Chapter 216: The Name of the Sword Ancestor
Moments later, within the realm of the Great Night Sweeping Across the Heavens, the refined demonic cultivator’s entire body was charred black, his features twisted and distorted, his movements torturous and agonized.
Song Yan’s gaze fell upon the fat Daoist.
He had not expected these two to be in precisely the same location, saving them the trouble of hunting each one down separately.
The fat Daoist stared at the three with terror.
Old Third had fallen in almost a single exchange.
That meant he would suffer the same fate.
He retreated frantically, but the darkness behind seemed infinite. The three consistently maintained the same distance from him.
“A formation?”
The fat Daoist was somewhat incredulous: “Impossible…”
The two of them had been drawn into this bizarre night almost instantaneously.
“Boy from Xin Mountain, you actually conspired with an orthodox cultivator to slay your own brothers. Have you no fear—”
“Since when were you my brother?”
Sheng Nian glanced at him, his gaze filled with the disgust one would direct at something filthy.
“Would my own brothers disguise themselves as rogue cultivators to kill me?”
He signaled Corpse Puppet A Yuan with a look.
A Yuan understood and stepped forward.
“What are you doing? Lei Ning will return soon. If you leave now, I will let bygones be bygones.”
Corpse Puppet A Yuan seemed to be reminded of something by this.
He retrieved the remains of the tall cultivator from his Cosmos Pouch and piled them together with the refined demonic cultivator’s corpse.
“…”
Upon seeing the barely recognizable remains of the tall cultivator, the fat Daoist’s breath ceased almost instantly.
Only now did his fear become impossible to conceal.
“Sp…” The word was squeezed from his throat in a plea for mercy. His corpulent body curled backward in desperation. “Spare me…”
Corpse Puppet A Yuan had already arrived before him, seizing his head with perfect composure.
Driven by the instinct to survive, the fat Daoist wanted to rise and flee backward.
But before he could stand, Corpse Puppet A Yuan slammed him violently to the ground.
He crashed at Song Yan’s feet.
The fat Daoist trembled now, whether from pain or terror, he could not tell.
He raised his head slightly, looking into their cold eyes, and knew in his heart that he would not survive this encounter.
Seeing their mocking tones and expressions, the fat Daoist’s eyes reddened, the fat on his face quivering with rage, and he roared: “Since you offer no quarter, I will drag you all down with me!”
He bit through his tongue and spat out a spray of essence blood. As his hands formed seals, dark green mist churned rapidly around his body.
Three streaks of dark green spiritual light coalesced above his head, transforming into three sword-shaped beams of light.
Simultaneously, the fat Daoist’s appearance withered instantly, his corpulent body shrinking considerably.
Song Yan’s gaze sharpened. This technique reminded him of the method Elder Xu Ziqing had employed at Changping.
However, compared to that, Elder Xu’s technique had been far purer, its displayed might far more terrifying.
“The Three Flowers of the Corpse,” Sheng Nian sneered. “Heh, heh. A crude imitation.”
The fat Daoist was somewhat astonished. He had obtained this secret technique from the ruins of some demonic cultivator and did not know its origin or provenance.
How could this boy from Xin Mountain know it so well?
He was about to strike when he sensed the Corpse Puppet closing in from behind.
At the same time, the horizontal blade in Sheng Nian’s hand was thrust forward in a single slash.
It shattered the spiritual energy shielding the fat Daoist’s body.
The force was controlled to perfection.
Corpse Puppet A Yuan had already arrived behind him, seizing his wrist and applying pressure instantly.
“Ah—”
The fat Daoist’s face streamed with tears and snot as his corpulent body thrashed wildly.
The three dark green sword beams wavered.
At that moment, a massive black hand emerged from the darkness, seized the three dark green beams, and refined them in an instant.
“Impossible!”
The fat Daoist cried out, but before his astonishment could register, a sharp crack rang out.
A Yuan, expressionless, crushed his wrist bone with his bare hand.
“Ah—”
A scream of agony.
Sheng Nian finally spoke: “I ask, you answer.”
The fat Daoist writhed in pain, but Corpse Puppet A Yuan held him aloft, compelling him to hear the Young Master’s questions.
“How do you currently travel between the Demonic Ruins and the mortal realm?”
The fat Daoist was drenched in sweat from the pain, his mind fading, the darkness of this realm devouring his will to resist: “Below the Foundation Establishment stage… one can pass through the trans… teleportation array. I know nothing of other methods.”
“Where is the teleportation array?”
“In Guan… Guangling Prefecture.”
“…” Sheng Nian pondered for a moment. “The one at Guangling Huishan?”
The fat Daoist paused, thinking: You already know this?
It must be that the Xin Mountain Wanderer had told his disciple.
“As far as I know, the teleportation array to the Demonic Ruins is one-way. This one is for arriving. Where is the one that goes to the Demonic Ruins?”
The fat Daoist was confused. Had the Xin Mountain Wanderer only told him half the story?
