Chapter 26: Reversal
Wan Songran walked over to the two demons’ remains, dissecting the corpses to extract the demon cores with practiced ease. “This one, I’ll give to you as a greeting gift.”
He casually tossed one demon core toward Song Yan, pocketing the other for himself.
“Fellow Daoist Wan is most generous…”
Song Yan accepted the demon core with a noncommittal tone.
He had openly revealed that “Immortal Flute” to him and gifted him a precious late first-tier demon core as a show of sincerity…
It seemed that in the end, it would come down to who could walk out of this secret realm alive.
The two exchanged smiles, their eyes equally concealing murderous intent.
“Let’s go.”
“Where?”
“To find Wang Xi a burial spot.”
Song Yan said nothing and followed Wan Songran to a stretch of marshland.
“The Xuanyuan Sect wants the spirit vein but cannot afford to leave a bad reputation, so they need to stage a scene where ‘disciples from both sects attack from behind and attempt to kill an inner disciple of the Xuanyuan Sect.'”
“That way, they can come begging from our two sects in the future.”
At Song Yan’s side, the peach wood and gemmetal flying sword hummed and circled. “How can we be certain he will come alone?”
“The Xuanyuan Sect wants more than just the spirit vein. This joint mission also includes many things, such as assessing the true strength of the two inner disciples, among others…”
Wan Songran’s fingertip traced along the body of the flute, and the vines on the ground began to move eerily.
“This Wang Xi is arrogant and cannot stand being looked down upon. Killing the likes of us ‘insects’—naturally, he wouldn’t ask anyone else to help.”
“Who knows, the sect disciples caught in this secret realm with us may already have been killed by him one by one…”
“This is also our opportunity.”
Song Yan’s expression darkened, but before he could speak, Wan Songran’s face turned solemn.
“…He’s here.”
Before the words had fully left his mouth, Wan Songran turned to look. From deep within the dense forest behind them, a figure in yellow robes slowly emerged, his robes stained with blood, yellow spiritual light pulsing in and out of his palm.
It was Wang Xi, inner disciple of the Xuanyuan Sect.
“Oh? Both of you are actually here.”
“That saves me the trouble of hunting you down one by one.”
Wang Xi had encountered two Lingfu Sect disciples and one Dongyuan Sect disciple on his way, each separately.
He had killed one of the Lingfu Sect disciples, planning to frame the others later.
The remaining two, he had left alive to create confusion.
His gaze fell upon Wan Songran, lingering on the red-black transverse flute in his hand, and he sneered, “A disciple of the Wan family? What a pity—you’ll all perish here today!”
Song Yan’s fingers lightly brushed across the blade of his peach wood and gemmetal sword.
Wang Xi snorted coldly, formed hand seals, and three earth-element spirit attacks shot out in unison.
Battle erupted in an instant!
Song Yan’s sword technique shifted rapidly as his flying sword spun and flowed, clashing with the earth spells and sending sparks flying.
The rotting forest soil beneath Wang Xi’s feet suddenly collapsed and surged like waves. Several stone serpents burst from the earth, constricting toward Song Yan and Wan Songran!
Wan Songran laughed coldly, holding the black flute horizontally before him as strange melodies began to sound.
“Playing tricks!”
Wang Xi’s knuckles crackled with fierce light as a yellow spiritual glow rose from his palm.
In an instant, all the surrounding grass and trees bowed low. A small earth-colored seal expanded violently in the wind, and the Bixi relief coiled at its center opened its stone eyes. Dense spiritual patterns flowed down the seal’s body, condensing into a phantom mountain in midair.
The might of this seal was identical to the technique that had previously slain the carp demon in the Hidden Moon Pool valley.
Song Yan’s flying sword swept away the stone serpents, but before his feet could leave the ground, he felt immense spiritual pressure bearing down on his crown. His protective spiritual qi shattered like thin ice, and his knee joints emitted a creaking sound that set his teeth on edge.
The entire marshland sank two inches under the pressure. Foul mud mixed with broken branches forced him deep into the swamp, as though invisible hands were crushing him again and again.
“Wan… Song… Ran!”
Boom!
