Longevity Dao Sect.
Master Yushan was receiving several of his junior brothers and sisters.
Of the Nine Sons of Longevity, three were already gone. Zong An had suffered grave injuries and was in seclusion to recuperate, while Ning Weixuan was ostensibly under confinement. That left only three of them still active outside.
None of those three dared harbor the slightest resentment toward Master Yushan now. On the contrary, they were all on edge, terrified that if the senior sect leader took a dislike to them, he would simply use them up as expendable materials.
There was no helping it. A Great Ascension cultivator was simply too terrifying.
Master Yushan, in particular, had an immense demand for spiritual energy.
As the three junior siblings stood beside him, they could all feel the spiritual energy within their bodies being drawn uncontrollably toward Master Yushan.
“Sect Leader, Xu Guan of the Wenshen Sect has reached a critical stage in his tribulation. Why not let this junior brother go and interfere?” One of the elders among the Nine Sons of Longevity volunteered.
“Indeed, Sect Leader. Xu Guan’s tribulation has affected our Longevity Dao Sect as well. The other sects—the Myriad Dao Sect, the Carefree Dao Sect, and even the Blood Demon Sect—have all been openly or covertly favoring the Wenshen Sect. In the end, they are opposing our sect.”
The Longevity Dao Sect was located so close to the Wenshen Sect that striking at the latter should not have been difficult.
Yet they had repeatedly failed. Ultimately, it was because other sects kept getting in their way.
They had not neglected to send people secretly into the vicinity of the Wenshen Sect to set up various measures. Yet for one reason or another, every attempt had failed.
Behind all these failures lay the shadows of other sects.
Clearly, the other sects were unwilling to see the Longevity Dao Sect grow too dominant. They had deliberately protected the Wenshen Sect, determined to make Xu Guan the Longevity Dao Sect’s first stumbling block.
After all, everyone understood the feud between the two sects.
How could one tolerate another’s snoring beside one’s bed?
So long as Xu Guan and the Wenshen Sect remained, the Longevity Dao Sect would have to pull out this thorn before it could make a move against the other sects.
“I have already made arrangements for this matter. Rather than wasting time talking, you should consider which sect we ought to target next,” Master Yushan replied calmly. “Master does not have much time left. The pawns we planted in the past are about ready to be used.”
At the mention of their master, the other three immediately fell silent.
That was right. Their master still stood above the Longevity Dao Sect.
“Wen Jingshu and Fu Ge are dead, and Situ Jian—the one Master wishes to capture—has still not been found. Sect Leader, who do you think we should move against next?” One elder frowned. “Ordinary methods of extending one’s lifespan are no longer of any use to Master.”
And it was not only their master. The terrestrial immortals of the other sects had, more or less, also reached the end of their allotted lifespans.
The turmoil in the cultivation world was both accidental and inevitable.
For those terrestrial immortals to live longer, the spiritual energy of the cultivation world had to become abundant once more.
And what could restore spiritual energy more quickly than starting a war, causing cultivators to die in large numbers and return their spiritual energy to the world?
Such an act was no different from drinking poison to quench one’s thirst. But so long as they could survive the present crisis, that was enough.
As for what the cultivation world would become afterward, that was not something they needed to concern themselves with.
“The Spirit-Hosting Demon Sect and the Nine Heavens Dao Sect.” Master Yushan gave two answers. “A great battle will soon break out between them.”
“But hasn’t that person from the Nine Heavens Dao Sect already possessed another body once?” one elder asked in confusion. “After possessing a body once, one cannot do so a second time. This method can no longer be used to prolong one’s lifespan.”
Body possession could only be performed once. It was the single loophole the Heavenly Dao permitted cultivators.
If one could possess new bodies repeatedly, what would they have to fear?
They would only need to keep preparing new bodies for their master to possess, and there would be no need to worry about his lifespan.
“The Spirit-Hosting Demon Sect’s spirit-hosting art does not count as body possession,” Master Yushan said calmly. “Though spirit-hosting appears similar to possession, the two are fundamentally different. If the Nine Heavens Dao Sect wishes to endure, this is their only remaining option. As it happens, that Mahayana cultivator from the Spirit-Hosting Demon Sect also wishes to use this opportunity to make a breakthrough. The two of them are destined to fight. Begin making preparations. There is no need to ask further questions.”
“Yes.”