“In Xin’an Prefecture.”
Xin’an Prefecture?
Song Yan and Sheng Nian exchanged a glance.
Chu Capital.
Sheng Nian asked further: “The demonic cultivators from the Demonic Ruins have become so brazen lately. Has some senior demonic cultivator broken through and intends to make a foray into the mortal realm?”
“I… I do not know.”
“Where is Zhao Ziyang now?”
“I do not know.”
“Which sects do the demonic cultivators in Chu State primarily belong to? What is their total number, and what are their cultivation levels?”
The Demonic Ruins’ primary infiltration point into the mortal realm was undoubtedly the Central Domain.
However, unlike the Central Domain’s rigorous defenses, the peripheral small states like the Nine Border Kingdoms had far fewer protective measures and resources, making them far easier to penetrate.
Thus, the nine small states along the “Tianshan Corridor” held a considerable portion of the Demonic Ruins’ influence.
But how many demonic cultivators there were in Chu State, and what their overall strength might be, remained unclear.
“I… I only know of the Demon Seed Sect and the Yellow Spring Path,” the fat cultivator said. “The rest, I do not know.”
Sheng Nian curled his lip, losing interest in further interrogation.
The Soul Searching technique could not be used again in such a short time, and moreover, this man’s eighth-level Qi Refining cultivation was not insignificant. He did not dare cast it carelessly.
Song Yan was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked: “Do the people of the Demonic Ruins have any connection with the Qin clan of Southern Chu?”
Sheng Nian was startled, unsure why he suddenly asked this.
The fat Daoist was equally bewildered but answered honestly: “I have never heard of such a thing.”
Song Yan and Sheng Nian exchanged another glance, then Song Yan flicked his finger.
A strand of sword qi pierced through the fat Daoist’s Dantian, not fatally, but enough to scatter his spiritual energy, rendering him incapable of casting any further techniques.
“Ah—”
The fat Daoist bounced like a slaughtered fat fish and crashed heavily back to the ground.
Sheng Nian looked at him with some puzzlement: “Will you not have him refine more demonic energy for you?”
“It is unnecessary. The avatar needs time to refine and absorb this demonic energy. Any excess for the time being is useless. There is no need to waste the effort.”
Song Yan glanced at Corpse Puppet A Yuan.
“He enjoyed tormenting mortals so much. Let him taste the flavor of being tormented to death.”
A Yuan wholeheartedly agreed.
His stiff neck nodded heavily, then seized the fat Daoist’s other arm and began applying pressure.
Crack! Crack!
Bone after bone was crushed inch by inch, each crisp snap accompanied by a heart-rending scream.
The fat Daoist’s pupils contracted violently, all color draining from his fleshy face.
He shook his head wildly, the flesh slapping in a “pap, pap” sound: “I beg you… just kill me directly…”
“How can we do that?”
Song Yan said indifferently, “When you were torturing those mortals, you were clearly enjoying yourself…”
“Why are you not laughing now?”
The fat Daoist’s screams had become inhuman.
Corpse Puppet A Yuan would even pause at appropriate intervals, allowing the fat Daoist to savor his present agony in full.
And then continue.
His corpulent body rolled madly upon the ground, his skin beginning to weep fine beads of blood that dissolved into the night.
His voice had grown so hoarse it no longer resembled human speech, gradually fading into silence.
Corpse Puppet A Yuan glanced at Sheng Nian and Song Yan, then seized the fat Daoist’s body and struck his head with a single blow.
The fat Daoist’s body convulsed violently several times before finally going still.
…
Moments later, the endless night completely enveloped the entirety of Qingpine Temple.
Song Yan and Sheng Nian stood upon the highest point of the main hall’s roof, surveying the scene below from their lofty vantage.
The stench of blood permeated the air. In the temple’s courtyard, dozens of corpses lay scattered in disarray.
Corpse Puppet A Yuan moved busily throughout the temple, having just snapped a demonic cultivator’s neck with clean efficiency.
“Only three or five left. It will be soon,” A Yuan muttered to himself.
Gazing upon this field of demonic cultivator corpses…
Their agonized, twisted expressions in their final moments, their wretched and terrified screams…
When these demonic cultivators had slaughtered the ordinary cultivators of Qingpine Temple, had they witnessed such sights as well?
Now, it was their turn.
A Nian had said that Qingpine Temple had once been a thriving small temple whose master possessed a cultivation at the peak of Qi Refining.
Yet merely because these demonic cultivators from the Demonic Ruins needed a foothold here, the entire sect had been exterminated in a single night.
He did not wish to judge the actions of these demonic cultivators, but at this moment, it was nothing more than reenacting the cycle of the strong devouring the weak once more.
Song Yan gazed upon the endless night above Qingpine Temple.
The absolute darkness that shrouded the surroundings could not merely obscure a cultivator’s senses—it seemed to possess the uncanny property of devouring spiritual energy as well.
