Shu Xin did not hurry to lend a hand.
Tsk, why reveal his true strength so soon?
He would first see whether Qu Yougu and that demonic cultivator’s external avatar had any trump cards up their sleeves. He would wait until they had used everything they had before making a move.
【Excellent. That’s just like you—the same familiar stinginess.】 The Sword Spirit could not resist mocking him.
They were only two cultivators in the Grotto-Heaven realm. Shu Xin was acting as if they were some terrifying monsters.
“One is the Daoist heir of the Myriad Dao Sect, and the other is a demonic cultivator’s avatar from the Spirit-Seizing Demon Sect. They’re both from major sects and have deep foundations. What if they’re carrying some secret treasure bestowed by their sect?” Shu Xin argued righteously. “Besides, you were asleep for so many years. You have no idea what new inventions the sects have come up with now.”
【…I-I only need to see something once to know what it is.】 The Sword Spirit sounded somewhat lacking in confidence when the subject came up.
Damn it. It really needed to learn more. Otherwise, how could it continue playing the all-knowing senior Sword Spirit in front of Shu Xin?
The Sword Spirit seriously considered the matter.
Meanwhile, the battle between Qu Yougu and Fan Xiang’s group below was gradually reaching its climax.
Qu Yougu was only one person, but he had an abundance of magical treasures.
They were all spirit swords, yet the one in Qu Yougu’s hand was a whole tier above all the spirit swords used by the Fan family put together.
After only a few hours of fighting, the magical treasures in Fan Xiang and the others’ hands were already on the verge of being chopped apart by Qu Yougu’s spirit sword.
The two Fan family elders felt their hearts ache so badly that their faces twitched.
These were magical treasures they had painstakingly purchased and then continually refined. How could they have been hacked into this state?
That was not all. The magical robe Qu Yougu wore possessed its own defensive functions. A formation inside the robe’s lining increased the speed of his attacks, while a top-grade spirit stone hidden in the crown on his head continuously replenished his spiritual energy.
To Fan Xiang and the others, Qu Yougu’s movements were as elusive as a ghost’s. He weaved among them with effortless ease.
Not only had they failed to gain any advantage from surrounding him, but they were also fighting with their hands tied. It was infuriating.
What left them most helpless was the difference in their foundations.
On one side, the more they fought, the more spiritual energy they consumed, forcing them to stop and replenish it.
On the other, their opponent’s spiritual energy remained abundant no matter how hard he fought.
The advantage they had originally held over Qu Yougu began to disappear shortly after the battle started.
When Qu Yougu said he could last for two or three days, he had not been joking.
【The Myriad Dao Sect really does have something going for it. With just a few simple devices, they can raise a Grotto-Heaven cultivator’s strength by twenty percent.】 The Sword Spirit could not help sighing in admiration. 【Aside from their ability to reproduce, humanity’s creativity truly is unmatched among the myriad races.】
In ancient times, the demon race, the witch race, the dragons and phoenixes, and countless other unknown races that had long since vanished into history had all once dominated this land. Yet in the end, the only ones who remained and firmly occupied it were humans.
They were frail, yet they could constantly improve themselves.
Their lifespans were short, yet their ability to reproduce was genuinely remarkable.
Later, they learned from the abilities of other races and systematically created cultivation techniques. Powerful figures began to emerge generation after generation, and humanity eventually became the undisputed ruler of the world.
Now, it had merely slept for a little too long, and humanity’s sects had already developed all kinds of new things.
Fortunately, it had not continued sleeping. And fortunately, spiritual energy was no longer what it used to be, so many of the highest-level artifact-refining techniques had been lost due to limitations in spiritual energy and materials.
Otherwise, after waking from one long sleep, would it not have gone from being a supreme immortal sword to an ordinary blade sold at a roadside stall?
“The Fan family should still have a few trump cards up their sleeves. The longer this drags on, the worse things become for them. If they don’t end it quickly, all they can do is wait for death.” Shu Xin continued commenting from the sidelines with great interest. “Fan Xiang really has devoted all his attention to managing the family. Among the several Grotto-Heaven cultivators, his abilities are clearly the weakest.”
After spending too long in management, he had forgotten how things worked on the front lines.
Forget it. This was a common problem. Even the Longevity Dao Sect and the Myriad Dao Sect could not solve it, let alone a small clan.