A tremendous crashing sound erupted from the center of the marsh. A massive armored crab of the mid first-tier burst through the mud, waving its enormous claws as it charged headlong at Wang Xi.
“Hmph, petty tricks!” Wang Xi shifted his spiritual energy, redirecting the power of the Mountain-Suppressing Seal onto the giant crab. Only then did Song Yan get a moment to breathe.
His fingers formed hand seals, and several green vines shot from the swamp, wrapping toward Wang Xi.
“Just accept your death quietly. Why waste time!”
Boom!!!
The phantom mountain from the Mountain-Suppressing Seal crashed down, crushing the armored crab into the mud.
By now, the green vines had already wrapped around Wang Xi. Song Yan clenched his left fist from a distance, and raging flames instantly engulfed the vines.
“Tch…”
Wang Xi’s spiritual energy surged, and a yellow spiritual pattern blazed with brilliant light, sweeping away the chaotically burning vines.
“Your divine sense really is abnormal. At the fifth level of Qi Refining, you can control spells from over twenty zhang away without them dispersing. After I kill you, I’ll have to take a good look at what secret technique that is!”
“Even at the late Qi Refining stage… the difference in spell effectiveness is this great…”
Wan Songran cursed inwardly at Song Yan’s uselessness. Was he going to have to use his final killing move?
Was the Dongyuan Sect truly this destitute? Were all its disciples mediocre?
He gritted his teeth and produced a half-broken talisman from his sleeve.
“Song Yan! Right now, with a mortal enemy before us, whatever hidden skills you have, show them all! If you don’t get serious now…”
“There may never be another chance!”
Song Yan’s heart clenched. He produced three pale talismans, igniting them with spiritual energy. They transformed into dark light and soared into the heavens.
The Sword Technique Compendium recorded many techniques and methods for controlling flying swords.
However, most of them required establishing a sword domain, planting a sword seed, and channeling both natal sword qi and spiritual energy together to manifest their full power.
Only a small fraction could be used without a sword seed, though they came with significant restrictions.
Rumble!
Thunderclouds filled the sky, with lightning flickering faintly above.
“What trick are you playing?!”
Wang Xi’s spiritual energy surged as never before, sending ripples through the marsh!
Pure spiritual energy emanated from his body, condensing into a yellow sphere. Several streams of spiritual power transformed into rocks, and surrounding chunks of earth and stone similarly gathered together.
“This again!”
The fish demon at Hidden Moon Pool had perished under this very technique—the Earth-Collapsing Mountain-Shaking Spell.
Wan Songran’s eyes were tightly closed, his spiritual energy surging violently. The half-broken talisman before him finally lit up.
A dangerous smile curved his lips. “Wang Xi, today you die no matter what!”
Rumble…
Beneath the swamp, the earth veins suddenly began to tremble violently. Deep within the forest, the massive root systems beneath the towering ancient trees surged toward this stretch of marshland!
The power of earth spiritual energy here collapsed and dispersed like floodwaters breaking through a dam.
The inverted mountain phantom suspended in the air began to crumble at the same moment.
“Wood-Severing Spirit Talisman!”
Wang Xi’s eyes nearly split from fury. For the first time, a sense of crisis arose in his heart. He turned to flee, wanting to leave the talisman’s range.
“Boom!”
The battered armored crab dragged its broken body forward, blocking Wang Xi’s path.
“Get out of my way!!”
Rumble!
At that very moment, Song Yan’s flying sword hovered several zhang above and in front of him. A bolt of thunder with terrifying momentum struck directly onto the blade, yet the sword itself showed no change.
Song Yan’s hand formed seals. Several green vines wrapped around the blade, then flames ignited, burning away the vines. Blazing fire remained upon the sword.
Rumble!
The second heavenly thunderbolt descended!
Upon the blade of the peach wood and gemmetal flying sword, blue-white flames encircled with the sound of thunder. The blade emitted an almost unbearable cracking noise.
Song Yan pressed two fingers together and gently ran them along the blade. The protective spiritual energy around his body, upon contact with this thunder-fire qi, instantly dissipated.
“Cloud-Descent Thunder-Falling Sword Strike!”