Sheng Nian’s “Great Night Sweeping Across the Heavens” technique combined entrapment and killing into one. Its ingenuity was not unlike that of a sword formation.
From this vantage, Sheng Nian at his full strength was in no way inferior to himself.
Song Yan spoke: “These demonic cultivators from the Demonic Ruins—with careful handling and A Yuan’s aid, the two of you could have slain them all. Why did you call upon me as well?”
Sheng Nian looked somewhat sheepish: “Heh, heh… I was merely guarding against Zhao Ziyang.”
He and Corpse Puppet A Yuan could indeed have eliminated the majority here. Even facing Zhao Ziyang one-on-one, he was confident of victory.
But if Zhao Ziyang appeared simultaneously with the other three, that would present considerable trouble.
At this moment, the right palm of the avatar behind Song Yan had fully sprouted pitch-black flesh and meridians, with faint golden patterns upon the skin’s surface.
Save for the demonic cultivator named Lei Ning from the beginning, the nourishment provided by the remaining cultivators of Qingpine Temple was hardly worth mentioning for the avatar.
Just then, A Yuan dragged the final two corpses to the center of the temple courtyard and dropped them.
His robe was already stained a mottled red-black with blood, and in his hand he carried a string of Cosmos Pouches.
Seeing that matters here were concluded, Song Yan casually dismissed the avatar.
The two proceeded to divide their spoils on the spot, harboring a faint hope that Zhao Ziyang might appear at their door.
According to Sheng Nian, the number of Dao Son candidates among the demonic sects was considerable, but Zhao Ziyang was a particularly special case.
Though he had not yet broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage, his strength placed him among the foremost of those Qi Refining cultivators.
Within the Demonic Ruins, the forces eyeing the Nine Border Kingdoms were not few, but once divided among the nine states, they appeared rather sparse.
Even the death of a so-called Dao Son candidate would hardly cause significant ripples.
Regrettably, Zhao Ziyang did not grant them that opportunity and never appeared.
Most of the items found in the Cosmos Pouches collected this time held nothing worthy of attention. Only the pouches of the three late-stage Qi Refining cultivators held some value.
Song Yan could not be bothered to take even the Cosmos Pouches. He selected from them the spiritual herbs and medicinal plants he could use, along with half the spirit stones, and paid them no further attention.
Those miscellaneous artifacts and talismans would require finding a buyer, which was more trouble than it was worth. He preferred spirit stones directly.
He would leave Sheng Nian to handle those goods. The fellow had his muscle, after all.
“With matters here concluded, if there is nothing else, I shall take my leave.”
Song Yan bid Sheng Nian farewell.
Sheng Nian nodded: “Until we meet again.”
Reflecting upon it, had Sheng Nian not called him here, he truly would never have imagined the Demonic Ruins would issue a bounty on such a minor figure as himself.
He felt rather innocent. The affair at Changping—he had acted solely in self-defense.
If he had truly offended someone, it was undoubtedly the Xuan Yuan Sect.
The matter of the scroll—had that not been caused by the Yellow Spring Path cultivators themselves?
Heh.
But whether it was the Xuan Yuan Sect, the Yellow Spring Path, or the Qin clan, Yang Wenxuan, the Corpse Bone Abyss…
For a minor figure like himself, they would hardly expend great effort or devise elaborate schemes. At worst, they simply wanted him dead.
What he needed to do was simple.
Forge his Dao Foundation as soon as possible, and possess sufficient strength to meet all challenges!
“…”
Sheng Nian stood in the night, watching Song Yan’s departing silhouette.
“Tsk, tsk…” The demonic voice within him murmured: “This boy has indeed obtained the Sword Sect’s heritage.”
“The Sword Sect? How can you tell?” Sheng Nian asked with curiosity. “Do you recognize the sword formation he employed?”
“Not exactly. The methods of sword formations are infinitely varied. Would this lord remember every lowly formation?”
Xie Laomo said: “It is that sword Dao eye technique. If this lord does not mistake it, that is an exclusive art of the Sword Sect.”
“Zheng Tianqi of old—that one caused quite the uproar.”
Sheng Nian heard a profoundly unfamiliar name and could not help asking: “Zheng Tianqi? Who is that?”
“The founder of the Sword Sect.” Within Xie Laomo’s voice lay a thread of reminiscence.
“Twenty-four thousand years ago, he ascended to the Immortal Realm.”
“Ascended to the Immortal Realm?!”
Sheng Nian’s mind reeled. The founder of the Sword Sect had ascended to immortality?!
Ascension.
Such a distant and alien word.
After all, in Chu State, reaching Foundation Establishment was already enough to be considered a senior of great standing.
“Of course. Among the three branches of sword cultivators, the Sword Sect was the grand synthesizer. Such a heaven-blessed genius—for him, ascension held no difficulty.”
“But the Sword Sect’s heritage is vast…” Xie Laomo’s tone shifted. “One wonders how much of it this boy has inherited.”