【Your junior brothers and sisters have started fighting too.】 The Sword Spirit suddenly spoke.
Over with Yuan Dawei, Qi Feiyang, and the others, everyone had already prepared for battle.
Each of these fellow disciples cultivated a different technique, all of them personally taught by their master, Xu Guan.
For example, Yuan Dawei appeared careless and boisterous, but he was actually quite attentive. Of all of them, he was the one who flattered Shu Xin the most. He was skilled with a saber, especially the hidden saber technique used from within one’s sleeve.
However, the hidden saber was most effective in close combat, so Yuan Dawei only used it at critical moments.
Qi Feiyang was the oldest among the fellow disciples. He specialized in the sword, but he was not a pure sword cultivator. He had merely chosen the sword as his weapon. In truth, he was more skilled in the Five Elements arts and cultivated the same technique as Xu Guan. In an open battlefield, he excelled at fighting from a distance and could bombard his enemies with an endless stream of spells until they were crushed.
There was no need to explain Cao Ru. She favored formations even more, but she also knew that a cultivator who only knew formations would end up being dragged away to set up formations three hundred and sixty-five days a year without a break. So she worked hard to improve in other areas as well, particularly in escape techniques.
For that reason, her primary cultivation method was the Spring-Returning Art, which allowed her to preserve the greatest amount of spiritual energy and unleash the strongest defenses. She also cultivated a forbidden escape technique that could burn spiritual energy and lifespan to increase her speed by one or even two full realms.
Simply put, Cao Ru was an excellent support cultivator who could both defend and flee.
By contrast, Li Qinghe and Meng Wenrui, who appeared delicate and gentle, were the two most talented people in the Questioning God Sect. Both were sword cultivators, and they also supplemented their cultivation with a sword art divine ability that allowed them to combine their strength through paired swords.
Xu Guan knew that the two of them were easily deceived and softhearted, so he had specially dug this technique out of the sect’s collection for them to use as their trump card.
The two of them were also responsible for the bulk of the team’s offensive power.
If only they had one more healer, they would have had the perfect team-fighting lineup.
Actually, Xu Guan’s original first disciple—and current second disciple—Yi Renjie knew a little healing magic. Unfortunately, he was too slow and had been unable to descend the mountain with his junior brothers and sisters. He had no choice but to stay behind and serve his master.
“Your junior brothers and sisters have followed Shu Xin down the mountain. When they return, their cultivation will certainly have improved. I cannot let you fall behind them,” Xu Guan had said. “As it happens, I’ve been receiving a great many invitations to banquets lately. From now on, you should spar more with cultivators from the various sects. Do you understand?”
Yi Renjie was currently suffering through one magical duel after another against cultivators from all kinds of sects.
Shu Xin knew the cultivation methods of the five of them like the back of his hand. He knew that, with sufficient preparation, they had no problem killing opponents above their cultivation level.
As long as their opponents were not in the Grotto-Heaven realm, they could handle a few Dao Infant cultivators with ease.
“Clan Leader, we’re running out of time.” The red in the female elder’s eyes was slowly deepening. She looked toward Fan Xiang and urged, “We must kill him as soon as possible.”
At first, hesitation showed on Fan Xiang’s face. But after meeting the female elder’s gaze, that hesitation gradually faded.
“Yes… yes, that’s right. I have to use the forbidden art, or I’ll die here sooner or later.” Fan Xiang’s mind had already begun to spiral toward the most extreme course of action.
The situation was critical. If they waited for support from the Myriad Dao Sect to arrive, having the Fan Clan razed to the ground would be considered a favorable outcome.
Rather than becoming slaves to one of the great sects and serving as cultivation resources for them, they might as well seize this opportunity and fight to the death.
As long as a few members of the Fan Clan managed to escape, there would always be hope in the future.
The female elder concealed her intentions. She even pretended to be knocked to the ground by Qu Yougu, taking the opportunity to stop and recover nearby.
Fan Xiang and the other two Grotto-Heaven elders, however, seemed to have made up their minds. They took up positions in different directions and began forming hand seals.
Sensing that something was wrong, Qu Yougu attacked Fan Xiang without the slightest hesitation.
His swordsmanship was exquisite, and his speed astonishingly fast. Once he focused on one opponent, the pressure he exerted was very real.
