Chapter 126: Sword Light
Liu Ciming did not know who exactly Wu Daoxuan was. But merely the title of a Deity Transformation Stage cultivator meant that any ink treasure he left behind would not be simple!
In the entire vast Kingdom of Chu, the highest level was only Core Formation.
Above Core Formation was Nascent Soul, and above Nascent Soul was Deity Transformation.
He could not even imagine what heaven-shaking, earth-turning power a Deity Transformation Stage cultivator possessed.
Jin Tianya continued, “However, to this day, no one has discovered where this clue actually lies.”
“Even though I have been fleeing with this painting for so long, I still cannot see anything unusual.”
A Qi Refining Stage, tenth level cultivator unable to discern the secrets of a great power’s treasure—was that not perfectly natural?
Liu Ciming thought to himself.
His face still wore that courteous smile.
“Brother Jin, such a supreme treasure… might you allow me to take a look?”
An ink treasure was different from cultivation techniques or secret records.
For cultivators of lower realms or lesser comprehension, an ink treasure was nothing more than a painting.
If it truly was just “taking a look,” there should be no harm.
“Brother Jin, you spent so many years in the Central Domain. Your experience exceeds even mine as a Foundation Establishment cultivator.”
“We who have been cooped up at the border rarely get such an opportunity…”
No matter what, for cultivators like them at the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment stages, something left behind by a Deity Transformation Stage powerhouse was naturally the rarest treasure they would ever see in their lifetime.
“When you return to the Demonic Ruins, Brother Jin, this treasure will have to be handed over to the sect.”
“I, Liu, have never seen such a supreme treasure in my life.”
Jin Tianya chuckled softly, whether moved by the other’s flattery or mocking the so-called “experience” in Liu Ciming’s words.
“Heh heh…”
However, he did not refuse. His gaze deepened, and his movements were unhurried.
“Very well.”
“But Brother Liu, you must hurry matters regarding my return to the Demonic Ruins.”
A flash of spirit light at his fingertip, and he drew a painting scroll from his Cosmos Bag.
Then he placed it into Liu Ciming’s hands.
“Good, good, good. Thank you, Brother Jin.”
A flicker of doubt crossed Liu Ciming’s expression.
But he still accepted the scroll.
The moment he touched the scroll, a faint chill seeped into his palm.
Liu Ciming’s gaze sharpened.
The scroll unfurled before him. On the dark cyan silk, the ink marks were mottled.
“Ah…”
The scene within the painting—countless fierce ghost figures, seemingly chaotic and hasty, yet emanating a soul-striking aura of murderous violence.
The figures in the painting reclined in bizarre postures, no two alike.
A blood river wound its way through the landscape.
At the center, atop a small hill formed of white bones, a hazy, indistinct figure stood.
Though its features could not be seen, it possessed an air of surveying all living things below.
The painting’s brushwork was fierce and forceful, its forms strange and grotesque—looking at it made one’s hair stand on end.
Though it was merely a painting, gazing upon it felt like hearing the wailing of wronged spirits at one’s ear.
A brief contact alone caused his spiritual consciousness to tremble, leaving him dazed and unfocused.
Liu Ciming abruptly rolled the scroll shut. Only then did he realize, with dawning horror, that cold sweat had already soaked through his back.
A Deity Transformation Stage cultivator’s ink treasure was truly bizarre and supernatural!
“Well?”
Jin Tianya grinned, a trace of mockery flashing in his eyes.
“Having viewed this supreme treasure, do you have any insights, Brother Liu?”
Liu Ciming forced down the shock in his heart and nodded, feigning composure.
“Truly worthy of being a treasure of the Central Domain…”
“What a great fortune you have, Brother Jin!”
Jin Tianya let a cold laugh.
“What if I gave this great fortune to you, Brother Liu?”
“Brother Jin jests.”
Liu Ciming smiled. “This belongs to you, and to the Master.”
His tone shifted suddenly. “But—”
Spirit light flared within the room!