After everyone else had left, Master Yushan began contacting Ning Weixuan to see how his progress was going.
Before long, however, Master Yushan’s brows furrowed.
The soul lamp Qin Rushan had left behind in the Longevity Dao Sect had completely gone out, proving that he had perished, body and soul.
But why was the soul lamp on Ning Weixuan’s side flickering so faintly, as though it might go out at any moment?
Wait—what was this aura?
Master Yushan lowered his gaze and found that his fingers were trembling of their own accord.
The same thing was happening in the major sects across the land.
Blood Demon Ancestor rose to his feet and looked in the direction of the Longevity Dao Sect.
His sea of blood churned without cease. The demonic aura that had once roiled within it suddenly became calm, docile as a stray dog.
Between heaven and earth, aside from that tribulation cloud, it seemed that some other overwhelmingly powerful existence had also been born into the world.
Blood Demon Ancestor performed a divination, yet the presence of the tribulation cloud prevented him from determining the other party’s exact location.
Still, for his sea of blood to grow so quiet, for his scalp to prickle with such terrifying dread—
There could be nothing other than the Immortal-Slaying Sword.
“First, a Mahayana cultivator falls, and then a newcomer rises to take his place. As old monsters like us begin to appear more frequently, has the Immortal-Slaying Sword finally emerged as well?” Blood Demon Ancestor’s expression darkened, and his earlier good mood vanished without a trace.
He wanted the cultivation world to grow ever more chaotic.
The more of those terrestrial immortals who died, the longer he himself would live.
But no matter what, he did not want to see the Immortal-Slaying Sword emerge.
Hadn’t it never appeared before?
Even when similar auras occasionally surfaced, they had always faded away almost at once.
But this time was different.
This time, the Immortal-Slaying Sword’s aura was unmistakable.
It was as though it had truly come back to life!
The forbidden grounds of sects such as the Nine Heavens Dao Sect, the Myriad Dao Sect, and the Carefree Dao Sect reacted at the same time.
Those diviners who had been calculating when Xu Guan would undergo his tribulation all cast their lots anew, turning instead to seek the whereabouts of the Immortal-Slaying Sword.
But the Heavenly Dao was vast and unfathomable. How could they possibly calculate such a thing?
Meanwhile, the many Unblemished Realm cultivators gathered at the Divine Inquiry Sect sensed the spiritual-energy fluctuations in the distance, their expressions turning numb.
Why had yet another aura of such terrifying power appeared?
Since when had cultivators at the Immaculate Realm and above become so common in the cultivation world?
And Xu Guan’s heavenly tribulation had passed so long ago—where was he?
…
Ning Weixuan could never have imagined that the Great Ascension sword cultivator who had wounded him—the one he had searched for throughout nearly the entire cultivation world—was actually Shu Xin.
In order to find the person who had injured him, he had sought an audience with his master, Wuweizi, and visited countless sects, yet he had found nothing.
He had also tried to uncover clues through Shu Xin. But Shu Xin had always remained under the wing of the Wenshen Sect. Even after achieving some modest accomplishments, she had merely lingered at the Cave Heaven Realm—worlds apart from the person who had wounded him.
How could Ning Weixuan have guessed that the one who had hurt him was precisely Shu Xin, the person he had considered insignificant?
Yet the familiarity before his eyes could not be denied.
Ning Weixuan realized that this man and woman were likely far more terrifying than he had imagined.
One possessed an ancient inheritance, capable of ascending to the Immaculate Realm in a short span of time and escaping beneath the very eyes of the Land Immortals.
The other had been able to grievously wound him while only at the Nascent Dao Realm—and now, the moment he exposed their relationship, had mercilessly tried to kill him.
Countless thoughts flashed through Ning Weixuan’s mind in an instant.
But they were useless.
Shu Xin did not pause simply because of Ning Weixuan’s shock.
On the contrary, she even encouraged the Sword Spirit.
“You know too much—go die!” The Sword Spirit was rarely this excited, and it struck at Ning Weixuan with even greater force.
“This is impossible…”
Ning Weixuan was covered in all manner of protective treasures, and he had pushed his cultivation technique to its very limit.
It could be said that even a Great Ascension cultivator would find it impossible to kill him in a single strike.
Last time, Ning Weixuan had taken a sword blow and still managed to escape.
This time, not only had he not underestimated his opponent, he had also brought numerous magical treasures with him. Escaping should not have been difficult.