Fan Xiang merely used talismans to defend himself, without slowing the pace at which he formed his seals.
The spiritual energy within Fan Xiang surged visibly. At the same time, the spiritual meridians in his body became clearly visible as the energy swelled.
The youthful appearance he had maintained began to age rapidly in a matter of moments.
He could no longer preserve his young face.
The same was true of the other two Grotto-Heaven elders.
At the same time, Shu Xin heard the screams of various cultivators coming from all across the Fan Clan.
The Fan Clan cultivators who had been fighting Yuan Dawei and the others suddenly stopped moving as well.
“Clan Leader, don’t—”
Cao Ru hurriedly pulled Li Qinghe away.
In the next instant, the Nascent Soul cultivator who had been battling Li Qinghe seemed to have all the spiritual energy in his body drained away. His cultivation rapidly collapsed, and his face became incomparably haggard.
Before long, his body had almost turned into a charred skeleton, which fell straight to the ground.
“What happened?” Li Qinghe had yet to recover from his shock.
But Meng Wenrui, Qi Feiyang, and the others had already turned their gazes toward where Fan Xiang stood.
“The spiritual energy is gathering!”
“What’s going on?”
There were still a scattered few members of the Fan Clan alive.
The good news was that they had survived.
The bad news was that they were not members of the Fan Clan at all. The identity they had once been so proud of was a lie.
“I heard my master mention this before. It’s the Bloodline Forbidden Art.” Qi Feiyang’s expression was solemn. “The Fan Clan has not only colluded with demonic cultivators—they have also committed a crime even more serious than the Hu Clan’s.”
The same scene was unfolding in various parts of the Fan Clan.
“Young Master, Young Miss, you’ve only broken your legs. Once the family head kills the Daoist heir, he’ll naturally take you away. It’s just that by then, you won’t be Young Master and Young Miss anymore.” The steward muttered as he looked at the twins wailing on the ground.
“Steward, Steward, save me—”
“Father, don’t—”
The twins suddenly began rolling all over the ground.
At first, the steward thought they were merely throwing a tantrum, hoping he would free them or treat their injuries.
But gradually, the Young Master and Young Miss stopped moving, their bodies stiffening where they lay.
“Young Master, Young Miss, what’s wrong?” The steward hurried forward to check on them.
However, when he moved their bodies aside, he saw that their faces were filled with terror and unwillingness.
The spiritual energy within them had vanished without a trace.
It was only when he touched their bodies that he realized how rigid they had become.
The steward was startled, then collapsed to the ground.
“Clan Leader… has he gone mad?”
[Huh?]
“Good grief.”
Shu Xin and the Sword Spirit were both left stunned.
[The Fan Clan actually obtained the Bloodline Forbidden Art? No wonder they dared to steal the Hu Clan’s spirit herbs despite not even having a single cultivator in the Immaculate Realm.] The Sword Spirit could not help sighing. [I’ve always said that you humans really don’t need to distinguish between the righteous and demonic paths. How can you even tell them apart?]
“It’s a pity. This spell was originally developed by humanity to resist the other demon races.” Shu Xin sighed. “But now that the threat from the other races is gone, this spell has lost its purpose as well. Aside from demonic cultivators, very few people still practice it.”
“Fortunately, Jingzhi isn’t here.” Shu Xin could not help saying so.
She had not seen a spell like this in many years.
As the screams of the other members of the Fan Clan grew louder and increasingly clear, Qu Yougu seemed to realize what was happening as well. His face filled with fury and disbelief.
“You’re burning your lifespans and using a bloodline spiritual art, yet you still claim you haven’t colluded with demonic cultivators?” Qu Yougu shouted. “Stop! Do you intend to drag the entire Fan Clan down to death with you?”
Qu Yougu naturally recognized this famous secret art.
In fact, any disciple of a prestigious righteous sect would know this technique inside and out.
Why did the sects allow clans to flourish within their own ranks while suppressing clans outside them? Ultimately, it was because of the existence of this technique.
The Bloodline Forbidden Art.
It had originally been created in ancient times, when human cultivators developed it to stand against the powerful demon cultivators.
The art itself did not possess particularly great offensive power. Its greatest function was that those who cultivated it could burn their own bloodline, causing the spiritual energy of every cultivator within a hundred-mile radius who shared that bloodline to burn as well. The spiritual energy and cultivation of all their relatives and clansmen would then be gathered into a single person.