A pitch-black dagger, like a venomous snake, stabbed out without warning at blinding speed.
Caught completely off guard, it pierced into Jin Tianya’s heart.
The intricate patterns on the blade writhed like living things, and the instant it pierced his flesh, it began devouring his blood essence.
Jin Tianya’s eyes went wide. A struggle sounded in his throat, as though he wanted to say something, but Liu Ciming seized him by the neck.
“Do not blame me, Brother Jin.”
He leaned close to the other’s ear, his voice gentle.
“Right now in Changping, the six sects are watching closely, and cultivators from the Qi Kingdom and Ning Kingdom are searching as well. This kind of treasure… it would be safer for me to deliver it to the Master personally.”
“Don’t you agree?”
Jin Tianya’s body rapidly withered, ultimately reducing to a shriveled corpse.
“Heh.”
Liu Ciming sneered, about to put away the dagger.
But he froze instantly.
Jin Tianya’s bloodless, skeletal fingers had clamped tight around his wrist!
“What?!”
Liu Ciming cried out in shock.
A bone-piercing chill surged from his hand, his mind wavering for an instant, and the painting scroll flew from his grasp.
Suspended behind Jin Tianya, the ink surged downward like a tide.
In Jin Tianya’s hollow eye sockets, pitch-black spirit light ignited.
The ink poured into his body, and the withered corpse swelled back to its original form.
“You…”
“From the very beginning, you never intended for me to return alive to the Demonic Ruins, did you?”
Jin Tianya slowly raised his head and gazed at Liu Ciming.
“You were only worried that the Tang Court would trace me back to the Demonic Ruins.”
“The demonic path’s resurgence is imminent, and you were unwilling to take even that slightest risk.”
“I knew it too.”
“No matter what, I was going to die.”
Sensing the spiritual energy fluctuations emanating from Jin Tianya, Liu Ciming roared, “You madman!”
This man had actually refined his own soul into the painting!
“In that case, you are nothing but a single stroke within this ink treasure. You cannot control it at all!”
“So what?”
Finally, Jin Tianya’s body had fully restored to its original appearance.
He slowly raised his eyes and fixed his gaze upon Liu Ciming, devoid of any spark of life.
“In the end, we all die.”
“In that case—neither of us shall have this Deity Transformation ink treasure!”
In an instant, massive demonic energy surged forth, instantly engulfing the entire cellar.
Liu Ciming no longer cared about restraint. His spiritual energy erupted violently, and he burst through the cellar ceiling.
He soared into the sky above the small courtyard.
The mortals around Shigu Ping stared blankly at the figure in the sky.
Countless ink-black shadows and ghost figures spread from the small courtyard like splashed ink.
The ink’s radius grew ever larger.
The surrounding mortals had initially been frozen in shock, but the moment someone was touched by the ink—
In almost an instant, flesh and blood corroded, skin and muscle dissolved.
Without even a scream, they were reduced to a pile of shriveled bones.
“Ahhh!!!”
Terrified screams erupted from the mouths of other mortals, echoing throughout the village.
But it was too late.
The ghost figures from the painting scrambled out, tearing at and devouring the surrounding mortals.
All a fleeing mortal needed was a momentary hesitation, and the ink on the ground would dissolve them into a heap of bones.
Jin Tianya’s figure slowly emerged from the small farmhouse.
In merely a few breaths’ time, the vast ink had already enveloped all of Shigu Ping.
Every mortal, without exception, perished on the spot.
Demonic energy and vengeful spirits were converging from every direction across Changping.
On the ground, the shriveled bones moved without wind, gathering toward the center of the village, toward Jin Tianya’s feet, forming a small hill of white bones.
He ascended step by step to the summit of the bone mountain.
Just like the figure in the painting.
“Heh heh heh…”
Jin Tianya laughed in madness.
“The Changping Corpse Bone Abyss—four hundred and fifty thousand cultivators’ spirits!”
“Today…”
“I invite you all to the Avici Hell!”