded more like admiration.

"...Why?"

It was the only question he could bring himself to ask.

"Its simple… Power."

The moment the word left her lips, a sinister bone dagger engraved with countless blood runes appeared in her hand.

Without the slightest hesitation, she thrust it straight into his heart.

Pfft!

A mouthful of blood burst from Ji Xuanyuan's lips.

His body shuddered violently as an icy, sinister force spread from the wound. His flesh began to wither before his eyes, while the crimson runes upon the dagger glowed one after another as though they had come alive.

Ji Xuanyuan slowly lowered his gaze. His eyes settled upon the weapon lodged in his chest.

The Netherbone Dagger—One of the Seven Forbidden Dao Artifacts. A weapon feared throughout the ages. It did not merely kill, it devoured.

Any soul consumed by the Netherbone Dagger was forever severed from the cycle of reincarnation, erased from the Heavenly Dao as though it had never existed.

Realization slowly dawned in Ji Xuanyuan's eyes. A single tear silently traced its way down his cheek.

As his body rapidly withered and the flame of his Divine Soul grew fainter with each passing moment, an ancient black book slowly emerged from within him.

Its cover was as dark as the void, smooth and unadorned. There were no words, no symbols, no hint of its origin. It was this absence of a name that had earned it the title—the Nameless Scripture.

The moment Bai Ruoxi laid eyes upon it, an undisguised greed flashed across her face.

Without hesitation, she reached out to seize it. Her delicate fingers passed straight through the scripture as though it were nothing more than an illusion.

Her expression froze.

"What...?"

Qin Haoran's face darkened.

He immediately stepped forward and grabbed at it himself.

Yet the result was exactly the same. His hand passed through the scripture without encountering the slightest resistance, as if it did not truly exist within this world.

For the first time, panic flickered across their faces.

"Is this a fake?"

"Why can't I touch it?"

Neither of them spared Ji Xuanyuan another glance.

Their attention had been completely consumed by the Nameless Scripture, desperately searching for a way to claim the supreme treasure they had sacrificed everything to obtain.

Watching the two people he had trusted most reveal their true faces until the very end… Ji Xuanyuan let out a dry, bitter chuckle.

His figure gradually became translucent as his body crumbled into motes of light. The flames of his Divine Soul finally flickered... before quietly fading into nothingness.