In this way, even a weak clan could obtain tremendous power through this brief forbidden art.
But once the spell’s power had burned away, all cultivators who shared the same bloodline would die along with it.
It was originally intended as a way to perish together with the demon race.
When the art was first created, however, everyone had to cultivate it together, willingly transferring their cultivation and spiritual energy to the person at the head of the ritual.
Later, as the other races declined, demonic cultivators altered the technique. As long as the primary practitioner obtained the blood of other clan members and cultivated with it, they could forcibly plunder the bloodlines of relatives whose cultivation was lower than their own and seize their power. With sufficient control, they could even avoid dying from the backlash.
Countless demonic overlords had once trampled over the corpses of their own relatives to cultivate this art, rapidly rising from ordinary cultivators to great powers and nearly rewriting the history of the demonic path.
During that period, fathers and sons turned against one another, children became enemies, and clansmen betrayed each other. The entire cultivation world was thrown into chaos.
Thus, this art had transformed from humanity’s ultimate method of resisting the other races into a demonic forbidden art reviled by all.
After all, no one could guarantee that they did not have a family member who might suddenly lose their mind, obtain their blood, and cultivate this forbidden art—causing them to die inexplicably.
But even though the Daoist sects had forbidden this kind of technique, quite a few aristocratic clans continued to practice it in secret.
If an aristocratic clan truly faced annihilation, at least this technique would allow them to drag their enemies down with them.
Only those who shared the same bloodline could cultivate it. As a result, cultivators of the same bloodline would naturally band together.
Yet the women who joined these clans as “wives,” merely symbols of marriage, were abandoned because they did not share the family bloodline.
Thus, among all the aristocratic clans, female cultivators were valued mainly for their aptitude and ability to bear children. The clans had never been reluctant to seize them by force.
Whenever one aristocratic clan fell, countless others would rise in its place.
Even Qu Yougu had not expected the Fan Clan to possess this technique.
After years of suppression by the Daoist sects, there should have been very few aristocratic clans left that still knew this art. Even among the clans within the sects, hardly anyone should have been capable of using it.
Unless the Fan Clan had long ago colluded with demonic cultivators.
The Spirit-Seizing Demon Sect, ostracized even among the ten great demonic sects, naturally possessed secret techniques of this kind. If they had passed the technique on to the Fan Clan, then everything made sense.
“Colluding with demonic cultivators? Hahaha! Are you saying the Daoist sects have never colluded with demonic cultivators?” Fan Xiang felt the endless power surging through his body. He felt that he was only one final step away from becoming a cultivator of the Wugou Realm.
This technique was truly formidable.
If everyone in the Fan Clan was doomed to die, why couldn’t they take the Daoist heir before him with them?
“How many of those cultivators who fell into demonic cultivation were not driven to it by you?” Fan Xiang roared. “Demonic cultivators consume human flesh and souls to practice their arts, but you are no better! You use morality and rules to squeeze every last drop from all of us cultivators. Without us, what gives your Daoist sect the right to stand above everyone else and support so many disciples and elders who produce nothing?”
“Clan Master Fan, calm down. If you stop now, there are still people in the Fan Clan who can survive. Those proven to have no ties to demonic cultivators will naturally be allowed to leave alive.” Qu Yougu was completely unaffected by Fan Xiang’s words. Instead, he spoke in a gentle voice. “There are still many innocent children in your clan. Do you really intend to take them with you to their deaths?”
“Children?” Fan Xiang’s eyes seemed to clear for a brief moment, but in the next instant, he became even more frenzied.
“You want our Fan Clan’s precious children to become your slaves and servants? Rather than let them become rogue cultivators whom anyone can trample on, it would be better to help me complete my cultivation.” Fan Xiang burst into laughter. “Once I kill you, I will be a Wugou Realm demonic cultivator. There will be plenty of places for me in the demonic path.”
Qu Yougu’s expression gradually grew solemn.
If Fan Xiang truly became a Wugou Realm demonic cultivator, Qu Yougu would not only fail to hold out until reinforcements from the sect arrived—he might even create a new enemy for the sect.
Seeing this, Qu Yougu stopped holding back. He took out the jade token symbolizing his status as the Daoist heir, bit open his fingertip, and spat a mouthful of vital blood onto it, clearly inscribing his name across the token.