Yet the instant he sensed that familiar aura, Ning Weixuan suddenly felt that there was truly no chance of survival left for him.
He stared fixedly at the people before him—and at that sword!
For a moment, the soaring sword radiance seemed even more oppressive than the tribulation clouds hanging over the Wenshen Sect’s territory.
In an instant, it felt as though heaven and earth themselves had to make way for this sword strike.
Under the immense sword pressure, every petal of the lotus throne beneath Ning Weixuan’s feet cracked at once, the fractures spreading across the entire throne.
With a sharp crash—
The lotus throne that should have protected Ning Weixuan without a single gap shattered into countless fragments and fell away.
And that sword was already before his eyes.
He wanted to flee, but for some reason his body would not move at all.
Or perhaps he had already fled.
Yet no matter where he ran, he seemed unable to leave the range of that sword.
In that instant, Ning Weixuan finally understood the vastness of heaven and earth.
His body and soul were reduced to ashes in the blink of an eye.
At the very end, he seemed to recognize the sword.
“The Immortal-Slaying Sword…”
Ning Weixuan knew that there was no longer any possibility of survival. But at the very least, he wanted to know exactly whose hands he had suffered defeat at, time and again.
In this world, there was nothing else besides the Immortal-Slaying Sword that could kill him with a single stroke—and allow someone weaker than him to unleash such terrifying combat power.
So this was the Immortal-Slaying Sword.
This was why her master and the others did not dare travel openly.
Its reputation was indeed well deserved.
One sword strike fell.
Ning Weixuan’s figure vanished from the space before her.
【Pah, pah, pah! What Immortal-Slaying Sword? My name is Slayer of Every Immortal Under Heaven! How many times do I have to say it?】 the Sword Spirit snapped angrily.
These cultivators were so irritating. They always got its name wrong.
Shu Xin withdrew the sword and patted its hilt. “All right, why argue with a dead man? You should be looking at how much cleaner you’ve become instead.”
A vast amount of spiritual energy erupted from the place where Ning Weixuan had disappeared, and Shu Xin could not help sighing.
Ning Weixuan was unquestionably an exceptional figure.
He was gifted, powerful, and shrewd.
But precisely because he was such a person, he could not be allowed to live.
If he made it out of here alive and returned to the Changsheng Dao Sect, he would undoubtedly become a formidable enemy in the future.
Shu Xin would never allow such a dangerous person to leave unharmed. Even if fusing with the immortal sword might draw unwanted attention, she had to kill Ning Weixuan.
The Sword Spirit inspected its blade and immediately brightened.
【This Ning Weixuan wasn’t bad at all. He’s made me so much cleaner.】 The Sword Spirit was easy to appease. Once it saw how much cleaner it had become, it was no longer quite so angry.
Ning Weixuan had committed no small number of sins.
Though, considering his position, that was only to be expected.
Shu Xin also let out a long breath.
As long as the enemy was dead, that was enough.
“As expected, a higher cultivation means a stronger body. This time, after swinging the sword, I still feel a little unwell, but at least I can move normally.” Shu Xin stretched her limbs. Other than having more than half her spiritual energy drained, she had suffered no serious effects.
Unlike last time, when a single swing had not only exhausted everything she had, but also left her severely injured and forced her to return to recuperate.
【Of course. I told you to raise your cultivation only so that you could use me better.】 The Sword Spirit spoke with pride. 【I am already at the pinnacle of immortal swords. There is no further progress for me to make. Only when my swordmaster becomes stronger can my power be brought fully to bear. But now that you’ve reached the Immaculate Realm, even if a Mahayana cultivator came, you could still severely wound them with me. As for an Earthly Immortal... you could probably escape.】
Naturally, an immortal sword possessed immense power.
It could allow its swordmaster to fight opponents several realms above their own.
And once its swordmaster’s cultivation improved, the power it could unleash increased exponentially.
Thus, although the strongest of its previous swordmasters had only barely reached the Mahayana stage—and most had merely been in the Immaculate Realm—it had still slaughtered Earthly Immortals until they were utterly routed.
Yet it was also because the strongest among its previous swordmasters had only reached Mahayana, while most had been no more than Immaculate Realm cultivators, that it had fallen into its present state: burdened by karma and covered in rust.
“All right, all right.” Shu Xin promptly removed the fingertip’s mysterious radiance from the immortal sword, splitting it back into two separate blades.