As Qu Yougu’s blood slowly seeped into the jade token, it began to radiate waves of spiritual energy. It seemed that something was faintly linking itself to the token.
Even the sky over the Fan Clan, imprisoned by the formation, seemed to brighten.
[This jade token can connect across ten thousand miles to a cultivator of the Mahayana Realm within the sect?] the Sword Spirit said, faintly astonished. [Shu Xin, your concern was indeed justified.]
One truly could not underestimate any cultivator.
The Fan Clan, which had seemed powerless, actually possessed a bloodline-restricted forbidden art. And Qu Yougu, who had appeared to be standing alone with no support, had been carrying a life-saving secret technique all along.
Fortunately, back at the Everlasting Dao Sect, Ning Weixuan had thought too little of them and had not asked a Land Immortal to intervene.
“The Daoist heir is someone the Myriad Dao Sect has spent countless resources and years nurturing. Do you really think they would just watch him die?” Shu Xin said irritably. “It’s basic risk management.”
Did he really think the sects were charities?
Still, the fact that Qu Yougu possessed such a life-saving technique meant that the Myriad Dao Sect had placed enormous expectations on him.
“Qu Yougu, disciple of the Myriad Dao Sect and its three hundred and ninety-sixth generation, requests that the great experts of the sect exterminate this demon.”
Qu Yougu had traveled outside the sect for many years, but this was the first time he had used this final life-saving technique.
Even as the Daoist heir, he could use it only once.
To use it again, he would have to become a disciple of a Mahayana Realm cultivator. Only then might he be given another jade token like this.
Mahayana Realm cultivators placed great importance on cause and effect and would not act casually. If they intervened improperly, they might have to spend decades resolving the resulting karmic consequences.
At that very moment, the cultivators of the Myriad Dao Sect who were rushing toward the Fan Clan to provide support received an order from the sect to turn back.
There was no longer any need for them to offer support.
Once a Mahayana Realm cultivator took action, no one in the Fan Clan would survive.
When the three blood-written characters of “Qu Yougu” had completely seeped into the jade token, one sharp roar after another began to echo through the sky.
Those were the sounds of the Fan Clan’s restraining formation shattering.
The next moment, an enormous golden handprint appeared in the heavens.
It descended directly upon Fan Xiang, who was frantically absorbing the spiritual energy and flesh of his fellow clansmen.
“Ahhhhhhh—!”
Fan Xiang tried to resist.
But the power he had obtained only after sacrificing the lives and flesh of his own clansmen appeared utterly insignificant before true strength.
Everything was as absurd and ridiculous as a farce.
The lives of the entire clan could not withstand a single palm summoned by the Daoist heir of a true sect.
The handprint continued to press downward.
The resulting shock wave flattened every nearby building and patch of grass.
When the smoke finally cleared, nothing remained but ruins.
Qu Yougu had also exhausted all his spiritual energy. He could only sit cross-legged on the ground and desperately swallow healing pills, doing everything he could to recover.
Afterward, he would return to the sect and report the entire sequence of events.
Yet amid those ruins, a figure slowly rose to her feet.
“Your Myriad Dao Sect is just as protective of its own as ever. At last, you’ve used up your final life-saving technique.” A female cultivator appeared before Qu Yougu. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her face wore a smile that seemed somewhat familiar to him.
“I have only this one avatar left. If I return to the sect, my masters will surely divide me up and consume me. But if I bring back the corpse of a Daoist heir of the Myriad Dao Sect, perhaps it will help me rebuild my cultivation.” Her face was filled with triumph as she reached out to grab Qu Yougu.
“Get lost. Don’t get in the way.”
A voice suddenly rang beside Qu Yougu’s ear.
The next moment, a force shoved him directly aside, sending him sprawling onto the ground in a thoroughly undignified heap.
“Sorry, but I’ve been waiting for you too.”
Two flying swords shot from their sheaths first.
Shu Xin slapped Qu Yougu backward with one palm. With one hand on her hip, she stood before him as the two flying swords circled around her. The fierce sword light illuminated her bright, triumphant smile, almost dazzling enough to make anyone avert their eyes.
“But you should understand. The strongest fighters always make their entrance at the very end, don’t they?”