The Sword Spirit, which had been so delighted only moments ago, was immediately devastated.
[Can’t you let me enjoy myself just a little longer?] the Sword Spirit protested.
“No.” Shu Xin immediately rejected the idea. “The commotion you caused just now was far too great. We’d better be careful. Being too high-profile can get us killed.”
If Ning Weixuan had not been so difficult to deal with, why would she have needed to fuse the immortal swords?
Unfortunately, Ning Weixuan was far too clever and had far too many contingencies in place.
If Shu Xin had truly given him a chance to escape, the trouble he brought afterward would only have been greater.
That was why Shu Xin had decisively used the immortal swords.
When facing a powerful enemy, one must despise the enemy strategically—but take every enemy seriously tactically!
Ning Weixuan was cunning and suspicious, an old monster who had lived for who knew how many years. She absolutely could not let down her guard.
Whenever she had the chance to destroy him quickly, she could not afford to entertain even the slightest hope of luck.
Unable to resist, the Sword Spirit could only obediently allow Shu Xin to separate it once more.
“All right, Ning Weixuan is dead.” Shu Xin smiled at Wen Jingzhi. “Jingzhi, can you tell me when exactly you regained consciousness?”
The smile on Wen Jingzhi’s face stiffened slightly.
[This kid must have woken up ages ago. He’s just been pretending otherwise,] the Sword Spirit said, clearly enjoying the spectacle.
Wen Jingzhi smiled bitterly inwardly.
Senior Sword Spirit was still as fond of stirring things up as ever.
“I only regained consciousness not long ago.” Wen Jingzhi clasped his hands slightly toward Shu Xin, his voice becoming gentler and deeper. “After I completed my revenge, I kept suppressing the demonic energy within me and did not dare release it easily. It was only later, thanks to Senior Sword Spirit’s intervention, that I gradually began to sense the outside world again. But by the time I fully awoke, I found that, for some reason, I had become a youth again. I mistakenly believed I was still within an illusion, and thus did not dare act rashly.”
That was quite a skillful answer.
He directly shifted the topic to the misunderstanding caused by the change in his body.
[Holy—this little fox is quick-witted. He’s really pinning this on me?] The Sword Spirit was dumbfounded. Wasn’t he plainly setting it up to take the blame?
[Let me make this clear, I had nothing to do with it either. This was entirely Shu—]
It was Shu Xin’s little prank!
“Ahem. That isn’t important.” Shu Xin cut the Sword Spirit off. “The important thing is that you’ve regained consciousness. Now that Ning Weixuan is dead, we shouldn’t linger here. Let’s return and wait for Master to emerge from seclusion.”
Shu Xin squeezed the sword hilt, signaling for the Sword Spirit to stop talking.
If it continued, she would share some of the blame too.
Wen Jingzhi smiled. “Of course.”
The Sword Spirit felt somewhat indignant, thinking Shu Xin was clearly playing favorites. But remembering that it had just made its blade much cleaner again, it decided not to argue.
After all, it was a senior. It ought to be magnanimous and forgiving.
Just as Shu Xin and Wen Jingzhi were about to fly away, a hazy figure suddenly appeared where Ning Weixuan had vanished.
“Were you the ones who killed Ning Weixuan?” a voice suddenly rang out.
Shu Xin and Wen Jingzhi attacked the phantom at the same time.
It was Master Yushan!
Unexpectedly, he had left a contingency on Ning Weixuan. The moment Ning Weixuan died, his avatar was able to arrive at once.
“So it was you.” The moment Master Yushan saw Shu Xin and Wen Jingzhi, he recognized them.
“With just the two of you, there’s no way you could have killed Ning Weixuan so cleanly. There are traces of powerful sword pressure here. Tell me—who else was here just now?” In a matter of moments, Master Yushan had pieced together seven or eight parts of what had happened.
Though he was equally shocked that Shu Xin had reached the Immaculate Realm, what concerned him more was who had killed Ning Weixuan.
Could it really have been the Immortal-Slaying Sword?
Yet when Master Yushan swept his divine sense over Shu Xin, he found not the slightest trace of an immortal sword upon her.
No—even so, they had to die!
Without another word, Master Yushan attacked.
In the blink of an eye, the three of them had exchanged several rounds.
Fortunately, Master Yushan had not arrived in person. But even an incarnation of his was enough to force Shu Xin and Wen Jingzhi into a bitter struggle.
They had already expended much of their strength fighting Ning Weixuan. Now, Shu Xin was even more reluctant to use the Sword Spirit, lest Master Yushan discover anything suspicious.
The Sword Spirit was equally obedient. It decisively severed its connection with Shu Xin, preventing her from being exposed.
The last time they had merged, they had gone undetected only because Shu Xin, as the sword’s master, had been too weak to unleash the immortal sword’s true power. Naturally, no one else had been able to sense it.
But things were different now. Shu Xin had entered the Immaculate Realm and could already begin to wield the immortal sword. Anyone watching closely might detect it.
But if she admitted the truth, she would truly die without even a grave to lie in.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. We only came over after sensing that something was wrong. Ning Weixuan’s cultivation was higher than ours, and he was faster as well. We only caught up to him here,” Shu Xin said, her mind racing as she instantly fabricated an explanation. “He was about to attack my master. We exposed his identity, and that was why he fled.”
“Lies!” Master Yushan would never believe such a story. “No matter. I’ll extract your souls and search them thoroughly. Then everything will become clear.”
Master Yushan’s phantom gradually solidified.
That meant his true body was drawing ever closer.
In just one or two breaths, he would likely arrive in person.
When that happened, Shu Xin would have no choice but to use the immortal sword again.
Seeing that they were on the verge of defeat, Wen Jingzhi naturally understood what was at stake. Without hesitation, he drew the danger toward himself.
“Master Yushan, are you searching for the Immortal-Slaying Sword?”
Shu Xin turned to look at Wen Jingzhi, only to see the determination on his face.
At the mention of that name, Master Yushan’s attention immediately shifted to Wen Jingzhi. “As expected—you know the secret behind this!”
“How do you think I obtained the inheritance within me? Yes, I do know where the Immortal-Slaying Sword is.” Wen Jingzhi unhesitatingly took everything upon himself. “Unfortunately, even those Earthly Immortals failed to capture me back then. What makes you think you can?”
With that, Wen Jingzhi transformed into a streak of fleeing light and sped into the distance.
“Don’t even think of running!” Seeing Wen Jingzhi—who knew the whereabouts of the Immortal-Slaying Sword—attempting to flee, Master Yushan no longer had any attention to spare for Shu Xin. Between the two of them, Wen Jingzhi, with his unknown origins and bizarre cultivation arts, was clearly the more likely one to know where the Immortal-Slaying Sword was.
Shu Xin drew her sword.
“Wait!” she shouted. The two swords at her waist instantly shot toward Master Yushan’s back.
She could not possibly let Wen Jingzhi shoulder every question alone. What kind of person would that make her?
“You’re courting death!” Master Yushan turned around. Seeing that Shu Xin was not trying to escape at a time like this, but was instead daring to attack him, he immediately struck out at her.
[Let me handle this!] the Sword Spirit cried out in Shu Xin’s mind.
No way.
Even if I really end up badly injured now, that would still be better than letting you make a move.
Shu Xin would never stumble into the same trap twice.
What she had not expected was that Master Yushan would arrive so quickly. Even Xu Guan’s heavenly tribulation had failed to prevent them from detecting the disturbance and coming to investigate.
“Master Yushan, aren’t you overstepping yourself?”
The heavenly tribulation dispersed.
Wen Jingzhi and Shu Xin were both swept behind a figure.
Xu Guan, still carrying the lingering aura of heavenly tribulation, waved a hand and shattered Master Yushan’s projected phantom. He stared directly at Master Yushan himself, who had already arrived in the distance, showing not the slightest weakness in bearing.
On the contrary, he looked utterly fired up, his gaze toward Master Yushan filled with faint disdain.
A flame-shaped mark could be seen dimly appearing on Xu Guan’s forehead.
It was proof that the Divine Fire Diagram Spirit Book had poured all its spiritual energy into him, helping him ascend to the Mahayana realm.
“The Immortal-Slaying Sword merely came to pay its respects to the senior Divine Fire Diagram Spirit Book,” Xu Guan said softly. “What, do the spirits of immortal artifacts share a mutual sympathy? Do they need to report to you? Ning Weixuan insisted on provoking the Immortal-Slaying Sword. If he didn’t die, then who should have?”
I was still two thousand characters short. After dinner, I used my lunch break to furiously finish them on my phone.
I’ll fix the typos after work when I get home.
